Section 5D(i) Cruel to be kind Flashcards
in hāc causā, nōn atrōcitāte animī moueor …
In this case (lawsuit), I am not moved by harshness of mind ..
– quis enim est mē mītior? –
— for who is gentler than me?—
… sed singulārī quādam hūmānitāte et misericordiā.
… [but I am moved] by a certain special kindness and pity.
uideor enim mihi uidēre hanc urbem, …
For I seem [to myself] to see this city, …
… lūcem orbis terrārum atque arcem omnium gentium, …
… the light of the whole world and the citadel of all races, …
… subitō ūnō incendiō concidentem.
… suddenly collapsing in one conflagration.
uersātur mihi ante oculōs aspectus et furor …
Before my eyes are turning the appearance and the madness …
… Cethēgī in uestrā caede bacchantis, …
… of Cethegus, reveling in your slaughter, …
… Lentulī rēgnantis, …
… of Lentulus reigning (like a king), …
… Catilīnae cum exercitū uenientis.
… of Catiline coming with an army.
cum haec mihi prōpōnō, …
When I imagine [place before myself] these things, …
… tum lāmentātiōnem mātrum familiās, …
… then [as for] the lamentation of mothers [of the household], …
… tum fugam uirginum et puerōrum, …
… then [as for] the flight of maidens and boys, …
… tum uexātiōnem uirginum Vestālium perhorrēscō, et, ..
… then [as for] the ill-treatment of the Vestals I shudder, and, …
… quia mihi uehementer haec uidentur misera atque miseranda, …
… because these things seem to me violently wretched and pitiable [to be pitied], ..
… idcircō in eōs, quī ea perficere uoluērunt, …
… for that reason against those, who wanted to accomplish them, …
… mē seuērum uehementemque praebēbō.
… I present myself (as) stern and violent.
etenim quaerō, sī quis pater familiās, …
And in fact I ask (you): if some father [head of the household], …
… līberīs suīs ā seruō interfectīs, …
… when his children have been killed by a slave, …
… uxōre occīsā, …
… when his wife has been killed, …
… incēnsā domō, …
… when his home has been burned, …
… supplicium dē seruīs nōn quam acerbissimum sūmat, …
… should not exact the harshest possible penalty from his slaves, …
… utrum is clēmēns ac misericors an inhūmānissimus et crūdēlissimus esse uideātur?
… would he seem merciful and forgiving or most savage and most cruel?
mihi uērō ille importūnus ac ferreus esse uideātur, …
To me, in truth, that (man) would seem cruel and unfeeling, …
… nisi dolōre nocentis suum dolōrem lēniat.
… unless he soothed the his pain with the pain of the (person( harming (him).
sīc nōs misericordēs habēbimur, …
It is in this way that we will be regarded as compassionate, …
… sī uehementissimī in hīs hominibus fuerimus …
… if we will have been most violent in the case of these people …
… quī nōs, quī coniugēs, quī līberōs nostrōs trucīdāre uoluērunt, …
… who wished to slaughter us, (our) wives, (and) our children, …
… quī singulās domōs et hoc ūniuersum reī pūblicae domicilium dēlēre cōnātī sunt;
… who have tried to destroy individual homes and this universal dwelling of the commonwealth;
sīn remissiōrēs esse uoluerimus, crūdēlissimī habēbimur.
but if we will have wished to be milder, we will be regarded as the cruelest.
nam Lentulus attribuit nōs necandōs Cethēgō …
For Lentulus assigned us to Cethegus to be killed …
… et cēterōs cīuīs interficiendōs Gabīniō;
… and other citizens to Gabinius to be killed;
urbem incendendam Cassiō attribuit, …
he assigned to Cassius the city to be burned, …
… tōtam Ītaliam uāstandam dīripiendamque Catilīnae.
… and (he assigned) to Catiline all Italy to be laid waste and torn apart.
Lentulus ad ēuertenda fundāmenta reī pūblicae Gallōs arcessit, …
Lentulus summoned the Gauls to overturn the foundations of the commonwealth, …
… ad incendendam urbem seruōs concitat,
… he incited slaves to burn the city, …
… ad dūcendum contrā urbem exercitum Catilīnam uocat.
… he called Catiline to lead an army against the state.
quid hōc facinore magis timendum?
What is more to be feared than this crime?
quid hōc scelere minus neglegendum?
What is less to be neglected than this wickedness?
