# First Oration of Cicero Against Catiline with Notices, Notes and Complete Vocabulary

## CHAPTER I.

Book page: https://www.cyberlibrary.org/la/books/first-oration-of-cicero-against-catiline-with-notices-notes-and-021ce349/index.md

§ 1.--

1: _quousque--nostra?_ “How far, then, Catiline, will you trample upon our patience?” The abrupt opening of the speech shows the feelings of the orator whose indignation was naturally aroused when the conspirator dared to appear in the Senate after being declared a public enemy (_hostis patriae_). --_tandem_: “pray:” cp. δῆτα. --_abutere_: a future, as shown by _eludet, jactabit_. Cicero prefers the more poetic termination _-re_ to _-ris_ in the imperf. and fut. indic. and in the pres. and impf. subj. pass. In the pres. indic. he rarely uses it. Madvig. § 114.6. --_nostra_: Cicero includes the Senators and Consuls.

2: _etiam_: “still,” belongs to _quamdiu_.

3: _furor iste_: note the energy imparted by personifying _furor_ and _audacia_. --_iste_ is strictly a pronoun demonstrative of the second person: _iste locus_, “the place where you are standing:” _ista verba_: “the words you utter.” It often had a contemptuous meaning in Cicero’s orations.

4: _eludet_: “will turn us into mockery:” a gladiatorial term of avoiding a thrust by the rapid movement of the body: hence, to baffle, deceive, and, as here, to mock. --_Nos_ is omitted by some editors.

5: _quem--audacia_: “to what length will your unbridled audacity proceed?” --_quem ad finem_ = _quousque_ or _quamdiu_. According to Schultz _quousque_ puts the more general question of _time_ and _degree_: _quamdiu_, the more special question, of _time_ only: _quem ad finem_: of _degree_ only.

6: _jactabit_ = _insolenter se efferet: se jactare_, “to toss the head contemptuously,” “to walk with a conceited swing.”

7: _nihilne--moverunt?_ “Have the guards nightly stationed on the Palatine nothing daunted you? Nothing, the sentinels of the city; nothing, the trepidation of the people; nothing, the thronging together of all patriotic (citizens); nothing, this most impregnable place for convening the Senate; nothing, the countenances and looks of these?” Observe the emphatic position of _nihil_ in the beginning of successive clauses (_anaphora_). --_Palatii_: the Palatine hill was adjacent to the Forum. It was here that Augustus built a splendid mansion: hence our word _palace_ from the residence of the emperor built on the _Palatium_. In times of danger the Palatium, one of the most important military posts of the city, was occupied by a guard. Originally the word meant the “feeding place:” root _pal, pascere_: cp. _Pales, Palilia_. Varro derives it from _pal_, “to wander:” cp. _palor_. It may have been the “common” for cattle in early days. --_Vigiliae_: under the republic, on emergencies, the _triumviri capitales, aediles_ or _tribuni plebis_ acting as a kind of police appointed night watches to keep order. --_timor populi_: cp. Sallust. Cat.: C. 31: _immutata urbis facies erat: ex summa laetitia atque lascivia ... repente omnes tristitia invasit_. --_bonorum omnium_: with _bonus_: cp. ἀγαθός, often used in the sense of “patriotic,” opposed to _malus civis_, κακός: “unpatriotic.” --_locus_: the Senate was usually convened on the Kalends, Nones and Ides of each month, and the meeting usually held in the Curia Hostilia. Extraordinary meetings (_senatus indictus_) as the present one were convened in some temple, or other place consecrated by the augurs. The present meeting was held in the temple of Juppiter Stator, near the _via sacra_, at the foot of the Palatine, which might be said to be _munitissimus_ from the special guard there as well as from its position. --_ora vultusque_: the former denotes the natural and habitual state, as expressed by the mouth and the lower part of the face: while the latter indicates the temporary and changing state, as expressed by the motion of the eye and brow.

8: _constrictam--vides_: “do you not see that your conspiracy has already come within the privity of all these?” literally, “is held bound by.” Orelli distinguishes between _non_ and _nonne_ in direct questions. Where _non_ is used, the speaker, sure of his opinion, does not heed the answer of the opponent; where _nonne_ is used, the speaker expects and wishes that the person questioned will agree with him. --_constrictam teneri_: the metaphor is taken from chaining a wild beast to which he here compares the conspiracy.

9: _proxima_: this speech was delivered November 8th: so _nox proxima_ would be the night of 7th: --_nox superior_, the night of the 6th, also called _nox prior_, § 8. On this occasion they were at the house of M. Porcius Laeca. What they did on the _nox proxima_ we are not informed. --_egeris, fueris, convocaveris, ceperis_: subjunctive of dependent question: H. 529, I.

