The Catilinarian conspiracy ... and a roundabout way of introducing the next post!
The Catilinarian conspiracy
was an attempted coup d’état in 63 BCE led by Lucius Sergius Catilina (Engl.
Catiline), his aim being to overthrow the two consuls of Rome that year and to
take control of the state in their place. One of the consuls was Cicero who
exposed the plot, and Catiline fled from Rome.
Further conspirators were
revealed all of whom were executed without trial. The following year Catiline’s
army was defeated thereby bringing an end to the insurrection.
Cicero gave a series of
speeches against Catiline which were later published, and have been interpreted
as Cicero’s attempt to justify his actions; execution without trial would not
have gone down well with all the “influencers” in Rome.
At one point in these
speeches, Cicero famously states:
“Quō usque tandem abūtere,
Catilīna, patientiā nostrā? Quam diū etiam furor iste tuus nōs
ēlūdet?”
When, O Catiline, do you
mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness
of yours still to mock us?
Now, even if you remember
nothing else about the Catiline conspiracy, Cicero himself at least introduces
you to the next post:
- quam diū?
- for how long?
No comments:
Post a Comment