Catiline Has Left!

As the title of this oration suggests, Catiline has finally left Rome. On November 9th, 63 B.C., Cicero gave this oration, once again criticizing Catiline. For this oration, Cicero spoke on the Rostra in the Roman Forum,
which was essentially a stage for speeches. There is a particular difference between the first oration and this oration, however, which is that this oration is being given to the citizens of Rome rather than the Senate.

"Sed cur diu de uno hoste lquimur, et de eo hsote qui iam fatetur se esse hostem...de his qui dissimulant, qui Romae remanent, qui nobiscum sunt, nihil dicimus?" Here, Cicero brings up the idea about how they only talk about Catiline, but there are so many other criminals (and conspirators who probably have the same agenda as Catiline) that are still in Rome. This was a issue because Catiline has already left Rome and so he is less of a threat!

"Quos quidem ego, si ullo modo fieri possit, non tam ulcisci studeo quam sanare sibi ipsos, placare rei publicae neque id quare fieri non possit, si iam me audire volent, intellego." Later on in the oration, Cicero brings up what they should do with conspirators still in Rome. He believes that instead of punishing them for their crime, he wants to cure them (to change them). So far, it appears that Cicero is probably against a "an eye for an eye" type of government and believes that everyone can change for the better.

"Exponam enim vobis, Quirites, ex quibus generibua hominum istae copiae comparentur; deinde singulis medicinam consili atque orationis meae, si quam potero, afferam." Ending this oration, Cicero tells his "fellow citizens" that he wants to get medicine to cure the conspirators. Not only does this make him look like "Good
Guy Cicero", but it shows that he thinks the conspirators are simply ill and can be cured.

Catiline had a total of six different classes that belonged to him:
- "One class consists of those who, although in great debt, have even greater possessions, influenced by the love of which, they cannot possibly clear themselves of debt." This class would most likely be the "rich" class.
- "The second class consists of those who...are anxious to acquire political control..." This class would most likely be the politically ambitious people.
- "The third class is already affected with age but still vigorous through training; to this class belongs that Manlius whose place Catiline is now taking." This class would most likely be consisting of the "elders" of the society who may hold a lot of influence.
- "The fourth class is indeed varied, confused, and disorderly; these men have long been overwhelmed by debt; they never get their heads above water; part of them because of laziness, others because of badly managed business..." This class of people would most likely be the "middle class", consisting of people who slave away working everyday and have never really accomplished anything.
- "The fifth class consists of murderers, assassins, and, in short, criminals of all sorts." This fifth class simply consists of criminals; Cicero notes that this is one of Catiline's type of people whom he won't even both to "heal".
- "Now the last class is...Catiline's own, of his own choosing, nay rather, his bosom friends..." This last class is essentially Catiline's personal posse, consisting of gamblers, adulterers, and "thugs".

Failure of the Plan

Continuing his speech, Cicero asks yet another set of rhetorical questions to his audience. ("Ubinam gentium sumus...urbe vivimus?") In this set of rhetoricals, he essentially asks if they were still in the Rome he knew.

To confront Catiline further, Cicero points out how Catiline's plan failed.  "Fuisit igitur apud Laecum illa nocte...morae quod ego viverem." Cicero points out that he knew Catiline had met up with Laecus, since Laecus's girlfriend told him about the meeting. Furthermore, Cicero states that Catiline had been planning who he wanted to leave in Rome, those who he wanted to take with him, and parts of the city he wanted to burn amongst other things. However, there was one problem in his plan: Cicero was still alive and well.

"Reperti sunt duo equites Romani...esse pollicerentur." Essentially, Catiline couldn't kill Cicero by himself, so he hired two horsemen, or mercenaries, to go and kill Cicero. However, it was said that he was supposed to be killed in his sleep, yet he's still alive (so we'd assume the knights failed).

Why Not Put Catiline to Death?

Cicero

Catiline, the man who plotted to kill not only Cicero, but also a large portion of the senators. Even today, people commit crimes and are punished accordingly by authorities. However, during Cicero's current time, he states "At vero nos vicesimum iam diem patimur hebescere aciem horum auctoritatis", a metaphor for how  

their authority is getting weaker and that they're losing power. In order to fix this lack of power, Cicero suggests that Catiline should be punished (and so be put to death) for his crimes immediately, as any other man who has committed a crime. 

Cicero blames himself for not having done anything about Catiline sooner. He says it allowed Catiline's camp in Etruria flourish with the amount of soldiers growing day by day, claiming, "Castra sunt in Italia contra populum Romanum...die singulos hostium numerus". To follow that up, Cicero essentially calls out Catiline and points out that he is the leader of that camp that plans to take over Rome, but he's right there at the meeting.

Further down the speech, Cicero begins to claim how he is conflicted on what he should do about Catiline, since both killing him and not killing him has consequences. "Quam diu atque erit qui te defendere audeat... speculabuntur atque custodient." Eventually, Cicero decides that he'll allow Catiline to live for as long as he has supporters, and he'll been watched carefully from now on.

