A man named Catiline who ran against Cicero and lost, had plotted to take over and burn down Rome. He had a small army just north of the City made up of poor Romans who believed in what Catiline promised. Cicero had heard rumors and seen letters that alerted Cicero of the conspiracy against the Roman Empire. Cicero called Catiline to the senate, where Cicero denounced him and exposed of his ideas of terror against the Roman Empire. Cicero had worked closely with the government to catch and arrest some of the conspirators. Cicero held a senate meeting to determine what to do with the men they had arrested. Men like Julius Caesar had insisted that the men be sentenced to life in prison after a trial. Cicero disagreed and declared that they would…show more content… The quote applied mainly to the upper and middle classes because the lower classes were already in bondage. Even if the lower classes obeyed the law, they were not set free, instead, they were kept in repression by those who created the laws. Cicero, in this case made reference to an irony, that is, by subjecting to the law one will be set free. This quote is therefore a contradiction of the meaning of freedom because the law defines freedom. Freedom is the ability to be free and to make ones own choices. The lower classes that had to follow these laws had no voice in creating them and by following the law further imprisoned them. The Senate and consul were typically made up of successful aristocratic families that held control over Rome for many years. Roman politics were therefore highly biased because it only considered the rights of the upper class. By adhering to a set of laws, in which not all of society has a say in creating, the people who are the decision makers create laws that benefit their own selfs. The lower classes of Rome were forced to abide by the law, and normally were dejected and treated as though they were not people but slaves. Most citizens of Rome who were in bondage to the laws were in fact kept in bondage by the laws themselves. Cicero a man who was considered a great Roman and great political leader fits the identity of one of these aristocratic law makers. However