The Catiline Chronicles

-Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline) - born in 108 BC to an old patrician family.
   -Got into politics, worked overseas.
   -Got accused of banging a vestal virgin and abusing his power in Africa, and was possibly a shitty dude, but this is unclear.
   -Hated by Cicero, one of his political rivals.
-Marcus Tullius Cicero- a "novus homo", obsessed with philosophy.  From Arpinum, 100 km southeast of Rome.
   -Very conservative and staunch defender of the Senate as the main component of the Roman Republic.
   -Main dude behind introducing Greek philosophy into the Roman cultural consciousness.
      -Before this, Romans weren't very creative or innovative, and were only good at assimilation, adopting culture from others, and war.
-Catiline got into politics, but eventually lost power and was pissed off.  
   -In an earlier age, he probably would have just gotten over it and moved on, but because of the current political climate (the wars between Marius and Sulla, for example), Catiline decided to take power himself!
   -Began to conspire with other senators to overthrow the government.
      -This wasn't an ideological revolution, Catiline just wanted to be in power.
-Cicero found out about the plot and foiled it.
   -However, it's possible that he exaggerated it OR even just made it all up!  Maybe Cicero even wanted more power himself as well, especially since Pompey was returning to Rome, carrying with him much prestige, wealth, and power.
-Catiline was to be exiled, but he quickly fled to Etruria where one of his co-conspirators was secretly building an army to overthrow the Roman government.
   -They tried to enlist the help of some Gauls, but the Senate found out about this.  They were busted!
      -Cicero and Cato the Younger (tribune at the time) wanted Catiline and his cohorts to be executed, but Julius Caesar argued for them to just be exiled instead.
-Cicero won the argument, and the conspirators were sentenced to death.
   -Catiline and the conspirators tried to keep their army together, but there were mass desertions once they knew the game was up.
      -The conspirators and their army were soon on the run.
         -Finally caught by the legions and slaughtered.