an, which was
infested by pirates, having added greatly to his reputation, the
tribunes of the people hoped it would be easy to advance their
favourite still higher. 6. Man'lius, therefore, one of the number,
preferred a law, that all the armies of the empire, the government of
Asia, and the management of the war which was renewed against
Mithrida'tes, should be committed to Pompey alone. The law passed,
with little opposition, and the decree was confirmed.

7. Being thus appointed to the command of that important war, he
departed for Asia. 8. Mithrida'tes had been obliged by Lucul'lus to
take refuge in Lesser Armenia, and thither that general was preparing
to follow him, when his whole army abandoned him; so that it remained
for Pompey to terminate the war, which he effected with great ease and
expedition, adding a large extent of dominion to the Roman empire, and
returning to Rome in triumph at the head of his conquering army.

9. But the victories of Pompey rather served to heighten the glory
than to increase the power of Rome; they made it more a glaring object
of ambition, and exposed its liberties to greater danger. Those
liberties, indeed, seemed devoted to ruin on every side; for, even
while he was pursuing his conquests abroad, Rome was at the verge of
ruin from a conspiracy at home. 10. This conspiracy was projected and
carried on by Ser'gius Cat'iline, a patrician by birth, who resolved
to build his own power on the downfall of his country. 11. He was
singularly formed, both by art and nature, to conduct a conspiracy: he
was possessed of courage equal to the most desperate attempts, and of
eloquence to give a colour to his ambition: ruined in his
fortunes, profligate in his manners, vigilant in pursuing his aims, he
was insatiable after wealth, only with a view to lavish it on his
guilty pleasures. 12. Cat'iline having contracted debts in consequence
of such an ill-spent life, was resolved to extricate himself from them
by any means, however unlawful. Accordingly, he assembled about thirty
of his debauched associates, and informed them of his aims, his hopes,
and his settled plans of operations. 13. It was resolved among them,
that a general insurrection should be raised throughout Italy, the
different parts of which he assigned to different leaders. Rome was to
be fired at several places at once; and Cat'iline, at the head of an
army raised in Etru'ria, was, in the general confusion, to possess
himself of