Cicero and Catiline

The course studies Catiline's conspiracy against the Roman state in 63 BC and Cicero's controversial role in its suppression. Topics covered include the following: the social and economic problems in Italy, particularly from the period of Sulla onwards, that contributed towards support for the conspiracy; the political and ideological background, particularly the Sullan constitutional reforms and subsequent struggles over them; the more immediate political background, notably the careers of Pompey, Caesar, Crassus, and Catiline himself; the events of early 63; the relation of the revolutionary leaders to each other; the problem of the senatus consultum ultimum and the debate on the fate of the conspirators. The texts relating to the conspiracy are abundant and detailed but also biased and sometimes contradictory. Students learn the ways of Roman political and historical rhetoric. The texts prescribed for study in translation are: Sallust, Catiline; Cicero, In Catilinam I-IV, Pro Sulla; Asconius, In orationem in toga candida.(Convenor: E. Bispham, Brasenose).
Translations:
Sallust, Catiline (Loeb)
Cicero, In Catilinam I-IV (Loeb)
Cicero, Pro Sulla (Loeb)
Asconius, In orationem in toga candida, in Asconius, Commentaries on Speeches by Cicero, ed. R.G. Lewis, Oxford 2006