That such a man should have been able to offer himself at
all, and that such a person as Cicero should have entered into any kind of
amicable relations with him, was a sign by itself that the Commonwealth
was already sickening for death.
Catiline was surrounded by men of high birth, whose fortunes were
desperate as his own. There was Lentulus, who had been consul a few years
before, and had been expelled from the Senate by the censors. There was
Cethegus, staggering under a mountain of debts. There was Autronius, who
had been unseated for bribery when chosen consul in 65. There was Manlius,
once a distinguished officer in Sylla's army, and now a beggar. Besides
these were a number of senators, knights, gentlemen, and dissolute young
patricians, whose theory of the world was that it had been created for
them to take their pleasure in, and who found their pleasures shortened by
emptiness of purse. To them, as to their betters, the Empire was but a
large dish out of which they considered that they had a right to feed
themselves. They were defrauded of their proper share, and Catiline was
the person who would help them to it.
Etruria was full of Sylla's disbanded soldiers, who had squandered their
allotments, and were hanging about, unoccupied and starving. Catiline sent
down Manlius, their old officer, to collect as many as he could of them
without attracting notice.
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