Cicero, In Catilinam, 1.8 to 1.10

meta

summary

On the night of November 6, Catiline had held a meeting with his fellow conspirators in the house of M. Laeca, where they made plans for the conspiracy and decided to attempt to murder Cicero himself. Here Cicero reveals to Catiline directly that he knows all about his plans, laments that some of his fellow conspirators are even present in the senate, and orders Catiline to leave the city.

timeline

timeevent
21st OctThe Senate passes a decree (senatus consultum ultimum) against Catiline, but nothing is done.
6th NovMeeting held among conspirators at house of M. Laeca
7th NovAttempted assassination of Cicero
8th NovCicero addresses a meeting of the Senate about the conspiracy, which Catiline attends (In Catilinam I).
Catiline flees the city that night to join an army gathering in Etruria under T. Manlius
9th NovCicero addresses the people (In Catilinam II)

Cicero was 6 years older than Caesar, when Cicero was counsul, Caesar was praetor & coming up through the ranks. Like if Cicero was in y12; Caesar would be in y7

goal of the speech

to convince Catiline to leave the city

he's speaking to 2 audiences: catiline + the senators

narratio

the part of the speech where they lays out the facts

[8]

sentences 1-2 (skipping)

Quid? Cum tē Praeneste Kalendīs ipsīs Novembribus occupātūrum nocturnō impetū esse cōnfīderēs, sēnsistīne illam colōniam meō iūssū meīs praesidiīs, cūstōdiīs, vigiliīs esse mūnītam?

sentence 3

Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas quod non ego non modo audiam, sed etiam videam planeque sentiam.

you do agis nothing, you plan moliris nothing, you think cogitas nothing tricolon, w/ nice sort of crescendo, bc it gets more and more general with each repetition, emphasising Cicero's power which I don't non ego not only non modo ... sed etiam ~> not only ... but also hear audiam, subjunctive but also sed etiam but also see and understand sentiam clearly plane(que).

wtf is the triple negative nihil...non...non modo

speaking style/conciseness

because he's speaking to people that will only hear this once, he kinds of repeats stuff

sentence 4

recognosce mecum tandem noctem illam superiorem; iam intelleges multo me vigilare acrius ad salutem quam te ad perniciem rei publicae.

Recall recognosce, imperative with me at last that night before last superiorum referring to the 6th november; now you will know that I was vigilare, ind.stat. much multo, abl.degree-of-difference, dsc/acer more sharply acrius, comparative adverb dsc/vigilare watchful for the wellness of the than you [were watchful, zeugma, borrow vigilare] for the ruin of the republic rei publicae.

prior - last night
superior - night before last night; 前天

sentence 5

dico te priore nocte venisse inter falcarios non agam obscure in M. Laecae domum; convenisse eodem complures eiusdem amentiae scelerisque socios.

I say that you went on the night nocte before priore, dsc/nocte to Scythemakers' street literally: between sickle-makers—I will not act agam, future obscurely an aside. he said inter falcarios, then this phrase is the equivalent of "hey, I'm not going to beat around the bush" or "I'm not gonna use euphenisms and namedrops M Laeca, who's a senator & probably hearing this lmao—in the house of M Laeca, [I say, convenisse is the inf of another ind.stat.] that many complures, dsc/socios companions socios, accusative subj. of ind.stat. of the same eiusdem mindlessness amentiae, from a + mentia. mentia is a 1st dec noun meaning mind. and wickedness scelerisque, a scelus is a misdeed eiusdem amentiae scelerisque is a genitive of quality dsc/socios gathered convenisse to the same place eodem.

infinitives don't have plurals

genitive of description

RLG18

sentences 6-8

num negare audes? quid taces? convincam, si negas. video enim esse hic in senatu quosdam qui tecum una fuerunt. 

Surely you dare to deny? In respect to what quid, acc.respect are you silent? I will refute convincam. in form it can be subjunctive or future but if you look at the context it makes more sense if it's future, if you deny. I see video of course enim that esse introduces an indirect statement, which is the object of video certain ones quosdam, quos ~> people, dam adds the 'certain' sense who were together una with you are here in the senate.

technique: many rhetorical questions

technique: many rhetorical questions: putting catiline in a position where he can't reply without incriminating himself. especially if you are asked many rhetorical questions, then coming up with elegant ways to deny them is pretty hard.

