Lucius Sergius Catilina

At this point Catiline realized that his dream was not to be attained by constitutional means. The only path left open to him was to stage an armed insurrection and to seize control of the government.

#ain'tnobodygottimeforthat

Because Catiline was under indictment for extortion, he wasn't allowed to run for consul in 65 BC.

Alleged

First Plot:

Kill the new consuls and replace them.

The plot failed and was hushed up.

The next year, after being acquitted of extortion, Catiline decided to run again...

He was defeated by Cicero.

Dear Diary,

I've been trying to express my emotions better lately.

I lost.

I lost to Cicero, a nobody equestrian.

Who's a novus homo.

Who won in his first eligable year.

This made Catiline mad.

Like, real mad.

Like burn everything to the ground mad.

The following year, Catiline decided to run AGAIN

Unfortunately for Catiline, he was defeated again.

1900

The Main Building which cost 1.5 million was opened and was able to receive 5,000 immigrants a day.

1902

William Williams becomes commissioner

1891

405,664 Immigrants were processed at the Barge Office.

1892

Immigration Station opened. 700 Immigrants were processed on the first day.

Path to

Power

Meanwhile, Catiline had fled the city after Cicero's First Catilinarian speech and joined up with an old military man, Gaius Manlius, who was levying troops in Etruria.

Catiline was soon facing serious problems...

The uprisings in the Italian countryside were easily put down, and although the number of his forces in his stronghold in Etruria totaled 10,000 men, only a quarter of that number were properly armed.

PLUS,

As Cicero uncovered more and more details of the conspiracy, he delivered 4 speeches against Catilne called "In Catilinam"

The death of the conspirators had a disastrous effect on Catiline's forces. After many men deserted, and being heavily outnumbered, he abandoned his plans.

1st Catilinarian

• Cicero accuses Catiline (who is present)
• Other senators moved their seats away
• Catiline tries to defend himself; he is interupted by other senators
• afterwards he fled from the city

3rd Catilinarian

2nd Catilinarian

• Cicero speaks in the Forum, informing the public of the plot, discovery, and confessions of the conspirators
• Copies of the evidence (the letters) are displayed

• Cicero addresses the public in the Forum
• informed the Roman people of what happened
• Catiline is declared a public enemy
• Antonius is to set out against Catiline
• Cicero is to remain in Rome

4th Catilinarian

He set out with the remains of his army across the Appennines mountains in the hope of crossing into Gaul.

• The fate of the conspirators is argued and discussed
• The punishment of death is carried by a large majority

Catiline, now officially the most unlucky man in history, found the way blocked by Roman legions, and he was forced to fight.

1990

The Ellis Island Immigration Museum was open to visitors and over 20 million people have visited to this date.

1984

Restoration of Ellis Island began.

1954

Ellis Island closed and placed under the General Services Administration.

Defeat &

Death

1990

Ellis Island Immigration Museum was opened to visitors.

The fighting was bitter, but in the end, Catiline's forces broke. His troops had held their ground until the end and fell fighting. Not a single freeborn citizen was taken alive, and they were found with their wounds in front.

Catiline himself was found far in advance of his men, surrounded by enemy soldiers.

1924

Immigration Act limited how many and what nationalities the immigrants were. Island now mainly used as detention and deportation station.

1918

Decline in Immigration, drops to 28,867

1907

At the peak, 1,004,756 Immigrants passed through Ellis Island.

How can such a masterful plan fail, you ask?

But, Catiline didn't anticipate that he'd need to explain away the presence of some letters.

Word of the conspiracy leaked to Cicero from the mistress of one of the conspirators.

Fulvia was the mistress of the conspirator Quintus Curius. Fulvia was going to leave Curius because he was broke, but he convinced her that she should stay because his fortunes were about to change for the better.

He told her about the entire plan. Gulp.

THE MASTER PLAN:

by

L. Sergius Catilina

-bored army vets? -poor farmers?? -broke nobles??? -frustrated senators????

Recruit supporters

On the night of October 18th, Cicero was roused from his bed by Crassus and 2 other nobles.

He was handed a bundle of letters which had been left at Crassus' house. Crassus had opened the one addressed to him and found that it warned him of impending massacre and urged him to flee from Rome.

Promise to cancel all debt

Establish board of directors

Train my army

-get G. Manlius to help?

-perhaps Oct 28???

March on Rome

Kill a bunch of senators

-Cicero for sure!

