‘Gnaeus Pompeius’, ‘Lucius Catilina’, and ‘Marcus Antonius’ in the text, but ‘Pompey’, ‘Catiline’, and ‘(Mark) Antony’ in the introductions and notes. Where Cicero refers to Catiline without
praenomen
, however, as he almost invariably does (in order to abuse him), I have written ‘Catiline’, not ‘Catilina’.
Finally, I should mention the paragraphing—the first matter to which a translator turns his attention. The medieval manuscripts of Cicero’s speeches do not preserve Cicero’s original paragraphing (if there ever was any, which is unlikely), and since the text of Cicero is very difficult to divide up, modern editions tend to insert new paragraphs only every several pages. The decision as to where to start a new paragraph requires one to think very hard about the structure of the argument, and I have found this almost the most difficult aspect of my task. I have reparagraphed the entire text, and I hope that thenew paragraphing will substantially aid the understanding of these speeches.
Some authors, particularly poets, are simply untranslatable: a translation cannot provide an experience which is close enough to that of reading the original to be satisfactory. Cicero is not one of these authors; and it is my hope that these translations will indeed convey some impression of his extraordinary mastery of language, his intelligence, his persuasive power, his lively sense of humour, and the fluency, vividness, and beauty of his writing. But reading the original, of course, is an experience of a different order from that of reading a translation. Many people who are reading this book will be doing so at a point in their lives when they have an opportunity to learn some Latin. If you are one of them, I hope that this book will encourage you to seize that opportunity.
NOTE ON THE LATIN TEXT
F OR each speech I have translated the most satisfactory existing edition of the Latin text, with occasional departures from it. These editions, and my departures from them, are listed below. The numerous differences of paragraphing and punctuation are not recorded (such features have no ancient authority, but are added by editors according to their understanding of the sense).
In Verrem I
Text: A. Klotz, Teubner (Leipzig, 1923).
1
apud populum Romanum sed etiam
: I translate
apud nos sed
.
4
praetori
: I translate
praetori populo Romano
.
39
quod in C. Herennio … factum sit … inventi sint … inventus sit
: I translate <
quid?
>
quod in C. Herennio … factum est … inventi sunt … inventus est
.
48
hominum
: I omit.
55
ut crimen totum
: I translate
ut
<
primum unumquodque
>
crimen totum
.
In Verrem II.5
Text: A. Klotz, Teubner (Leipzig, 1949).
31
parique
: I translate
talarique
.
55
iste dedit ut
: I translate
isti dedit ut
.
83
ubi ternis denariis … permissa et data
: I omit.
133
[
hoc Hennenses
]: I retain.
143
quae lautumiae vocantur
: I omit.
181
Caelium
: I translate
Coelium
De imperio Cn. Pompei
Text: A. C. Clark, Oxford Classical Text (Oxford, 1905).
7
omnis
: I omit.
21
inflammata
: I translate
inflata
.
24
se et suam manum iam confirmarat eorum opera qui ad eum ex ipsius regno concesserant
: I translate
et suam manum iam confirmarat
.
56
et ea
: I translate
ea
.
58
Caelius
: I translate
Coelius
.
62
alium
: I translate
curulem
.
In Catilinam I–IV
Text: T. Maslowski, Teubner (Munich and Leipzig, 2003).
1.22
tua ista
: I translate
ista
.
2.3
non putarent
: I translate <
coniurationem factam
>
non putarent
.
2.10
fortunatum
: I translate
fortunatam
.
3.4
eodemque itinere cum litteris mandatisque
: I translate
cum litteris mandatisque eodemque itinere
.
3.24
eiecit ex urbe
: I omit.
4.11
a crudelitatis vituperatione prohibebo
: I translate
crudelitatis vituperatione populus Romanus exsolvet
.
4.13
<
iure
>: I omit.
Pro Marcello
Text: A. C. Clark, Oxford Classical Text (Oxford, 1918 2 ).
26
civis
: I