INTERNAL HISTORY, FROM THE CONSULSHIP OF POMPEY AND CRASSUS TO THE
RETURN OF POMPEY FROM THE EAST.--THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE. B.C. 69-61.
Notwithstanding the restoration of the Tribunate and the alteration in
the judicial power in Pompey's Consulship, the popular party had
received such a severe blow during Sulla's supremacy, that the
aristocracy still retained the chief political influence during Pompey's
absence in the East. But meantime a new leader of the popular party had
been rapidly rising into notice, who was destined not only to crush the
aristocracy, but to overthrow the Republic and become the undisputed
master of the Roman world.
C. JULIUS CÆSAR, who was descended from an old Patrician family, was six
years younger than Pompey, having been born in B.C. 100. He was closely
connected with the popular party by the marriage of his aunt Julia with
the great Marius, and he himself married, at an early age, Cornelia, the
daughter of Cinna, the most distinguished of the Marian leaders. Sulla
commanded him to divorce his wife, and on his refusal he was included in
the list of the proscription. The Vestal virgins and his friends with
difficulty obtained his pardon from the Dictator, who observed, when
they pleaded his youth and insignificance, "that that boy would some day
or another be the ruin of the aristocracy, for that there were many
Mariuses in him."
This was the first proof which Cæsar gave of the resolution and decision
of character which distinguished him throughout life. He went to Asia in
B.C. 81, where he served his first campaign under M. Minucius Thermus,
and was rewarded, at the siege of Mitylene, with a civic crown for
saving the life of a fellow-soldier. On his return to Rome he accused
(B.C. 77) Cn. Dolabella of extortion in his province of Macedonia.
Dolabella was acquitted by the senatorial judges; but Cæsar gained great
reputation by this prosecution, and showed that he possessed powers of
oratory which bade fair to place him among the foremost speakers at
Rome. To render himself still more perfect in oratory, he went to
Rhodes, which was then celebrated for its school of rhetoric, but in his
voyage thither he was captured by pirates, with whom the seas of the
Mediterranean then swarmed. In this island he was detained by them till
he could obtain fifty talents from the neighboring cities for his
ransom. Immediately on obtaining his liberty, he manned some Milesian
vessels, overpowered the pirates, and conducted them as prisoners to
Pergamus, where he shortly afterward crucified them--a punishment he had
frequently threatened them with in sport when he was their prisoner. He
then repaired to Rhodes, where he studied under Apollonius for a short
time, but soon afterward crossed over into Asia, on the outbreak of the
Mithridatic war in B.C. 74. Here, although he held no public office, he
collected troops on his own authority, and repulsed the commander of the
king, and then returned to Rome in the same year, in consequence of
having been elected Pontiff during his absence. His affable manners,
and, still more, his unbounded liberality, won the hearts of the people.
Cæsar obtained the Quæstorship in B.C. 68. In this year he lost his aunt
Julia, the widow of Marius, and his own wife Cornelia. He pronounced
orations over both of them in the forum, in which he took the
opportunity of passing a panegyric upon the former leaders of the
popular party. At the funeral of his aunt he caused the images of Marius
to be carried in the procession: they were welcomed with loud
acclamations by the people, who were delighted to see their former
favorite brought, as it were, into public again.
Cæsar warmly supported the Gabinian and Manilian Laws, which bestowed
upon Pompey the command against the pirates and Mithridates. These
measures, as we have already seen, were opposed by the aristocracy, and
widened still farther the breach between them and Pompey. In B.C. 65
Cæsar was Curule Ædile along with M. Bibulus, and still farther
increased his popularity by the splendid games which he exhibited. He
now took a step which openly proclaimed him the leader of the Marian
party. He caused the statues of Marius and the Cimbrian trophies, which
had been all destroyed by Sulla, to be privately restored and placed at
night in the Capitol. In the morning the city was in the highest state
of excitement; the veterans of Marius cried with joy at beholding his
countenance once more, and greeted Cæsar with shouts of applause. Q.
Catulus brought the conduct of Cæsar before the notice of the Senate,
but the popular excitement was so great that they thought it better to
let the matter drop.
In Cæsar's Ædileship the first Catilinarian conspiracy occurred, and
from this time his history forms a portion of that of the times. But
before passing on, the early life of another distinguished man, the
greatest of Roman orators, also claims our notice.
M. TULLIUS CICERO was born at Arpinum in B.C. 106, and consequently in
the same year as Pompey. His father was of the Equestrian order, and
lived upon his hereditary estate near Arpinum, but none of his ancestors
had ever held any of the offices of state. Cicero was therefore,
according to the Roman phraseology, a New Man (see p. 128)(Fourth
paragraph of Chapter XVIII.--Transcriber). He served his first and only
campaign in the Social War (B.C. 89), and in the troubled times which
followed he gave himself up with indefatigable perseverance to those
studies which were essential to his success as a lawyer and orator. When
tranquillity was restored by the final discomfiture of the Marian party,
he came forward as a pleader at the age of twenty-five. The first of his
extant speeches in a civil suit is that for P. Quintius (B.C. 81); the
first delivered upon a criminal trial was that in defense of Sex.
