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Cicero exposes Catiline's plot against the Republic

63 BCE, Rome (the Senate). An event.

Where and when

63 BCERome (the Senate)

2,088 years ago

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, Rome (the Senate)

Catiline plans to seize power by force. The consul Cicero denounces him in the Senate, and Catiline leaves Rome to join his army.

When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us?

Cicero, Against Catiline 1.1Translated by C. D. Yonge (1856)Read the full passage (Cicero, Against Catiline 1.1, opens scaife.perseus.org)

Background: Catilinarian conspiracy, Wikipedia (opens en.wikipedia.org)

Why it matters

Scholars disagree about its weight: one called it among the best known and least significant episodes in Roman history, while others stress that it jolted the Republic into action.

Based on Wikipedia: Catilinarian conspiracy

For example, Louis E. Lord in the introduction to the 1937 Loeb Classical Library translation of Cicero's Catilinarian orations calls it "one of the best known and least significant episodes in Roman history".

Scholars have also criticised over-estimation of the importance of Catiline's insurrection, but others stress that the affair was not meaningless and that it jolted the republic into action.

Wikipedia, Catilinarian conspiracy (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-07-19. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. 63 BCEThis momentCicero exposes Catiline's plot against the Republic
  2. 63 BCESame year Cicero denounces Catiline to his face Rests on this eventAlso in Rome
  3. 63 BCESame year Cicero tells the people the city was saved Rests on this event
  4. 63 BCESame year Cicero tells the people Catiline is gone Rests on this event
  5. 63 BCESame year Cicero turns on Catiline in the Senate Rests on this eventAlso in Rome
  6. 63 BCESame year Cicero advises Catiline to leave Rome Rests on this eventAlso in Rome
  7. c. 60 BCEabout 3 years later Caesar, Pompey and Crassus join forces Also about democracy and government
  8. 59 BCE4 years later Cato dragged to prison, as Plutarch tells it Also about democracy and government
  9. 58–50 BCEabout 5 years later Caesar begins the conquest of Gaul Same years

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