ierat multis de causis. Primum omnium, qui ubique probro atque petulantia maxime praestabant, item alii per dedecora patrimoniis amissis, postremo omnes, quos flagitium aut facinus domo expulerat, ii Romam sicut in sentinam1 confluxerant. Deinde multi memores Sullanae victoriae, quod ex gregariis militibus alios senatores videbant, alios ita divites, ut regio victu atque cultu aetatem agerent, sibi quisque, si in armis foret, ex victoria talia sperabat. Praeterea juventus, quae in agris manuum mercede inopiam toleraverat, privatis atque publicis largitionibus excita urbanum otium ingrato labori praetulerat; eos atque alios omnes malum publicum alebat. Quo minus mirandum est homines egentes, malis moribus, maxima spe, rei publicae juxta ac sibi consuluisse. Praeterea quorum victoria Sullae parentes pro scripti, bona erepta, jus libertatis imminutum erat, haud sane alio animo belli eventum expectabant. Ad hoc quicunque aliarum atque senatus partium erant, conturbari rem publicam quam minus valere ipsi malebant. Id adeo malum multos post annos in civitatem reverterat.

38. Nam postquam Gn. Pompeio et M. Crasso consulibus tribunicia potestas restituta est, homines adolescentes summam potestatem nacti, quibus aetas animusque ferox erat, coepere senatum criminando plebem exagitare, dein largiundo atque pollicitando magis incendere; ita ipsi clari potentesque fieri. Contra eos summa ope nitebatur pleraque nobilitas senatus specie pro sua magnitudine. Namque uti paucis that circumstance, which in the present case is of the greatest importance. Compare Zumpt, § 348, note.

Sentina properly signifies the sediment which, in a vessel filled with water, sinks to the bottom. Hence the residue,' or the place where all that is bad or impure is collected.

2 The largesses in money and provisions with which the state supported the needy population of the capital, and by which private persons, anxious to gain partisans, catered numbers of clients, attracted to Rome many people from the country: the city plebs was thus constantly increasing.

They were as much concerned about the good of the state as about their own good'-that is, just as little.

Connect quorum with parentes and the following words, bona and jus. Sulla had excluded the sons of those whom he proscribed from all public offices, and thus curtailed their rights of free citizens.

In B. c. 70, these consuls restored the power of the tribunes in its full extent, after it had been greatly reduced by Sulla in B. c. 81. The Roman people received this restoration of the tribunian power with the greatest joy; but Sallust does not seem to approve of it.

Senatus specie; under the pretence of supporting the senate, the nobiles formed opposition to the tribunes, but in reality it was for their own aggrandisement.

verum absolvam, post illa tempora quicunque rem publicam agitavere, honestis nominibus, alii sicuti populi jura defenderent, pars quo' senatus auctoritas maxima foret, bonum publicum simulantes, pro sua quisque potentia certabant; neque illis modestia neque modus contentionis erat; utrique victoriam crudelitur exercebant.

tractarent.

39. Sed postquam Gn. Pompeius ad bellum maritimum atque Mithridaticum missus est, plebis opes imminutae, paucorum potentia crevit. Hi magistratus, provincias, aliaque omnia tenere, ipsi innoxii,2 florentes, sine metu aetatem agere, ceteros judiciis terrere, quo plebem in magistratu placidius Sed ubi primum dubiis rebus novandi spes oblata est, vetus certamen animos eorum arrexit. Quodsi primo proelio Catilina superior aut aequa manu discessisset, profecto magna clades atque calamitas rem publicam oppressisset; neque illis, qui victoriam adepti forent, diutius ea uti licuisset, quin defessis et exsanguibus qui plus posset imperium atque libertatem extorqueret. Fuere tamen extra conjurationem complures, qui ad Catilinam initio profecti sunt; in his erat A. Fulvius, senatoris filius, quem retractum ex itinere parens necari jussit. Iisdem temporibus Romae Lentulus, sicuti Catilina praeceperat, quoscunque moribus aut fortuna novis rebus idoneos credebat, aut per se aut per alios sollicitabat, neque solum cives, sed cujusque modi genus hominum, quod modo bello usui foret.

40. Igitur P. Umbreno cuidam negotium dat, uti legatos Allobrogum requirat eosque, si possit, impellat ad societatem

1 Quo for ut eo, 'that the authority of the senate might be the highest in the state.'

2 Innoxius has a twofold meaning, one active, 'one who does no harm' (noxa), and a passive, one who is not injured,' 'one to whom no harm is done,' qui non afficitur noxa, and in this latter sense it is used in this passage.

