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liaritates adpetebat: eorum animi, molles et ætate fluxi1, dolis haud difficulter capiebantur. Nam, uti cujusque studium ex ætate flagrabat, aliis scorta præbere; aliis canes atque equos mercari; postremo, neque sumptui, neque modestiæ suæ parcere, dum illos obnoxios fidosque sibi faceret....

XV. Jam primum2 adolescens Catilina multa nefanda stupra fecerat; cum virgine nobili3, cum sacerdote Vestæ, alia hujuscemodi contra jus fasque. Postremo, captus amore Aurelia Orestillæ, cujus, præter formam, nihil unquam bonus laudavit; quod ea nubere illi dubitabat, timens privignum adulta ætate; pro certo creditur, necato filio, vacuam domum scelestis nuptiis fecisse.

1 Animi...fluxi, "pliant" or "ductile." Comp. Tac. Ann. vi. 38: fluxam senio mentem. Suet. Tib. 52: Drusus animi fluxioris.

9 Jam primum, "to begin then :" not with reference to the youth of Catiline, but to the narrative in hand. Comp. Tac. Ann. iv. 6; Liv. xi. 3.

3 Cum virgine nobili. The person is not indicated. Plutarch (Vit. Cic. 10) points to Catiline's own daughter. Asconius says that he married a woman who was actually his daughter by an illicit connexion. These conflicting statements may serve to invalidate the general charge against Catiline of monstrous irregularity.

4 Cum sacerdote Vesta. This is said to have been Fabia, sister of Cicero's wife Terentia. Asconius, on Cicero's Oration in toga candida. She was acquitted of the charge. Cicero

Quæ quidem res mihi

makes no direct mention of it, but may allude to it in the passage cited by Asconius: Quum ita vixisti ut non esset locus tam sanctus quo non adventus tuus, etiam quum nulla culpa subesset, crimen afferret: on which he remarks; ita et suis pepercit et nihilo levius inimico summi opprobrii turpitudinem objecit.

5 Alia. Without the copula, as Catil. 21. 48. 57.

6 Orestillæ. Probably of the family of L. Aurelius Orestes, L. f. L. n. who was consul A.U. 597. An Aufidius Orestes was consul A.U. 683.

7 Necato filio. Comp. Cic. in Catil. i. 6. quum morte superioris uxoris novis nuptiis domum vacuam fecisses. The story is repeated by Valerius Maximus, ix. 1.9. Cicero tells a similar story of one Oppianicus, in the speech for Cluentius, c. 9.

in primis videtur caussa fuisse facinoris maturandi. Namque animus impurus, dis hominibusque infestus1, neque vigiliis, neque quietibus 2 sedari poterat; ita conscientia mentem excitam vastabat3. Igitur colos exsanguis, fœdi oculi1, citus modo, modo tardus incessus; prorsus in facie vultuque vecordia inerat.

XVI. Sed juventutem, quam, ut supra diximus, illexerat, multis modis mala facinora edocebat. Ex illis testes signatoresque" falsos commodare'; fidem, fortunas, pericula vilia habere; post, ubi eorum famam atque pudorem attriverat, majora alias imperabat: si caussa peccandi in præsens minus suppetebat; nihilo minus insontes, sicuti sontes, circumvenire, jugulare: scilicet, ne per otium torpescerent manus aut animus, gratuito potius malus atque crudelis erat. His ami

1 Infestus, "hateful," passive; more commonly active, "hostile."

2 Quietibus. So the plural in Cicero, de Off. i. 29. somno et quietibus cæteris; though it is there used not for sleep, but for other modes of refreshing the body.

3 Vastabat, "spoiled, ravaged," i. q. diripiebat. This is the reading of a majority of MSS.: the editions very commonly adopt the easier reading vexabat. Comp. Jugur. 41. avaritia polluere et vastare omnia.

4 Fœdioculi, "discoloured," "bloodshot."

5 Prorsus, "in short." Joined with a verb at the end of a sentence, i. q. ut paucis complectar. Comp. Catil. 25. prorsus multæ facetiæ leposque inerat.

