 132-133. The Fate of Hannibal |
Map: Asia Minor  |
In 63 B.C. Marcus Cicero (brother of the Quintus Cicero who subsequently figured in the events described in Lesson 108 ff.) had to deal with a rather alarming conspiracy which aimed to revolutionize the government of Rome. The chief conspirator, Catiline, took the field with an army, while Lentulus, who was secretly in sympathy with him, supervised matters in the city. One day Lentulus noticed there two Gallic envoys who had come to Rome to complain that Roman officials were oppressing their people, and he thereupon conceived the idea of further embarrassing the government by inducing these Gauls to stir up a revolt among their countrymen.
Igitur P. Umbrēnō cuidam negōtium dat, ūtī lēgātōs Allobrogum requīrat eōsque, sī possit, impellat ad societātem bellī, exīstimāns pūblicē prīvātimque aere aliēnō oppressōs, praetereā quod nātūrā gēns Gallica bellicāsa esset, facile eōs ad tāle cōnsilium addūcī posse.
Umbrēnus, quod in Galliā negōtiātus erat, plērīsque prīncipibus cīvitātium nōtus erat atque eōs nōverat. Itaque sine morā, ubi prīmum lēgātōs in forō cōnspēxit, percontātus pauca dē statū cīvitātis et quasi dolēns eius cāsum, requīrere coepit, quem exitum tantīs malīs spērārent. Postquam illōs videt querī dē avāritiā magistrātuum, accūsāre senātum quod in eō auxilī nihil esset, miseriīs suīs remedium mortem exspectāre, “at ego,” inquit, “vōbīs, sī modo virī esse vultis, ratiōnem ostendam, quā tanta ista mala effugiātis.”
Haec ubi dīxit, Allobrogēs in maximam spem adductī, Umbrēnum ōrāre ut suī miserētur: nihil tam asperum neque tam difficile esse, quod nōn cupidissimē factūrī essent, dum ea rēs cīvitātem acre aliēnō līberāret, Ille eōs in domum D. Brūtī perdūcit, quod forō propinqua erat neque aliēna cōnsilī propter Semprōniam: nam tum Brūtus ab Rōmā aberat. Praetereā Gabīnium arcēssit, quō maior auctōritās sermōnī inesset. Eō praesente coniūratiōnem aperuit, nōminat sociōs, praetereā multōs cuiusque generis innoxiōs, quō lēgātīs animus amplior esset. Deinde eōs pollicitōs operam suam domum dīmittit.
Sed Allobrogēs diū in incertō habuēre, quidnam cōnsilī caperent: in alterā parte erat aes aliēnum, studium bellī, magna merces in spē victōriae, at in alterā maiōrēs opēs, tūta cōnsilia, prō incertā spē certa praemia. Haec illīs volventibus, tandem vīcit fortūna reī pūblicae. Itaque Q. Fabio Sangae, cuius patrōciniō civitās plūrimum ūtēbātur, rem omnem, utī cōgnōverant, aperiunt. Cicerō, per Sangam cōnsiliō cōgnitō, lēgātīs praecepit, ut studium coniūrātiōnis vehementer simulent, cēterōs adeant, bene polliceantur, dentque operam utī eōs quam maximē manifēstōs habeant.
The envoys, pretending that it would be difficult to persuade their countrymen to revolt unless the matter were put into writing, easily secured thus from the conspirators evidence sufficient to convict nine of the ringleaders, five of whom were promptly executed in the public prison. Shortly afterward, in the north country, the army of Catiline (see the note at the head of Lesson 134) was brought to bay by the government forces, and he chose to try conclusions with a division which on the day of battle was under the command of a veteran officer named Petreius.
Sed ubi, omnibus rēbus explōrātīs, Petrēius tubā signum dat, cohortis paulātim incēdere iubet; idem facit hostium exercitus. Postquam eō ventum est, unde [a] ferentāriīs proelium committī posset, maximō clāmōre cum īnfēstīs signīs concurrunt: pīla omittunt, gladiīs res gēritur. Veterānī, prīstinae virtūtis memores, comminus aacriter īnstāre, illī haud timidē resistunt: maximā vī certātur.
Intereā Catilīna cum expeditīs in prīmā aciē versārī, labōrantibus succurrere, integrōs prō sauciīs arcēssere, omnia prōvidēre, multum ipse pugnāre, saepe hostem ferīre: strēnuī mīlitis et bonī imperātōris officia simul exsequēbātur. Petrēius, ubi videt Catilīnam, contrā ac ratus erat, magnā vī tendere, cohortem praetōriam in mediōs hostīs indūcit eōsque perturbātōs atque aliōs alibī resistentīs interficit, deinde utrimque ex lateribus cēterōs adgreditur. Mānlius et Faesulānus in prīmīs pugnantēs cadunt. Catilīna, postquam fūsas cōpiās sēque cum paucīs relictum videt, memor generis atque prīstinae suae dignitātis, in cōnfertissimōs hostīs incurrit, ibique pugnans cōnfoditur.
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The first of his family to reach the consulship, Cicero won some fame as a statesman by suppressing the conspiracy of Catiline; but his chief and lasting distinction was along literary lines. In oratory he was hardly rivaled in his own generation; and his writings are a priceless possession.