Understanding Julius Caesar
Part two of Rome.
(If you haven’t already, please check out my earlier article on the Roman Republic to understand Rome’s beginnings and the Catiline Conspiracy)
The Catiline Conspiracy was far more than a simple battle of ambitions. Ostensibly, as with other mundane political rivalries, the incumbent consul Cicero was simply getting rid of his enemy Catiline, who came in second in the run for office. However, whether they knew it or not, the competing ideals they represented made visible a growing schism between the echelons of Roman society.
While Cicero championed status quo — maintaining the Republic and her patriarch-plebeian divide (a so-called “Optimate”), Catiline was a populist who embraced extreme egalitarianism and reforms that would see the rich re-distributing their land to the poor (a so-called Populare”).
Unsurprisingly, most of the Roman Senate supported Cicero. Together with his persuasive rhetoric dubbed the “Catiline Orations”, Cicero outmanoeuvred and defeated Catiline, expelling him from Rome and eventually leading to his death.
