Catiline's Conspiracy: summary
The Conjuration of Catilina was the coup attempt carried out by Catilina, Roman politician, to dethrone Cicero. In unProfesor we offer you a complete summary of this historical event.
The history of Rome is plagued with intrigues and conspiracies, since the political life of this civilization was very complex, causing there to be many people who would like to seize power and who will try in every possible way to overthrow the government of the epoch.
One of the best known intrigues was that of catiline, in which this roman politician he tried to stage a coup to overthrow the consuls Cicero and Gaius. To get to know this event in depth, in this lesson by a Teacher we offer you a Summary of the Catiline conspiracy.
Index
- Causes of the Catiline Conspiracy
- What was the Catiline Conspiracy?
- Consequences of the Catiline conspiracy
Causes of the Catiline Conspiracy.
We begin this summary of the Catilina Conspiracy knowing the causes that started the whole process.
Catiline was an important Roman politician and soldier, that he had relations with both patricians and the Roman aristocracy. His importance was so great that, although he had been prosecuted, he was still dreaming of trying to reach consulship within the Roman Senate.In 62 B.C. c. Catilina appeared at the consulate for the fourth time and he was rejected again, which is what made him start planning a coup to seize the consulate by force. In this process Catilina began to recruit a group of disreputable senators, like Publio Cornelio Lénturo Sura or Lucio Calpurnio Bestia. This group of senators were known for their violence and corruption, being just what Catilina needed to seize power.
After going for the senators, Catilina began to contact are soldiers, being those who had been displaced by the Sulla civil war: veterans who were waiting economic rewards from the republic, and who saw in Catilina's plan a way to have these riches.
Little by little, Catilina was preparing the coup, which focused on assassinate the consuls Cicero and Gaius in order to seize power. Catilina tried to show the people that the change of government was for the social good, but the reality is that he only wanted power for himself.
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What was the Catiline Conspiracy?
We follow this summary of the Catilina Conspiracy knowing the specific events that took place.
The rumors of the conspiracy reached the ears of the consul Cicero that, at that moment, he summoned the Senate to approve the decree of the state of emergency, understanding that the situation could become complicated. At the same time, Catilina made his veteran soldiers assemble in the region of Etruria, and many others to occupy the main areas of Italy.
Catilina's plan was a failure in the first instance, since Cicero was able to escape the assassination attempt and denounce Catilina before the Senate. Catilina responded in fury before the Senate, promising that if he was defeated he would destroy all of Rome. At that point, the Senate decreed the Last Decree of the Senate, which gave Cicero almost total power, making him almost a dictator.
On the night of October 22, 63 BC. C., Catilina escaped from Rome and he went to Etruria where his troops were still assembled. From there, Catilina tried to include more people in his conspiracy, even his men sent letters to some Gallic soldiers who had requested asylum in the city of Rome. These Gauls, seeing an opportunity to curry favor with the Roman senators, informed Cicero of Catiline's plans and showed him the letters of the conspirators. Cicero read the letters to the senate and subsequently lsentenced you to the death penalty, with five conspirators being executed in prison soon after.
The death of the conspirators made Catilina lost all his political support and, therefore, the troops that he had in Etruria were the only ones that remained. Catilina and his army tried to reach Gaul, but were stopped beforehand and defeated by the Roman legions in a battle in which Catilina also died.
Catiline's head was cut off and displayed in Rome to prove the end of the conspirator.
Consequences of the Catiline conspiracy.
To continue with this lesson on Catilina's conspiracy summary, we must talk about his conclusion, this being the key to understanding the importance it had in the roman world that this conspiracy will not work. We must bear in mind that the great protagonist of this event was Cicero, and for this reason he is the person most closely related to the conclusion of the conspiracy.
In the first moment, the biggest beneficiary because of Catilina's conspiracy it seemed that it was going to be Cicero, since he had been in charge of stopping it, the person who had discovered it, and had also been named dictator during its realization. But even with all this, Cicero did not receive all the credit he expected.
Cicero was accused by the courts of Rome, since they considered that he should not have sentenced the conspirators to death without trial, which greatly reduced the influence of the Roman consul. Furthermore, the figures of Julius Caesar and Pompey they began to have a lot of influence in Roman politics, and the two clashed with Cicero, considering that he was his greatest rival to rule Rome.
Years later, the tribune Clodius introduced a law that condemned all those people that he had sentenced to death without trial, being a law made to be able to condemn Cicero. Cicero fled from Rome, hoping that everything would be resolved, but soon after Clodius seized the city and decreed that Cicero should go into exile outside of Italy. Behind this, Cicero went to GreeceThus ending his political career.
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Bibliography
- Buberos, A. h. (2009). The Catilina conspiracy. History Class Magazine, (8), 1.
- Utchenko, L. (1987). Cicero and his time (Vol. 87). AKAL Editions.
- Cicero, m. T. (1885). Of the Republic (Vol. 20). Philosophical Economic Library.
