THE CRISIS OF CATILINE ROME, 63 BCE GAME BOOKLET Bret Mulligan VERSION 3.4.3 (August 2017) THIS MANUSCRIPT IS CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT AS PART OF THE “REACTING TO THE PAST” INITIATIVE OFFERED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF BARNARD COLLEGE. Reacting to the Past™ and its materials are copyrighted. Instructors seeking to reproduce these materials for educational purposes must request permission via email to [email protected] and [email protected]. Permission requests should indicate the following: (1) Name of Instructor, Institution, and Course in which the materials will be used; (2) Number of copies to be reproduced; and (3) If the printed booklets will be distributed to students at no cost or at cost. For additional information about the “Reacting to the Past” Series, please visit http:// barnard.edu/reacting. Table of Contents Introduction 1 The Necessity of Action 2 Rome in 63 BCE 3 A Tense Night in Rome (Historical Vignette) 4 How to React to the Past 11 Your Speech 15 Historical Context 19 The Growth of Rome and its Empire 19 Rome’s Empire in the First Century BCE 22 The Crises of the Republic 24 A Note on the Crisis of 64-63 BCE 34 Roles & Factions 35 Roles by Faction 37 Non-Voting Roles 37 Album Senatorum 38 Public Biographies 39 Rules & Traditions of the Roman Senate 45 Special Actions and Gambits 48 Map of Roman Italy 51 List of Primary Sources 52 Cicero — First Oration Against Catiline (In Catilinam I) 54 Appendix 1: Glossary of Roman Terms 61 Appendix 2: History of the Senatus Consultum Ultimum 63 Appendix 3: Roman Virtues 65 Appendix 4: Sample Speech (Capito’s Full Speech from “A Tense Night”) 68 Acknowledgements 72 !1 It is the year when Marcus Tullius Cicero and Gaius Antonius Hybrida are consuls. Will the Republic live to see another? Introduction Rome, 63 BCE: a tumultuous year of urban and rural unrest, economic instability, sensational trials, and electoral misconduct. You are a Roman senator. Can you save the Republic…and yourself? At the center of the crisis stands Lucius Sergius Catilina or Catiline, a charismatic (and scandal- plagued) nobleman. Last year Catiline lost an election for the consulship, the highest office in Rome, to Marcus Tullius Cicero, a brilliant orator, canny politician, and “new man” (novus homo) — the first member of his family to reach the pinnacle of Roman politics. Now that Catiline has again failed in his quest for the consulship, rumors swirl that he and his followers plot assassinations and arson in Rome, while raising an army in the north. Are the rumors true — is Catiline conspiring to lead a revolution? Or have Catiline’s enemies conspired to thwart desperately needed social and economic reforms by slandering Catiline and his followers? Dissatisfaction with the current system has made Catiline popular among the urban and rural poor, as well as among many disaffected members of the nobility who have seen their careers thwarted by the wealthy and insular clique that dominates Roman politics. During the most recent campaign, Catiline proposed significant (some would say radical) reforms to address the hardships facing the poor Roman citizens, whose livelihoods had been undermined by the social and economic changes that accompanied Rome’s emergence as a commercial and military superpower. Fear of Catiline led the entrenched elites to swing their support to an unlikely champion: Cicero, the son of a well-off businessman from the small town of Arpinum, 60 miles southeast of Rome. Cicero and some of Rome’s conservative leaders acknowledge that incremental reform is necessary but they also believe that Catiline’s reckless promises and rumored threats of violence pose a threat to public order. There are other senators who are unsure about whether Catiline or Cicero can be trusted to set a secure and prosperous course for Rome. Severe economic turmoil contributed to the unstable conditions that threaten Rome in 63 BCE. But The Crisis of Catiline requires you to act to solve a political crisis. This game poses essential questions about political action and the relationship between the individual and the state. What constrains those in power or those seeking power? What can undermine the legitimacy of a state or, conversely, permit the state or a person acting on its behalf to curtail or even eliminate the traditional prerogatives and legal rights of a citizen or a group of citizens? Ultimately, the Crisis of Catiline asks whether the preservation of civil order justifies the use of force against threatening (but not yet violent) citizens, and who has the power to decide when that point of crisis has been reached. The Crisis of Catiline begins on November 8th, 63 BCE. The Roman senators who