So he went to work and got together in Rome a body of men as discontented and almost as nobly born as himself, and in the country north of Rome an army of rebels, and began his operations with very little secrecy.

In all the story the most remarkable feature is the openness with which many of the details of the conspiracy were carried on.

The existence of the rebel army was known; it was known that Catiline was the leader; the causes of his disaffection were known; his comrades in guilt were known When any special act was intended, such as might be the murder of the Consul or the firing of the city, secret plots were concocted in abundance.

But the grand fact of a wide-spread conspiracy could go naked in Rome, and not even a Cicero dare to meddle with it.
[Sidenote: B.C.63, aetat.

44.] As to this second conspiracy, the conspiracy with which Sallust and Cicero have made us so well acquainted, there is no sufficient ground for asserting that Caesar was concerned in it.[194] That he was greatly concerned in the treatment of the conspirators there is no doubt.