Senators, now is the time to act and put the Senatus Consultum Ultimum into effect.

We

cannot sit idly by when Catiline corrupts the virtue of the Roman Republic. I will not let him

take down this republic with his actions. By not acting on the Senatus Consultum Ultimum, you

are ignoring your duties to uphold the law. No matter what the status of Catiline is, he abused his

power. There should be no tolerance for the abuse of power especially when the abuse of power

affects the Republic and those in it. I have a stubborn adherence to the right and I will not

tolerate Catiline’s abuse of his power.(Reference to Character sheet) He should be punished for

his actions. Cicero during his speech against Catiline mentions, “...there is not one man of those

here present who is ignorant that you, on the last day of the year, when Lepidus and Tullus were

consuls, stood in the assembly armed; that you had prepared your hand for the slaughter of the

consuls and chief men of the state, and that no reason or fears of yours hindered your crime and

madness, but the fortune of the republic?”(Cicero[1.15] 45-46) Catiline was plotting against the

other consuls, and he started to plan to kill them. Cicero did not even finish listing what Catiline

had done because we already know what he has done. If we do not act against him, we would do

a disservice to the Roman Republic. It would be blatantly ignoring the obvious betrayal of the

Roman Republic. The Senate needs to take action like when Tiberius used his power and

popularity for personal gain. While we are on the subject of Tiberius, “After this the agrarian law

was passed, and three men were chosen for the survey and distribution of the public land,

Tiberius himself, Appius Claudius his father-in-law, and Caius Gracchus his brother, who was

not at Rome, but was serving under Scipio in the expedition against Numantia. …”(Plut.,Ti

Gracc, 13). The Senate took matters into their own hands and took care of Tiberius because he

was clearly using his power and issues in Rome to his advantage. Although he claimed to be
helping the Roman citizens, he decided to put himself in charge of the council that divided up the

land. He was gaining more power and he was using the health of the Roman Republic as an

excuse to gain that power. The Senate was carrying out their duties when they killed Tiberius

since Tiberius abused his power. If Tiberius was punished for his abuse of power, then Catiline

definitely should be declared a public enemy. Cicero mentions , “ you alone unpunished and

unquestioned have murdered citizens, have harassed and plundered the allies; you alone have had

the power not only to neglect all laws and investigations, but to overthrow and break through

them”(Cicero [1.18], 46). Catiline is abusing his power by breaking the laws and using his power

to cover it up. He has put his personal gains above the well being of the Republic which is

condemnable on its own. Now only has he put himself above the Republic, but he has turned

against the republic. He has killed Rome’s innocent citizens. We should not let our fear of

Catiline disrupt the order in the Republic. Catiline needs to be taken care of in any way possible

before he continues to destroy the Republic from the inside out. Catiline is like a poisonous

snake1. His fangs have taken hold of the Republic and if we don’t do something about him soon,

the venom will destroy us. Just like Cicero said, “...you should be reduced to make attempts on

your own country as an exile, instead of being able to distress it as a consul”(Cicero [1.27],48).

We cannot let the snake2 remain as a consul or even as a citizen of Rome. By letting him remain

in Rome, we are giving him power to take the Republic down. Exile him before he corrupts it

more. His venom is slowly seeping through Rome, and the venom has already claimed a few

victims. There are conspirators with him that are also sinking their venomous fangs into the

Roman Republic3. His corruption is slithering its way into the consul, and we can see and hear

planning against Rome.Why should we tolerate a traitor? The Traitor is not to be trusted after

1 Simile:Comparing Catiline to a snake.

2 Antonomasia: I replace Catiline’s name with “the snake”
3 Anadiplosis: There is a rhetorical repetition of the word traitor
what they have done is made known4. We know what the traitor has done, so we should not let

him walk away freely when he has plotted against consuls and killed Romans. Like my uncle

Marcus Livius Drusus who tried to reconcile us with our Italian allies, I try to do what is best for

the republic over what is best for me. He died trying to do what was best for Rome which was to

try to bring us together with Italian allies through citizenship. As a member of the consul, you

should do what is best for the Republic even if it causes you physical harm. Catiline is doing just

the opposite. I will defend my position of reaffirming the Senatus Consultum Ultimum even if it

means that harm comes to me. I will not back down from my stance on this. People may use

Catiline’s family history as a defense to why he should not be held accountable for his actions. If

anything, that just makes him even more guilty. He has an image to uphold and laws to uphold,

but he destroyed both. Instead he used this status and position of power to corrupt the Republic.

Let’s look at his actions, not his status. Catiline and all his plotters need to be declared public

enemies, and they need a punishment. The punishment should be anything that protects the

Republic and keeps it safe. Let’s enact the Senatus Consultum Ultimum.

4Imagery: It is a picture of fangs biting into something