Chapter 7

[247] _Male consulere_, 'to form bad' or 'injurious resolutions.' [248] _Perse_. Respecting the forms of this name, see Zumpt, SS 52, 54. [249] _An_ must be explained by supplying another interrogation before it, such as _alione?_ 'had that speech any other object, or had it this one?' for _an_ is used only in the second part of a double question. [250] 'To be sure words will fire him on, whom the thing itself did not move'--that is, words are sure not to rouse him whom the thing itself did not move; for _scilicet_ has an ironical force. [251] _Injuriae suae_, 'the injuries done to him.' [252] 'Many have taken them more seriously to heart than was necessary.' It is more common to say _gravius tulerunt_. The perfect, _habuere_, in expressing a general truth, has the sense of a present, or rather of a Greek aorist, denoting that which once happened, and still continues to happen. Compare p.22, note 2 [note 68]. [253] _Vitam habent_ for _vitam agunt_, which is more common. Sallust is very fond of the verb _habere_ in certain phrases. See _Jug_. 10. [254] _Equidem ego_ for _ego quidem_. See Zumpt, S 278. [255] _Inimicitiae_. About this plural, see Zumpt, S 94. The singular _inimicitia_ is not used at all. [256] 'Such I know to be the character of the man.' [257] _Subigere_ here, as in many other passages of Sallust, has the meaning of _cogere, invitum impellere_ ('to force a person to something'), followed by an infinitive instead of a clause with _ut_. [258] _Id quod res habet_, 'that which is in the nature of the thing.' Caesar hereby means to represent his opinion as philosophically correct, and in accordance with nature. _Id quod_ belong together. [259] Such had indeed been the custom in former times. The condemned person, previous to being beheaded with the axe, was bound to a post and scourged. This barbarous punishment continued to be inflicted sometimes even at a later period, when it was expressly mentioned in the verdict that the criminal should be punished _more majorum_. _Animadvertere_ is the proper expression for the infliction of bodily punishment by a lictor, who _has to pay attention to his orders_; but it is also used of the person who gives the order, and causes it to be carried into effect, just as _interficere_ is said both of the executioner and the person who orders a man to be put to death. [260] This law, proposed by one Porcius, and passed by the people, forbade the scourging of Roman citizens on the naked body; so that, after the passing of that law, an execution consisted simply in beheading a criminal with the sword; and if he was a soldier, flogging took the place of scourging. The celebrated M. Porcius Cato, about B. C. 160, recommended this bill to the people; but it was not he who proposed it, but an unknown person of the name of Porcius, probably a tribune of the people. [261] There were no Roman laws forbidding capital punishment, or substituting exile in its place, and for this reason Caesar does not refer to any such law. He supports his view only by the circumstance that, in all the more recent laws, especially in the criminal law of Sulla, exile (_interdictio aquae et ignis_) was fixed upon as the extreme penalty; and that according to the usual indulgence (not sanctioned by any law), accused persons, if they denied being guilty, and were defended by some one, remained in the enjoyment of their freedom until the sentence was passed. Thus it happened that a person, foreseeing his condemnation, might quit the Roman territory, and take up his abode within the territory of some town or city where the Roman law was not in force, and where the Roman state placed no obstacles in his way. [262] 'How is it consistent?' Respecting _qui_ for _quomodo_ or _quo pacto_, see Zumpt, S 133, note. The _minus negotium_ is the scourging, and the _majus negotium_ the execution. [263] _At enim_ introduces an objection raised by the orator himself. _At_ represents the objection, and _enim_ introduces an explanation of it. See Zumpt, S 349. [264] Caesar means to say that the present senate, which, as he flatteringly says, consists of worthy men, will not abuse the power of putting Roman citizens to death; but that a subsequent senate, taking such an example as a precedent, might abuse its power. It must be observed that the Roman senate possessed the power over the life and death of citizens, not by virtue of legal enactments, but only by ancient custom. This power legally belonged only to the people assembled in the Comitia Centuriata, or to those to whom the people expressly intrusted it--namely, the ordinary and extraordinary courts of justice. It may seem surprising that Caesar does not express himself more energetically against the right claimed by the senate; but he would certainly have spoken in vain, for it was every senator's interest that the power of the senate should be recognised in its greatest extent, even though it should not be exercised in every particular case. [265] That is, the so-called thirty tyrants in the year B. C. 404. [266] _Ea_; for this accusative, see Zumpt, S 385. [267] _Damasippus_ was only a surname of the praetor M. Junius Brutus, who in the year B. C. 82 put to death a great many Roman nobles of the party of Sulla. [268] Namely, by Sulla, after he had been made dictator. [269] _Pleraque_; most of the ensigns and distinctions by which the magistrates were distinguished from private persons, especially the _toga praetexta_, _sella curulis_, _fasces_ (which were carried by the lictors), and, above all, the splendid procession of the _triumphatores_. [270] _Legibus_ is here a pleonasm, and might have been omitted. We must here repeat that Caesar makes an artful application of the circumstance that, in all the late criminal laws, the _interdictio aquae et ignis_ was fixed as the severest punishment, as if thereby a person had been simply permitted to withdraw from the republic. The _interdictio_ was a much more severe punishment, inasmuch as the person on whom it was inflicted lost all his rights as a citizen, and as every one was forbidden to receive him into his house, so that he was a complete outcast. Wherever these regulations were not carried into effect, and even in case a criminal made his escape before the sentence was pronounced, we can see nothing but an abuse of clemency. [271] _Quominus_ is here used because the leading clause conveys the idea of a hindrance; but _ne_ also might have been written. [272] _Per municipia_, 'among the municipia.' See Zumpt, S 301.

