Latin III
Instructor: James Ransom
November 23, 2013
Sallust lures and ensnares young delinquents and confirms them in evil
Sallust Bellum Catilinae 16
1 Sed iuventutem, quam, ut supra diximus, illexerat, multis modis
mala facinorae docebat. 2 Ex illis testis signatoresque falsos commodare; fidem, fortunas,
pericula vilia habere, post, ubi eorum famam atque pudorem attriverat, maiora
alia imperabat. 3 Si causa peccandi in praesens minus suppetebat, nihilo minus
insontis sicuti sontis circumvenire, iugulare:
4 scilicet, ne per otium
torpescerent manus aut animus.
Course Notes
1 Sed
iuventutem, quam, ut supra diximus, illexerat But the youth
whom, as we noted above, he had ensared; “illexerat” is third person singular pluperfect
indicative active of illicio, illicere, illexi, illectum;
a characteristic instance of Sallust’s archaic style, this rare verb means “to
entice, to ensare.” The collective noun “iuventutem” is accusative singular of
the third declension noun iuventis, iuventutis, f. “quam” is accusative feminine singular
(in agreement with “iuventutem”) of the relative
pronoun qui, quae, quod. App.
20. The conjunction “ut,” when
followed by the indicative, means “as, just as.” “diximus” is first person plural perfect
indicative active of dico, dicere, dixi, dictum. Sallust employs the authorial first person
plural.
multis modis mala facinora
docebat he educated by a variety of means
in the practices of evil;
“docebat” is third person singular imperfect indicative active of doceo,
docere, docui, doctum. “facinora”
is accusative plural of the third declension noun facinis, facinoris, n., “deed,”
especially an evil deed. “mala” is neuter
accusative plural of the first/second declension adjective malus,
mala, malum. “multis” is
ablative plural of the first/second declension adjective multus, multa, multum. “modis” is ablative plural of the second
declension noun modus, modi, m.
2 Ex illis
testis signatoresque falsos commodare; From among
them he [i.e., Catalina; the
subject must be supplied] deployed perjurers
and forgers; “commodare” is the present active infinitive of commodo, commodare,
commodavi, commodatum, “to hire,
adapt, accommodate.” Ramsey: “historical infin [itive], ‘he was accustomed to
supply,’ i.e., to those who might require their services.” “testis signatoresque falsos”: false testifiers and signature forgers. “testis” is accusative plural of the third
declension noun testis, testis, m/f., “witness.” “signatores” is accusative plural of the
third declension noun signatore, signatoris,
m., “signatory [to a will]”. “ex illis”:
dative of separation. Cf. AG 381: “Many verbs of taking away and the like take the Dative
(especially of a person) instead of the Ablative of Separation.” “illis” is
dative masculine plural of the pronoun ille, illa, illud.
fidem,
fortunas, pericula vilia habere he taught them to
hold honor, property rights, and the risk of criminal prosecution all in
contempt; “habere” is the
present active infinitive of habeo, habere, habui, habitum; “habere”
is best taken as a historical infinitive coordinate with “commodare”, so supply
Catalina as the subject (cf. Ramsey
103). “pericula” is accusative plural of
the second declension noun periculum, periculi, m. Ramsey persuasively
points out that in this context, “pericula” is “best taken in the technical
sense = “prosecution on criminal charges.” “vilia” is neuter accusative plural
of the third declension adjective vilis, vilis, m./f./n., “worthless,
base, vile.”
post,
ubi eorum famam atque pudorem attriverat, maiora alia imperabat and after, when he had corroded
their reputation and their conscience, he ordered them to still greater outrages;
“imperabat” is third person singular imperfect indicative active of impero,
imperare, imperavi, imperatum, “to command, give orders, demand.” “attriverat” is third person singular
pluperfect indicative active of attero, atterrere, attrivi, attritum,
“to wear or grind away, weaken”; cf. English “attrition.” “pudorem” is accusative singular of the third
declension noun pudor, pudoris, m. “famam’
is accusative singular of the first declension noun fama, famae, f. “ubi”=temporal particle; “when.” “eorum” is genitive masculine plural of the
demonstrative pronoun is, ea, id. Post=indeclinable adverb=”after.”
3 Si causa peccandi in praesens minus
suppetebat If an opportunity for criminal gain was lacking at the moment; “suppetebat” is third person singular imperfect indicative
active of suppeto, suppetire, suppetivi, suppetitum, “to be present, to
be at hand.” “minus” is neuter accusative singular of the third declension adjective minor,
minoris, m./f/./n.“praesens” is neuter accusative singular of the third
declension adjective praesens, praesentis, m./f./n.;
controlled by the preposition “in.” “peccandi” is genitive singular of the
first/second declension noun peccandus, peccandi, m./f./n. “causa”
is nominative singular of the first declension noun causa, causae, f.
nihilo
minus insontis sicuti sontis circumvenire, iugulare; nonetheless he
incited them to corner and slaughter the innocent as if they were guilty; “iugulare” is present infinitive active of iugulo, iugulare, iugulavi,
iugulatum, “to slay, kill,” lit., “to slit the jugular.” “circumvenire” is present infinitive active
of circumvenio,
circumvenire, circumveni, circumventum, “to surround, beset.” “sontis”
genitive plural of the third declension noun sons, sontis. “guilty, criminal.” Ramsey: “i.e., gulty in the sense of being
offensive to Catiline, incurring his hatred.”
Ramsey also notes that “’insons’ is mainly archaic and poetical.” “nihilo minus” =uncontracted form of the
indeclinable adverb nihilominus=”nonetheless, nevertheless.”
4 scilicet, ne per otium torpescerent manus
aut animus evidently to prevent them from losing their edge in action and
their spirit of zeal; “torpescerent”
is third person plural imperfect active subjunctive of torpesco, torpescere, torpescui,
“to become listless, indolent, slothful.” “manus aut animus”=lit. “hand or
heart.” “per otium”=”through idleness; “otium”
is accusative singular of the second declension noun otium, otii, n. “scilicet”=indeclinable adverb= “certainly,
of course, evidently,” etc.
English Translation
The young men, whom, as I
said before, he had enticed to join him, he initiated, by various methods, in
evil practices. From among them he furnished false witnesses, and forgers of
signatures; and he taught them all to regard, with equal unconcern, honor,
property, and danger. At length, when he had stripped them of all character and
shame, he led them to other and greater enormities. If a motive for crime did not
readily occur, he invited them, nevertheless, to circumvent and murder
inoffensive persons, just as if they had injured him; lest their hand or heart should grow torpid
for want of employment.
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