Tag: Catiline

Cato vs. The Catiline Conspiracy

Rome’s greatest orator pointed his finger at Cato the Younger and said, “Do you not see a storm coming?” Marcus Tullius Cicero was consul for the year 63 BC, and thanks to the aforementioned storm, was a virtual dictator. But he had a number of problems, and he was going to use ...

Reading between the lines — The Catiline Conspiracy

The late Roman republic was characterized by conflict between two opposing political groups — the popularis who favored the masses and the optimates who supported the old senatorial aristocrats. During 63 BC, our main sources — the historian Sallust and the statesman ...