On the Punishment of the Catiline Conspirators

Caius Julius Caesar (12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was the most famous Roman general and statesman in the late Roman Republic. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and subsequently became dictator from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

The oration On the Punishment of the Catiline Conspirators, that we propose today to our readers, was delivered by Julius Caesar in the Roman Senate in 63 B.C. and was reported by by Sallust. We propose the excellent English translation by John Selby Watson. Of this speech, the only one by Cæsar now extant, the British historian and essayist James Anthony Froude says «it was not an imaginary sketch of what Sallust supposed him likely to have said, but the version generally received of what he actually did say, and the most important passages of it are certainly authentic».