A response to the oration of Cicero against Catiline
It is evident, O senators, that there is a conspiracy within the republic. The consul has been most diligent in demonstrating that this is so, it is irrefutable that an army has been assembled to march on our city, nor is it any falsehood that we see the leader of this conspiracy within the very walls of this temple. But, O senators, that man is not Lucius Sergius Catilina. I come to the defence of this noble and virtuous citizen of Rome, not because of any ancient friendship, nor because of my devotion to the defence of a fellow citizen falsely accused, nor because I wish to make a name by challenging the great orator himself. I speak for the safety of the Republic, that our laws should not be subverted by ambition, that our traditions should not be broken in the name of expediency, that our citizens should not suffer a Greek tyrant!
Imagine, O conscript fathers, a candidate for the consulship, a man who's undeniable ability, coupled with immense ambition, has led him to such dizzying heights. Worried that his influence is not sufficient to win him the prize he, displaying the same diligence and foresight as ever, makes provision for a defeat in the assembly. He prepares an army to lead a revolt against our republic, and set himself up as her king. Yes, O Romans, from within the bosom of our beloved city, is a man who would trample on the constitution created by Lucius Brutus, first consul of Rome, when he, mindful of the misery of the people, with only their liberty in mind, striving for justice, threw off the chains with which Rome was bound, and expelled the last of the foreign kings.
Why, O Catiline, would you come here undefended were you truly to be involved in such a heinous crime? I see only one man fearful of his life here, and that is not you. Only one man has required that armed soldiers be introduced to the city, only one man wears a breastplate beneath his robe, only one man refuses entry to his home by Roman knights seeking a patron. Is it now, O Romans, a cause for concern that a Roman citizen seeks to conduct himself in a manner befitting a Roman senator?
Have we forgotten, only a two years ago, who it was that we defended from a charge of abuse of power? Is it conceivable that a man we acquitted of the very sort of crime now being discussed should now be guilty of it? Know, O Cicero, that Catiline, the man you were once willing to defend, is of a family entwined with the very history of our city itself, a family noble before Romulus laid out the boundaries within which we live. A descendant of Sergestus, friend to Aeneas, who first of our forefathers, came to Italy. A man such as he would never, like some foreigner, take up arms in revolt.
The consul tells us there is an army in Etruria, marshalled by the centurion Manlius, on behalf of a senator in Rome. I ask, would a man distinguished in battle as Catiline, who served the republic under Pompeius Magnus against the Italian rebels, who served the republic under that preserver of the Senate, Lucius Corneulius Sulla, who served the republic with Publius Servilius Vatia at Cilicia, require such a lieutenant to lead his armies for him? Far greater the honour, if a man is capable of it, to lead an army himself; only a man without such military experience would require another to lead his soldiers in his stead.
Know this, O senators, that if Catiline were the demon Cicero claims, that if Catiline were such a man as to reward his supporters in the consular elections with money, as suggested by the consul, if Catiline were to raise an army out of his own pocket, where does his limitless supply of funding come from? He is no fireman like Crassus, he has no vast estates like Pompey, and we know that he did not plunder the Gauls as pro-praetor. So tell us, O Cicero, how is Catiline supporting this vast expenditure? Does he perhaps count rich Hellenophile equestrians as friends? Is he perhaps descended from an Italian money-lender? Does he turn to the munificence of his wife? No. He is patrician of Rome.
I marvel, O Cicero, that you know so much about Lucius Catilina's plans for his supposed coup. It is curious to me how it is that someone uninvolved in this conspiracy should know so much about it's inner functions. You speak of nocturnal meetings between Lucius Catilina and his friends, are we the senate of the people of Rome now to regulate whom a citizen may have friendship with, like some foreign despot? Are we to sacrifice the very rights we seek to protect, in order to seek out supposed plots against our freedom? Are we to spy on our own people like some Eastern potentate?
When, O Cicero, do you mean to cease abusing our trust? What hidden purpose is there within your false accusations? How far is that ambition of yours going to take you? Do you not feel that the dignity of the consulship is enough for you? Has your untiring quest for fame maddened you, that you invent a conspiracy in our midst?
