Failure of the Plot

Background Research:

• The equites, or "horsemen" in Latin, were the original Roman army calvary. They were selected from the senatorial class based on how wealthy they were. In 123 B.C, Caius Sempronius Gracchus gave the judicial power of the Senate to the equites, and they were placed below the patrician class. The equites were the only nobles allowed to trade, and they eventually became the business class in Ancient Rome. However, Sulla took away the power they had gained. When Augustus reigned they lost all of their political power.

• The Seven Hills of Rome were east of the Tiber River and they protected the Roman people. The Seven Hills consists of Aventine Hill, Caelian Hill, Capitoline Hill, Esquiline Hill, Palatine Hill, Quirinal Hill, and Viminal hill. The city was believed to be founded by Romulus on Palatine Hill. At first the hills were occupied by small settlements, but over time they became populated with monuments, buildings and parks. Capitoline Hill is where Rome's city hall is now located. During the Roman Republic, many elite Romans lived on Caelian Hill.

                                     

Failure of the Plot:

• Cicero begins with three rhetorical questions, asking the immortal gods where they are, questioning what kind of republic Rome has, and which city do the Roman people live in.(O di immortales! Ubinam gentium sumus? Quam rem publicam habemus? In qua urbe vivimus?). By asking these questions, Cicero is showing shock and he is appalled by the city and people that surround him because they let this conspiracy get so out of hand.
• He states that Rome has many senators who make up their sacred consul, and that they have the power of whether or no to execute someone, yet they aren't using this power(in hoc orbis terraw santissimo gravissimoque consilio).
• However, Cicero claims that he sees the consul and that he received opinions from the republic regarding the people who should have been executed long ago. Cicero can't believe that these people, including Catiline, are still alive!(ego video consul et se re publica...et quos ferro trucidari oportebat.)
• Cicero continues the oration by revealing that he knew Catiline would be with the other chief conspirators at Marcus Laeca's house, and he knew where certain people were ordered to go, who was going to be left behind in Rome, and who Catiline intended to kill.(Fuisti igitur apud Laecam illa nocte,Catilina...), and also which parts of the city were going to be burned down (discrisisti urbis partis ad incendia)
• Lastly, Cicero discovers that two Roman horsemen would free Catiline from the concern that he(Cicero) was still alive by killing him in his bed a little before daylight.(Reperti sunt duo equites Romani qui te ista cura liberarent...) These two horsemen were C. Cornelius and L. Vargunteius. L. Vargunteius was a senator and one of Catiline's conspirators. He undertook one of Catiline's orders, along with C. Cornelius, to kill Cicero in 63 B.C. However, their plan failed when information about the murder plot was brought to Cicero through Fulvia. In the end, L. Vargunteius went to trial with no one there to defend him.

                               


                      

Why Not Put Catiline to Death?

Background Research

 



The senatus consultum, or the decree of the senate, had the force of law in order to consult with the senate instead of the people. Patres Conscripti was The Conscript Fathers or the Roman Senate. Catiline's camp at Faesulae, Etruria was run by Gaius Manlius, who was a centurion or professional officer, from Sulla's old army. Here at Etruria he assembled an army for Catiline.

 

 

Why Not Put Catiline to Death?



 

 In this oration, Cicero continues to speak against Catiline. Cicero begins by comparing the decree of the senate to a sharp edge of authority that has been growing dull for 20 days(patimur habescere aciem horum auctoritatis). He then says the decree is enclosed in the records, like it was put away in a sheath(tamquam in vagina reconditum). This means that the power of the senate to kill Catiline has been decreasing over time just like their "sharp authority" was put away in a "sheath" or a cover for a sword. Cicero states that Catiline lives to increase audacity(vivis non ad depondemdam sed ad confirmandam audaciam). Lastly, in II.4, Cicero tells the conscript fathers that he desires to be merciful, but he doesn't want to be negligent to the danger of the state(me esse clementem, cupio in tantis rei publicae periculis non dissolutum...).

