[consulatus] diligenter adornet atque instruat: unum sustinere pauci possunt, utrumque nemo. tu, cum te de curriculo petitionis deflexisses animumque ad accusandum transtulisses, existimasti te utrique negotio satis facere posse: vehementer errasti. quis enim dies fuit, postea quam in istam accusandi denuntiationem ingressus es, quem tu non totum in ista ratione consumpseris? XXIII. legem ambitus flagitasti, quae tibi non deerat; erat enim severissime scripta Calpurnia. gestus est mos et voluntati et dignitati tuae. adornet] 'equip,' 'prepare.' instruat. 'marshal,' 'array,' organize.' cf. pro Cluent. §§ 18, 191. The metaphor seems to be a military one. cf. on § 22. sustinere] 'carry out,' 'act.' cf. de Orat. II. § 102, tres personas unus sustineo. This seems to be a stage metaphor. 6 deflexisses] Here we pass to a race. The change of metaphors here is very rapid, and does not appear to me happy. te is in the MSS., and, though against Cicero's usage, seems defensible. I believe that he is thinking of the circus. After turning yourself (like a chariot) out of the course,' i. e. you were like a driver who gives his attention during a race to some thing off his course, and divided attention was fatal to your success as it would be to his. quis dies] quis adjectival. cf. Madv. § 88, obs. I. in ista ratione] 'in carrying out that plan.' cf. § 83, I in Verr. § 34, tua ratio est ut secundum binos ludos mihi respondere incipias, mea ut ante primos ludos comperendinem. xxiii. erat]there was the Calpurnian law, with its provisions of the strictest.' Calpurnia] passed in B.C. 67 by G. Calpurnius, consul of the year, at the desire of the Senate. It was severe, and quite superseded all the earlier enactments on the subject. It inflicted a heavy fine on a candidate who (whether successful or not) had employed bribery. It also de sed tota illa lex accusatio prived him for ever of the right of holding office or sitting in the Senate, but allowed him to stay at Rome. A fine was also probably inflicted on the agents, in particular those called divisores. Z. well remarks that these must be the plebs, the increase of whose penalties was called for by Sulpicius. Moreover, one who had been condemned for ambitus might regain his former position (in integrum restituebatur) by procuring the conviction of another on the same charge (pro Balbo $57, pro Cluent. § 98, Quint. XI. i. 79), but did not get back the fine. This system of reward was not peculiar to the lex Calpurnia. gestus est mos] This was in the meeting of the Senate at which the senatusconsultum was carried leading to the lex Tullia in this very year. tota illa lex] the lex Tullia. It probably followed the terms of the senatusconsultum, given in § 67. Another provision is quoted by Cicero himself, in Vatin. § 37, quum mea lex dilucide vetet biennio quo quis petet petiturusve sit gladiatores dare nisi ex testamento praestituta die, also pro Sest. § 133. It was a supplement to the Calpurnian law, defining the proofs of guilt more closely, and adding to the penalties, (1) of Senators, i. e. candidates, ten years exile, (2) of the agents, an increase of the previous fine. Moreover, any juror or witness who pleaded illness as an excuse for non-attendance, thus im nem tuam, si haberet nocentem reum, fortasse armasset, petitioni vero refragata est. poena gravior in plebem tua voce 47 efflagitata est; commoti animi tenuiorum: exilium in nostrum ordinem; concessit senatus postulationi tuae, sed non libenter duriorem fortunae communi condicionem te auctore constituit. morbi excusationi poena addita est: voluntas offensa multorum, quibus aut contra valetudinis commodum laborandum est aut incommodo morbi etiam ceteri vitae fructus relinquendi. quid ergo? haec quis tulit? is, qui auctoritati senatus, voluntati tuae paruit, denique is tulit, cui minime proderant. quid? illa, quae mea summa voluntate senatus frequens repudiavit, mediocriter adversata tibi esse existimas? confusio H. peding the trial, was to be liable to some penalty not now known. however refers this penalty to the accused. haberet] sc. accusatio tua. So Z. after MS. Lag. 9, and I prefer this to haberes of the other MSS., though adopting it with hesitation. 