Reconsidering ~The Conspiracy of Catiline~ : participants, concepts, and terminology in Cicero and Sallust
My thesis will reconsider the failed attempt by a number of Roman citizens to gain power in Rome in 63 B.C., commonly labeled âThe Conspiracy of Catiline.â Two Roman authors, M. Tullius Cicero and C. Sallustius Crispus, were eyewitnesses to the events occurring that year and both wrote lengthy accounts about the discovery and suppression of the affair and its participants, who were planning to gain power in Rome through violent means. The participants planned murder and arson inside of Rome and threatened the city with an army in northern Etruria. Our sources tend to ascribe the leadership of these hostile activities to L. Sergius Catilina, presented as a debauched, and indebted, scion of a noble family. However, our sources discuss many other Roman citizens who participated with the affair. My thesis provides a comprehensive study of the terminology Cicero and Sallust used and the lexical choices they made to describe the affair and its participants. I examine the terminology that both these authors used to identify the affairâs context, primarily focusing on the terms coniuratio (âconspiracyâ) and bellum (âwarâ), with the aim of showing how these terms and concepts become crystallized in this
Kananack, Claude Henry Embleton
Catiline, Cicero, Sallust, Conspiracy, Terminology, Coniuratio, Conspiratio, Co-conspirators
Reconsidering ~The Conspiracy of Catiline~ : participants, concepts, and terminology in Cicero and Sallust. My thesis will reconsider the failed attempt by a number of Roman citizens to gain power in Rome in 63 B.C., commonly labeled âThe Conspiracy of Catiline.â Two Roman authors, M. Tullius Cicero and C. Sallustius Crispus, were eyewitnesses to the events occurring that year and both wrote lengthy accounts about the discovery and suppression of the affair and its participants, who were planning to gain power in Rome through violent means. The participants planned murder and arson inside of Rome and threatened the city with an army in northern Etruria. Our sources tend to ascribe the leadership of these hostile activities to L. Sergius Catilina, presented as a debauched, and indebted, scion of a noble family. However, our sources discuss many other Roman citizens who participated with the affair. My thesis provides a comprehensive study of the terminology Cicero and Sallust used and the lexical choices they made to describe the affair and its participants. I examine the terminology that both these authors used to identify the affairâs context, primarily focusing on the terms coniuratio (âconspiracyâ) and bellum (âwarâ), with the aim of showing how these terms and concepts become crystallized in this
reconsidering the conspiracy participant concept terminology cicero sallust reconsider fail attempt number roman citizens gain power rome commonly label conspiracy roman author cicero event_occur year write lengthy account discovery suppression affair participant plan gain power rome violent mean participant plan murder inside rome threaten city army northern etruria source tend ascribe leadership hostile activity present indebted noble_family however source discuss many roman citizen participate affair provide_comprehensive study terminology cicero sallust use lexical_choice make describe affair participant examine terminology author use_identify affair context primarily_focus term conspiracy war aim showing term concepts become