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IN C. VERREM ACTIO PRIMA

[1] 1 quod erat optandum maxime, iudices, et quod unum ad invidiam vestri ordinis infamiamque iudiciorum sedandam maxime pertinebat, id non humano consilio sed prope divinitus datum atque oblatum vobis¹ summo rei publicae tempore videtur. inveteravit enim iam opinio perniciosa rei publicae vobisque periculosa, quae non modo apud nos sed apud exteras nationes² omnium sermone percrebruit, his iudiciis quae nunc sunt pecuniosum hominem, quamvis sit nocens, neminem posse damnari.

[2] nunc in ipso discrimine ordinis iudiciorumque vestrorum, cum sint parati qui contionibus et legibus hanc invidiam senatus inflammare conentur, reus in iudicium adductus est C. Verres, homo vita atque factis omnium iam opinione damnatus, pecuniae magnitudine sua spe et praedicatione absolutus. huic ego causae, iudices, cum summa voluntate et exspectatione populi Romani actor accessi, non ut augerem invidiam ordinis, sed ut infamiae communi succurrerem. adduxi enim hominem in quo reconciliare existimationem iudiciorum amissam, redire in gratiam cum populo Romano, satis facere exteris nationibus possetis, depeculatorem aerari, vexatorem Asiae atque Pamphyliae, praedonem iuris urbani³, labem atque perniciem provinciae Siciliae.

[3] de quo si vos severe ac religiose iudicaveritis, auctoritas ea quae⁴ in vobis remanere debet haerebit; sin istius ingentes divitiae iudiciorum religionem veritatemque perfregerint, ego hoc tamen adsequar, ut iudicium potius rei publicae quam aut reus iudicibus aut accusator reo defuisse videatur.

2 equidem ut de me confitear, iudices, cum multae mihi a C. Verre insidiae terra marique factae sint, quas partim mea diligentia devitarim, partim amicorum studio officioque reppulerim, numquam tamen neque tantum periculum mihi adire visus sum neque tanto opere pertimui ut nunc in ipso iudicio.

[4] neque tantum me exspectatio accusationis meae concursusque tantae multitudinis, quibus ego rebus vehementissime perturbor, commovet quantum istius insidiae nefariae, quas uno tempore mihi, vobis, M’. Glabrioni, populo Romano⁵, sociis, exteris nationibus, ordini, nomini denique senatorio facere conatur; qui ita dictitat, iis esse metuendum qui quod ipsis solis satis esset surripuissent, se tantum eripuisse⁶ ut id multis satis esse possit⁷; nihil esse tam sanctum quod non violari, nihil tam munitum quod non expugnari pecunia possit.

[5] quodsi quam audax est ad conandum tam esset obscurus in agendo, fortasse aliqua in re nos aliquando fefellisset; verum hoc adhuc percommode cadit, quod cum incredibili eius audacia singularis stultitia coniuncta est; nam ut apertus in corripiendis pecuniis fuit, sic in spe corrumpendi iudici perspicua sua consilia conatusque omnibus fecit. semel ait se in vita pertimuisse,—tum cum primum⁸ a me reus factus sit; quod, cum e provincia recens esset, invidiaque et infamia non recenti sed vetere ac diuturna flagraret, tum ad iudicium corrumpendum tempus alienum offenderet.

[6] itaque cum ego diem inquirendi in Siciliam⁹ perexiguam postulavissem, invenit iste qui sibi in Achaiam¹⁰ biduo breviorem diem postularet; non ut is idem conficeret diligentia et industria sua quod ego meo labore et vigiliis consecutus sum, —etenim ille Achaicus inquisitor ne Brundisium quidem pervenit, ego Siciliam totam quinquaginta diebus sic obii ut omnium populorum privatorumque litteras iniuriasque cognoscerem; ut perspicuum cuivis esse posset hominem ab isto quaesitum esse non qui reum suum adduceret, sed qui meum tempus obsideret.

[7] 3 nunc homo audacissimus atque amentissimus hoc cogitat. intellegit me ita paratum atque instructum in iudicium venire ut non modo in auribus vestris, sed in oculis omnium sua furta atque flagitia defixurus sim; videt senatores multos esse testis audaciae suae, videt multos equites Romanos, frequentis praeterea civis atque socios, quibus ipse insignis iniurias fecerit, videt etiam tot tam gravis ab amicissimis civitatibus legationes cum publicis auctoritatibus convenisse.

[8] quae cum ita sint, usque eo de omnibus bonis male existimat, usque eo senatoria iudicia perdita profligataque esse arbitratur, ut hoc palam dictitet, non sine causa se cupidum pecuniae fuisse, quoniam in pecunia tantum praesidium experiatur esse; sese, id quod difficillimum fuerit, tempus ipsum emisse iudici sui, quo cetera facilius emere postea posset; ut, quoniam criminum vim subterfugere nullo modo poterat, procellam temporis devitaret.

[9] quodsi non modo in causa, verum in aliquo honesto praesidio aut in alicuius eloquentia aut gratia spem aliquam conlocasset, profecto non haec omnia colligeret atque aucuparetur; non usque eo despiceret contemneretque ordinem senatorium ut arbitratu eius deligeretur ex senatu qui reus fieret, qui, dum hic quae opus essent compararet, causam interea ante eum diceret.

[10] quibus ego rebus quid iste speret et quo animum intendat facile perspicio; quam ob rem vero se confidat aliquid proficere posse hoc praetore¹¹ et hoc consilio intellegere non possum. Vnum illud intellego, quod populus Romanus¹² in reiectione iudicum iudicavit, ea spe istum fuisse praeditum ut omnem rationem salutis in pecunia constitueret¹³, hoc erepto praesidio ut nullam sibi rem adiumento fore arbitraretur. 4 etenim quod est ingenium tantum, quae tanta facultas dicendi aut¹⁴ copia, quae istius vitam tot vitiis flagitiisque convictam¹⁵, iam pridem omnium voluntate iudicioque damnatam, aliqua ex parte possit defendere?

[11] cuius ut adulescentiae maculas ignominiasque praeteream, quaestura, primus gradus honoris¹⁶, quid aliud habet in se nisi Cn. Carbonem spoliatum a quaestore suo pecunia publica, nudatum et proditum consulem, desertum exercitum, relictam provinciam, sortis necessitudinem religionemque violatam? cuius legatio exitium fuit Asiae totius et Pamphyliae, quibus in provinciis multas domos, plurimas urbis, omnia fana depeculatus¹⁷ est, tum cum in Cn. Dolabellam¹⁸ suum scelus illud pristinum renovavit et instauravit quaestorium, cum eum, cui et legatus¹⁹ et pro quaestore fuisset, et in invidiam suis maleficiis adduxit, et in ipsis periculis non solum deseruit, sed etiam oppugnavit ac prodidit;

[12] cuius praetura urbana aedium sacrarum fuit publicorumque operum depopulatio²⁰, simul in iure dicundo bonorum possessionumque contra omnium instituta addictio et condonatio. iam vero omnium vitiorum suorum plurima et maxima constituit monumenta²¹ et indicia in provincia Sicilia, quam iste per triennium ita vexavit ac perdidit ut ea restitui in antiquum statum nullo modo possit, vix autem per multos annos innocentisque praetores aliqua ex parte recreari aliquando posse videatur.

[13] hoc praetore Siculi neque suas leges neque nostra senatus consulta neque communia iura tenuerunt: tantum quisque habet in Sicilia quantum hominis avarissimi et libidinosissimi aut imprudentiam subterfugit aut satietati superfuit. 5 nulla res per triennium nisi ad nutum istius iudicata est, nulla res tam patria cuiusquam²² atque avita fuit quae non ab eo imperio istius abiudicaretur. innumerabiles pecuniae ex aratorum bonis novo nefarioque instituto coactae, socii fidelissimi in hostium numero existimati, cives Romani servilem in modum cruciati et necati, homines nocentissimi propter pecunias iudicio²³ liberati, honestissimi atque integerrimi absentes rei facti indicta causa damnati et eiecti, portus munitissimi, maximae tutissimaeque urbes piratis praedonibusque patefactae, nautae militesque Siculorum, socii nostri atque amici, fame necati, classes optimae atque opportunissimae cum magna ignominia populi Romani amissae et perditae.

[14] idem iste praetor monumenta antiquissima partim regum locupletissimorum, quae illi ornamento urbibus esse voluerunt, partim etiam nostrorum imperatorum, quae victores civitatibus Siculis aut dederunt aut reddiderunt, spoliavit nudavitque omnia. neque hoc solum in statuis ornamentisque publicis fecit, sed etiam delubra omnia sanctissimis religionibus consecrata depeculatus²⁴ est, deum denique nullum Siculis, qui ei paulo magis adfabre atque antiquo artificio factus videretur, reliquit. in stupris vero et flagitiis nefarias eius libidines commemorare pudore deterreor; simul illorum calamitatem commemorando augere nolo quibus liberos coniugesque suas integras ab istius petulantia conservare non licitum est.

[15] at enim haec ita commissa sunt ab isto ut non cognita sint ab omnibus.²⁵ hominem esse arbitror²⁶ neminem, qui nomen istius audierit, quin facta quoque eius nefaria commemorare possit, ut mihi magis timendum sit ne multa crimina praetermittere quam ne qua in istum fingere existimer. neque enim mihi videtur haec multitudo, quae ad audiendum convenit, cognoscere ex me causam voluisse, sed ea quae scit mecum recognoscere.

6 quae cum ita sint, iste homo amens ac perditus alia mecum ratione pugnat. non id agit ut alicuius eloquentiam mihi opponat; non gratia, non auctoritate cuiusquam, non potentia nititur. simulat his se rebus confidere; sed video quid agat; neque enim agit occultissime. proponit inania mihi nobilitatis, hoc est hominum adrogantium nomina, qui non tam me impediunt quod nobiles sunt, quam adiuvant quod noti sunt: simulat se eorum praesidio confidere, cum interea aliud quiddam iam diu machinetur.

[16] quam spem nunc habeat in manibus et quid moliatur breviter iam, iudices, vobis exponam; sed prius ut ab initio res ab eo²⁷ constituta sit²⁸, quaeso, cognoscite.

Vt primum e provincia rediit, redemptio est huius iudici facta grandi pecunia. mansit²⁹ in condicione³⁰ atque pacto usque ad eum finem dum iudices reiecti sunt: posteaquam reiectio iudicum facta est, quod et in sortitione istius spem fortuna populi Romani et in reiciendis iudicibus mea diligentia istorum impudentiam vicerat, renuntiata est tota condicio³¹. praeclare se res habebat.

