est eorum, consists of those (pred. gen.). possessiones, landed property. dissolvi, sc. a possessionibus: i.e. although they might pay their debts by the sale of their estates, they cannot make up their minds to do so. voluntas et causa, their purposes and claims, i.e. their position before the world. tu: the use of the singular, as if he were addressing one of these men directly, gives point to his reproach of the whole class. sis: § 444 (268); B. 277; G. 466; H. 5591 4 (484, v); H.-B. 503. tuas: emphatic. tabulas novas, new accounts, i.e. a general scaling down of debts by legislative enactment, such as that, B.C. 86, "which reduced every private claim to the fourth part of its nominal amount, and cancelled three-fourths in favor of the debtors." auctionariae: a forced sale of their estates would give them "new accounts" (tabulae) by reducing their debts; auctionarinae [tabulae] would be the placards advertising the sale in question. quod, obj. of facere, relating to the forced sale. neque, and not, connects facere and certare. certare cum usuris, struggle to meet the interest: § 413, b (248, b); H. (419, II); H.-B. 419, 4. fructibus: abl. of means. uteremur, we should find. hosce: more emphatic than hos. o vota facturi, likely to offer prayers, i.e. they will confine themselves to sympathizing with Catiline's revolt; no active cooperation with him need be feared from them.
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Select Orations of. Cicero. Allen and Greenough's Edition. Revised by J. B. Greenough and G. L. Kittredge, with a special vocabulary by J. B. Greenough.
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