[196] In B. C. 70, these consuls restored the power of the tribunes in its full extent, after it had been greatly reduced by Sulla in B. C. 81. The Roman people received this restoration of the tribunian power with the greatest joy; but Sallust does not seem to approve of it. [197] _Senatus specie_; under the pretence of supporting the senate, the _nobiles_ formed opposition to the tribunes, but in reality it was for their own aggrandisement. [198] _Quo_ for _ut eo_, 'that the authority of the senate might be the highest in the state.' 39. Sed postquam Gn. Pompeius ad bellum maritimum atque Mithridaticum missus est, plebis opes imminutae, paucorum potentia crevit. Hi magistratus, provincias, aliaque omnia tenere, ipsi innoxii,[199] florentes, sine metu aetatem agere, ceteros judiciis terrere, quo plebem in magistratu placidius tractarent.[200] Sed ubi primum dubiis rebus[201] novandi spes oblata est, vetus certamen animos eorum arrexit. Quodsi primo proelio Catilina superior aut aequa manu discessisset, profecto magna clades atque calamitas rem publicam oppressisset; neque illis, qui victoriam adepti forent, diutius ea uti licuisset, quin defessis et exsanguibus qui plus posset imperium atque libertatem extorqueret.[202] Fuere tamen extra conjurationem complures, qui ad Catilinam initio profecti sunt; in his erat A. Fulvius, senatoris filius, quem retractum ex itinere parens necari jussit. Iisdem temporibus Romae Lentulus, sicuti Catilina praeceperat, quoscunque moribus aut fortuna novis rebus idoneos credebat, aut per se aut per alios sollicitabat, neque solum cives, sed cujusque modi genus hominum, quod modo bello usui foret. [199] _Innoxius_ has a twofold meaning, one active, 'one who does no harm' (_noxa_), and a passive, 'one who is not injured,' 'one to whom no harm is done,' _qui non afficitur noxa_, and in this latter sense it is used in this passage. [200] 'In order that, when in office, they themselves might guide the populace more gently,' since those who excited the multitude would be kept in awe by the terror of the law. _Placidius_, 'without harshness,' 'without severity,' harshness and severity being applied only against the popular leaders. [201] _Dubiis rebus_, the ablative absolute; _cum res dubiae essent_, 'the state of affairs being dangerous.' [202] 'A more powerful man would even have wrested their freedom from them.' About _quin_, see Zumpt, S 542; and about the imperfect in the sense of a pluperfect, S 525.