quae: neuter plural by a sense construction where we should logically expect quas as the antecedents laetitia and lasciuia are both feminine.
quae diuturnus quies pepererat: "The phrase implies a period of calm for the early months of 63 and is contradicted in 36.4ff. As noted earlier, S.'s habit of generalisation entails omissions and the framing of statements designed to answer the artistic purposes of the moment. Here the principle of antithesis governs his description of what preceded the outbreak of the Catilinarian conspiracy." (McGushin, ad loc.)
pepererat: from pario. (OLD 1297, s.v. "pario2")
cuiquam = ulli.
adflictare sese, manus ... tendere, miserari ... liberos: a double chiasmus (ABBAAB).
adflictare ... tendere, miserari ... rogitare ... pauere ... diffidere: still more historic infinitives.
miserari: "to express feelings of pity etc. as distinct from misereri, to feel such emotions." (McGushin, ad loc.) The former takes the accusative; the latter, the genitive. (MBA 308, especially Note 5)
L. Paulo: OCD 22, s.v. "Aemilius Paullus (3), Lucius".
"sui expurgandi is more in keeping with Catiline's reaction to the charge brought by Paulus. In spite of Cicero's confident assertions it is clear from the First Catilinarian that he had no evidence conclusive enough to connect Catiline with the overt hostility of Manlius or the alleged plans for murder and arson in the city. His object was to force Catiline to leave the city, but even then he was not sure whether the sequel would be exile or a linking up with Manlius." (McGushin, ad loc.)
sicut = quasi.
orationem habuit: "the First Oration against Catiline, delivered November 8, 63 BC." (Rolfe, ad loc.)
quam postea scriptam edidit: Accordingly, "S. felt that it was useless to repeat or adapt a well-known published document." (McGushin, ad loc.)
familia: ablative of origin.
sibi: dative of the possessor.
in plebem Romanam: "a strange boast in such company. The earliest MSS may have had simply the abbreviation p.r. and the conjectures in populum Romanum and in rem publicam are both attractive." (McGushin, ad loc.)
essent: subjunctive in a subordinate clause in oratio obliqua.
perdita re publica opus esse: For the case-usage of re publica, see MBA 286.
inquilinus ciuis urbis Romae: "This slur was unfair, for although Cicero was not born in Rome, as a native of Arpinum he possessed full citizenship." (Rolfe, ad loc.) There is also undoubtedly an implied jibe at Cicero's status as a nouus homo. Considering, however, that Arpinum, a town some 105 km. from Rome, had had the Roman franchise since 188 BC, the jibe is not particularly effective.
uoluens: The present participle here has an aorist force. (Woodcock 102)
consuli: dative of disadvantage.
factu: On the supine in -u, see MBA 404.
consuli: dative of disadvantage again.
prope diem, often written as one word, means "shortly". (OLD 1491)
huiusce modi: "This phrase clearly implies that the letter which follows is not an exact duplicate of an actual letter. This impression is strengthened by the incorporation of phrases which are clearly Sallustian in origin. The artistic advantage of the epistolary form is that S. is enabled to vary his narrative method. The relative frequency of letters in the extant works probably also indicates a desire on his part to impart an air of historical research and veracity to the work." (McGushin, ad loc.)
qui: The antecedent is nos, implied in both faceremus and nostra.
plerique patriae ... sed omnes atque fortuna expertes sumus: expertes followed first by a genitive - the usage is Ciceronian - and then by two ablatives is another example of elegant variation - unless, of course, we are to read ablative patria. OLD 649, s.v. "expers", 1b, cites this passage. The ablative after expers is uncommon.
"patria[e] expertes refers to debtors who escaped the consequences of indebtedness by flight or voluntary exile." (McGushin, ad loc.)
nostrum: (partitive) genitive plural of nos.
more maiorum: This famous phrase is noteworthy not only for its historical associations but for its alliteration and assonance. "One of the ways we play with language is to construct phrases with repeating patterns. Why would we have this passion for echoes? One reason has to do with memory: preliterate societies rely heavily on patterned language in transmitting cultural texts reliably from generation to generation. Another reason involves our deep-rooted fascination with patterns. This passion is one of the things that drives poetry and makes meaningfulness in language: just think of famous rhythmic prose like the 1611 Bible, or the Gettysburg address, or Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech." (Roly Sussex, "Word Limit", The Courier-Mail, 23 October 1999)
lege uti: "probably the lex Poetelia Papiria of 326 BC, by which imprisonment for debt was forbidden." (McGushin, ad loc.) There is also an implication that they were being charged more than the legal rate of interest, then one per cent per month.
praetoris: "The praetor urbanus was the principal judge in all civil processes. The room for favour and influence which such a system offered was naturally considerable." (McGushin, ad loc.)
miseriti plebis: For the case-usage of plebis, see MBA 308.
opitulati sunt: "Help was provided by legislation and other means such as the free distribution of corn or a lowering of the price. In 296 BC usurers were heavily fined by the tribune." (McGushin, ad loc.)
argentum aere solutum: "This may refer to the lex Valeria, 86 BC, [by which] one quarter of the debt was to be accepted as payment in full. The bronze as was worth one quarter of the silver sesterce. [An alternative view is ] that it refers to the compulsory circulation of debased coinage." (McGushin, ad loc.)
