feneratorum] The XII Tables fixed the highest rate of interest at 10 per cent. per annum. Afterwards it was reduced by half: cp. Tac. A. 6. 16. For the provinces there seems to have been not even a legal limit.

The

plerique patriae sed omnes fama atque fortunis expertes sumus] The old-fashioned construction of expers with the ablative, which Plautus uses, is employed to give variety: cp. J. 74. 3 Romani signorum et armorum aliquanto numero, hostium paucorum potiti. J. 84. 2 plerosque militiae paucos fama cognitos. Or. Lep. 17 praedam venum aut dono datam. use of sed is questionable, in C. 61. 3 (pauci...paulo_divorsius sed omnes tamen advorsis volneribus conciderant), the tamen makes all the difference. Weinhold's patria sede, or better Eussner's independent patriae sedis would mend the passage: cp. Or. Lep. 12 plebis innoxiac patrias sedes occupavere pauci satellites mercedem scelerum.

liberum corpus] The severity of the XII Tables, which (if Gellius 20. 1. 18 rightly understands the words) allowed the creditor even more than the exact 'pound of flesh', was mitigated by the lex Poetelia et Papiria 428 (326). Liv. 8. 28. 8 ne quis... in compedibus...teneretur; pecuniae creditae bona debitoris, non corpus obnoxium esset.

praetoris] a praetor was murdered by usurers 665 (89) because he ventured secundum debitores ius dicere.

2. vostrum] Gellius 20. 6. 14 'inportunissime' inquit (Apollinaris Sulpicius) ‘fecerunt qui in plerisque Sallusti exemplaribus scripturam istam sincerissimam corruperunt. Nam cum ita in Catilina scriptum esset: saepe maiores uestrum miseriti plebis Romanae, uestrum obleuerunt et uestri superscripserunt. Ex quo in plures libros mendae istius indoles manauit,-an unpleasant intimation of early corruption in the MSS of Sallust.

opitulati] a conversational word, frequently used in Cicero's letters, but not by Caesar, Livy, or Tacitus.

argentum aere solutum est] The Lex Valeria 668 (86). Velleius 2. 23 Valerius Flaccus turpissimae legis auctor qua creditoribus quadrantem solvi iusserat. A creditor had to be satisfied with the copper as for the silver sestertius—with 5s. in the pound.

3. plebes...a patribus secessit] (1) 260 (494) Liv. 2. 32. (2) 305 (449) Liv. 3. 50. J. 31. 17 maiores vostri parandi iuris et maiestatis constituendae gratia bis per secessionem armati Aventinum occupavere. (3) 467 (287) to the Janiculum—owing to the burden of debt. Liv. Ep. 11. (4) C. Gracchus occupied the Aventine.

5. te atque senatum obtestamur, consulatis miseris civibus-neve nobis-inponatis] see note on 51. 7.

maxume ulti] ulti is logically the principal verb, 'how in the battle for life or death we may sell our blood as dear as possible'.

Ch. 34, 1. respondit vellent-discedant] The other instances in S. of the present subj. in oratio obliqua dependent on a past tense are 41. 5 legatis praecepit ut studium coniurationis simulent, e. q. s. (Dietsch however reads respondet and praecipit) and 52. 14. Cicero appears to have never put the present in this case, but there are numerous instances in Caesar and Livy (Kühnast, p. 225). For the mixture of tense here cp. 32. 2. Hoffmann says that the present (discedant and proficiscantur) is here used that there may be no mistake about their having the force of imperatives; if the impf. had been used it would have been possible to take them hypothetically.

2. optumo cuíque] i.e. nobilissumo cuique ex optimatibus. Massiliam in exilium proficisci] Cic. in Cat. 2. §§ 14, 16. Milo after Clodius' murder went to Marseilles.

oreretur] The same form is found J. 72. 1, but oriretur in J. 6. 3. "The poets of the Augustan age use neither oriretur nor oreretur. In the MSS of the prose writers, and especially in the more accurate, oreretur and orerentur are so common, that they cannot be regarded, one and all, as mistakes of the writers of the manuscripts." Neue, Formenlehre 2. 418.

