Villain or Hero: Sallust's Portrayal of Catiline

by Ann Thomas Wilkins

In the Bellum Catilinae Sallust portrays Catiline in a variety of ways. The result is that the protagonist emerges as a balanced individual, not as the villain that Cicero presents. The explication of Catiline's character is of paramount interest to Sallust, who desires to evoke the moral climate that could produce people like Catiline and his co-conspirators - figures who, despite their revolutionary tendencies, are nonetheless products of training in the old Roman virtues. Furthermore, it is possible that Sallust - aware of the parallels between himself and Catiline in terms of political careers, aspirations, and moral weaknesses - chose the attempted conspiracy of 63 BCE as his topic in part because of his interest in analyzing the social, moral, and political climate in which both he and Catiline were immersed.

171 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1994

Reviews

[Mahaley Wise · Rating 2 out of 5]

good for study review, not much else