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.
