Conspiracy of Catiline (Sallust)

[Close]

	Conspiracy of Catiline Author: Sallust	Translator: John Selby Watson
21	Postquam accepere ea homines , quibus mala abunde omnia erant , sed neque res neque spes bona ulla , tametsi illis quieta movere magna merces videbatur , tamen postulavere plerique , ut proponeret , quae condicio belli foret , quae praemia armis peterent , quid ubique opis aut spei haberent . Tum Catilina polliceri tabulas novas , proscriptionem locupletium , magistratus , sacerdotia , rapinas , alia omnia , quae bellum atque lubido victorum fert . Praeterea esse in Hispania citeriore Pisonem , in Mauretania cum exercitu P . Sittium Nucerinum , consili sui participes ; petere consulatum C . Antonium , quem sibi collegam fore speraret , hominem et familiarem et omnibus necessitudinibus circumventum ; cum eo se consulem initium agundi facturum . Ad hoc maledictis increpabat omnis bonos , suorum unumquemque nominans laudare ; admonebat alium egestatis , alium cupiditatis suae , compluris periculi aut ignominiae , multos victoriae Sullanae , quibus ea praedae fuerat . Postquam omnium animos alacris videt , cohortatus , ut petitionem suam curae haberent , conventum dimisit .	When these men, surrounded with numberless evils, but without any resources or hopes of good, had heard this address, though they thought it much for their advantage to disturb the public tranquillity, yet most of them called on Catiline to state on what terms they were to engage in the contest; what benefits they were to expect from taking up arms; and what support and encouragement they had, and in what quarters. Catiline then promised them the abolition of their debts; a proscription of the wealthy citizens; offices, sacerdotal dignities, plunder, and all other gratifications which war, and the license of conquerors, can afford. He added that Piso was in Hither Spain, and Publius Sittius Nucerinus with an army in Mauritania, both of whom were privy to his plans; that Caius Antonius, whom he hoped to have for a colleague, was canvassing for the consulship, a man with whom he was intimate, and who was involved in all manner of embarrassments; and that, in conjunction with him, he himself, when consul, would commence operations. He, moreover, assailed all the respectable citizens with reproaches, commended each of his associates by name, reminded one of his poverty, another of his ruling passion, several others of their danger or disgrace, and many of the spoils which they had obtained by the victory of Sylla. When he saw their spirits sufficiently elevated, he charged them to attend to his interest at the election of consuls, and dismissed the assembly.
22	Fuere ea tempestate , qui dicerent Catilinam oratione habita , cum ad iusiurandum popularis sceleris sui adigeret , humani corporis sanguinem vino permixtum in pateris circumtulisse : inde cum post exsecrationem omnes degustavissent , sicuti in sollemnibus sacris fieri consuevit , aperuisse consilium suum ; idque eo dicitur fecisse , quo inter se fidi magis forent alius alii tanti facinoris conscii . Nonnulli ficta et haec et multa praeterea existumabant ab iis , qui Ciceronis invidiam , quae postea orta est , leniri credebant atrocitate sceleris eorum , qui poenas dederant . Nobis ea res pro magnitudine parum comperta est .	There were some, at that time, who said that Catiline, having ended his speech, and wishing to bind his accomplices in guilt by an oath, handed round among them, in goblets, the blood of a human body mixed with wine; and that when all, after an imprecation, had tasted of it, as is usual in sacred rites, he disclosed his design; and they asserted that he did this, in order that they might be the more closely attached to one another, by being mutually conscious of such an atrocity. But so some thought that this report, and many others, were invented by persons who supposed that the odium against Cicero, which afterward arose, might be lessened by imputing an enormity of guilt to the conspirators who had suffered death. The evidence which I have obtained, in support of this charge, is not at all in proportion to its magnitude.
