During 63-62 BC a populist uprising took place in Rome, instigated by Lucius Sergius Catilina, better known as Catiline. The famous orator and statesman Cicero happened to be one of the two consuls in that period. The crisis threatened to destabilize the entire Empire; still the Senate was hesitant how to handle the insurrection. That came to an end with the public execution of five prominent co-conspirators on the Forum; Cicero had been instrumental in reaching that decision. Next year Catiline was killed in a battle and order was restored. Cicero however had to be put on trial since Roman Law specifically forbade extrajudicial capital punishment.
Cicero played it safe and stayed outside of the city in one of his villas near the Adriatic Sea. He only returned after a messenger delivered the good news: the judge had ruled in his favor.
Following the verdict, rumors were circulating among Rome’s proletariat and their patrician sympathizers that the rich Cicero had bribed the poor judge. Cicero shrugged it off, “That judge is not poor at all. Now after the trial he is exactly as rich as I was before the trial.”
Cicero played it safe and stayed outside of the city in one of his villas near the Adriatic Sea. He only returned after a messenger delivered the good news: the judge had ruled in his favor.
Following the verdict, rumors were circulating among Rome’s proletariat and their patrician sympathizers that the rich Cicero had bribed the poor judge. Cicero shrugged it off, “That judge is not poor at all. Now after the trial he is exactly as rich as I was before the trial.”