47. efflagitata est] was called for and carried. commoti] A feeling of our occupation's gone.' nostrum ordinem] Since Sulla had made the quaestorship a passport to the Senate, candidates had practically come only from the senatorial order. H. concessit] 'gave way to,' with no object. cf. § 57. H. fortunae communi] A strange way of stating it. They had the option of abstaining from bribery. But they did not generally do so, and in B. C. 67 it was the Senators who had opposed the hard provisions of the proposed lex Cornelia of G. Cornelius the tribune, and had procured the passing of the lex Calpurnia in its stead. excusatio] often employed to defer the hearing of such a charge till the accused entered on his office, and I was out of the law's reach. If this be meant here of the accused, the penalty was doubtless, as H. says, directed against the candidates. But CIC. pro L. Mur. it may equally well (and with more likelihood, it seems to me) be referred to cases of witnesses or jurors falling ill. See below, quibus...... laborandum est, and note. They often fell ill when a friend was on his trial. addita est] sc. on the top of their illness. cf. Phil. II. § 31, cur quaestores additi? and Prof. Mayor's note. laborandum] i. e. stand the wear and tear of a trial in court. fructus] What the allusion here is we do not know. H. has a note in which he refers to the punishment of exile. But Z. rightly urges that multorum cannot be the accused candidates, and his conjecture, that jurors or witnesses who stayed away because of illness were to lose some privileges (e. g. the right of sitting on a jury or giving evidence) for the future, seems to me far more probable. haec] these provisions, i.e. this law. is. Cicero. proderant] Cicero's own course was run. He is making out that Sulpicius was the real author of the severity of the Tullian law. He was known to have advocated even stronger measures, and this, says Cicero, was a bad thing for his candidature. confusionem suffragiorum] some 5 48 nem suffragiorum flagitasti, prorogationem legis Maniliae, aequationem gratiae, dignitatis, suffragiorum. graviter homines honesti atque in suis vicinitatibus et municipiis gratiosi tulerunt, a tali viro esse pugnatum, ut omnes et dignitatis et gratiae gradus tollerentur. idem editicios iudices esse voluisti, ut odia occulta civium, quae tacitis nunc discordiis continentur, in fortunas optimi cuiusque erumperent. haec omnia tibi accusandi viam muniebant, adipiscendi obsaepiebant. atque ex omnibus illa plaga est iniecta petitioni tuae, non tacente me, maxima, de qua ab homine ingeniosissimo et copiosissimo, Q. Hortensio, multa gravissime dicta sunt. quo etiam mihi durior locus est dicendi datus, ut, cum ante me et plan by which votes were to have equal weight. 'Mass-voting' as opposed to the nice gradations of the comitia centuriata, but whether on the plan of the comitia tributa, as Z. conjectures, is not so clear. H. well says, 'as the proposal of Sulpicius came out in the course of a debate on a new lex de ambitu, there is great probability in the conjecture that it was not meant to refer to elections generally, but only to fresh elections held when a magistrate elect had been convicted of ambitus.' Z. comments on the extreme difficulty of ensuring a formal meeting of the centuries within a given time, which strengthens this view. prorogationem] the extension of the period of its application. cf. ad Att. XIII. 43, prorogatio diei, in a slightly different sense. Here it is like prorogare imperium, Phil. II. $24, etc. The conjecture perrogationem seems more strange than clear. Maniliae] All we know is that G. Manilius the tribune carried in 67 B. C. a law concerning the libertini, which was at once annulled. But I doubt whether this is meant in any way here. vicinitatibus] This correction seems necessary. It is in 2 MSS. and H. adopts it. cf. pro Cluent. § 11, pro Kosc. Am. § 15, auct. petit. cons. § 24. Vulg. civitatibus, which Z. refers to the coloniae Romanae. editicios iudices] named by the accuser, with power to the accused of rejecting by challenge a certain number: the most probable expla nation of this difficult passage is that proposed by Z. on comparison of pro Planc. § 41; there were to be 125 jurors, equites and tribuni aerarii, nominated by the accuser from the register (album iudicum), of these the reus might reject 75, leaving 50, also 25 Senators were to be appointed, but by some other means, and none of these could be rejected, there would thus be a jury of 75 in all left for the trial, [these are distinct from the editi iudices, of whom any number might be rejected, according to Wunder on pro Planc. proleg. III. iii. 3, (though he is not free from error in that article); and there is no connexion with the editicii iudices from particular tribes who were by the lex Licinia of B.C. 55 appointed to try cases of sodalicia.] odia] as the accuser would take care to name men who had a grudge against the accused. adipiscendi] absolutely, as in § 43. 