During the decline of the Roman Republic , the Senate became the effective governing body of the Roman State. A certain circle of powerful or wealthy families, which consisted of patricians and plebeians, controlled the Senate. The patricians were a group of people who were known to be the wealthiest and most favored by the kings. The plebeians, on the other hand, were people who were typically poorer, but in some cases gained more wealth than the patricians. Cicero, a man also known as a “novus homo” or “new man”, was a patrician. Catiline, on the other hand, was a man who came from a long established family, meaning his family had wealth for all of his life, which also was a common trait of those within the Senate. This paper will prove the actions of both Cicero and Catiline through the use of examples from Cicero’s Orations Against Catiline.
The political system of the Republic included the role of having a consul whom was a magistrate that controlled the Republic. Catiline ran for consul after falling deeply into debt. He was from a long established family unlike Cicero, and stated that, if he was elected consul, he would forgive the citizens of their debt. However, in 63 BCE, he lost the election for consul for a third time against Cicero. In Cicero’s first speech, he stated that Catiline sent Roman knights to his house to murder him the day of the election. Cicero had a strong service of intelligence, and thus discovered Catiline’s plans and was able to