assembled in the fortified Temple of Jupiter Stator have just heard Cicero denounce Catiline in his First Oration Against Catiline (included in this booklet). Still Catiline sits in the Senate. Then he stands and delivers a blistering speech reminding the assembled senators of the achievements of his illustrious !2 family, while Cicero, his tormentor, is a mere novus homo, the first man of his family to hold the consulship. Who, Catiline asks, could believe that he, a true Roman of Rome, poses a threat to the city while Cicero, an immigrant, barely even a citizen, could be its savior? Catiline declares that Cicero will not drive him from Rome, his home, where he was born. After Catiline sits, all eyes turn to Quintus Lutatius Catulus, the elderly “first man of the Senate,” the princeps senatus, who guards the traditions of the Roman Senate. Catulus is known to despise Catiline’s politics; but, like so many senators, he cannot help but like the man. When Catulus signals his support for continued debate, Cicero agrees to seek the Senate’s advice when they reconvene in the morning. And thus begins the contest over the fates of Catiline, Cicero — and perhaps the Roman Republic itself. As a senator, your goal — whether you support Catiline, oppose him, or are undecided about which path to take (or even have your own agenda) — is to lead Rome out of this crisis by persuading the Senate to adopt a decree consistent with the goals of your character or faction. You will do this by persuading your fellow senators through a short speech that proposes a solution to the crisis that confronts Rome — or by supporting or condemning the proposal made by another senator. What course of action will Catiline and his supporters take? And what will other Romans do about (or to) Catiline and his supporters? Crafting a persuasive speech will require you to reflect on how Rome came to this point of crisis. You will also have to consider the viewpoints of your friends and enemies, which you can discover by listening carefully to their speeches and speaking with them outside of the Senate. Some Romans will oppose your opinions to their dying breath — but others are persuadable by the right argument, if it is well-presented. The fate of Rome (and quite possibly your own life) is in your hands. Take care, Roman, that you prosper! The Necessity of Action If the Senate is unable to approve a new decree by the conclusion of this debate, then the confusion of the current political crisis will be compounded and events will spin out of control in unpredictable ways. In the absence of a new decree, Cicero may act on the existing decree at any moment. This state of affairs is untenable to the senators who support Catiline and to many other senators who fear unchecked senatorial power. Since failing to confirm the “Final Decree” could (further) delegitimize it in the eyes of many Romans and call into question the legality of any action taken under its auspices, Cicero and his supporters have every incentive to pass a decree that confirms their authority. In short, (almost) all senators have a vested interest that the Senate take some action. Rome in 63 BCE Aqua Marcia Aqua Anio Vetus Via Flaminia Via Aqua Appia Via Appia Via Ostiensis ! !4 A Tense Night in Rome (Historical Vignette) Six days before the Ides of November, early evening Gaius Sallustius Crispus shook his empty cup. A young Greek slave rushed over, refilled the cup with sweet Rhaetic wine from an ornate silver pitcher, and then retreated to the corner of the couch- lined dining room. Sallust had arrived late for dinner with scarcely an excuse. But you could overlook etiquette on a day like today. “What do you think will happen, Sallust?” Sallust grimaced. He had been born in the nearby Sabine countryside just over twenty years ago. But a few years of hard living in Rome made him seem older. Sallust showed such promise as a writer. He might still make a mark — if if only he would abandon his current pastimes of dicing, drinking, and dancing girls. Sadly, he was not be the first Roman to toss away a promising career and bring dishonor to his family. Not in times like these. Sallust began, “History teaches us that the events of revolution are ‘many and terrible, such as have occurred and always will occur, as long as the nature of mankind remains the same.’ Slaughter is inevitable once a state has fallen into crisis, ‘a rough master that brings men’s characters to a level with their fortunes.’” Sallust, it seemed, was re-reading Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. “... Murder and treachery and crime. The plots. The threats. Manlius is said to be raising an army in the north. Or at least that’s what Cicero claims. I don’t know if I believe him.