[17] libelli nominum vestrorum consilique huius in manibus erant omnium; nulla nota, nullus color, nullae sordes videbantur his sententiis adlini posse, cum iste repente ex alacri atque laeto sic erat humilis atque demissus ut non modo populo Romano, sed etiam sibi ipse condemnatus videretur. ecce autem repente his diebus paucis comitiis consularibus factis eadem illa vetera consilia pecunia maiore repetuntur, eaedemque vestrae famae fortunisque omnium insidiae per eosdem homines comparantur. quae res primo, iudices, pertenui nobis argumento indicioque patefacta est: post aperto suspicionis introitu ad omnia intima istorum consilia sine ullo errore pervenimus.

[18] 7 nam ut³² Hortensius³³ consul designatus domum reducebatur e campo cum maxima frequentia ac multitudine, fit obviam casu ei multitudini C. Curio, quem ego hominem honoris potius quam contumeliae³⁴ causa nominatum volo; etenim ea dicam quae ille, si commemorari³⁵ noluisset, non tanto in conventu tam aperte palamque dixisset; quae tamen a me pedetemptim cauteque dicentur, ut et amicitiae nostrae et dignitatis illius habita ratio esse intellegatur.

[19] videt ad ipsum fornicem Fabianum in turba Verrem; 19 appellat hominem et ei voce maxima gratulatur³⁶; ipsi Hortensio, qui consul erat factus, propinquis necessariisque eius, qui tum aderant, verbum nullum facit; cum hoc consistit, hunc amplexatur, hunc iubet sine cura esse. renuntio, inquit, tibi te hodiernis comitiis esse absolutum. quod cum tam multi homines honestissimi audissent, statim ad me defertur; immo vero ut quisque me viderat narrabat. Aliis illud indignum, aliis ridiculum videbatur: ridiculum iis qui istius causam in testium fide, in criminum ratione, in iudicum potestate, non in comitiis consularibus positam arbitrabantur, indignum iis qui altius perspiciebant³⁷ et hanc gratulationem ad iudicium corrumpendum spectare videbant.

[20] etenim sic ratiocinabantur, sic honestissimi homines inter se et mecum loquebantur, aperte iam³⁸ et³⁹ perspicue nulla esse iudicia. qui reus pridie iam ipse se condemnatum putabat, is, posteaquam defensor eius consul est factus, absolvitur? quid igitur? quod tota Sicilia, quod omnes Siculi, omnes negotiatores, omnes publicae privataeque litterae Romae sunt, nihilne id valebit? nihil invito consule designato. quid? iudices non crimina, non testis, non existimationem populi Romani sequentur⁴⁰? non⁴¹; omnia in unius potestate ac moderatione vertentur. vere loquar, iudices. 8 vehementer me haec res commovebat; optimus enim quisque ita loquebatur iste quidem tibi eripietur, sed nos non tenebimus iudicia diutius; etenim quis poterit Verre absoluto de transferendis iudiciis recusare?

[21] erat omnibus molestum; neque eos tam istius hominis perditi subita laetitia quam hominis amplissimi nova gratulatio commovebat. cupiebam dissimulare me id moleste ferre, cupiebam animi dolorem vultu tegere et taciturnitate celare. ecce autem illis ipsis diebus, cum praetores designati sortirentur et M. Metello obtigisset ut is de pecuniis repetundis quaereret, nuntiatur mihi tantam isti gratulationem esse factam ut is domum quoque pueros mitteret qui uxori suae nuntiarent.

[22] sane ne haec quidem mihi res⁴² placebat; neque⁴³ tantopere⁴⁴ quid in hac sorte metuendum mihi esset intellegebam. Vnum illud ex hominibus certis, ex quibus omnia comperi, reperiebam, fiscos compluris cum pecunia Siciliensi a quodam senatore ad equitem Romanum esse translatos; ex his quasi X fiscos ad senatorem illum relictos esse comitiorum meorum nomine; divisores omnium tribuum noctu ad istum vocatos.

[23] ex quibus quidam, qui se omnia mea causa facere debere⁴⁵ arbitrabatur, eadem illa nocte ad me venit; demonstrat qua iste oratione usus esset; commemorasse istum quam liberaliter eos tractasset iam antea⁴⁶, cum ipse praeturam petisset, et proxumis consularibus praetoriisque comitiis; deinde continuo esse pollicitum quantam vellent pecuniam, si me aedilitate deiecissent. hic alios negasse audere, alios respondisse non putare id perfici posse; inventum⁴⁷ tamen esse fortem amicum ex eadem familia, Q. Verrem Romilia, ex optima divisorum disciplina, patris istius discipulum atque amicum, qui HS quingentis milibus depositis id se perfecturum polliceretur, et fuisse tamen⁴⁸ non nullos qui se una facturos esse dicerent. quae cum ita essent, sane benivolo animo me ut magnopere⁴⁹ caverem praemonebat.

[24] 9 sollicitabar rebus maximis uno atque eo perexiguo tempore. Vrgebant comitia, et in his⁵⁰ ipsis oppugnabar grandi pecunia; instabat iudicium, ei quoque negotio fisci Sicilienses minabantur. agere quae ad iudicium pertinebant libere comitiorum metu deterrebar; petitioni toto animo servire propter iudicium⁵¹ non licebat; minari denique⁵² divisoribus ratio non erat, propterea quod eos intellegere videbam me hoc iudicio districtum atque obligatum futurum.

[25] atque hoc ipso tempore Siculis denuntiatum esse audio primum ab Hortensio, domum ad illum ut venirent; Siculos in eo sane⁵³ liberos fuisse, qui quam ob rem arcesserentur⁵⁴ cum intellegerent, non venisse. interea comitia nostra, quorum iste se, ut ceterorum hoc anno comitiorum, dominum esse arbitrabatur, haberi coepta sunt. cursare iste homo potens cum filio blando et gratioso circum tribus; paternos amicos, hoc est divisores, appellare omnis et convenire. quod cum esset intellectum et animadversum, fecit animo libentissimo populus Romanus ut, cuius divitiae me de fide deducere non potuissent, ne eiusdem pecunia de honore deicerer⁵⁵.

[26] posteaquam illa petitionis magna cura liberatus sum, animo coepi multo magis vacuo ac soluto nihil aliud nisi de iudicio agere et cogitare. reperio, iudices, haec ab istis consilia inita et constituta ut, quacumque opus esset ratione, res ita duceretur ut apud M. Metellum praetorem causa diceretur. in eo esse haec commoda: primum M. Metellum amicissimum, deinde Hortensium consulem, neque Hortensium⁵⁶ solum, sed etiam Q. Metellum, qui quam isti⁵⁷ sit amicus attendite; dedit enim praerogativam suae voluntatis eius modi ut isti pro praerogativis iam⁵⁸ reddidisse⁵⁹ videatur.

[27] an me taciturum tantis de rebus existimavistis, et me in tanto rei publicae existimationisque meae periculo cuiquam consulturum potius quam officio et dignitati meae? arcessit alter consul designatus Siculos; veniunt non nulli, propterea quod L. Metellus⁶⁰ esset praetor in Sicilia. cum iis ita loquitur, se consulem esse; fratrem suum alterum Siciliam provinciam obtinere, alterum esse quaesiturum de pecuniis repetundis; Verri ne noceri possit⁶¹ multis rationibus esse provisum.

[28] 10 quid est, quaeso, Metelle, iudicium conrumpere, si hoc non est, testis, praesertim Siculos, timidos homines et adflictos, non solum auctoritate deterrere, sed etiam consulari metu et duorum praetorum potestate⁶²? quid faceres pro innocente homine⁶³ et propinquo, cum propter hominem perditissimum atque alienissimum de officio ac dignitate decedis, et committis ut quod ille dictitat alicui qui te ignoret verum esse videatur?

[29] nam hoc Verrem dicere aiebant, te non fato, ut ceteros ex vestra familia, sed opera sua consulem factum. duo igitur consules et quaesitor erunt ex illius voluntate. non solum effugiemus, inquit, hominem in quaerendo nimium diligentem, nimium servientem populi existimationi, M’. Glabrionem; accedet etiam nobis illud. iudex est M. Caesonius, conlega nostri accusatoris, homo in rebus iudicandis spectatus et cognitus, quem minime expediat esse in eo⁶⁴ consilio quod conemur aliqua ratione conrumpere, propterea quod iam antea, cum iudex in Iuniano consilio fuisset, turpissimum illud facinus non solum graviter tulit, sed etiam in medium protulit. hunc iudicem ex Kalendis Ianuariis⁶⁵ non habebimus⁶⁶;

[30] Q. Manlium et Q. Cornificium, duos severissimos atque integerrimos iudices, quod tribuni plebis tum erunt, iudices non habebimus; P. Sulpicius, iudex tristis et integer, magistratum ineat oportet Nonis Decembribus; M. Crepereius ex acerrima illa equestri familia et disciplina, L. Cassius ex familia cum ad ceteras res tum ad iudicandum severissima, Cn. Tremellius, homo summa religione et diligentia, tres hi homines veteres tribuni militares sunt designati; ex Kalendis Ianuariis⁶⁷ non iudicabunt. subsortiemur etiam in M. Metelli locum, quoniam is huic ipsi quaestioni praefuturus est. ita secundum Kalendas Ianuarias⁶⁸ et praetore et prope toto commutato consilio⁶⁹ magnas accusatoris minas magnamque exspectationem iudici⁷⁰ ad nostrum arbitrium libidinemque eludemus.

[31] Nonae sunt hodie Sextiles; hora viii convenire coepistis; hunc diem iam ne numerant quidem. decem dies sunt ante ludos votivos, quos Cn. Pompeius facturus est; hi ludi dies quindecim auferent; deinde continuo Romani consequentur. ita prope xl diebus interpositis tum denique se ad ea quae a nobis dicta erunt responsuros esse arbitrantur; deinde se ducturos et dicendo et excusando⁷¹ facile ad ludos victoriae; cum his plebeios esse coniunctos, secundum quos aut nulli aut perpauci⁷² dies ad agendum futuri sunt: ita defessa ac refrigerata accusatione rem integram ad M. Metellum praetorem esse venturam. quem ego hominem, si eius fidei diffisus essem, iudicem non retinuissem;

[32] nunc tamen hoc animo sum ut eo iudice quam praetore hanc rem transigi malim, et iurato suam quam iniurato aliorum tabellas committere.

