quibus: dative of the possessor.
quibus mala abunde omnia erant: The Loeb text reads erat in error for erant.
quieta mouere: lit. "To-move quiet (things)", i.e. "disorder", the infinitive being subject of uidebatur.
foret (= esset), peterent, haberent: subjunctives in clauses of indirect question.
praemia: "On this point they had already been informed individually, no doubt in terms which appealed to their particular needs and desires." (McGushin, ad loc.)
opis, spei: partitive genitives qualifying quid.
"These promises of Catiline reinforce the impression that S. looked on the conspiracy as closely connected with the effect of the Sullan reign of terror." (McGushin, ad loc.)
tabulas novas: "Catiline's seems to have been the first attempt to abolish debt, not by legislation, but by armed revolt." (McGushin, ad loc.) See also OCD 434, s.v. "debt", especially the last ten lines ("In the late Roman republic...").
sacerdotia: OCD 1245-1246, s.v. "priests (Greek and Roman)", especially paras 1-5.
P. Sittium: OCD 1414, s.v. "Sittius, Publius".
C. Antonium: OCD 114, s.v. "Antonius, Gaius". As the article reveals, Antonius proved a disappointment to Catiline: Cicero skilfully solved Antonius's financial problems and secured his neutrality.
quem ... speraret: subjunctive in a subordinate clause in oratio obliqua.
agundi = agendi. Cf. the note on capiundae (5.6).
admonebat: admonere followed by a genitive of the subject of the reminder or warning, as here, is Ciceronian. (OLD 49, s.v. "admoneo", which cites this passage)
In one respect Catiline was remarkably like the apostle Paul: both could be all things to all men. Paul's motives were nobler though. See 1 Corinthians 9.19-22.
praedae: predicative dative.
curae: another predicative dative.
"More than once Catiline seems to imply that the success of the conspiracy was dependent on the success of the elections." (McGushin, ad loc.)
"It seems clear that he is not prepared to vouch for the accuracy of the story of human sacrifice which follows. The form of the story is consistent with his restraint and brevity in the handling of erotic or horrific material. The charge of ritual murder was a constant feature of general polemic against exclusive sects." (McGushin, ad loc.)
cum ad iusiurandum ... sanguinem ... circumtulisse: "Sealing agreements by ceremonial use of blood is known as the Blood Covenant. Blood-brotherhood involved the mutual drinking of blood by the contracting parties or the commingling of blood by cutting each party and touching the wounds together. It became a common feature of tribal life in Ancient Europe and among many American Indians, to create artificial kinship between individuals who were not related." (p. 292 in Eric Maple, "Blood", Man, Myth and Magic 2 (1970). 290-292)
"According to Cassius Dio 37.30.3 a boy was slain by the conspirators and after an oath had been made over his entrails Catiline with his adherents partook of these." (McGushin, ad loc.)
consueuit: in Classical prose, solet.
populares = participes. (OLD 1404, s.v. "popularis2", 1b)
atque eo dictitare fecisse: The text is hopelessly corrupt. Of all the suggested remedies, the least unsatisfactory is to read idque eo dicitur fecisse, which is the reading we shall adopt.
alius alii ... conscii: "alii is dative depending on conscius supplied from conscii." (McGushin, ad loc.) The link between singular alius and plural conscii is formed by a sense construction.
postea: "reaching its climax under Clodius' skilful treatment in 58, when it led to his banishment." (Summers, ad loc.)
nobis ea res ... comperta est: lit. "For-us that matter has-been-discovered too-little in-view-of (its) magnitude."
nobis: dative of the agent and royal plural.
