ORATIO II. IN L. CATILINAM.

INTRODUCTION.

WHEN Cicero had finished his spirited speech in the Senate, Catiline still continued to practise the most profound dissimulation; he pretended to be entirely innocent of the crimes, of which he was accused; and, with downcast looks and in a suppliant manner, requested the Senators not to credit what his enemy had said against him. He said, that such was his family, and such had been the whole tenor of his life, that he was encouraged to hope for every honour, to which he could aspire: and that it could not be supposed, that he, a Patrician, whose ancestors, as well as himself, had given many proofs of their affection to the Roman people, should wish to overturn the government; and that Cicero, a stranger, of an obscure family, a citizen of Arpinum, a tenant only of a house in Rome which he had lately hired, should be so zealously active for its preservation, But as his language began to be abusive, he was interrupted by the Senators, who in a general exclamation, called him a Parricide and an Enemy to his country. Enraged by this treatment, he repeated in a loud and menacing tone of voice what he had said before to Cato; "Since I am circumvented, and driven headlong by my enemies, the flame that is raised about me I will extinguish by a general ruin." Perceiving that it was impossible to dissemble any longer, he determined to enter into action immediately, before the troops of the Republick were increased or prepared to meet him. He therefore left Rome that very night, and went towards Etruria; but before he departed from the city, he had an interview with Lentulus, Cethegus, and others, the boldest of the conspirators, in which he urged them to neglect no means of increasing their number, to put Cicero to death as soon as possible, and to prepare for a massacre and the conflagration of the city; and he gave them assurances, that he would soon return at the head of a strong army. When he had left the city, his friends reported, that he had gone into a voluntary exile at Marseilles. Cicero, however, knew that he was going to Manlius' camp, as he was certain that he had already sent thither arms, military ensigns, and particularly a silver eagle, for which he had a superstitious regard, because Caius Marius had used it in his expedition against the Cimbri. But that the report might not be be lieved in the city, and that it might not be said, that the Consul had driven an innocent man into banishment without previous trial, Cicero the next day assembled the people in the Forum to give them an account of what had been done in the Senate the day preceding, and of Catiline's sudden departure from Rome in consequence of it, which was the design of the following oration.

TANDEM aliquando, Quirites, L. Catilinam

furentem audaciâ, scelus anhelantem, pestem patriae nefariè molientem, vobis atque huic urbi ferrum flammamque minitantem, ex urbe vel ejecimus, vel emisimus, vel ipsum egredientem verbis prosecuti sumus. 2 Abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit; nulla jam pernicies a monstro illo atque prodigio moenibus ipsis intra moenia comparabitur. Atque hunc quidem unum hujus belli domestici ducem sine controversiâ vicimus; non jam inter latera nostra 3sica illa versabitur: non in campo, non in foro, non in curià, non denique intra domesticos parietes pertimescemus; loco ille motus est, cùm est ex urbe de

1. Quirites The Senators of Rome were at first addressed with the title of Patres, which appellation was given them by Romulus on account of their age and dignity; those persons, who were chosen into the Senate by Lucius Junius Brutus, after the expulsion of Tarquin the Proud, were called Conscripti, that is, enrolled together with the Senators; but afterwards the name Patres Conscripti was usually applied to all the Senators.-The word Quirites was the appellation by which the people were addressed: it was at first peculiar to the Sabines, but when Romulus had united the Sabines to the Romans, it became the general name of the inhabitants of Rome. 2. Abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit―These words are not tautological; abiit implies only the action of going, excessit signifies he, induced by some influential motive, has departed from us; evasit indicates that he has escaped from danger; erupit declares that, anxious for his safety and the execution of his designs, he fled with precipitancy from a place, where the latter was almost impossible, the former very precarious.

3. Sica illa-The dagger mentioned in the former oration.

4. Non in campo...........for.....curiâ......domesticos parietes Before Catiline departed, Cicero, as his life had been so often attacked, thought it imprudent to go into the Campus Martius unarmed; when Catiline was concerned in the proceedings of courts of justice, he prevented the dictates of law and equity from being observed, by his menaces and arms; as he had often intended to murder the Senators, it was unsafe for that body of men to take their seats in the Senate-house; and before his departure it was hazardous even to sleep in private houses, that were not fortified.

pulsus; palam jam cum hoste, nullo impediente, bellum justum geremus. Sine dubio perdidimus hominem magnificèque vicimus, cùm illum ex occultis insidiis in apertum latrocinium conjecimus. Quòd verò non cruentum mucronem, ut voluit, extulit, quòd vivis nobis egressus est, quòd ei ferrm de manibus extorsimus, quòd incolumes cives, quòd stantem urbem reliquit, quanto tandem illum moerore afflictum esse et profligatum putatis? Jacet ille nunc, prostratusque est, Quirites, et se perculsum, atque abjectum esse sentit; et retorquet oculos profectò saepe ad hanc urbem, quam ex suis faucibus ereptam esse luget: quae quidem laetari mihi videtur, quòd tantam pestem evomuerit, foràsque projecerit.

