EXPLANATORY NOTES.

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1. M. TULLII CICERONIS, &c. "First Oration of M. Tullius ] Cicero against Lucius Catiline, delivered in the Senate."--Catiline's intention was to leave Rome, and join his army, then assembling in different parts of Italy; while the other conspirators remained within the walls, to butcher the senators and fire the capitol. Cicero, having discovered this design, summoned the senate to meet in the temple of Jupiter Stator, with the intention of laying before it the whole circumstances of the plot. But Catiline having unexpectedly appeared in the midst of the assembly, his audacity impelled the consular orator to an abrupt invective, which is directly addressed to the traitor, and commences without the preamble by which most of his other harangues are introduced.

In point of effect, this oration must have been perfectly electric. The disclosure to the criminal himself of his most secret purposes ⚫ their flagitious nature, threatening the life of every one present; the whole course of his villanies and treasons, blazoned forth with the fire of incensed eloquence; and the adjuration to him, by fleeing from Rome, to free his country from such a pest, were all wonderfully calculated to excite astonishment, admiration, and horror.

The great object of the whole oration, was to drive Catiline into banishment; and it appears somewhat singular, that so dangerous a personage, and one who might have been so easily convicted, should thus have been forced, or even allowed, to withdraw to his army, instead of being secured and punished. From the language of Sallust, (Cat. c. 31,) this oration would appear to have been originally altogether extemporaneous, and to have been subsequently committed to writing by Cicera

2. Quousque tandem, &c. "How far, then, Catiline, wilt thou trifle with our patience? How long, too, will that frantic wickedness of thine baffle our efforts? To what extent will thy unbridled 137

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a sacity insolently display itself?"-We may suppose the whole senate to have remained, for a time, buried in the deepest silence, every eye directed towards Catiline; and Cicero, at last, slowly rising from his curule chair, and pointing the finger of indignant scorn at the guilty intruder, to have burst forth into this startling and impassioned exordium.

3. Abutere. Literally, "wilt thou abuse."-Cicero prefers the softer and more poetic termination re, in the imperfect and future indicative, and present and imperfect subjunctive. In the present indicative he rarely employs it.-Patientia nostra. The reference in nostra is to himself and the senate generally.

4. Iste tuus. The pronoun iste is here employed to mark indignant scorn and contempt. It must be observed, with regard to iste, that it is, strictly speaking, used, together with its derivatives, in reference to the person addressed. Thus, iste locus, "that place where you are;" ista verba, "those words which you uttered." When Cicero addressed his antagonist, in any instance, he often used iste, in accordance with the principle just laid down; and, as he generally used it contumeliously, it acquired a reproachful meaning. But this is by no means universally the case. In the present passage, however, iste has this scornful meaning, and tuus is merely added in order to strengthen its general reference to the person addressed.

5. Eludet. A metaphor borrowed from the movements of gladiators, in avoiding a blow from an opponent. (Donat. in Ter. Eun. 1, 1, 10.) So Catiline is said, by the orator, to baffle every effort, on the part of good citizens, for preserving the public repose.—Quem ad finem. Equivalent, in Ciceronian Latinity, to quousque or quamdiu. (Ernesti, Clav. Cic. s. v. finis.-Schütz, Index Lat. s. v.)— Jactabit. The student will mark the force of the frequentative. It is equivalent to insolenter se geret.

6. Nihilne te, &c. "Have the guards stationed nightly on the Palatine hill produced no impression upon thee? Have the watches planted throughout the city produced none? None, the consternation that pervades all classes? None, the thronging together of all good citizens ?" &c. Literally, "Has the nightly guard of the Palatium in no respect moved thee? In no respect have the watches of the city?" &c.

7. Palatii. The Palatine was the most central one of the seven hills of Rome, and the most important to be guarded in case any public disturbance arose, since a foe, in possession of it, might easily make himself master of the rest of the city. Hence the necessity of its being secured on the present occasion. The Palatine hill was

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the residence of Romulus, and in fact, the first part of the city that 1 was inhabited. Here, in a later age, stood the imperial mansion of Augustus and his successors, and hence the origin of the modern term "palace."

8. Urbis vigiliae. When there was any alarm or disturbance in the city, or when any suspicion was entertained of public commotion or secret conspiracy, the inferior magistrates (the aediles, quaestors, and tribunes,) were entrusted by the senate with the care of the public peace, and planted guards and watches in proper places. Compare Sallust, (Cat. c. 30,) “ Ut Romae per totam urbem vigiliae haberentur, iisque minores magistratus praeessent."

9. Concursus. Several editions have consensus ("the union,") which is also given by Quintilian (9, 3, 30) in citing from this passage. The more spirited reading, however, is undoubtedly concursus.

10. Munitissimus. In dangerous emergencies, the senate were usually convened in the temple of some tutelary divinity, and not in a curia, or senate-house. The place selected, on the present occasion, was the temple of Jupiter Stator, at the foot of the Palatine hill; and it is hence called “munitissimus locus," from the circumstance of there being a guard, at the time, on the Palatine. With respect to the true position of the temple of Jupiter Stator, (which some editors very erroneously make to have been in the capitol,) consult Liv. 1, 12. Ovid. Fast. 6, 794. Nardini, 6, 12.

11. Horum ora vultusque. "The looks and countenances of these who are here assembled." Ora refers to the looks of aversion directed at Catiline by the great majority of those present; vultus to their countenances, in which were depicted anxiety and alarm. Muretus refers the words to the aversion manifested by the senators on the entrance of Catiline into the assembly, when all quitted that part of the benches where he had taken his seat. They would rather seem to refer to the deportment of the senate during all the time that he had been present.

