Cicero and the Catiline Conspiracy

The Catiline Conspiracy was the attempt of the Roman senator Catiline to overthrow the government of Rome whilst Cicero was a consul. This happened during the Roman Republic which was the period of Rome’s history before the Empire. The Roman Republic spanned from the late sixth century through the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE which caused the chaos that led to the birth of the Roman Empire under the first emperor, Augustus Caesar. Cicero (born Marcus Tullius Cicero) was a statesman, orator, poet and writer. He was born on January 6th 106 BCE during the Roman Republic. As a young man, he studied philosophy and law and at seventeen, he served in the Social War under the father of Pompey the Great. Then we have Catiline who was born in circa 108 BCE to a distinguished patrician family. His full name was Lucius Sirgius Catilina and he also served in the Social War under Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (Pompey the Great’s father) and was praetor in 68 BCE before governing Africa for two years. He re