orig. Lucius Sergius Catilina
born 0441; 108
died 62 BC, Pistoria, Etruria [Italy]
Roman aristocrat turned demagogue who sought to overthrow the republic.
He was first suspected of conspiracy in 65, after which he sought to be elected consul . Failing twice, he planned a coup, known as Catiline's conspiracy (63), assembling an army outside Rome from his supporters among the alienated and discontented elements of society. Cicero , then consul, learned of the conspiracy; with Senate approval, he caught and executed a group of the plotters in Rome, and later sent the army to defeat and kill Catiline in northern Italy (62).