ors in Rome brought about their
own destruction. Some deputies from the Allobroges, who had been sent to
Rome to obtain redress for certain grievances, were approached by P.
Lentulus Sura, the chief of the conspirators, who endeavoured to induce
them to join him. After considerable hesitation, the deputies decided to
turn informers. The plot was betrayed to Cicero, at whose instigation
documentary evidence was obtained, implicating Lentulus and others. They
were arrested, proved guilty, and on the 5th of December condemned to
death and strangled in the underground dungeon on the slope of the
Capitol. This act, which was opposed by Julius Caesar and advocated by
Cato Uticensis (and, indirectly, by Cicero), was afterwards vigorously
attacked as a violation of the constitution, on the ground that the
senate had no power of life and death over a Roman citizen. Thus a heavy
blow was dealt to the cause of Catiline, who, in the beginning of 62,
saw his legions, only partially armed and diminished by desertion, shut
in between those of Metellus Celer and C. Antonius. Near Pistoria he
hazarded battle with the forces of the latter, but was completely
defeated in a desperate encounter. He himself, fighting with the utmost
bravery, rushed into the ranks of the enemy and met his death.

Such was the conspiracy of Catiline and the character of its author, as
we find them in the speeches of Cicero, and the histories of Sallust and
Dio Cassius (see also Plutarch, _Cicero_; Vell. Pat. ii. 35; Florus iv.
1; Appian, _B.C._ ii. 6; Eutropius vi. 15). It must not be forgotten,
however, that our authorities were all members of the aristocratic
party. Some of the incidents given as facts by Dio Cassius are manifest
absurdities; and Cicero paid more regard to the effect than to the
truthfulness of an accusation. We find him at one time admitting that
Catiline had almost persuaded him of his honesty and merit, and even
seeking a political union with him; at another, when his alliance had
been rejected and an election was at hand, declaiming against him as a
murderer and a profligate. Lastly, though Sallust's vivid narrative is
consistent throughout, it is obvious that he cherished very bitter
feelings against the democratic party. Nevertheless, we cannot regard
Catiline as an honest enemy of the oligarchy, or as a disinterested
champion of the provincials. It is held by some historians that there
was at the time on the part of many of the Roman n