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An energetic new translation of an ancient Roman masterpiece about
a failed coup led by a corrupt and charismatic politician In 63 BC,
frustrated by his failure to be elected leader of the Roman
Republic, the aristocrat Catiline tried to topple its elected
government. Backed by corrupt elites and poor, alienated Romans, he
fled Rome while his associates plotted to burn the city and murder
its leading politicians. The attempted coup culminated with the
unmasking of the conspirators in the Senate, a stormy debate that
led to their execution, and the defeat of Catiline and his legions
in battle. In How to Stop a Conspiracy, Josiah Osgood presents a
brisk, modern new translation of the definitive account of these
events, Sallust's The War with Catiline-a brief, powerful book that
has influenced how generations of readers, including America's
founders, have thought about coups and political conspiracies. In a
taut, jaw-dropping narrative, Sallust pleasurably combines juicy
details about Catiline and his louche associates with highly
quotable moral judgments and a wrenching description of the
widespread social misery they exploited. Along the way, we get
unforgettable portraits of the bitter and haunted Catiline, who was
sympathetic to the plight of Romans yet willing to destroy Rome;
his archenemy Cicero, who thwarts the conspiracy; and Julius
Caesar, who defends the conspirators and is accused of being one of
them. Complete with an introduction that discusses how The War with
Catiline has shaped and continues to shape our understanding of how
republics live and die, and featuring the original Latin on facing
pages, this volume makes Sallust's gripping history more accessible
than ever before.
Sallust, Gaius Sallustius Crispus (86-35 BCE), a Sabine from
Amiternum, acted as tribune against Cicero and Milo in 52, joined
Caesar after being expelled from the Senate in 50, was restored to
the Senate by Caesar and took part in his African campaign as
praetor in 46, and was then appointed governor of New Africa
(Numidia). Upon his return to Rome he narrowly escaped conviction
for malfeasance in office, retired from public life, and took up
historiography. Sallust's last work, the annalistic Histories in
five books, is much more expansive than his monographs on Catiline
and Jugurtha (LCL 116), treating the whole of Roman history at home
and abroad in the post-Sullan age. Although fragmentary, it
provides invaluable information and insight about a crucial period
of history spanning the period from 78 to around 67 BCE. Although
Sallust is decidedly unsubtle and partisan in analyzing people and
events, his works are important and significantly influenced later
historians, notably Tacitus. Taking Thucydides as his model but
building on Roman stylistic and rhetorical traditions, Sallust
achieved a distinctive style, concentrated and arresting; lively
characterizations, especially in the speeches; and skill at using
particular episodes to illustrate large general themes. For this
volume, which completes the Loeb Classical Library edition of
Sallust's works, John T. Ramsey has freshly edited the Histories
and the two pseudo-Sallustian Letters to Caesar, supplying ample
annotation.
Sallust, Gaius Sallustius Crispus (86-35 BCE), a Sabine from
Amiternum, acted against Cicero and Milo as tribune in 52, joined
Caesar after being expelled from the Senate in 50, was restored to
the Senate by Caesar and took part in his African campaign as
praetor in 46, and was then appointed governor of New Africa
(Numidia). Upon his return to Rome he narrowly escaped conviction
for malfeasance in office, retired from public life, and took up
historiography. Sallust's two extant monographs take as their theme
the moral and political decline of Rome, one on the conspiracy of
Catiline and the other on the war with Jugurtha. Although Sallust
is decidedly unsubtle and partisan in analyzing people and events,
his works are important and significantly influenced later
historians, notably Tacitus. Taking Thucydides as his model but
building on Roman stylistic and rhetorical traditions, Sallust
achieved a distinctive style, concentrated and arresting; lively
characterizations, especially in the speeches; and skill at using
particular episodes to illustrate large general themes. For this
edition, Rolfe's text and translation of the Catiline and Jugurtha
have been thoroughly revised in line with the most recent
scholarship.
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