52. Postquam Caesar dicendi finem fecit, ceteri verbo alius alii varie assentiebantur: at M. Porcius Cato, rogatus sententiam, hujuscemodi orationem habuit: 'Longe mihi alia mens est, P. C., quum res atque pericula nostra considero, et quum sententias nonnullorum mecum ipse reputo.[273] Illi mihi disseruisse videntur de poena eorum, qui patriae, parentibus, aris atque focis suis bellum paravere; res autem monet cavere ab illis magis quam, quid in illos statuamus, consultare. Nam cetera maleficia tum persequare, ubi facta sunt; hoc nisi provideris ne accidat, ubi evenit, frustra judicia implores; capta urbe nihil fit reliqui victis. Sed, per deos immortales, vos ego appello, qui semper domos, villas, signa, tabulas vestras pluris quam rem publicam fecistis,[274] si ista, cujuscunque modi sunt quae amplexamini, retinere, si voluptatibus vestris otium praebere vultis, expergiscimini aliquando et capessite rem publicam.[275] Non agitur de vectigalibus neque de sociorum injuriis: libertas et anima nostra in dubio est. Saepenumero, P. C., multa verba in hoc ordine feci,[276] saepe de luxuria atque avaritia nostrorum civium questus sum, multosque mortales ea causa adversos habeo; qui mihi atque animo meo nullius unquam delicti gratiam fecissem,[277] haud facile alterius libidini male facta condonabam. Sed ea tametsi vos parvi pendebatis, tamen res publica firma erat; opulentia neglegentiam tolerabat.[278] Nunc vero non id agitur, bonisne an malis moribus vivamus, neque quantum aut quam magnificum imperium, populi Romani sit, sed haec cujuscunque modi videntur, nostra an nobiscum una hostium futura sint. Hic mihi quisquam mansuetudinem et misericordiam nominat.[279] Jampridem equidem[280] nos vera vocabula rerum amisimus, quia bona aliena largiri liberalitas, malarum rerum audacia fortitudo vocatur, eo[281] res publica in extremo sita est. Sint sane, quoniam ita se mores habent, liberales ex sociorum fortunis, sint misericordes in furibus aerarii; ne illi sanguinem nostrum largiantur, et[282] dum paucis sceleratis parcunt, bonos omnes perditum eant. Bene et composite G. Caesar paulo ante in hoc ordine de vita et morte disseruit, credo falsa existimans ea, quae de inferis memorantur, diverso itinere malos a bonis loca taetra, inculta, foeda atque formidolosa habere. Itaque censuit pecunias eorum publicandas, ipsos per municipia in custodiis habendos; videlicet timens, ne, si Romae sint, aut a popularibus conjurationis aut a multitudine conducta per vim eripiantur. Quasi vero mali atque scelesti tantummodo in urbe et non[283] per totam Italiam sint, aut non ibi plus possit audacia, ubi ad defendendum opes minores sunt. Quare vanum equidem hoc consilium est, si periculum ex illis metuit; sin in tanto omnium metu solus non timet, eo magis refert[284] me mihi atque vobis timere. Quare quum de P. Lentulo ceterisque statuetis, pro certo habetote,[285] vos simul de exercitu Catilinae et de omnibus conjuratis decernere. Quanto vos attentius ea agetis, tanto illis animus infirmior erit; si paululum modo vos languere viderint, jam omnes feroces aderunt.