McGushin (ad loc.) notes three plebeian secessions: (1) in 484 BC because of the harshness of creditors; (2) in 449, caused by the conduct of the decemvir Appius Claudius, which gives particular point to superbia; (3) in 287, as a result of a dispute over public lands. Each resulted in laws favouring the dissident plebs.
neue imponatis ... nostrum pereamus: lit. "nor should-you-impose on-us the-necessity that we-seek in-what way we-are-to-perish, having-avenged our (life-) blood most."
ut quaeramus: a noun clause expanding necessitudinem.
pereamus: subjunctive in a clause of indirect question, as well as deliberative subjunctive.
"The emphasis on the social and economic ills of the period reiterates the fact that Catiline's programme of cancellation of debts and redistribution of land was dictated by more than mere demagogism; it was based on the harsh realities of a situation which secured for Catiline a wide and varied following. The oppressed would include not only nobles impoverished by the expenditure of running for office or by the squandering of their patrimonies, but a more serious and enduring situation could arise from a series of bad harvests which forced yeomen to borrow and tenants to default in their rent. The harsh laws of debt would leave the latter at the mercy of their creditors who could keep them in custody and perhaps even make them work as bondsmen." (McGushin, ad loc.)
See also OCD 434, s.v. "debt", particularly the latter part ("debt-bondage and other forms of debt-dependence...").
ut nemo .. petiuerit: a result clause.
Historical reality differed from Marcius's reassuring words. In 40.3, for example, the Allobroges complained of the unhelpfulness of the Senate. And, of course, it was Catiline, not the Senate, whom the oppressed of Italy regarded as their saviour.
ex itinere: i.e. to join Manlius.
oreretur: "Pres. ind., impf. subj. and imp[erative] usu. follow 3rd conj. vbs. of gradior type." So OLD 1269, s.v. "orior". It would have been well to add "though by no means always". See also GL 166.
"The claims in these letters may truly reflect what Catiline thought at the time of writing. That he thought of the possibility of rebellion goes without saying (cf. 36.1), but from the statements here it seems that exile figured more prominently in his thoughts when he was leaving Rome. The letter to Catulus (ch. 35) is in keeping with this impression." (McGushin, ad loc.)
Q. Catulus: OCD 893, s.v. "Lutatius Catulus (2), Quintus". He was the first to hail Cicero as pater patriae after the executions of chapter 55.
redditas: The prefix re(d)- means either "back, again" or "duly", here the latter.
earum exemplum: McGushin (ad loc.) believes the letter is genuine: (1) it uses a non-Sallustian style and, often, vocabulary; (2) it gives reasons for Catiline's departure different from those already proposed by Sallust.
re cognita: Catulus successfully testified in support of Catiline when he was in trouble over his illicit association with a Vestal "virgin". See again 15.1.
conscientia de culpa: in orthodox prose, conscientia culpae.
mediusfidius: OLD 698, s.v. "Fidius"; 1091, s.v. "medius2"; cf. meherc(u)le.
licet cognoscas: lit. "You-should-discover; it-is-permitted." Another instance of parataxis. See again the note on 7.3. Instead of the subjunctive with licet, Sallust normally uses an infinitive.
statum dignitatis: the consulship.
"Dignitas attached to a man permanently and was inherited by his descendants and as such was closely allied to nobilitas - both rested ultimately on the tenure of public offices. Dignitas, like nobilitas, became identified with the distinction and preserves of the nobility; hence Catiline's tone in addressing the greatest living representative is strongly reminiscent of his remarks in the Senate [31.7]." (McGushin, ad loc.)
non quia ... non possem: a clause of rejected reason. (MBA 485)
non quia ... sed quod: typical of Sallust's love of variation for its own sake.
meis nominibus: ablative of quality describing aes alienum. For an explanation of the expression, see OLD 1186, s.v. "nomen", 22a.
alienis nominibus: ablative of quality describing aes alienum, to be supplied after et.
Orestillae: Remember Aurelia Orestilla? We first met her in 15.2.
persolueret: subjunctive of conditioned futurity, used independently of a si-clause, referring to past time.
