etiam (et jam), still, eludet, baffle, i.e. his mad conduct makes fools of the Roman people, as it were, by continuing to escape the just punishment that would suppress it. quem ad finem: almost equivalent to quamdiu, but implying some shock or crisis (finem) which must follow. sese jactabit, insolently display itself nihil (adv. acc.), not at all. Palati: one of the strongest positions in the city, commanding the Forum, and so most likely to be seized by the conspirators. The Palatium, an isolated hill, of a rudely quadrangular shape, was the original seat of the city of Rome, from which the city spread gradually over the other hills. In the last years of the Republic, the Palatine became the fashionable place for residences. Here was Cicero's house as well as Catiline's. It was because of its nearness to his house, as well as because of the strength of its position, that Cicero selected this temple for the meeting of the Senate on this occasion. Under the Empire the Palatine became the seat of the imperial residence, and its name, palace, has passed in this sense into most modern languages. bonorum: the Senate was surrounded by a crowd of equites and other citizens (see sect. 21, below). locus: the Senate was assembled, not, as usual, in the Curia Hostilia, but in the Temple of Jupiter Stator, which occupied a commanding position on the brow of the Palatine Hill and faced the Sacred Way. The ruins of this temple were discovered some years ago (see view in text). horum (with a gesture), i.e. the Senators present. ora, features; voltus, expression: the phrase is a sort of hendiadys, almost equivalent to expression of their features; § 640 (385); B. 374, 4; G. 698; H. 751,3, N.1 (636, iii, 2); H-B. 631,5. patere: note the emphatic position. non: observe the abruptness and force given by omitting the interrog. particle -ne. constrictam . . . teneri, is held fast bound; § 497, b (292, c) ; cf. B. 337, 6; G. 238; H.431,1(385, 1, N.); H.-B. 605,5. proxima, superiore: for what was done on the night of Nov. 6, see sect. 4; as to proxima, last night, we meet with nothing but general assertions.
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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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