Catiline and the "Concordia Ordinum" - Historia Antigua

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CATILINE AND THE CONCORDIA ORDINUM 27 elections.56 The organization of it occupied the interval up to the middle of October and the original day for putting it into effect was October 28. About ten days before, however, Crassus and other aristocrats received anonymous letters informing them of trouble to come. These, with the secret information Cicero received and reports of activity in Etruria, brought about a declaration of martial law. So, although trouble broke out in Etruria, the 28th passed quietly. The original plan of the conspiracy, to have been put into effect on that day, was a relatively simple one. Manlius and his force of rural malcontents were to attack Rome from without while the conspirators within the city were murdering Cicero and a few other leading citizens. Catiline was to become consul. Nothing more than a short, vigorous palace revolution was planned. But the revelations and the consequent declaration of martial law disrupted this plan, checking action within the city, if not in Etruria. It was not proved who the conspirators were or that Catiline was their head, so no steps could be taken against him. It was November 6 when the conspirators assembled to reconsider the situation. It was at this meeting that arson was added to their programme, and that elaborate plans for appealing to the disaffected all over Italy were drawn up. In their desperation the conspirators were heading toward a general social upheaval. Cicero, who had information of this meeting, was able to use the attack that was made on his life in the presence of witnesses as corroboration of his statements about the conspiracy. He unmasked Catiline and drove him from the city into Etruria, where he could do least harm and could be dealt with by the military. It was another month, however, before Cicero was able to catch the remaining conspirators in treasonous action, to apprehend them, and to put them to death. After that it was an easy matter to surround and annihilate Catiline and the other rebels by armed force. By his astuteness and energy Cicero checked what might have become a very dangerous situation. John and Hardy are agreed that Caesar and Crassus had no part in the conspiracy.57 Certainly, if the foregoing analysis of the position adopted by these men is correct, not only would they have had no part in it, but Catiline would have been very careful to see that they knew 56John and Hardy, working independently, have convincingly demonstrated that Sallust placed the inception of the conspiracy more than a year too early (see John, Die Entstehungsgesch. d. Cat. Verschworung, 754-62; Hardy, 51 f.). For the following description of the conspiracy see John, 758, 788-92, 795; Hardy, 53-8, 65, 70-97, 101 f. 57John, 738, 815 f.; Hardy, 49 f., 82 ff. I cannot agree with E. T. Salmon ("Catiline, Crassus, and Caesar," American 7ournal of Philology, 56, 1935, 302-10) that Crassus encouraged Catiline to cause social disorder that he might have an army with which to face Pompey on his return. That Crassus manoeuvred for a point d'appui against Pompey up to the collapse of the Rullan Bill is very likely. But if Crassus and Caesar came to terms with Pompey before the election in July 63 the need to secure an army no longer existed. This and the view that the conspiracy was not organized until after the election makes it difficult to believe that Crassus engaged in the dangerous machinations attributed to him by Professor Salmon.
28 THE PHOENIX nothing about it. Members of the Family Compact tried to get Cicero to include their names but he refused, and it is well known that Crassus at least, and probably Caesar too, were instrumental in making the existence of the conspiracy known. They did so not only because they had to clear themselves of past association with Catiline, but also because the conspiracy was inimical to their programme. But less prominent people from the anti-optimate groups were involved. The leading conspirators were aristocrats forced into a difficult position by financial or political reverses.58 There were leading citizens from rural municipalities.59 There was the freedman, Umbrenus, a business man who had had extensive business dealings in Gaul. Manlius, the Sullan settlers, and other elements of rural unrest played an important part. However, the predominance of disgruntled aristocrats who were taking action primarily to remove their own disabilities, and the absence of those who could provide constructive leadership indicate that the conspiracy was basically a protest movement, engendered by the success of Cicero and his coalition in blocking all attempts to correct longstanding abuses. One group on which the conspirators may have counted for support in their protest movement should be mentioned-aristocrats who had incurred debts, but were reluctant to sell their estates to pay off these debts.60 They might very well have regarded themselves as misfortune's next crop of victims. Their indebtedness was, in large part, the result of the continually increasing amounts being spent in pursuit of political careers."' Several factors impelled the creditors to call in their loans. The prospects of profitable investment in the East were bright.62 On the other hand, the political turmoil in Rome had reached a point where creditors could not help but be nervous, especially since Cicero had done all he could to increase their fears, in order to solidify his concordia ordinum. The situation was explosive and, when the news of the conspiracy broke, only the resolute action of Considius kept creditors from panicking and debtors from taking desperate action.63 Cicero's energy and resolution in dealing with the situation contributed immensely to keeping this group quiet. 68E.g. Autronius (see note 16); for Lentulus see Willems, Le Senat, vol. 1, 419 f.; Q. Curius, ibid., 418; Cassius, ibid., 461, n. 5. Cicero describes them as naufragi (In Catilinam, I. 12. 30, II. 11. 24). 59Sallust, De Catilinae Coniuratione, 17 and 40. 60Cicero makes it one of the groups in the conspiracy (In Catilinam, II. 8. 18) but Hardy (The Catilinarian Conspiracy, 53) is of the opinion that Cicero was merely trying to frighten them into supporting the government. 61More and more was being spent on elections every year (Marsh, A History of the Roman World, 160 f.). The lavish amounts spent by Caesar as aedile are symptomatic (Suetonius, Divus 7ulius, 10; Plutarch, Caesar, 5). 62The winding-up of Pompey's campaign in the East was opening up attractive prospects for investment (Cary, History of Rome, 356 f.). The ban on the export of gold and silver suggests that capital was moving eastward (Cicero, In Vatinium, 5. 12; Pro Flacco, 28. 67). 63He refused to call in either principal or interest, remarking that he traded in money, not in the blood of citizens (Valerius Maximus, Iv. 8. 3).
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Catiline and the "Concordia Ordinum" - Historia Antigua

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