Cicero

At that time, then, as he tells us, he was altogether disheartened, seeing that the story of his doings had sunk into the city as into a bottomless sea, without any visible effect upon his reputation; but afterwards he reasoned with himself and abated much of his ambition, convinced that the fame towards which he was emulously struggling was a thing that knew no bounds and had no tangible limit.

However, his excessive delight in the praise of others and his too passionate desire for glory remained with him until the very end, and very often confounded his saner reasonings.

And now that he was engaging in public life with greater ardour, he considered it a shameful thing that while craftsmen, using vessels and instruments that are lifeless, know the name and place and capacity of every one of them, the statesman, on the contrary, whose instruments for carrying out public measures are men, should be indifferent and careless about knowing his fellow-citizens.

Wherefore he not only accustomed himself to remember their names, but also learned to know the quarter of the city in which every notable person dwelt, where he owned a country-place, what friends he had, and what neighbours; so that whatever road in Italy Cicero travelled, it was easy for him to name and point out the estates and villas of his friends.

His property, though sufficient to meet his expenses, was nevertheless small, and therefore men wondered that he would accept neither fees nor gifts for his services as advocate, and above all when he undertook the prosecution of Verres. This man, who had been praetor of Sicily, and whom the Sicilians prosecuted for many villainous acts, Cicero convicted, not by speaking, but, in a way, by actually not speaking.

For the praetors favoured Verres, and by many obstacles and delays had put off the case until the very last day,[*](That is, the last day on which the case could be tried during that year. The city praetor already elected for the coming year (69 B.C.) favoured Verres, and Hortensius, the advocate of Verres, was to be consul in that year. He therefore used every artifice to delay the case. See Cicero, in Verrem, i. 10, 31 ff. ) since it was clear that a day’s time would not be enough for the speeches of the advocates and so the trial would not be finished. But Cicero rose and said there was no need of speeches,[*](Of the seven orations against Verres (including the Divinatio in Caecilium) only the first two were delivered; the others were compiled after the verdict had been pronounced.) and then brought up and examined his witnesses and bade the jurors cast their votes. Nevertheless, many witty sayings of his in connection with this trial are on record.