Speeches against Catilina · Marcus Tullius Cicero
ORATION III.
After his death M. Lepidus (consul 78) tried to reverse his acts, but was expelled by his colleague Q. Catulus. He raised an army and tried, like Cinna, to effect his return by force, but was defeated by Catulus at the Mulvian Bridge, B.C. 77; he escaped to Sardinia, where he died. =vidistis=, because they had all taken place within the last twenty-five years. =custodem huius urbis=, he had saved Rome by defeating the Teutones and Cimbri (102, 101 B.C.). =redundavit= only suits 'sanguine,' but is applied (by zeugma) to 'acervis corporum' as well, '(was choked) with heaps of corpses and flooded with blood.' =clarissimis viris=. Among these were L. Caesar (consul 90, and one of the enfranchisers of the Italians) and Q. Catulus (consul 102) the colleague of Marius in the war against the Cimbri. =ne dici quidem, etc=. The victims of the Sullan proscriptions numbered from four to five thousand. =Q. Catulo=, son of the Catulus mentioned above. =non tam ipsius=, i.e. it was not the fate of Lepidus himself which excited sympathy, but of those who were involved in it. §25. The reading in this section is uncertain, owing to interpolations having been introduced into the original MS. The text given is Halm's conjectural emendation; the principal variation is as follows:-- 'Atque illae tamen omnes dissensiones _erant eiusmodi Quirites_, quae non ad delendam, sed ad commutandam rempublicam _pertinerent_; non illi nullam esse rempublicam, sed in ea quae esset, se esse principes; neque hanc urbem conflagrare, sed se in hac urbe florere voluerunt. [_Atque illae tamen omnes dissensiones, quarum nulla exitium reipublicae quaesivit_, eiusmodi fuerunt, ut non reconciliatione concordiae, sed internecione civium diiudicatae sint.']
According to this reading, the sentence in brackets is regarded as a gloss; i.e. an explanation added in the margin by a transcriber, which afterwards found its way into the text. =diiudicatae sint=. In consecutive sentences the perf. subj. is used in preference to the imperf. where the _fact_ of the result is emphasized. It answers to [Greek] 'hôste' with indicative: the imperfect to [Greek] 'hôste' with infinitive. =tantum=, '_only_ so much.' =infinitae caedi restitisset= (resto), =lit=. 'had remained over to bloodshed,' i.e. as the only thing left for it to destroy. Cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 679. 'Dona ferens, pelago et flammis restantia Troiae.' §26. =insigne honoris=, 'mark of distinction,' may perhaps refer to some purely personal honour (such as the title 'pater patriae'); =monimentum laudis=, 'memorial of renown,' to something more external (such as a statue). But see below. =ornamenta honoris=, etc. The three expressions seem to be practically synonymous, unless 'laudis insignia' be meant to include the other two. 'Every honourable decoration, every glorious memorial, every outward mark of distinction.' =alentur=, 'will be cherished.' =literarum monimentis=, 'in the records of literature,' i.e. history. =eandemque diem=, etc. 'Diem' here = 'period.' He means that he has preserved the state for an unlimited period, and that during that period the recollection of his consulship will last; the two will go together, hence 'eandem.' Tr. 'I feel that one and the same term--a term which I trust will have no limit--has been extended to the safe existence of the state and the recollection of my consulship.'
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