Catiline himself, having stayed a few days with Caius Flaminius Flamma in the neighborhood of Arretium, XXXVI. In the neighborhood of Arretium] In agro Arretino. Havercamp, and many of the old editions, have Reatino; "but," says Cortius, "if Catiline went the direct road to Fæsulæ, as is rendered extremely probable by his pretense that he was going to Marseilles, and by the assertion of Cicero, made the day after his departure, that he was on his way to join Manlius, we must certainly read Arretino. " Arretium (now Arezzo ) lay in his road to Fæsulæ; Reate was many miles out of it. while he was supplying the adjacent parts, already excited to insurrection, with arms, marched with his fasces, and -other ensigns of authority, to join Manlius in his camp. When this was known at Rome, the senate declared Catiline and Manlius enemies to the state, and fixed a day as to the rest of their force, before which they might lay down their arms with impunity, except such as had been convicted of capital offenses. They also decreed that the consuls should hold a levy; that Antonius, with an army, should hasten in pursuit of Catiline; and that Cicero should protect the city. At this period the empire of Rome appears to me to have been in an extremely deplorable condition ; In an extremely deplorable condition] Multo maximè miserabile. Multo is added to superlatives, like longè. So c. 52, multo pulcherrimam eam nos haberemus. Cortius gives several other instances. for though every nation, from the rising to the setting of the sun, lay in subjection to her arms, and though peace and prosperity, which mankind think the greatest blessings, were hers in abundance, there yet were found, among her citizens, men who were bent with obstinate determination, to plunge themselves and their country into ruin; for, notwithstanding the two decrees of the senate, Notwithstanding the two decrees of the senate] Duobus senati decretis. I have translated it "the two decrees," with Rose. One of the two was that respecting the rewards mentioned in c. 30 ; the other was that spoken of in c. 36, allowing the followers of Catiline to lay down their arms before a certain day. not one individual, out of so vast a number, was induced by the offer of reward to give information of the conspiracy; nor was there a single deserter from the camp of Catiline. So strong a spirit of disaffection had, like a pestilence, pervaded the minds of most of the citizens. Nor was this disaffected spirit confined to those who were actually concerned in the conspiracy; for the whole of the common people, from a desire of change, favored the projects of Catiline. This they seemed to do in accordance with their general character; for, in every state, they that are poor envy those of a better class, and endeavor to exalt the factious ; XXXVII. Endeavor to exalt the factious] Malos extollunt. They strive to elevate into office those who resemble themselves. they dislike the established condition of things, and long for something new; they are discontented with their own circumstances, and desire a general alteration; they can support themselves amid tumult and sedition, without anxiety, since poverty does not easily suffer loss. Poverty does not easily suffer loss] Egestas facilè habetur sine damno He that has nothing, has nothing to lose. Petron. Sat., c. 119: Inops audacia tuta est. As for the populace of the city, they had become disaffected Had become disaffected] Præceps abierat. Had grown demoralized, sunk in corruption, and ready to join in any plots against the state. So Sallust says of Sempronia, præceps abierat, c. 25. from various causes. In the first place, In the first place] Primum omnium. "These words refer, not to item and postremo in the same sentence, but to deinde at the commencement of the next." Bernouf. such as every where took the lead in crime and profligacy, with others who had squandered their fortunes in dissipation, and, in a word, all whom vice and villainy had driven from their homes, had flocked to Rome as a general receptacle of impurity. In the next place, many, who thought of the success of Sylla, when they had seen some raised from common soldiers into senators, and others so enriched as to live in regal luxury and pomp, hoped, each for himself, similar results from victory, if they should once take up arms. In addition to this, the youth, who, in the country, had earned a scanty livelihood by manual labor, tempted by public and private largesses, had preferred idleness in the city to unwelcome toil in the field. To these, and all others of similar character, public disorders would furnish subsistence. It is not at all surprising, therefore, that men in distress, of dissolute principles and extravagant expectations, should have consulted the interest of the state no further than as it was subservient to their own. Besides, those whose parents, by the victory of Sylla, had been proscribed, whose property had been confiscated, and whose civil rights had been curtailed, Civil rights had been curtailed] Jus libertatis imminutum erat. " Sylla, by one of his laws, had rendered the children of proscribed persons incapable of holding any public office; a law unjust, indeed, but which, having been established and acted upon for more than twenty years, could not be rescinded without inconvenience to the government. Cicero, accordingly, opposed the attempts which were made, in his consulship, to remove this restriction, as he himself states in his Oration against Piso, c. 2." Bernouf. See Vell. Paterc., ii., 28; Plutarch, Vit. Syll.; Quintil., xi. 1, where a fragment of Cicero's speech, De Proscriptorum Liberis, is preserved. This law of Sylla was at length abrogated by Julius Cæsar, Suet. J. Cæs. 41; Plutarch Vit. Cæs.; Dio Cass., xli. 18. looked forward to the event of a war with precisely the same feelings. All those, too, who were of any party opposed to that of the senate, were desirous rather that the state should be embroiled, than that they themselves should be out of power. This was an evil, which, after many years, had returned upon the community to the extent to which it now prevailed. This was an evil—to the extent to which it now prevailed] Id adeò malum multos post annos in civitatem reverterat. "Adeo," says Cortius, "is particular elegantissima. " Allen makes it equivalent to eò usque. For after the powers of the tribunes, in the consulate of Cneius Pompey and Marcus Crassus, had been fully restored, XXXVIII. The powers of the tribunes—had been fully restored] Tribunicia potestas restituta. Before the time of Sylla, the power of the tribunes had grown immoderate, but Sylla diminished and almost annihilated it, by taking from them the privileges