11 nunc ego, iudices, iam vos consulo quid mihi faciendum putetis; id enim consili mihi profecto taciti dabitis quod egomet mihi necessario capiendum intellego. si utar ad dicendum meo legitimo tempore, mei laboris industriae diligentiaeque capiam fructum, et hac accusatione⁷³ perficiam ut nemo umquam post hominum memoriam paratior, vigilantior, compositior ad iudicium venisse videatur. sed in hac laude industriae meae reus ne elabatur summum periculum est. quid est igitur⁷⁴ quod fieri possit? non obscurum, opinor, neque absconditum.

[33] fructum istum laudis, qui ex perpetua oratione percipi potuit, in alia tempora reservemus: nunc hominem tabulis, testibus, privatis publicisque litteris auctoritatibusque accusemus. res omnis mihi⁷⁵ tecum erit, Hortensi. dicam aperte. si te mecum dicendo ac diluendis criminibus in hac causa contendere putarem, ego quoque in accusando atque in explicandis criminibus operam consumerem: nunc quoniam pugnare contra me instituisti non tam ex tua natura quam ex istius tempore et causa malitiose⁷⁶, necesse est istius modi rationi aliquo consilio obsistere.

[34] tua ratio⁷⁷ est ut secundum binos ludos mihi respondere incipias, mea ut ante primos ludos comperendinem. ita fiet ut tua ista ratio existimetur astuta, meum hoc consilium necessarium.

12 verum illud quod institueram dicere, mihi rem tecum esse, huius modi est. ego cum hanc causam Siculorum rogatu recepissem, idque mihi amplum et praeclarum existimassem, eos velle meae fidei diligentiaeque periculum facere qui innocentiae abstinentiaeque fecissent, tum suscepto negotio maius quiddam mihi proposui, in quo meam in rem publicam voluntatem populus Romanus perspicere posset.

[35] nam illud mihi nequaquam dignum industria conatuque meo videbatur, istum a me in iudicium iam omnium iudicio condemnatum vocari, nisi ista tua intolerabilis potentia, et ea cupiditas qua per hosce annos in quibusdam iudiciis usus es, etiam in istius hominis desperati causa interponeretur. nunc vero, quoniam haec te omnis dominatio regnumque iudiciorum tanto opere delectat, et sunt homines quos libidinis infamiaeque suae neque pudeat neque taedeat, qui quasi de industria in odium offensionemque populi Romani inruere videantur, hoc me profiteor suscepisse magnum fortasse onus et mihi periculosum⁷⁸, verum tamen dignum in quo omnis nervos aetatis industriaeque meae contenderem.

[36] quoniam totus ordo paucorum improbitate et audacia premitur et urgetur infamia iudiciorum, profiteor huic generi hominum me inimicum accusatorem, odiosum, adsiduum, acerbum adversarium. hoc mihi⁷⁹ sumo, hoc mihi deposco, quod agam in magistratu, quod agam ex eo loco ex quo me populus Romanus ex Kalendis Ianuariis⁸⁰ secum⁸¹ agere de re publica ac de hominibus improbis voluit; hoc munus aedilitatis meae populo Romano amplissimum pulcherrimumque polliceor. moneo, praedico, ante denuntio: qui aut deponere aut accipere aut recipere⁸² aut polliceri aut sequestres aut interpretes corrumpendi iudici solent esse, quique ad hanc rem aut potentiam aut impudentiam suam professi sunt, abstineant in hoc iudicio manus animosque ab hoc scelere nefario.

[37] 13 erit tum consul Hortensius cum summo imperio et potestate, ego autem aedilis, hoc est paulo amplius quam privatus; tamen haec huius modi⁸³ res est quam me acturum esse polliceor, ita populo Romano grata atque iucunda, ut ipse consul in hac causa prae me minus etiam, si fieri possit, quam privatus esse videatur.

omnia non modo commemorabuntur, sed etiam expositis certis rebus agentur, quae inter decem annos, posteaquam iudicia ad senatum translata sunt, in rebus iudicandis nefarie flagitioseque facta sunt.

[38] cognoscet ex me populus Romanus quid sit quam ob rem, cum equester ordo iudicaret, annos prope quinquaginta continuos in⁸⁴ nullo, iudices⁸⁵, equite Romano iudicante⁸⁶ ne tenuissima quidem suspicio acceptae pecuniae ob rem iudicandam constituta sit; quid sit quod, iudiciis ad senatorium ordinem translatis sublataque populi Romani in unum quemque vestrum potestate, Q. Calidius damnatus dixerit minoris HS⁸⁷ triciens praetorium hominem honeste non posse damnari; quid sit quod, P. Septimio senatore damnato Q. Hortensio praetore de pecuniis repetundis, lis aestimata sit eo nomine, quod ille ob rem iudicandam pecuniam accepisset.

[39] quod⁸⁸ in C. Herennio, quod in C. Popilio⁸⁹, senatoribus, qui ambo peculatus damnati sunt, quod in M. Atilio, qui de maiestate damnatus est, hoc planum factum est⁹⁰, eos pecuniam ob rem iudicandam accepisse, quod inventi sunt⁹¹ senatores qui C. Verre praetore urbano sortiente exirent in eum reum quem incognita causa condemnarent, quod inventus est⁹² senator qui, cum iudex esset, in eodem iudicio et⁹³ ab reo pecuniam acciperet quam iudicibus divideret, et ab accusatore ut reum condemnaret.

[40] iam vero quo modo ego illam 4o labem ignominiam calamitatemque totius ordinis conquerar, hoc factum esse in hac civitate, cum senatorius ordo iudicaret, ut discoloribus signis iuratorum hominum sententiae notarentur? haec omnia me diligenter severeque acturum esse polliceor.

14 quo me tandem animo fore putatis⁹⁴, si quid in hoc ipso iudicio intellexero simili aliqua ratione esse violatum atque commissum? cum praesertim⁹⁵ planum facere multis testibus possim C. Verrem in Sicilia multis audientibus saepe dixisse se habere hominem potentem cuius fiducia provinciam spoliaret⁹⁶; neque sibi soli pecuniam quaerere, sed ita triennium illud praeturae Siciliensis distributum habere ut secum praeclare agi diceret si unius anni quaestum in rem suam converteret, alterum patronis et defensoribus⁹⁷ traderet, tertium illum uberrimum quaestuosissimumque annum totum iudicibus reservaret.

[41] ex quo mihi venit in mentem illud dicere, quod apud M’. Glabrionem nuper cum in reiciundis iudicibus commemorassem intellexi vehementer populum Romanum commoveri, me arbitrari fore uti nationes exterae legatos ad populum Romanum mitterent, ut lex de pecuniis repetundis iudiciumque tolleretur; si enim iudicia nulla sint,, tantum unum quemque ablaturum putant quantum sibi ac liberis suis satis esse arbitretur; nunc, quod eius modi iudicia sint tantum unum quemque auferre quantum sibi, patronis, advocatis, praetori, iudicibus satis futurum sit; hoc profecto infinitum esse; se avarissimi hominis cupiditati satis facere posse, nocentissimi⁹⁸ victoriae non posse.

[42] O commemoranda iudicia praeclaramque existimationem nostri ordinis, cum socii populi Romani iudicia de pecuniis repetundis fieri nolunt, quae a maioribus nostris sociorum causa comparata sunt! an iste umquam de se bonam spem habuisset, nisi de vobis malam opinionem animo imbibisset? quo maiore etiam, si fieri potest, apud vos odio esse debet quam est apud populum Romanum, cum in avaritia, scelere, periurio vos sui similis esse arbitretur.

[43] 15 cui loco, per deos immortalis, iudices, consulite ac providete! moneo praedicoque id quod intellego, tempus hoc vobis divinitus⁹⁹ datum esse ut odio, invidia, infamia, turpitudine totum ordinem liberetis. nulla in iudiciis severitas¹⁰⁰, nulla religio, nulla denique iam existimantur esse iudicia. itaque a populo Romano contemnimur, despicimur; gravi diuturnaque iam flagramus infamia.

[44] neque enim ullam aliam ob causam populus Romanus tribuniciam potestatem tanto studio requisivit; quam cum poscebat, verbo illam poscere videbatur, re vera iudicia poscebat. neque hoc Q. Catulum, hominem sapientissimum atque amplissimum, fugit, qui Cn. Pompeio, viro fortissimo et clarissimo¹⁰¹, de tribunicia potestate referente cum esset sententiam rogatus, hoc initio est summa cum auctoritate usus, patres conscriptos iudicia male et flagitiose tueri; quodsi in rebus iudicandis populi Romani existimationi satis facere voluissent, non tanto opere homines fuisse tribuniciam potestatem desideraturos.

[45] ipse denique Cn. Pompeius cum 4s primum contionem ad urbem consul designatus habuit, ubi, id quod maxime exspectari videbatur, ostendit se tribuniciam potestatem restituturum, factus est in eo strepitus et grata contionis admurmuratio. idem in eadem contione cum dixisset populatas vexatasque esse provincias, iudicia autem turpia ac¹⁰² flagitiosa fieri; ei rei se providere ac consulere velle; tum vero non strepitu, sed maximo clamore suam 6 populus Romanus significavit voluntatem.

[46] 16 nunc autem 46 homines in speculis sunt; observant quem ad modum sese unus quisque nostrum¹⁰³ gerat in retinenda religione conservandisque legibus. vident adhuc post legem tribuniciam unum senatorem¹⁰⁴ vel tenuissimum esse damnatum; quod tametsi non reprehendunt, tamen magno opere quod laudent non habent; nulla est enim laus ibi esse integrum ubi nemo est qui aut possit aut conetur corrumpere.

[47] hoc est iudicium in quo vos de reo, populus Romanus de vobis iudicabit; in hoc homine statuetur, possitne senatoribus iudicantibus homo nocentissimus pecuniosissimusque damnari. deinde est eius modi reus in quo homine nihil sit praeter summa peccata maximamque pecuniam, ut, si liberatus sit, nulla alia suspicio nisi ea quae turpissima est residere possit; non gratia, non cognatione, non aliis recte factis, non denique aliquo mediocri vitio tot tantaque eius vitia sublevata esse videbuntur¹⁰⁵.

[48] postremo ego causam sic agam, iudices, eius modi res, ita notas, ita testatas, ita magnas, ita manifestas proferam, ut nemo a vobis ut istum absolvatis per gratiam conetur contendere. habeo autem certam viam atque rationem qua omnis illorum conatus investigare et consequi possim; ita res a me agetur ut in eorum consiliis omnibus non modo aures omnium¹⁰⁶, sed etiam oculi populi Romani¹⁰⁷ interesse videantur.

