M. Tullius Cicero, In Catilinam, ed. Albert Curtis Clark, 4.17

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[17] qua re si quem vestrum forte commovet hoc quod auditum est, lenonem quendam Lentuli concursare circum tabernas, pretio sperare sollicitari posse animos egentium atque imperitorum, est id quidem coeptum atque temptatum, sed nulli sunt inventi tam aut fortuna miseri aut voluntate perditi qui non illum ipsum sellae atque operis et quaestus cotidiani locum, qui non cubile ac lectulum suum¹, qui denique non cursum hunc otiosum vitae suae salvum esse velint. multo vero maxima pars eorum qui in tabernis sunt, immo² vero — id enim potius est dicendum — genus hoc universum amantissimum est oti. etenim omne instrumentum, omnis opera atque quaestus frequentia civium sustentatur, alitur otio; quorum si quaestus occlusis tabernis minui solet, quid tandem incensis futurum fuit?

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.) — 4.17 focus

[17]
Wherefore, if this consideration moves any one, that it has been heard that some tool of Lentulus is running about the shops,—is hoping that the minds of some poor and ignorant men may be corrupted by bribery; that, indeed, has been attempted and begun, but no one has been found either so wretched in their fortune or so abandoned in their inclination as not to wish the place of their seat and work and daily gain, their chamber and their bed, and, in short, the tranquil course of their lives, to be still preserved to them. And far the greater part of those who are in the shops,—yes, indeed, (for that is the more correct way of speaking,) the whole of this class is of all the most attached to tranquillity; their whole stock, indeed, their whole employment and livelihood, exists by the peaceful intercourse of the citizens, and is wholly supported by peace. And if their gains are diminished whenever their shops are shut, what will they be when they are burnt?

Notes on the current edition

In Catilinam

1. illum suum αβ l2 x

2. immo cod. Oxon. Dorvill. 79 sup. lin., et unus cod. Halmii: nisi cett.

Commentary

Commentary on Fourth 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

circum tabernas , i.e. among the artisans. The Roman shops were like little stalls along the street, open in front, with a "long room," or perhaps two, at the back.

cubile ac lectulum : both words mean nearly the same thing, and imply a very humble way of living.

otiosum , peaceable; so oti (1.6).

quorum relates to eorum, three lines above.

incensis , Sc. tabernis.

futurum fuit fuisset ; § 517 , d (308, d); G. 597, R3 H. 582 (51 I, 2); H-B. 581, a; the protasis is implied in

incensis .

M. Tullius Cicero In Catilinam 4.17

ed. Albert Curtis Clark

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