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When he had thus spoken, he ordered, after a short delay, the signal for battle to be sounded, and led down his troops, in regular order, to the level ground. Having then sent away the horses of all the cavalry, in order to increase the men's courage by making their danger equal, he himself, on foot, drew up his troops suitably to their numbers and the nature of the ground. As a plain stretched between the mountains on the left, with a rugged rock on the right, he placed eight cohorts in front, and stationed the lest of his force, in close order, in the rear.1 From among these he removed all the ablest centurions,2 the veterans,3 and the stoutest of the common soldiers that were regularly armed, into the foremost ranks.4 He ordered Caius Manlius to take the command on the right, and a certain officer of Fæsulæ5 on the left; while he himself, with his freedmen6 and the colonists,7 took his station by the eagle,8 which Caius Marius was said to have had in his army in the Cimbrian war.
On the other side, Caius Antonius, who, being lame,9 was unable to be present in the engagement, gave the command of the army to Marcus Petreius, his lieutenant-general. Petreius, ranged the cohorts of veterans, which he had raised to meet the present insurrection,10 in front, and behind them the rest of his force in lines. Then, riding round among his troops, and addressing his men by name, he encouraged them, and bade them remember that they were to fight against unarmed marauders, in defense of their country, their children, their temples, and their homes.11 Being a military man, and having served with great reputation, for more than thirty years, as tribune, præfect, lieutenant, or prætor, he knew most of the soldiers and their honorable actions, and, by calling these to their remembrance, roused the spirits of the men.
1 LIX. In the rear] “In subsidio.” Most translators have rendered this, "as a body of reserve;" but such can not well be the signification. It seems only to mean the part behind the front: Catiline places the eight cohorts in front, and the rest of his force in subsidio, to support the front. Subsidia, according to Varro (de L. L., iv. 16) and Festus (v. Subsidium), was a term applied to the Triarii, because they subsidebant, or sunk down on one knee until it was their turn to act. See Sheller's Lex. v. Subsidium. “"Novissimi ordines its dicuntur."” Gerlach. In subsidiis, which occurs a few lines below, seems to signify in lines in the rear; as in Jug. 49, triplicibus subsidiis aciem intruxit, i.e. with three lines behind the front. “"Subsidium ea pars aciei vocabatur quæ reliquis submitti posset; Cæs. B. G., ii. 25."” Dietsch.
2 All the ablest centurions] “Centuriones omnes lectos.” “"Lectos you may consider to be the same as eximios, præstantes, centurionum præstantissimum quemque."” Kritzius. Cortius and others take it for a participle, chosen.
3 Veterans] “Evocatos.” Some would make this also a participle, because, say they, it can not signify evocati, or called-out veterans, since, though there were such soldiers in a regular Roman army, there could be none so called in the tumultuary forces of Catiline. But to this it is answered that Catiline had imitated the regular disposition of a Roman army, and that his veterans might consequently be called evocati, just as if they had been in one; and, also that evocatus as a participle would be useless; for if Catiline removed (subducit) the centurions, it is unnecessary to add that he called them out, “"Evocati erant, qui expletis stipendiis non poterant in delectu scribi, sed precibus imperatoris permoti, aut in gratiam ejus, militiam resumebant, homines longo uso militiæ peritissimi. Dio., xlv. p. 276. ᾿Εκ τούτων δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ τὸ τῶν ῾Ηουοκάτων η̈̀ ᾿Ουοκάτων σύστημα (ὁῦζ ᾿Ανακλήτουζ ὺ̂ν τὶζ ᾿Ελληνίσαζ, ὄτι πεπαυμένοι τῆς στρατέιας, ἐπ̓ αὐτὴν ά̂υθις ἀνεκλήθμσαν, ὀυομάσειεν) ἐνομίσθη. Intelligit itaque ejusmodi homines veteranos, etsi non propriè erant tales evocati, sed sponte castra Catilinæ essent secuti."” Cortius.
4 Into the foremost ranks] “In primam aciem.” Whether Sallust means that he ranged them with the eight cohorts, or only in the first line of the subsidia, is not clear.
5 A certain officer of Fæsulæ] “Fæsulanum quemdam.” “"He is thought to have been that P. Furious, whom Cicero (Cat., iii. 6, 14) mentions as having been one of the colonists that Sylla settled at Fæsulæ, and who was to have been executed, if he had been apprehended, for having been concerned in corrupting the Allobrogian deputies."” Dietsch. Plutarch calls this officer Furius.
6 His freedmen] “Libertis.” “"His own freedmen, whom he probably had about him as a body-guard, deeming them the most attached of his adherents. Among them was, possibly, that Sergius, whom we find from Cic. pro Domo, 5, 6, to have been Catiline's armor-bearer."” Dietsch.
7 The colonists] “Colonis.” “"Veterans of Sylla, who had been settled by him as colonists in Etruria, and who had now been induced to join Catiline."” Gerlach. See c. 28.
8 By the eagle] “Propter aquilam.” See Cic. in Cat., i. 9.
9 Being lame] “Pedibus æger.” It has been common among translators to render pedibus æger afflicted with the gout, though a Roman might surely be lame without having the gout. As the lameness of Antonius, however, according to Dion Cassius (xxxvii. 39), was only pretended, it may be thought more probable that he counterfeited the gout than any other malady. It was with this belief, I suppose, that the writer of a gloss on one of the manuscripts consulted by Cortius, interpreted the words, ultroneam passus est podogram, "he was affected with a voluntary gout." Dion Cassius says that he preferred engaging with Antonius, who had the larger army, rather than with Metellus, who had the smaller, because he hoped that Antonius would designedly act in such a way as to lose the victory.
10 To meet the present insurrection] “Tumulti causâ.” Any sudden war or insurrection in Italy or Gaul was called tumultus. See Cic. Philipp. v. 12.
11 Their temples and their homes] “Aris atque focis suis.” See c. 52.
Conspiracy of Catiline. Sallust. Rev. John Selby Watson, M.A. New York and London. Harper & Brothers. 1899.
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