De Bello Catilinario et Jurgthino | Page 8

descent to one of
the companions of Aeneas. This is no doubt fabulous, but at any rate
proves the high antiquity of the gens. The most renowned among the
ancestors of Catiline was M. Sergius, a real model of bravery, who
distinguished himself in the Gallic and second Punic wars, and after
having lost his right hand in battle, wielded the sword with the left. As
Catiline offered himself as a candidate for the consulship in B.C. 66,
which no Roman was allowed to do by law before having attained the
age of forty-three, we may fairly presume that he was born about B.C.

109, in the time of the Jugurthine war. Cicero was born in B.C. 106,
and was consequently a few years younger than Catiline. [35] Patiens
inediae. Respecting the genitive governed by this and similar
participles--as soon after alieni appetens--see Zumpt, S 438. [36] Cujus
rei libet; it is more common to say cujuslibet rei. Sometimes the
relative pronouns compounded with cunque and libet are separated by
the insertion of some other word or words between them, which in
grammatical language is called a tmesis--as _quod enim cunque
judicium subierat, absolvebatur; quem sors dierum cunque tibi dederit,
lucre appone,_ 'whatever day chance may give thee, consider it as a
gain.' [37] Capiundae. Respecting the e or u in such gerunds and
gerandives, see Zumpt, S 167. [38] Auxerat. He had increased both by
the above-mentioned qualities--namely, his poverty by extravagance,
and the consciousness of guilt by the crimes he committed. The neuter
plural quae, referring to two feminine substantives denoting abstract
ideas, is not very common, though quite justifiable. Zumpt, S 377. [39]
Respecting the infinitive after hortari, instead of the more common use
of the conjunction ut, see Zumpt, S 615. [40] Domi militiaeque, 'in
times of peace and in war.'
6. Urbem Romam,[41] sicuti ego accepi, condidere atque habuere initio
Trojani, qui Aenea duce profugi sedibus incertis vagabantur, cumque
his Aborigines,[42] genus hominum agreste, sine legibus, sine imperio,
liberum atque solutum. Hi postquam in una[43] moenia convenere,
dispari genere, dissimili lingua, alius alio more viventes, incredibile
memoratu est quam facile coaluerint.[44] Sed postquam res eorum
civibus, moribus, agris aucta, satia prospera satisque pollens videbatur,
sicuti pleraque mortalium habentur, invidia ex opulentia orta est. Igitur
reges populique finitimi bello temptare,[45] pauci ex amicis auxilio
esse; nam ceteri metu perculsi a periculis aberant. At Romani domi
militiaeque intenti festinare, parare, alius alium hortari, hostibus
obviam ire, libertatem, patriam parentesque armis tegere. Post, ubi
pericula virtute propulerant, sociis atque amicis auxilia portabant,[46]
magisque dandis quam accipiundis beneficiis amicitias parabant.
Imperium legitimum, nomen imperii regium habebant;[47] delecti,
quibus corpus annis infirmum, ingenium sapientia validum erat, rei
publicae consultabant;[48] hi vel aetate vel curae similitudine patres

appellabantur. Post, ubi regium imperium, quod initio conservandae
libertatis atque augendae rei publicae[49] fuerat, in superbiam
dominationemque convertit[50] immutato more annua imperia
binosque imperatores[51] sibi fecere; eo modo minime posse putabant
per licentiam insolescere animum humanum.
[41] In the following eight chapters (6-13) Sallust describes the
transition from the stern manners, the warlike energy, and domestic
peace of the ancient Romans, to the corruption prevalent in the time of
Catiline, and which consisted chiefly in extravagance, avarice,
oppression, and the love of dominion. His description is a striking
picture of the early virtuous character of the Romans, and their
subsequent indulgence in vice. He traces all the corruption of his time
to the immense wealth accumulated at Rome, after she had acquired the
dominion over the world--that is, after the destruction of Carthage and
Corinth; and he marks out in particular Sulla as the man who had
fostered the very worst qualities in order to obtain supreme power for
himself. [42] According to the current tradition, the people of the
Latins had been formed by a union of the Trojan emigrants with the
native Aborigines. Their capital was Alba Longa, and they lived about
Alba, on and near the Alban Mount, in a great number of confederate
townships. Four centuries after the arrival of Aeneas, the city of Rome
was founded by Albans on the extreme frontier of the Latin territory,
and near the hostile tribes by which it was surrounded. Sallust passes
over the intermediate stages, either because he, like others, thought
Rome much more ancient, or because, having to do only with the
description of manners, he was unconcerned about historical
developments. [43] Una is the plural. See Zumpt, S 115, note. [44] It is
indeed wonderful how quickly the Roman people, although consisting
of a mixture of different tribes--whether, as Sallust briefly intimates,
they were Trojans and Aborigines, or, as the more minute historians
relate, Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans--united into one nationality. The
language spoken by the Roman people, however, was not a mixture of
those of the last-mentioned tribes, but Latin, which,