Catilinaires Passage 16

quamquam isti qui Catilinam Massiliam ire dictitant non tam hoc queruntur quam verentur. nemo est istorum tam misericors qui illum non ad Manlium quam ad Massiliensis ire malit. ille autem, si me hercule hoc quod agit numquam antea cogitasset, tamen latrocinantem se interfici mallet quam exsulem vivere. nunc vero, cum ei nihil adhuc praeter ipsius voluntatem cogitationemque acciderit, nisi quod vivis nobis Roma profectus est, optemus potius ut eat in exsilium quam queramur.

Yet those who repeatedly say that Catiline is going to Massilia do not so much complain of this as fear it. Not one of them is so compassionate that he would not prefer him to go to Manlius rather than to the Massilians. But even if, by Hercules, he had never previously contemplated what he is now doing, he would still prefer to be killed as a brigand rather than live as an exile. As matters stand, since nothing has yet happened to him contrary to his own will and intention, except that he left Rome while we were alive, let us wish that he may go into exile rather than complain of it.

D’ailleurs, ceux qui répètent que Catilina va à Marseille ne s’en plaignent pas tant qu’ils ne le redoutent. Aucun d’eux n’est assez compatissant pour ne pas préférer le voir aller chez Manlius plutôt que chez les Marseillais. Quant à lui, par Hercule, même s’il n’avait jamais auparavant conçu ce qu’il fait maintenant, il aimerait mieux mourir en brigand que vivre en exilé. Aujourd’hui, puisque rien ne lui est encore arrivé qui ne fût conforme à sa volonté et à sa pensée, sinon qu’il a quitté Rome en nous laissant vivants, souhaitons plutôt qu’il parte en exil que de nous en plaindre.