Once again Sallust adopts the role of armchair historian.
comperta est: "The use of the verb here contains irony aimed at the story he is reporting." (McGushin, ad loc.)
flagitiis atque facinoribus: another Sallustian doublet.
censores ... mouerant: OCD 307-308, s.v. "censor", especially para. 2.
probri gratia: Here gratia = propter. (OLD 773, s.v. "gratia", 7e)
neque dicere neque facere quicquam pensi habebat: lit. "Neither to-say nor to-do did-he-hold anything of-thought." The expression reflects the original dative or locative force of the infinitive used to express purpose. (Palmer 319-320; Woodcock sec. 28) In Classical prose we should expect in dicendo ... in faciendo or ad dicendum ... ad faciendum.
Fuluia: Her identity is uncertain.
inopia: ablative of cause.
maria montisque: The alliteration may indicate a popular expression.
ni ... foret: a subordinate clause in oratio obliqua.
de Catilinae coniuratione ... narrauit: "If S. means that Fulvia was reporting on precise plans of rebellion and not merely retailing rumours occasioned by Catiline's activity during this period, it is hard to believe that such a leakage of information would have gone on for long unnoticed." (McGushin, ad loc.)
quasi pollui: As English is freer with metaphors, quasi may be omitted in translation. (MBA page 305, "Beware of English metaphors")
si ... adeptus foret: Cf. the note on ni ... foret (23.3).
homo nouus: OCD 1051-1052, s.v. "novus homo".
"The idea of the conspiracy, in so far as it aimed at social revolution, as being dependent on Catiline's success in the consular elections, a facet implied in Catiline's speech [ch. 20], seems to be corroborated here." (McGushin, ad loc.)
agitare ... parare ... portare: historic infinitives. See again the note on 6.4-5.
pecuniam sua ... sumptam mutuam ... portare: lit. "He-carried borrowed money taken-up in-accordance-with-his-own or friends' credit."
ad Manlium quendam: Gaius Manlius had been one of Sulla's military officers. He had a following of Sullan veterans who saw Catiline's project as a way of returning to their old habits of robbing and looting. Manlius himself had dissipated a sizeable fortune and so had a powerful incentive to join the conspiracy.
neque = sed non.
"This statement seems to be contradicted by Catiline's refusal to enlist slaves in his army (56.5). It may be that a limited use of urban slaves was planned to foment unrest and so to enhance his election chances in 63. But the memory of Spartacus [OCD 1433] was too vivid to allow Catiline to alienate sympathy at this early stage for his cause by the enrolment of runaway slaves in his army." (McGushin, ad loc.)
"The fascinating puzzle of such a personality and the extent to which Sempronia conveys S.'s view of a moral degeneration, all the more dangerous in being combined with powers of intellect and personality, is conveyed by a type of circular composition in which the vices of his subject form the heart of his description (3-4), a fatal rottenness which is heightened by a prior description of aristocratic lineage and beauty (2) and a concluding recognition of her intellectual ability." (McGushin 163)
uiro: Decimus Junius Brutus, consul 77 BC. She was probably the mother of Decimus Albinus. (OCD 788-789, s.v. "Junius Brutus Albinus, Decimus")
satis fortunata might have been intended as ironical but it more probably implies that Sempronia had every inducement to be a typical matrona Romana. The contrast with the ideal mother of heroes, the traditional portrait of a Cornelia such as the mother of the Gracchi, is another proof of the degeneration of morals." (McGushin, ad loc.)
psallere et saltare: historic infinitives.
elegantius quam necesse est probae: For the Roman attitude to music and the other performing arts, see OCD s.v. "music", sec. 4, "History", pp. 1006-1007, last para ("Of the historical development of Roman music ...").
multa alia: sc. inerant illi.
fuit: "attracted to the number of decus atque pudicitia standing as one idea." (Summers, ad loc.) Cf. in English "bread and butter", "horse and carriage".
(utrum) pecuniae an famae minus parceret: an alternative indirect question, object of discerneres; lit. "(whether) she would be less sparing to-money or to-reputation".
discerneres: subjunctive of ideal second person and conditioned futurity, referring to past time.
lubido ... accensa: sc. erat.
luxuria ... inopia: ablatives of cause; lit. "By-reason-of-high-living and poverty she-had-gone-away headlong."
posse: a lone historic infinitive.
lepos: OLD 1018. Distinguish from lepus, leporis, m., "hare".