 

 

In II.5, Cicero mentions that Catiline established camp in Italy against the Roman population in Etruria(Castra sunt in Italia contra populum...), and it is dangerous because the number of enemies is growing(in dies singulos hostium numerus). The leader of the camp, Manlius, also is able to see the enemies within the camp walls(castrorum imperatorem ducemque hostium intra moenia). Next, Cicero justifies taking a lot of time in proving Catiline's guilt by saying that good people wouldn't worry about his timing, but random people who don't know him will think he is acting too cruelly(erit verendum mihi ne non potius omnes boni serius...).

 

In II.6, Cicero says that as long as someone is defending Catiline, he will live. However, he would live just as he is living now, being surrounded by Cicero's bodyguards so he wouldn't be able to rise against the republic(defendere audeat, vives, et vives ita ut nunc vivi, multis meis et frimis praesidiis...contra rem publicam). Cicero would also be able to send anyone in order to watch Catiline's actions.

 

Rhetorical Devices

 

Anaphora: the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more sucessive clauses or sentences

           ex. Nihilne te...nihil urbis...nihil timor...nihil concursus...nihil hic...nihil horum: Cicero uses this to repeatedly asks Catline whether or not he realized certain things

 

Hendiadys: a figure of speech in which 2 nouns are joined by a conjugation so one noun stands as an adjective to another

           ex. "ora vultusque": the looks on the faces or the facial expressions

 

Praeteritio: a figure of speech in which one pretends to ignore something by mentioning it

           ex. ...antiqua praetereo... Cicero isn't going to bring up what happended in the past, but he brings up C. Servilius ahala and Sp. Maelium.

 

Irony: use of words to express the opposite of the literal meaning

           ex. fortes viri: it shows a difference in tim "the brave men"; "that brave men"

 

Twos and Threes: "why give one question, when you could give more"

           ex. Quo usque... Quam diu...Quem ad finem?: Instead of asking one question, Cicero builds on the previous one by asking more questions.

 

Chiasmus: (comes from Greek chi) it interlocks word order

           ex. Castrorum imperatorem(gen.) ducemque hostium

                 inclusum(PPP) in tabulis(abl. pw)... in vagina reconditum

Metaphor: a comparison that doesn't use like/as

           ex. patimur hebescere aciem horum auctoritatis: the sharp edge of authority

 

Simile: a comparison using like/as

           ex. tamquam in vagina reconditum: just as if it(the sharp edge) was put away in sheath

 

 



Catiline's Audacity

The Conspiracy

• During the time of the Roman Republic, Lucius Sergius Catilina, known as Catiline, conspired against Rome with a group of aristocrats. His main goal was to take over Rome's senatorial government. In order to do this, he gathered Etruscans, disaffected senators, and equestrians to form an army.
• However, Catiline's plan had failed. On October 18th, 63 BC Crassus, a Roman politician, brought letters to Cicero, who was a consul, warning him about Catiline's conspiracy against Rome.
• In response to this conspiracy, Cicero wrote four orations against Catiline, which Cicero delivered to Catiline at the Temple of Jupiter Stator(Nov. 7th, 63 BC)

Catiline's Audacity

• In the first part of this oration, Cicero shows frustration towards Catiline. He uses rhetorical devices, such as anaphora, to repeatedly question Catiline. Some of the questions he asks address how long he mocked Rome(Quam diu etiam...nos eludet?) Cicero also asks Catiline if he was moved by the guards at Palatine Hill, which was the center of the 7 Hills of Rome, the city watchmen, the people and by the meeting place of the senate, or the curia .(Nihilne...nihil...nihil.....) Lastly, Cicero questions who Catiline summoned the prevous night and whether or not he felt his plans would be revealed.(quid superiore nocte...quos convocaveris)
• In the second part of the oration, Cicero shouts Oh time, Oh the customs!(O tempora, o mores!) which shows Cicero's incredulity that this is going on in Rome. He also states that the senate is aware of these things, however Catiline still lives!(Senatus haec intellegit...Vivit?) Cicero is further astonished when he says that Catiline became a part of the public consul and that the republic is just avoiding his actions.(publici consili particeps...ac tela vitamus) Cicero ends by saying that Catiline should have been executed a long time ago. (Ad mortem te, Catilina, duci iussu consulis...)

