Ancient History - Rome - Catiline Conspiracy

Who did Catiline serve under before his conspiracies and what was he involved in?

Served under Sulla and was involved in the proscriptions

What happened to the consuls of 65 towards the end of 66?

They were prosecuted for electoral bribery

What was Catiline involved in an attempt to kill?

The consuls of 66, L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius Tarquatus

Which source tells us Catiline was involved in an attempt to kill the consuls of 66?

Sallust - Bellum Catilinae

What was Catiline frustrated he couldn’t stand for?

The consular election of 66

Why couldn’t Catiline stand for the consular election of 66?

He was awaiting a court case for provincial extortion in Africa

Who did Catiline join with during the First Catiline Conspiracy?

Disgraced consul elect, P. Autronius Paetus and a quastor named Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso

What was the plan for the First Catiline Conspiracy?

Atronius and Catiline were to seize consulships, and Piso would rule Spain

How did the plan for the First Catiline Conspiracy change when rumours of the plot surfaced?

Planned to kill many in the senate

Was the secondary plot of the First Catiline Conspiracy successful?

No, it failed

Why was Piso sent to Spain anyways, despite the First Catiline Conspiracy being uncovered?

At Crassus’ insistence, or the optimates’, as a rival to Pompey’s Spanish clientele

What can’t we be certain about to do with the First Catiline Conspiracy and why?

Sallust says we can’t be sure that it happened

Who describes the events of the First Catiline Conspiracy?

Sallust describes them

Why do we have to be careful about trusting the events of the First Catiline Conspiracy?

Whole thing could have been fabricated or embellished by enemies of Catiline, like Cicero

What does Cicero do after Catiline is exposed for an attempt at revolution in 63?

He refers to Catiline’s early attempts at revolution often

What did Cicero consider doing for Catiline before the First Catiline Conspiracy?

Defending him in his extortion trial

What was the outcome of Catiline’s extortion trial?

He was acquitted and stood for consulship in 63

What two reasons does Sallust give as to why Catiline failed to be elected as consul in 63?

He corrupted the youth and incited them to usurp their fathers, and gathered around himself an ineffective group of failed politicians

What does Catiline tell his supporters in order to gain their trust, according to Sallust?

Use me either as your leader or as a soldier in the ranks; my soul and my body shall be at your service

Why might Sallust’s account of Catiline’s speech to his supporters, pledging his service, be inaccurate?

Sallust was not present and, at the time of writing, everyone there would have been dead

What did Catiline promise to his supporters?

Magistracies, priesthoods and proscriptions

What was the cornerstone of Catiline’s campaign for the consulship of 63?

Cancellation of debts, where the wax tablets with debts written on would be smoothed over

What crisis did Rome have during the 60s?

The credit crisis

Why did the credit crisis start?

Since the first Mithridatic uprising of 89, businessmen were unwilling to invest in Asia. Moneylenders began lending at lower rates in Italy to safer businesses, but started calling in debts

What did people expect from Pompey’s success in Asia?

Financial stability to return

What surfaced at Catiline’s idea of debt cancellation? Why?

Equites and optimate opposition, because the moneylenders would be out of pocket

What did Cicero’s brother write about what the office confers in the Commentariolum Petitionis?

office confers much more distinction on a man who is brave, eloquent and free from crime than on others

Who might have been supportive of Catiline’s debt cancellation?

Crassus and Caesar

What reason does Sallust give for the optimates turning to Cicero for help?

Information on Catiline’s plot was beginning to leak

When did Cicero take office as consul? What did he do?

Took office in 63, and immediately made allegations against Catiline known

What was Cicero speaking against in De Lege Agrarian?

A proposed land bill by tribune P. Servilius Rullus

What would P. Servilius Rullus’ land bill have addressed and how?

The needs of the poor in Rome, by distributing the ager publicus

How did Cicero persuade the plebs to not vote for P. Servilius Rullus’ land bill?

Persuaded them that largesse would exhaust treasury

What bill did Caesar support during the time of the Catiline Conspiracy?