[49] vos aliquot iam per annos conceptam huic ordini turpitudinem atque infamiam delere ac tollere potestis. constat inter omnis post haec constituta iudicia, quibus nunc utimur, nullum hoc splendore atque hac dignitate consilium fuisse. hic si quid erit offensum, omnes homines non iam ex eodem ordine alios magis idoneos, quod fieri non potest, sed alium omnino ordinem ad res iudicandas quaerendum arbitrabuntur.

[50] 17 quapropter primum ab dis¹⁰⁸ immortalibus, quod sperare mihi videor, hoc idem, iudices, opto¹⁰⁹, ut in hoc iudicio nemo improbus praeter eum qui iam pridem inventus est reperiatur; deinde, si plures improbi fuerint, hoc vobis, hoc populo Romano, iudices, confirmo, vitam mehercule mihi prius quam vim perseverantiamque ad illorum improbitatem persequendam defuturam.

[51] verum quod ego laboribus periculis inimicitiisque meis tum cum admissum erit dedecus severe me persecuturum esse polliceor, id ne accidat tu tua auctoritate, sapientia, diligentia, M’. Glabrio, potes providere. suscipe causam iudiciorum; suscipe causam severitatis¹¹⁰, integritatis, fidei, religionis; suscipe causam senatus, ut is hoc iudicio probatus cum populo Romano et in laude et in gratia esse possit. cogita, quo loco sis¹¹¹, quid dare populo Romano, quid reddere maioribus tuis debeas; fac tibi paternae legis Aciliae veniat in mentem, qua lege populus Romanus de pecuniis repetundis optimis iudiciis severissimisque iudicibus usus est.

[52] circumstant te summae auctoritates, quae te oblivisci laudis domesticae non sinant, quae te noctes diesque¹¹² commoneant fortissimum tibi patrem, sapientissimum avum, gravissimum socerum fuisse. quare si Glabrionis patris vim et acrimoniam ceperis ad resistendum hominibus audacissimis, si avi Scaevolae prudentiam ad prospiciendas insidias quae tuae atque horum famae comparantur, si soceri Scauri constantiam, ut ne quis te de vera et certa possit sententia demovere, intelleget populus Romanus integerrimo atque honestissimo praetore delectoque consilio nocenti reo magnitudinem pecuniae plus habuisse momenti ad suspicionem criminis quam ad rationem salutis.

[53] 18 mihi certum est non committere ut in hac causa praetor nobis consiliumque mutetur. non patiar rem in id tempus adduci ut quos¹¹³ adhuc servi designatorum consulum non moverunt, cum eos novo exemplo universos arcesserent, eos tum lictores consulum vocent; ut homines miseri, antea socii atque amici populi Romani, nunc servi ac supplices, non modo ius suum fortunasque omnis eorum imperio amittant, verum etiam deplorandi iuris sui potestatem non habeant.

[54] non sinam profecto causa a me perorata, quadraginta¹¹⁴ diebus interpositis, tum nobis denique responderi¹¹⁵ cum accusatio nostra in oblivionem diuturnitatis¹¹⁶ adducta sit. non committam ut tum haec res iudicetur, cum haec frequentia totius Italiae Roma discesserit, quae convenit uno tempore undique comitiorum ludorum¹¹⁷ censendique causa. huius iudici et laudis fructum et offensionis periculum vestrum, laborem sollicitudinemque nostram, scientiam quid agatur, memoriamque quid a quoque¹¹⁸ dictum sit, omnium puto esse oportere.

[55] faciam hoc non novum, sed ab iis qui nunc principes nostrae civitatis sunt ante factum, ut testibus utar statim: illud a me novum, iudices, cognoscetis, quod ita testis constituam ut crimen totum¹¹⁹ explicem, ubi¹²⁰ id interrogando argumentis atque oratione firmavero, tum testis ad crimen adcommodem, ut nihil inter illam usitatam accusationem atque hanc novam intersit, nisi quod in illa tum¹²¹ cum omnia dicta sunt testes dantur, hic in singulas res dabuntur, ut illis quoque eadem interrogandi facultas argumentandi dicendique sit. si quis erit qui perpetuam orationem accusationemque desideret, altera actione audiet; nunc id quod facimus,— quia ea¹²² ratione facimus, ut malitiae illorum consilio nostro occurramus,—necessario fieri intellegat.

[56] haec primae actionis erit accusatio. dicimus C. Verrem, cum multa libidinose, multa crudeliter in civis Romanos atque socios¹²³, multa in deos hominesque nefarie fecerit, tum praeterea quadringentiens sestertium ex Sicilia contra leges abstulisse. hoc testibus, hoc tabulis privatis publicisque auctoritatibus ita vobis planum faciemus ut hoc statuatis, etiamsi spatium ad dicendum nostro commodo vacuosque dies habuissemus, tamen oratione longa nihil opus fuisse. dixi.

In C. Verrem. M. Tullius Cicero. ed. William Peterson. Oxford. 1917.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by National Endowment For The Humanities (NEH).

Current edition Perseus

In C. Verrem (Latin) (Cicero. M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes, Volume 3. Peterson, William, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1917.)

Translations (1)

Against Verres Perseus (Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 1. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Bell, 1903.) — 1.1 focus

The first oration against Verres.

The Argument

After the last oration it was decided that Cicero was to conduct the prosecution against Verres; accordingly, a hundred and ten days were allowed to him to prepare the evidence, with which object he went himself to Sicily to examine witnesses, and to collect facts in support of his charges, taking with him his cousin Lucius Cicero as an assistant, and in this journey, contrary to all precedent, he bore his own expenses, resolving to put the island to no charge on his account. At Syracuse the praetor, Metellus, endeavoured to obstruct him in his inquiries, but the magistrates received him with great respect, and, declaring to him that all that they had previously done in favour of Verres (for they had erected a gilt statue of him, and had sent a testimonial of his good conduct and kind government of them to Rome ) had been extorted from them by intrigue and terror, they delivered into his hands authentic accounts of many injuries their city had received from Verres, and they revoked by a formal decree the public praises which they had given him. Messana , however, continued firm in its engagements to Verres, and denied Cicero all the honours to which he was entitled. When he finished his investigations, apprehending that he might be waylaid by the contrivance of Verres, he returned by sea to Rome , where he found intrigues carrying on to protract the affair as much as possible, in order to delay the decision of it till the year following, when Hortensius and Metellus were to be the consuls, and the brother of Metellus was to be praetor, by whose united authority the prosecution might be stifled: and it was now so late in the year that there was not time to bring the trial to an end, if the ordinary couse of proceeding was to be adhered to. But Cicero, determined to bring on the decision while Glabrio continued to be praetor, abandoned his idea of making a long speech, and of taking up time in dilating on and enforcing the different counts of the indictment, and resolved to do nothing more than produce his witnesses, and offer them to examination; and this novel method of conducting the case, together with the powerful evidence produced, which he could not invalidate, so confounded Hortensius, that he could find nothing to say in his client's defence, who in despair went of his own accord into banishment.

The object of Cicero in this oration is to show that it is out of sheer necessity that he does this, and that he is driven to such a proceeding by the intrigues of the opposite party. He therefore exhorts the judges not to be intimidated or cajoled into a dishonest decision, and threatens the opposite party with punishmet for endeavouring to corrupt the judges.

[1] That which was above all things to be desired, O judges, and which above all things was calculated to have the greatest influence towards allaying the unpopularity of your order, and putting an end to the discredit into which your judicial decisions have fallen, appears to have been thrown in your way, and given to you not by any human contrivance, but almost by the interposition of the gods, at a most important crisis of the republic. For an opinion has now become established, pernicious to us, and pernicious to the republic, which has been the common talk of every one, not only at Rome , but among foreign nations also,—that in the courts of law as they exist at present, no wealthy man, however guilty he may be, can possibly be convicted.

[2] Now at this time of peril to your order and to your tribunals, when men are ready to attempt by harangues, and by the proposal of new laws, to increase the existing unpopularity of the senate, Caius Verres is brought to trial as a criminal, a man condemned in the opinion of every one by his life and actions, but acquitted by the enormousness of his wealth according to his own hope and boast. I, O judges, have undertaken this cause as prosecutor with the greatest good wishes and expectation on the part of the Roman people, not in order to increase the unpopularity of the senate, but to relieve it from the discredit which I share with it. For I have brought before you a man, by acting justly in whose case you have an opportunity of retrieving the lost credit of your judicial proceedings, of regaining your credit with the Roman people, and of giving satisfaction to foreign nations; a man, the embezzler of the public funds, the petty tyrant of Asia and Pamphylia , the robber who deprived the city of its rights, the disgrace and ruin of the province of Sicily .

[3] And if you come to a decision about this man with severity and a due regard to your oaths, that authority which ought to remain in you will cling to you still; but if that man's vast riches shall break down the sanctity and honesty of the courts of justice, at least I shall achieve this, that it shall be plain that it was rather honest judgment that was wanting to the republic, than a criminal to the judges, or an accuser to the criminal. 2 I, indeed, that I may confess to you the truth about myself, O judges, though many snares were laid for me by Caius Verres, both by land and sea, which I partly avoided by my own vigilance, and partly warded off by the zeal and kindness of my friends, yet I never seemed to be incurring so much danger, and I never was in such a state of great apprehension, as I am now in this very court of law.

[4] Nor does the expectation which people have formed of my conduct of this prosecution, nor this concourse of so vast a multitude as is here assembled, influence me (though indeed I am greatly agitated by these circumstances) so much as his nefarious plots which he is endeavouring to lay at one and the same time against me, against you, against Marcus Gabrio the praetor, and against the allies, against foreign nations, against the senate, and even against the very name of senator; whose favourite saying it is that they have got to fear who have stolen only as much as is enough for themselves, but that he has stolen so much that it may easily be plenty for many; that nothing is so holy that it cannot be corrupted, or so strongly fortified that it cannot be stormed by money.

[5] But if he were as secret in acting as he is audacious in attempting, perhaps in some particular he might some time or other have escaped our notice. But it happens very fortunately that to his incredible audacity there is joined a most unexampled folly. For as he was unconcealed in committing his robberies of money, so in his hope of corrupting the judges he has made his intentions and endeavours visible to every one. He says that once only in his life has he felt fear: at the time when he was first impeached as a criminal by me; because he was only lately arrived from his province, and was branded with unpopularity and infamy, not modern but ancient and of long standing; and, besides that, the time was unlucky, being very ill-suited for corrupting the judges.

