§33'Deos hominesque testamur, imperator, nos arma neque contra patriam cepisse neque quo periculum aliis faceremus, sed uti corpora nostra ab iniuria tuta forent, qui miseri, egentes violentia atque crudelitate faeneratorum plerique patria, sed omnes fama atque fortunis expertes sumus.
'We call gods and men to witness, general, that we have taken up arms neither against our country nor to bring danger upon others, but so that our bodies might be safe from injustice, we who, wretched and needy through the violence and cruelty of moneylenders, are for the most part deprived of our country, and all of us of our reputation and fortunes.
neque quoiquam nostrum licuit more maiorum lege uti neque amisso patrimonio liberum corpus habere: tanta saevitia faeneratorum atque praetoris fuit.
Nor has any of us been allowed, according to the custom of our ancestors, to enjoy the benefit of the law, or, having lost our patrimony, to keep our bodies free; so great was the cruelty of the moneylenders and of the praetor.
saepe maiores vostrum, miseriti plebis Romanae, decretis suis inopiae eius opitulati sunt, ac novissume memoria nostra propter magnitudinem aeris alieni volentibus omnibus bonis argentum aere solutum est.
Often your ancestors, pitying the Roman plebs, relieved their poverty by their decrees, and most recently in our memory, on account of the magnitude of their debt, with the consent of all good men, silver was paid with bronze.
saepe ipsa plebs, aut dominandi studio permota aut superbia magistratuum, armata a patribus secessit.
Often the plebs themselves, either moved by a desire for dominion or by the pride of the magistrates, seceded in arms from the fathers.
at nos non imperium neque divitias petimus, quarum rerum causa bella atque certamina omnia inter mortalis sunt, sed libertatem, quam nemo bonus nisi cum anima simul amittit.
But we seek neither dominion nor riches, for the sake of which things all wars and contests exist among mortals, but liberty, which no good man loses except with his life.
te atque senatum obtestamur, consulatis miseris civibus, legis praesidium quod iniquitas praetoris eripuit restituatis, neve nobis eam neccessitudinem inponatis, ut quaeramus, quonam modo maxume ulti sanguinem nostrum pereamus. ' §34Ad haec Q. Marcius respondit, si quid ab senatu petere vellent, ab armis discedant, Romam supplices proficiscantur: ea mansuetudine atque misericordia senatum populi Romani semper fuisse, ut nemo umquam ab eo frustra auxilium petiverit.
We implore you and the Senate to take counsel for your wretched citizens, to restore the protection of the law which the injustice of the praetor has snatched away, and not to impose upon us that necessity of seeking how we may perish after having most fully avenged our blood.' To this Quintus Marcius replied that, if they wished to ask anything from the Senate, they should lay down their arms and proceed to Rome as suppliants; that the Senate of the Roman people had always been of such clemency and mercy that no one had ever sought help from it in vain.
At Catilina ex itinere plerisque consularibus, praeterea optumo quoique litteras mittit: se falsis criminibus circumventum, quoniam factioni inimicorum resistere nequiverit, fortunae cedere, Massiliam in exilium proficisci, non quo sibi tanti sceleris conscius esset, sed uti res publica quieta foret neve ex sua contentione seditio oreretur.
But Catiline, on his journey, sent letters to most of the consulars, and also to every best man: stating that he, surrounded by false charges, since he had been unable to resist the faction of his enemies, was yielding to fortune and setting out for Massilia into exile, not because he was conscious of such a great crime, but so that the republic might be quiet and that no sedition might arise from his struggle.
ab his longe divorsas litteras Q. Catulus in senatu recitavit, quas sibi nomine Catilinae redditas dicebat.
A letter far different from these Quintus Catulus read aloud in the Senate, which he said had been delivered to him in the name of Catiline.
earum exemplum infra scriptum est.
A copy of it is written below.
§35'L. Catilina Q. Catulo.
'Lucius Catiline to Quintus Catulus.
Egregia tua fides, re cognita, grata mihi magnis in meis periculis, fiduciam commendationi meae tribuit.
