Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 6 (armies, fleece, pestle, wonted, pikes, thundering…). Matches are highlighted.
relation of the Civil strife, For, in such war, the conquest still is black. The straights, and needs of Catiline being such, As he must fight, with one of the two Armies, That then had near enclosed him; It pleased Fate, To make us th'object of his desperate choice, Wherein the danger almost paiz'd the honour: And as he riss', the
Full speech
As well as victory can make him, Sir. He greets the Father's, and to me hath trusted The sad relation of the Civil strife, For, in such war, the conquest still is black. The straights, and needs of Catiline being such, As he must fight, with one of the two Armies, That then had near enclosed him; It pleased Fate, To make us th'object of his desperate choice, Wherein the danger almost paiz'd the honour: And as he riss', the day grew black with him; And Fate descended nearer to the earth, As if she meant to hide the name of things Unde her wings, and make the world her quarry. At this we roused, least one small minutes stay Had left it to be' inquired, what Room was. And (as we ought) armed in the confidence Of our great cause, in form of battle, stood. While Catiline came on, not with the face Of any man, but of a public ruin: His Countenance was a civil war it self. And all his host had standing in their looks The paleness of the death, that was to come. Yet cried they out Like Vultures, and urged on As if they would praecipitate our fates. Nor stayed we longer for them; But himself Struck the first stroke: And, with it, fled a life. Which cut, it seemed a narrow neck of land Had broke between two mighty Seas; and either Flowed into other; for so did the slaughter: And whirled about, as when two violent Tides Meet, and not yield. The Furies stood, on hills Circling the place, and trembled to see men Do more, then they: while Piety left the field, Grieved for that side, that, in so bade a cause, They knew not, what a crime their valour was. The Sun stood still, and was, behind the cloud The battle made, seen sweating, to driven up His frighted Horse, whom still the noise drove backward. And now had fierce Enyo, Like a flame, Consumed all it could reach, and then it self; Had not the Fortune of the Commonwealth Come Pallas -Like, to every Roman thought. Which Catiline seeing, and that now his Troops. Covered that earth, they' had fought on, with their trunks, Ambitious of great fame, to crown his ill, Collected all his fury, and ran in (Armed with a glory, high as his despair) Into our battle, Like a Lybian Lion, Upon his hunter's, scornful of our weapons, Careless of wounds, plucking down lives about him, Till he had circled in himself with death: Then fell he too, embrace it where it lay. And as, in that rebellion against the Gods, Minerva holding forth Medusa's head, One of the Giant Brothers felt himself Grow marble at the killing sighed, and now, Almost made stone, began t'inquire, what flint, What rock it was, that crept through all his limbs, And, ere he could think more, was that he feared; So Catiline, at the ight of Room in us, Became his Tomb: yet did his look retain Some of his fierceness, and his hands still moved, As if he laboured, yet, to grasp the State, With those rebellious parts.
Plot summary
Plot — Catiline His Conspiracy
Piqued at his rejection for a military command, Catiline has assembled a group of ambitious and malcontented men, and plans to take over the Roman state: some ~ are motivated by envy of those in authority, and by the prospect of wealth, power, and the opportunity for unlimited self-indulgence; another, Lentulus, believes that a prophecy has named him as a future ruler of Rome — an interpretation commissioned by Catiline himself. At a clandestine meeting, the conspirators drink blood to mark their commitment to the plot. Meanwhile Aurelia recruits a network of powerful women supporters. Curius visits his mistress Fulvia, whose resistance to his advances provokes a rape attempt. He excites her curiosity and she wheedles details of the conspiracy out of him. Catiline stands in the consular election, but is defeated by Cicero. When Cicero speaks of the need to protect the Roman state, Caesar and Crassus suspect that he may secure his position by manufacturing a threat for himself to overcome; they set the other consul, Antonius, to keep an eye on him, but Cicero turns him by bribery. Upset that Sempronia has been given pre-eminence in the conspiracy, Fulvia leaks to Cicero what she knows about it; Cicero confronts Curius with the information and recruits him as a double agent inside the plot. The conspirators plan to burn the city, having first assassinated Cicero; the plot is secretly backed by Crassus and Caesar. Curius sends Fulvia to warn Cicero of the attempt on his life, and he makes arrangements for his own security: the would-be killers are unable to gain access to his house. Alarmed at the prospect of civil unrest, people flee from Rome. Cicero exposes the plot in an extended address to the Senate. Catiline protests his innocence, but is forced out of the Senate, and leaves Rome to muster his forces. Lentulus has treated with the ambassadors of the Allobroges, a discontented neighbouring tribe seeking redress from the Senate. These dealings are relayed to Cicero, who persuades the Allobroges to procure letters from the conspirators, which will provide documentary evidence of the plot. When they leave Rome, the Allobroges are arrested as arranged, and deliver up the letters; their escort, Volturcius, offers information in exchange for his life. Seeing that the conspiracy is doomed, Crassus and Caesar quietly withdraw their support. Cicero presents his evidence to the Senate, but refuses to consider allegations implicating Caesar and Crassus. The…