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.
Therefore our ancestors made their first strides to dominion over Africa from this province. Nor would the mighty
power of Carthage so soon have fallen,
if Sicily had not been open to us, both as
a granary to supply us with corn, and as a harbour for our fleets. Wherefore, Publius Africanus, when he had
destroyed Carthage, adorned the cities
of the Sicilians with most beautiful statues and monuments, in order to place the
greatest number of monuments of his victory among those whom he thought were
especially delighted at the victory of the Roman people.
Afterwards that illustrious man, Marcus Marcellus himself, whose valour in
Sicily was felt by his enemies, his mercy
by the conquered, and his good faith by all the Sicilians, not only provided in that
war for the advantage of his allies, but spared even his conquered enemies. When by
valour and skill he had taken Syracuse, that most beautiful city, which was not only strongly
fortified by art, but was protected also by its natural advantages—by the character
of the ground about it, and by the sea—he not only allowed it to remain without any
diminution of its strength, but he left it so highly adorned, as to be at the same
time a monument of his victory, of his clemency, and of his moderation; when men saw
both what he had subdued, and whom he had spared, and what he had left behind him.
He thought that Sicily was entitled to have
so much honour paid to her, that he did not think that he ought to destroy even an
enemy's city in an island of such allies.