Now, since, O Romans, the onset of night denies me the usual length of a prosecution which I was prepared to use, for prosecution this is, the safety of the Republic forces me to play only the part of an advocate; though this time will be not be sufficient to fully prosecute, it will allow time, O senators, to acquit Lucius Catilinus of these most heinous accusations. That I have not the time to properly prosecute is, no doubt, a cause of relief to the true perpetrator of this conspiracy. Yet, O Cicero, you know as well as I that your imperium protects you from direct assault at this point.
What? O Cicero, did you think that your treason would remain hidden from suspicion? We all know of your talent in the courts, how a lowly pedarii was able to defeat the great Quintus Hortensius in prosecution of Caius Verres. Is this now a ploy to gain greater fame? Quintus Tullius Cicero, uncovers a plot within Rome's walls to slaughter her senators, to destroy the state, to bring fire and slaughter to the seven hills. What else can we grateful citizens do but call him a father of Rome?
That a man should bring an army to Rome's door is criminal, to accuse a blameless other of raising the sword against our city is dishonourable, for that same man to pose as her shield is nefarious beyond belief. O Cicero, would that you had resigned your grasping attachment to fame, would that you had gone, in service to the Republic, to the provinces, would that you had completed the military service to which true Roman nobles are accustomed. Then you would lead your army, and not have yet another underling to lead it for you. For Catiline has no need of a marshal, as you need Manlius.
Why, O Cicero, did you seek to bring such calumny upon the Roman people? And for how long has this been in motion? For to have raised such a force, without raising any suspicion, to have suborned so many to speak for you against Catiline, would have required months of planning. When you were rival to Catiline for the consulship, who would have thought a new man from Arpinum, could attain such nobility solely on the strength of his oratory? And so you planned for your defeat, in an echo of Sulla, you planned, in secret, to send an army against the gates of this city, to take the prize which you thought the people would not grant you. Yet, you succeeded in convincing the tribes to vote. But did you disband this mercenary force, and enjoy what fortune had so generously bestowed upon you? No, you kept it in your armoury against the day that the Roman people might need a reminder of your presence.
Knowing of this despicable treachery, O senators, do you now see how it is that Cicero was able to profess such knowledge of Catiline's supposed plans? Who better to know the plans of the conspirators than the arch-conspirator himself? Who better to arrest and render powerless than those who have no power? That in one act, O Cicero, you should find yourself able to eliminate not only a rival for the esteem of the Roman people, who's safety you do so profess to hold dear to your heart; but a man who had the audacity to be seen with a woman most holy (courageous indeed given her sister's character), a man you fear, for who could bear the venomous tirade of your speech in candida? To be able to rid yourself of such a man would be fortuitous indeed.
I return now to that man sitting over there, of as noble a bearing as any might wish for, Lucius Sergius Catilina, a dutiful hero of our empire, who's only desire is to further the fortunes of the republic, who is guilty only of incurring the ire of the consul; if, o senators, you wish this state to be immortal, if you wish your empire to be eternal, if you wish your glory to continue everlasting, then it is our own fears, it is reckless ambition, it is unmeasurable pride, it is the corruption of our most honoured that must be guarded against. Now, when there is no suspicion of arms, when I see no weapons, when there is no violence, or slaughter, or occupation of the Capitol and citadel, but only a mischievous prosecution, a cruel trial, a business undertaken by a consul of the people contrary to the interests of the republic, I entreat you not to condemn an innocent man for crimes he had never any intention of committing, if not to protect the life, the character and fortunes of Lucius Catilina, but to protect the very safety of the republic.
I have spoken now to the extent of time allowed me by the onset of nightfall. In this short time, it falls to me to accuse you, O Cicero, of the most heinous of treasons against the senate and people of Rome, for attempting to subvert the twelve tables in your arrogant quest for fame, for threatening to bring fire and the sword to our gates. I call upon you, O Jupiter, whom we call stay of this city and empire, guard us against this man and his companions, do not allow such sacrilegious crimes against the offices of this city to be committed.
A little speech
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Re: A little speech
. I haven't studied Roman oratry, so I don't know who this is supposed to imitate, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say Cicero himself.
Ahaaaaaar
Originally Posted by Beefeater
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