23	Sed in ea coniuratione fuit Q . Curius , natus haud obscuro loco , flagitiis atque facinoribus coopertus , quem censores senatu probri gratia moverant . Huic homini non minor vanitas inerat quam audacia : neque reticere , quae audierat , neque suamet ipse scelera occultare , prorsus neque dicere neque facere quicquam pensi habebat . Erat ei cum Fulvia , muliere nobili , stupri vetus consuetudo . Cui cum minus gratus esset , quia inopia minus largiri poterat , repente glorians maria montisque polliceri coepit et minari interdum ferro , ni sibi obnoxia foret , postremo ferocius agitare , quam solitus erat . At Fulvia insolentiae Curi causa cognita tale periculum re publicae haud occultum habuit , sed sublato auctore de Catilinae coniuratione , quae quoque modo audierat , compluribus narravit . Ea res in primis studia hominum accendit ad consulatum mandandum M . Tullio Ciceroni . Namque antea pleraque nobilitas invidia aestuabat et quasi pollui consulatum credebant , si eum quamvis egregius homo novus adeptus foret . Sed ubi periculum advenit , invidia atque superbia post fuere .	Among those present at this meeting was Quintus Curius, a man of no mean family, but immersed in vices and crimes, and whom the censors had ignominiously expelled from the senate. In this person there was not less levity than impudence; he could neither keep secret what he heard, nor conceal his own crimes; he was altogether heedless what he said or what he did. He had long had a criminal intercourse with Fulvia, a woman of high birth; but growing less acceptable to her, because, in his reduced circumstances, he had less means of being liberal, he began, on a sudden, to boast, and to promise her seas and mountains; threatening her, at times, with the sword, if she were not submissive to his will; and acting, in his general conduct, with greater arrogance than ever. Fulvia, having learned the cause of his extravagant behavior, did not keep such danger to the state a secret; but, without naming her informant, communicated to several persons what she had heard and under what circumstances, concerning Catiline's conspiracy. This intelligence it was that incited the feelings of the citizens to give the consulship to Marcus Tullius Cicero. For before this period, most of the nobility were moved with jealousy, and thought the consulship in some degree sullied, if a man of no family, however meritorious, obtained it. But when danger showed itself, envy and pride were laid aside.
24	Igitur comitiis habitis consules declarantur M . Tullius et C . Antonius . Quod factum primo popularis coniurationis concusserat . Neque tamen Catilinae furor minuebatur , sed in dies plura agitare : arma per Italiam locis opportunis parare , pecuniam sua aut amicorum fide sumptum mutuam Faesulas ad Manlium quendam portare , qui postea princeps fuit belli faciundi . Ea tempestate plurumos cuiusque generis homines adscivisse sibi dicitur , mulieres etiam aliquot , quae primo ingentis sumptus stupro corporis toleraverant , post , ubi aetas tantummodo quaestui neque luxuriae modum fecerat , aes alienum grande conflaverant . Per eas se Catilina credebat posse servitia urbana sollicitare , urbem incendere , viros earum vel adiungere sibi vel interficere .	Accordingly, when the comitia were held, Marcus Tullius and Caius Antonius were declared consuls; an event which gave the first shock to the conspirators. The ardor of Catiline, however, was not at all diminished; he formed every day new schemes; he deposited arms, in convenient places, throughout Italy; he sent sums of money borrowed on his own credit, or that of his friends, to a certain Manlius, at Fæsulæ, who was subsequently the first to engage in hostilities. At this period, too, he is said to have attached to his cause great numbers of men of all classes, and some women, who had, in their earlier days, supported an expensive life by the price of their beauty, but who, when age had lessened their gains but not their extravagance, had contracted heavy debts. By the influence of these females, Catiline hoped to gain over the slaves in Rome, to get the city set on fire, and either to secure the support of their husbands or take away their lives.
25	Sed in iis erat Sempronia , quae multa saepe virilis audaciae facinora conmiserat . Haec mulier genere atque forma , praeterea viro atque liberis satis fortunata fuit ; litteris Graecis et Latinis docta , psallere et saltare elegantius , quam necesse est probae , multa alia , quae instrumenta luxuriae sunt . Sed ei cariora semper omnia quam decus atque pudicitia fuit ; pecuniae an famae minus parceret , haud facile discerneres ; lubido sic accensa , ut saepius peteret viros quam peteretur . Sed ea saepe antehac fidem prodiderat , creditum abiuraverat , caedis conscia fuerat ; luxuria atque inopia praeceps abierat . Verum ingenium eius haud absurdum : posse versus facere , iocum movere , sermone uti vel modesto vel molli vel procaci ; prorsus multae facetiae multusque lepos inerat .	In the number of those ladies was Sempronia, a woman who had committed many crimes with the spirit of a man. In birth and beauty, in her husband and her children, she was extremely fortunate; she was skilled in Greek and Roman literature; she could sing, play, and dance, with greater elegance than became a woman of virtue, and possessed many other accomplishments that tend to excite the passions. But nothing was ever less valued by her than honor or chastity. Whether she was more prodigal of her money or her reputation, it would have been difficult to decide. Her desires were so ardent that she oftener made advances to the other sex than waited for solicitation. She had frequently, before this period, forfeited her word, forsworn debts, been privy to murder, and hurried into the utmost excesses by her extravagance and poverty. But her abilities were by no means despicable; she could compose verses, jest, and join in conversation either modest, tender, or licentious. In a word, she was distinguished by much refinement of wit, and much grace of expression.