Contrast Catiline's protestations here with his diatribe about poverty and oppression in 20.7.
homines honore honestatos: The assonance is striking. See again the note on maiore maiorum (33.1).
honore honestatos is an instance of figura etymologica. See again the note on 7.6.
hoc nomine: "for this reason", ablative of cause. For nomen used in this sense, see OLD 1186, s.v. "nomen", 26a.
satis honestas ... spes: either exile or a euphemism for revolution.
casu: his election defeat.
uim: "presumably a reference to the activity of Cicero prior to Catiline's departure." (McGushin, ad loc.) See again chapter 29.
haueto: OLD 210, s.v. "aue".
fascibus: Cf. the note on 18.5.
His assumption of consular insignia may well mark the moment when he resolved on revolution rather than exile.
aliis imperi insignibus: "the curule chair and the trabea (the military cloak, that is, rather than the toga praetexta)." (Summers, ad loc.)
diem statuit ante quam...: quam is feminine because its antecedent diem is feminine, referring as it does to a specific day.
ante quam ... liceret: subjunctive in a relative clause of purpose, which is also sub-oblique.
sine fraude: "without risk of punishment". (OLD 732, s.v. "fraus", 2, which cites this passage.)
praeter = praeterquam, the adverb.
rerum capitalium: genitive of the charge. (MBA 306)
condemnatis: dative in association with liceret.
"The senatus consultum of ch. 29 was not then enough." (Summers, ad loc.)
praesidio: predicative dative.
cui: dative after parerent.
qui ... irent: a relative clause of characteristic.
perditum: the supine, expressing purpose after a verb of motion, irent. (MBA 402)
namque explains opstinatis animis.
senati: an occasional alternative form for the usual genitive senatus. (GL 61, Note 1)
patefecerat: The subject is quisquam, delayed until the following clause.
patefecerat, discesserat: These pluperfects have aorist force. (GL 241, Note 1)
omnium: partitive genitive qualifying quisquam.
aliena = "crazy, deranged", continuing the medical imagery from the final clause of 36.5. (OLD 97, s.v. "alienus1", 12)
fuerant: "The pluperfect refers to the period before knowledge of the conspiracy became general as a result of the Senatorial decrees. The plebs, when they heard of it, became enthusiastic supporters." (McGushin, ad loc.)
more: ablative of accordance.
"Boni-mali here are more than purely ethical terms. Boni still retains some of the meaning given it in current political thought, i.e. people with property and therefore devoted to the strengthening of the constitution. Mali likewise carries the idea of lack of possessions and lack of principles." (McGushin, ad loc.)
mutari: Note the passive voice. "The plebs follow a leader; they do not initiate action." (McGushin, ad loc.)
sine damno: because the poor have nothing to lose.
flagitium ... facinus: an alliterative doublet.
probus atque petulantia: ablatives of respect, modifying praestabant; and more alliteration.
"The motivation attributed to these different sections of the [urban] plebs remains typically Sallustian; like all adherents of Catiline they thrive on malum publicum." (McGushin, ad loc.)
regio: McGushin (ad loc.) points to the "undertone of the oppression of the many and the unconstitutional prominence of the few".
excita: the perfect passive participle of exci(e)o. (OLD 634-635)
iuxta: here an adverb, "equally". (OLD 988, s.v. "iuxta", 2)
bona erepta, ius libertatis imminutum: "by the lex Cornelia de proscriptione in 81, which declared that all goods of the proscribed should be confiscated and children of proscribed persons rendered ineligible to hold public office." (McGushin, ad loc.)
haud alio animo: litotes. See again the note on non ignarum (17.7).
conturbari: Cf. the note on mutari (37.3).
"malum refers to the return of party strife, set in train by the restoration of tribunician power. Multos post annos is therefore a relative term; it represents a period of eleven years, since tribunician power had been limited only between 82 and 70 BC." (McGushin, ad loc.)
"Sulla excluded tribunes from the magistracies of the Roman People and abolished, or severely curtailed, their power to legislate, their judicial powers, and their veto." (OCD 1550, s.v. "tribuni plebis")
homines adulescentes: "There was no legitima aetas for the tribunate; entry to the Senate could be the aim of young men interested in attaining early membership of the Senatorial order. But both money and backing would be necessary to enable such to forgo the quaestorship, an office which normally preceded a tribunate." (McGushin, ad loc.)
largiundo = largiendo: Cf. the note on capiundae (5.6).
pollicitando: the frequentative form of pollicendo, "by repeated promises".
