First Oration of Cicero Against Catiline

conducted the prosecution against Verres, who was charged with extortion. His success in this cause, and his consequent popularity, procured him the office of _curule aedile_. After the usual interval he was chosen _praetor_, and, while holding this office, delivered the first of his political harangues, in defence of the bill proposed by C. Manilius to invest Pompey with supreme command in the Mithradatic War. Two years afterwards he gained the _consulship_, the goal of his ambition. His consulate is memorable for the bold attempt of Catiline to subvert the government--an attempt which was frustrated by the patriotic zeal of the consul. Cicero had quickly soared to the pinnacle of fame: as quickly did he fall. In crushing the conspiracy of Catiline questionable means had been employed. Clodius, his implacable enemy, revived a law exiling all who had been guilty of putting to death Roman citizens without a formal trial before the people. The Triumvirs, too, were disgusted with the vanity of the man who was constantly reminding the people that he was the “Saviour of Italy” and the “Father of His Country.” Deserted by his friends, and exposed to the hatred of his foes, Cicero went to Thessalonica into voluntary exile. The wanton destruction of his villas and the insults offered to his wife and children soon, however, produced a feeling of sympathy for the exiled orator. His return to Rome was attended with all the pomp and circumstance of a triumphant general. Henceforth his voice was little heard in the Senate. After his return he was appointed to a seat in the _College of Augurs_. In obtaining this office he had placed himself under obligations to both Pompey and Caesar, and this may account for his neutrality in the civil struggles of the time. He was subsequently appointed, much against his will, proconsul of Cilicia, where his administration was marked by the same integrity as he had displayed in Sicily.…