§1## C. Sallusti Crispi Catilinae Coniuratio
Omnis homines, qui sese student praestare ceteris animalibus, summa ope niti decet, ne vitam silentio transeant veluti pecora, quae natura prona atque ventri oboedientia finxit.
All men, who study to excel the other animals, ought to strive with the utmost effort not to pass their lives in silence like cattle, which nature has fashioned prone and obedient to their belly.
sed nostra omnis vis in animo et corpore sita est: animi imperio, corporis servitio magis utimur; alterum nobis cum dis, alterum cum beluis commune est.
But all our power is situated in the mind and body; we make use of the command of the mind rather than the service of the body; the one is common to us with the gods, the other with the beasts.
quo mihi rectius videtur ingeni quam virium opibus gloriam quaerere, et quoniam vita ipsa qua fruimur brevis est, memoriam nostri quam maxume longam efficere.
Therefore it seems to me more proper to seek glory by the resources of intellect rather than of physical strength, and, since life itself which we enjoy is short, to make the memory of ourselves as lasting as possible.
nam divitiarum et formae gloria fluxa atque fragilis est, virtus clara aeternaque habetur.
For the glory of riches and of beauty is fleeting and fragile, while virtue is held illustrious and eternal.
Sed diu magnum inter mortalis certamen fuit, vine corporis an virtute animi res militaris magis procederet.
But for a long time there was a great dispute among mortals, whether military affairs proceeded more by strength of body or by virtue of mind.
nam et prius quam incipias consulto et ubi consulueris mature facto opus est.
For before you begin, there is need of deliberation, and when you have deliberated, there is need of timely action.
ita utrumque per se indigens alterum alterius auxilio eget.
Thus both, being deficient in themselves, require the assistance of one another.
§2igitur initio reges — nam in terris nomen imperi id primum fuit— divorsi pars ingenium, alii corpus exercebant: etiam tum vita hominum sine cupiditate agitabatur; sua quoique satis placebant.
Therefore, in the beginning, kings—for that was the first title of government on earth—divided in their inclinations, some exercised their intellect, others their body; even then the life of men was passed without covetousness; each was sufficiently pleased with his own.
postea vero quam in Asia Cyrus, in Graecia Lacedaemonii et Athenienses coepere urbis atque nationes subigere, lubidinem dominandi causam belli habere, maxumam gloriam in maxumo imperio putare, tum demum periculo atque negotiis compertum est in bello plurumum ingenium posse.
But after Cyrus in Asia, and the Lacedaemonians and Athenians in Greece, began to subjugate cities and nations, to hold the lust for dominion as a cause of war, and to place the greatest glory in the greatest empire, then at last through danger and experience it was discovered that in war the intellect has the greatest power.
quod si regum atque imperatorum animi virtus in pace ita ut in bello valeret, aequabilius atque constantius sese res humanae haberent, neque aliud alio ferri neque mutari ac misceri omnia cerneres.
But if the virtue of mind of kings and commanders were as powerful in peace as in war, human affairs would hold themselves more equably and constantly, nor would you see one thing carried to another, nor all things changed and thrown into confusion.
nam imperium facile iis artibus retinetur, quibus initio partum est.
For dominion is easily retained by those arts by which it was acquired in the beginning.
verum ubi pro labore desidia, pro continentia et aequitate lubido atque superbia invasere, fortuna simul cum moribus inmutatur.
But when sloth invades in place of labor, and lust and pride in place of self-restraint and justice, fortune changes along with morals.
ita imperium semper ad optumum quemque a minus bono transfertur.
Thus, empire is always transferred from the less good to the best.
Quae homines arant navigant aedificant, virtuti omnia parent.
Whatever men plow, navigate, build, all obeys virtue.
sed multi mortales, dediti ventri atque somno, indocti incultique vitam sicuti peregrinantes transiere; quibus profecto contra naturam corpus voluptati, anima oneri fuit.
Yet many mortals, devoted to the belly and to sleep, uneducated and uncultivated, have passed their lives like travelers; to them indeed, contrary to nature, the body was a pleasure and the soul a burden.
eorum ego vitam mortemque iuxta aestumo, quoniam de utraque siletur.
Of these I value life and death equally, since silence is kept about both.
verum enim vero is demum mihi vivere atque frui anima videtur, qui aliquo negotio intentus praeclari facinoris aut artis bonae famam quaerit.
But indeed he alone seems to me to live and to enjoy his soul, who, intent on some business, seeks the reputation of an illustrious deed or a good art.
Sed in magna copia rerum aliud alii natura iter ostendit.
But in the great abundance of things, nature points out one path to one, another to another.
§3pulchrum est bene facere rei publicae, etiam bene dicere haud absurdum est; vel pace vel bello clarum fieri licet; et qui fecere et qui facta aliorum scripsere, multi laudantur.
It is beautiful to do well for the republic, even to speak well is not absurd; it is permitted to become famous either in peace or in war; both those who have acted and those who have written of the deeds of others are highly praised.
ac mihi quidem, tametsi haudquaquam par gloria sequitur scriptorem et auctorem rerum, tamen in primis arduom videtur res gestas scribere: primum quod facta dictis exaequanda sunt; dehinc quia plerique quae delicta reprehenderis malevolentia et invidia dicta putant, ubi de magna virtute atque gloria bonorum memores, quae sibi quisque facilia factu putat, aequo animo accipit, supra ea veluti ficta pro falsis ducit.
And indeed to me, although by no means equal glory follows the writer and the doer of deeds, nevertheless to write history seems especially difficult: first, because the deeds must be matched by words; and second, because most people think that the faults which you censure are spoken out of malevolence and envy, whereas, when you record the great virtue and glory of the good, each accepts with equanimity what he thinks easy for himself to do, but regards whatever is beyond that as false, like a fiction.
Sed ego adulescentulus initio sicuti plerique studio ad rem publicam latus sum, ibique mihi multa advorsa fuere. nam pro pudore, pro abstinentia, pro virtute audacia largitio avaritia vigebant.
But as a young man, in the beginning, like many others, I was carried by enthusiasm into public life, and there many adversities befell me; for instead of modesty, temperance, and virtue, audacity, bribery, and avarice flourished.
quae tametsi animus aspernabatur insolens malarum artium, tamen inter tanta vitia imbecilla aetas ambitione corrupta tenebatur; ac me, quom ab reliquorum malis moribus dissentirem, nihilo minus honoris cupido eadem qua ceteros fama atque invidia vexabat.
Although my mind, unaccustomed to evil practices, despised them, yet amidst such great vices, my tender age was corrupted and held captive by ambition; and, although I dissented from the bad morals of the others, nevertheless the same desire for honor vexed me with the same reputation and envy as the rest.