Catiline

orig. Lucius Sergius Catilina

(born c. 108—died 62 BC, Pistoria, Etruria [Italy]) Roman aristocrat turned demagogue who sought to overthrow the republic. He was first suspected of conspiracy in 65, after which he sought to be elected consul. Failing twice, he planned a coup, known as Catiline's conspiracy (63), assembling an army outside Rome from his supporters among the alienated and discontented elements of society. Cicero, then consul, learned of the conspiracy; with Senate approval, he caught and executed a group of the plotters in Rome, and later sent the army to defeat and kill Catiline in northern Italy (62).

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