C. Servilius, etc. Spurius Maelius, a rich plebeian, sold corn to the populace at low rates during a famine in 440 b.c. He was accused of aiming at the supreme power. Cincinnatus was appointed dictator, with C. Servilius Ahala as his master of the horse; the latter killed Sp. Maelius with his own hand.
quod . . . occidit, 'the fact that,' in apposition to illa, which, as often, refers to what follows, like ἐκεῖνος in Greek.
Habemus senatus consultum, i.e. the ultimum decretum, passed Oct. 21. See [Introduction, p. 11].
non deest, etc. The senate, as the deliberative and authorizing body, have done their part; the consuls, as the executive, fail.
[§4].
Decrevit quondam, etc. This was in 121 b.c. Gaius Gracchus (tribune 123, 122) had carried a series of measures tending to overthrow the authority of the senate. They took the opportunity of a tumult to pass the ultimum decretum, whereupon L. Opimius the consul, with an armed force, attacked the Aventine, where the adherents of Gracchus were assembled. Gracchus himself and his supporter M. Fulvius were killed.
propter quasdam, etc., a mild expression, intended once more to point the contrast between the Gracchi and Catilina.
patre. Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, who was twice consul and twice triumphed.
avo. His mother was Cornelia, daughter of Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the conqueror of Hannibal.
Simili senatus consulto, etc. In 100 b.c. revolutionary measures were proposed by L. Appuleius Saturninus and C. Servilius Glaucia. In their fear of violence, the senate passed the ultimum decretum and called upon the consul Marius to protect them, though he had been a supporter of Saturninus. In the tumult which followed, the latter and his adherents were shut up in the senate house, where their opponents, taking off the tiles, stoned them to death.