[6] Therefore, when I had demanded a very short time to prosecute my inquiries in Sicily , he found a man to ask for two days less to make investigations in Achaia ; ¹ not with any real intention of doing the same with his diligence and industry, that I have accomplished by my labour, and daily and nightly investigations. For the Achaean inquisitor never even arrived at Brundusium . I in fifty days so traveled over the whole of Sicily that I examined into the records and injuries of all the tribes and of all private individuals, so that it was easily visible to every one, that he had been seeking out a man not really for the purpose of bringing the defendant whom he accused to trial, but merely to occupy the time which ought to belong to me.

[7] Now that most audacious and most senseless man thinks this. He is aware that I am come into court so thoroughly prepared and armed, that I shall fix all his thefts and crimes not only in your ears, but in the very eyes of all men. He sees that many senators are witnesses of his audacity, he sees that many Roman knights are so too, and many citizens, and many of the allies besides to whom he has done unmistakable injuries. He sees also that very numerous and very important deputations have come here at the same time from most friendly cities, armed with the public authority and evidence collected by their states.

[8] And though this is the case, still he thinks so ill of all virtuous men, to such an extent does he believe the decisions of the senators to be corrupt and profligate, that he makes a custom of openly boasting that it was not without reason that he was greedy of money, since he now finds that there is such protection in money, and that he has bought (what was the hardest thing of all) the very time of his trial, in order to be able to buy everything else more easily; so that, as he could not by any possibility shirk the force of the accusations altogether, he might avoid the most violent gusts of the storm.

[9] But if he had placed any hope at all, not only in his cause, but in any honourable defence, or in the eloquence or in the influence of any one, he would not be so eager in collecting and catching at all these things; he would not scorn and despise the senatorial body to such a degree, as to procure a man to be selected out of the senate at his will to be made a criminal of, who should plead his cause ² before him, while he in the meantime was preparing whatever he had need of.

[10] And what the circumstances are on which he founds his hopes, and what hopes he builds on them, and what he is fixing his mind on. I see clearly. But how he can have the confidence to think that he can effect anything with the present praetor, and the present bench of Judges, I cannot conceive. This one thing I know, which the Roman people perceived too when he rejected ³ the judges, that his hopes were of that nature that he placed all his expectations of safety in his money; and that if this protection were taken from him, he thought nothing would be any help to him. 4 In truth, what genius is there so powerful, what faculty of speaking, what eloquence so mighty, as to be in any particular able to defend the life of that man, convicted as it is of so many vices and crimes, and long since condemned by the inclinations and private sentiments of every one?

[11] And, to say nothing of the stains and disgraces of his youth, what other remarkable event is there in his quaestorship, that first step to honour, except that Cnaeus Carbo was robbed by his quaestor of the public money? that the consul was plundered and betrayed? his army deserted? his province abandoned? the holy nature and obligations imposed on him by lot ⁴ violated?—whose lieutenancy was the ruin of all Asia and Pamphylia , in which provinces he plundered many houses, very many cities, all the shrines and temples; when he renewed and repeated against Cnaeus Dolabella his ancient wicked tricks when he had been quaestor, and did not only in his danger desert, but even attack and betray the man to whom he had been lieutenant, and proquaestor, ⁵ and whom he had brought into odium by his crimes;

[12] —whose only praetorship was the destruction of the sacred temples and the public works, and, as to his legal decisions, was the adjudging and awarding of property contrary to all established rules and precedents. But now he has established great and numerous monuments and proofs of all his vices in the province of Sicily , which he for three years so harassed and ruined that it can by no possibility be restored to its former condition, and appears scarcely able to be at all recovered after a long series of years, and a long succession of virtuous praetors.

[13] While this man was praetor the Sicilians enjoyed neither their own laws, nor the degrees of our senate, nor the common rights of every nation. Every one in Sicily has only so much left as either escaped the notice or was disregarded by the satiety of that most avaricious and licentious man. 5 No legal decision for three years was given on any other ground but his will; no property was so secure to any man, even if it had descended to him from his father and grandfather, but he was deprived of it at his command; enormous sums of money were exacted from the property of the cultivators of the soil by a new and nefarious system. The most faithful of the allies were classed in the number of enemies. Roman citizens were tortured and put to death like slaves; the greatest criminals were acquitted in the courts of justice through bribery; the most upright and honourable men, being prosecuted while absent, were condemned and banished without being heard in their own defence; the most fortified harbours, the greatest and strongest cities, were laid open to pirates and robbers; ⁶ the sailors and soldiers of the Sicilians, our own allies and friends, died of hunger; the best built fleets on the most important stations were lost and destroyed, to the great disgrace of the Roman people.

[14] This same man while praetor plundered and stripped those most ancient monuments, some erected by wealthy monarchs and intended by them as ornaments for their cities; some, too, the work of our own generals, which they either gave or restored as conquerors to the different states in Sicily . And he did this not only in the case of public statues and ornaments, but he also plundered all the temples consecrated in the deepest religious feelings of the people. He did not leave, in short, one god to the Sicilians which appeared to him to be made in a tolerably workmanlike manner, and with any of the skill of the ancients. I am prevented by actual shame from speaking of his nefarious licentiousness as shown in rapes and other such enormities; and I am unwilling also to increase the distress of those men who have been unable to preserve their children and their wives unpolluted by his wanton lust.

[15] But, you will say, these things were done by him in such a manner as not to be notorious to all men. I think there is no man who has heard his name who cannot also relate wicked actions of his; so that I ought rather to be afraid of being thought to omit many of his crimes, than to invent any charges against him. And indeed I do not think that this multitude which has collected to listen to me wishes so much to learn of me what the facts of the case are, as to go over it with me, refreshing its recollection of what it knows already. 6 And as this is the case, that senseless and profligate man attempts to combat me in another manner. He does not seek to oppose the eloquence of any one also to me, he does not rely on the popularity, or influence, or authority of any one. He pretends that he trusts to these things; but I see what he is really aiming at; (and indeed he is not acting with any concealment.) He sets before me empty titles of nobility, that is to say the names of arrogant men, who do not hinder me so much by being noble, as assist me by being notorious,—he pretends to rely on their protection; when he has in reality been contriving something else this long time.

[16] What hope he now has, and what he is endeavouring to do, I will now briefly explain to you, O judges. But first of all, remark, I beg you, how the matter has been arranged by him from the beginning. When he first returned from the province, he endeavoured to get rid of this prosecution by corrupting the judges at a great expense; and this object he continued to keep in view till the conclusion of the appointment of the judges. After the judges were appointed—because in drawing lots for them the fortune of the Roman people had defeated his hopes, and because in rejecting some, my diligence had defeated his impudence—the whole attempt at bribery was abandoned.

[17] The affair was going on admirably; lists of your names and of the whole tribunal were in every one's hands. It did not seem possible to mark the votes ⁷ of these men with any distinguishing mark or colour or spot of dirt; and that fellow, from having been brisk and in high spirits, became on a sudden so downcast and humbled, that he seemed to be condemned not only by the Roman people but even by himself. But lo! all of a sudden, within these few days, since the consular comitia ⁸ have taken place, he has gone back to his original plan with more money, and the same plots are now laid against your reputation and against the fortunes of every one, by the instrumentality of the same people; which fact at first, O judges, was pointed out to me by a very slight hint and indication; but afterwards, when my suspicions were once aroused, I arrived at the knowledge of all the most secret counsels of that party without any mistake.

[18] For as Hortensius the consul elect was being attended home again from the Campus by a great concourse and multitude of people, Caius Curio fell in with that multitude by chance,—a man whom I wish to name by way of honour rather than of disparagement. I will tell you what, if he had been unwilling to have it mentioned, he would not have spoken of in so large an assembly so openly and undisguisedly; which, however, shall be mentioned by me deliberately and cautiously, that it may be seen that I pay due regard to our friendship and to his dignity.

[19] He sees Verres in the crowd by the arch of Fabius; ⁹ he speaks to the man, and with a loud voice congratulates him on his victory. He does not say a word to Hortensius himself, who had been made consul, or to his friends and relations who were present attending on him; but he stops to speak to this man, embraces him, and bids him cast off all anxiety. “I give you notice,” said he, “that you have been acquitted by this day's comitia.” And as many most honourable men heard this, it is immediately reported to me; indeed, every one who saw me mentioned it to me the first thing. To some it appeared scandalous, to others ridiculous; ridiculous to those who thought that this cause depended on the credibility of the witnesses, on the importance of the charges, and on the power of the judges, and not on the consular comitia; scandalous to those who looked deeper, and who thought that this congratulation had reference to the corruption of the judge.

[20] In truth, they argued in this manner—the most honourable men spoke to one another and to me in this manner—that there were now manifestly and undeniably no courts of justice at all. The very criminal who the day before thought that he was already condemned, is acquitted now that his defender has been made consul. What are we to think then? Will it avail nothing that all Sicily , all the Sicilians, that all the merchants who have business in that country, that all public and private documents are now at Rome ? Nothing, if the consul elect wills it otherwise. What! will not the judges be influenced by the accusation, by the evidence, by the universal opinion of the Roman people? No. Everything will be governed by the power and authority of one man. 8 I will speak the truth, O judges. This thing agitated me greatly; for every good man was speaking in this way—“That fellow will be taken out of your hands; but we shall not preserve our judicial authority much longer; for who, when Verres is acquitted, will be able to make any objection to transferring it from us?”

[21] It was a grievous thing to every one, and the sudden elation of that profligate man did not weigh with them as much as that fresh congratulation of a very honourable one. I wished to dissemble my own vexation at it; I wished to conceal my own grief of mind under a cheerful countenance, and to bury it in silence. But lo! on the very days when the praetors elected were dividing their duties by lot, and when it fell to the share of Marcus Metellus to hold trials concerning extortion, information is given me that that fellow was receiving such congratulations, that he also sent men home to announce it to his wife.

[22] And this too in truth displeased me; and yet I was not quite aware what I had so much to fear from this allotment of the praetor's duties. But I ascertained this one thing from trustworthy men from whom I received all my intelligence; that many chests full of Sicilian money had been sent by some senator to a Roman knight, and that of these about ten chests had been left at that senator's house, with the statement that they were left to be used in the comitia when I expected to be elected aedile, and that men to distribute this money among all the tribes had been summoned to attend him by night.

