Nor were the tears which were shed for him shed more by the people than by us, and
by yourself, O Hortensius, and by those who are to pronounce sentence in this cause.
For because it is the common cause of all men, the common danger of all men, such
wickedness like a conflagration must be put out by the common endeavours of all men.
For we have little children; it is uncertain how long the life of each individual
among us may last. We, while alive, ought to take care and provide that their
desolate condition and childhood may be secured by the strongest possible
protection. For who is there who can defend the childhood of our children against
the dishonesty of magistrates? Their mother, I suppose. No doubt, the mother of
Annia, though a most noble woman, was a great protection to her when she was left a
minor. No doubt she, by imploring the aid of gods and men, prevented him from
robbing her infant ward of her father's fortunes. Can their guardians defend them?
Very easily, no doubt, with a praetor of that sort by whom both the arguments, and
the earnestness, and the authority of Marcus Marcellus in the cause of his ward
Junius were disregarded.
Do we ask what he did in the distant province of Phrygia? what in the most remote parts of Pamphylia? What a robber of pirates he proved
himself in war, who had been found to be a nefarious plunderer of the Roman people
in the forum? Do we doubt what that man would do with respect to spoils taken from
the enemy, who appropriated to himself so much plunder from the spoils of Lucius
Metellus? This temple of Castor had been vowed by Postumius,
the dictator at the battle of Lake Regillus. It was decorated with statues and
other embellishments by Lucius Metellus surnamed Dalmaticus, out of the wealth he
acquired by, and the spoils he brought back from, the war in Illyricum. who let out a contract for
whitewashing four pillars at a greater price than Metellus paid for erecting the
whole of them? Must we wait to hear what the witnesses from Sicily say? Who has ever seen that temple who is not
a witness of your avarice, of your injustice, of your audacity? Who has ever come
from the statue of Vertumnus into the Circus Maximus, without being reminded at
every step of your avarice? for that road, the road of the sacred cars and of such
solemn processions, you have had repaired in such a way that you yourself do not
dare go by it. Can any one think that when you were separated from Italy by the sea you spared the allies? You who
chose the temple of Castor to be the witness of your thefts which the Roman people
saw every day, and even the judges at the very moment that they were giving their
decision concerning you.
And he, even during his praetorship, exercised the office of judge in public
cases. The praetors appointed the judges, but had not
themselves the right of sitting as judges in all criminal cases, only in a few
special ones. For even that must not be passed over. A fine was sought to
be recovered from Quintus Opimius before him while praetor; who was brought to
trial, as it was alleged, indeed, because while tribune of the people he had
interposed his veto in a manner contrary to the Cornelian law, This law had been passed by Sulla to take away from the tribunes the power of
interposing their veto, but Pompeius restored it to them. but, in reality,
because while tribune of the people he had said something which gave offence to some
one of the nobles. And if I were to wish to say anything of that decision, I should
have to call in question and to attack many people, which it is not necessary for me
to do. I will only say that a few arrogant men, to say the least of them, with his
assistance, ruined all the fortunes of Quintus Opimius in fun and joke.
Again; does he complain of me, because the first pleading
of his cause was brought to an end by me in nine days only; when before himself as
judge. Quintus Opimius, a senator of the Roman people, in three hours lost his
property, his position, and all his titles of honour? On account of the scandalous
nature of which decision, the question has often been mooted in the senate of taking
away the whole class of fines and sentences of that sort. But what plunder he
amassed in selling the property of Quintus Opimius, and how openly, how scandalously
he amassed it, it would take too long to relate now. This I say,—unless I make it
plain to you by the account-books of most honourable men, believe that I have
invented it all for the present occasion.
