§48Interea plebs coniuratione patefacta, quae primo cupida rerum novarum nimis bello favebat, mutata mente Catilinae consilia execrari, Ciceronem ad caelum tollere: veluti ex servitute erepta gaudium atque laetitiam agitabat.
Meanwhile, the common people, upon the disclosure of the conspiracy—who at first, eager for a revolution, had favored the war too much—having changed their minds, began to execrate the plans of Catiline and to extol Cicero to the skies; as if snatched from slavery, they manifested joy and gladness.
namque alia belli facinora praedae magis quam detrimento fore, incendium vero crudele, inmoderatum ac sibi maxume calamitosum putabat, quippe quoi omnes copiae in usu cottidiano et cultu corporis erant.
For they thought that other acts of war would bring plunder rather than loss, but that a fire would be cruel, boundless, and especially ruinous to themselves, since all their resources consisted in daily use and the sustenance of their bodies.
Post eum diem quidam L. Tarquinius ad senatum adductus erat, quem ad Catilinam proficiscentem ex itinere retractum aiebant.
After that day, a certain L. Tarquinius was brought before the Senate, whom they said had been brought back from his journey as he was setting out to Catiline.
is quom se diceret indicaturum de coniuratione, si fides publica data esset, iussus a consule quae sciret edicere, eadem fere quae Volturcius de paratis incendiis, de caede bonorum, de itinere hostium senatum docet: praeterea se missum a M. Crasso, qui Catilinae nuntiaret, ne eum Lentulus et Cethegus aliique ex coniuratione deprehensi terrerent, eoque magis properaret ad urbem adcedere, quo et ceterorum animos reficeret et illi facilius e periculo eriperentur.
When this man said that he would give information about the conspiracy if the public pledge of safety were given, and was ordered by the consul to declare what he knew, he informs the Senate of almost the same things as Volturcius did concerning the prepared fires, the slaughter of the good citizens, and the march of the enemies; moreover, he said that he had been sent by M. Crassus to tell Catiline not to let Lentulus, Cethegus, and the others of the conspiracy who had been arrested terrify him, and that he should hasten all the more to approach the city, so that he might both restore the spirits of the rest and they might more easily be rescued from danger.
sed ubi Tarquinius Crassum nominavit, hominem nobilem, maxumis divitiis, summa potentia, alii rem incredibilem rati, pars tametsi verum existumabant tamen quia in tali tempore tanta vis hominis magis leniunda quam exagitanda videbatur, plerique Crasso ex negotiis privatis obnoxii, conclamant indicem falsum esse, deque ea re postulant uti referatur.
But when Tarquinius named Crassus, a noble man of greatest wealth and highest power, some, thinking the matter incredible, others, although they believed it to be true, yet because in such a time so great a power of a man seemed rather to be appeased than provoked, and most of them being indebted to Crassus through private business, cried out together that the informer was false, and demanded that a motion be made concerning that matter.
itaque consulente Cicerone frequens senatus decernit Tarquini indicium falsum videri eumque in vinculis retinendum neque amplius potestatem faciundam, nisi de eo indicaret, quoius consilio tantam rem esset mentitus.
And so, with Cicero consulting them, a full Senate decrees that the information of Tarquinius appeared false, and that he should be held in chains and not given any further opportunity of speaking, unless he should reveal by whose advice he had lied about so great a matter.
erant eo tempore qui existumarent indicium illud a P. Autronio machinatum, quo facilius appellato Crasso per societatem periculi reliquos illius potentia tegeret.
There were at that time those who thought that this information had been contrived by P. Autronius, so that by naming Crassus, the rest might more easily be protected by his power through a partnership in danger.
alii Tarquinium a Cicerone inmissum aiebant, ne Crassus more suo suscepto malorum patrocinio rem publicam conturbaret.
Others said that Tarquinius had been suborned by Cicero, lest Crassus, having undertaken the patronage of the wicked in his usual manner, should throw the republic into confusion.
ipsum Crassum ego postea praedicantem audivi tantam illam contumeliam sibi ab Cicerone inpositam.
I myself afterwards heard Crassus himself declaring that so great an insult had been imposed upon him by Cicero.
§49Sed isdem temporibus Q. Catulus et C. Piso neque pretio neque gratia Ciceronem inpellere potuere, uti per Allobroges aut alium indicem C. Caesar falso nominaretur.
