Honors Latin 3: Cicero's First Catilinarian Oration

Vocabulary and historical flashcards covering Cicero's First Oration Against Catiline (Ōrātiō in Catilīnam Prīma), key historical figures, grammatical concepts, rhetorical devices, and chronology.

Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline)

A Roman patrician (108–62 B.C.) and former Sulla supporter who ran unsuccessfully for consul in 66, 64, and 63 B.C. before orchestrating a conspiracy (coniūrātiō) to overthrow the Roman Republic.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

A Roman statesman and orator (106–43 B.C.) who served as consul in 63 B.C., uncovered Catiline's conspiracy, and delivered the First Oration against Catiline on 8 November 63 B.C.

Novus Homō

A "new man" in Roman politics, denoting the first man in a family to achieve high senatorial office or the consulship; Cicero attained this status in 64 B.C. for the consulship of 63 B.C., the first since Gaius Marius.

Senātūs Cōnsultum Ultimum

The ultimate decree of the Roman Senate passed during severe crises (issued on 20–21 October 63 B.C. regarding the Catilinarian conspiracy) that authorized consuls to take whatever measures necessary to protect the Republic.

Anaphora

A figure of speech consisting of the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, as exemplified by Cicero's repeated use of "nihil" when addressing Catiline.

Tiberius Gracchus

A Roman tribune who was killed in 133 B.C. on the orders of Pontifex Maximus Scipio Nasica (acting as a private citizen) for actions viewed as weakening the Republic.

Servilius Ahala

The right-hand man of Cincinnatus who famously slew the rebel leader Spurius Maelius in 439 B.C. to defend the Roman Republic.

Lucius Opimius

The Roman consul who, upon receiving the Senate's ultimate decree in 121 B.C., immediately executed reformer Gaius Gracchus and the former consul Fulvius along with his children.

Gaius Marius and Lucius Valerius

The consuls who received the Senate's ultimate decree in 100 B.C. and immediately put down and executed the tribune Saturninus and the praetor Servilius.

Gaius Manlius

Catiline's confederate and military field commander who assembled and led an armed rebel force in Etruria poised outside Rome.

Etruria

The region north of Rome where Catiline's armed insurgent camp was situated in the mountain passes (faucibus) under Gaius Manlius.

Praeneste

A fortified Roman colony southeast of Rome that Catiline planned to capture through a surprise night attack on the Kalends of November (1 November 63 B.C.), but which Cicero successfully reinforced in advance.

Marcus Porcius Laeca

A Roman senator at whose house on the Street of the Scythemakers (inter falcāriōs) Catiline assembled his co-conspirators on the night of 6 November 63 B.C. to plan troop deployments, fires, and assassinations.

Equestrians (Equitēs)

The Roman social class ranking immediately below senators, originally the cavalry, who assumed major roles as wealthy businessmen, tax collectors, and bankers after senators were barred from trade in 218 B.C.

Lectus (Lectulus)

A Roman couch or bed, noted specifically by Cicero as the place in his home where two Roman knights promised to assassinate him early in the morning on 7 November 63 B.C.

Accusative Supine

A Latin fourth-declension verbal noun ending in -um that is triggered by verbs of motion to express purpose (e.g., "salūtātum mīserās") and can take its own direct object.

Temple of Jupiter Stator

The sanctuary vowed by Romulus to Jupiter the Stayer (protector of Rome), where Cicero convened the Senate on 8 November 63 B.C. to deliver his First Catilinarian Oration in safety.

Cicerone denuncia Catilina (Cesare Maccari, 1888)

An 1888 historical fresco depicting Cicero delivering his First Oration against Catiline in the Senate while the other senators abandon their seats to leave Catiline isolated.

Prosopopoeia

A rhetorical device in which an imaginary, inanimate, or absent entity (such as the personified Roman homeland, patria) is represented as speaking or acting.

Silver Eagle (Aquila)

A Roman legionary military standard worshipped by Catiline in a domestic shrine and dispatched ahead to Gaius Manlius' camp at the Forum Aurelium.

Mōs Maiōrum

The traditional unwritten code and ancestral custom of the Romans, emphasizing core virtues including pietās, fidēs, virtūs, gravitās, and maiestās.

Invidia

The Roman concept of public odium, unpopularity, or hostility that Cicero risked incurring from citizens and future generations (posteritās) if he acted too harshly or too leniently toward Catiline.