6 Signatores. Persons who at

tested wills with their seals. Comp. Suet. Tib. 23.

7 Commodare:"from among these persons he was wont to offer the services of false witnesses." Commodare, the historic infin.

Both

8 Habere ... majora alia. the infin. and the subst. governed by imperabat. Comp. Hor. Od. i. 2, 50. Hic magnos potius triumphos, Hic ames dici pater atque princeps. i. 1, 19. Est qui nec veteris pocula Massici, Nec partem solido demere de die Spernit. For the change from the infin. to the imperf. comp. Catil. 54. nihil denegare...tibi nagnum imperium ex optabat; and c. 56.

9 Gratuito, "wantonly," i. e. with no immediate motive or temptation: hence, "in vain," "to no purpose:" Liv. i. 47. jam enim a scelere ad aliud

cis sociisque confisus Catilina, simul quod æs alienum per omnes terras ingens erat1, et quod plerique Sullani milites2, largius suo usi, rapinarum et victoriæ veteris memores, civile bellum exoptabant; opprimendæ reipublicæ consilium cepit. In Italia3 nullus exercitus : Cn. Pompeius in extremis terris bellum gerebat: ipsi consulatum petenti5 magna spes: senatus nihil sane intentus: tutæ tranquillæque res omnes; sed ea prorsus opportuna Catilinæ.

XVII. Igitur circiter Kalendas Junias, L. Cæsare et C. Figulo9 consulibus, primo singulos adpel

spectare mulier scelus...ac gratuita præterita parricidia essent. For the sentiment compare Cic. de Off. ii. 24. of Cæsar, ut hoc ipsum eum delectaret, peccare, etiam si causa non esset.

1 Quod as alienum per omnes terras ingens erat, "because in every country there were men deeply in debt;" and therefore interested in the success of a social revolution.

2 Sullani milites. The veterans of Sulla's legions, many thousands of whom he had settled in colonies throughout Italy. These fortunate soldiers soon squandered the produce of their estates, contracted debts, and having no habits of peaceful industry, only looked to new commotions to retrieve themselves. Comp. Catil. 37. and Cic. in Catil. ii. 9. in tantum æs alienum inciderunt, ut si salvi esse velint Sulla sit iis ab inferis excitandus.

3 In Italia. The republic never maintained a standing army in Italy: its legions were all occupied in the

provinces. The police of Rome and the large towns was kept by the citizens themselves, and the consuls and chief magistrates had only a few lictors and archers in attendance upon them.

4 In extr. terris. Pompey was engaged, under the provisions of the Manilian bill, which gave him proconsular power over all the provinces of the east, in subduing Mithridates, king of Pontus, and in ordering the affairs of the eastern frontier. Comp. Lucan, iv. 1. At procul extremis terrarum Cæsar in oris, i. e. Spain.

5 Consulatum petenti. Catiline first stood for the consulship A. u. 688. Being thwarted in this attempt he still hoped to succeed at a subsequent opportunity: his suit for the consulship is therefore spoken of as still proceeding.

6 Nihil, "in no respect at all:" more emphatic than the simple non. 7 Kal.Junias, "the first of June:" A. U. 690. B. C. 64.

8 L. Cæsare, i. e. L. Julius Cæsar,

lare1: hortari alios, alios tentare: opes suas, imparatam rempublicam, magna præmia conjurationis docere. Ubi satis explorata sunt, quæ voluit2, in unum3 omnes convocat, quibus maxima necessitudo1, et plurimum audaciæ inerat. Eo convenere, senatorii ordinis, P. Lentulus Sura5, P. Autronius, L. Cassius Longinus', C. Cethegus, P. et Servius Sullæ, Servii filii,

a connexion, but distant, of C. Cæsar the dictator, and uncle by his sister Julia, of M. Antonius the triumvir.

9 C. Figulo, i. e. C. Marcius Figulus: adopted into the Marcian gens, his original name being C. Minucius Thermus.

1 Singulos appellare, "he addressed various persons separately:" appellare, "to appeal with urgency." Comp. Jugur. 14.

2 Ubi satis explorata sunt quæ voluit, "when he had fully discovered all he wanted," i.e. the temper and disposition of the persons he sounded. To express, "when others had discovered what he wanted," would require quæ vellet.

