Sallust 4 and 5 Bella Dickenson
Bella Dickenson /
- Created on 2021-10-01 20:35:23
- Modified on 2021-10-04 20:23:10
- Translated by A.J. Woodman
- Aligned by Bella Dickenson
Latin
English
igitur , ubi animus ex multīs miseriīs atque perīculīs requiēvit et mihi relicuam aetātem ā rē pūblicā procul habendam dēcrēvī , nōn fuit cōnsilium socordiā atque dēsidiā bonum ōtium conterere , neque vērō agrum colundō aut vēnandō , servīlibus officiīs , intentum aetātem agere ; 2 sed ā quō inceptō studiōque mē ambitiō mala dētinuerat eōdem regressus , statuī rēs gestās populī Rōmānī carptim , ut quaeque memoriā digna vidēbantur , perscrībere ; eō magis quod mihi ā spē , metū , partibus reī pūblicae animus līber erat . 3 igitur dē Catilīnae coniūrātiōne quam vērissumē poterō paucīs absolvam ; 4 nam id facinus in prīmīs ego memorābile exīstumō sceleris atque perīculī novitāte . 5 dē cuius hominis mōribus pauca prius explānanda sunt quam initium nārrandī faciam .
An introduction to Catiline ( 5 . 1–5 . 8 )
[ 5 ] L . Catilīna , nōbilī genere nātus , fuit magnā vī et animī et corporis , sed ingeniō malō prāvōque . 2 huic ab adulēscentiā bella intestīna , caedēs , rapīnae , discordia cīvīlis grāta fuēre , ibique iuventūtem suam exercuit . 3 corpus patiēns inediae , algōris , vigiliae , suprā quam cuiquam crēdibile est . 4 animus audāx , subdolus , varius , cuius reī lubet simulātor ac dissimulātor ; aliēnī appetēns , suī profūsus ; ārdēns in cupiditātibus ; satis ēloquentiae , sapientiae parum . 5 vāstus animus immoderāta , incrēdibilia , nimis alta semper cupiēbat . 6 hunc post dominātiōnem L . Sullae lubīdō maxuma invāserat reī pūblicae capiundae , neque id quibus modīs assequerētur , dum sibi rēgnum parāret , quicquam pēnsī habēbat . 7 agitābātur magis magisque in diēs animus ferōx inopiā reī familiāris et cōnscientiā scelerum , quae utraque iīs artibus auxerat quās suprā memorāvī . 8 incitābant praetereā corruptī cīvitātis mōrēs , quōs pessuma ac dīvorsa inter sē mala , luxuria atque avāritia , vexābant .
Rome’s moral decline ( 5 . 9–13 )
9 rēs ipsa hortārī vidētur , quoniam dē mōribus cīvitātis tempus admonuit , suprā repetere ac paucīs īnstitūta maiōrum domī mīlitiaeque , quō modō rem pūblicam habuerint quantamque relīquerint , ut , paulātim immūtāta , ex pulcherrumā atque optumā pessuma ac flāgitiōsissuma facta sit , disserere .
An introduction to Catiline ( 5 . 1–5 . 8 )
[ 5 ] L . Catilīna , nōbilī genere nātus , fuit magnā vī et animī et corporis , sed ingeniō malō prāvōque . 2 huic ab adulēscentiā bella intestīna , caedēs , rapīnae , discordia cīvīlis grāta fuēre , ibique iuventūtem suam exercuit . 3 corpus patiēns inediae , algōris , vigiliae , suprā quam cuiquam crēdibile est . 4 animus audāx , subdolus , varius , cuius reī lubet simulātor ac dissimulātor ; aliēnī appetēns , suī profūsus ; ārdēns in cupiditātibus ; satis ēloquentiae , sapientiae parum . 5 vāstus animus immoderāta , incrēdibilia , nimis alta semper cupiēbat . 6 hunc post dominātiōnem L . Sullae lubīdō maxuma invāserat reī pūblicae capiundae , neque id quibus modīs assequerētur , dum sibi rēgnum parāret , quicquam pēnsī habēbat . 7 agitābātur magis magisque in diēs animus ferōx inopiā reī familiāris et cōnscientiā scelerum , quae utraque iīs artibus auxerat quās suprā memorāvī . 8 incitābant praetereā corruptī cīvitātis mōrēs , quōs pessuma ac dīvorsa inter sē mala , luxuria atque avāritia , vexābant .