Your outstanding fidelity, known to me by experience, and pleasing to me in my great dangers, gives confidence to my recommendation.
quam ob rem defensionem in novo consilio non statui parare: satisfactionem ex nulla conscientia de culpa proponere decrevi, quam me dius fidius veram licet cognoscas.
For this reason, I have decided not to prepare a defense in my new enterprise; I have resolved, from no consciousness of guilt, to offer an explanation, which, by the god of faith, you may recognize as true.
iniuriis contumeliisque concitatus, quod fructu laboris industriaeque meae privatus statum dignitatis non obtinebam, publicam miserorum causam pro mea consuetudine suscepi, non quin aes alienum meis nominibus ex possessionibus solvere non possem — et alienis nominibus liberalitas Orestillae suis filiaeque copiis persolveret — sed quod non dignos homines honore honestatos videbam meque falsa suspicione alienatum esse sentiebam.
Provoked by injustices and insults, because, deprived of the fruit of my labor and industry, I was not maintaining my position of dignity, I undertook, according to my custom, the public cause of the wretched, not because I could not pay my own debts from my possessions — and the liberality of Orestilla would pay those of others with her own and her daughter's wealth — but because I saw unworthy men honored with office, and felt myself alienated by false suspicion.
hoc nomine satis honestas pro meo casu spes reliquae dignitatis conservandae sum secutus.
On this account, I have followed hopes, sufficiently honorable for my misfortune, of preserving my remaining dignity.
plura quom scribere vellem, nuntiatum est vim mihi parari.
While I wished to write more, it was announced to me that force was being prepared against me.
nunc Orestillam commendo tuaeque fidei trado; eam ab iniuria defendas, per liberos tuos rogatus.
Now I recommend Orestilla to you and commit her to your fidelity; defend her from injury, as you are asked by your children.
haveto. ' §36Sed ipse paucos dies conmoratus apud C. Flaminium in agro Arretino, dum vicinitatem antea sollicitatam armis exornat, cum fascibus atque aliis imperi insignibus in castra ad Manlium contendit.
Farewell.' But he himself, having delayed a few days with Gaius Flaminius in the Arretine district, while he supplied with arms the neighborhood which had been previously solicited, hastened to the camp to Manlius with the fasces and other insignia of command.
haec ubi Romae comperta sunt, senatus Catilinam et Manlium hostis iudicat, ceterae multitudini diem statuit, ante quam sine fraude liceret ab armis discedere praeter rerum capitalium condemnatis.
When these things were discovered at Rome, the Senate declared Catiline and Manlius public enemies, and appointed a day for the rest of the multitude, before which it should be lawful for them to lay down their arms without penalty, except for those condemned for capital offenses.
praeterea decernit, uti consules dilectum habeant, Antonius cum exercitu Catilinam persequi maturet, Cicero urbi praesidio sit.
In addition, it decreed that the consuls should hold a levy, that Antonius should hasten with an army to pursue Catiline, and that Cicero should protect the city.
Ea tempestate mihi imperium populi Romani multo maxume miserabile visum est.
At that time, the empire of the Roman people seemed to me by far the most wretched.
quoi quom ad occasum ab ortu solis omnia domita armis parerent, domi otium atque divitiae, quae prima mortales putant, adfluerent, fuere tamen cives, qui seque remque publicam obstinatis animis perditum irent.
Although all things, subdued by arms from the rising to the setting sun, obeyed it, and at home leisure and riches, which mortals think the first things, abounded, yet there were citizens who, with obstinate minds, were going about to ruin both themselves and the republic.
namque duobus senati decretis ex tanta multitudine neque praemio inductus coniurationem patefecerat neque ex castris Catilinae quisquam omnium discesserat: tanta vis morbi atque uti tabes plerosque civium animos invaserat.
For, despite two decrees of the Senate, not a single person out of so great a multitude was induced by the reward to disclose the conspiracy, nor did anyone of all of them depart from the camp of Catiline; so great a force of disease, like a plague, had invaded the minds of most of the citizens.