Roscius of Ameria, who was charged with parricide by Chrysogonus, a
freedman of Sulla, supported, as it was understood, by the influence of
his patron. In consequence of the failure of his health, Cicero quitted
Rome in B.C. 79, and spent two years in study in the philosophical and
rhetorical schools of Athens and Asia Minor. On his return to the city
he forthwith took his station in the foremost rank of judicial orators,
and ere long stood alone in acknowledged pre-eminence; his most
formidable rivals--Hortensius, eight years his senior, and C. Aurelius
Cotta, who had long been kings of the bar--having been forced, after a
short but sharp contest for supremacy, to yield.
Cicero's reputation and popularity already stood so high that he was
elected Quæstor (B.C. 76), although, comparatively speaking, a stranger,
and certainly unsupported by any powerful family interest. He served in
Sicily under Sex. Peducæus, Prætor of Lilybæum. In B.C. 70 he gained
great renown by his impeachment of Verres for his oppression of the
Sicilians, whom he had ruled as Prætor of Syracuse for the space of
three years (B.C. 73-71). The most strenuous exertions were made by
Verres, backed by some of the most powerful families, to wrest the case
out of the hands of Cicero, who, however, defeated the attempt, and
having demanded and been allowed 110 days for the purpose of collecting
evidence, he instantly set out for Sicily, which he traversed in less
than two months, and returned attended by all the necessary witnesses.
Another desperate effort was made by Hortensius, now Consul elect, who
was counsel for the defendant, to raise up obstacles which might have
the effect of delaying the trial until the commencement of the following
year; but here again he was defeated by the promptitude and decision of
his opponent, who opened the case very briefly, proceeded at once to the
examination of the witnesses and the production of the depositions and
other papers, which, taken together, constituted a mass of testimony so
decisive that Verres gave up the contest as hopeless, and retired at
once into exile without attempting any defense. The full pleadings,
however, which were to have been delivered had the trial been permitted
to run its ordinary course, were subsequently published by Cicero.
In B.C. 69 Cicero was Ædile, and in 66 Prætor. In the latter year he
delivered his celebrated address to the people in favor of the Manilian
Law. Having now the Consulship in view, and knowing that, as a new man,
he must expect the most determined opposition from the Nobles, he
resolved to throw himself into the arms of the popular party, and to
secure the friendship of Pompey, now certainly the most important person
in the Republic.
In the following year (B.C. 65) the first conspiracy of Catiline
occurred. The circumstances of the times were favorable to a bold and
unprincipled adventurer. A widespread feeling of disaffection extended
over the whole of Italy. The veterans of Sulla had already squandered
their ill-gotten wealth, and longed for a renewal of those scenes of
blood which they had found so profitable. The multitudes whose estates
had been confiscated and whose relations had been proscribed were
eagerly watching for any movement which might give them a chance of
becoming robbers and murderers in their turn. The younger nobility, as a
class, were thoroughly demoralized, for the most part bankrupts in
fortune as well as in fame, and eager for any change which might
relieve them from their embarrassments. The rabble were restless and
discontented, filled with envy and hatred against the rich and powerful.
Never was the executive weaker. The Senate and Magistrates were wasting
their energies in petty disputes, indifferent to the interests of the
Republic. Pompey, at the head of all the best troops of the Republic,
was prosecuting a long-protracted war in the East; there was no army in
Italy, where all was hushed in a treacherous calm.
Of the profligate nobles at this time none was more profligate than L.
SERGIUS CATILINA. He was the descendant of an ancient patrician family
which had sunk into poverty, and he first appears in history as a
zealous partisan of Sulla. During the horrors of the proscription he
killed his brother-in-law, Q. Cæcilius, and is said to have murdered
even his own brother. His youth was spent in the open indulgence of
every vice, and it was believed that he had made away with his first
wife, and afterward with his son, in order that he might marry the
profligate Aurelia Orestilla, who objected to the presence of a grown-up
step-child. Notwithstanding these crimes, he acquired great popularity
among the younger nobles by his agreeable address and his zeal in
ministering to their pleasures. He possessed extraordinary powers of
mind and body, and all who came in contact with him submitted more or
less to the ascendency of his genius. He was Prætor in B.C. 68; was
Governor of Africa during the following year; and returned to Rome in
B.C. 66, in order to press his suit for the Consulship. The election for
B.C. 65 was carried by P. Autronius Pætus and P. Cornelius Sulla, both
of whom were soon after convicted of bribery, and their places supplied
by their competitors and accusers, L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius
Torquatus. Catiline, who was desirous of becoming a candidate, had been
disqualified in consequence of an impeachment for oppression in his
province preferred by P. Clodius Pulcher. Exasperated by their
disappointment, Autronius and Catiline formed a project, along with Cn.