Catiline's Inner Circle

P. Cornelius Lentulus

P. Autronius

Paetus

G. Cornelius Cethegus

L. Cassius

Longinus

L. Calpurnius

Bestia

failed candidate for the consulship

politican who had expected but been denied advancement

a Roman senator deep in debt and with few prospects for promotion

a former consul ejected from the senate for immorality

a consul whose victory was annulled and whose senate seat was revoked after being convicted of bribery

Take control of gov

-finally!!

On the following morning, Cicero convened a meeting of the Senate and read the letters aloud.

Later the Senate issued the Ultimate Decree, giving him the power to act in any way necessary to defend the state.

Catiline defended himself by denying the charges, and by appealing to his family’s history, and that there was no way the word of a novus homo like Cicero could be believed over him.

BUT WAIT! Those aren't the only letters that did Catiline in!

Death by Letters

The conspiators tried to bribe a Gallic tribe unhappy with Roman rule (the Allobroges) to support the conspiracy. They secretly informed on the conspirators, but they were told by Cicero to pretend to go ahead with the negotiations.

I mean, seriously, guys, you can't MAKE this stuff up!

Ok, back to the story. So the Gauls *promised* to help the conspirators in exchange for written promises from the conspirators. Long story short, the Gauls eventually handed over the incriminating letters, and the conspirators were detained and questioned. In the end they all confessed and were put to death.

Conspiracy

1890

Immigration occurred at the Barge office during construction.

1808

Federal Government purchased Ellis Island from New York.

• 89 BC- served under Sulla in the Civil War
• 78-74 BC- served abroad
• 68 BC- elected praetor
• 67-66 BC- governor of Africa
• 66 BC- tried to run for consul
• 65 BC- tried to run for consul
• 64 BC- tried to run for consul
• 63 BC- tried to run for consul

ELECT

Just frickin' vote

for Catiline already

Catiline

Catiline

the "Can do" man

Catiline for Consul

Umm, excuse me, Magistra?

Catiline ran for consul that

many times and was

never elected?

What the heck was his problem?!?!

Early Career

The civil war between Marius and Sulla wrecked the Roman economy, and many Romans (both plebeians and patricians) incurred major debts.

Background

• Born: 108 BC to an aristocratic family who could trace its origins back to the founding of the republic.

• Current status: By his time his family was of declining social and financial fortunes. The gens Sergia had not provided Rome wih a consul for over 300 years.

Lucius Sergius Catilina

CICERO

Catiline's Life's Goal: To be a consul of Rome! To restore the family's political heritage along with its financial power.

I have a dream...

1963

63 BC

WHO was this enigmatic man really?

"A man who is not only a traitor to his country but also to his own integrity—a man who has sold his very soul for power."

"Driven by insatiable ambition, Catiline has become a man devoid of virtue, willing to plunge the Republic into chaos for personal gain."

"He has the face of a Roman but the heart of a conspirator, cloaking his treachery in a guise of charm."

It is actually Cicero who eloquently sums up the two sides of Catiline's character:

"He had many things about him which served to allure men to the gratification of their passions; he had also many things which acted as incentives to industry and toil. The vices of lust raged in him; but at the same time he was conspicuous for great energy and military skill. Nor do I believe that there ever existed so strange a prodigy upon the earth, made up in such a manner of the most various, and different and inconsistent studies and desires."

How do we know so much about Catiline?

What we know:

After Catiline's death, many of the poor still viewed him with respect, though the artistocracy certainly regarded him in a much darker light.

Was he a heroic agrarian and urban reformer?

Was he a villianous and depraved traitor?

The Secret Side of Catiline

novus homo

orator

consul in 63 BC

equestrian

Catiline was a naughty, naughty man...

• accused of defiling a Vestal Virgin
• indicted for extortion during his governorship of Africa
• charged with murder during the Sullan proscriptions
• accused of killing his wife, son, brother, and brother-in-law
• accused of entering into an incestuous relationship with his daughter

?

Later historians who were far removed from the actual events recorded even salacious rumors as facts.

The problem is that history is writen by the victors, and they have dramatically colored our perceptions of Catiline.

hello

Today many historians place him somewhere in between, a man who used the plight of the poor to suit his personal interests and a politician of the time no more corrupt than any other.

lackluster political record

unsuccessful military service

turned to career in writing

Sallust: attributes countless crimes and attrocities to Catiline. In his account Catiline is epitomized as the representative of all the evils festering in the declining Roman republic.

"He had many shameful intrigues with a maiden of noble rank, a priestess of Vesta.”

"He had long since abandoned any sense of decency, engaging in acts that were not only immoral but also treasonous against his own country."

"He was a man of noble birth and distinguished lineage, but he was notorious for his moral corruption and lust for power."

"He seduced the disaffected with promises of freedom and wealth, leading them down a path of destruction fueled by his own depravity."

SALLUST