M. Tullius Cicero, In Catilinam, ed. Albert Curtis Clark, 2.10

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[10] hunc vero si secuti erunt sui comites, si ex urbe exierint desperatorum hominum flagitiosi greges, o nos beatos, o rem publicam fortunatum, o praeclaram laudem consulatus mei! non enim iam sunt mediocres hominum libidines, non humanae et¹ tolerandae audaciae; nihil cogitant nisi caedem, nisi incendia, nisi rapinas. patrimonia sua profuderunt, fortunas suas obligaverunt²; res eos iam pridem³, fides nuper deficere coepit: eadem tamen illa quae erat in abundantia libido permanet⁴. quod si in vino et alea comissationes solum et scorta quaererent, essent illi quidem desperandi, sed tamen essent ferendi: hoc vero quis ferre possit, inertis homines fortissimis viris insidiari, stultissimos prudentissimis, ebrios⁵ sobriis, dormientis vigilantibus? qui mihi⁶ accubantes in conviviis, complexi mulieres impudicas, vino languidi, conferti cibo, sertis redimiti, unguentis obliti, debilitati stupris eructant sermonibus suis caedem bonorum atque urbis incendia.

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

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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.) — 2.10 focus

[10]
But if his companions follow him,—if the infamous herd of desperate men depart from the city, O happy shall we be, fortunate will be the republic, illustrious will be the renown of my consulship. For theirs is no ordinary insolence,—no common and endurable audacity. They think of nothing but slaughter, conflagration, and rapine. They have dissipated their patrimonies, they have squandered their fortunes. Money has long failed them, and now credit begins to fail; but the same desires remain which they had in their time of abundance. But if in their drinking and gambling parties they were content with feasts and harlots, they would be in a hopeless state indeed; but yet they might be endured. But who can bear this,—that indolent men should plot against the bravest,—drunkards against the sober,—men asleep against men awake,—men lying at feasts, embracing abandoned women, languid with wine, crammed with food, crowned with chaplets, reeking with ointments, worn out with lust, belch out in their discourse the murder of all good men, and the conflagration of the city?

Notes on the current edition

In Catilinam

1. et α h: ac αβγ

2. obligurierunt cod. Mureti

3. pridem deseruit add. ao2: defecit add. x2

4. manet αβ x

5. ebrios α h: ebriosos αβγ

6. mihi om. αβ

Commentary

Commentary on Second 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

sui : § 301 , b (196, c); B. 244, 4; G. 309, 2; H. 503, 2 (449, 3); H.-B. 264, 2.

audaciae , acts of audacity.

obligaverunt , encumbered.

res , property; fides, credit.

libido , i.e. luxurious habits and tastes.

quidem (concessive), no doubt

homines ,

viris : observe the difference in sense.

mihi : the ethical dat. gives the phrase a familiar and contemptuous turn which may be reproduced in English by forsooth.

obli^ti : observe the quantity.

caedem , etc.: notice the strong contrast between the character of these worn-out debauchees and the sanguinary nature of their threats.

M. Tullius Cicero In Catilinam 2.10

ed. Albert Curtis Clark

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