[introduction] The trial of Verres gives the senatorial order an opportunity to redeem the reputation of the courts. Verres had no defence, but had expected to escape by bribing the jury in case he should be prosecuted. His guilt was notorious, so that the chief question now to be determined was that of the integrity of the jury. Cicero accordingly makes this the main point of the present oration: it is the court, he insists, that is on trial rather than Verres.
[1]
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.
[2]
cum
(causal)
sint
,
when men are ready.—
contionibus et legibus,
harangues and bills (proposed laws). The proposition of a law which took the exclusive control of the courts from the Senators was even now pending, and the law (
Lex Aurelia) was passed before the case of Verres was decided.
conentur
, purpose clause.
magnitudine
, abl. of means.
spe
, abl. of specification.
actor
,
complainant, i.e. agent or
attorney for conducting the suit in personal processes (
in personam ).
adduxi enim hominem,
etc.: cf. Burke, Impeachment of Warren Hastings:
We have brought before your Lordships the first man in property and power; we have brought before you the head, the chief, the captain-general in iniquity,—one in whom all the frauds, all the peculations, all the tyranny in India are embodied, disciplined, and arrayed. Then, if we have brought before you such a person, if you strike at him, you will not have need of a great many more examples,— you strike at the whole corps if you strike at the head:
in quo
,
in whose case
reconciliare,
etc.,
win back the lost repute.
possetis
, purpose.
depeculatorem,
etc.: for a more complete statement of these charges, see chs.
iv
,
v
.
juris urbani,
i.e.
as praetor urbanus (see sect.
12
).
[3]
vos
, opposed to
ego
below.
religiose,
according to your oath.
religionem veritatemque:
here,
feeling of obligation and regard for the truth.Notice that the Latin, having a comparatively poor vocabulary, is obliged to use one word for all the phrases or sides of an idea; hence such a word as
veritas may mean
truth (abstractly),
a truth (concretely), the
truth (generally),
regard for truth, or
truthful conduct.
judicium
, etc., i.e. the
court will be found wanting,—not a suitable defendant or a zealous prosecutor.
equidem
, i.e. for my own part.
quas partim,
some of which.
devitarim,
subj. as a part of the concession contained in
cum . . .sint
: §
593
(342); B. 324, I; G. 663, I; H. 652 (529, ii); H-B. 539.
Commmentary on the Impeachment of Verres. James Bradstreet Greenough. ed. James Bradstreet Greenough, ed. George Lyman Kittredge. Boston. 1897.
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