Rome’s moral decline ( 5 . 9–13 )
9 rēs ipsa hortārī vidētur , quoniam dē mōribus cīvitātis tempus admonuit , suprā repetere ac paucīs īnstitūta maiōrum domī mīlitiaeque , quō modō rem pūblicam habuerint quantamque relīquerint , ut , paulātim immūtāta , ex pulcherrumā atque optumā pessuma ac flāgitiōsissuma facta sit , disserere .
Therefore
,
when
my
mind
sought
repose
from
the
many
miseries
and
dangers
,
and
I
determined
that
the
remainder
of
my
life
must
be
kept
far
away
from
politics
,
it
was
not
my
intention
to
waste
the
good
of
my
leisure
time
in
lethargy
and
indolence
,
nor
to
spend
my
life
in
agriculture
or
hunting
,
concentrating
on
the
duties
of
slaves
;
but
,
returning
to
a
project
and
enthusiasm
from
which
my
wicked
ambition
had
detained
me
,
I
decided
to
write
of
the
affairs
of
the
Roman
people
-
selectively
,
according
as
each
subject
seemed
worthy
of
recollection
,
and
with
the
additional
reason
that
my
mind
was
free
from
hope
,
dread
and
political
partisanship
.
Therefore
I
shall
dispatch
,
in
a
few
words
,
the
conspiracy
of
Catiline
as
truthfully
as
I
am
able
:
for
I
think
his
deed
especially
deserving
of
recollection
owing
to
the
newness
of
the
crime
and
of
its
danger
.
But
a
few
things
must
be
explained
about
his
behaviour
and
habits
before
I
can
begin
my
narrative
.
L . Catilina , born of a noble line , had great strength of both mind and body , but a wicked and crooked disposition . From adolescence , internal wars , slaughter , seizures and civil disharmony were welcome to him , and there he spent his young manhood . His body was tolerant of hunger , cold and wakefulness beyond the point which anyone finds credible ; his mind was daring , cunning and versatile , capable of any simulation and dissimulation ; acquisitive of another’s property , prodigal with his own ; burning in desires ; his eloquence was adequate , scant his wisdom . The enormity of his mind always desired the unrestrained , the incredible , the heights beyond reach . After the dominion of L . Sulla , he had been assailed by his greatest urge , to capture the commonwealth ; and he attached no weight to the methods by which he might achieve it , provided he acquired kingship for himself . His defiant spirit was exercised increasingly each day by his lack of private assets and a consciousness of his crimes , both of which he had augmented by the qualities which I recalled above . He was incited , too , by the community’s corrupt morals , which were afflicted by those worst and mutually different maladies , luxury and avarice .
Since there has been occasion to mention the morals of the community , the context seems to encourage going further back and discussing in a few words the customs of our ancestors at home and on campaign , by what means they kept the commonwealth and how great it was when they bequeathed it , and how it changed gradually from the finest and best and became the worst and most outrageous .
L . Catilina , born of a noble line , had great strength of both mind and body , but a wicked and crooked disposition . From adolescence , internal wars , slaughter , seizures and civil disharmony were welcome to him , and there he spent his young manhood . His body was tolerant of hunger , cold and wakefulness beyond the point which anyone finds credible ; his mind was daring , cunning and versatile , capable of any simulation and dissimulation ; acquisitive of another’s property , prodigal with his own ; burning in desires ; his eloquence was adequate , scant his wisdom . The enormity of his mind always desired the unrestrained , the incredible , the heights beyond reach . After the dominion of L . Sulla , he had been assailed by his greatest urge , to capture the commonwealth ; and he attached no weight to the methods by which he might achieve it , provided he acquired kingship for himself . His defiant spirit was exercised increasingly each day by his lack of private assets and a consciousness of his crimes , both of which he had augmented by the qualities which I recalled above . He was incited , too , by the community’s corrupt morals , which were afflicted by those worst and mutually different maladies , luxury and avarice .
Since there has been occasion to mention the morals of the community , the context seems to encourage going further back and discussing in a few words the customs of our ancestors at home and on campaign , by what means they kept the commonwealth and how great it was when they bequeathed it , and how it changed gradually from the finest and best and became the worst and most outrageous .