Rome's Terrorist Plot — The Catiline Conspiracy

How Cicero saved the Republic

Cicero Denouncing Catiline by Cesare Maccari. Painted in 1888, this image paints a picture Cicero would have loved. As he stand in the limelight Catiline skulks alone. While it is not completely accurate from a historical point of view, it captures the spirit of the times. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The Catiline Conspiracy marks a turning point for the burgeoning power of Rome. Called ‘Cicero’s finest hour’ by Mary Beard, Cambridge Professor of Classics in her book SPQR, A History of Ancient Rome, it saw a terrorist plot at the highest level of Roman society revealed and then crushed. Instead of dying in a bloody slaughter, the…