Catiline His Conspiracy

Catiline His Conspiracy is a Jacobean tragedy written by Ben Jonson. It is one of the two Roman tragedies that Jonson hoped would cement his dramatic achievement and reputation, the other being "Sejanus His Fall" (1603).

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As its title indicates, the play recounts the story of Lucius Sergius Catilina, anglicized to Catiline, the Roman politician and conspirator of the first century B.C.

Jonson was not the first playwright of his era to dramatize the story of Catiline. Stephen Gosson wrote a version called "Catiline's Conspiracies," which was acted by Leicester's Men at The Theatre in 1579. A "Catiline" (either Gosson's or another play, author unknown) was acted at the home of William Cecil, 1st Lord Burghley on Jan. 16, 1588. In 1598 or 1599, the Diary of Philip Henslowe records an advance payment of 5 shillings to Henry Chettle, for a play titled "Catiline's Conspiracy"—though Chettle appears never to have completed writing it. [Chambers, Vol. 1, p. 222 n. 2; Vol. 2, pp. 163, 170, 394; Vol. 3, p. 372.]

That the play was not a popular success is indicated by Jonson's reproachful preface to the published edition. Thomas Rymer praised the play's subject matter but condemned Jonson's violations of decorum.

Catiline is also the subject of Henrik Ibsen's first play (1850).

Notes

References

*Chambers, E. K. "The Elizabethan Stage." 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923.
*Halliday, F. E. "A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964." Baltimore, Penguin, 1964.