lution which threatened the security of all, had allowed information regarding the matter to reach the ears of Cicero, and afterwards entered into communication with him. Through her influence, and the offer of large rewards, Cicero succeeded in inducing Curius to act as a secret agent, or detective, and to report every movement of the conspirators at once to himself. As the time for the consular election (July) drew near, he threw out hints about the danger to be apprehended from Catiline, and secured a postponement that there might be opportunity for investigation. He detached his colleague, Antonius, from the revolutionary party by the promise of the governorship of the rich province of Macedonia, after the expiration of the consular term. When the election was finally held (the date is uncertain), Catiline was again rejected, and a plot he had formed for the murder of several magistrates was rendered incapable of execution by the elaborate preparations of Cicero. Driven now to desperation, Catiline fixed upon Oct. 27 (B. C. 63) as the date for raising the standard of open rebellion, and the following day for the massacre of his opponents and the pillaging of Rome. But on Oct. 21 Cicero attacked him openly in the Senate, which, immediately afterwards passed a decree vesting supreme authority in the consuls for the protection of the State. Some days later word came that Manlius had actually taken up arms on the 27th, as expected, and that slaves were arming in Capua and in Apulia. Thereupon the Senate authorized the drafting of troops, and ordered all precautions for the defence of the city. Catiline was charged with sedition by a young patrician, L. Aemilius Paulus; protesting his innocence, he offered to place himself in free custody.1 On the night of Nov. 6 he met his followers at the house 1 See N. to p. 69, 1. 5. of Marcus Laeca, where arrangements were perfected for the firing and plundering of Rome. He said that Cicero stood in the way of accomplishing his designs; whereupon L. Vargunteius, a senator, and C. Cornelius, a knight, volunteered to murder the consul at daybreak in his own house. A report of the meeting was brought to Cicero in the night; when the would-be assassins went to call on him in the morning, they found the house closed against them. On the 8th of November Cicero called a meeting of the Senate in the temple of Jupiter Stator; finding Catiline present, he assailed the archconspirator in the bitter invective known as the FIRST ORATION against Catiline. Catiline attempted to justify himself, emphasizing the public services and respectability of his family; but being greeted with cries of "enemy" and "traitor' he left the Senate. The same night he set out for Etruria, causing the report to be circulated that he was gcing to live in exile at Marseilles. On the following day (Nov. 9) Cicero addressed the people from the Rostra in the SECOND ORATION, Congratulating them on the departure of Catiline, and endeavoring to frighten the remaining conspirators into leaving the city. But though Lentulus, Cethegus, and their associates kept actively at work in Rome, three weeks passed before the consul could secure evidence against them sufficient to warrant making any arrests. The 19th of December was the date finally set for murdering the officers of State and plundering the city. Meanwhile news came that Catiline had assumed command of the insurgent forces at Faesulae. The Senate promptly pronounced both him and Manlius public enemies, and sent the consul Antonius against them with an army. A delegation from the Allobroges happened to be in Rome at this time, seeking relief from certain abuses. Having re ceived no satisfaction from the Senate, they readily listened to a proposal to interest their people in the conspiracy. Impressed with the seriousness of the matter, however, they laid it before their patron, Q. Fabius Sanga, who immediately reported the facts to Cicero. The consul saw here a golden opportunity for obtaining the evidence he so much needed. Acting in accordance with his instructions, the deputies of the Allobroges professed the warmest interest in the conspiracy, and asked for written pledges to take to their people. These were freely given. They promised furthermore that on their way back to Gaul they would turn aside to confer with Catiline in Etruria; and Lentulus designated a certain T. Volturcius to accompany them, with a letter and messages for Catiline. Late in the night of December 2 the deputies, accompanied by Volturcius, set out from Rome. At the Mulvian bridge, two miles north of the city, they were stopped by two praetors and a company of soldiers sent to intercept them in accordance with a previous understanding with Cicero. After a show of resistance, they yielded up the documents which they had received from the conspirators, and returned to Rome. Early in the morning (Dec. 3), before news of the affair had spread, Cicero sent for Lentulus, Cethegus, Statilius, and Gabinius, and brought them before the Senate, which met in the temple of Concord, in the Forum. Here Volturcius, having turned State's evidence, gave important testimony; the letters delivered to the deputies of the Allobroges, after the seals had been acknowledged by the writers, were read, and the guilt of the conspirators was conclusively established. The meeting of the Senate lasted till late in the day. At the close Cicero appeared before the people and delivered the THIRD ORATION, which gave an account of the day's proceedings and, like the second, answered the purpose of an official bulletin of information. The day after the arrest of the conspirators, the report was spread abroad that an attempt would be made to rescue them by force; but stringent measures prevented any outbreak. The next day (Dec. 5) the Senate met to decide what should be done with the prisoners. Silanus, the consul-elect, declared himself in favor of putting them to death, and was supported in this by the other senators present till the question came to Julius Caesar. He proposed that the conspirators in custody be distributed under life-sentence among the municipal towns. As the Senate now wavered in opinion, Cicero arose and delivered the FOURTH ORATION, in which, after reviewing the propositions of both Silanus and Caesar, he clearly revealed his own feeling in favor of the extreme penalty. The decisive turn to the debate, however, was given by Marcus Cato, who spoke so earnestly in favor of the immediate execution of the prisoners that he carried the great majority of the Senate with him. That evening Lentulus, Cethegus, Gabinius, Statilius, and Ceparius, who had been captured just outside the city, were strangled in the Tullianum, a loathsome subterranean dungeon on the slope of the Capitoline Hill, northwest of the Forum. Early in January (62) the forces of Catiline, comprising not far from 5,000 men, were annihilated near Pistoria (modern Pistoja), about twenty miles northwest of Florence, and he himself, while fighting with the courage of despair, was slain. The Catilinarian orations were written out after their delivery, and no doubt carefully revised before publication. The genuineness of the speeches as they stand has been questioned, but without good reason. As might be expected from the nature of the theme and the occasion, their structure is less symmetrical than that of Cicero's more carefully prepared addresses. The following outlines may be of assistance in following the thought. 1 On the constitutionality of this act, see N. to p. 108, 1. 3. 2. OUTLINE OF THE FIRST ORATION AGAINST CATILINE. Exordium. Narratio. Confirmatio. INTRODUCTION. Abrupt outburst against Catiline's effrontery, and the degeneracy of the time. CHAP. I., ll. 1-18. Precedent and authority warrant putting Catiline to death. The danger is great, but he is foiled. I., l. 19 to end; II. DISCUSSION. A. Addressed to Catiline. 1. Your plans are clearly revealed to us. III., IV. 2. It is best for you to leave Rome and take your followers with you; for a. Your plots against my life have failed. V. b. Here you are hated and feared on account of your crimes, as shown to-day in the Senate. VI., VII. c. No good man will be security for you. VIII., to l. 22. d. The Senate wants you to go. VIII., 1. 22 to end. e. You are altogether hopeless; the life of a freebooter will suit you. IX., X. B. Addressed to the Senate. 1. Why do I not have Catiline put to death, as precedent and public interest demand? Because it is better for him to leave Rome and so lure forth his associates. XI., XII. 2. We are at a climax of wickedness; but I pledge the victory of the good. XIII., to l. 27. Narratio. INTRODUCTION. Congratulations on Catiline's departure. 11. 1-8. He is conquered and undone. I., 1. 9 to end. CHAP. I., It was better to drive him forth than to put him to death, on account of his associates. II. |