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.