"To give a full-scale sketch, comparable with that of Catiline, to a woman who plays no recorded part in the story earlier or later was not proper historical practice. We have here a grave structural fault, indeed far the worst fault in a generally rather clumsy work." (McGushin 303)
Barbara W. Boyd suggests that, with the emphatic placement of Sempronia at the end of Catiline's co-conspirators, Sallust is making use of a topos: when removed from the domestic sphere, a woman is treacherous, a perversion of the natural order, a fatale monstrum. Though not a wholly fabricated character, Sempronia probably had only a minor role in the conspiracy. ("Virtus effeminata and Sallust's Sempronia", Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 117 (1987). 183-201)
See also, for interest only, a lengthy study of the fascinating Sempronia, "Sallust and Sempronia", by T. Cadoux, in B. Marshall (ed.), Vindex Humanitatis: Essays in Honour of John Huntly Bishop (1980), 93-122.
si designatus foret: subjunctive in a subordinate clause in cogitatio obliqua.
uoluntate: ablative of accordance.
Antonio: ablative, basically of instrument, after usurum. (MBA 281)
Remember that Antony was a close friend of Catiline and omnibus necessitudinibus circumuentus (21.3). Furthermore, "outgoing consuls depended to some degree on their successors for the expenses, retinue and military forces with which they were sent to their provinces." (McGushin, ad loc.)
dolus aut astutiae: While this is hardly flattering to Cicero, Sallust's narrative makes it abundantly clear how Cicero succeeded in protecting himself, Rome and Italy.
"Cicero, before entering office, let Antonius know that Macedonia would be his on evidence of good behaviour. Antonius in the meantime did not openly break with Catiline but affected to side with him and learned his plans. The formal transference was made when Antonius ceased to be dangerous." (McGushin, ad loc., based on the interpretation of T. Rice Holmes, The Roman Republic 1.457 f.)
amicorum ... clientium: genitives of definition qualifying praesidia.
prospere (adverb) cessere ... aspera foedaque (adjectives) euenerant: elegant variation. See again the note on 2.1.
C. Iulium: possibly the man who was legatus to Antonius Creticus (OCD 116) in operations against the Cretan pirates in 72.
alio: the adverb.
insidias tendere, parare incendia ... loca ... obsidere: a double chiasmus (ABBAAB)
obsidêre: from the third conjugation verb obsido (OLD 1223)
cum telo esse: the regular phrase for a weapon concealed on the person. This was forbidden in Rome by a clause in the Twelve Tables (OCD 1565-1566), a prohibition renewed during the consulship of Pompey, 52 BC. alios here = ceteros.
per here = apud.
"The antedating of this meeting at Laeca's house is the most serious of Sallust's mistakes in the Catiline. Cicero tells us that it took place on the night of 6 November - i.e. after the events described by Sallust in sections 29, 30 and 31." (Handford, ad loc.)
parauerat: From the indicative we may infer that Sallust vouches for this clause himself. It does not form part of Catiline's words.
si prius = postquam.
seque ad exercitum ... oppressisset: In direct speech he would have said ad exercitum proficisci cupio, si prius Ciceronem oppressero (future perfect indicative).
salutatum introire: the standard use of the supine in -um with a verb of motion to express purpose. (GL 435)
"The salutatio, or ceremonial call, paid to distinguished men by clients and friends, took place soon after sunrise. The meeting of the conspirators must have been prolonged to the small hours." (Rolfe, ad loc.)
egestate ... dolore: ablatives of cause.
latrones: also object of sollicitare.