Bill arguing to restore political rights to the children of the proscribed

What court case was Caesar involved in during 63BC?

Trial of C. Robirius, involved in the murder of Saturnius in 100BC

What did the case of the trial of C. Robirius test?

The strength of the SCU, since his guilt was not in doubt

What was the outcome of the trial of C. Robirius?

Trial was eventually abandoned and the SCU was bought into question

What was Caesar appointed as in 63 and with what help?

Appointed pontifex maximus with the help of Crassus’ money

What does Sallust say Catiline was doing throughout 63BC?

Preparing for revolution

When did Catiline stand for his second consular election?

62BC

Why was Catiline not prosecuted despite the rumours of assassination and revolution?

He was far too well connected

What did Catiline talk about doing before standing for the consular election of 62?

Going and leading the unfortunate of Rome, called the miseri

What did Cicero say to challenge Catiline openly, eliciting ‘Catiline’s Threat’?

I see two bodies… one thin and wasted, but with a head, the other headless, but big and strong… if I myself become the head of a body which needs one

Where is the quote Cicero says to challenge Catiline openly from?

Plutarch - Cicero

What did Cicero wear while presiding over consular elections? What was he surrounded with and why?

Wore a breastplate, surrounded by large numbers of bodyguards in order to emphasise the danger from Catiline

Was Catiline successful with the elections of 63? How did he react?

No, he turned to an armed uprising

What did Catiline dispatch men to do?

Raise troops in the countryside

Who was the chief of the men sent to gather troops for Catiline and where was he sent to?

C. Manlius, who was sent to Etruria

What did Catiline plan to do during his armed uprising?

Planned to start fires in the city and seize strategic points

What evidence was discovered that allowed Cicero to arrest the conspirators?

Letters warning prominent popularis figures of a planned massacre

What happened after the warning letters were discovered?

Senate passed SCU and troops were dispatched against Manlius

What were Catiline’s supporters mainly made up of?

Military types and veterans

What did Catiline do on the 6th November 62?

Met with co-conspirators and talked of killing Cicero at his salutatio the next morning

How did Cicero find out about Catiline’s plot to kill him?

Fulvia, the mistress of one of Catiline’s supporters warned him

What evidence did Cicero get to go against Catiline?

The plan of his assassination

What did Cicero do on the 8th November, 62?

Gave the first speech denouncing Catiline

How did Catiline react to Cicero’s first speech denouncing him?

Tried to defend himself, but left city ostensibly as an exile to Massalia, but actually joined Manlius in Etruria

What does Cicero say in his second speech denouncing Catiline about Catiline’s supporters?

In this herd is found… all the filth of Rome

What quote does Sallust give us from veterans in the field?

many of us have been driven from our country by the violence and cruelty of the moneylenders

What does Catiline complain about in a letter to the optimate Catulus?

Complains of being robbed of just deserts, and that it was the selfishness of the few that pushed him to take the field

Who describes the session of senate where the fates of the conspirators were decided?

Sallust describes it

Which consul elect proposes the death penalty for the conspirators?

D. Iunius Silanus

Did those who spoke after D. Iunius Silanus did for the death penalty agree with him?

Yes, they agreed

Who argued against the death of the conspirators and why?

Caesar, because Rome had laws and though the conspirators sought to break them, they should still be allowed due trial

Did Caesar managed to persuade the senate?

He changed many minds

Who delivered the speech sealing the fates of the conspirators?

M. Porcius Cato, grandson of Cato the sensor

Which sources tell us that Cato sealed the fate of the conspirators?

Sallust and Plutarch

What does Sallust say about Caesar and Cato?

two men of towering merit… Marcus Cato and Gaius Caesar

How did Catiline die?

In battle in 62BC

What might have been unreliable about the Catiline Conspiracy?

Events might have been highly exaggerated

How did Catiline’s support contribute to his defeat?

Despite his connections, the only supporters that were an actual threat were his veterans