LATIN 4559 – Catiline: Sallust and Cicero

TR 11.00-12.15

Instructor: K.E. Shannon

When Cicero was consul in 63 BC, disgruntled aristocrat L. Sergius Catilina (better known in English as Catiline) formed a plot to overthrow the Roman government. We shall read and translate selections from two major sources for this conspiracy: Cicero’s Catilinarians, a set of orations originally delivered to the Senate and people in 63; and Sallust’s Bellum Catilinae, a historical monograph written some twenty years after the event. We will also consider the historical context of the conspiracy, how Cicero and Sallust depict its characters, motivations, and causes, and the conventions of the literary genre in which each author wrote. Requirements will include tests and quizzes, a substantial paper, and a final exam.