The Catilinarian Conspiracy
In the autumn of 63 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero stood at the apex of Roman political life. Elected consul for that year — an extraordinary achievement for a novus homo, a new man without aristocratic ancestors — he faced the most dangerous domestic crisis Rome had seen since Sulla's dictatorship. Lucius Sergius Catilina had assembled a conspiracy to murder the consuls, burn Rome, and seize power. On the night of November 6-7, Cicero summoned the Senate to the Temple of Jupiter Stator and delivered the First Catilinarian Oration, opening with the thunderous challenge: 'Quousque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?' — 'How long, Catiline, will you abuse our patience?' Catiline departed Rome that night to join his army in Etruria. When the Allobroges produced written letters from the conspirators still in Rome, Cicero had documentary proof. He convened the Senate on December 5 to debate the fate of the arrested conspirators. Julius Caesar argued for life imprisonment. Cato the Younger argued for the death penalty. The Senate voted with Cato. That evening, Cicero gave the order for their strangulation. When he emerged and announced 'Vixerunt' — 'They have lived' — Rome erupted in celebration. He was hailed as pater patriae, father of the fatherland. But the decision to execute Roman citizens without trial would be turned against him. The tribune Publius Clodius Pulcher, in 58 BCE, drove Cicero into exile precisely on this charge.
- Year: 63 BCE
- Category: Political