How Dare Catiline

Cicero, an influential senator, a consul, and the target of a conspiracy. A consul is the highest elected position in the Roman Republic, with terms lasting one-year and two consuls being elected each term. On November 8th, 63 BC, Cicero confronts Catiline, a Roman politician with a greed for power, about his recent actions: conspiring the murder of Roman senators. This particular oration takes place in the Temple of Jupitor Stator, a temple founded by Romulus after a battle between Romulus and the Sabines. The temple was later destroyed during Nero's reign in the Great Fire of Rome.

Cicero starts off his oration expressing his fury against Catiline, in an introduction consisting of a plethora of rhetorical questions. "Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor opuli nihil concursus bonorum omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora vultus que moverunt?" In this quote, Cicero attacks Catiline's lack of awareness that his plans had long been foiled. More specifically, Cicero points out that there are now guards everywhere, that the Senate had gathered in a very defendable place, in the Temple of Jupitor Stator, and that they have known what he has been up to. In other words, Cicero meant that he and the other senators had already taken extra precautions to prevent his plans from happening.

In order to emphasize how low Catiline has sunk, Cicero says "Senatus haec intellegit, consul videt: hic tamen vivit. Vivit?". In other words, Cicero believes that Catiline should have been dead a long time ago, or should at least be sentenced to death for his actions. Essentially, Cicero turns the tables by suggesting the death of Catiline after Catiline plotted to kill Cicero.

In the third paragraph of his oration, Cicero relates Catiline's actions to other events in history. "An vero vir amplissimus, P. Scipio, pontifex maximus, Ti. gracchum mediocriter labefactantem statum rei publicae privatus interfect...". Such as when Publius Scipio, the Pontifex Maximus, killed T. Gracchus or how Caius Servilius Ahala killed Spurius Maelius. The Pontifex Maximus is the equivalent of the Pope, but held a lot more power since religion played a major role back then. Essentially, Cicero questions why they should tolerate Catiline's actions, and believes that something must be done about Catiline.

Ashes to Ashes

Pliny's accounts of the Mount Vesuvius eruption. A captivating as well as articulate letter to the historian Tacitus, of which were so detailed that modern day volcanologists named a type of eruption after him, described the horrors and panics of that fateful day.

We start when Pliny abandons his home with his mother, after it seemed that it was no longer safe. "Nam vehicula quae produci iusseramus, quamquam in planissimo campo, in contraris partes agebantur, ac ne lapidibus quidem fulta in eodem vestigio quiescebant." The ground shook so violently and constantly, the carts Pliny had requested could not stay still even with stones placed to keep them in place.

"Praeterea mare in se resorberi et tremore terrae quasi repelli videbamus." Next, the first phase of a tsunami had begun, as the waters quickly retreated from land, leaving sea life exposed and left to die on the sand. As this occurred, Pliny had noted that the clouds of ashes, which he described simply as a black cloud, reached into the skies with great lightning strikes appearing to split the clouds apart.

Next,  Pliny said ash began to form a thin layer, as the clouds of ashes advanced quickly towards him. "'Deflectamus' inquam 'dum videmus, ne in via strati comitantium turba in tenebris obteramur.'" Quickly, he and his mother had made their way off the road to sit down, whilst it was still visible so they wouldn't get trampled by the crowd of people bound to run about in panic. Soon after, the sky quickly blocked out the sky, leaving them in pitch-black darkness.

As the darkness enveloped Misenum, the cries of men, women, and children alike echoed throughout. Some called for their loved ones, only able to identify them by their voice in the darkness. Some were so afraid of dying, they prayed for death.

The Christian Problem

Christians. The monotheistic religion that threatened Romans, whom deny the Roman's polytheism. The then governor of Bithynia-Pontus, Pliny the Younger, had written to Emperor Trajan questioning his own actions. "Propositus est libellus sine auctore multorum nomina continens." It started when he had received a book without an author, of which contained many names of many accused Christians. 
Soon after, Pliny had begun to test the accused by forcing them to worship the statues of the Roman's numerous gods as well as cursing Christ. "...fuisse quidem, sed desisse, quidam ante triennium, quidam ante plures annos, non nemo etiam ante viginti." He found that many of the accused denied being Christians and that they had stopped worshiping Christ. 
Furthermore, they also claimed that they had stopped being Christians years ago, with some saying three years ago and some saying as many as twenty. "...seque sacramento non in scelus aliquod obstringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne adulteria committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appellati abngarent." In addition to that, they also claimed that they congregated on a certain day to essentially worship and swear an oath that they would not commit crimes. "...promiscuum tamen ett innoxium;..."After the session, they essentially met later in the day in order to eat, however, the food was harmless and ordinary, just like their worshiping sessions. 
"Nihil aliud inveni quam superstitionem pravam, immodicam." In the end, Pliny found that Christians just followed a depraved superstition.