12
pompey’s triumph—catiline.
lie would not, and shewed a true animus civilis. He took no
improper advantage of the senseless honours which were paid
to him, and appeared only once in his triumphal robe in the
Circensian games; although, on the whole, he shewed himself
mean and miserable during the time of peace, and certainly
did not deserve the name of the Great, which had been given
to him by Sulla in war. His triumph was most Inagnilicent.12
It is related that he displayed in his triumph, among other
trophies, a list of the tributes which the republic had acquired
from the countries conquered by him. The numbers, as they
are stated by Plutarch, do not appear to me too great, but
rather too small. If we consider the revenues, and exorbitant
land-taxes which were raised in Syria, Judaca and other countries,
at the time of the Maccabees, it appears to me inconceivable that
the numbers in Plutarch should be correct. The amount of
tributes gained by Pompey was indeed greater than all the
previous tributes put together. But Syria was at that time one
of the most prosperous and wealthy Countriesinthe world, though
at present it is a desert. To give an account of the princes
whom Pompey restored, would lead us beyond our limits; and
the subject belongs more properly to a universal history.
Let us now turn our attention to Catiline, a dreadful name,
of which we may say what an English author says of Crom-
well, that it is “doomed to everlasting fame”; although
Cromwell was an angel in comparison with Catiline.13 I shall
give you only a brief sketch of his history, as I can refer you
to Sallust for a perfectly satisfactory account. Sallust has a
great love of truth, is just towards every one, and does perfect
justice to Cicero, without heeding the vulgar talk of other
people. At the time of Catiline’s conspiracy, he was a young-
man, and perfectly able to make correct observations of what
was going on. Very soon after these events, he became per-
sonally acquainted with Caesar, Crassus, and other leading men ;
when Crassus died, SaIIust was not yet thirty years old. It is
always of great importance for the historian of such events as
12 Appian, Pe Bell, Mithrid. 116, foil.; Plutarch, Pomp. 45; IIion Ctcss.
xxxvii. 20, foil.
13 In the middle ages, Catiline, with the slight alteration of his name into
Catellina, was quite a standing character in the tales and legends of Florence,
as in Malespini, where he is the real impersonation of evil ; and, owing to this
extraordinary popularity, the vulgar form of the name, Catellina, is found in a
great many MSS of Roman authors—N.
CATILINE-STATE OF ANARCHY AT ROME.
13
this conspiracy, to become acquainted with the leading men
who acted a part in them; and not to write about them till
some time after, when prejudices and delusions cease to exercise
their influence.
According to the accounts both of Sallust and of Cicero,
Catiline was certainly an extraordinary man, endowed with all
the qualities which are necessary to constitute a great man in
such times : he had an incomparable and indescribable courage
and boldness, and a gigantic strength of both mind and body ;
but he was so completely diabolical, that I know of no one in
history that can be compared with him; and you may rely
upon it that the colours in which his character is described,
are not too dark, though we may reject the story of his slaugh-
tering a child at the time when he administered the oath to his
associates'4, and making them drink the blood mixed with
wine. He had served in the armies of Sulla, and had greatly
distinguished himself. His position resembled that in which
the most formidable terrorists and Septembriseurs found them-
selves after the 18 th of Brumaire, under the consular govern-
ment in France. Many of those who have indulged in all
excesses in a fearful civil war, Hud. it afterwards impossible
to abstain from bloodshed, even when they have nothing to
gain by it. If we suppose that Catiline had any definite object
in view, which he meant to attain by his crimes, it is very
difficult to say in what it consisted ; but if the crimes themselves
were his object, we can understand his character. To compre-
hend the occurrences of this time, it is essential to form a clear
notion of the immensely disordered condition of Rome. There
never was a country in such a state of complete anarchy: the
condition of Athens during its anarchy, of which people talk
so much, bears no comparison with that of Rome. The anarchy
of Athens assumed a definite form; it occurred in a small re-
public, and was quite a different thing altogether. Rome, on
the other hand, or rather some hundreds, say even a few thou-
sands, of her citizens, who recognised neither law nor order,
had the sway over nearly the whole of the known world, and
pursued only their personal objects in all directions. The re-
public was a mere name, and the laws had lost their power.
There were laws, to mention one instance, which, under a
heavy penalty, forbade bribing the electors, and their severity
14 Dion C⅛3. xx-<vii. 30. Compare Salhi4f, Catil. 22.