[9]

sentences 1 to 4

o di immortales! ubinam gentium sumus? quam rem publicam habemus? in qua urbe vivimus?

Oh immortal gods di, vocative pl of deus, di is a common vocative form! Wherever ubinam, 'nam' has the sense of 'whatever' in all races gentium, partitive genitive ubinam gentium is a common exclamation expressing surprise are we sumus? What quam, dsc/rempublicam, interrogative adjective apparently? republic do we have? In what city do we live?

sentence 5

hic, hic sunt nostro in numero, patres conscripti, in hoc orbis terrae sanctissimo grauissimoque consilio, qui de nostro omnium interitu, qui de huius urbis atque adeo de orbis terrarum exitio cogitent!

here, here in our nostro, dsc/numero multitude numero nostro in numero; preposition sandwich are, enrolled fathers voc., patres conscripti was a common address for senators, in this most sacred and important assembly sanctissimo gravissimoque consilo of the world orbis terrae, genitive, [people] who about the ruin of us all commentary says that nostro, although dat/abl, is equivalent in sense to an objective genitive, who about [the ruin] ellipsis: this is missing in the text, take exitio from the next "de" of this huius city and to such a degree adeo about the ruin of this world, might consider cogitent, "generic" subjunctive!

A thing to watch out for in Cicero is that he will expand out - so instead of in consilio, it's

  1. in hoc consilio
  2. in hoc ranctissimo gravissimoque consilio
  3. in hoc orbis terrae sanctissimo grauissimoque consilio

ellipsis

In linguistics, ellipsis (Ancient Greek: ἔλλειψις, romanized: élleipsis, lit. 'omission') or an elliptical construction is the omission from a clause of one or more words that are nevertheless understood in the context of the remaining elements.
Wikipedia

generic relative subjunctive

a subjunctive
not true, but implied, and like "this is the case", "this makes sense to be the case"

objective genitive

rlg20

when an objective genitive describes a noun, it's about the same meaning as:

  • if that noun was a verb,
  • and the objective genitive was the direct object of the verb.

e.g. nostrum omnium interitu

  1. nostrum omnium is an objective genitive dsc/interitu
  2. take interitu as a verb, so ruining something
  3. since nostrum omnium is the "direct object", it's ruining us
  4. so "the ruin directed at us" ~> still "our ruin"

sentence 6

hos ego video consul et de re publica sententiam rogo et quos ferro trucidari oportebat eos nondum uoce vulnero!

I, as consul one of the jobs of consuls was to run these public meetings, see these hos, acc. masc PL - referring to "these men", Catiline & his co-conspirators and ask [their referring to hoc] opinion sententiam, acc about the republic re publica, abl w/de. and I do not yet injure them with my voice eos nondum voce vulnero; those quos whom it is (& was) proper oportebat, imperfect because he's expressing how it has been right for a while to murder them to slaughter with a sword ferro, lit. iron, synecdoche, abl.instrument.

oportet

impersonal verb, kind of """takes""" an infinitive and means "it is fitting [to do xyz]"

impersonal verbs

Many verbs, from their meaning, appear only in the 3rd person singular, the infinitive, and the gerund. These are called Impersonal Verbs, as they have no personal subject. The passive of many intransitive verbs is used in the same way.

https://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/latin/impersonal-verbs

quos...oportebat...eos...vulnero

clause structure

note that the quos..oportebat clause is the relative and the eos..vulnero clause is the main clause.

Cicero might mean that

  1. he will not name them now because he wants to physically harm them,
    or,
  2. anyone that he doesn't harm with words, he will harm with swords

meaning

quos ferro trucidari oportebat is referring to the 21st of October, when "The Senate passes a decree (senatus consultum ultimum) against Catiline" (see the timeline section in "meta"). It is now the 8th of Oct but nothing has been done.

