M. Tullius Cicero, In Catilinam, ed. Albert Curtis Clark, 1.14

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[14] quid vero? nuper cum morte superioris uxoris novis nuptiis locum¹ vacuefecisses², nonne etiam alio incredibili scelere hoc scelus cumulavisti³? quod ego praetermitto et facile patior sileri⁴, ne in hac civitate tanti facinoris immanitas aut exstitisse aut non vindicata esse videatur. praetermitto ruinas fortunarum tuarum quas omnis proximis Idibus tibi impendere⁵ senties: ad illa venio quae non ad privatam ignominiam vitiorum tuorum, non ad domesticam tuam⁶ difficultatem ac turpitudinem, sed ad summam rem publicam atque ad omnium nostrum vitam salutemque pertinent.

In Catilinam. M. Tullius Cicero. ed. Albert Curtis Clark. Oxford. 1908.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by National Endowment For The Humanities (NEH).

Current edition Perseus

In L. Catilinam (Latin) (Cicero. M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes, Volume 1. Clark, Albert Curtis, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908.)

Translations (1)

Against L. Catiline Perseus (Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 2. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Bell, 1856.) — 1.14 focus

[14]
What? when lately by the death of your former wife you had made your house empty and ready for a new bridal, did you not even add another incredible wickedness to this wickedness? But I pass that over, and willingly allow it to be buried in silence, that so horrible a crime may not be seen to have existed in this city, and not to have been chastised. I pass over the ruin of your fortune, which you know is hanging over you against the ides of the very next month; I come to those things which relate not to the infamy of your private vices, not to your domestic difficulties and baseness, but to the welfare of the republic and to the lives and safety of us all.

Notes on the current edition

In Catilinam

1. locum α h: domum αβγ

2. vacuefecisses vacuumfecisses a: vacuefecisti h

3. cumula visti Wüst: cumulasti codd.

4. sileri aho: om. cett.

5. proximis Idibus tibi impendere Aah: impend. tibi (tibi impend.) prox. Id. cett.

6. tuam om. AV

Commentary

Commentary on First Oration against Catiline (Select Orations of Cicero (Allen and Greenough's Edition). Greenough, James Bradstreet; Kittredge, George Lyman, editors. Boston, London: Ginn & Company, 1897.) focus

quid vero , and sly!

novis nuptiis , etc.: this crime is mentioned by no other writer, and is perhaps one of the orator's exaggerations.

aho . . . scelere : Sallust mentions, as a matter of common belief, that Catiline killed his own son, in order to gratify his new wife Aurelia Orestilla, "a woman praised for nothing but beauty."

ruinas : this charge was undoubtedly correct. The conspiracy was mainly composed of men of ruined fortunes, who hoped to better themselves in the general scramble of a revolution.

Idibus : the Calends and Ides — the beginning and middle of the month—were the usual times for the payment of debts. Catiline's failure in his consular canvass had probably stirred up his creditors to push him for payment.

M. Tullius Cicero In Catilinam 1.14

ed. Albert Curtis Clark

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