Catiline, in his youth, had been guilty of many criminal connections, with a virgin of noble birth,XV. With a virgin of noble birth] Cum virgine nobili. Who this was is not known. The name may have been suppressed from respect to her family. If what is found in a fragment of Cicero be true, Catiline had an illicit connection with some female, and afterward married the daughter who was the fruit of the connection: Ex eodem stupro et uxorem et filiam invenisti; Orat. in Tog. Cand. (Oration xvi., Ernesti's edit.) On which words Asconius Pedianus makes this comment: "Dicitur Catilinam adulterium commisisse cum eâ quæ ei postea socrus fuit, et ex eo stupro duxisse uxorem, cùm filia ejus esset. Hæc Lucceius quoque Catilinæ objecit in orationibus, quas in eum scripsit. Nomina harum mulierum nondum inveni." Plutarch, too (Life of Cicero, c. 10), says that Catiline was accused of having corrupted his own daughter. with a priestess of Vesta,With a priestess of Vesta] Cum sacerdote Vestæ. This priestess of Vesta was Fabia Terentia, sister to Terentia, Cicero's wife, whom Sallust, after she was divorced by Cicero, married. Clodius accused her, but she was acquitted, either because she was thought innocent, or because the interest of Catulus and others, who exerted themselves in her favor, procured her acquittal. See Orosius, vi. 3; the Oration of Cicero, quoted in the preceding note; and Asconius's commentary on it. and of many other offenses of this nature, in defiance alike of law and religion. At last, when he was smitten with a passion for Aurelia Orestilla,Aurelia Orestilla] See c. 35. She was the sister or daughter, as De Brosses thinks, of Cneius Aurelius Orestis, who had been prætor, A.U.C. 677. in whom no good man, at any time of her life, commended any thing but her beauty, it is confidently believed that because she hesitated to marry him, from the dread of having a grown-up step-son,A grown-up step-son] Privignum adultâ ætate. A son of Catiline's by a former marriage. he cleared the house for their nuptials by putting his son to death. And this crime appears to me to have been the chief cause of hurrying forward the conspiracy. For his guilty mind, at peace with neither gods nor men, found no comfort either waking or sleeping; so effectually did conscience desolate his tortured spirit.Desolate his tortured spirit] Mentem exciteam vastabat. "Conscience desolates the mind, when it deprives it of its proper power and tranquillity, and introduces into it perpetual disquietude." Cortius. Many editions have vexabat. His complexion, in consequence, was pale, his eyes haggard, his walk sometimes quick and sometimes slow, and distraction was plainly apparent in every feature and look.

The young men, whom, as I said before, he had enticed to join him, he initiated, by various methods, in evil practices. From among them he furnished false witnesses,XVI. He furnished false witnesses, etc.] Testis signatoresque falsos commodare. "If any one wanted any such character, Catiline was ready to supply him from among his troop." Bernouf. and forgers of signatures; and he taught them all to regard, with equal unconcern, honor, property, and danger. At length, when he had stripped them of all character and shame, he led them to other and greater enormities. If a motive for crime did not readily occur, he incited them, nevertheless, to circumvent and murder inoffensive persons,Inoffensive persons, etc.] Insontes, sicuti sontes. Most translators have rendered these words " innocent" and " guilty," terms which suggest nothing satisfactory to the English reader. The insontes are those who had given Catiline no cause of offense; the sontes those who had in some way incurred his displeasure, or become objects of his rapacity. just as if they had injured him; for, lest their hand or heart should grow torpid for want of employment, he chose to be gratuitously wicked and cruel.

Depending on such accomplices and adherents, and knowing that the load of debt was every where great, and that the veterans of Sylla,Veterans of Sylla, etc.] Elsewhere called the colonists of Sylla; men to whom Sylla had given large tracts of land as rewards for their services, but who, having lived extravagantly, had fallen into such debt and distress, that, as Cicero said, nothing could relieve them but the resurrection of Sylla from the dead. Cic. ii. Orat. in Cat. having spent their money too liberally, and remembering their spoils and former victory, were longing for a civil war, Catiline formed the design of overthrowing the government. There was no army in Italy; Pompey was fighting in a distant part of the world;Pompey was fighting in a distant part of the world] In extremis terris. Pompey was then conducting the war against Mithridates and Tigranes, in Pontus and Armenia. he himself had great hopes of obtaining the consulship; the senate was wholly off its guard ;The senate was wholly off its guard] Senatus nihil sane intentus. The senate was regardless, and unsuspicious of any danger. every thing was quiet and tranquil; and all these circumstances were exceedingly favorable for Catiline.

Accordingly, about the beginning of June, in the consulship of Lucius CæsarXVII. Lucius Cæsar] He was a relation of Julius Cæsar; and his sister was the wife of M. Antonius, the orator, and mother of Mark Antony, the triumvir. and Caius Figulus, he at first addressed each of his accomplices separately, encouraged some, and sounded others, and informed them of his own resources, of the unprepared condition of the state, and of the great prizes to be expected from the conspiracy. When he had ascertained, to his satisfaction, all that he required, he summoned all whose necessities were the most urgent, and whose spirits were the most daring, to a general conference.

