Note the distinction between vereri ut and vereri ne.
imperium, i.e. the sovereign authority of the Comitia, for which a revolution might substitute that of a despot. Cf. 'regnantem Lentulum' [§12].
loci, the Temple of Concord, on the Capitol.
in qua = 'talis, ut in ea,' followed by consec. subj. 'sentirent.'
Ceteri. He goes through all the classes in turn; first the knights (the disposition of the senate being already clear); then the official classes (the Civil Service as we might say); then the general body of freeborn citizens; lastly, the freedmen and slaves.
equites, see [Introd. p. 9, note]. As large holders of property, they dreaded Catilina's schemes, and supported Cicero by occupying the Capitol in arms, in order to protect the Senate.
ita . . . ut. 'Ut' has a limiting force; it shows with what reservation the main statement is to be accepted. 'Only so far ... that.' In English, 'who yield to you the first place in rank and wisdom, only to rival you in patriotism.' Cf. Cic. de Off. 1. 88 'ita probanda est mansuetudo, ut adhibeatur reipublicae causa severitas,' and Livy 23. 3 'ita vos irae indulgere oportet, ut potiorem ira salutem habeatis.'
ex, 'after.' The ground of quarrel was the right of sitting as iudices in the law-courts. Transferred from the senate to the equites by C. Gracchus, it had been restored by Sulla, and was now shared between the two and the tribuni aerarii (see below).
Cicero's great hope for the state lay in a union between the two orders (cf. [§22] ad fin.), but that now existing was soon broken.