of holding any other magistracy after the tribunate, of publicly addressing the people, of proposing laws, and of listening to appeals. But in the consulship of Cotta, A.U.C. 679, the first of these privileges had been restored; and in that of Pompey and Crassus, A.U.C. 683, the tribunes were reinstated in all their former powers. certain young men, of an ardent age and temper, having obtained that high office, Having obtained that high office] Summam potestatem nacti. Cortius thinks these words spurious. began to stir up the populace by inveighing against the senate, and proceeded, in course of time, by means of largesses and promises, to inflame them more and more; by which methods they became popular and powerful. On the other hand, the most of the nobility opposed their proceedings to the utmost; under pretense, indeed, of supporting the senate, but in reality for their own aggrandizement. For, to state the truth in few words, whatever parties, during that period, disturbed the republic under plausible pretexts, some, as if to defend the rights of the people, others, to make the authority of the senate as great as possible, all, though affecting concern for the public good, contended every one for his own interest. In such contests there was neither moderation nor limit; each party made a merciless use of its successes. After Pompey, however, was sent to the maritime and Mithridatic wars, the power of the people was diminished, and the influence of the few increased. These few kept all public offices, the administration of the provinces, and every thing else, in their own hands; they themselves lived free from harm, XXXIX. Free from harm] Innoxii. In a passive sense. in flourishing circumstances, and without apprehension; overawing others, at the same time, with threats of impeachment, Overawing others — with threats of impeachment] Cæteros judiciis errere. "Accusationibus et judiciorum periculis." Bernouf. so that, when in office, they might be less inclined to inflame the people. But as soon as a prospect of change, in this dubious state of affairs, had presented itself, the old spirit of contention awakened their passions; and had Catiline, in his first battle, come off victorious, or left the struggle undecided, great distress and calamity must certainly have fallen upon the state, nor would those, who might at last have gained the ascendency, have been allowed to enjoy it long, for some superior power would have wrested dominion and liberty from them when weary and exhausted. There were some, however, unconnected with the conspiracy, who set out to join Catiline at an early period of his proceedings. Among these was Aulus Fulvius, the son of a senator, whom, being arrested on his journey, his father ordered to be put to death. His father ordered to be put to death] Parens necari jussit. "His father put him to death, not by order of the consuls, but by his own private authority; nor was he the only one who, at the same period, exercised similar power." Dion. Cass., lib. xxxvii. The father observed on the occasion that, " he had begotten him, not for Catiline against his country, but for his country against Catiline." Val. Max., v. 8. The Roman laws allowed fathers absolute control over the lives of their children. In Rome, at the same time, Lentulus, in pursuance of Catiline's directions, was endeavoring to gain over, by his own agency or that of others, all whom he thought adapted, either by principles or circumstances, to promote an insurrection; and not citizens only, but every description of men who could be of any service in war. He accordingly commissioned one Publius Umbrenus to apply to certain deputies of the Allobroges, XL. Certain deputies of the Allobroges] Legatos Allobrogum. Plutarch, in his Life of Cicero, says that there were then at Rome two deputies from this Gallic nation, sent to complain of oppression on the part of the Roman governors. and to lead them, if he could, to a participation in the war; supposing that as they were nationally and individually involved in debt, and as the Gauls were naturally warlike, they might easily be drawn into such an enterprise. Umbrenus, as he had traded in Gaul, was known to most of the chief men there, and personally acquainted with them; and consequently, without loss of time, as soon as he noticed the deputies in the Forum, he asked them, after making a few inquiries about the state of their country, and affecting to commiserate its fallen condition, " what termination they expected to such calamities?" When he found that they complained of the rapacity of the magistrates, inveighed against the senate for not affording them relief, and looked to death as the only remedy for their sufferings, "Yet I," said he, "if you will but act as men, will show you a method by which you may escape these pressing difficulties." When he had said this, the Allobroges, animated with the highest hopes, besought Umbrenus to take compassion on them; saying that there was nothing so disagreeable or difficult, which they would not most gladly perform, if it would but free their country from debt. He then conducted them to the house of Decimus Brutus, which was close to the Forum, and, on account of Sempronia, not unsuitable to his purpose, as Brutus was then absent from Rome. As Brutus was then absent from Rome] Nam tum Brutus ab Româ aberat. From this remark, say Zanchius and Omnibonus, it is evident that Brutus was not privy to the conspiracy.
 "What sort of woman Sempronia was, has been told in c. 25. Some have thought that she was the wife of Decimus Brutus; but since Sallust speaks of her as being in the decay of her beauty at the time of the conspiracy, and since Brutus, as may be seen in Cæsar (B. G. vii., sub fin.), was then very young, it is probable that she had only an illicit connection with him, but had gained such an ascendency over his affections, by her arts of seduction, as to induce him to make her his mistress, and to allow her to reside in his house." Beauzée. 
I have, however, followed those who think that Brutus was the husband of Sempronia. Sallust (c. 24), speaking of the woman, of whom Sempronia was one, says that Catiline credebat posse—viros earum vel adjungere sibi, vel interficere. The truth, on such a point, is of little importance. In order, too, to give greater weight to his representations, he sent for Gabinius, and, in his presence, explained the objects of the conspiracy, and mentioned the names of the confederates, as well as those of many other persons, of every sort, who were guiltless of it, for the purpose of inspiring the embassadors with greater confidence. At length, when they had promised their assistance, he let them depart.