At that meeting there were present, of senatorial rank, Publius Lentulus Sura,Publius Lentulus Sura] He was of the same family with Sylla, that of the Cornelii. He had filled the office of consul, but his conduct had been afterward so profligate, that the censors expelled him from the senate. To enable him to resume his seat, he had obtained, as a qualification, the office of prætor, which he held at the time of the conspiracy. He was called Sura, because, when he had squandered the public money in his quæstorship, and was called to account by Sylla for his dishonesty, he declined to make any defense, but said, " I present you the calf of my leg (sura) ;" alluding to a custom among boys playing at ball, of inflicting a certain number of strokes on the leg of an unsuccessful player. Plutarch, Life of Cicero, c. 17. Publius Autronius,Publius Autronius] He had been a companion of Cicero in his boyhood, and his colleague in the quæstorship. He was banished in the year after the conspiracy, together with Cassius, Læca, Vargunteius, Servius Sylla, and Caius Cornelius, under the Plautian law. De Brosses. Lucius Cassius Longinus,Lucius Cassius Longinus] He had been a competitor with Cicero for the consulship. Ascon. Ped. in Cic. Orat. in Tog. Cand. His corpulence was such that Cassius's fat (Cassii adeps) became proverbial. Cic. Orat. in Catil., iii. 7. Caius Cethegus,Caius Cethegus] He also was one of the Cornelian family. In the civil wars, says De Brosses, he had first taken the side of Marius, and afterward that of Sylla. Both Cicero (Orat. in Catil., ii. 7) and Sallust describe him as fiery and rash. Publius and Servius SyllaPublius and Servius Sylla] These were nephews of Sylla the dictator. Publius, though present on this occasion seems not to have joined in the plot, since, when he was afterward accused of having been a conspirator, he was defended by Cicero and acquitted. See Cic. Orat. pro P. Syllâ. He was afterward with Cæsar in the battle of Pharsalia. Cæs. de B. C., iii. 89. the sons of Servius Sylla, Lucius VargunteiusLucius Vargunteius] " Of him or his family little is known. He had been, before this period, accused of bribery, and defended by Hortensius. Cic. pro P. Syllâ, c. 2." Bernouf. Quintus Annius,Quintus Annius] He is thought by De Brosses to have been the same Annius that cut off the head of M. Antonius the orator, and carried it to Marius. Plutarch, Vit. Marii, c. 44. Marcus Porcius Læca,Marcus Porcius Læca] He was one of the same gens with the Catones, but of a different family. Lucius Bestia,Lucius Bestia] Of the Calpurnian gens. He escaped death on the discovery of the conspiracy, and was afterward ædile, and candidate for the prætorship, but was driven into exile for bribery. Being recalled by Cæsar, he became candidate for the consulship, but was unsuccessful. De Brosses. Quintus Curius;Quintus Curius] He was a descendant of M. Curius Dentatus, the opponent of Pyrrhus. He was so notorious as a gamester and a profligate, that he was removed from the senate, A.U.C. 683. See c. 23. As he had been the first to give information of the conspiracy to Cicero, public honors were decreed him, but he was deprived of them by the influence of Cæsar, whom he had named as one of the conspirators. Sueton. Cæs. 17; Appian. De Bell. Civ., lib. ii. and, of the equestrian order, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior,M. Fulvius Nobilior] " He was not put to death, but exiled, A.U.C. 699. Cic. ad Att. iv., 16." Bernouf; Lucius Statilius,Lucius Statilius] of him nothing more is known than is told by Sallust. Publius Gabinius Capito,Publius Gabinius Capito] Cicero, instead of Capito, calls him Cimber. Orat. in Cat., iii. 3. The family was originally from Gabii. Caius Cornelius ;Caius Cornelius) There were two branches of the gens Cornelia, one patrician, the other plebeian, from which sprung this conspirator. with many from the colonies and municipal towns,Municipal towns] Municipiis. The municipia were towns of which the inhabitants were admitted to the rights of Roman citizens, but which were allowed to govern themselves by their own laws, and to choose their own magistrates. See Aul. Gell., xvi. 13; Beaufort, Rep. Rom., vol. v." Bernouf. persons of consequence in their own localities. There were many others, too, among the nobility, concerned in the plot, but less openly; men whom the hope of power, rather than poverty or any other exigence, prompted to join in the affair. But most of the young men, and especially the sons of the nobility, favored the schemes of Catiline; they who had abundant means of living at ease, either splendidly or voluptuously, preferred uncertainties to certainties, war to peace. There were some, also, at that time, who believed that Marcus Licinius CrassusMarcus Licinius Crassus] The same who, with Pompey and Cæsar, formed the first triumvirate, and who was afterward killed in his expedition against the Parthians. He had, before the time of the conspiracy, held the offices of prætor and consul. was not unacquainted with the conspiracy; because Cneius Pompey, whom he hated, was at the head of a large army, and he was willing that the power of any one whomsoever should raise itself against Pompey's influence; trusting, at the same time, that if the plot should succeed, he would easily place himself at the head of the conspirators.

