[194] _In unum coegit_; that is, _conjunxit, copulavit_. The infinitives
here are the subjects of the sentence: the same fear and the same
greediness have united all your opponents into one league. Compare
_Cat._ 20: _idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia
est_.
[195] _Benejicia vestra_; that is, _honores, magistratus, imperia_.
[196] The speaker refers to the two most important secessions of the
Roman plebs--the one in which they obtained their tribunes in B.C.
510, and the other, which was undertaken in B.C. 449. to restore
the consulate and the tribuneship after the overthrow of the
tyrannical rule of the decemvirs. Both led to the establishment of a
legitimate state of things (_jus_), and the latter, in particular, to
the establishment of the decisive authority of the people against the
magistrates and the patricians. This sovereignty of the Roman
people was termed _majestas_. These secessions, according to the
statements of the ancients, were made to the Mons Sacer, and not
to the Aventine; but Sallust here follows other ancient authorities;
and it is probable enough that the plebs may have occupied both
hills.
[197] Respecting the form of this sentence, see Zumpt, S 781. The answer
to this question is contained in the clause _atque eo vehementius_,
to which we must supply _nitendum vobis est_. _Atque_ introduces the
answer with emphasis.
[198] _Vindicare_ is construed with _in_ and the accusative, as well as
_vindicare scelus in aliquo_ and _vindicare aliquam rem_. _Vindicare
in aliquem_, 'to use force against a person for the purpose of taking
revenge.' _Vindicare sibi rem_, 'to claim a thing for one's self,' or
'to appropriate a thing.'
[199] _Quaestio_, 'a judicial inquiry into a crime,' 'a criminal trial.'
[200] _Nisi forte_ supposes, with a strong irony, a case which cannot be