Latin
1.42
Greek and Roman Historians, The Conspiracy of Catiline 1.42
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Envoys from the Allobroges, a tribe of Narbonese Gaul, had recently arrived in Italy to seek redress against Roman misrule and the depredations of the Italian financiers. At the request of Lentulus, a certain Umbrenus who had been engaged on business in Gaul approached the envoys with the proposal that if they supported the conspiracy their grievances would be remedied. After the initial approach Publius Gabinius Capito, a leading conspirator of equestrian ran, was introduced to them and details of the conspiracy and the names of those involved were given to them. The envoys, however, had more good sense than the conspirators and decided that the dangers of the bargain outweighed its benefits. They therefore made a detailed exposure of the negotiations to Quintus Fabius Sanga, whose family were the tribe's hereditary patrons. He promptly informed Cicero of all that they had told him and, acting on the consul's instructions, returned to the envoys and told them to pretend to continue their negotiations with the conspirators. They were to get into touch with the other ringleaders, to promise the help for which they had been asked and to exact written promises from Lentulus, Cethegus, Statilius and Cassius. The first three complied, but Cassius, more wary than his colleagues, replied that he was going to Gaul in the near future and left Rome without delay. Late on the evening of the 2nd of December the Gauls, accompanied by Titus Volturcius, left the city carrying with them the incriminating documents. Volturcius, left the city to lead them to Catiline, for whom he carried a personal message from Lentulus. As soon as he heard from the envoys the details of their plans, Cicero summoned Lucius Valerius Flaccus and Gaius Pomptinus, two of the praetors and both men of wide military experience. He ordered them to take an armed force to the Mulvian bridge by which the via Flaminia crosses the Tiber two miles north of Rome. There they were to lie in wait for the party and arrest them as they passed. In the early hours of the 3rd of December the envoys' party reached the bridge and after a brief battle surrendered to the praetors.