The year 68 seems to have been a quiet one for Cicero.  He had just finished his aedileship in 69.  Usually the aedile was a very rich person who could pay for games and entertainment out of his own account.  Cicero was not as wealthy as previous aediles but he was still well liked by the public.  He already had the reputation of an influential orator because of the pro Roscio Amerino and his Verrines.

In 68 Cicero became a quaestor to Pompey, with whom he would form a strong political alliance in the future, benefitting his own career by supporting many of Pompey's military and political achivements.  Also in this year Cicero began writting to Atticus, who lived in Athens at the time.  These letters have been invaluable in learning about the Roman republic, as well as Cicero's own life.

After having risen through the ranks of Sulla’s army Catiline’s desire for political power and wealth increased, and he began to strive for political power.  Although sources are not completely clear on all of Catiline's political posts, they are sure that at the age of 39 he held a praetorship in 68;  this suggests that beforehand he also served as a quaestor c. 77 and an aedile c. 71 (as per the cursus honorum).

It is important to note that the office of praetor is the last before the consulship.  There was ostensibly nowhere for Catiline to go but up.

Also in this year there was an influx of corruption throughout the government, especially among the pauci—an elite but corrupt group of Roman politicians who used bribery and coercion as a means of accomplishing their goals.  Cicero was openly against the pauci and sided with Gaius Cornelius,who proposed legislation to penalize corrupt politicians.  Once again Cicero found himself against Crassus and Caesar, whose own corrupt acts made them the targets of Cornelius' legislation.  Yet he remained very popular among the people due to his novus homo status.

Last, in 67 Cicero was elected praetor for 66.  This position was usually the precursor to consulship, a position which Cicero definitely had set his sights on obtaining.

The former regarded a piece of legislation proposed by the senator Manilius that would allow Pompey to have full power in order to wage war against the king Mithridates.  The latter was a laudatory speech about Pompey, which in turn raised Cicero in the eyes of the great general.

It was at this time that Marcus Caelius, a young patrician, came under the tutelage of Cicero.

On the one hand, it appears that Catiline was indeed cash-poor, having spent his last dollars in his campaign for the praetorship.  On the other hand, the charges may have been trumped up by his enemies to prevent him from running for office.  Whatever the case, the accusations of extortion led to an indictment.  Since candidacy was illegal if announced while charges were pending, Catiline was forbidden to run in 66 and in the following year, 65.

Interestingly, in 65 Cicero would offer to defend Catiline in this suit.  He apparently sensed that Catiline would be hard to defeat in the elections of 64, and hoped to make him a political ally.  Catiline refused.

About this time, Gnaeus Piso confronted Catiline and his partner Autronius with the idea of overthrowing the government by force.  Catiline accepted the leadership of  what became known as The First Catilinarian Conspiracy.

Also in this year he successfully defended Cornelius against a charge of inciting revolution (maiestas).

Finally, Cicero campaigned for and was elected consul designatus in the summer of this year, which meant that he was one of the finalists selected to run for the consulship in the next year.

Unfortunately for Catiline, the plan had to be pushed back until 5 February for fear of being exposed.  Despite having another month to get ready, Catiline and his conspirators failed due to miscommunication.

It is has been doubted whether this first conspiracy, like the extortion charges, was real or a creation of Catiline’s enemies.  One reason for this was that in 65 Catiline was still involved in his African lawsuit, and  was acquitted by those whom he was supposedly plotting to kill, including one Senator Torquatus.

Whatever the case, the conspiracy never came to fruition and Catiline was never convicted of any charges involved with it.

Both Catiline and another candidate, Antonius, were considered corrupt.  Cicero exploited this in his political rhetoric to emphasize what a breath of fresh air, so to speak, he would be to the republic.  Cicero eventually formed an alliance with Antonius, with the understanding that they would serve as co-consuls.

Meanwhile, Catiline and Gaius Antonius Hibrida ran on the same ticket against Cicero and Antonius, and spent a lot of money bribing the voters—despite anti-bribery legislation under consideration in the Senate.  Moreover, Catiline had allied himself with Crassus and Caesar, who were trying to pass their Rullan land reform bill.

As the fight for the consulship continued, hostility grew not only between Cicero and Catiline, but between the elder generation of politicians and the reformers.  In the end Cicero was elected consul, the first novus homo to gain the position in nearly 30 years.

Cicero, however, used his consular position to oppose Catiline's bid, including postponing the elections to confuse the voters.  He was successful, and Catiline lost the consulship a second time.

The end of 63 left Catiline desperate and power-hungry.  The stage was set for the second Catalinarian conspiracy.