3. earum exemplum] The words imply that we have here an exact copy of the original letter: and the style makes that exceedingly probable. The letter contains many words and phrases that do not occur elsewhere in Sallust: satisfactio, conscientia de culpa, medius fidius, statum dignitatis obtinere, aes alienum meis nominibus, honore honestatos.

Ch. 35, 1. re cognita] cognita is nom. Catulus had befriended Catiline it is said and got him acquitted when he was charged with incest with a vestal virgin, Fabia, sister of Cicero's wife Terentia. The trial took place in 681 (73).

fiduciam-tribuit] for the more usual fidem facit.

2. in novo consilio] the sudden resolution of going to Manlius.

3. non quin] P V etc. have non quin aes alienum meis nominibus ex possessionibus solvere non possem, et alienis nominibus liberalitas Orestillae suis filiaeque copiis persolveret, sed quod, e. q.8. If non quin is to be kept the non (possem) must go. I have ventured to restore et for at, which Jordan

has ex conj., as he states in his preface to the second edition p. xi, haec verba neque Nipperdei patrocinio neque coniectura mea ab omni dubitatione vindicata esse sero intellexi'. The at does not mend matters much; for other conjectures see critical notes to text. If we expunge the non and take the et-persolveret as parenthetical with Nipperdey, the passage will do well enough in a letter written in such hurry. Not but what I could have paid out of my own property my own personal debts-and the liberality of Orestilla would have wiped off out of her own and her daughter's fortune those for which others had given security on my behalf-it is not that, but because...' aes alienum alienis nominibus is explained by some editors to mean debts arising from loans raised by friends of Catiline on his security, but see 24. 2.

non dignos homines] Cicero, and perhaps Murena,—the first consul in his family.

honore honestatos] Plaut. Capt. 355 Di tibi omnes omnia optata offerant, quom me tanto honore honestas-an archaic, perhaps popular, phrase.

4. hoc nomine] common in the epistolary style for causa. Cic. ad Att. 6. 2. 3 is multis nominibus... Graecos in eo reprehendit quod mare tantum secuti sunt.

6. Orestillam commendo tuaeque fidei trado] J. 63. 3 sed is natus et omnem pueritiam Arpini altus. V corrects to 0. tibi commendo.

Ch. 36, 1. C. Flaminium] The Flammam of one MS is probably from a gloss-a C. Flaminius Flamma is mentioned in Cic. ad Att. 14. 16. 4.

in agro Arretino] Arezzo not far from Florence: the 'via Cassia' was the shortest route, but Catiline went by the ‘via Aurelia'. Some of his followers awaited him at Forum Aurelii,

2. praeter condemnatis] not as Priscian says for condemnatos, for praeter is adv., cp. Gellius 1. 23. 13 uti posthac pueri cum patribus in curiam ne introeant, praeter ille unus Papirius.

4. multo maxume] It was the rule with Cicero to puť multo with comparatives, longe with superlatives. Sallust, on the contrary, puts longe with the superlative only once, J. 9. 2 longe maxuma, and writes Or. Macr. 9 longe saevior. Cicero, it is said, has multo with a superlative only once de imp. Pomp. 18. 54 magna ac multo maxuma.

otium atque divitiae, quae prima mortales putant] Fabri, on the strength of J. 41. 1 abundantia earum rerum quae prima

mortales ducunt, explains this construction as an attraction, prima being used substantively. Rather in the present passage quae is according to the ordinary rule neuter, and in the passage quoted we have an instance of synesis common with res. J. 102. 9 humanarum rerum fortuna pleraque regit.

perditum irent] common in the comic drama, and clearly a colloquial phrase. It is not used by Cicero (unless perditum camus be the proper reading in Ep. 14. 1. 5); often in Sall. 52. 12 ne illi sanguinem nostrum largiantur et, dum paucis sceleratis parcunt, bonos omnis perditum eant. J. 31. 27, 85. 42 nam

ubi se flagitiis dedecoravere turpissumi viri, bonorum praemia ereptum eunt, J. 68. 1 cum maxuma cura ultum ire iniurias festinant. Perditum ire is not a mere periphrasis equivalent to perdere, but rather 'to go in for'.

