Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/648

Rh 630 CATILINA. the sphere of operations, and to organize a more comprehensive and sweeping scheme of destruction. Accordingly, about the beginning of June, B.C. 64, probably soon after the successful termination of his second trial, when called to account for the blood which he had shed during the proscription of Sulla (Dion Cass, xxxvii. 10), he began, while canvassing vigorously for the consulship, to sound the dispositions of various persons, by pointing out the probable success of a great revolu- tionary movement, and the bright prospect of power and profit opened up to its promot- ers. After having thus ascertained the temper of different individuals, he called together those who from their necessities, their characters, and their sentiments, were likely to be most eager and most resolute in the undertaking. The meeting, according to Sallust, was attended by eleven sena- tors, by four members of the equestrian order, and by several men of rank and influence from the provincial towns. The most conspicuous were P. Cornelius Lentulus Sura, who had been consul in B. c. 71; but having been passed over by the censors had lost his seat in the senate, which he was now seeking to recover by standing a second time for the praetorship (Dion Cass, xxxvii. 30) ; C Cornelius Cethegus, distinguished throughout by his impatience, headstrong impetuosity, and sanguinary violence (Sail. Col. 43 ; Cic. pro Sidl. 19) ; P. Autronius spoken of above ; L. Cassius Longinus, at this time a competitor for the consul- ship, dull and heavy, but bloodthirsty withal (Cic. in Cat. iii. 4 — 6 ; Pro Sulla, 13) ; L. Vargunteius, who had been one of the colleagues of Cicero in the quaestorship, and had subsequently been con- demned for bribery (Fro Sull. 5, 6, 18) ; L. Cal- purnius Bestia, tribune elect ; Publius and Servius Sulla, nephews of the dictator; M. Porcius Laeca (Cic. in Cat. i. 4, ii. 6, Pro Sull. 2, 18); Q. Annius ; Q. Curiiis ; M. Fulvius Nobilior ; L. Statilius ; P. Gabinius Capito ; C. Cornelius. In addition to these, a great body of the younger no- bility were known to be favourably inclined although they had not openly committed themselves, and now, as on the former occasion, rumour included Crassus and Caesar, although the report does not appear to have gained general belief. [Comp. p. 541, b.] At this assembly Catiline, after expatiating upon a number of topics calculated to rouse the indigna- tion and stimulate the cupidity of his audience, proceeded to develop his objects and resources. He proposed that all debt.s should be cancelled, that the most wealthy citizens should be proscribed, and that all offices of honour and emolument should be di- vided among the associates, while for support he counted upon Piso in Hither Spain, P. Sittius Nucerinus with the army in IMauritania, and at home confidently anticipated the co-operation of C. Antonius, whom he expected to be chosen consul along with himself for the following year, having formed a coalition with hira for the purpose of excluding Cicero. The votes of the people, however, in some measure deranged these calculations. Cicero and C. Antonius were returned, the former nearly unani- mously, the latter by a small majority over Catiline. This disappointment, while it increased if possible the bitterness of his animosity towards the dominant party among the aristocracy and the independent portion of the middle ranks, rendered him more vigorous in the prosecution of his designs. Large sums of money were raised upon his own security, CATILINA. or on the credit of his friends ; magazines of arms and other warlike stores were secretly formed ; troops were levied in various parts of Italy, especially in the neighbourhood of Faesulae, under the superin- tendence of C. Manlius, an experienced commander, one of the veteran centurions of Sulla (Dion Cass, xxxvii. 30), and numerous adherents were enrolled from the most desperate classes, including not a few women of mined reputation ; attempts also were made in various quarters to gain over the slaves ; and it was determined, when the critical moment should arrive for an open demonstration, to set fire to the city in many different places at the same instant, and to slaughter the well-disposed portion of the population in the tumult. Meanwhile, in the midst of these extensive preparations, Catiline again (63) stood candidate for the consulship, and used every effort to get rid of Cicero, who met him at every turn and thwarted all his best-contrived machinations. Nor was this wonderful, for he was countermined from a quarter Avhence he apprehend- ed no danger. One of the most high-born, aban- doned, but at the same time, weak and vacillating, among the conspirators, was a certain Q. Curius, who had been expell.ed from the senate by the cen- sors on account of the infamy of his life. This man had long consorted with a noble mistress named Fulvia, who appears to have acquired complete con- troul over his mind, and to have been made the de- positary of all his secrets. Fulvia, alarmed by the intelligence obtained from her lover, divulged what she had learned to several of her acquaintances and, through them, opened a correspondence with Cicero, to whom she regularly communicated all the parti- culars she could collect, and at length persuaded Curius himself to turn traitor and betray his com- rades. Thus the consul was at once put in pos- session of every circumstance as soon as it occurred, and was enabled to keep vigilant watch over the conduct of every individual from whom danger was to be apprehended. By imparting to a certain extent his fears and suspicions to the senators and monied men, he excited a general feeling of distrust and suspicion towards Catiline, and bound firmly together, by the tie of common interest, all who having property to lose looked forward with dread to confusion and anarchy ; Antonius, whose good faith was more than doubtful, he gained over by at once resigning to him the province of Macedonia, while he protected his own person by a numerous body of friends and dependants who surrounded him whenever he appeared in public. These pre- liminary measures being completed, he now ventured to speak more openly; prevailed upon the senate to defer the consular elections in order that the state of public aftairs might be fully investigated; and at length, on the 21st of October, openly denounced Catiline, charged him broadly with treason, pre- dicted that in six days from that time Manlius would take the field in open war, and that the 28th was the period fixed for the murder of the leading men in the commonwealth. Such was the conster- nation produced by these disclosures that many of those who considered themselves peculiarly obnox- ious instantly fled from Rome, and the senate being now thoroughly roused, passed the decretum ulti- mum, in virtue of which the consuls were invested for the time being with absolute power, both civil and militar}'. Thus supported, Cicero took such precautions that the Coraitia passed off without any outbreak or even attempt at violence, although an