In Catilinam 1.11-12

Latin Learning Latin
1

For the most part no problems, but

Magna dis immortalibus habena est atque huic ipsi Iovi Statori, antiquissimo custodi huis urbis, gratia…

I take this to mean “great gratitude should be given to the immortal gods and in particular to Jove Stator, most ancient defender of the city”. It all seems right except for “habenda”. “Great gratitude should be had towards the immortal gods etc.”? Why not “magnae gratiae agendae sunt”?

Quam diu mihi consuli designato, Catalina, insidiatus es, non publico me praesidio, sed privata diligentia defendi.

(“However long you, Catiline, have plotted against me, the designated consul, I have defended myself not with public protection but with my own diligence.”)

What is a designated consul?

Cum proximis comitiis consularibus me consulem in campo et competitores tuos interficere voluisti, compressi conatus tuos nefarios amicorum praesidio et copiis nullo tumultu publice concitato.

(“Although at the last consular election to wanted to kill me, the consul, in the Campus Martius along with your competitors, I checked your nefarious efforts of your friends with defenses and forces so as not to alarm the public with (great) tumult.”)

The last bit doesn’t make much sense. If he’s marshalling defenses against the conspirators, wouldn’t that be conspicuous to the public? And doesn’t that go against the above sentence where he says that he hasn’t used outside help?

2

Why not “magnae gratiae agendae sunt”?

It’s just a different idiom–maybe like the difference between “give thanks” and “be grateful”.

What is a designated consul?

A consul designate or consul elect is a consul who has been elected but not yet taken office:

consul designatus, consul elect (so called in the interval between election, at the beginning of August, and entrance on his duties, on the 1st of January),

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dconsul

If he’s marshalling defenses against the conspirators, wouldn’t that be conspicuous to the public?

He doesn’t say the public was unaware–he just says it was done without raising a big public uproar.

3

Thanks. I’m a little confused about that “consul-designate” part though. D. Silvanus and L. Murena were elected consuls at the election he was talking about: wouldn’t they be the consuls-designate? I assume Cicero was a consul at the time of the orations (November) because he says “nos consules” earlier. It might seem, then, that he was a lame duck except that he calls himself consul-designate.

This is probably too involved to expect for you to assist but I can’t quite figure it out. I’ll try to look it up when I get the time if you don’t know it off the top of your head.

4

Okay, I looked it up and Cicero was consul in 63 BC (the time of the events) and Silvanus and Murena were elected consuls for 62, I.e. they were the consuls-designate. I guess the conspiracy had gone on for eleven months or more, between August 64 and January 63.

Thanks again.

5

Hi,

It seems that I am 10 years behind…

But I have a question, if anyone can answer it regarding this sentence:

“Quam diu mihi consuli designato, Catalina, insidiatus es, non publico me praesidio, sed privata diligentia defendi”.

I cannot understand this construction: “me… defendi”. Is it a reflexive verb? I have defended myself?

Thank you.

6

Yes, that’s right, me is the direct object.

7

Thank you. You are right.