48. illa plaga] the 'blow' is explained below, cum pop. Rom. in eum metum adduxisti. ut] 'namely, the task of'... ille dixisset et vir summa dignitate et diligentia et facultate dicendi, M. Crassus, ego in extremo non partem aliquam agerem causae, sed de tota re dicerem, quod mihi videretur. itaque in isdem rebus fere versor, et, quoad possum, iudices, occurro vestrae sapientiae. XXIV. sed tamen, Servi, quam te securim putas iniecisse petitioni tuae, cum populum Romanum in eum metum adduxisti, ut pertimesceret ne consul Catilina fieret dum tu accusationem comparares deposita atque abiecta petitione? etenim te inquirere videbant, tristem ipsum, 49 maestos amicos; observationes, testificationes, seductiones testium, secessiones subscriptorum animadvertebant, quibus rebus certe spes candidatorum obscuriores videri solent. Catilinam interea alacrem atque laetum, stipatum choro iuventutis, vallatum indicibus atque sicariis, inflatum cum spe militum, tum collegae mei, quemadmodum dicebat ipse, promissis, circumfluente colonorum Arretinorum et Faesulanorum exercitu, diligentia] the great merit of Crassus, cf. Brutus § 233. occurro] in a friendly sense, 'I am trying to help you to a wise verdict,' 'meeting your wisdom halfway,' cf. pro Cluent. § 63, pro Deiot. $40, misericordia occurrere solet ipsa supplicibus et calamitosis. xxiv. sed tamen] resumes from illa plaga etc. above, after the remarks de qua......sapientiae put in parenthetically. cum adduxisti] ' in having brought'...cf. Madv. § 358 obs. 2. 49. inquirere] cf. § 45. observationes] sc. of your rivals, by agents for your own, to see that nothing is done in violation of the law, cf. pro Rosc. Am. 22, auct. petit. cons. § 55, fac se ut abs te custodiri atque observari sciant. Z. testificationes] the getting together of depositions in proof of illegal practices, cf. II in Verr. v. §§ 101 -103. seductiones] sc. taking them aside and talking anxiously to them, 'whisperings to witnesses,' cf. Persius, II. 4, V. 143, VI. 42, paullum a turba seductior audi. secessiones] going aside together to talk over something, cf. Ov. Met. II. 465, deque suo iussit secedere coetu. subscriptorum] those whom the principal counsel has 'with him in the case,' 'juniors.' cf. div. in Caecil. $51, non esse hos tales viros commissuros, ut ad causam tantam, a me susceptam, mihi creditam, quisquam subscriptor me invito aspirare possit. obscuriores] H. in ed. 1872 gives the above reading of this corrupt passage, and it seems the best. But for this use of obscuriores I can find no parallel. § 16 seems nearest. indicibus] cf. pro Sest. § 95. militum] hopes of the turbulent soldiery (?), cf. Sallust Catil. 16, Cic. in Catil. II. §§ 5, 21. circumfluente] This reading, from MS. Lag. 9 and two others, is, I believe rightly, followed by Z. Sorof prefers exercitum to ablative. If the vulgate circumfluentem exercitu be kept, cf. Lael. § 52. colonorum] Sulla's veterans, settled by him at Arretium and Faesulae; their extravagance had reduced them to poverty and debt. cf. in Catil. II. § 20, Sallust Catil. 28. quam turbam dissimillimo ex genere distinguebant homines perculsi Sullani temporis calamitate. vultus ipsius erat plenus furoris, oculi sceleris, sermo adrogantiae, sic ut ei iam exploratus et domi conditus consulatus videretur. Murenam contemnebat, Sulpicium accusatorem suum numerabat, non com50 petitorem; ei vim denuntiabat, rei publicae minabatur. XXV. quibus rebus qui timor bonis omnibus iniectus sit quantaque desperatio rei publicae, si ille factus esset, nolite a me commoneri velle: vosmet ipsi vobiscum recordamini. meministis enim, cum illius nefarii gladiatoris voces percrebruissent, quas habuisse in contione domestica dicebatur, cum miserorum fidelem defensorem negasset inveniri posse, nisi eum qui ipse miser esset; integrorum et fortunatorum promissis saucios et miseros credere non oportere: quare qui consumpta replere, erepta recuperare vellent, spectarent, quid ipse deberet, quid possideret, quid auderet: minime timidum et valde calamitosum esse oportere eum, qui esset futurus dux et signifer calami51 tosorum :—tum igitur, his rebus auditis, meministis fieri senatus consultum referente me, ne postero die comitia haberentur, ut dissimillimo ex genere] epithet of quam turbam. A most motley crowd.' turbam refers to all his previously mentioned comrades. distinguebant] gave a further variety to. As we say 'picked out with white' of a carriage, etc. so distinguere orationem, de Orat. II. § 36. retia maculis distincta, 'where the empty mesh sets off the rope,' Ov. Her. v. 19. 'Thrown into relief as a whole by the presence of men stricken with the general ruin of Sulla's Reign of Terror.' homines] relics of the Marian party, having nothing in common with the rest of Catiline's supporters save impoverishment and readiness for violence. calamitate] cf. pro Caec. § 95, ut nihil de illo tempore, nihil de calamitate reipublicae querar. exploratus] assured,' as usual in Cicero. domi conditus] A strong figure. In safe keeping at his house, under lock and key.' Z. cf. II in Verr. II. § 5. numerabat] so ad Att. VII. I § 3, me uterque numerat suum. ei] sc. Sulpicio. XXV. 50. factus] so factus and fiant, § 18. nolite velle] not rare, but remarkable, cf. pro Caelio § 79, pro Balbo § 64, Phil. VII. § 25. H. well points out that ne volueritis seems to be avoided. vosmet ipsi etc. cf. Phil. II. § I. meministis] It is caught up and the object expressed (fieri s. c.) in |
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