User:Lucius Sergius Catilina

Lucius Sergius Catilina (108–62 BC), better known in English as Catiline, was a Roman Patrician and politician, during the eras of Cicero and Julius Caesar. He is most often associated with Catilinian conspiracy, an attempt to overthrow the Roman Senate, and in particular the power of the aristocratic families who had ruled over the so-called Roman Republic for centuries. Catiline has been described as one of the most enigmatic figures of Roman history. As history is written by the victors, the true nature of Catiline may never be truly understood. For a good treatment of the history of Catiline, see this Wikipedia entry. For reasons lost in the mists of time, my family has always claimed decent from Catiline, and, while he met his fate with no legitimate heirs, other members of his family survived, so anything is possible.

I have found this quote from Cicero, one of his most bitter detractors, best describe my feeling about my possible ancestor:

''He had many things about him which served to allure men to the gratification of their passions; he had also many things which acted as incentives to industry and toil. The vices of lust raged in him; but at the same time he was conspicuous for great energy and military skill. Nor do I believe that there ever existed so strange a prodigy upon the earth, made up in such a manner of the most various, and different and inconsistent studies and desires. From Cicero's Pro Caelio''

In using this nom de plume, I hope to continue in the spirit of the rebellious but perhaps justified character of my ancestor, without any actual killing or overthrowing of governments.

The real me is a former Forensic Anthropologist and Archaeologist who worked in the American Southwest and Southeast. I retired some years ago and am now teaching science (Biology, Human Anatomy & Physiology, and Forensic Science) at a High School in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Anthropology and a Master of Arts in Biological Anthropology degree from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, New Mexico, after being a Faculty Scholar at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, working under the famous Mehmet Yasar Iscan.