Catilinarian orations
set of speeches given by Marcus Tullius Cicero
The Catilinarian orations (Latin: Marci Tullii Ciceronis orationes in Catilinam; also simply the Catilinarians) are four speeches given in 63 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of the year's consuls. The speeches are all related to the discovery, investigation, and suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy, a plot that year to overthrow the republic. All of the speeches in the form available today were published, probably around 60, as part of Cicero's attempt to justify his actions during the consulship; whether they are accurate reflections of the original speeches in 63 BC is debated.
The first speech was given in the senate, where Cicero accused a senator, Catiline, of leading a plot to overthrow the republic; in response, Catiline withdrew from the city and joined an uprising in Etruria. The next two speeches were given before the people, with Cicero justifying his actions as well as relating further news of the conspiracy in Rome itself and the arrest of four conspirators. The fourth speech, supposedly delivered before the Senate, was an intervention in an on-going debate as to the fate of the urban conspirators; Cicero argued in favour of their illegal execution without trial.
Some modern historians suggest that Catiline was a more complex character than Cicero's writings declare, and that Cicero was heavily influenced by a desire to establish a lasting reputation as a great Roman patriot and statesman. The Catilinarian orations, along with Sallust's monograph Bellum Catilinae, make the conspiracy one of the best-documented events from the ancient world; for centuries after their delivery, the Catilinarians were praised as model speeches and taught as part of the standard Latin rhetorical curriculum.
Background
The Catilinarian conspiracy was a plot by the patrician senator Lucius Sergius Catilina (known in English as Catiline) to overthrow the Roman republic. He started this plot in 63 BC after being repulsed at elections for consul for the third time, after failing to be elected to the consulships of 65, 63, and 62 BC. The conspirators included various disaffected groups.
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