sicuti populi iura defenderent: subjunctive in a clause of unreal comparison. In orthodox prose, instead of sicuti, we should expect quasi, quam si, ut si, tamquam si or uelut si. (MBA 494)
alii sicut ... defenderent, pars quo ... foret: a striking example of elegant variation. See again the note on 2.1.
quo ... foret: a final clause introduced by quo, though lacking a comparative word. See again the note on 11.5.
neque modestia neque modus: another "echo phrase". See again the note on 33.1. We last met this particular doublet in 11.4.
plebis opes ... potentia creuit: In other words, "the Senate took advantage of Pompeius' absence to entrench its position at home so that it would have the power to deal with P. on his return." (McGushin, ad loc.)
quo ... placidius tractarent: This time the final quo-clause has the usual comparative.
ceterosque ... quo tractarent: The text and meaning are quite uncertain. It seems that the higher magistrates terrorised the popular leaders, mainly the tribunes, to make the latter, while they were in office, deal with the commons more mildly.
"eorum refers to ceteros [39.2], the active opponents of oligarchic privilege, acting in the name of the people but in reality striving for personal aims." (McGushin, ad loc.)
si ... Catilina ... discessisset, ... magna clades ... oppressisset; neque ... licuisset: an unreal conditional sentence, referring to past time.
clades atque calamitas: another alliterative doublet.
adepti forent: another conditional subjunctive.
defessis, exsanguibus: datives of disadvantage.
qui plus posset ... libertatem extorqueret: "The danger lay not in the possibility of Catiline's success but in the excuse it might give for a renewal of political strife, exploited for aims of personal power, military usurpation. The career of Julius Caesar, the murder of Caesar and the alignment of Antony and Octavian in the final struggle for supremacy, made plain the danger portended by this earlier conspiracy." (McGushin, ad loc.) Of course, Pompey's successes abroad meant he was a growing worry as well. (MBA 134, Note)
quin ... extorqueret: a limiting consecutive clause.
qui ... posset: a generic qui-clause.
"The contrast between the conduct of the son and the old-fashioned severitas of the father could be interpreted as a comment on the degeneration which in S.'s view had caused the crisis." (McGushin, ad loc.)
cuiusque modi = quodlibet.
quod ... foret: The relative clause has a limiting force: quod modo = dummodo. (MBA 439, Note)
usui: predicative dative.
Allobrogum: OCD 65, s.v. "Allobroges". "Their envoys were in Rome on official business - evidently, as the context shows, to complain of extortion on the part of Roman officials." (Handford, ad loc.)
si possit: a subjunctive clause in virtual oratio obliqua.
The present subjunctive verb in the subordinate clauses following the historic present governing verb dat lend vividness to Sallust's account.
natura gens Gallica bellicosa: Perhaps, but sociologists tell us that only some thirty-five per cent of a people conform to a national stereotype.
G. Duncan Mitchell puts it this way:
There are two uses of the term stereotype, one sociological and the other psychological, but they are related.The term may refer to a tendency for a belief to be widespread in any social group or society. Thus there may be a tendency for people to believe that Jews are clever or that Americans are wealthy. Such stereotypes can be determined by attitude research.
The term may be used to denote the over-simplification of a belief in regard to its content together with a tendency for the belief to be resistant to factual change. All beliefs tend to be subject to the laws of levelling and sharpening, and so all beliefs may be regarded as stereotypes, but this is merely to say that all beliefs which are subject to such psychological processes are more likely than not to gain widespread acceptance, and so we see a relationship between the psychological concept and the sociological one.
auaritia magistratuum: e.g. Gaius Calpurnius Piso. (OCD 280, s.v. "Calpurnius Piso (1), Gaius".
quod ... nihil esset: a subjunctive clause in virtual oratio obliqua.
miseriis: Cicero would have used the genitive miseriarum.
qua ... effugiatis: a relative final clause.
quod non ... facturi essent: a consecutive relative clause, as well as sub-oblique.
dum ... liberaret: a clause of proviso, as well as sub-oblique.
aliena consili: For this meaning of alienus, "not in keeping (with), inappropriate (to), see OLD 97, s.v. "alienus", 8a. While Cicero uses the genitive after alienus, he more commonly uses the ablative, with or without a(b), and so does Sallust.
ab Roma aberat: Cicero would have omitted the preposition before Roma.
maior auctoritas: "Gabinius was an eques and in the inner circle of the conspiracy." (McGushin, ad loc.)
coniurationem aperit, nominat socios: chiasmus.
legatis: dative of the possessor.
pollicitos operam suam: "The nature of their promises is indicated by Cicero (in Cat. 3.4 and 9) viz. to start an insurrection in Gaul and to supply Catiline with cavalry for the war in Italy." (McGushin, ad loc.)