Catilinarian Orations Passage 12

at etiam sunt qui dicant, Quirites , a me eiectum esse Catilinam . quod ego si verbo adsequi possem, istos ipsos eicerem qui haec loquuntur. homo enim videlicet timidus aut etiam permodestus vocem consulis ferre non potuit; simul atque ire in exsilium iussus est, paruit . quin hesterno die, cum domi meae paene interfectus essem, senatum in aedem Iovis Statoris convocavi , rem omnem ad patres conscriptos detuli. quo cum Catilina venisset, quis eum senator appellavit, quis salutavit, quis denique ita aspexit ut perditum civem ac non potius ut importunissimum hostem? quin etiam principes eius ordinis partem illam subselliorum ad quam ille accesserat nudam atque inanem reliquerunt.

Yet there are even people who say, citizens, that Catiline was driven out by me. If I could accomplish that with a word, I would drive out the very men who say it. The man was evidently so timid or exceedingly submissive that he could not bear the consul’s voice. As soon as he was ordered to go into exile, he obeyed. Why, yesterday, when I had nearly been killed in my house, I summoned the Senate to the Temple of Jupiter Stator and referred the whole matter to the senators. When Catiline came there, what senator addressed him, who greeted him, or who even looked at him as a ruined citizen rather than as a most dangerous enemy? Indeed, the leading men of that order left the section of benches he approached bare and empty.

Mais certains disent encore, Quirites, que j’ai chassé Catilina. Si je pouvais obtenir cela d’un mot, je chasserais ceux-là mêmes qui le disent. Cet homme, sans doute craintif ou même très modeste, n’a pu supporter la voix du consul ; dès qu’il reçut l’ordre de partir en exil, il obéit. Mais hier, alors que j’avais failli être tué chez moi, je convoquai le Sénat dans le temple de Jupiter Stator et soumis toute l’affaire aux pères conscrits. Lorsque Catilina y vint, quel sénateur lui adressa la parole, qui le salua, qui enfin le regarda comme un citoyen perdu plutôt que comme le plus dangereux des ennemis ? Bien plus, les chefs de cet ordre laissèrent nue et déserte la partie des bancs dont il s’était approché.