sentence 7

this part is describing the plans that Catiline etc. made at the meeting

fuisti igitur apud Laecam illa nocte, Catilina,

and so igitur, postpositive, you were in the presence of apud, takes acc., basically means "at the house of" Laecam that night illa nocte, abl.time-when, Catiline,

distribuisti partes Italiae,

you assigned parts of Italy divvying it up and saying who will control which part,

statuisti quo quemque proficisci placeret,

you decided statuisti to where it was pleasing placeret, impersonal that each one quemque, acc.subject, meaning "each one, anyone", from quisque departs proficisci, pres infinitive of indirect statement quemque proficisci quo...placeret, indirect question with nested indirect statement quemque proficisci,

delegisti quos Romae relinqueres, quos tecum educeres,

you selected who quos, introducing an indirect question you should leave behind relinqueres, subjunctive because the indirect question at Rome Romae, locative, who quos, introducing a separate indirect question to bring out educeres, subjunctive because the indirect question with you small asydenton "quos Romae relinqueres, quos tecum educeres",

discripsisti urbis partes ad incendia,

you divided parts of the city for ad, expressing purpose burning incendia, plural, literally "for fires", from incendium, incendii,

confirmasti te ipsum iam esse exiturum,

you confirmed that ind.stat. te ipsum iam esse exiturum you yourself now would be leaving esse exiturum, future active infinitive. it's translated as kind of a past (with "would") because its governing verb, confirmasti, is perf; sequence of tenses.,

dixisti paulum tibi esse etiam nunc morae, quod ego viverem.

you said that there was esse, it's translated as kind of a past because its governing verb, dixisti, is perf; sequence of tenses now still a small paulum, noun a delay morae, partitive genitive dsc/paulum for you tibi tibi esse ... morae ~> dative of purpose?? commentary says this but brophy didn't cover it, because quod I continue living imperfect for continued action?.

viverem is subjunctive either because

  • the "I continue living" is still part of the dixisti indir.stat.
    or
  • quod ego viverem is a causal (cause, not casual) clause.
    • introduced by quod (which has a conjunction meaning)
    • cicero's aliveness is the cause of cataline's delay
    • subjunctive for alleged cause
      • which COULD mean that cicero, as the author, doesn't believe that the cause lead to the effect. aka "catiline claims that he's delayed because i'm still alive".

causal clause

a general rule is that the author would use the indicative in a causal clause if the author agrees with the reasoning, and subjunctive if not. (CHECK THE SYLLABUS BRO SNSNNSNSNSNSNNSS)

causal clauses are different from clauses introduced by ut, which are purpose/result clauses.

sequence of tenses

todo

asydenton

this whole sentence is an asydenton:

  • fuisti
  • distribuisti
  • statuisti
  • delegisti
  • discripsisti
  • confirmasti
  • dixisti

there is also a small asydenton in "quos Romae relinqueres, quos tecum educeres"

double dative

rlg32 LatinTutorial

verb + dative of interest + dative of purpose
dative of purpose more generally shows the purpose/result/effect of the thing, in regards to the dative of interest

sentence 8

reperti sunt duo equites Romani, qui te ista cura liberarent et se illa ipsa nocte paulo ante lucem me in meo lectulo interfecturos esse pollicerentur.  

two equestrians have been found reperti sunt in Rome, who might free liberarent, imperf subjunctive because it didn't happen (the equestrians were caught) translate as free rather than liberate because liberate is a bit strong you from that care cura, abl.separation and might promise pollicerentur, deponent, imperf subjunctive (generic subjunctive), introduces an indirect statement that they se, referring to the equites, acc. subject of the indirect statement introduced by pollicerentur will kill interfecturos esse, future active infinitive me in my bed this very night illa ipsa nocte, abl.time-when, a little paulo, abl.degree-of-difference modifying ante before light lucem, acc w/ante.

iste - is used for emphasis in a legal context (which is right now lmao this is the criminal court I think) as a prosecution technique, "that X of yours" - but don't take this too literally, I think I highkey misinterpreted it

te ista cura liberarent - very euphemistic
then cicero manipulates the

not sure if the equestrians (might have) made that promise that very night, or if they (might have) killed cicero that very night. the latter is more likely because cicero mentions him in his bed

the equestrians were volunteers. not hired. because they were rich bro they don't need money

Equestrial = wealthy non-senatorial roman, name because they WERE the calvary. they are wealthy people who have decided (for whatever reason) to not enter the senate. a major reason of this is that for senators there were only two acceptables types of income for a senator: extortion & agriculture.

clause structure

  • Repertī sunt duo equitēs Rōmānī
    • quī tē istā cūrā liberārent,
    • et [sē illā ipsā nocte paulō ante lūcem mē in meō lectō interfectūrōs esse] pollicērentur.