3 In order that, when in office, they themselves might guide the populace more gently,' since those who excited the multitude would be kept in awe by the terror of the law. Placidius, without harshness, 'without severity,' harshness and severity being applied only against the popular leaders.

6

4 Dubiis rebus, the ablative absolute; cum res dubiae essent, 'the state of affairs being dangerous.'

5 'A more powerful man would even have wrested their freedom from them.' About quin, see Zumpt, § 542; and about the imperfect in the sense of a pluperfect, § 525.

The Allobroges inhabited the country from Lacus Lemannus and the Rhone as far south as the Isara. They were subject to Rome, but, with a certain degree of independence, they governed themselves within their own country. Their chief towns were Vienna and Geneva.

belli, existimans publice privatimque aere alieno oppressos, praeterea, quod natura gens Gallica bellicosa esset, facile eos ad tale consilium adduci posse. Umbrenus, quod in Gallia negotiatus erat, plerisque principibus civitatium notus erat atque eos noverat; itaque sine mora, ubi primum legatos in foro conspexit, percontatus pauca de statu civitatis, et quasi dolens ejus casum, requirere coepit, quem exitum tantis malis sperarent. Postquam illos videt queri de avaritia magistratuum, accusare senatum, quod in eo auxilii nihil esset, miseriis suis remedium mortem expectare: At ego, inquit, vobis, si modo viri esse vultis, rationem ostendam, qua tanta ista mala effugiatis.' Haec ubi dixit, Allobroges in maximam spem adducti Umbrenum orare, ut sui misereretur; nihil tam asperum neque tam difficile esse, quod non cupidissime facturi essent, dum ea res civitatem aere alieno liberaret. Ille eos in domum D. Bruti perducit, quod foro propinqua erat neque aliena consilii' propter Semproniam; nam tum Brutus ab Roma aberat. Praeterea Gabinium accersit, quo major auctoritas sermoni inesset. Eo praesente conjurationem aperit, nominat socios, praeterea multos cujusque generis innoxios, quo legatis animus amplior esset; deinde eos pollicitos operam suam domum dimittit. 41. Sed Allobroges diu in incerto habuere, quidnam consilii caperent. In altera parte erat aes alienum, studium belli, magna merces in spe victoriae, at in altera majores opes, tuta consilia, pro incerta spe certa praemia. Haec illis volventibus, tandem vicit fortuna rei publicae. Itaque Q. Fabio Sangae, cujus patrocinio civitas plurimum utebatur, rem omnem, uti cognoverant, aperiunt. Cicero, per Sangam consilio cognito, legatis praecepit, ut studium conjurationis vehementer simulent, ceteros adeant, bene polliceantur, dentque operam, uti eos quam maxime manifestos habeant."

5

6

42. Iisdem fere temporibus in Gallia citeriore atque ulteriore, item in agro Piceno, Bruttio, Apulia motus erat. Namque illi, quos ante Catilina dimiserat, inconsulte ac veluti

1 Aliena consilii. See Zumpt, § 470.

2 Respecting the orthography of accersit, see Zumpt, § 202. Magnus animus is the usual Latin expression for courage,' and amplior is the same as major.

Manifestum habeo aliquem, I catch a person in the act,' so that he can be convicted of his crime by unexceptionable evidence.

5 Gallia citerior is Gaul south of the Alps, or the province of Cisalpine Gaul. Gallia ulterior is Gaul north of the Alps, as far as the Cebenna mountains. The part of modern France beyond those mountains was not yet subject to Rome, but became a Roman province by the conquests of Caesar.

Bruttium is the peninsula of Italy, which extends towards Si cily. It was a mountainous country with many forests.

per dementiam cuncta simul agebant; nocturnis consiliis, armorum atque telorum portationibus, festinando, agitando omnia, plus timoris quam periculi effecerant. Ex eo numero complures Q. Metellus Celer praetor ex senati consulto, causa cognita, in vincula conjecerat; item in ulteriore Gallia G. Murena, qur ei provinciae legatus' praeerat.

43. At Romae Lentulus cum ceteris, qui principes conjurationis erant, paratis, ut videbatur, magnis copiis, constituerant, uti quum Catilina in agrum Faesulanum cum exercitu venisset, L. Bestia tribunus plebis contione habita quereretur de actionibus Ciceronis, bellique gravissimi invidiam optimo consuli imponeret; eo signo proxima nocte cetera multitudo conjurationis suum quisque negotium exequeretur. Sed3 ea divisa hoc modo dicebantur: Statilius et Gabinius uti cum magna manu duodecim simul opportuna loca urbis incenderent, quo tumultu facilior aditus ad consulem ceterosque, quibus insidiae parabantur, fieret ; Cethegus Ciceronis januam obsideret eumque vi aggrederetur, alius autem alium; sed filii familiarum, quorum ex nobilitate maxima pars erat, parentes interficerent, simul caede et incendio perculsis omnibus, ad Catilinam erumperent. Inter haec parata atque decreta Cethegus semper querebatur de ignavia sociorum; illos dubitando et dies prolatando magnas opportunitates corrumpere, facto, non consulto, in tali periculo opus esse, seque, si pauci adjuvarent, languentibus aliis, impetum in curiam facturum. Natura ferox, vehemens, manu promptus erat; maximum bonum in celeritate putabat.