II. At si quis est talis, quales esse omnes oportebat, qui hoc in ipso, in quo exultat et triumphat oratio mea, me vehementer accuset, quòd tam capitalem hostem non comprehenderim potiùs, quàm emiserim non est ista mea culpa, Quirites, sed tem porum. Interemptum esse L. Catilinam, et gravis simo supplicio affectum jampridem oportebat: idque a me et mos Majorum, et hujus imperii severitas,

5. Vivis nobis--Catiline had said in the house of Lecca, that he would not go to the army, till he had killed Cicero.

6. Quales esse omnes oportebat-All good men thought that Catiline ought to be put to death.

7. Exultat et triumphat-Although it was a general opinion, that Catiline ought to be capitally punished, yet Cicero nad great reason to boast of his prudence in driving him from the city, as it was the most effectual means of suppressing his conspiracy.

8. Hujus imperii severitas-Such was the constitution of the Roman republick, that, when tumults and insurrections were raised by the intrigues of popular leaders, who disregarded the established laws and the liberties of the commonwealth, the policy of govern、

et respub. postulabat.

Sed quàm multos fuisse

9

putatis, qui, quae ego deferrem, non crederent? quàm multos, qui propter stultitiam non putarent? quàm multos, qui etiam defenderent? quàm multos, qui propter improbitatem faverent? Ac si, sublato illo, depelli a vobis omne periculum judicarem, jampridem ego L. Catilinam non modò invidiae meae, verùm etiam vitae periculo sustulissem; sed cùm viderem, 1ne vobis quidem omnibus re etiam tum probatâ, si illum, ut erat meritus, morte multâssem, fore, ut ejus socios invidiâ oppressus persequi non possem; rem huc deduxi, ut tum palàm pugnare possetis, cùm hostem apertè videretis. Quem quidem ego hostem, Quirites, quàm vehementer forìs esse timendum putem, licet hinc intelligatis, quòd illud etiam molestè fero, quòd ex urbe 2parùm comitatus exierit. Utinam ille omnes secum suas copias eduxisset. Tongillum mihi eduxit, quem amare in

ment required the creation of a despotick Dictator, or the investment of the Consuls with absolute power, in order that the republick might be preserved from harm.

9. Non crederent-Many would not believe what Cicero had published in the Senate, because they thought Cicero an enemy to Catiline from some private cause, and because they did not think the dangers imminent which he described. Many also pretended not to believe, who secretly favoured the designs of Catiline.

1. Ne vobis quidem-The meaning of this passage is-If I had put Catiline to death before you were convinced of his criminality, I should have been thought so great a tyrant, that I should have met with much opposition in my endeavours to suppress the other conspirators.

2. Parum comitatus-It is said, Catiline carried but three hundred partisans with him to the camp of Manlius.

3. Mihi-This word in this sentence conveys no meaning: it is used for the sake of euphony.-Tongillus, Publicius, and Munatius, men of abandoned characters, went with Catiline to Manlius' camp: conspirators of noble birth remained in the city.

*practextâ coeperat, Publicium et Munatium, quorum aes alienum contractum in popinâ nullum reip. motum afferre poterat. Reliquit 'quos viros ? quanto alieno aere? quàm valentes? quàm nobiles?

III. Itaque ego illum exercitum, et Gallicanis legionibus, et hoc delectu, quem in agro Piceno et Gallico Q. Metellus habuit, et his copiis quae a nobis quotidie comparantur, magnoperè contemno, collectum ex senibus desperatis, ex agresti luxuriâ, ex rusticis mendiculis, ex decoctoribus, ex iis, qui vadimonia deserere,quàm illum exercitum, maluerunt: quibus ego non modò si aciem exercitûs nostri, verùm etiam si 'edictum Praetoris ostendero, concident. Hos, quos video volitare in foro, quos stare ad curiam, quos etiam in Senatum venire; qui nitent unguentis, qui fulgent purpurâ, mallem secum suos milites eduxisset; qui, si hîc permanent, mementote non tam exercitum

4. Praetextâ―The toga praetexta was the gown, which, according to the Roman custom, all young men wore till the age of seventeen, at which time they were admitted into the Forum, and put on the toga virilis.

5. Quos viros-Cicero a few lines above expresses his regret, that Catiline did not carry with him to the camp of Manlius all his friends; he feared more the conspirators within the city, than those without: they were of noble rank; they were immersed in debt; they were ready to commit any crime, however great.

6. Illum exercitum-The army of Catiline, when compared with the Gallick legions, with the levies Quintus Metellus had made in the Picene and Gallic territory, and with the troops which the Consuls daily raised, deserved the contempt of Cicero.

7. Qui vadimonia deserere-In the court of the Praetor in Rome, when the plaintiff had obtained a writ, he offered it to the defendant or dictated it to him, and then required that the defendant should give bail for his appearance in court on a certain day. When the day arrived, if either party were absent without a valid excuse, he lost his cause. If the defendant were absent, he was said deserere vadimonium, and the Praetor put the plaintiff in possession of his effects.

8. Edictum Praetoris-The writs of the Praetor, conveying to the respective plaintiffs the goods and estates of each defendant.