But at the same times, Q. Catulus and C. Piso could not, either by bribe or influence, impel Cicero to have C. Caesar falsely named through the Allobroges or another informer.
nam uterque cum illo gravis inimicitias exercebat: Piso oppugnatus in iudicio pecuniarum repetundarum propter quoiusdam Transpadani supplicium iniustum, Catulus ex petitione pontificatus odio incensus, quod extrema aetate, maxumis honoribus usus, ab adulescentulo Caesare victus discesserat.
For both of them were carrying on bitter enmities with him: Piso because he had been attacked in a trial for extortion on account of the unjust punishment of a certain Transpadane; Catulus, inflamed with hatred from his candidacy for the pontificate, because in his extreme age, having enjoyed the highest honors, he had departed defeated by the very young Caesar.
res autem opportuna videbatur, quod is privatim egregia liberalitate, publice maxumis muneribus grandem pecuniam debebat.
Moreover, the occasion seemed favorable because Caesar owed a vast amount of money, privately through his extraordinary liberality, and publicly because of his massive games.
sed ubi consulem ad tantum facinus inpellere nequeunt, ipsi singillatim circumeundo atque ementiundo, quae se ex Volturcio aut Allobrogibus audisse dicerent, magnam illi invidiam conflaverant, usque eo ut nonnulli equites Romani, qui praesidi causa cum telis erant circum aedem Concordiae, seu periculi magnitudine seu animi mobilitate inpulsi, quo studium suom in rem publicam clarius esset, egredienti ex senatu Caesari gladio minitarentur.
But when they could not impel the consul to so great a crime, they themselves, by going around individually and fabricating things which they said they had heard from Volturcius or the Allobroges, had stirred up great hatred against him, even to the point that several Roman knights, who were around the Temple of Concord with weapons for the sake of protection, impelled either by the magnitude of the danger or by the instability of their minds, so that their zeal for the republic might be clearer, threatened Caesar with their swords as he was leaving the Senate.
§50Dum haec in senatu aguntur et dum legatis Allobrogum et T. Volturcio, conprobato eorum indicio, praemia decernuntur, liberti et pauci ex clientibus Lentuli divorsis itineribus opifices atque servitia in vicis ad eum eripiundum sollicitabant, partim exquirebant duces multitudinum, qui pretio rem publicam vexare soliti erant.
While these things are being done in the Senate, and while rewards are being decreed to the envoys of the Allobroges and T. Volturcius, their information having been approved, the freedmen and a few of the clients of Lentulus, by different routes, were soliciting the artisans and slaves in the streets to rescue him, and partly were seeking out leaders of the crowds who were accustomed to disturb the republic for hire.
Cethegus autem per nuntios familiam atque libertos suos, lectos et exercitatos, orabat, ut grege facto cum telis ad sese inrumperent.
Cethegus, moreover, through messengers, was entreating his own household slaves and freedmen, chosen and trained, to form a band and break in to him with weapons.
consul ubi ea parari cognovit, dispositis praesidiis, ut res atque tempus monebat, convocato senatu refert, quid de iis fieri placeat, qui in custodiam traditi erant.
The consul, when he learned that these things were being prepared, having stationed guards as the circumstances and time advised, and having summoned the Senate, refers to them what they wish to be done concerning those who had been delivered into custody.
sed eos paulo ante frequens senatus iudicaverat contra rem publicam fecisse.
But a full Senate had shortly before judged them to have acted against the republic.
tum D. Iunius Silanus primus sententiam rogatus, quod eo tempore consul designatus erat, de iis, qui in custodiis tenebantur, et praeterea de L. Cassio, P. Furio, P. Umbreno, Q. Annio, si deprehensi forent, supplicium sumundum decreverat; isque postea permotus oratione C. Caesaris pedibus in sententiam Ti.
Then D. Junius Silanus, being asked his opinion first because he was consul-elect at that time, had decreed that punishment should be inflicted on those who were held in custody, and besides on L. Cassius, P. Furius, P. Umbrenus, Q. Annius, if they should be captured; and he afterwards, moved by the speech of C. Caesar, said that he would vote for the opinion of Ti.
Neronis iturum se dixit, quod de ea re praesidiis additis referundum censuerat.
Nero, because he had voted that the matter should be referred again after guards had been added.
sed Caesar, ubi ad eum ventum est, rogatus sententiam a consule huiusce modi verba locutus est:
But Caesar, when it came to him, being asked his opinion by the consul, spoke words of this kind: