I guess it's not really forgotten if I can still post information about it, but here's a little known attempted coup that was thwarted by Cicero in Rome. Most of what I know about it is from translating [Cicero's oration] (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0019:text=Catil.:speech=1:chapter=1) against the conspirator.
A man named Cataline in 63 BC was plotting to overthrow the republic. He had rallied a number of influential people to his cause and intended to murder much of the senate.
Cicero, who was consul at the time, found out about it and called a special senate meeting and, like a boss, called him out on it - a ballsy move since Cicero was a "homo novus" (new man; 1st generation aristocrat) and didn't have the weight of an old noble family name like Catiline did.
The wikipedia page I linked mentions that the senators that were sitting around Catiline began to move away from during Cicero's speech. It reminded me of a painting depicting this scene that I saw in my old Latin book.
Catiline fled the city, but left behind members of his entourage to continue the plot. Meanwhile, he was gathering his army to invade Rome. They tried to recruit a tribe from Gaul in the plot, but the letters were intercepted. Cicero had the conspirators in the city put to death without a trial, because he feared the threat they posed to the city if left alive.
As a side note here, Julius Caesar spoke out against the death penalty without a trial. It's worth noting, because Caesar famously pardoned his enemies when he came out on top in his civil war a few years down the rode. Also worth noting here is that, even though Cicero basically single-handedly stopped a hostile take over, he was the target of a law 5 years down the road that exiled anyone who had executed a Roman citizen without a trial. But it only lasted about a year or so.
Anyway, Cicero was an interesting dude. I haven't read it yet, but there is a biography of him by Anthony Everett. I have read Everett's books on Augustus and Hadrian and loved them so I'm sure the Cicero one is worthwhile too. Although, I sometimes think he speculates too much when filling in the blanks.
