Catiline Conspiracy

Hannah Mattaliano

Dr. Young

27 October 2017

HIS101

        Cicero

The rumors about the Catiline conspiracy began to appear after Catiline’s loss to Cicero in the running for consul. Consul was the highest political position in the Roman Republic’s cursus honorum. Cursus honorum was the sequential order of political offices in Rome. The rumors were that Catiline was going to assassinate several members of the senate as well as destroy the city. Even though there was a lack of evidence to support these rumors, Cicero believed them and was determined to persecute him. Cicero, being the great orator he was, makes four orations in front of the senate and the public in an attempt to convince them that Catiline was guilty. The actions of Cicero and Catiline were influenced by the political system of the late Roman Republic.

The citizens of the late Roman Republic were classified into two different classes. The poor, less honorable people were called plebeians. The rich and honorable people were called patricians. Along with consul there was another political group called tribune. The tribune members were still patricians but their power came from appealing to the public. Cicero was born into a poor family. Eventually in his career he became a novus homo which translates to “new man”. A novus homo is a person who moves to the title of patrician from plebeian after being noticed for an honorable skill or event. His skills as an orator and lawyer are what brought him his honor. Although Cicero was a patrician he was still considered lesser by the higher patricians. This was because the best way to have honor was to be born into it. In Cicero’s first speech against Catiline, he spoke in front of the senate with Catiline, himself in the audience. In the late Roman Republic political system, the senate held great power and hence why Cicero needed their support.

Convincing the senate was Cicero’s most difficult challenge. The task was difficult because higher patricians did not like Cicero being a novus homos. Although a novus homo was a patrician, they had not earned their honor the proper way. In Cicero’s first oration, he opens up with “When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now?” (Cicero 71). One tactic Cicero used is how he made Catiline seem like he is making a fool out of the senate. How dare Catiline sit among the senate when he is plotting the demise of the city, Cicero says. Another thing to notice is the way Cicero used words like “our” and “us”. It was his subtle way of suggesting he was one with the senate. Cicero was trying to bridge the honor gap between his novus homo status and the higher patricians by considering himself as one of them. Cicero’s quest for honor fueled his determination of the prosescution of Catiline. With this newly obtained honor Cicero could move up on the cursus honorum.

As a skilled orator Cicero knew how to build his speech to a climax and then make a dramatic pause. During those pauses Cicero expected someone to interrupt him and say: “arrest him now!” in agreeance with his speech. When Cicero realized that the senate was not going interrupt him like he planned, he moved onto the other arguments he had. Later in his speech Cicero said: “You ought, O Catiline long ago to have been led to execution by command of the consul.” (Cicero 73). Now Cicero was attacking the senate’s responsibility to the city. Cicero considered Catiline a criminal and to have not already been prosecuted was a failure by the senate. Catiline’s past crimes should have been acknowledged by the senate but he was never reprimanded for his actions. Cicero even suggested a punishment he thought fitting of Catilines crimes: exile or execution. The portrayal of Catiline as a genuine threat to not only Cicero but to the entire state was essential to Cicero’s argument. Catiline already had a known shady reputation throughout Rome, which only justified Cicero’s points. Cicero used Catiline’s past as another way to destroy Catiline’s character even more. “All the toils you have gone through have always pointed to this sort of life” (Cicero76). By toils Cicero was referring to the accusations that Catiline murdered his first wife and son to marry the daughter of a member consul. Catiline also skimmed tax money during his governing of North Africa in 68 BCE. The reason Cicero pointed this out was to make the conspiracy accusations more plausible. Once a criminal always a criminal was Cicero’s point. If the senate was convinced that Catiline was a dangerous man, they would listen to Cicero’s advice and rid Rome of Catiline.

The Senate was not totally convinced by Cicero’s speech. Cicero then made his case to the public in an attempt to appeal to the Tribune. Tribune had the power to veto the senate which is why their support was equally important to Cicero’s case. Since Cicero was talking to the plebeians he was able to speak more freely and use alternative facts. Since he was a patrician, he was considered the more honorable to the plebeians therefore this crowd was much easier for Cicero to speak among. In this speech Cicero also portrays himself a brave man for leading Rome in this disastrous time, he says “O Romans, to endure this storm of false and unjust unpopularity as long as the danger of this horrible and nefarious war is warded off from you” (Cicero 90). It is apparent that Cicero’s main motivation for the persecution of Catiline was for selfish gain of political power.

Why did Cicero want to prosecute Catiline? If Cicero could convince the Senate that Catiline was a danger to Rome and its citizens, then he would be a hero for saving the state. The senate and the citizens of Rome would praise Cicero with honor and he would have finally been an equal among the higher patricians. His chances of being a part of the senate would increase tremendously. In the Roman Republic, the more honor one held the more influence and power one had. On the other hand, if no one believed Cicero then his honor would be ruined. Cicero showed great stoicism in these orations, he was willing to sacrifice his own honor for this cause. Since his honor was on the line he knew he had to make a strong case to the Senate and the public.

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