The Battle of Pistoria ended the Catilinarian Conspiracy with Catiline's death, extinguishing the last armed threat to the Roman Republic from the plot.
Key Facts
- Date
- Early January 62 BC
- Catiline's force size
- Approximately 3,000 soldiers
- Roman commander
- Marcus Petreius (legate, standing in for Antonius)
- Conspiracy uncovered
- Early November 63 BC by Cicero
- Blocking force
- Three legions under Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer
- Outcome for Catiline
- Found dead far forward of his own lines
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Catiline's conspiracy against Rome's consuls was uncovered in November 63 BC. Denounced by Cicero and declared an enemy of the state along with Gaius Manlius, Catiline fled to Etruria. After the execution of the conspiracy's leaders in Rome, Catiline attempted to escape to Transalpine Gaul but was blocked by Metellus Celer's three legions, forcing him to turn back toward the army of Gaius Antonius Hybrida.
With Antonius incapacitated by gout, his legate Marcus Petreius took command and engaged Catiline's depleted force of roughly three thousand men. Catiline's troops initially held their ground, but Petreius deployed his praetorian cohort to shatter the Catilinarian centre. The line broke and the army was routed. Catiline was found dead deep within the Roman ranks, having pressed far forward of his own men.
Catiline's death at Pistoria brought the armed phase of the conspiracy to a definitive close. The Roman Republic had already suppressed the urban conspirators, and the battle eliminated the remaining military threat. The episode became a defining moment of Cicero's consulship and was immortalised in Sallust's historical account, shaping later Roman and Western understanding of internal political subversion.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Gaius Antonius Hybrida, Marcus Petreius, Publius Sestius.
Side B
1 belligerent
Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline).