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From Outsider To Renowned Orator
- Cicero rose from a non-patrician family and used education and legal success to enter Roman politics.
- His prosecution of the corrupt Sicilian governor made his reputation and launched his career as an orator-statesman.
Catiline: Crisis, Drama, And Constitutional Risk
- Cicero framed the Catiline crisis as a military and political threat to the republic and used dramatic public evidence to mobilize the Senate.
- He then executed conspirators without trial, claiming emergency necessity, which won immediate praise but later provoked backlash.
When Public Security Breaches Civil Rights
- Executing Roman citizens without trial violated the right of provocatio and turned elite opinion decisively against Cicero.
- That legal breach forced him into voluntary exile and led to property confiscation and political humiliation.