Catiline

Catiline, full name Lucius Sergius Catilina (108?-62 bc), Roman political leader and conspirator. He was a partisan of Lucius Sulla, whom he succeeded as quaestor, or judge, in 77 bc. Catiline was also praetor, or magistrate, in 68 bc and governor of the province of Africa in the following year. Shortly thereafter he was falsely accused of misconduct and was thus prevented from becoming a candidate for consul, or chief magistrate. Catiline was acquitted of the charges, and in 63 bc he again ran for consul against the statesman and orator Marcus Cicero. Losing again to Cicero, Catiline hatched a plot to seize power by armed insurrection. Cicero, informed of the conspiracy, exposed it, delivering his famous first oration against Catiline: Quousque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? (“How long now, Catiline, will you abuse our patience?”). After a second oration, in which Cicero was able to present tangible evidence of the plot, Catiline and his coconspirators were proclaimed public enemies. He was killed in battle near Pistoia in central Italy.