HIST 1061 Lecture 18: Cicero vs Catiline & the Conspiracy of Catiline
Document Summary
Cicero vs. catiline: the conspiracy of catiline (63 bc) Cicero was neither a populare nor a nous homo. Cicero was a lawyer who became most famous for this court case against catiline (known as the conspiracy of catiline). Cicero discovers that catiline had a plan to murder everybody in the senate. Catiline loses the consulship and builds an army to stage a coup against the senate. Cicero took this information to the senate and asked if they would declare the final decree against catiline, and they do. The verdict is that cicero had the power to exile all of the conspirators and execute catiline. In reality, giving a man the right to break roman law does not feel like saving the republic. Caesar was the lawyer defending catiline and his conspirators. Many say caesar is the reason why the republic ultimately falls. We will never truly know who was telling the truth in this court case.
