PART I Cicero letters Tiro to go to the National Archive, Catulus's territory, to check Verres's quaestorian records as governor of Sicily and finds no records on file. Meanwhile, Verres finds Sthenius guilty of spying in his absence and sentences him to death. Tiro decides arranges to hide Sthenuis– in his
But Sallust tells of how Catiline acted against expectations and Roman nature by saying he: “scion of a noble family, had great vigour both of mind and body, but an evil and
Reasonable and noble concepts on the surface, however, were underlying with their own contempt for the Senate and optimate party. What could be seen on one side as an attempt to rectify a dangerous and debilitating social system was viewed on the other as nothing more than a power grab and a flagrant attack on the Republican institutional ideas of the time. The goal of the betterment of society as a whole was lost, and victory became the only objective. As ambition and personal motivation became the predominant theme of the Late Republic, the social fabric that long-held Rome together, against all odds, was being torn apart due to the reforms that were set in
Cato strived to develop in his political aspirations. He would take a stroll through the marketplace and help whomever asked for his assistance. He would freely do this, but expected that these people would grant him political support. Clientage is the act Cato performed. Clientage is a "roman custom whereby free men entrusted their lives to a more powerful man in exchange for support in public life and private matters” (p. 125).
If I were in Catalines position I would simply tell Cicero that he didn 't have any proof of anything that he was accusing me of, Cicero is using rhetoric to make wild accusations against Cataline and pretending to restrain himself from punishing Cataline, telling the senate, and exposing him when he doesn 't actually have anything to expose him of. Since Cicero was a high ranking official in the roman senate he was able to make claims against Cataline because who would believe a possible conspirator or a high raking official.
Walter Spencer, an eminent classics professor at the University of Illinois, examines the use of conspiracy rhetoric in Cicero’s orations of the Verrines and In Catilinam. To portray Verres and his sociatas as a group of conspirators, Cicero separates Verres from the Roman republic by emphasizing his repeated repudiation of Roman authority, customs, and laws. Additionally, Cicero characterizes Verres’ comrades as criminal conspirators through the word choice manus and by describing their subversion of the republic. Spencer notes that Cicero convinces the jury that a vote for acquittal would facilitate the conspiracy. Cicero employs pathos to present Verres as a heinous menace to the Roman people.
Nobody is on your side!” Now if I were Catiline in this situation, to undermine Cicero’s opinions, I would tell him I don’t care
Everything he did was to protect his dignitas he worked so hard for during his proconsulship in Gaul. Sir Ronald Syme a historian and classicist, long associated with Oxford University and widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest historian of ancient Rome;(in massie, pg.28, 1983) saw that "Caesar was the aggressor; he was fighting not for no nobler cause
Julius Caesar was the Dictator of Rome in 42 BC who accomplished many things. Many people believed that he was a hero, but Julius Caesar was a very ambitious dictator and was more of a villain than a hero. Julius Caesar was a villain because he didn’t think first before doing something, he forced the Senate to name him dictator for life and he also was a glory hound and put his needs before the republic. To begin with, Julius Caesar was a was a glory hound and put his needs before the republic. Caesar used his power as dictator more towards his advantage instead of helping the people in Rome.
In her chapter on the historiography of Roman exemplarity, Christina Shuttleworth Kraus examines this loss of power through the transition of exempla as the res gestae populi Romani to the res gestae divi Augusti (Kraus, 2). In early Roman history, exemplarity rested in the hands of popular consciousness; the citizens of Rome had the sole power of deciding which events or people to raise up to the status of exempla. This system of exemplarity that is explained in detail by Matthew Roller’s four stage model of the creation of exempla by public discourse (Roller, 216-217). However, Roller’s framework begins to collapse when Augustus intentionally influences exemplary power through his coercive Res Gestae. Rather than looking to the past for the great deeds of common people like the Sabine women or Lucretia, Roman citizens of the Augustan period had their attention directed towards the persona of one man, an exemplar in the form of an emperor.
Another way Caesar and napoleon can be compared was their political mind. Caesar as well as Napoleon were both able to achieve vast political power as a result of being very politically savvy. Both realized that in order to take complete control of the government, you must have the support of the army which they had as a result of being generals. With the support of the army both future dictators enacted coup de tats. In the case of Caesar, after being fired from his position of governor of Gaul(modern day France), took the army which had been loyal to him, entered the Roman Senate building and took control of the Roman Republic.
The Life of Marius, written by Plutarch, is a fascinating ancient source detailing the career of the Roman Gaius Marius, 127-86BC. While there are interpretive and reliability issues, the Life of Marius is a particularly useful and significant source. It is our only extensive primary source on Marius, who was a key political figure of late Republican Rome. Additionally, Plutarch’s work indicates not only many crucial military and political development in Rome in the time period, but also gives a reflection of Plutarch’s own Rome and its values and political climate.
William Shakespeare, in his tragedy Julius Caesar, uses the rhetorical devices of a rhetorical question, repetition of the word ambitious, and direct reference in Antony 's speech to instigate the plebeians and persuade them to rebel against the conspirators. Antony pulls on the pathos, ethos, and logos of the audience to get them to exile the conspirators. Shakespeare uses a rhetorical question in Antony’s speech to get the plebeians to notice the wrongdoings of the conspirators and excite them to rebel. Antony discusses the money that Caesar left to the countrymen, and with sarcasm he states, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” (3.2.99).
Some scholars have questioned the credibility of Salllust’s work by regarding it as a product of afterthought. Robin Seager suggested that Sallut’s writings were considerably influenced by Cicero which may have affected the accuracy of his records of history, thus, rendering it questionable. His chronology concerning Bellum Catilinae is also questionable. It is worth noting that Sallust’s hasn’t pointed out any differences among the two conspiracy plots allegedly hatched by Catallin, he talks about the same conspirators with similar action plans. Moreover, Sallust was infamous for his immorality and the mora tone of his writings are in sharp contrast with his
In 62 BC, he was elected praetor in Farther Spain. In 61 to 60 BC he served as governor of the Roman province of Spain. Then, in 59 BC, Caesar was elected as a consul, the most significant political post, through his alliance with Pompey. As soon as he became consul, Caesar waged a successful campaign against some tribes in Lusitania. He was awarded the right of triumph for his victory despite the fact that many of his enemies accused him of provoking the war.
