Free Political Speeches (Oxford World's Classics) by Cicero

302–3.) To the surprise of many, no doubt, Catiline attended; but no one would sit near him. Cicero then stood up and denounced him in his
First Catilinarian
(
In Catilinam
I)—a speech aptly described by Sallust (who is not on the whole particularly interested in Cicero) as ‘brilliant, and of service to the state’ (
Cat
. 31.6). (The scene is well imagined in a famous nineteenth-century fresco by Cesare Maccariin the Palazzo Madama in Rome.) At some point Catiline offered to go into voluntary exile, if the senate would pass a decree to that effect; but Cicero would have none of it. When Cicero had finished, Catiline bravely replied, protesting his innocence and pointing out that he was a patrician whereas Cicero (being from Arpinum) was a mere squatter—a thoroughly Roman line of argument. This defence was not well received, however, and Catiline rushed out of the temple. (This is Sallust’s version; Cicero was to claim in 46 BC that Catiline said nothing (
Orat
. 129).)
    That night he slipped out of Rome—but without taking his followers with him. He left behind letters for several consulars in which he again protested his innocence, and claimed that he had left for exile in Massilia (Marseilles, the refuge of Verres) in order to spare his country a civil war. The road he took, the Via Aurelia, was indeed the road to Massilia, not the one to Faesulae. But on the other hand he had already sent ahead a military force and a consignment of arms to wait for him at Forum Aurelium on the Via Aurelia (
Cat
. 1.24, 2.13), and from there he would be able to cut across to the Via Cassia, and follow it (as in the event he did) through Arretium to Faesulae. In view of this, it is unrealistic to suppose that he had any intention of going into exile, whether permanently, or merely until Murena was convicted and a supplementary consular election announced. Instead, his choice of the Via Aurelia, and the letters he left behind, must have been intended to deceive public opinion, in order to minimize the chances of a force being sent after him.
    However, he also sent a ‘very different letter’ (as Sallust says) to Catulus (the ex-consul who had helped him out at his adultery trial in 73). In this letter he stated that he had taken the action that he had taken (which was not spelt out, and could refer to either insurrection or exile) because he had been robbed of office, that he was following his normal custom of championing the oppressed, and that his financial situation was capable of recovery; and he asked Catulus to look after his wife, Aurelia Orestilla. This letter differed from the other ones that he sent in that this one did not unequivocally state that he had gone into exile; hence he cannot have decided firmly on that course of action. The letter is preserved in Sallust’s account (
Cat
. 35); it gives the impression of a man who is proud, impetuous, and doomed. Catulus read it out in the senate.
    Next day, 8 November, Cicero addressed the people at a public meeting while the senate were being summoned: this speech is the
Second Catilinarian
(
In Catilinam
II). In it he informs the people of Catiline’s flight and describes the types of people who support the conspiracy—though taking care to exclude his audience themselves from his analysis (Sallust says that initially the entire plebs supported Catiline: see
Cat
. 37.1; 48.1).
    A week or so later, news reached Rome that Catiline had arrived in Manlius’ camp. There could now be no further doubt as to his guilt. The senate declared him and Manlius public enemies; Antonius was given the command against them, and Cicero was to defend the city. An amnesty was offered to any of Catiline’s followers who surrendered before a certain date, but no one took up the offer.
    It was at this point, in late November, that Sulpicius’ and Cato’s prosecution of Murena for electoral malpractice came to trial. To Sulpicius’ disappointment and annoyance, Cicero undertook the