Cicero And Sallust 's ' The Beginning Of The Catiline Conspiracy '

This attempt quickly failed when she said that his hubris just took over. “I knew that Caesar should have stayed away from the Senate house yesterday, but I guess his pride just took over his mind, it was just all too much,” Calpurnia sobbed. “This has turned out to be the most tragic moment in my life and I hope those conspirators kneel to the gods, for they have upset the heavens with the killing of the mightiest leader Rome has ever seen.”

Julius Caesar (100-44BC) was one of the greatest men produced by ancient Rome and he remains today a famous personality in world history (Barlow 2005). The conspirators were wrong to murder Julius Caesar in three ways. Firstly, they were morally wrong in the removal of Caesar. Secondly, they failed to consider a practical benefit to Rome in the murder of Caesar, resulting in only more problems. Lastly and most importantly, the conspirators were wrong to murder Julius Caesar because they placed their interests before those of Rome.

Calpurnia’s first reason for wanting Caesar to stay at home is her fear of the supernatural events and the chaos in Rome, so she convinces him of her points with ethos and pathos. In the first line,

Tacitus also shows distrust towards Augustus in his exiling and killing of anyone deemed to be a political enemy – a taste which her masterfully called the proscriptions, and advertised to the public as a

Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) was one of the most outstanding leaders in history. He was the first ruler of the Romano-Hellenic civilization and achieved his goals with great success throughout his life of 56 years. He was assassinated by the conspirators, who accused him for practicing tyranny. This essay will discuss whether it was right for the conspirators to murder Caesar and what its consequences were.

Though Pompey sought power by manipulating the political system to his own advantage, the fact that the Senate was already weak and hence gave him this power.This shows that although Pompey’s actions were detrimental to the fall of the Republic, he was not the sole contributor. Pompey was both underage and had held none of the required offices, yet the Senate passed decrees exempting him from these traditional prerequisites, thus allowing for him to be joint consul with Crassus in 70 BC. According to Cicero, “absolute power” was what he had sought, and thus this ambition had nothing to do with “the happiness and honour of the community.” This reveals a callously ruthless dimension to Pompey, in that he would undertake any measure to achieve his own goals. However, it should also be noted that Cicero’s interest areas are sometimes narrow and deliberately, or accidentally selective. By reaching the top without any previously held positions of consequence, Pompey the Great had manipulated the political system to his own advantage. Thus, by doing so he undermined the Senate, reiterating its insignificance and weakness.

In this play, Julius Caesar returns to Rome to find that he has the unconditional support of the Plebeians. As he gains more power, his friends worry that he will completely take over the city, and so they conspire with one another to kill him. Preceding the attack, the conspirators notice many strange occurrences in Rome, such as a “lion who looked at [them] and strutted by without bothering to attack,” a “threatening” and “destructive” storm, and a “common slave” whose “hand did flame and burn.” The conspirators perceive these bizarre circumstances as omens that they should kill Caesar and quickly carry out their plan. When the conspirators confront him, they stab him thirty-three times, and then announce his death to the citizens of Rome, expecting a positive response but receiving the opposite. Rome is plunged into violence as the plebeians attempt to find the conspirators responsible for Caesar’s death. Citizens swarm the streets of their city, killing innocent people, such as Cinna the Poet, believing that they are among the group of people responsible for killing Caesar. This violence and death represents the weak condition that Rome continues in throughout the play. Caesar’s body represents the body of Rome, and when he is wounded, the entire city feels wounded as well. The chaos that Rome undergoes after Caesar’s death is symbolic of his importance to the city. The

He also believes this will bring him power. His downfall is shown in this quote because it shows what he’s going to do to no longer feel this way. It is also shown because the plot is based on his jealousy of Caesar.

Up until this point of the play, not all readers could’ve inferred that Caesar was a self-conceited person. However, this scene confirms it. This passage started off with Caesar,

In The Assassination of Julius Caesar, Michael Parenti highlights the many significant people and events that characterized the late Roman Republic. Specifically, he focuses on the time period between the election of Tiberius Grachus, to the rise of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. In this account of history, Parenti presents the social, political, and economic aspects of the Roman culture from the perspective of the Roman commoner, or plebeian. Using this perspective, he also spends a great amount of time examining the causes and effects of the assassination of Julius Caesar. The views that Parenti presents in this book stand in sharp contrast with the views of many ancient and modern historians, and offer an interesting and enlightening perspective into class struggle in the society of the Roman republic.

Cicero's basic viewpoint held that Rome was held together as a Republic because of the rule of the Senate, not the rule of one King or one Man. Cicero opposed the idea of Julius Caesar taking on more and more power and authority, because he saw this as diminishing the authority of the Senate. The Senate, Cicero thought, was the representative of the "people of Rome," and the discourse and disagreement during debate allowed for more egalitarian rule than that on a central figure. The rule of Rome, than, was based on "a man who is held worthy of defending"¦. Cannot be deemed unworthy of the constitution itself." This, and the idea of being born a common person, allowed Cicero to believe that it was the oratory and intellectual skills of the individual

Another rhetorical technique that Cicero uses in his speeches and teaches his student is the use of ethos. Ethos is an appeal to ethics, and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader. In other words, having the trust of the audience based on your speech. Cicero teaches in the On Oratory and Orator to “deliver you own opinions” (Cicero 17); meaning that your opinions will help your credibility image and help get the trust of the people. His speech to the senate he states, “I cannot bear people to say that such a horror could have been perpetrated in this country” (Cicero 83). Here this quote it demonstrates his passion and shows and dedications to this country. He is saying that he cannot see what

My fellow senators, if I may begin by bringing attention to the issue at hand. We speak of Catiline and his crimes, and what should be done to defend Rome from his devious plots of insurrection. I have heard several of his followers speak before me, and they seem to disregard the accusations against the very man that leads them. His proposals are not the matter we are currently discussing. How can you speak of highly of reforms without voicing defense of the man who proposed them? He, who has been accused of attempted assassination upon our presiding magistrate? Even worse, he denies his involvement in the face of his failure. Unlike the brave Gaius Mucius Scaevola, Catiline will not show honor by thrusting his hand into the fire and facing these accusations as a true Roman should. Instead, he proves himself to be a coward by hiding in claims that the assassination was never attempted; or, at least, not by him.

     Cicero was a member of the Senate during the time of Catiline’s Conspiracy. His life was

Cicero’s essay, titled On Duties, presents a practical approach concerning the moral obligations of a political man in the form of correspondence with his young son. Essential to the text, the incentive for Cicero to undertake On Duties emerges from his depleted hope to restore the Republic within his lifetime. Cicero therefore places such aspirations in the hands of his posterity. The foremost purpose of On Duties considers three obstacles, divided into separate Books, when deciding a course of action. Book I prefatorily states, “in the first place, men may be uncertain whether the thing that falls under consideration is an honorable or a dishonorable thing to do” (5). Cicero addresses the ambiguities present under this consideration and