Calpurnius Piso, another profligate young nobleman, to murder the new
Consuls upon the first of January, when offering up their vows in the
Capitol, after which Autronius and Catiline were to seize the fasces,
and Piso was to be dispatched with an army to occupy the Spains. This
extraordinary design is said to have been frustrated solely by the
impatience of Catiline, who gave the signal prematurely before the whole
of the armed agents had assembled.
Encouraged rather than disheartened by a failure which had so nearly
proved a triumph, Catiline was soon after left completely unfettered by
his acquittal upon trial for extortion, a result secured by the liberal
bribes administered to the accuser as well as to the jury. From this
time he proceeded more systematically, and enlisted a more numerous body
of supporters. In the course of B.C. 64 he had enrolled several Senators
in his ranks, among others P. Cornelius Lentulus Sura, who had been
Consul in B.C. 71, and C. Cornelius Cethegus, distinguished throughout
by his impetuosity and sanguinary violence. He proposed that all debts
should be canceled, that the most wealthy citizens should be proscribed,
and that all offices of honor and emolument should be divided among his
associates. He confidently anticipated that he should be elected Consul
for the next year along with C. Antonius, having formed a coalition with
him for the purpose of excluding Cicero. The orator, however, was
supported, not only by the Equites and Pompey's friends, but even by the
Senate, who, though disliking a New Man, were compelled to give him
their support in order to exclude Catiline. The consequence was that
Cicero and Antonius were returned, the former nearly unanimously, the
latter by a small majority over Catiline. As soon as Cicero entered upon
his Consulship he renounced his connection with the popular party, and
became a stanch supporter of the aristocracy. He successfully opposed an
agrarian law proposed by the Tribune Rullus, and defended C. Rabirius,
who was now accused by the Tribune Labienus of having been concerned in
the death of Saturninus nearly forty years before. Cæsar took an active
part in both these proceedings. But the attention of Cicero was mainly
directed to Catiline's conspiracy. He gained over his colleague Antonius
by resigning to him the province of Macedonia. Meantime he became
acquainted with every detail of the plot through Fulvia, the mistress of
Q. Curius, one of Catiline's intimate associates. Thus informed, Cicero
called a meeting of the Senate on the 21st of October, when he openly
denounced Catiline, charged him broadly with treason, and asserted that
the 28th was the period fixed for the murder of the leading men in the
Republic. The Senate thereupon invested the Consuls with dictatorial
power. The Comitia for the election of the Consuls was now held.
Catiline, again a candidate, was again rejected. Driven to despair by
this fresh disappointment, he resolved at once to bring matters to a
crisis. On the night of the 6th of November he summoned a meeting of the
ringleaders at the house of M. Porcius Læca, and made arrangements for
an immediate outbreak. Cicero, being immediately informed of what took
place, summoned, on the 8th of November, a meeting of the Senate in the
Temple of Jupiter Stator, and there delivered the first of his
celebrated orations against Catiline. Catiline, who upon his entrance
had been avoided by all, and was sitting alone upon a bench from which
every one had shrunk, rose to reply, but had scarcely commenced when
his words were drowned by the shouts of "enemy" and "parricide" which
burst from the whole assembly, and he rushed forth with threats and
curses on his lips. He now resolved to strike some decisive blow before
troops could be levied to oppose him, and accordingly, leaving the chief
control of affairs at Rome in the hands of Lentulus and Cethegus, he set
forth in the dead of night, and proceeded to join Manlius at Fæsulæ.
On the 9th, when the flight of Catiline was known, Cicero delivered his
second speech, which was addressed to the people in the forum. The
Senate proceeded to declare Catiline and Manlius public enemies, and
decreed that Antonius should go forth to the war, while Cicero should
remain to guard the city. Cicero was now anxious to obtain other
evidence, besides that of Fulvia, which would warrant him in
apprehending the conspirators within the walls. This was fortunately
supplied by the embassadors of the Allobroges, who were now at Rome,
having been sent to seek relief from certain real or alleged grievances.
Their suit, however, had not prospered, and Lentulus, conceiving that
their discontent might be made available for his own purposes, opened a
negotiation with them and disclosed to them the nature of the plot. But
they thought it more prudent to reveal all to Q. Fabius Sanga, the
patron of their state, who in his turn acquainted Cicero. By the
instructions of the latter the embassadors affected great zeal in the
undertaking, and obtained a written agreement signed by Lentulus,
Cethegus, and others. They quitted Rome soon after midnight on the 3d of
December, accompanied by one T. Volturcius, who was charged with
dispatches for Catiline. The embassadors were seized, as they were
crossing the Mulvian bridge, by two of the Prætors, who had been
stationed in ambush to intercept them.
