Conspiracy of Catiline and The Jurgurthine War | Page 9

and thought the consulship in some degree sullied, if a man of no

family,[135] however meritorious, obtained it. But when danger
showed itself, envy and pride were laid aside. XXIV. Accordingly,
when the comitia were held, Marcus Tullius and Caius Antonius were
declared consuls; an event which gave the first shock to the
conspirators. The ardor of Catiline, however, was not at all diminished;
he formed every day new schemes; he deposited arms, in convenient
places, throughout Italy; he sent sums of money borrowed on his own
credit, or that of his friends, to a certain Manlius,[136] at Faesulae,[137]
who was subsequently the first to engage in hostilities. At this period,
too, he is said to have attached to his cause great numbers of men of all
classes, and some women, who had, in their earlier days, supported an
expensive life by the price of their beauty, but who, when age had
lessened their gains but not their extravagance, had contracted heavy
debts. By the influence of these females, Catiline hoped to gain over
the slaves in Rome, to get the city set on fire, and either to secure the
support of their husbands or take away their lives.
XXV. In the number of those ladies was Sempronia,[138] a woman
who had committed many crimes with the spirit of a man. In birth and
beauty, in her husband and her children, she was extremely fortunate;
she was skilled in Greek and Roman literature; she could sing, play,
and dance,[139] with greater elegance than became a woman of virtue,
and possessed many other accomplishments that tend to excite the
passions. But nothing was ever less valued by her than honor or
chastity. Whether she was more prodigal of her money or her
reputation, it would have been difficult to decide. Her desires were so
ardent that she oftener made advances to the other sex than waited for
solicitation. She had frequently, before this period, forfeited her word,
forsworn debts, been privy to murder, and hurried into the utmost
excesses by her extravagance and poverty. But her abilities were by no
means despicable;[140] she could compose verses, jest, and join in
conversation either modest, tender, or licentious. In a word, she was
distinguished[141] by much refinement of wit, and much grace of
expression.
XXVI. Catiline, having made these arrangements, still canvassed for
the consulship for the following year; hoping that, if he should be
elected, he would easily manage Antonius according to his pleasure.
Nor did he, in the mean time remain inactive, but devised schemes, in

every possible way, against Cicero, who, however, did not want skill or
policy to guard, against them. For, at the very beginning of his
consulship, he had, by making many promises through Fulvia,
prevailed on Quintus Curius, whom I have already mentioned, to give
him secret information of Catiline's proceedings. He had also persuaded
his colleague, Antonius, by an arrangement respecting their
provinces,[142] to entertain no sentiment of disaffection toward the
state; and he kept around him, though without ostentation, a guard of
his friends and dependents.
When the day of the comitia came, and neither Catiline's efforts for the
consulship, nor the plots which he had laid for the consuls in the
Campus Martius,[143] were attended with success, he determined to
proceed to war, and resort to the utmost extremities, since what he had
attempted secretly had ended in confusion and disgrace.[144]
XXVII. He accordingly dispatched Caius Manlius to Faesulae, and the
adjacent parts of Etruria; one Septimius, of Carinum,[145] into the
Picenian territory; Caius Julius into Apulia; and others to various places,
wherever he thought each would be most serviceable.[146] He himself,
in the mean time, was making many simultaneous efforts at Rome; he
laid plots for the consul; he arranged schemes for burning the city; he
occupied suitable posts with armed men; he went constantly armed
himself, and ordered his followers to do the same; he exhorted them to
be always on their guard and prepared for action; he was active and
vigilant by day and by night, and was exhausted neither by
sleeplessness nor by toil. At last, however, when none of his numerous
projects succeeded,[147] he again, with the aid of Marcus Porcius
Laeca, convoked the leaders of the conspiracy in the dead of night,
when, after many complaints of their apathy, he informed them that he
had sent forward Manlius to that body of men whom he had prepared to
take up arms; and others of the confederates into other eligible places,
to make a commencement of hostilities; and that he himself was eager
to set out to the army, if he could but first cut off Cicero, who was the
chief obstruction to his measures.
XXVIII. While, therefore, the rest were in alarm and hesitation, Caius
Cornelius, a Roman knight,