5. namque] once or twice only before consonants in Cicero. S. puts it more often than not before consonants.

duobus senati decretis] abl. abs. with concessive sense, as 11. 4 bonis initiis.

inductus] with quisquam.

patefecerat discesserat] i.e. dies statuta aderat, neque quisquam etc. Kvičala.

tanta vis morbi ac veluti tabes] ac veluti is Haupt's correction for atque uti. Some MSS omit the uti, but the writers, says Haupt, struck out what they did not see how to correct. Similar phrases often occur in S., cp. J. 32. 4 tanta vis avaritiae in animos eorum veluti tabes invaserat. H. 4. 26 qui quidem mos ut tabes in urbem coierit. Or. Phil. 9 neu patiamini licentiam scelerum quasi rabiem ad integros contactu procedere. C. 10. 5 ubi contagio quasi pestilentia invasit. Dietsch's erat quae uti tabes from Bursian (?), though ingenious, does not in the face of the above passages seem very probable. Nipperdey thought the following passages sufficient to defend the MS reading. Tac. H. 1. 46 nam gregarius miles ut tributum annuum pendebat. id. 2. 94 liberti principum conferre pro numero mancipiorum ut tributum iussi. Cic. de inv. 2. 3. 8 ex his duabus diversis sicuti familiis. Caes. B. G. 6. 26. 2 ab eius summo sicut palmae ramique late diffunduntur.

Ch. 37, 1. aliena mens] The medical metaphor introduced by morbi and tabes is still maintained in aliena: cp. Livy's alienata mens for 'insanity'.

qui conscii coniurationis fuerant] 'who had become members of the conspiracy', or 'had been' before the exposure in the senate.

2. id adeo] Kal Toûтó ye: repeated in § 11. J. 110. 4, 111. 1 faciundum aliquid, quod illorum magis quam sua retulisse videretur: id adeo in promptu esse, quoniam copiam Iugurthae haberet.

3. egestas facile habetur sine damno] to explain sine cura: 'since beggary is a position which it is not difficult to keep up'.

4. sed urbana plebes ea vero praeceps erat] for ea vero see note on 12. 5. Sallust uses both plebs and plebes. Plebs, however, occurs only thrice, and the form plebei occurs only in the Histories; so that plebes should be regarded perhaps as belonging to the third declension.

5. item alii qui] supply aetatem agebant from praestabant, or even praestabant itself. But most editors wisely strike qui out. The alii patrimoniis amissis is put instead of qui...amiserant for variety.

sicut in sentinam] 'the drains'. Cicero is fond of the metaphorical use of the word, cp. in Cat. 1. 5. 12 exhaurietur ex urbe magna et perniciosa sentina rei publicae. Ad Att. 1. 19. 4 etc.

6. ex gregariis militibus alios senatores videbant] S. is probably right about the gregarii milites (Willems, Le Sénat 1. 407). He is supported by Dion. Hal. 5. 77 Bovλýν тe yàp ÈK τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων ἀνθρώπων συνέστησε. According to other authorities, however, Sulla recruited the senate only from the equites. Liv. Ep. 89 (Sulla) senatum ex equestri ordine supplevit. Appian B. C. 1. 100 ἐκ τῶν ἀρίστων ἱππέων.

multi-sibi quisque, si in armis foret, ex victoria talia sperabat] When quisque is put in apposition to a plural subject, as here, it does not as a rule influence the number of the verb. See C. 38. 3. The present exception is due to the long interval which separates multi from the verb. There are also two exceptions in fragments quoted by Grammarians from the Histories, but probably the quotations are not correct, e.g. H. 3. 72 ut sustinere corpora plerique nequeuntes arma sua quisque instans incumberet (should be stantes incumberent).

[There is a curious instance of the use of quisque in J. 18. 3 exercitus eius conpositus ex variis gentibus amisso duce ac passim multis sibi quisque imperium petentibus brevi dilabitur where quisque cannot be referred to the subject of the sentence. But Madvig thinks that at least quisque must be taken to= quibusque, if quibusque should not be rather read.]

Why should this class be a factor of the urbana plebs in particular? It is explained why the other two classes §§ 5 and 7