Cicero instantly summoned Lentulus, Cethegus, and the other conspirators
to his presence. Lentulus being Prætor, the Consul led him by the hand
to the Temple of Concord, where the Senate was already met; the rest of
the accused followed closely guarded. Volturcius, finding escape
impossible, agreed, upon his own personal safety being insured, to make
a full confession. His statements were confirmed by the Allobroges, and
the testimony was rendered conclusive by the signatures of the
ringleaders, which they were unable to deny. The guilt of Lentulus,
Cethegus, and seven others being thus established, Lentulus was forced
to abdicate his office, and then, with the rest, was consigned to the
charge of certain Senators, who became responsible for their appearance.
These circumstances, as they had occurred, were then narrated by Cicero
in his Third Oration, delivered in the forum. On the nones (5th) of
December the Senate was again summoned to determine upon the fate of
the conspirators. Cæsar, in an elaborate speech, proposed that they
should be kept in confinement in the different towns of Italy, but Cato
and Cicero strongly advocated that they should be instantly put to
death. Their views were adopted by a majority of the Senate, and a
decree passed to that effect. On the same night Lentulus and his
associates were strangled by the common executioner in the Tullianum, a
loathsome dungeon on the slope of the Capitol.
While these things were going on at Rome, Catiline had collected a force
amounting to two legions, although not above one fourth part were fully
equipped. When the news of the failure of the plot at Rome reached his
camp many deserted. He thereupon attempted to cross the Apennines and
take refuge in Cisalpine Gaul, but the passes were strictly guarded by
Metellus Celer with three legions. Finding, therefore, that escape was
cut off in front, while Antonius was pressing on his rear, Catiline
determined, as a last resource, to hazard an engagement. Antonius, in
consequence of real or pretended illness, resigned the command to M.
Petreius, a skillful soldier. The battle was obstinate and bloody. The
rebels fought with the fury of despair; and when Catiline saw that all
was lost, he charged headlong into the thickest of the fight and fell
sword in hand (B.C. 62).
Cicero had rendered important services to the state, and enjoyed for a
time unbounded popularity. Catulus in the Senate and Cato in the forum
hailed him as the "Father of his Country;" thanksgivings in his name
were voted to the gods; and all Italy joined in testifying enthusiastic
admiration and gratitude. Cicero's elation knew no bounds; he fancied
that his political influence was now supreme, and looked upon himself as
a match even for Pompey. But his splendid achievement contained the germ
of his humiliation and downfall. There could be no doubt that the
punishment inflicted by the Senate upon Lentulus and his associates was
a violation of the fundamental principles of the Roman Constitution,
which declared that no citizen could be put to death until sentenced by
the whole body of the people assembled in their Comitia, and for this
act Cicero, as the presiding magistrate, was held responsible. It was in
vain to urge that the Consuls had been armed with dictatorial power; the
Senate, in the present instance, assuming to themselves judicial
functions which they had no right to exercise, gave orders for the
execution of a sentence which they had no right to pronounce. Nor were
his enemies long in discovering this vulnerable point. On the last day
of the year, when, according to established custom, he ascended the
Rostra to give an account to the people of the events of his Consulship,
Metellus Celer, one of the new Tribunes, forbade him to speak,
exclaiming that the man who had put Roman citizens to death without
granting them a hearing was himself unworthy to be heard. But this
attack was premature. The audience had not yet forgotten their recent
escape; so that, when Cicero swore with a loud voice that "he had saved
the Republic and the city from ruin," the crowd with one voice responded
that he had sworn truly.
It was rumored that many other eminent men had been privy to Catiline's
conspiracy. Among others, the names of Crassus and Cæsar were most
frequently mentioned; but the participation of either of these men in
such an enterprise seems most improbable. The interests of Crassus were
opposed to such an adventure; his vast wealth was employed in a variety
of speculations which would have been ruined in a general overthrow,
while he had not the energy or ability to seize and retain the helm in
the confusion that would have ensued. Of Cæsar's guilt there is no
satisfactory evidence, and it is improbable that so keen-sighted a man
would have leagued with such a desperate adventurer as Catiline. Cato,
in his speech respecting the fate of the conspirators, hinted that Cæsar
wished to spare them because he was a partner of their guilt; and in the
following year (B.C. 62), when Cæsar was Prætor, L. Vettius, who had
been one of Cicero's informers, openly charged him with being a party to
the plot. Thereupon Cæsar called upon Cicero to testify that he had of
his own accord given the Consul evidence respecting the conspiracy; and
so complete was his vindication that Vettius was thrown into prison.
[Illustration: Coin of Pompey.]
[Illustration: Julius Cæsar.]