[286] Nolite existimare, majores nostros armis rem publicam ex parva magnam fecisse.[287] Si ita res esset, multo pulcherrimam eam nos haberemus; quippe sociorum atque civium, praeterea armorum atque equorum major nobis copia quam illis est. Sed alia fuere, quae illos magnos fecere, quae nobis nulla sunt, domi industria, foris justum imperium, animus in consulendo liber, neque delicto neque libidini obnoxius.[288] Pro his nos habemus luxuriam atque avaritiam, publice egestatem, privatim opulentiam; laudamus divitias, sequimur inertiam; inter bonos et malos discrimen nullum est; omnia virtutis praemia ambitio possidet. Neque mirum: ubi vos separatim sibi quisque consilium capitis, ubi domi voluptatibus, hic[289] pecuniae aut gratiae servitis, eo fit, ut impetus fiat in vacuam[290] rem publicam. Sed ego haec omitto. Conjuravere nobilissimi cives patriam incendere,[291] Gallorum gentem infestissimam nomini Romano ad bellum accersunt; dux hostium cum exercitu supra caput est: vos cunctamini etiamnunc, quid intra moenia deprensis hostibus faciatis?[292] Misereamini censeo[293],--deliquere homines adolescentuli per ambitionem,--atque etiam armatos dimittatis. Nae ista vobis mansuetudo et misericordia, si illi arma ceperint in miseriam onvertet.[294] Scilicet res ipsa aspera est, sed vos non timetis eam.[295] Immo vero[296] maxime; sed inertia et mollitia animi alius alium expectantes cunctamini, videlicet dis immortalibus confisi, qui hanc rem publicam saepe in maximis periculis servavere. Non votis neque suppliciis muliebribus auxilia deorum parantur; vigilando, agendo, bene consulendo prospera omnia cedunt; ubi socordiae te atque ignaviae tradideris, nequidquam deos implores;[297] irati infestique sunt. Apud majores nostros A. Manlius Torquatus bello Gallico filium suum, quod is contra imperium in hostem pugnaverat, necare jussit,[298] atque ille egregius adolescens immoderatae fortitudinis morte poenas dedit: vos de crudelissimis parricidis quid statuatis cunctamini? Videlicet cetera vita eorum huic sceleri obstat. Verum parcite dignitati Lentuli, si ipse pudicitiae, si famae suae, si dis aut hominibus unquam ullis pepercit; ignoscite Cethegi adolescentiae, nisi iterum jam patriae bellum fecit. Nam quid ego de Gabinio, Statilio, Caepario loquar? quibus si quidquam[299] unquam pensi fuisset, non ea consilia de re publica habuissent. Postremo, P. C., si mehercule peccato locus esset,[300] facile paterer vos ipsa re corrigi, quoniam verba contemnitis; sed undique circumventi sumus. Catilina cum exercitu faucibus urguet:[301] alii intra moenia atque in sinu urbis sunt hostes: neque parari neque consuli quidquam potest occulte; quo magis properandum est. Quare ita ego censeo: quum nefario consilio sceleratorum civium res publica in maxima pericula venerit, iique indicio T. Volturcii et legatorum Allobrogum convicti confessique sint caedem, incendia aliaque se foeda atque crudelia facinora in cives patriamque paravisse, de confessis sicuti de manifestis rerum capitalium more majorum supplicium sumendum.'