[23] Of whom one, who thought himself under the greatest obligations to me, came to me that same night; reports to me the speech which that fellow had addressed to them; that he had reminded them how liberally he had treated them formerly when he was candidate for the praetorship, and at the last consular and praetorian comitia; and in the second place that he had promised them immediately whatever money they required, if they could procure my rejection from the aedileship. That on this some of them said that they did not dare attempt it; that others answered that they did not think it could be managed; but that one bold friend was found, a man of the same family as himself, Quintus Verres, of the Romilian tribe, of the most perfect school of bribers, the pupil and friend of Verres' father, who promised that, if five hundred thousand sesterces were provided, he would manage it; and that there were some others who said that they would cooperate with him. And as this was the case, he warned me beforehand with a friendly disposition, to take great care.

[24] I was disquieted about many most important matters at one and the same moment, and with very little time to deliberate. The comitia were at hand; and at them I was to be opposed at immense expenditure of money. This trial was at hand; the Sicilian treasurers menaced that matter also. I was afraid, from apprehension about the comitia, to conduct the matters relating to the trial with freedom; and because of the trial, I was unable to attend with all my heart to my canvass. Threatening the agents of bribery was out of the question, because I saw that they were aware that I was hampered and fettered by this trial.

[25] And at this same moment I hear that notice has been given to the Sicilians by Hortensius to come to speak to him at his house; that the Sicilians behaved in that matter with a proper sense of their own liberty, and, when they understood on what account they were sent for, they would not go. In the meantime my comitia began to be held; of which that fellow thought himself the master, as he had been of all the other comitia this year. He began to run about, that influential man, with his son, a youth of engaging and popular manners, among the tribes. The son began to address and to call on all the friends of his father, that is to say, all his agents for bribery; and when this was noticed and perceived, the Roman people took care with the most earnest goodwill that I should not be deprived of my honour through the money of that man, whose riches had not been able to make me violate my good faith.

[26] After that I was released from that great anxiety about my canvass, I began, with a mind much more unoccupied and much more at ease, to think of nothing and to do nothing except what related to this trial. I find, O judges, these plans formed and begun to be put in execution by them, to protract the matter, whatever steps it might be necessary to take in order to do so, so that the cause might be pleaded before Marcus Metellus as praetor. That by doing so they would have these advantages; firstly, that Marcus Metellus was most friendly to them; secondly, that not only would Hortensius be consul, but Quintus Metellus also: and listen while I show you how great a friend he is to them. For he gave him a token of his goodwill of such a sort, that he seemed to be giving it as a return for the suffrages ¹⁰ of the tribes which he had scoured to him.

[27] Did you think that I would say nothing of such serious matters as these? and that, at a crisis of such danger to the republic and my own character, I would consult anything rather than my duty and my dignity? The other consul elect sent for the Sicilians; some came, because Lucius Metellus was praetor in Sicily . To them he speaks in this manner: that he is the consul; that one of his brothers has Sicily for his province; that the other is to be judge in all prosecutions for extortion; and that care had been taken in many ways that there should be no possibility of Verres being injured.

[28] I ask you, Metellus, what is corrupting the course of justice, if this is not,—to seek to frighten witnesses, and especially Sicilians, timid and oppressed men, not only by your own private influence, but by their fear of the consul, and by the power of two praetors? What would you do for an innocent man or for a relation, when for the sake of a most guilty man, entirely unconnected with you, you depart from your duty and your dignity, and allow what he is constantly saying to appear true to any one who is not acquainted with you?

[29] For they said that Verres said, that you had not been made consul by destiny, as the rest of your family had been, but by his assistance. Two consuls, therefore, and the judge are to be such because of his will. We shall not only, says he, avoid having a man too scrupulous in investigating, too subservient to the opinion of the people, Marcus Glabrio, but we shall have this advantage also:—Marcus Caesonius is the judge, the colleague of our accuser a man of tried and proved experience in the decision of actions. It will never do for us to have such a man as that on the bench, which we are endeavouring to corrupt by some means or other; for before, when he was one of the Judges on the tribunal of which Junius ¹¹ was president, he was not only very indignant at that shameful transaction, but he even betrayed and denounced it. After the first of January we shall not have this man for our judge,—

[30] we shall not have Quintus Manlius and Quintus Cornificius, two most severe and upright judges, for judges, because they will then be tribunes of the people. Publius Sulpicius, a solemn and upright judge, must enter on his magistracy on the fifth of November. Marcus Crepereius, of that renowned equestrian family and of that incorruptible character; Lucius Cassius, of a family renowned for its severity in all things, and especially as judges; Cnaeus Tremellius, a man of the greatest scrupulousness and diligence;—these three men of ancient strictness of principle are all military tribunes elect. After the first of January they will not be able to act as judges. And besides this, we elect by lot a successor in the room of Marcus Metellus, since he is to preside over this very trial. And so after the first of January, the praetor, and almost the whole bench of judges being changed, we shall elude the terrible threats of the prosecutor, and the great expectations entertained of this trial, and manage it according to our own will and pleasure.

[31] Today is the fifth of August. You began to assemble at the ninth hour. This day they do not even count. There are ten days between this and the votive games which Cnaeus Pompeius is going to celebrate. These games will take up fifteen days; then immediately the Roman games will follow. And so, when nearly forty days have intervened, then at length they think they shall have to answer what has been said by us; and they think that, what with speeches, and what with excuses, they will easily be able to protract the cause till the period of the games of Victory. With these the plebeian games are connected, after which there will be either no day at all, or very few for pleading in. And so, when the accusation has got stale and cold, the matter will come all fresh before Marcus Metellus as praetor. And if I had distrusted his good faith, I should not have retained him as a judge.

[32] But now I have such an opinion of him, that I would rather this matter was brought to a close while he is judge than while he is praetor; and I would rather entrust to him his own tablet while he is on his oath, than the tablets of others when he is restrained by no such obligation. 11 Now, O judges, I consult you as to what you think I ought to do. For you will, in truth, without speaking, give me that advice which I understand that I must inevitably adopt. If I occupy the time which I legitimately might in speaking, I shall reap the fruit of my labour, industry, and diligence; and by this prosecution I shall make it manifest that no one in the memory of man appears ever to have come before a court of justice better prepared, more vigilant, or with his cause better got up. But while I am getting this credit for my industry, there is great danger lest the criminal may escape. What, then, is there which can be done? I think it is neither obscure nor hidden.

[33] I will reserve for another time that fruit of praise which may be derived from a long uninterrupted speech. At present I must support this accusation by documentary evidence, by witnesses, by letters of private individuals and of public bodies, and by various other kinds of proof. The whole of this contest is between you and me, O Hortensius. I will speak openly. If I thought that you were contending with me in the matter of speaking, and of getting rid of the charges I bring against your client in this cause, I, too, would devote much pains to mounting an elaborate accusation, and to dilating on my charges. Now, since you have determined to contend against me with artifice, not so much in obedience to the promptings of your own nature, as from consulting his occasions and his cause, it is necessary for me to oppose conduct of that sort with prudence.

[34] Your plan is, to begin to answer me after two sets of games have been celebrated; mine is to have the adjournment ¹² over before the first series. And the result will be, that that plan of yours will be thought crafty, but this determination of mine necessary. 12 But as for what I had begun to say,—namely, that the contest is between you and me, this is it,—I, when I had undertaken this cause at the request of the Sicilians, and had thought it a very honourable and glorious thing for me that they were willing to make experiment of my integrity and diligence, who already knew by experience my innocence and temperance: then, when I had undertaken this business, I proposed to myself some greater action also by which the Roman people should be able to see my goodwill towards the republic.

[35] For that seemed to me to be by no means worthy of my industry and efforts, for that man to be brought to trial by me who had been already condemned by the judgment of all men, unless that intolerable influence of yours, and that grasping nature which you have displayed for some years in many trials, was interposed also in the case of that desperate man. But no, since all this dominion and sovereignty of yours over the courts of justice delights you so much, and since there are some men who are neither ashamed of their licentiousness and their infamy, nor weary of it, and who, as if on purpose, seem to wish to encounter hatred and unpopularity from the Roman people, I profess that I have undertaken this,—a great burden perhaps, and one dangerous to myself, but still worthy of my applying myself to it with all the vigour of my age, and all diligence.

[36] And since the whole order of the senate is weighed down by the discredit brought on it by the wickedness and audacity of a few, and is overwhelmed by the infamy of the tribunals, I profess myself an enemy to this race of men, an accuser worthy of their hatred, a persevering, a bitter adversary. I arrogate this to myself, I claim this for myself, and I will carry out this enmity in my magistracy, and from that post in which the Roman people has willed that from the next first of January I shall act in concert with it in matters concerning the republic, and concerning wicked men. I promise the Roman people that this shall be the most honourable and the fairest employment of my aedileship. I warn, I forewarn, I give notice beforehand to those men who are wont either to put money down, to undertake for others, to receive money, or to promise money, or to act as agents in bribery, or as go-betweens in corrupting the seat of judgment, and who have promised their influence or their impudence in aid of such a business, in this trial to keep their hands and inclinations from this nefarious wickedness.

[37] Hortensius will then be consul with the chief command and authority, but I shall be aedile—that is, I shall be a little more than a private individual; and yet this business, which I promise that I am going to advocate, is of such a nature, so pleasing and agreeable to the Roman people, that the consul himself will appear in this cause, if that be possible, even less than a private individual in comparison of me. All those things shall not only be mentioned, but even, where certain matters have been explained, shall be fully discussed, which for the last ten years, ever since the office of the judge has been transferred to the senate, has been nefariously and wickedly done in the decision of judicial matters.

[38] The Roman people shall know from me why it is that when the equestrian body supplied the judges for nearly fifty years together, not even the slightest suspicion ever arose of bribes having been accepted for the purpose of influencing a decision; why it is, I say, when the judicial authority was transferred to the senatorial body, and the power ¹³ of the Roman people over every one of us was taken away, Quintus Calidius, when he was condemned, said that a man of praetorian rank could not honestly be condemned at a less price than three hundred thousand sesterces; why it is that when Publius Septimius, a senator, was condemned for extortion, when Quintus Hortensius was praetor, damages were assessed against him, including money which he had received as judge to decide causes which came before him;

[39] why it is, that in the case of Caius Herennius, and in that of Caius Popillius, senators, both of whom were convicted of peculation—why it is, that in the case of Marcus Atilius, who was convicted of treason—this was made plain,—that they had all received money for the purpose of influencing their judicial decisions; why it is, that senators have been found who, when Caius Verres, as praetor of the city, gave out the lots, voted against the criminal whom they were condemning without having inquired into his case; why it is, that a senator was found who, when he was judge, took money in one and the same trial both from the defendant to distribute among the judges, and from the accuser to condemn the defendant.

