INTRODUCTION.
PART I; INTRODUCTION AND TEXT.
Oration I.
Oration II.
Oration III.
Oration IV.
PART II; NOTES
Oration I.
Oration II.
Oration III.
Oration IV.
INDEX.
PROPER NAMES.
VOCABULARY.
PART I.—INTRODUCTION AND TEXT
THIRD EDITION, REVISED
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1900
The text adopted in the following Orations is that of Halm (11thEdition, Berlin, 1882), from whose notes I have derived much help. Ihave also consulted the English edition of the Speeches, based on thatof Halm, by Mr. A. S. Wilkins. My best thanks are due to Mr. EvelynAbbott, Fellow and Tutor of Balliol College, the Editor of the Series,for his kind assistance in superintending the printing of the book.
E. A. U.
Wellington College,
June, 1887.
The four speeches against Catilina were delivered during the latter partof the year b.c. 63, when Cicero was Consul.
L. Sergius Catilina, the author of the conspiracy against which theywere directed, was descended from one of the oldest patrician familiesof Rome, though for many years no one of his house had held any publicoffice. He was a man of ambitious and energetic disposition,distinguished among his contemporaries for great powers both of mind andbody, which enabled him to exercise a remarkable degree of influenceover others[1]. At the same time he was notorious for the dissolutenessand extravagance of his life, which were excessive even in an age whensuch characteristics were common; he was, moreover, suspected of gravecrimes, such as the murder of his wife and son. But as these chargesrest to a great extent upon the authority of his opponent Cicero, it ispossible that they have been exaggerated.
He was born probably about b.c. 108, though the exact date is unknown.His first appearance in public life was during the dictatorship of Sulla(b.c. 82-