Sullanis coloniis: "As the property of the proscribed fell largely into the hands of Sulla's boon companions, so that of the confiscated land was applied to the purpose of settling his victorious soldiers. It was towards Etruria that most of the settlements were directed, but we hear of others - notably one at Pompeii, where the relations of the old and new citizens were anything but harmonious." (Summers, ad loc.)
lubido atque luxuria: Reproduce the alliteration in translation.
"S. here summarises social, political and economic factors which form the crucial background to the revolutionary movements and aspirations of these decades. The background to this turbulence was a social crisis which found expression in a series of agrarian reforms initiated by the Gracchi and attempted at regular intervals down to the land laws of Augustus. Men of this depressed class, with arms in their hands and ably led, were the essential instruments in the final downfall of the Republic." (McGushin, ad loc.)
priuato consilio: "Cicero had relied up to this point on informers and the help of friends. Further powers were required to authorise military countermeasures." (McGushin, ad loc.)
quo consilio: ablative of quality.
compertum habebat: For the effect of habere with the accusative of a perfect passive participle, see GL 238.
exagitatam here means "discussed". (OLD 631, s.v. "exagito", 5b, which cites this passage)
senatus decreuit darent operam consules: parataxis. See again the note on 7.3.
On this declaration of a state of emergency and its implications, see OCD 1388-1389, s.v. "senatus consultum ultimum".
ne quid ... detrimenti caperet: lit. "that the-state not incur anything of-harm."
"This emergency measure probably had its origin in the powers conferred on Opimius [OCD 1069, s.v. "Opimius, Lucius"] in 121 BC. In earlier times the appointment of a dictator was the constitutional method of dealing with a political crisis, but this fell into disuse after the Second Punic War." (McGushin, ad loc.)
bellum gerere ... coercere ... socios atque ciuis ... imperium atque iudicium habere: another double chiasmus (ABBAAB).
These infinitive phrases, which expand potestas, would in orthodox prose be replaced by gerundive phrases in the genitive case: exercitus parandi, belli gerendi etc.
domi militiaeque: locatives.
consuli: dative of possession. "The singular indicates the office, not the holders of the consulship." (McGushin, ad loc.)
ante diem VI kalendas Nouembris: The intricacies of the Roman calendar are unravelled in KMP 498.
Q. Marcius Rex: OCD 923, s.v. "Marcius Rex, Quintus".
Q. Metellus Creticus: OCD 269, s.v. "Caecilius Metellus (Creticus), Quintus".
ad urbem: "No magistrate could enter the city without forfeiting his imperium, unless by special decree. Generals who claimed a triumph had to wait outside the walls until the Senate had decided on their application. Marcius Rex and Metellus Creticus could be used in this emergency precisely because they still had imperium." (McGushin, ad loc.)
paucorum: "some supporters of Pompeius, who was opposing each of these triumphs." (McGushin, ad loc.)
Q. Metellus Celer: OCD 268-269, s.v. "Caecilius Metellus Celer, Quintus".
sestertia: "The sestertium (originally a gen. pl. of sestertius depending on mille) was not a coin, but a sum of 1,000 sestertii." (KMP 493. d) Instead of centum we should normally expect the distributive numeral centena and, in 30.7, ducena instead of ducenta.
"Financial rewards for information leading to the detection of conspiracies was a common practice. In spite of these promised rewards and the later repeated promise of immunity (36.2) no one deserted or informed, an indication of the desperation and determination of those who saw in Catiline's programme some relief from their wretchedness. There was no desertion until the case of the conspirators became hopeless after the execution of the five leading conspirators in the city (57.1)." (McGushin, ad loc.)
"There seems to be an inconsistency in sending gladiators at this time to Capua where there were rumours of servile unrest. S. may, of course, be presenting in summary form a series of moves which took place over an extended period of time." (McGushin, ad loc.)
opibus: "There would be the expense of their keep to defray." (Summers, ad loc.)
minores magistratus: aediles, quaestors, tribunes, triumuiri capitales.