Did I drive him into exile who I knew had already entered upon war? I suppose
Manlius, that centurion who has pitched his camp in the Faesulan district, has proclaimed war
against the Roman people in his own name; and that camp is not now waiting for Catiline as its
general, and he, driven indeed into exile, will go to Marseilles, as they say, and not to that camp.
O the hard lot of those, not only of those who govern, but even of those who save the
republic. Now, if Lucius Catiline, hemmed in and rendered powerless by my counsels, by my
toils, by my dangers, should on a sudden become alarmed, should change his designs, should
desert his friends, should abandon his design of making war, should change his path from this
course of wickedness and war, and betake himself to flight and exile, he will not be said to
have been deprived by me of the arms of his audacity, to have been astounded and terrified by
my diligence, to have been driven from his hope and from his enterprise, but, uncondemned and
innocent, to have been driven into banishment by the consul by threats and violence; and there
will be some who will seek to have him thought not worthless but unfortunate, and be considered
not a most active consul, but a most cruel tyrant.
I am not
unwilling, O Romans, to endure this storm of false and unjust unpopularity as long as the
danger of this horrible and nefarious war is warded off from you. Let him be said to be
banished by me as long as he goes into banishment; but, believe me, he will not go. I will
never ask of the immortal gods, O Romans, for the sake of lightening my own unpopularity, for
you to hear that Lucius Catiline is leading an army of enemies, and is hovering about in arms;
but yet in three days you will hear it. And I much more fear that it will be objected to me
some day or other, that I have let him escape, rather than that I have banished him. But when
there are men who say he has been banished because he has gone away, what would these men say
if he had been put to death?
Although those men who keep saying that Catiline is going to Marseilles do not complain of this so much as they fear it; for there is not one
of them so inclined to pity, as not to prefer that he should go to Manlius rather than to
Marseilles. But he, if he had never before planned
what he is now doing, yet would rather be slain while living as a bandit, than live as an
exile; but now, when nothing has happened to him contrary to his own wish and design,—except,
indeed, that he has left Rome while we are alive,—let
us wish rather that he may go into exile than complain of it.
But why are we speaking so long about one enemy; and about that enemy who now avows that he
is one; and whom I now do not fear, because, as I have always wished, a wall is between us; and
are saying nothing about those who dissemble, who remain at Rome, who are among us? Whom, indeed, if it were by any means possible, I should
be anxious not so much to chastise as to cure, and to make friendly to the republic; nor, if
they will listen to me, do I quite know why that may not be. For I will tell you, O Romans, of
what classes of men those forces are made up, and then, if I can, I will apply to each the
medicine of my advice and persuasion.
There is one class of them, who, with enormous debts, have
still greater possessions, and who can by no means be detached from their affection to them. Of
these men the appearance is most respectable, for they are wealthy, but their intention and
their cause are most shameless. Will you be rich in lands, in houses, in money, in slaves, in
all things, and yet hesitate to diminish your possessions to add to your credit? What are you
expecting? War? What! in the devastation of all things, do you believe that your own
possessions will be held sacred? do you expect an abolition of debts? They are mistaken who
expect that from Catiline. There may be schedules made out, owing to my exertions, but they
will be only catalogues of sale. Nor can those who have possessions be safe by any other means;
and if they had been willing to adopt this plan earlier, and not, as is very foolish, to
struggle on against usury with the profits of their farms, we should have them now richer and
better citizens. But I think these men are the least of all to be dreaded, because they can
either be persuaded to abandon their opinions, or if they cling to them, they seem to me more
likely to form wishes against the republic than to bear arms against it.
There is another class of them, who, although they are harassed by debt, yet are expecting
supreme power; they wish to become masters. They think that when the republic is in confusion
they may gain those honours which they despair of when it is in tranquillity. And they must, I
think, be told the same as every one else,—to despair of obtaining what they are aiming at;
that in the first place, I myself am watchful for, am present to, am providing for the
republic. Besides that, there is a high spirit in the virtuous citizens, great unanimity, great
numbers, and also a great body of troops. Above all that, the immortal gods will stand by and
bring aid to this invincible nation, this most illustrious empire, this most beautiful city,
against such wicked violence. And if they had already got that which they with the greatest
madness wish for, do they think that in the ashes of the city and blood of the citizens, which
in their wicked and infamous hearts they desire, they will become consuls and dictators and
even kings? Do they not see that they are wishing for that which, if they were to obtain it,
must be given up to some fugitive slave, or to some gladiator?
There is a third class, already touched by age, but still vigorous from constant exercise; of
which class is Manlius himself; whom Catiline is now succeeding. These are men of those
colonies which Sulla established at Faesulae,
which I know to be composed, on the whole, of excellent citizens and brave men; but yet these
are colonists, who, from becoming possessed of unexpected and sudden wealth, boast themselves
extravagantly and insolently; these men, while they build like rich men, while they delight in
farms, in litters, in vast families of slaves, in luxurious banquets, have incurred such great
debts, that, if they would be saved, they must raise Sulla from the dead; and they have even
excited some countrymen, poor and needy men, to entertain the same hopes of plunder as
themselves. And all these men, O Romans, I place in the same class of robbers and banditti.
But, I warn them, let them cease to be mad, and to think of proscriptions and dictatorships;
for such a horror of these times is ingrained into the city, that not even men, but it seems to
me that even the very cattle would refuse to bear them again.
There is a fourth class, various, promiscuous and turbulent; who indeed are now overwhelmed;
who will never recover themselves; who, partly from indolence, partly from managing their
affairs badly, partly from extravagance, are embarrassed by old debts; and worn out with bail
bonds, and judgments, and seizures of their goods, are said to be betaking themselves in
numbers to that camp both from the city and the country. These men I think not so much active
soldiers as lazy insolvents; who, if they cannot stand at first, may fall, but fall so, that
not only the city but even their nearest neighbours know nothing of it. For I do not understand
why, if they cannot live with honour, they should wish to die shamefully; or wily they think
they shall perish with less pain in a crowd, than if they perish by themselves.
There is a fifth class, of parricides, assassins, in short of all infamous characters, whom I
do not wish to recall from Catiline, and indeed they cannot be separated from him. Let them
perish in their wicked war, since they are so numerous that a prison cannot contain them.
There is a last class, last not only in number but in the sort of men and in their way of
life; the especial body-guard of Catiline, of his levying; yes, the friends of his embraces and
of his bosom; whom you see with carefully combed hair, glossy, beardless, or with well-trimmed
beards; with tunics with sleeves, or reaching to the ankles; clothed with veils, not with
robes; all the industry of whose life, all the labour of whose watchfulness, is expended in
suppers lasting till daybreak.