How to Stop a Conspiracy

An Ancient Guide to Saving a Republic

Sallust, Josiah Osgood

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English

Princeton University Pres
01 September 2022

Social & political philosophy; Latin

Series: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers

In 63 BC, frustrated by his failure to be elected leader of the Roman Republic, the aristocrat Catiline tried to topple its elected government. Backed by corrupt elites and poor, alienated Romans, he fled Rome while his associates plotted to burn the city and murder its leading politicians. The attempted coup culminated with the unmasking of the conspirators in the Senate, a stormy debate that led to their execution, and the defeat of Catiline and his legions in battle. In How to Stop a Conspiracy, Josiah Osgood presents a brisk, modern new translation of the definitive account of these events, Sallust’s TheWar with Catiline—a brief, powerful book that has influenced how generations of readers, including America’s founders, have thought about coups and political conspiracies.

In a taut, jaw-dropping narrative, Sallust pleasurably combines juicy details about Catiline and his louche associates with highly quotable moral judgments and a wrenching description of the widespread social misery they exploited. Along the way, we get unforgettable portraits of the bitter and haunted Catiline, who was sympathetic to the plight of Romans yet willing to destroy Rome; his archenemy Cicero, who thwarts the conspiracy; and Julius Caesar, who defends the conspirators and is accused of being one of them.

Complete with an introduction that discusses how The War with Catiline has shaped and continues to shape our understanding of how republics live and die, and featuring the original Latin on facing pages, this volume makes Sallust’s gripping history more accessible than ever before.

By: Sallust
Translated with commentary by: Josiah Osgood
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 171mm, Width: 114mm,
ISBN: 9780691212364
ISBN 10: 0691212368
Series: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 01 September 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Josiah Osgood is professor and chair of classics at Georgetown University and the author of many books on Roman history, including How to Be a Bad Emperor: An Ancient Guide to Truly Terrible Leaders (Princeton). He lives in Washington, DC.

Reviews for How to Stop a Conspiracy: An Ancient Guide to Saving a Republic

An awesome book about the Catiline conspiracy. ---Rep. Jamie Raskin, Axios [A] cautionary warning for our own volatile and perilous political moment. ... Osgood's clear, engaging translation of Sallust's The War Against Catiline brings vital aid from the past to the present. ---Emily Katz Anhalt, Arts Fuse