L. Sergius Catilina (106 to 62 BC), or Catiline, who eventually led a failed revolt against the Roman Republic, embodied the virtues and vices of members of his class and generation. Catiline was neither a villain as depicted by Cicero or Sallust, nor a principled popularis (someone who advanced popular causes opposed by the elite) portrayed by some historians. Nor was he a puppet of more prominent figures such as Crassus or Caesar or a bogeyman of Cicero’s imagination. In short, Catiline was one of the Sullani (a follower of Sulla); Catiline was a conservative who was as ambitious as Sulla, but not as lucky. Catiline’s oldest political supporter was the princeps senatus (leader of the senate) Q. Lutatius Catulus