• In the last part of the oration, Cicero mentions how Publius Scipio, who was the highest preist of the College of Pontiffs(Pontifex Maximus), killed Tiberius Gracchus, a plebeian. He also states that Gaius Servilius Ahala, a Roman politician, killed Spurius Maelius, a plebeian. Cicero mentions these incidents to show what used to happen to people when they acted against the republic. (P. Scipio...Ti. Gracchum...interfecit...C. Servilius Ahala Sp. Maelium...occidit).
• In I1 Cicero says "fortes viri" which means we brave men, and in I3 "viri fortes" means that brave men. This basically means that the brave men in the past would act harsher to criminals, or people who started a revolution, than the people in the republic at Cicero's time would have.

                                     

On the Eruption of Vesuvius

- In this letter Pliny is writing to the historian Tacitus about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pliny begins the letter by stating that he stopped his departure with his mother in order to seek shelter.(Egressi tecta consistimus.) He also says that the carts that were being led by his household on the stone streets were shaking since the ground was trembling(...fulta in eodem vestigio quiescebant.)
- He saw the ground shake like it was being consumed beside the ocean(Praeterea mare... repelli videbamus), and he also stated that along the shore the sand contained animals that had dried up from the sea.(multaque animalia maris...detinebat)

- Next, Pliny describes how black clouds formed and how the lava was shooting out of the volcano like lightning (latere nubes...ignei spiritus tortis...fulguribus...) He also describes how ashes were rare but a dense fog was beginning to form(densa caligo tergis imminebat).
- Pliny tells his mom to turn aside so they won't get trampled on since the streets were filled with people frantically running and it was so dark out(Deflectamus...turba in tenebris obteramur.) However they aren't able to sit down because it became so dark that it looked like night, which Pliny compares to a light going out in a closed room.(illunis aut nubila...locis clausis lumine exstincto)

- He observes the cries of babies, women, and men,(Audires ululatus, feminarum, infantum, virorum...) who are searching for people(alii parentes alii liberos...requirebant.) Pliny tells us that some people were found by the sound of their voice.(vocibus noscitabant)
- Lastly, Pliny states how in the end people were praying because they were fearing death.(metu mortis mortem precarentur.)


Background Research:
- Mount Vesuvius is a volcano that is located in Southern Italy near Naples. It's most famous eruption was on August 24th, 79 A.D. This eruption destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii, covering the cities with volcanic ash. Roughly 16,000 people were killed during the eruption including Pliny the Elder. These cities were completely destroyed and were never built back again. The only evidence of ancient life remains buried under molten rock, icluding the remains of people who were buried alive. Mount Vesuvius is still active today, however the most recent eruption occured in 1944. Today the area around Mount Vesuvius is densely populated.

 

 

Roman Efficiency: A Water Supply

• In this letter Pliny is writing to the Emperor Trajan about the Sinopians lack of water. He tells Trajan that 16 miles away you can see a good and abundant water supply(videtur...ab sexto decimo miliario...)
• Pliny investigated the stability of the land, with his own money, and saw that it was soft enough to build an aqueduct, which was his initial plan to get water to Sinope.(...locus suspectus et mollis)

•  Trajan replies by acknowledging the fact that Pliny checked the stability of the land(explora diligenter...quem suspectum habes)
• He also replies by agreeing that the Sinopians need a water supply(perducenda sit in coloniam Sinopensem)
• However Trajan says that the Sinopians should help in the construction of the aqueduct(modo ea viribus suis assequi potest...) so that they could have a healthy water supply.

Background Research:

• The first aqueduct called the Aqua Appia was built in 312 BC
• Aqueducts are stone channels that were built to solve sewage problems by carrying clean water to towns
• They had to be carefully constructed at different slopes in order to make sure the water wasn't coming into the town too fast
• Most Roman water system ran below the ground