Quote·Ancient Rome·Late Roman Republic
Sallust on Catiline’s Ambition
"There was in his breast a great fire, ever burning." — Sallust describing Catiline in The Conspiracy of Catiline.
Panini — "Ancient Rome" (1757), public domain
The man with a burning heart.
In The Conspiracy of Catiline, Sallust painted Catiline as consumed by ambition. The quote comes from his introduction to the plotter, whose restless energy, he claimed, set the entire city on edge.
More than a villain.
Sallust wasn’t just making Catiline a scapegoat — he was warning of what happens when Rome’s politicians lose their anchors. The portrait is as psychological as political.
Sallust described Lucius Sergius Catilina as driven by a ferocious, almost unnatural passion — the kind that can ignite revolutions.
