trate and each citizen had before,[1] but it calls attention to the fact that a state of war exists with all the extraordinary obligations which such condition implies; it indicates that the magistrate or the officer expects to be obliged to act on his extreme powers, and that he intends to do so. In Rome a corresponding proclamation is found in the decree of the Senate "that the consuls see to it that the State takes no harm." This decree, on the face of it, does not so much confer fresh powers, as call upon the magistrates to stir up the powers which they already possess. Nevertheless it is felt to make a grave difference in the situation, to bring home to the magistrate the responsibility for defending the commonwealth, and to justify acts which otherwise would be held tyrannous and outrageous. It authorises the consul, as Sallust says,[2] "to employ every means of compulsion on aliens and Romans alike and to exercise extreme authority inside and outside the city."
As Cicero himself puts the case, the whole dispute resolves itself into the question, was Lentulus a citizen or an enemy? About Catiline who was openly in arms there could be no doubt; but Lentulus had not actually struck a blow: was he to be classed in the same category? There was no doubt on any hand as to the guilt of the accused. They were taken red-handed in the act of corresponding with the enemies of the State, and their own public