3 In unum, "together," "so as to meet one another." It is not neces

sary to supply locum.

4 Necessitudo, not "connexion" in this place, but "necessity," "straits." After necessitudo supply erat, which is comprehended in inerat.

5 P. Lentulus Sura, of the Cornelian gens: consul A. u. 683. He had been expelled from the senate for licentious conduct. He was induced by pretended Sibylline oracles to believe that three Cornelii should be monarchs of Rome, two of whom,

Cinna and Sulla, had fulfilled their destiny, and that he was himself fated to be the third. See Plutarch, Vit. Cicer. 17. The cognomen Sura, means

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an ancle." Sulla is a diminutive of the same meaning.

6 P. Autronius, surnamed Pætus : see the following chapter.

7 L. Cassius Longinus. This man was a competitor with Cicero in suing for the consulship: he was remarkable for his corpulence. See Cic. in Catil. iii. 7. nec mihi esse P. Lentuli somnum, nec L. Cassii adipem, nec Cethegi furiosam temeritatem pertimescendam. He undertook the charge of setting the city on fire.

8 C. Cethegus. One of the Cornelian gens. He was, next to Catiline, the prime mover of the conspiracy, and was notorious for his ferocity and boldness. He is called by Lucan, Cethegus of the bared arm. ii. 544. exsertique manus vesana Cethegi. vi. 794. Mariique truces, nudique Cethegi.

9 P. and Serv. Cornelius Sulla were nephews of the dictator, sons of his brother Servius. Publius was absolved from the charge of conspiracy with Catiline, being defended by Ci

cero.

L. Vargunteius', Q. Annius?, M. Porcius Læca3, L. Bestia, Q. Curius: præterea ex equestri ordine, M. Fulvius Nobilior, L. Statilius, P. Gabinius Capito, C. Cornelius: ad hoc multi ex coloniis et municipiis, domi nobiles o. Erant præterea complures paullo occultius consilii hujusce participes nobiles, quos magis dominationis spes hortabatur, quam inopia, aut alia necessitudo. Ceterum juventus pleraque, sed maxime nobilium, Catilinæ inceptis favebat. Quibus in otio vel magnifice, vel molliter vivere copia erat, incerta pro certis, bellum, quam pacem, malebant. Fuere item ea tempestate, qui crederent M. Licinium Crassum non ignarum ejus consilii fuisse; quia Cn.

1 L. Vargunteius. This man undertook to assassinate Cicero in his house. He had been Cicero's colleague in the quæstorship: accused of bribery and defended by Hortensius, but condemned. See Cic. pro Sulla, 2, 5.

2 Q. Annius. This person is unknown; but Cicero mentions an uncle of Catiline's named L. Annius, who had been condemned judicially in the year 690.

3 M. Porcius Læca, at whose house the conspirators met, Catil. 27. Comp. Cic. pro Sull. 2. and in Catil. i. 4.

4 L. Bestia, of the gens Calpurnia. He was tribune of the people in the year of the conspiracy. Escaping condemnation, he became afterwards ædile, A. U. 696.

5 Q. Curius. Of this man see further, Catil. 23, 28. The senate voted him a reward as the discoverer

of the conspiracy; but Cicero was induced to declare that it had been first disclosed to him by C. Cæsar, and the reward was taken from Curius. See Suet. Vit. Jul. 17.

6 Domi nobiles, "noble," i. e. "distinguished by their family honours and magistracies in their native cities." At Rome a man became nobilis by serving a curule magistracy; i. e. becoming consul, prætor, ædile or censor.

7 M. Licinium Crassum. This Crassus belonged to a branch of the family surnamed Dives. He was himself proverbially the richest of the Romans. He was ambitious of becoming the chief of the commonwealth, and trimmed between the Marians and the senate. Finding himself outstripped in popularity and fame by Pompey, he leagued with him and Cæsar, and formed an alliance which received the name of a triumvirate: which im

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