Now the man who profiting by the disaster of a Roman senator, at whose trial he
had presided while praetor, endeavoured to strip him of his spoils and carry them to
his own house, has he a right to deprecate any calamity to himself? For as for the choosing of other
judges by Junius, In the trial between Cluentius and
Oppianicus, Junius was the presiding judge. The imputation on him was, that he had
used fraudulent tricks to pack the tribunal, in selecting by lot the judges who
were to act instead of those who had been objected to by both parties. of
that I say nothing. For why should I? Should I venture to speak against the lists
which you produced? It is difficult to do so; for not only does your own influence
and that of the judges deter me, but also the golden ring of your secretary. The allusion is to the golden ring which Verres, when leaving
Sicily, had publicly decreed to his
secretary, as is mentioned also in the fourth oration against Verres, that
“De Re Frumentaria.” I will not say that which it is
difficult to prove; I will say this—which I will prove,—that many men of the first
consequence heard you say that you ought to be pardoned for having produced a false
list, for that, unless you had guarded against it, you yourself would also have been
ruined by the same storm of unpopularity as that under which Caius Junius fell.
In this way has that fellow learnt to take care of himself and of his own safety,
by entering both in his own private registers and in the public documents what had
never happened; by effacing all mention of what had; and by continually taking away
something, changing something (taking care that no erasure was visible),
interpolating something. For he has come to such a pitch, that he cannot even find a
defence for his crimes without committing other grimes. That most senseless man
thought that such a substitution of his own judges also could be effected by the
instrumentality of his comrade, Quintus Curtius, who was to be principal judge; and
unless I had prevented that by the power of the people, and the outcries and
reproaches of all men, the advantage of having judges taken from this decuria “With the passing of special enactments for the punishment of
particular offences was introduced the practice of forming a body of judices for the trial of such offences as the enactments
were directed against. Thus it is said that the lex
Calpurnia de pecuniis repetundis established the album judicum, or the body out of which the judices were
to be chosen. It is not known what was the number of the judges so constituted,
but it has been conjectured that the number was three hundred and fifty, and that
ten were chosen from each tribe, and thus the origin of the phrase, decuriae judicum is explained.“—Smith, Dict. Ant. p.
531, v. Judex. of our body, whose
influence it was desirable for me should be rendered as extensive an possible, while
he was substituting others for them without any reason, and placing on the bench
those whom Verres had approved.
THE SECOND BOOK OF THE SECOND PLEADING AGAINST CAIUS VERRES.CONCERNING HIS MANNER OF DECIDING CAUSES AS JUDGE WHILE IN SICILY.
The Argument.
Cicero divides his accusation of Verres, on account of his conduct in Sicily, under four heads, of which the first is
judicial corruption and extortion. And in this branch of the accusation he does not
attend to the chronological order of his offences, but takes the instances according
to the different classes under which they seem to fall, and according to their
importance.
Many things, O judges, must be necessarily passed over by me, in order that I may
be able at last to speak in some manner of those matters which have been entrusted
to my good faith. For I have undertaken the cause of Sicily; that is the province which has tempted me to this business.
But when I took upon myself this burden, and undertook the cause of Sicily, in my mind I embraced a wider range, for I
took upon myself also the cause of my whole order—I took upon myself the cause of
the Roman people; because I thought that in that case alone could a just decision be
come to, if not only a wicked criminal was brought up, but if at the same time a
diligent and firm accuser came before the court.
On which account I must the sooner come to the cause of Sicily omitting all mention of his other thefts and
iniquities, in order that I may be able to handle it while my strength is yet
unimpaired, and that I may have time enough to dilate fully on the business. And
before I begin to speak of the distresses of Sicily, it seems to me that I ought to say a little of the dignity
and antiquity of that province, and of the advantage which it is to us. For as you
ought to have a careful regard for all the allies and provinces, so especially ought
you to have a regard for Sicily, O judges,
for many, and those the greatest, reasons:—First, because of all foreign nations
Sicily was the first who joined herself
to the friendship and alliance of the Roman people. She was the first to be called a
province; and the provinces are a great ornament to the empire. She was the first
who taught our ancestors how glorious a thing it was to rule over foreign nations.
She alone has displayed such good faith and such good will towards the Roman people,
that the states of that island which have once come into our alliance have never
revolted afterwards, but many of them, and those the most illustrious of them, have
remained firm to our friendship for ever.