26	His rebus conparatis Catilina nihilo minus in proxumum annum consulatum petebat sperans , si designatus foret , facile se ex voluntate Antonio usurum . Neque interea quietus erat , sed omnibus modis insidias parabat Ciceroni . Neque illi tamen ad cavendum dolus aut astutiae deerant . Namque a principio consulatus sui multa pollicendo per Fulviam effecerat , ut Q . Curius , de quo paulo ante memoravi , consilia Catilinae sibi proderet ; ad hoc collegam suum Antonium pactione provinciae perpulerat , ne contra rem publicam sentiret ; circum se praesidia amicorum atque clientium occulte habebat . Postquam dies comitiorum venit et Catilinae neque petitio neque insidiae , quas consulibus in campo fecerat , prospere cessere , constituit bellum facere et extrema omnia experiri , quoniam , quae occulte temptaverat , aspera foedaque evenerant .	Catiline, having made these arrangements, still canvassed for the consulship for the following year; hoping that, if he should be elected, he would easily manage Antonius according to his pleasure. Nor did he, in the mean time remain inactive, but devised schemes, in every possible way, against Cicero, who, however, did not want skill or policy to guard against them. For, at the very beginning of his consulship, he had, by making many promises through Fulvia, prevailed on Quintus Curius, whom I have already mentioned, to give him secret information of Catiline's proceedings. He had also persuaded his colleague, Antonius, by an arrangement respecting their provinces, to entertain no sentiment of disaffection toward the state; and he kept around him, though without ostentation, a guard of his friends and dependents. When the day of the comitia came, and neither Catiline's efforts for the consulship, nor the plots which he had laid for the consuls in the Campus Martius, were attended with success, he determined to proceed to war, and resort to the utmost extremities, since what he had attempted secretly had ended in confusion and disgrace.
27	Igitur C . Manlium Faesulas atque in eam partem Etruriae , Septimium quendam Camertem in agrum Picenum , C . Iulium in Apuliam dimisit , praeterea alium alio , quem ubique opportunum sibi fore credebat . Interea Romae multa simul moliri : consulibus insidias tendere , parare incendia , opportuna loca armatis hominibus obsidere ; ipse cum telo esse , item alios iubere , hortari , uti semper intenti paratique essent ; dies noctisque festinare , vigilare , neque insomniis neque labore fatigari . Postremo , ubi multa agitanti nihil procedit , rursus intempesta nocte coniurationis principes convocat ad M . Porcium Laecam ibique multa de ignavia eorum questus docet se Manlium praemisisse ad eam multitudinem , quam ad capiunda arma paraverat , item alios in alia loca opportuna , qui initium belli facerent , seque ad exercitum proficisci cupere , si prius Ciceronem oppressisset ; eum suis consiliis multum officere .	He accordingly dispatched Caius Manlius to Fæsulæ, and the adjacent parts of Etruria; one Septimius, of Camerinum, into the Picenian territory; Caius Julius into Apulia; and others to various places, wherever he thought each would be most serviceable. He himself, in the mean time, was making many simultaneous efforts at Rome; he laid plots for the consul; he arranged schemes for burning the city; he occupied suitable posts with armed men; he went constantly armed himself, and ordered his followers to do the same; he exhorted them to be always on their guard and prepared for action; he was active and vigilant by day and by night, and was exhausted neither by sleeplessness nor by toil. At last, however, when none of his numerous projects succeeded, he again, with the aid of Marcus Porcius Læca, convoked the leaders of the conspiracy in the dead of night, when, after many complaints of their apathy, he informed them that he had sent forward Manlius to that body of men whom he had prepared to take up arms; and others of the confederates into other eligible places, to make a commencement of hostilities; and that he himself was eager to set out to the army, if he could but first cut off Cicero, who was the chief obstruction to his measures.
28	Igitur perterritis ac dubitantibus ceteris C . Cornelius eques Romanus operam suam pollicitus et cum eo L . Vargunteius senator constituere ea nocte paulo post cum armatis hominibus sicuti salutatum introire ad Ciceronem ac de inproviso domi suae inparatum confodere . Curius ubi intellegit , quantum periculum consuli inpendeat , propere per Fulviam Ciceroni dolum , qui parabatur , enuntiat . Ita illi ianua prohibiti tantum facinus frustra susceperant . Interea Manlius in Etruria plebem sollicitare egestate simul ac dolore iniuriae novarum rerum cupidam , quod Sullae dominatione agros bonaque omnis amiserat , praeterea latrones cuiusque generis , quorum in ea regione magna copia erat , nonnullos ex Sullanis coloniis , quibus lubido atque luxuria ex magnis rapinis nihil reliqui fecerat .	While, therefore, the rest were in alarm and hesitation, Caius Cornelius, a Roman knight, who offered his services, and Lucius Vargunteius, a senator, in company with him, agreed to go with an armed force, on that very night, and with but little delay, to the house of Cicero, under pretense of paying their respects to him, and to kill him unawares, and unprepared for defense, in his own residence. But Curius, when he heard of the imminent danger that threatened the consul, immediately gave him notice, by the agency of Fulvia, of the treachery which was contemplated. The assassins, in consequence, were refused admission, and found that they had undertaken such an attempt only to be disappointed. In the mean time, Manlius was in Etruria, stirring up the populace, who, both from poverty, and from resentment for their injuries (for, under the tyranny of Sylla, they had lost their lands and other property), were eager for a revolution. He also attached to himself all sorts of marauders, who were numerous in those parts, and some of Sylla's colonists, whose dissipation and extravagance had exhausted their enormous plunder.