[273] Cato says, '_When I consider the danger of our situation, I form quite a different view_ from what I do when I reflect upon the opinions expressed by some about the punishment of the criminals; for the present danger demands energetic measures of defence, while some of you are speaking only about the punishment of a crime already committed. But such a view is incorrect, for we are still surrounded by the greatest dangers.' [274] _Pluris facere_, 'to esteem higher.' [275] _Capessere rem publicam_, 'to take part in the administration of the state,' or 'to devote one's self to its service.' [276] _Verba facere_, 'to speak,' or 'to make a speech.' [277] 'I who had never connived at any of my bad acts'--that is, I who had never given way to my own weaknesses. About this subjunctive expressing the reason why the orator does not allow the faults of others to pass unnoticed, see Zumpt, SS 555, 558. [278] 'The strength of the state bore the negligence' in restraining the arbitrary proceedings in which individuals indulged. [279] 'And here any one will speak to me of clemency and mercy!' alluding to Caesar. The negative pronoun _quisquam_ is used because the meaning implied is, that no one ought to have done so. See Zumpt, S 709. [280] _Equidem_ for _quidem_, as often in Sallust, but never in Cicero. The meaning is: 'We have indeed (_quidem_) long since lost the habit of calling things by their true names, but this erroneous application of the word _mercy_ is not to be borne.' [281] _Eo_; Cicero would have said _ea re_. [282] Instead of _et_, the author might have used _neve_ (_neu_), since from the preceding clause we have to supply _ne_ to _et_. This is not a very common mode of speaking; but it occurs most frequently when, after a negative clause, _et_ introduces a kind of antithesis, and thus acquires the power of _sed_. [283] _Et non_ corrects the untrue supposition, that there were no rebels except at Rome. In such a case we can neither use _non_ without _et_, nor _neque_. See Zumpt, S 334. [284] 'If Caesar alone is unconcerned, it is more requisite (necessary or important) that I should be concerned for me and for you.' About _refert_, see Zumpt, SS 23, 449, note. [285] _Habetote_; this future imperative denotes that something is to be done when something else shall take place. Zumpt, S 583. [286] The meaning is: 'All will be there immediately'--that is, they will rise to make the attack. [287] Cato means to say, 'It is a wrong opinion that our state has become great by arms; for if this were true, it would now be in the most flourishing condition, as our military power is now greater than it ever was. The republic has become great much more by the activity of the citizens, and by the justice of the government, and it is this activity and stern justice that must be restored.' [288] _Obnoxius_, 'subject to a punishment,' or 'to be injured (_noxa_);' hence, figuratively, 'bound,' 'dependent.' Our ancestors, says Cato, could deliberate and judge without bias, for their minds were not crippled either by crimes they had committed, nor by immoderate desires and passions--a hint intimating that those who were in favour of lenient measures were conscious of their own guilt, and not free from bad intentions. [289] _Hic_--that is, in the senate, in discussing matters of public importance, you allow yourselves to be guided only by your desire to gain money and popularity, being anxious not to offend any one who may be in your way. [290] _Vacuam_--namely, _a defensoribus_, 'defenceless,' 'helpless.' [291] _Incendere_, a free use of the infinitive for _ad patriam incendendam_. [292] A question expressive of wonder, in which the interrogative particles are commonly not used. See Zumpt, S 351, note. [293] Ironically: 'I am of opinion that you should have mercy, and dismiss the criminals.' The subjunctive without _ut_ depends upon the verb _censeo_; it is not a subjunctive for an imperative. [294] 'Assuredly this clemency of yours will end in misery.' Respecting _nae_, see Zumpt, S 360; and on the transitive sense of _vertere_, S 145. [295] The sentence beginning with _scilicet_ is again ironical. The sense, without the irony, is: 'Nor can it be supposed that you consider the matter indeed difficult, but that you are without fear. You are, on the contrary, full of fear, but you hesitate.' [296] _Immo vero_, 'oh no; on the contrary.' See Zumpt, S 277. [297] Respecting this form of hypothetical sentences, see Zumpt, S 524, note 1. The verb in the apodosis might be _implorabis_, without altering the meaning. [298] This statement differs in two points from the current tradition of history. First, the praenomen of this Manlius is commonly _Titus_, and so we must no doubt correct here, even though the manuscripts have _Aulus_. Secondly, he did not show his severe military discipline towards his son in the Gallic war, but in the great Latin war, which ended, in B.C. 340, with the subjugation of Latium. Manlius ordered his son to be executed in presence of the army; and to characterise that harsh severity, the orator uses the word _necare_ instead of _interficere_ or _occidere_. [299] _Quidquam_ is stronger than _siquid_--that is, the expression of the negative is more strongly marked in the protasis. [300] 'If there were room for a mistake'--namely, in the resolution to be come to. The meaning is: 'No time is to be lost, since, if you come to a wrong determination, you will be ruined before you have time to correct your decision.' [301] 'Is upon our necks,' a figurative expression, properly applied to a wrestler who seizes another by the throat.