But previouslyXVIII. But previously, etc.] Sallust here makes a digression, to give an account of a conspiracy that was formed three years before that of Catiline. to this period, a small number of persons, among whom was Catiline, had formed a design against the state: of which affair I shall here give as accurate account as I am able.

Under the consulship of Lucius Tullus and Marcus Lepidus, Publius Autronius and Publius Sylla,Publius Autronius and Publius Sylla] The same who are mentioned in the preceding chapter. They were consuls elect, and some editions have the words designati consoles immediately following their names. having been tried for bribery under the laws against it,Having been tried for bribery under the laws against it] Legibus ambitûs interrogati. Bribery at their election, is the meaning of the word ambitus, for ambire, as Cortius observes, is circumeundo favorem et suffragia quærere. De Brosses translates the passage thus: "Autrone et Sylla, convaincus d'avoir obtenu le consulat par corruption des suffrages, avaient été punis selon la rigueur de la loi." There were several very severe Roman laws against bribery. Autronius and Sylla were both excluded from the consulship. had paid the penalty of the offense. Shortly after Catiline, being brought to trial for extortion, For extortion] Pecuniarum repetundarum. Catiline had been prætor in Africa and, at the expiration of his office, was accused of extortion by Publius Clodius, on the part of the Africans. He escaped by bribing the prosecutor and judges. had been prevented from standing for the consulship, because he had been unable to declare himself a candidate within the legitimate number of days.To declare himself a candidate within the legitimate number of days] Prohibitus erat consulatum petere, quòd intra legitimos dies profiteri (se candidatum, says Cortius, citing Suet. Aug. 4) nequiverit. A person could not be a candidate for the consulship, unless he could declare himself free from accusation within a certain number of days before the time of holding the comitia centuriata. That number of days was trinundinum spatium, that is, the time occupied by three market-days, tres nundinæ with seven days intervening between the first and second, and between the second and third; or seventeen days. The nundinæ (from novem and dies) were held, as it is commonly expressed, every ninth day; whence Cortius and others considered trinundinum spatium to be twenty-seven, or even thirty days; but this way of reckoning was not that of the Romans, who made the last day of the first ennead to be also the first day of the second. Concerning the nundinæ see Macrob. Sat. i. 16. " Müller and Longius most erroneously supposed the trinundinum to be about thirty days; for that it embraced only seventeen days has been fully shown by Ernesti, Clav. Cic., sub voce ; by Scheller in Lex. Ampl., p. 11, 669 ; by Nitschius Antiquitt. Romm. i. p. 623; and by Drachenborch (cited by Gerlach) ad Liv. iii. 35." Kritzius. There was at that time, too, a young patrician of the most daring spirit, needy and discontented, named Cneius Piso,Cneius Piso] Of the Calpurnian gens. Suetonius (Vit. Cæs., c. 9) mentions three authors who related that Crassus and Cæsar were both concerned in this plot; and that, if it had succeeded, Crassus was to have assumed the dictatorship, and made Cæsar his master of the horse. The conspiracy, as these writers state, failed through the remorse or irresolution of Crassus. whom poverty and vicious principles instigated to disturb the government. Catiline and Autronius,Catiline and Autronius] After these two names, in Havercamp's and many other editions, follow the words circiter nonas Decembres, i.e., about the fifth of December. having concerted measures with this Piso, prepared to assassinate the consuls, Lucius Cotta and Lucius Torquatus, in the Capitol, on the first of January,On the first of January] Kalendis Januariis. On this day the consuls were accustomed to enter on their office. The consuls whom they were going to kill, Cotta and Torquatus, were those who had been chosen in the place of Autronius and Sylla. when they, having seized on the fasces, were to send Piso with an army to take possession of the two Spains.The two Spains] Hither and Thither Spain. Hispania Citerior and Ulterior, as they were called by the Romans. But their design being discovered, they postponed the assassination to the fifth of February; when they meditated the destruction, not of the consuls only, but of most of the senate. And had not Catiline, who was in front of the senate-house, been too hasty to give the singal to his associates, there would that day have been perpetrated the most atrocious outrage since the city of Rome was founded. But as the armed conspirators had not yet assembled in sufficient numbers, the want of force frustrated the design.

Some time afterward, Piso was sent as quæstor, with Prætorian authority, into Hither Spain; Crassus promoting the appointment, because he knew him to be a bitter enemy to Cneius Pompey. Nor were the senate, indeed, unwillingXIX. Nor were the senate, indeed, unwilling, etc.] See Dio Cass. xxxvi. 27. to grant him the province; for they wished so infamous a character to be removed from the seat of government; and many worthy men, at the same time, thought that there was some security in him against the power of Pompey, which was then becoming formidable. But this Piso, on his march toward his province, was murdered by some Spanish cavalry whom he had in his army. These barbarians, as some say, had been unable to endure his unjust, haughty, and cruel orders; but others assert that this body of cavalry, being old and trusty adherents of Pompey, attacked Piso at his instigation; since the Spaniards, they observed, had never before committed such an outrage, but had patiently submitted to many severe commands. This question we shall leave undecided. Of the first conspiracy enough has been said.