In Toga Candida

In Toga Candida was a speech given by the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero in 64 BC, shortly before the election of the consuls for 63 BC. Cicero was standing in that election and used the speech to attack two rival candidates, Lucius Sergius Catilina (known in English as Catiline) and Gaius Antonius Hybrida. Catiline and Hybrida had formed an alliance and were attempting to bribe the electorate.

Cicero's speech was an invective attack on the character and conduct of Catiline, whom he accused of multiple crimes and immoral conduct. The speech also included lesser attacks on Hybrida and on a tribune who had publicly criticised Cicero. These tactics were successful in convincing the senators to support Cicero in the election, which he won a few days later. Hybrida was elected as Cicero's consular colleague and they soon reconciled. Catiline was incensed; he began a conspiracy to murder Cicero and seize power by force.

The full text of the speech has been lost, but over a thousand words of it have been preserved in quotation by Asconius, who wrote a detailed commentary on the speech about a century after it was given, which has survived.