Orations Against Catiline — Chapter 1 in Latin
By Marcus Tullius Cicero
Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? When, O Catiline, do you mean to ease abusing our patience? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? Quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now? Nihil ne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora voltusque moverunt? Do not the nightly guards placed on the Palatine Hill—do not the watches posted throughout the city—does not the alarm of the people, and the union of all good men—does not the precaution taken of assembling the senate in this most defensible place —do not the looks and countenances of this venerable body here present, have any effect upon you? Do you not feel that your plans are detected? Patere tua consilia non sentis, constrictam iam horum omnium scientia teneri coniurationem tuam non vides? Do you not see that your conspiracy is already arrested and rendered powerless by the knowledge which every one here possesses of it? Quid proxima, quid superiore nocte egeris, ubi fueris, quos convocaveris, quid consilii ceperis, quem nostrum ignorare arbitraris? What is there that you did last night, what the night before—where is it that you were—who was there that you summoned to meet you—what design was there which was adopted by you, with which you think that any one of us is unacquainted?
O pudor aetatis et principiorum! Shame on the age and on its principles! Consul videt; hic tamen vivit. Vivit? The senate is aware of these things; the consul sees them; and yet this man lives. immo vero etiam in senatum venit, fit publici consilii particeps, notat et designat oculis ad caedem unum quemque nostrum. aye, he comes even into the senate. He takes a part in the public deliberations; he is watching and marking down and checking off for slaughter every individual among us. Nos autem fortes viri satis facere rei publicae videmur, si istius furorem ac tela vitemus. And we, gallant men that we are, think that we are doing our duty to the republic if we keep out of the way of his frenzied attacks.
Ad mortem te, Catilina, duci iussu consulis iam pridem oportebat, in te conferri pestem, quam tu in nos [omnes iam diu] machinaris. You ought, O Catiline, long ago to have been led to execution by command of the consul. That destruction which you have been long plotting against us ought to have already fallen on your own head.
An vero vir amplissumus, P. Scipio, pontifex maximus, Ti. Did not that most illustrious man, Publius Scipio, the Pontifex Maximus, in his capacity of a private citizen, put to death Tiberius Gracchus, tho but slightly undermining the constitution? Gracchum mediocriter labefactantem statum rei publicae privatus interfecit; Catilinam orbem terrae caede atque incendiis vastare cupientem nos consules perferemus? And shall we, who are the consuls, tolerate Catiline, openly desirous to destroy the whole world with fire and slaughter? Nam illa nimis antiqua praetereo, quod C. Servilius Ahala Sp. Maelium novis rebus studentem manu sua occidit. For I pass over older instances, such as how Caius Servilius Ahala with his own hand slew Spurins Mælius when plotting a revolution in the state. Fuit, fuit ista quondam in hac re publica virtus, ut viri fortes acrioribus suppliciis civem perniciosum quam acerbissimum hostem coercerent. There was—there was once such virtue in this republic that brave men would repress mischievous citizens with severer chastisement than the most bitter enemy. Habemus senatus consultum in te, Catilina, vehemens et grave, non deest rei publicae consilium neque auctoritas huius ordinis; nos, nos, dico aperte, consules desumus. For we have a resolution of the senate, a formidable and authoritative decree against you, O Catiline; the wisdom of the republic is not at fault, nor the dignity of this senatorial body. We, we alone—I say it openly,—we, the consuls, are wanting in our duty.