29	Ea cum Ciceroni nuntiarentur , ancipiti malo permotus , quod neque urbem ab insidiis privato consilio longius tueri poterat neque , exercitus Manli quantus aut quo consilio foret , satis compertum habebat , rem ad senatum refert iam antea vulgi rumoribus exagitatam . Itaque , quod plerumque in atroci negotio solet , senatus decrevit , darent operam consules , ne quid res publica detrimenti caperet . Ea potestas per senatum more Romano magistratui maxuma permittitur : exercitum parare , bellum gerere , coercere omnibus modis socios atque civis , domi militiaeque imperium atque iudicium summum habere ; aliter sine populi iussu nullius earum rerum consuli ius est .	When these proceedings were reported to Cicero, he, being alarmed at the twofold danger, since he could no longer secure the city against treachery by his private efforts, nor could gain satisfactory intelligence of the magnitude or intentions of . the army of Manlius, laid the matter, which was already a subject of discussion among the people, before the senate. The senate, accordingly, as is usual in any perilous emergency, decreed that THE CONSULS SHOULD MAKE IT THEIR CARE THAT THE COMMONWEALTH SHOULD RECEIVE NO INJURY. This is the greatest power which, according to the practice at Rome, is granted by the senate to the magistrate, and which authorizes him to raise troops; to make war; to assume unlimited control over the allies and the citizens; to take the chief command and jurisdiction at home and in the field; rights which, without an order of the people, the consul is not permitted to exercise.
30	Post paucos dies L . Saenius senator in senatu litteras recitavit , quas Faesulis adlatas sibi dicebat , in quibus scriptum erat C . Manlium arma cepisse cum magna multitudine ante diem VI . Kalendas Novembris . Simul , id quod in tali re solet , alii portenta atque prodigia nuntiabant , alii conventus fieri , arma portari , Capuae atque in Apulia servile bellum moveri . Igitur senati decreto Q . Marcius Rex Faesulas , Q . Metellus Creticus in Apuliam circumque ea loca missi — ii utrique ad urbem imperatores erant , impediti , ne triumpharent , calumnia paucorum , quibus omnia honesta atque inhonesta vendere mos erat —, sed praetores Q . Pompeius Rufus Capuam , Q . Metellus Celer in agrum Picenum iisque permissum , uti pro tempore atque periculo exercitum conpararent . Ad hoc , si quis indicavisset de coniuratione , quae contra rem publicam facta erat , praemium servo libertatem et sestertia centum , libero inpunitatem eius rei et sestertia ducenta itemque decrevere , uti gladiatoriae familiae Capuam et in cetera municipia distribuerentur pro cuiusque opibus , Romae per totam urbem vigiliae haberentur iisque minores magistratus praeessent .	A few days afterward, Lucius Sænius, a senator, read to the senate a letter, which, he said, he had received from Fæsulæ, and in which it was stated that Caius Manlius, with a large force, had taken the field by the 27th of October. Others at the same time, as is not uncommon in such a crisis, spread reports of omens and prodigies; others of meetings being held, of arms being transported, and of insurrections of the slaves at Capua and in Apulia. In consequence of these rumors, Quintus Marcius Rex was dispatched, by a decree of the senate, to Fæsulæ, and Quintus Metellus Creticus into Apulia and the parts adjacent; both which officers, with the title of commanders, were waiting near the city, having been prevented from entering in triumph, by the malice of a cabal, whose custom it was to ask a price for every thing, whether honorable or infamous. The prætors, too, Quintus Pompeius Rufus, and Quintus Metellus Celer, were sent off, the one to Capua, the other to Picenum, and power was given them to levy a force proportioned to the exigency and the danger. The senate also decreed, that if any one should give information of the conspiracy which had been formed against the state, his reward should be, if a slave, his freedom and a hundred sestertia; if a freeman, a complete pardon and two hundred sestertia. They further appointed that the schools of gladiators should be distributed in Capua and other municipal towns, according to the capacity of each; and that, at Rome, watches should be posted throughout the city, of which the inferior magistrates should have the charge.