He had made himself
popular by his profusion when aedile in providing shows for the mob. The
feeling against the Senate was so bitter that the aristocracy had no
chance of carrying a candidate of their own, and the competition was
reduced at last to Catiline, Antonius and Cicero. Antonius was certain of
his election, and the contest lay between Catiline and Cicero. Each of
them tried to gain the support of Antonius and his friends. Catiline
promised Antonius a revolution, in which they were to share the world
between them. Cicero promised his influence to obtain some lucrative
province for Antonius to misgovern. Catiline would probably have
succeeded, when the aristocracy, knowing what to expect if so scandalous a
pair came into office, threw their weight on Cicero's side and turned the
scale. Cicero was liked among the people for his prosecution of Verres,
for his support of the Manilian law, and for the boldness with which he
had exposed patrician delinquencies. With the Senate for him also, he was
returned at the head of the poll. The proud Roman nobility had selected a
self-made lawyer as their representative. Cicero was consul, and Antonius
with him. Catiline had failed. It was the turning-point of Cicero's life.
Before his consulship he had not irrevocably taken a side. No public
speaker had more eloquently shown the necessity for reform; no one had
denounced with keener sarcasm the infamies and follies of senatorial
favorites.
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