also there's a book of cicero's life in novel form

[10]

sentence 1

haec ego omnia vixdum etiam coetu vestro dimisso comperi;

I know comperi these haec is plural because omnia is plural all, hardly even with your meeting dismissed coetu vestro dimisso, ablative absolute;

domum meam maioribus praesidiis munivi atque firmavi,

I fortified minivi and strengthened firmavi my home with more maioribus, dsc/praesidiis protections praesidiis, abl.inst,

exclusi eos quos tu ad me salutatum mane miseras,

I excluded those eos who quos, acting as the object of miseras you had sent miseras, the pluperfect 2nd person of mitto to greet salutatum, acc.supine expressing purpose me in the morning mane,

cum illi ipsi venissent quos ego iam multis ac summis viris ad me id temporis venturos esse praedixeram.

while cum, introducing some sort of cum clause those very people had come venissent, plpf subjunctive, I ego had already main predicted praedixeram, introduces an indirect statement [to many and the greatest men] that they quos, reperring to "illi ipsi" would come venturos esse to me at that time.

clause structure

clause structure from the commentary

  • Haec ego omnia,
    • vixdum etiam coetū vestrō dīmissō,
  • comperī:
    • domum meam māiōribus praesidiīs mūnīvī atque fīrmāvī,
    • exclūsī eōs quōs tū ad mē salūtātum māne mīserās,
      • cum illī ipsī vēnissent
        • [quōs... ] ego iam multīs ac summīs virīs [... ad mē id temporis ventūrōs esse] praedīxeram.
          it's weird how the quos from the venturos esse indirect statement is separated from the rest of the indirect statement

supine

rlg74 (acc.) + rlg75 (abl.)

  • only in the singular
  • so -um or -u
  • 4th declension verbal noun
    • other verbal nouns are the gerund and the infinitive
    • supine doesn't have tenses unlike the infinitive

two super hyper specific uses

  1. in the accusative
    • with verbs of motion to express purpose
      • quos tu ad me salutatum mane miseras
      • horatia in casam venit quintum necatam
    • verb of motion + supine expresses purpose
  2. in the ablative
    • with adjectives ending in -ile or ale as an ablative of respect
    • mirabile dictu - miraculous with respect to speech???

sentence 2

quae cum ita sint, Catilina, perge quo coepisti: egredere aliquando ex urbe; patent portae: proficiscere.

since these things are so quae cum ita sint, a common expression by Cicero, Catiline, set out perge to the place where you had started quo coepisti, relative clause, quo is an adverb in relationship to coepisti I think: leave egredere, passive imperative bc it's deponent the city at some point; the gates are open: go forth.

note that perge (pergo, pergere, perexi, perectum), meaning to proceed, go on, continue, is different to purga with a u (purgo, pergare, pergavi, pergatum), meaning to clean

sentence 3

nimium diu te imperatorem tua illa Manliana castra desiderant.

for too nimium modifies diu 😭 long, that Manliana camp of yours had desired you as commander imperatorem, app/te.

sentence 4

educ tecum etiam omnes tuos, si minus, quam plurimos; purga urbem.

in addition, lead out educ, 😭 I thought this was an adverb, apparently 3rd conjugation SG imperatives end in a consonant with you all of yours, if [you lead out] fewer minus, comparative adverb, describing educ, [ then lead out ellipsis, supply "educ" before "quam plurimos"] as many as possible quam + superlative construction; clean purga the city.

note that perge (pergo, pergere, perexi, perectum), meaning to proceed, go on, continue, is different to purga with a u (purgo, pergare, pergavi, pergatum), meaning to clean

quam + superlative

quam + superlative (here of multus) means ‘as X as is possible;’ the verb potest, ‘is possible,’ is understood

sentence 5

magno me metu liberabis, modo inter me atque te murus intersit.

you will liberate me from a great magno fear metu, abl.separation, as long as modo a wall is between intersit, subjunctive (between inter) me and you.

sentence 6

nobiscum versari iam diutius non potes: non feram, non patiar, non sinam.

now it is not possible for you to live with us for longer diutius, comparative of the adv. diu 😭😭 why is diu comparable that's so cursed: I will not endure it, I will not suffer it patiar, I will not allow it tricolon.

we started with a tricolon now we are ending with one :D