[40] But how shall I adequately complain of that stain, that disgrace, that calamity of the whole senatorial order,—that this thing actually happened in the city while the senatorial order furnished the judges, that the votes of men on their oaths were marked by coloured tablets? I pledge myself that I will urge all these things with diligence and with strictness. 14 And what do you suppose will be my thoughts, if I find in this very trial any violation of the laws committed in any similar manner? especially when I can prove by many witnesses that Caius Verres often said in Sicily , in the hearing of many persons, “that he had a powerful friend, in confidence in whom he was plundering the province; and that he was not seeking money for himself alone, but that he had so distributed the three years of his Sicilian praetorship, that he should say he did exceedingly well, if he appropriated the gains of one year to the augmentation of his own property, those of the second year to his patrons and defenders, and reserved the whole of the third year, the most productive and gainful of all, for the judges.”

[41] From which it came into my mind to say that which, when I had said lately before Marcus Glabrio at the time of striking the list of judges, I perceived the Roman people greatly moved by; that I thought that foreign nations would send ambassadors to the Roman people to procure the abrogation of the law, and of all trials, about extortion; for if there were no trials, they think that each man would only plunder them of as much as he would think sufficient for himself and his children; but now, because there are trials of that sort, every one carries off as much as it will take to satisfy himself, his patrons, his advocates, the praetor, and the judges; and that this is an enormous sum; that they may be able to satisfy the cupidity of one most avaricious man, but are quite unable to incur the expense of his most guilty victory over the laws.

[42] O trials worthy of being recorded! O splendid reputation of our order! when the allies of the Roman people are unwilling that trials for extortion should take place, which were instituted by our ancestors for the sake of the allies. Would that man ever have had a favourable hope of his own safety, if he had not conceived in his mind a bad opinion of you? on which account, he ought, if possible, to be still more hated by you than he is by the Roman people, because he considers you like himself in avarice and wickedness and perjury.

[43] And I beg you, in the name of the immortal gods, O judges, think of and guard against this; I warn you, I give notice to you, of what I am well assured, that this most seasonable opportunity has been given to you by the favour of the gods, for the purpose of delivering your whole order from hatred, from unpopularity, from infamy, and from disgrace. There is no severity believed to exist ill the tribunals, nor any scruples with regard to religion; in short, there are not believed to be any tribunals at all. Therefore we are despised and scorned by the Roman people; we are branded with a heavy and now a long standing infamy.

[44] Nor, in fact, is there any other reason for which the Roman people has with so much earnestness sought the restoration of the tribunician power: but when it was demanding that in words, it seemed to be asking for that, but in reality it was asking for tribunes which it could trust. And this did not escape the notice of Quintus Catulus, a most sagacious and honourable man, who, when Cnaeus Pompeius, a most gallant and illustrious man, made a motion about the tribunitian power, and when he was asked his opinion, begin his speech in this manner, speaking with the greatest authority, “that the conscript fathers presided over the courts of justice badly and wickedly; but if in deciding judicial trials they had been willing to satisfy the expectations of the Roman people, men would not so greatly regret the tribunitian power?”

[45] Lastly, when Cnaeus Pompeius himself, when first he delivered an address to the people as consul elect, mentioned (what seemed above all things to be watched for) that he would restore the power of the tribunes, a great shout was raised at his words, and a grateful murmur pervaded the assembly. And when he had said also in the same assembly “that the provinces were depopulated and tyrannised over, that the courts of justice were become base and wicked, and that he desired to provide for and to remedy that evil,” the Roman people then signified their good will, not with a shout, but with a universal uproar.

[46] But now men are on the watch towers; they observe how every one of you behaves himself in respecting religion and in preserving the laws. They see that, ever since the passing of the law for restoring the power of the tribunes, only one senator, and he too a very insignificant one, ¹⁴ has been condemned. And though they do nor blame this, yet they have nothing which they can very much commend. For there is no credit in being upright in a case where there is no one who is either able or who endeavours to corrupt one.

[47] This is a trial in which you will be deciding about the defendant, the Roman people about you;—by the example of what happens to this man it will be determined whether, when senators are the judges, a very guilty and a very rich man can be condemned. Moreover, he is a criminal of such a sort, that there is absolutely nothing whatever in him except the greatest crimes, and excessive riches; so that if he be acquitted, no other opinion can be formed of the matter except that which is the most discreditable possible. Such numerous and enormous vices as his will not be considered to have been canceled by influence, by family connection, by some things which may have been done well, or even by the minor vices of flattery and subservience.

[48] In short, I will conduct the cause in this manner; I will bring forward things of such a sort, so well known, so proved by evidence, so important, and so undeniable, that no one shall venture to use his influence to obtain from you the acquittal of that man; for I have a sure path and method by which I can investigate and become acquainted with all their endeavours. The matter will be so managed by me that not only the ears but even the eyes of the Roman people shall seem to be present at all their counsels.

[49] You have in your power to remove and to eradicate the disgrace and infamy which has now for many years attached to your order. It is evident to all men, that since these tribunals have been established which we now have, there has never been a bench of judges of the same splendour and dignity as this. ¹⁵ If anything is done wrongly in this case, all men will think not that other more capable judges should be appointed of the same order of men, which is not possible; but that another order must be sought for, from which to select the judges for the future.

[50] On which account, in the first place, I beg this of the immortal gods, which I seem to myself to have hopes of too, that in this trial no one may be found to be wicked except him who has long since been found to be such; secondly, if there are many wicked men, I promise this to you, O judges, I promise this to the Roman people, that my life shall fail rather than my vigour and perseverance in prosecuting their iniquity.

[51] But that iniquity, which, if it should be committed, I promise to prosecute severely, with however much trouble and danger to myself, and whatever enmities I may bring on myself by so doing, you, O Marcus Glabrio, can guard against ever taking place by your wisdom, and authority, and diligence. Do you undertake the cause of the tribunals. Do you undertake the cause of impartiality, of integrity, of good faith and of religion. Do you undertake the cause of the senate; that, being proved worthy by its conduct in this trial, it may come into favour and popularity with the Roman people. Think who you are, and in what a situation you are placed; what you ought to give to the Roman people, what you ought to repay to your ancestors. Let the recollection of the Acilian ¹⁶ law passed by your father occur to your mind, owing to which law the Roman people has had this advantage of most admirable decisions and very strict judges in cases of extortion.

[52] High authorities surround you which will not suffer you to forget your family credit; which will remind you day and night that your father was a most brave man, your grandfather a most wise one, and your father-in-law a most worthy man. Wherefore, if you have inherited the vigour and energy of your father Glabrio in resisting audacious men; if you have inherited the prudence of your grandfather Scaevola in foreseeing intrigues which are prepared against your fame and that of your fellow-judges; if you have any share of the constancy of your father-in-law Scaurus, so that no one can move you from your genuine and deliberate opinion, the Roman people will understand that with an upright and honourable praetor, and a carefully selected bench of judges, abundance of wealth has more influence in bringing a criminal into suspicion, than in contributing to his safety.

[53] I am resolved not to permit the praetor or the judges to be hanged in this cause. I will not permit the matter to be delayed till the lictors of the consuls can go and summon the Sicilians, whom the servants of the consuls elect did not influence before, when by an unprecedented course of proceeding they sent for them all; I will not permit those miserable men, formerly the allies and friends of the Roman people, now their slaves and suppliants, to lose not only their rights and fortunes by their tyranny, but to be deprived of even the power of bewailing their condition;

[54] I will not, I say, when the cause has been summed up by me, permit them after a delay of forty days has intervened, then at last to reply to me when my accusation has already fallen into oblivion through lapse of time; I will not permit the decision to be given when this crowd collected from all Italy has departed from Rome , which has assembled from all quarters at the same time on account of the comitia, of the games, and of the census. The reward of the credit gained by your decision, or the danger arising from the unpopularity which will accrue to you if you decide unjustly, I think ought to belong to you; the labour and anxiety to me; the knowledge of what is done and the recollection of what has been said by every one, to all.

[55] I will adopt this course, not an unprecedented one, but one that has been adopted before, by those who are now the chief men of our state,—the course, I mean, of at once producing the witnesses. What you will find novel, O judges, is this, that I will so marshal my witnesses as to unfold the whole of my accusation; that when I have established it by examining my witnesses, by arguments, and by my speech, then I shall show the agreement of the evidence with my accusation: so that there shall be no difference between the established mode of prosecuting, and this new one, except that, according to the established mode, when everything has been said which is to be said, then the witnesses are produced; here they shall be produced as each count is brought forward; so that the other side shall have the same opportunity of examining them, of arguing and making speeches or their evidence. If there be any one who prefers an uninterrupted speech and the old mode of conducting a prosecution without any break, he shall have it in some other trial. But for this time let him understand that what we do is done by us on compulsion, (for we only do it with the design of opposing the artifice of the opposite party by our prudence.)

[56] This will be the first part of the prosecution. We say that Caius Verres has not only done many licentious acts, many cruel ones, towards Roman citizens, and towards some of the allies, many wicked acts against both gods and men; but especially that he has taken away four hundred thousand sesterces out of Sicily contrary to the laws. We will make this so plain to you by witnesses, by private documents, and by public records that you shall decide that, even if we had abundant space and leisure days for making a long speech without any inconvenience, still there was no need at all of a long speech in this matter.

Notes on the current edition

In C. Verrem

1. nobis G1

2. non modo apud nos sed apud exteras nationes Harl. 5428 (A. D. 1470): non modo Romae sed et (etiam Halm) apud ext. nat. Naugerius, vulg. ( cf. iv §58) : non modo apud populum Romanum sed etiam ext. nat. edit. Iunt. secuti Baiter, Kayser, Mueller. Habent non modo apud ext. nat., mediis omissis, Dp et codd. praeter r et Burn. 158, in quibus est ( itemque in ed. Ven. 1483) non modo apud ext. nat. sed omnium sermone fort. recte; Cl. Rev. xvii. 199

3. iuris urbani πb, Asc.: iuris D ψ: urbis W. Paul ( cf. De Domo, §140) An huius urbis? Cl. Rev. xvii. 200

4. atque G2K δ

5. populo r. πK: p. r. D al.: praetori δ. Fort. Glabrioni praetori, populo Romano: Cl. Rev. l. c.