12. Patère. "Lie open to view," i. e. are brought fully to light. —Constrictam jam horum omnium teneri. Literally, "is now held firmly grasped by the knowledge of all of these," i. e. is now become a matter of firm conviction to all who are here assembled. Constrictus is elegantly applied to whatever is firmly held in, and can no longer escape, our grasp. While the compound term conscientia (instead of the simple scientia) is employed to denote that many are acquainted with the conspiracy. Compare the explanation of Schütz, (Index Lat. s. v.,) “ Communis inter complures rei alicujus notitia."—We have given horum omnium with Graevius, instead of the common reading omnium horum.

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13. Proxima. Cicero delivered this oration on the 8th Novem ber. A meeting of the conspirators had taken place on the night of the 6th, at the house of Laeca. This is what Cicero calls not superior. The morning of the 7th was the time fixed for his assassination by the two Roman knights. During that day, Cicero caused all the movements of the conspirators to be closely watched, and ascertained also, by his secret agents, all that was done on the night of the 7th. This was the nox proxima. Compare chapter 4th, and Pro Sull. c. 18.

14. Immo vero. "Nay, indeed." Graevius omits vero, but its presence imparts additional strength to the clause. Compare Ep. ad Att. 12, 42: "Ferendus tibi in hoc error: ferendus? immo vero etiam adjuvandus." And also Tursellinus de Part. Lat. s. v. Immo.

15. Publici consilii particeps. "A sharer in the public deliberations." Cicero's object is to excite the indignation of the senate against Catiline, for his having come into that assembly, not to inquire or seek for any thing, but actually to take part in their deLiberations.

16. Viri fortes. Spoken ironically. "Men, full of courage." Cicero charges himself and the senate with cowardice, in not having before this brought Catiline to punishment.—Satisfacere reipublicae. "To be doing our duty to the state."-Istius. "Of that wretch." Pointing at Catiline. Compare note 4, page 1.

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17. In te conferri, &c. Understand jampridem, from the previous clause. Long since ought that ruin to have been heaped upon thy own head," &c. The pronoun istam tacitly implies that the ruin in question is the work of Catiline, and this idea is immediately enlarged upon in what follows, quam tu in nos omnes, &c.

18. An vero. The primitive meaning of an is “or,” and, when used interrogatively, the sentence is always elliptical. Thus, an decertare mecum voluit? "Did he wish to contend with me?" This, when resolved, is nothing more than, "Am I wrong in my surmise, or did he wish to contend with me?" So, in the present instance, an vero vir amplissimus, &c., which we translate, "Did, in fact, that very illustrious individual," &c., is, in reality, when fully expressed, "am I wrong in my assertion, or did, in fact," &c The same explanation will apply to the Greek, when used as an interrogative particle.

19. P. Scipio. The reference is to P. Scipio Nasīca. He is called privatus because the office of pontifex maximus was not a magistracy; and hence the same person could be pontifex and also consul or praetor. Compare the remarks of Muretus, ad loc. The

term privatus may, therefore, be rendered, “although filling no office of magistracy." As regards Scipio Nasica, consult Historical Index, s. v. Scipio.-Gracchum. Consult Historical Index, s. v. Gracchus, and Legal Index, s. v. Sempronia Lex.

20. Mediocriter labefactantem, &c. "When only disturbing, in a moderate degree, the settled order of things in the state." The idea literally involved is the causing what was before firmly fixed to totter, and swerve from its place. Status is here figuratively employed, in allusion to the posture or attitude of a gladiator in combat. It will be observed, that Cicero designedly extenuates the offence of Tiberius Gracchus, in order that the rigour, with which he was punished, might be conuasted the more strongly with the impunity enjoyed by Catiline.

21. Catilinam. The common text has vero after Catilinam; but since this already occurs with an, in the previous part of the sentence, and does not appear in the present passage as cited by Quintilian, (8, 4, 13,) we have rejected it with Manutius, Lambinus, and other editors. We have also given, with Schütz, terrarum, in place of the common reading terrae, the former likewise occurring in Quintilian.

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1. Nam illa, &c. Cicero here assigns a reason for other exam- 2 ples not being cited, in preference to that of Tiberius Gracchus. They were of too remote a date; whereas the movements of Grac chus had occurred at a comparatively recent period.

2. C. Servilius Ahala. Consult Historical Index, s. v. Ahala. He was magister equitum to the dictator T. Q. Cincinnatus. Ernesti first gave the true reading C. Servilius, for the common lection Q. Servilius.-Sp. Maelium. Maelius was the richest private man in the commonwealth, and more than suspected of aiming at the sovereign power, in consequence of his liberal donations of corn among the lower orders, during a season of great scarcity. Consult Historical Index, s. v. Maelius.-Novis rebus studentem. Aiming at a change in the government," i. e. plotting a revolution. 3. Ista virtus. "That degree of public virtue," i. e. of true patriotism. In our remarks on the pronoun iste and its usage by Cicero, we observed that the distinction there laid down did not hold good universally. (note 4, page 1.) The present passage furnishes a case in point. Ista is here used simply in the sense of illa, and the latter pronoun itself would no doubt have been actually employed, had it not occurred just before, in the expression "nam illa nimis,' &c. Compare, as regards the exceptions to the rule about iste, the remarks of Manutius, ad. Cic. Ep. Fam. 3, 10, (vol. 1, p. 161, ed Graev.) and Laur. Valla, de L. L. Eleg. 2, 4, p. 51.