53. Postquam Cato assedit, consulares omnes itemque senatus magna pars sententiam ejus laudant, virtutem animi ad coelum ferunt, alii alios increpantes timidos vocant, Cato clarus atque magnus habetur, senati decretum fit, sicuti ille censuerat. Sed mihi multa legenti, multa audienti, quae populus Romanus domi militiaeque, mari atque terra praeclara facinora fecit, forte libuit attendere, quae res maxime tanta negotia sustinuisset.[302] Sciebam saepenumero parva manu cum magnis legionibus hostium contendisse; cognoveram parvis copiis bella gesta cum opulentis regibus, ad hoc saepe fortunae violentiam toleravisse, facundia Graecos, gloria belli Gallos ante Romanos fuisse. Ac mihi multa agitanti constabat, paucorum civium egregiam virtutem cuncta patravisse,[303] eoque factum, uti divitias paupertas, multitudinem paucitas superaret. Sed postquam luxu atque desidia civitas corrupta est, rursus res publica magnitudine sua imperatorum atque magistratuum vitia sustentabat, ac, sicuti effeta parentum,[304] multis tempestatibus haud sane quisquam Romae virtute magnus fuit. Sed memoria mea ingenti virtute, diversis moribus fuere viri duo, M. Cato et G. Caesar; quos quoniam res obtulerat, silentio praeterire non fuit consilium, quin[305] utriusque naturam et mores, quantum ingenio possem, aperirem.

[302] 'What has chiefly helped in carrying out such great undertakings.' _Negotium sustinere_, 'to be able to carry out a business,' representing the _negotium_ as a burden. [303] Sallust states that, after mature consideration of all the circumstances, he has come to the conviction that the merit of individual citizens had raised Rome to its supremacy over the world, but that afterwards there were no men of importance, or excelling others by mental superiority, and that the state, as a whole, alone made the faults of individuals bearable. We must honour the judgment of Sallust, but cannot agree with it; we must rather believe that the unvarying ability of the whole Roman people, notwithstanding the not very prominent minds of individuals, was the cause of the rapid progress of the Roman dominion. In the later times, on the other hand, we meet a Scipio the younger, a Marius, a Sulla, a Pompey, and a Caesar, all of whom were men or generals of eminent talent, while all those who served under them were persons of inferior abilities. [304] _Effeta parentum_, the same as _effeta parens_, 'a mother who has had children, but can have no more.' Respecting the partitive genitive (as in _aliqui militum_ for _aliqui milites_), see Zumpt, S 430. The author in the progress of his sentence abandons the construction with which he began, and which ought to have been continued thus: _Roma haud sane quemquam virtute magnum protulit_, for which he says, _Romae haud sane quisquam virtute magnus fuit_. This deviation from the construction may be explained still more easily, if in our mind we add _facit_ to the words _sicuti effeta parentum_, 'as is the case with an aged mother.' _Multis tempestatibus_, 'during a long time.' The singular _tempestas_ in the sense of 'time' is not uncommon, but the plural _tempestates_ in the sense of 'periods of time' occurs only in Sallust in this passage, and _Jug_. 73, 96, and 108. [305] _Quin_ is used regularly for _ut non_ after a negative clause: 'I would not pass them over in silence, without unfolding their characters.'

54. Igitur his genus, aetas, eloquentia prope aequalia fuere; magnitudo animi par, item gloria, sed alia alii.[306] Caesar beneficiis ac munificentia magnus habebatur, integritate vitae Cato. Ille mansuetudine et misericordia clarus factus, huic severitas dignitatem addiderat. Caesar dando, sublevando, ignoscendo, Cato nihil largiundo gloriam adeptus est. In altero miseris perfugium erat, in altero malis pernicies; illius facilitas, hujus constantia laudabatur. Postremo Caesar in animum induxerat laborare, vigilare; negotiis amicorum intentus sua neglegere, nihil denegare, quod dono dignum esset; sibi magnum imperium, exercitum, bellum novum exoptabat, ubi virtus enitescere posset. At Catoni studium modestiae, decoris, sed maxime severitatis erat. Non divitiis cum divite, neque factione cum factioso, sed cum strenuo virtute, cum modesto pudore, cum innocente abstinentia certabat, esse quam videri bonus malebat; ita quo minus petebat gloriam, eo magis ilium sequebatur.[307]

[306] 'But the one a different one from the other.' The Latin custom of repeating the same word obliges the author, having once said _alia_, to use _alii_, which, strictly speaking, should be _alteri_, as he is speaking of only two persons. [307] 'The less he strove after fame, the more it followed him of itself,' so that _gloria_ must be supplied.