10: _nostrûm_: distinguish _nostrum_ used partitively and _nostri_ used possessively.

§ 2.--

1: _vivit? immo vero_: Cicero often connects a word by putting that word in the form of a question with or without _dicam_ and answering it by _immo_. According to Madvig, (§ 454) _immo_ corrects a former statement as being quite inaccurate, or too weak, though true as far as it goes. --_immo vero_: “nay, indeed.”

2: _in senatum venit_: as _vir praetorius_ Catiline had a right to enter the Senate.

3: _notat et designat_: a metaphor from the marking of the animals appointed for sacrifice. Cicero often uses synonymous words to impress the idea more strongly: “he marks and stamps each one of us for slaughter:” cp. Leg. Man. 3, 7. _Cives Romanes necandos trucidandosque denotavit._

4: _viri fortes_: ironical.

5: _videmur_, scil. _nobis_: “we fancy that we are doing our duty to the state.”

6: _si--vitemus_: for the subj. in _protasis_, and indic. in _apodosis_, see H. 511.

7: _ad mortem--opportebat_: “to death long ago, O Catiline, ought you to have been dragged by the order of the consul?” Note the emphatic position of _ad mortem. --duci_: for the present inf: see. H., 537, I. --_jussu consulis_: the Senate had entrusted the safety of the State by the _decretum ultimum_ (_videant consules, ne quid detrimenti respublica capiat_). By the power vested in the consuls in consequence of this decree they had the power to put Catiline to death.

8: _in te--machinaris_: “On you should that ruin long since have been hurled which you for a long time have been plotting against us all.” Join _jampridem_ from the previous clause with _conferri_. The present tense in Latin with _jamdiu_ includes past tense: cf. πάλαι λέγω, _jamdiu dico_: “I have long ago told you and do so still.” --_machinari_; μηχανᾶσθαι, to plan by _artful_ and _secret_ means: _moliri_, to plan by _strong_ effort.

§ 3.--

1: _An vero_: the original force of _an_ is “or,” and when used interrogatively the sentence is elliptical. Here we may supply: “Am I right in my conjecture or, in fact, did that illustrious man, P. Scipio, chief pontiff, though filling no magistracy, slay Tiberius Gracchus when slightly disturbing the settled order of the State.” We may conveniently translate here _an vero_ by: “while, in fact.” The argument here is _a minore ad majus_. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica consul with D. Junius Brutus 138 B.C. Cicero probably adds _pontifex maximus_ to remind his hearers of the high dignity and prudence which a man gifted with this office would possess. He also uses _privatus_ because in contrast to _consules_, the office of _pontifex maximus_ not being a _magistratus_. _Tiberium Gracchum_: see Proper Names --_mediocriter labefactantem_: Cicero designedly extenuates the guilt of Gracchus to heighten the crimes of Catiline. In fact, the orator represents the guilt of Gracchus in different lights according to the exigencies of his cause: cp. De Leg. Ag., 2, 5, 10: De Off. II., 12, 43. --_Catilinam_: emphatic position: “Catiline, desiring to devastate the world with sword and fire shall we consuls tolerate?” --_orbis terrae_: there is little difference between _orbis terrae_ and _orbis terrarum_. --_caede atque incendiis_: also _ferro et igni_.

2: _illa_: “the following instance:” though only the case of Ahala is mentioned, the plural is probably used to intimate that other cases might be adduced.

3: _C. Servilius Ahala_: see Proper Names.

4: _novis--studentem_: “aiming to overturn the government:” cp. νεωτερίζειν.

5: _fuit-fuit_: note the emphatic repetition of the word (_epizeuxis_). --_ista virtus_: here _ista_ = _illa_: “that well-known public spirit:” We may take _virtus_ = _amor patriae_: “patriotism.”

6: _ut--coercerent_: “that brave men inflicted severer punishment on a factious citizen then on the bitterest foe” --_suppliciis_: abl. means.

7: _senatus consultum_: the decree arming the consuls with civil and military power. The formula was _videant consules ne quid respublica detrimenti capiat_.

8: _vehemens et grave_: “full of force and severity.”

9: _rei publicae_: generally taken as a dative after _deest_: others take it as a genitive depending on _consilium_, i.e., there is no lack of precedents of the state, i.e., the state have many instances of wicked citizens being punished. The state, according to Cicero, has enough of wisdom (_consilium_) and determining authority (_auctoritas_), but the executive power is weak.