Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/650

632 CATILINA. state, who in his turn acquainted Cicero, and by the instructions of the latter enjoined the ambassa- dors to affect great zeal in the undertaking, and if possible to gain possession of some tangible do- cumentary proof. The Gauls played well the part assigned to them. A written agreement, signed by Lentulus, Cethegus, and Statilius, was placed in their hands, and they quitted Rome soon after midnight on the 3rd of December, accompanied by T. Volturcius, of Crotona, who was charged with despatches for Catiline, it being arranged that the Allobroges were to visit his camp on their way homewards for the double purpose of receiving his orders and obtaining a ratification of the pledges given by his agents. The whole cavalcade was surrounded and seized as it was crossing the Mil- vian bridge, by two of the praetors who had been stationed in ambush to intercept them. The (Jauls quietly surrendered ; Volturcius, after hav- ing vainly endeavoured to resist, was overpowered and forced to yield. Cicero, when informed of the complete success of his plan instantly summoned Lentulus, Cethe- gus, Statilius, and Gabinius to his presence. Len- tulus being praetor, the consul led him by the hand to the fane of Concord where the senate was already met ; the rest of the accused followed closely guarded. The praetor Flaccus was also in attendance, bearing the portfolio with the papers still sealed. Volturcius finding escape impossible, agreed, upon his own personal safety being in- sured, to make a full confession. His statements were confirmed by the Allobroges, and the chain of testimony was rendered complete and conclu- sive, by the signatures in the handwriting of the ringleaders, which they were unable to deny. The guilt of Lentulus, Cethegus, and seven others being thus established beyond a doubt, Lentulus was forced to abdicate his office, and then along with the rest was consigned to the charge of cer- tain individuals of high station who became res- ponsible for their appearance. Thpse circumstances as they had occurred hav- ing been fully detailed by Cicero in his third ora- tion delivered in the forum, a strong reaction took place among the populace, who all now joined in execrating Catiline and demanding vengeance, from the well-founded conviction, that although they might have derived profit from riot or even from civil war, yet the general conflagration, which had always formed a leading feature in the schemes of the conspirators, must have brought ruin upon the humblest mechanics as well as upon the wealthiest of the aristocracy. On the other hand, a vigorous effort was made by the clients of Lentulus to excite the dregs of the multitude to attempt his rescue. The danger ap- pearing imminent, the senate was called together on the nones (5) of December, the day so fire- quently referred to by Cicero in after times with triumphant pride, and the question was put, what was their pleasure with regard to those who were now in custody. After an animated debate, of which the leading arguments are strongly and pointedly expressed in the two celebrated orations assigned by Sallust to Caesar and to Cato, a decree was passed, that the last punishment should be in- flicted according to ancient usage upon the con- victed traitors. Thereupon the consul led away Lentulus to the subterranean prison on the slope I of the capitol, and the others were conducted | CATILINA. thither b}- the praetors. On the selfsame night the high-bom patrician Lentulus, a member of the noble Cornelia gens, was strangled in that loath- some dungeon by the common executioner, and the rest of his associates shared his fate. The legality of this proceeding, which was afterwards so fiercely impugned, is discussed in the life of Cicero. While these things were going on at Rome, Catiline had gradually collected a force amounting to two legions, although not above one-fourth part of the whole, or about 5000 men, were fully equipped, the rest being armed with pikes, clubs, and other rude weapons which chance presented. On the approach of Antonius, Catiline fearing to encounter regular troops with this motley crowd, threw himself into the mountains and by con- stimtly shifting his ground and moving rapidly in different directions, contrived to avoid a colli- sion, while at the same time he exercised and disciplined his followers, whose numbers daih' increased, although he now refused to enrol slaves, multitudes of whom flocked to his banner, deeming that it might prove injurious to his pros- pects were he to identify their interests with what he termed the cause of Roman freedom. But when the news arrived of the disclosures that had taken place in the city, of the complete suppression of the plot, and of the execution of the leading con- spirators, many who had joined his standard, from the love of excitement and the hope of plunder, gradually slunk away. Those who remained firm he led into the territory of Pistoria with the design of crossing the Apennines and taking refuge in Gaul. But this movement was anticipated by the vigilance of Metellus Celer, who guarded Picenuin with three legions, and had marched straight to the foot of the hills that he might intercept the in- surgents on their descent. Catiline, therefore, at the beginning of the year 62, finding that escape was cut off in front, while Antonius was pressing on his rear, turned fiercely on his pursuers and detennined as a last resource to hazard an engagement, trusting that, if success- ful, all Etruria would be thrown open for the maintenance of his soldiers, and that he would be able to keep his ground in the disaffected districts until some diversion in his favour should be made in the metropolis. The battle, in which the legions of the republic were commanded by M. Petreius, in consequence of the real or pretended illness of the proconsul Antonius, was obstinate and bloody. The rebels fought with the fury of despair, and long kept at bay the veterans by whom they were assailed. Catiline, in this his last field, nobly dis- charged the duties of a skilful general and a gal- lant soldier ; his eye and his hand were every- where ; he brought up columns to support those who were most hotly pressed ; withdrew the wounded and the wear}', and supplied their place with the sound and fresh ; flew from rank to rank encouraging the combatants, and strove by re- peated feats of daring valour to turn the fortune of the day. But at length, perceiving that all was lost, he charged headlong where the foes were thickest, and fell sword in hand fighting with re- solute courage, worthy of a better cause and a better man. His body was found after the strug- gle was over far in advance of his own ranks in the midst of a heap of his enemies ; he was yet breathing, and his features in the agonies of death