Classics and Latin Studies
Who was Catiline?
Lucius Sergius Catilina (108-62 BCE), commonly referred to by his cognomen as “Catiline,” was a high-born Roman politician. Unobtrusively successful during the early phase of his career (the cursus honorum), he repeatedly failed in his bid for Rome’s highest office, the consulship.
Not much is known about Catiline, as our primary sources are the speeches and letters by the Roman orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43) and The Catilinarian Conspiracy by the Roman historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus (86-34).
What lessons can be learned from studying The Catiline Conspiracy?
Photo by By Sallust - Houghton Library
Program Overview
Lucius Sergius Catilina (108-62 BCE), commonly referred to by his cognomen as “Catiline,” was a high-born Roman politician. Unobtrusively successful during the early phase of his career (the cursus honorum), he repeatedly failed in his bid for Rome’s highest office, the consulship.
Not much is known about Catiline, as our primary sources are the speeches and letters by the Roman orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43) and The Catilinarian Conspiracy by the Roman historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus (86-34).
What lessons can be learned from studying The Catiline Conspiracy?
Eureka Alumni from this program have received admission offers to Stanford University, Yale University, University of Chicago, Amherst College, Brown University, Columbia University, and other top US universities.
Alumni from this program have gone off to pursue majors in Economics, English Literature, and Applied Mathematics.
The research experience and skills students receive at the Eureka Program have helped students win prestigious awards like the Gold Key for Writing at the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards and US National Merit Scholarship. Many alumni from this program have received top awards like Scholastic Art & Writing National Awards, S.T. Yau High School Science Awards, U.S. Presidential Scholars Awards, and many others.
Many students from this program are also very engaged in their communities, sharing in volunteering activities and starting non-profit organizations to help the community. During COVID-19, several students have started organizations to help obtain and distribute health supplies.
The below sections will provide more insight into the students that have attended this program and share their experiences and successes.
College Admission Results
Attended Eureka
2020 Summer
High School Name
Kent School
Admission Offer Received
• Harvard University
• Princeton University
• Stanford University
Eureka Research Title
The Problem with ‘Accurate’ History: Complexity within Sallust’s Bellum Catilinae
Attended Eureka
2020 Summer
High School Name
St. Paul's School
Admission Offer Received
• Yale University
Eureka Research Title
Investigating the Impact of Museums on Indigenous Health and Wellbeing
Attended Eureka
2020 Summer
High School Name
The Hockaday School
Admission Offer Received
• (ED) University of Chicago
Eureka Research Title
How does Apocalyptic media (literature, movie, and maybe video games) inspired by 9/11 compare to ancient apocalyptic?
Lucius Sergius Catilina “Catiline” was a high-born Roman politician. Successful early in his career, he repeatedly failed in his bid for Rome’s highest office, the consulship. He has hatched up a conspiracy, which led to his incrimination. Who was he? Our primary sources are the speeches and letters by the orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero and the historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus. Both shared bias but differed in kind; both knew how to construct a persona that fit their prospective narratives. Throughout this workshop, we will find out who this man was. Also, we may reconstruct what he was made to be.
Prerequisites
Students interested in taking this course should have an avid interest in Classics studies and must be able to read Latin. Students are required to complete a Latin Assessment during the application process.
Workshop Expectations
All students in this workshop will conduct original research. With the support from the professor, students will:
-
Learn how to analyze text by reviewing questions of grammar and syntax, rhetorical terms, and historical context.
-
Have improved understanding of Ciceronian and Sallustian Latin
-
Have a better sense of rhetorical systems and some of their implications
-
Learn how to formulate original research questions, develop a hypothesis, design a study, collect and analyze data
-
Complete an individualized research project resulting in a deliverable
Sample Research Topics
-
Cicero’s Catiline outside of the Catilinarian Orations: a portrait.
-
Topics of invective across the four Catilinarian Orations.
-
Cicero’s Catiline in the Sallust’s Catilinarian Conspiracy.
-
Catiline and the elusiveness of the past.
-
Sallust’s Rome in the Bellum Catilinae: A “Makros Anthropos”
-
How location adds to Cicero’s rhetoric in the Catilinarians
-
Catiline’s sister? Sempronia is in Sallust
Past Students' Research Projects
