In his preface to this play Voltaire says: "The learned will not here meet with a faithful narrative of Catiline's conspiracy: a tragedy they very well know is not a history but they will see a true picture of the manners of those times: all that Cicero Catiline Cato and Caesar do in this piece is not true but their genius and character are faithfully represented: if we do not there discover the eloquence of Cicero we shall at least find displayed all that courage and virtue which he shows.