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Sallust On Catiline


Germanicus

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I just read The Conspiracy of Cataline by Sallust, which I found highly enjoyable.

 

Considering he was a partisan of Caesar, and that it was written after the assasination, I thought there might be more in the way of anti-boni sentiment, but found little. Caesars speech and Catos following it were both good, and I really felt an eye witness at times.

 

I'm interested to know how he's now treated as a source on the events, as opposed to Cicero say, who I haven't read.

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I think the main beefs with Sallust are his rather pedantic obsession with 'good' use of language. Hence he is not above changing the words that people said for better ones (though he keeps the meaning the same). There is also a suggestion that he supresses certain speeches to amke his work more dramatic. Obviously, he's rather pro-Caesar and anti-Cicero/Cato too.

 

The above is slightly off the top of my head. I'll be able to give some specific references tomorrow.

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I didn't find him too anti-Cato at all, he even waxes on about what a fine and respected Roman he was.....in truth I was a little dissappointed, as a Caesarean I was hoping he'd have the knives out.

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The concensus seems to be that Sallust tinkered with Cato's speech more than he did Caesar's. He omits Cato's flattering commendations of Cicero for instance. Hutchinson's The Conspiracy of Catiline is good on this sort of thing (though it's about forty years old so hardly constitutes the cutting edge of modern views on the conspiracy itself).

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  • 2 weeks later...
The partisans of Caesar on this forum are far more anti-Cato than the partisans of Caesar on the Roman forum.

HAHAHA, you mean the ancients didn't think of him as a useless sack of s**t in dire need of a nose job?

 

Nope--they fell all over each other praising him for his perspicacity when it turned out he was right about your beloved darling of Venus.

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