Sallust was a historian who lived from 86 B.C. until 35 B.C. He at one time was a politician in the Roman Senate until he gave up on politics and returned to writing history. He wrote The Conspiracy of Catiline to describe the specific causes that led to the rise of the Roman Republic and the causes that led to its demise. The text contains descriptions about how the city of Rome was founded, as well as its rise to power and expansion through conquest, which eventually brought about the conditions that eventually poisoned the Republic. There are some causes that the rise and fall of the Republic have in common, but the others which are different. Corruption in the government and gained fortune through conquest both were main causes for the…show more content… Sallust explained just how highly people valued virtue, "Justice and righteousness were upheld not so much by law as by natural instinct." (180 – 181). People in the military cared only for glory and honor, as Sallust explained, "To win honour they competed eagerly among themselves, each man seeking the first opportunity to cut down an enemy or scale a rampart before his comrades' eyes." (180). He also included the reason why this was so important, "It was by such exploits that they thought a man could win true wealth – good repute and high nobility". This shows that the Roman people thought that glory and honor were far more important than having financial wealth. The citizens who were not in the military also considered honor to be highly valuable, "between themselves the citizens contended only for honour. In making offerings to the gods they spared no expense; at home they lived frugally and never betrayed a friend." (181). Virtue, as important it was to the Romans, was definitely a cause for the rise of the Republic, since the citizens and military members were honest and worked together, which makes societies stronger and more unified. If the people had been hurting each other for their own personal gain, this would have only hurt the Republic, leading to the failure of Roman