44. Sed Allobroges ex praecepto Ciceronis per Gabinium ceteros conveniunt; ab Lentulo, Cethego, Statilio, item Cassio postulant jusjurandum, quod signatum ad cives perferant;

He was legate to his brother L. Murena, who had then already left the province of Gaul, being a candidate for the consulship for the year B. c. 62, which he obtained.

2

Signum, in military phraseology, is the visible or audible signal for a movement which the army is to execute. The attack of the tribune of the people on Cicero during his address to the people was to be the signal. After this signal had been given' (eo signo), dato being understood. Conjurationis for conjuratorum.

Sed. According to ordinary Latinity, the sentence ought to have been introduced by autem; see Zumpt, 348, note. But it must be observed that in the historical style of Sallust sed very frequently expresses not only opposition, but also mere transition from one thing to another, which seems to be an affectation of simplicity. The idea expressed by filius familias is a son who is not yet independent, who has not yet a household of his own.'

5 Inter haec, &c.; that is, dum haec parantur atque decernuntur. Conveniunt, with the accusative. See Zumpt, § 387.

aliter haud facile eos ad tantum negotium impelli posse. Ceteri nihil suspicantes dant; Cassius semet eo brevi venturum pollicetur ac paulo ante legatos ex urbe proficiscitur. Lentulus cum his T. Volturcium quendam Crotoniensem mittit, ut Allobroges prius quam domum pergerent, cum Catilina data atque accepta fide societatem confirmarent. Ipse Volturcio litteras ad Catilinam dat, quarum exemplum infra scriptum est: 'Qui1 sim ex eo, quem ad te misi, cognosces. Fac cogites, in quanta calamitate sis, et memineris te virum esse; consideres, quid tuae rationes postulent; auxilium petas ab omnibus, etiam ab infimis." Ad hoc mandata verbis dat: 'Quum ab senatu hostis judicatus sit, quo consilio servitia repudiet? in urbe parata esse, quae jusserit; ne cunctetur ipse propius accedere.'

45. His rebus ita actis, constituta nocte, qua proficiscerentur, Cicero per legatos cuncta edoctus, L. Valerio Flacco et G. Pomptinio praetoribus imperat, ut in ponte Mulvio' per insidias Allobrogum comitatus deprehendant; rem omnem aperit, cujus gratia mittebantur, cetera, uti facto opus sit, ita agant, permittit. Illi, homines militares, sine tumultu praesidiis collocatis, sicuti praeceptum erat, occulte pontem obsidunt. Postquam ad id loci legati cum Volturcio venerunt et simul utrimque clamor exortus est, Galli, cito cognito consilio, sine mora praetoribus se tradunt. Volturcius primo, cohortatus ceteros, gladio se a multitudine defendit, deinde ubi a legatis desertus est, multa prius de salute sua Pomptinium obtestatus, quod ei notus erat, postremo timidus ac vitae diffidens velut hostibus' sese praetoribus dedit.

46. Quibus rebus confectis, omnia propere per nuntios consuli declarantur. At illum ingens cura atque laetitia simul occupavere; nam laetabatur intellegens conjuratione patefacta civitatem periculis ereptam esse, porro autem anxius erat, dubitans, in maximo scelere tantis civibus deprehensis, quid facto opus esset; poenam illorum sibi oneri, impunitatem 1 Qui for quis. See Zumpt, § 134, note.

2 He means to say, even from the slaves, who, as is now seen, have not been received by Catiline into his army.'

3 Cuncta. Respecting this accusative, see Zumpt, § 391, note 1. Pons Mulvius, a bridge across the Tiber, about one mile from the city, outside the porta Flaminia. It still exists under the name of ponte Molle, and is passed by all travellers who go from Rome to the north.

5 Obsidunt. For this verb, see Zumpt, 189, under sido. Ad id loci; that is, ad eum locum.

"He betrayed his treasonable designs even by surrendering to the public authorities, as if they were a foreign and hostile power, and by praying them to spare his life.