M. Tullius Cicero, In Catilinam, ed. Albert Curtis Clark, 1.9

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[9] O di immortales! ubinam gentium sumus? quam rem publicam habemus? in qua urbe vivimus¹? hic, hic sunt in nostro numero, patres conscripti, in hoc orbis terrae sanctissimo gravissimoque consilio, qui de nostro² omnium interitu, qui de huius urbis atque adeo de orbis³ terrarum exitio cogitent. hos⁴ ego video consul et de re publica sententiam rogo, et quos ferro trucidari oportebat, eos nondum voce volnero! fuisti igitur apud Laecam illa nocte, Catilina, distribuisti partis Italiae, statuisti quo quemque proficisci placeret, delegisti quos Romae relinqueres, quos tecum educeres, discripsisti urbis partis ad incendia, confirmasti te ipsum iam esse exiturum, dixisti paulum⁵ tibi esse etiam nunc morae, quod⁶ ego viverem. reperti sunt duo equites Romani qui te ista cura liberarent et se⁷ illa ipsa nocte paulo ante lucem me in meo lecto⁸ interfecturos esse⁹ pollicerentur.

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.) — 1.9 focus

[9]
O ye immortal gods, where on earth are we? in what city are we living? what constitution is ours? There are here,—here in our body, O conscript fathers, in this the most holy and dignified assembly of the whole world, men who meditate my death, and the death of all of us, and the destruction of this city, and of the whole world. I, the consul see them; I ask them their opinion about the republic, and I do not yet attack, even by words, those who ought to be put to death by the sword. You were, then, O Catiline, at Lecca's that night; you divided Italy into sections; you settled where every one was to go; you fixed whom you were to leave at Rome , whom you were to take with you; you portioned out the divisions of the city for conflagration; you undertook that you yourself would at once leave the city, and said that there was then only this to delay you, that I was still alive. Two Roman knights were found to deliver you from this anxiety, and to promise that very night, before daybreak, to slay me in my bed.

Notes on the current edition

In Catilinam

1. in qua urbe vivimus, quam rem p. habemus α h contra Donatum ad Ter. Andr. iv. 5. 51 et Mart. Cap. ( Rhet. M. p. 471)

2. nostro Aah: nostrum V αβγ

3. de orbis α h: orbis αβγ

4. hos α h: hosce αβγ

5. paulum α: paululum h αβγ

6. quoad Hirschfelder

7. se α h : sese αβγ

8. lecto AVt, Probus K. iv. 29, Claudius Sac. K. vi. 481: lectulo cett.

9. esse om. a

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

gentium : § 346 , a, 4(216, a, 4); B. 201, 2; G. 372, N.3; H. 443 (397, 4); H.-B. 346.

quam rem republicam , what sort of state?

hic , hic , here, right here.

patres [et]

conscripti : the formal designation of the Senators; patres were the patrician members of the Senate, conscripti were the plebeians enrolled in that originally patrician body. The conjunction is regularly omitted (as often in such combinations). Observe that the stock English translation conscript fathers is inexact.

qui : the antecedent is the understood subject of

sunt .

atque adeo , and in fact

cogitent : § 535 , a (320, a); B. 283, 2; G. 631, 2; H. 591, 1 (503, 1); H-B. 521, I.

oportebat : see sect. 2 and note.

voce volnero : the alliteration is intentional and may easily be imitated in English, — wound with a word.

igitur (resumptive), then (i.e. as I said ).

quemque , each (of the conspirators).

placeret , indir. quest.

relinqueres , educeres, delib. subj. in an indir. quest.: § 575 , b (334, b); B. 302; G. 265; H. 559, 4 (484, v); H.-B. 503.

morae : partitive gen.

viverem : subj. in subord. clause in indir. disc.

equites : these were C. Cornelius and L. Vargunteius.

M. Tullius Cicero In Catilinam 1.9

ed. Albert Curtis Clark

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