§12subornauit etiam qui Gaio Rabirio perduellionis diem diceret, quo praecipuo adiutore aliquot ante annos Luci Saturnini seditiosum tribunatum senatus coercuerat, ac sorte iudex in reum ductus tam cupide condemnauit, ut ad populum prouocanti nihil aeque ac iudicis acerbitas profuerit.
He also suborned someone to bring a charge of high treason against Gaius Rabirius, with whose chief assistance some years before the senate had suppressed the seditious tribunate of Lucius Saturninus; and having been chosen by lot as judge in the case against the accused, he condemned him with such eagerness that, when the accused appealed to the people, nothing was of so much service to him as the severity of the judge.
§13deposita prouinciae spe pontificatum maximum petit non sine profusissima largitione; in qua reputans magnitudinem aeris alieni, cum mane ad comitia descenderet, praedixisse matri osculanti fertur domum se nisi pontificem non reuersurum.
Having given up hope of the province, he sought the office of pontifex maximus, not without the most lavish bribery; reflecting in this contest on the magnitude of his debts, he is said to have told his mother as she kissed him when he went down to the hustings in the morning, that he would not return home unless as pontifex.
atque ita potentissimos duos competitores multumque et aetate et dignitate antecedentes superauit, ut plura ipse in eorum tribubus suffragia quam uterque in omnibus tulerit.
And he so thoroughly defeated two most powerful competitors, who far surpassed him in both age and rank, that he himself polled more votes in their own tribes than either of them did in all.
§14Praetor creatus, detecta coniuratione Catilinae senatuque uniuerso in socios facinoris ultimam statuente poenam, solus municipatim diuidendos custodiendosque publicatis bonis censuit.
Having been elected praetor, when the conspiracy of Catiline was detected and the whole senate was decreeing the extreme penalty for the accomplices in the crime, he alone proposed that their property should be confiscated and they themselves distributed and kept in custody among the municipal towns.
quin et tantum metum iniecit asperiora suadentibus, identidem ostentans quanta eos in posterum a plebe Romana maneret inuidia, ut Decimum Silanum consulem designatum non piguerit sententiam suam, quia mutare turpe erat, interpretatione lenire, uelut grauius atque ipse sensisset exceptam.
Nay, he even inspired so much fear in those who advocated harsher measures, repeatedly showing what a great hatred from the Roman plebs awaited them in the future, that Decimus Silanus, the consul-elect, was not ashamed to soften his own opinion by interpretation, since it was disgraceful to change it, as if it had been understood in a harsher sense than he had intended.
obtinuisset adeo transductis iam ad se pluribus et in his Cicerone consulis fratre, nisi labantem ordinem confirmasset M. Catonis oratio.
He would indeed have carried his point, since many had already been won over to his side, and among them Cicero, the brother of the consul, had not the speech of Marcus Cato restored the wavering order.
ac ne sic quidem impedire rem destitit, quoad manus equitum Romanorum, quae armata praesidii causa circumstabat, inmoderatius perseueranti necem comminata est, etiam strictos gladios usque eo intentans, ut sedentem una proximi deseruerint, uix pauci complexu togaque obiecta protexerint.
And even so he did not cease to obstruct the matter, until a band of Roman knights, who stood around armed as a guard, threatened him with death as he persisted too immoderately, even pointing their drawn swords at him to such a degree that those sitting near him deserted him, and only a very few protected him with their embrace and by throwing their togas before him.
tunc plane deterritus non modo cessit, sed et in reliquum anni tempus curia abstinuit.
Then, thoroughly terrified, he not only yielded, but also absented himself from the senate-house for the remainder of the year.
§15Primo praeturae die Quintum Catulum de refectione Capitoli ad disquisitionem populi uocauit rogatione promulgata, qua curationem eam in alium transferebat; uerum impar optimatium conspirationi, quos relicto statim nouorum consulum officio frequentes obstinatosque ad resistendum concucurrisse cernebat, hanc quidem actionem deposuit.
On the first day of his praetorship, he called Quintus Catulus to an account before the people regarding the restoration of the Capitol, having promulgated a bill which transferred that charge to another; but being unequal to the conspiracy of the optimates, whom he saw flocking together in large numbers and with determination to resist, having immediately left their attendance on the new consuls, he dropped this action.
§16ceterum Caecilio Metello tribuno plebis turbulentissimas leges aduersus collegarum intercessionem ferenti auctorem propugnatoremque se pertinacissime praestitit, donec ambo administratione rei publicae decreto patrum submouerentur.
But when Caecilius Metellus, a tribune of the plebs, was proposing highly turbulent laws against the veto of his colleagues, Caesar showed himself his most persistent supporter and champion, until both were suspended from the administration of the state by a decree of the senate.
ac nihilo minus permanere in magistratu et ius dicere ausus, ut comperit paratos, qui ui ac per arma prohiberent, dimissis lictoribus abiectaque praetexta domum clam refugit pro condicione temporum quieturus.
And nevertheless, having dared to remain in office and administer justice, when he learned that men were ready to prevent him by force and arms, he dismissed his lictors, threw off his pretexta, and fled secretly to his home, intending to remain quiet as the conditions of the times required.
multitudinem quoque biduo post sponte et ultro confluentem operamque sibi in adserenda dignitate tumultuosius pollicentem conpescuit.
He also quieted the multitude which gathered spontaneously and of its own accord two days later, offering him their turbulent assistance in asserting his dignity.
quod cum praeter opinionem euenisset, senatus ob eundem coetum festinato coactus gratias ei per primores uiros egit accitumque in curiam et amplissimis uerbis conlaudatum in integrum restituit inducto priore decreto.
Since this had happened contrary to expectation, the senate, hastily convened because of this very gathering, thanked him through its leading men, and having summoned him to the senate-house and praised him in the most ample terms, restored him to his office, rescinding their former decree.
§17Recidit rursus in discrimen aliud inter socios Catilinae nominatus et apud Nouium Nigrum quaestorem a Lucio Vettio indice et in senatu a Quinto Curio, cui, quod primus consilia coniuratorum detexerat, constituta erant publice praemia.
He fell back again into another danger, being named among the accomplices of Catiline both before Novius Niger the quaestor by Lucius Vettius the informer, and in the senate by Quintus Curius, to whom, because he had been the first to detect the designs of the conspirators, rewards had been publicly decreed.
Curius e Catilina se cognouisse dicebat, Vettius etiam chirographum eius Catilinae datum pollicebatur.
Curius said that he had learned this from Catiline; Vettius even promised to produce his handwriting given to Catiline.
id uero Caesar nullo modo tolerandum existimans, cum inplorato Ciceronis testimonio quaedam se de coniuratione ultro ad eum detulisse docuisset, ne Curio praemia darentur effecit; Vettium pignoribus captis et direpta supellectile male mulcatum ac pro rostris in contione paene discerptum coiecit in carcerem; eodem Nouium quaestorem, quod compellari apud se maiorem potestatem passus esset.
But Caesar, thinking that this was by no means to be tolerated, having shown by appealing to the testimony of Cicero that he had voluntarily reported certain details about the conspiracy to him, prevented the rewards from being given to Curius; and as for Vettius, having taken pledges from him and plundered his household goods, and having severely beaten him and almost torn him to pieces in an assembly before the rostra, he cast him into prison; and to the same place he sent Novius the quaestor, because he had allowed a superior magistrate to be arraigned before him.