6. rapuisse b δ

7. possit codd.: posset coni. Muell. ( Div. §55)

8. primus p δ: primo L: om. Asc. reus a me b Schol. Gronov.

9. Siciliam Kb: Sicilia D ψp; cf. i, §30

10. Achaiam prs: Achaia D ψ

11. hoc praetore Asc.: praetore om. pq1s ( add. s. l. p2 glabrione p. r.): hoc Glabrione D ψ ( in mg. D praetore): hoc Glabrione praetore r al.

12. p. r. Dp: populus Romanus G12KZ: praetor r Asc., edd.

13. constituerit Dp et pler.

14. aut D ψπ: et b ed. Rom.

15. convictam p δ: coniunctam D al.

16. primus gradus honoris codd., Diomedes: secl. edd.

17. depeculatus π Schol. Gronov.: depopulatus D ψ

18. in Cn. Dolabellam secl. Kays. Muell.

19. cui et legatus π: cui l legatus G2: cui ille leg. D al: cui .l. ille leg. K

20. depeculatio Lamb. edd.

21. monimenta codd. pler. ( p et Div. §14)

22. tam patria cuiusquam D al. p, sed inseruit p2 cuiusquam s. l. ante tam: cuiusquam tam patria cuiusquam r: cuiusquam tam patria qs edd.

23. a iud. G2K

24. depeculatus p (errant Zumpt et Iord.), bqr edd. (i §48): depopulatus D ψ

25. ab hominibus pq1

26. esse arbitror Dp et pler.: arbitror esse qr

27. ab initio res ab eo DZpr: ab eo om. G1, ab initio om. G2K

28. const. sit ab eo q

29. Ea mansit Asc., Schol. Gronov.

30. condicione p: ditione s. dictione rell.

31. condicio Asc., edd.: conditio Z: dicio G1: conclusio G2LK: conductio p vulg.: condutio ut videtur D

32. ut om. p

33. Hortensius codd.: Q. Hort. Schol. Gronov., Muell. ( Am. J. Ph. xxvi. 412)

34. potius quam cont. secl. Kays.

35. commemorare codd. ( Act. Pr. §54, i §4: ii §6: iii §41)

36. gratulatur D ψ: victoriam grat. pr δ

37. aspiciebant pq1 Schol. Gronov.: aspiciebatur r

38. iam p δ Asc.: om. D ψ

39. et D ψp: ac Asc.

40. sequentur DKp: sequuntur G12Z

41. Non DG1Zsb: num G2LKr δ: om. pq

42. quidem mihi res DKZ π: mihi quidem res G12s: quidem res mihi b δ

43. neque tamen tant. Manutius, edd. (iii §134)

44. tantopere Dp: tanto opere codd. pler., edd. ( cf. iii §155: magnopere l. 23, i §§27, 108, iv §1, v §107)

45. facere debere codd.: facere om. Asc., Schol. Gronov., edd.

46. iam antea scripsi cum Steph. Lamb. (§29 infra): etiam ( post -asset) antea codd.: et iam antea edd.

47. tantum G1: tandem coni. Zumpt

48. t n D, tamen p rell. ( ut l. 17): tum edd.

49. magnopere Dp: magno opere edd. ( l. 3 supra)

50. eis Halm Kays.

51. propter iudicium pr δ ( Zielinski p. 192): om. D ψ

52. denique quoque pq1K

53. sane in eo b δ

54. accerserentur Mueller, Stangl ( Pseudoasconiana, p. 83)

55. deicerer DKZp: deiicerer G2qs al.: deiiceret G1rb (me deiceret Zielinski l. c.)

56. neque Hortensium addidi: Hortensium cōs. (eosque G1) n solū sed etiam DG1pr al.: consulem non solum Q. Hort. Mueller ( Cl. Rev. xvii. 200)

57. istis p

58. iam DG12pr: eam q al.: om. K

59. reddisse Dp: redisse Z: dedisse K

60. Q. Metellus codd.: corr. Naugerius

61. posset Mueller

62. potestate D et ( in ras.) p1 al.: voluntate al. potestate L

63. homine innocente πb

64. eo om. G2LK

65. Kal. Iunii DKZ: Kal. iūn. pq

66. habemus DG1pq al.

67. kal. iūn p

68. ian. Dp: §36

69. prope toto comm. cons. DG1: prope cons. toto comm. πbD2K: prope toto cons. comm. rell. praeter Z., in quo est toto prope comm. cons.

70. exspect. iud. Dp et pler.: iud. exspect. bs δ edd.

71. accusando Dp et pler.

72. perpauci D al. π: pauci Kb δ

73. et hac accus. scripsi: et ex accus. DZp al.: et excus. K: ex accus. ( om. et) G2: et mea accus. Klotz

74. igitur Dp et pler.: ergo G2K

75. mihi p al.: om. D ψ

76. malitiose secl. Bake, edd. (ċmalitioseċ p; cf. i, §§91 (ċcopioseċ), 139, 147)

77. ratio fert malit Mueller

78. periculosum D al. pb: periculosissimum qr

79. mihi ( ante sumo) om. D ψ

80. Ian. D: Iun. p

81. secum habere Dp et pler.

82. aut accipere aut recipere π Asc.: aut rec. aut acc. D ψb

83. haec huius modi pb al.: haec huiusce modi D al.: huius modi haec qr

84. in add. Zumpt

85. iudices scripsi ( cf. ii §13 ad fin.): iudice codd.

86. equite Rom. iudicante secl. Madv. edd.

87. xxx Dpq: xxx rell.

88. Quid? quod scripsi: quod codd.

89. Popilio Dp: Popillio al.

90. est... sunt... est codd. ( cf. i §20, ii §32): sit... sint... sit edd.

91. est... sunt... est codd. ( cf. i §20, ii §32): sit... sint... sit edd.

92. est... sunt... est codd. ( cf. i §20, ii §32): sit... sint... sit edd.

93. et om. D al. π

94. putetis D al. prb

95. praesertim pb δ: om. D ψ edd.

96. exspoliaret G2LK

97. defensoribus D ψ: def. suis pb δ

98. nocentissimi Schol. Gronov. Madv.: -tissimae codd.

99. tempus hoc vobis divin. D al.: tempus hoc. div. vobis LKs: tempus opportunissimum (oport. p) vobis hoc divinitus pbr δ

100. veritas coni. Halm.: cf. §§3, 51: v §130

101. fort. et clar. D ψb: clar. et fort. π

102. ac Dpb al.: atque G2K: et r δ

103. nostrum D ψ: vestrum Iord.

104. post senatorem add. hominem Fritzsche, Iord. Kays.: unum hominem vel ten. Asc.

105. videbuntur D ψ: existimabuntur prb δ

106. omnium scripsi, cf. §7 ( Cl. Rev. xx. 256): hominum codd.

107. oculi 1/PR p Par. 7786, oculi populi .ro. r δ: populus Romanus ( p. r. D) D ψ, secl. Fritzsche, Kays. ( sed cf. i §29): oculi et manus Koch, Muell.: an oculi animique? (ii §150)

108. ab dis Dp: a diis G1 al.

109. peto b δ

110. veritatis coni. Baiter (§43: ii §4)

111. quo loco sis codd.: qui sis quo loco sis edd. post Naugerium

112. noctes diesque D ψ: dies noctesque p δ

113. ut Siculi quos codd.: Siculi secl. edd. auct. Madv., ego delevi

114. xl D: xxxx p: triginta r δ

115. responderi Lamb. (§18): respondere Dp1 ( corr. respondeat p2) ψ: respondeant r δ

116. diuturnitatis D al. π: diuturnitate p in mg., edd. vett.

117. ludorum coni. ex Asc. Manutius: iudiciorum codd.

118. quoquam qr

119. totum crimen qr

120. ut ubi Asc., Iannoctianus (= id ubi): et ubi? interrogando auct. Madv. secl. Mueller. Cf. i cap. xi ad init.

121. tum D al.: tunc pr

122. quia ea scripsi: si ea Muell. ( Div. §5): ea D al. p1, om. G1r δb. Facimus post ratione del. Lamb. Schuetz. An pro facimus ea ratione (rē) facimus scribendum facimus et recte facimus (i §13)? Cl. Rev. xvii. 200

123. socios D ψp: in socios δ

Commentary

Commentary on Impeachment of Verres (Select Orations of Cicero (Allen and Greenough's Edition). Greenough, James Bradstreet; Kittredge, George Lyman, editors. Boston, London: Ginn & Company, 1897.) focus

erat optandum, what was chiefly to be wished: not implying a protasis contrary to fact. See § 522 , a (311, c); B. 304, 3; G. 254, R.1; H. 583 (511, 1, N.8); H.-B. 582, 3, a.

quod . . .pertinebat, the one thing which most tended (or, was of chief importance).

invidiam . . . infamiamque, odium and ill repute, from the partisan use of the courts by the Senators.

vestri ordinis , i.e. the senatorial order. The word ordo signified, loosely, any recognized body of citizens—as freedmen, publicans, clerks; but it was more especially used of the two powerful classes of the Roman aristocracy, the Senatorial and the Equestrian, which struggled with each other for power during the last century of the Republic. The Senators, from whom the jurors were at this time taken (see note on Rosc. Am., p. 2,1. l), formed a limited (300 to 600) order of nobility which virtually controlled the government. The equites constituted a moneyed aristocracy. Naturally these two orders had opposing interests, as the Senators were excluded from trade and the equites practically from political power. Their antagonism showed itself more especially in the matter of the provinces, which the Senators wished to oppress by official plunder and the equites by commercial extortion.

summo . . . tempore , most critical time (more lit. extreme crisis): the year of the consulship of Pompey and Crassus ( B.C. 70).

inveteravit (emphatic position), there has come to be deeply rooted (observe that the figure is quite different in the Latin).

opinio , notion or idea (not so strong as our opinion, which should be sententia ).

exteras nationes: the reference is, of course, to the peoples subject to Rome, who were aggrieved by the rapacity of the provincial governors.

his iudiciis : in consequence of the situation described above (note on

ordinis , l. 2) it became all important for one class or the other to control the courts, before which any misdoings of either party were likely to come for trial. For years these two orders had struggled for such control. At this particular time the courts were in the hands of the Senators, who were bound together by a common cause to shield any one of their number who might be charged with misconduct as a provincial governor.

neminem (more emphatic than nullum)

: translate, never.

M. Tullius Cicero In C. Verrem 1.1

ed. William Peterson