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4Accordingly, when my mind found peace after many troubles and perils and I had determined that I must pass what was left of my life aloof from public affairs, it was not my intention to waste my precious leisure in indolence and sloth, nor yet by turning to farming or the chase, to lead a life devoted to slavish employments. 2On the contrary, I resolved to return to a cherished purpose from which ill-starred ambition had diverted me, and write a history of the Roman people, selecting such portions as seemed to me worthy of record; and I was confirmed in this resolution by the fact that my mind was free from hope, and fear, and partisanship. 3I shall therefore write briefly and as truthfully as possible of the conspiracy of Catiline; 4for I regard that event as worthy of special notice because of the extraordinary nature of the crime and of the danger arising from it. 5But before beginning my narrative I must say a few words about the man’s character.
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