Mattingly Messina: Figurative Analysis of the Seventh Section of Cicero's Oration Against Catiline

Cicero’s First Oration Against Catiline employs figurative language to, ultimately, convince the Roman Senate of Catiline’s attempt to overthrow the republic; in the oration’s seventh section, however, certain figures of speech are used to forcefully place Cicero in an almost gleeful position of power over the accused.

            As he foreshadows his ability to stop Catiline at every turn, Cicero gives the darkness of night a certain personification, asking the accused what’s left to do “if night is not able to veil your nefarious meetings in darkness, and if private houses cannot conceal the voice of your conspiracy within their walls.” Here, we begin to see the themes of light and darkness playing off of one another for the rest of the seventh section; Cicero is determined to humiliate Catiline in front of the Senate by proving he is omniscient, in a way.

            An extended metaphor begins as Cicero describes Catiline’s position of being “hemmed in” on multiple occasions; we see that Catiline, in Cicero’s eyes, is a malleable object of possession in an increasingly personal vendetta – which underscores some of the criticisms about the accuracy of Cicero’s claims against Catiline. The personal nature of this oration is bolstered by numerous examples of anaphoric repetition, giving Cicero the appearance of someone who will stop at nothing to humiliate his opponent. There is a patronizing nature to the anaphoric language: “…not only in so important, so atrocious, so incredible…”; “…by my order, by my garrison, by my watchfulness and care…”; “You do nothing, you plan nothing, you think of nothing…which I not only do not hear, but which I do not see and know…”

            Now that it has become relatively clear that Cicero’s vindictive nature has overtaken much of his oration, we’re more easily able to see other figures of speech that are employed to this end. Using a synecdoche and mocking Catiline for being “unable to stir one finger against the republic,” Cicero is projecting Catiline’s failures on the government as a whole, and not merely the individuals he allegedly planned on targeting; again, this is to make Catiline feel smaller than Cicero in the moment.

 As the seventh section of the oration nears to a close, the grandiose nature of Cicero’s speech increases. He highlights the irony of Catiline’s ineptitude by explaining to him, in patronizing detail, that he had anticipated everyone of Catiline’s moves and had prevented him from attacking a particular colony and causing damage to the government. Finally, Cicero engages in angry hyperbole to dismiss Catiline’s entire efforts – strangely lending some sympathy to the person he is attempting to rhetorically annihilate. The hyperbole lies within the final section of anaphoric language, as Cicero essentially says that there is not a single thing Catiline can do without his knowledge. Although this oration is intended to prove Catiline’s guilt in his plot to overthrow the Roman government, this particular section – through the use of highly figurative language – is much more personal, caustic, and emotionally charged. It is no longer a political speech, but rather a deeply intimate attempt to show one’s dominance over another human being.