But after he arrived in Asia,—why should
I enumerate the dinners, the suppers, the horses, and the presents which marked that
progress? I am not going to say anything against Verres for everyday crimes. I say
that he carried off by force some most beautiful statues from Chios; also from Erythrae; also from Halicarnassus. From Tenedos (I pass over the money which he seized) he carried off
Tenes himself, who among the Tenedians is
considered a most holy god, who is said to have founded that city, after whose name
it is called Tenedos. This very
Tenes, I say, most admirably wrought,
which you have seen It was allowed to the aediles, and it was
not uncommon for them to borrow of the cities of the allies celebrated and
beautiful statues to adorn the shows in the games which they exhibited; and
afterwards they were restored to their owners. before now in the assembly,
he carried off amid the great lamentations of the city.
But that storming of that most ancient and most noble temple of the Samian Juno,
how grievous was it to the Samians! how bitter to all Asia! how notorious to all men! how notorious to every one of you!
And when ambassadors had come from Samos
into Asia to Caius Nero, to complain of
this attack on that temple, they received for answer, that complaints of that sort,
which concerned a lieutenant of the Roman people, ought not to be brought before the
praetor, but must be carried to Rome. What
pictures did he carry off from thence; what statues! which I saw lately in his
house, when I went thither for the sake of sealing The custom
was for the accuser to put a seal on the house and effects of the man whom he was
preparing to prosecute, in order that no evidence of the theft to be imputed might
be removed by the removal of the stolen goods. it up.
And where are those statues now, O Verres? I mean those which I lately saw in your
house against every pillar, and also in every space between two pillars, and
actually arranged in the grove in the open air? Why were those things left at your
house, as long as you thought that another praetor, with the other judges whom you
expected to have substituted in the room of these, was to sit in judgment upon your?
But when you saw that we preferred suiting the convenience of our own witnesses
rather than your convenience as to time, you left not one statue in your house
except two which were in the middle of it, and which were themselves stolen from
Samos. Did you not think that I would
summon your most intimate friends to give evidence of this matter, who had often
been at your house, and ask of them whether they knew that statues were there which
were not?
What did you think that these men would think of you then, when they saw that you
were no longer contending against your accuser, but against the quaestor and the
brokers? The quaestores
aerarii were sent to take possession in the name of the people of the
effects of a man who was convicted; the sectores
or brokers attended them to appraise the goods seized. On In some editions the passage from “Qua de
re Charidemum,” to “Non ad se
pertinere,” is transferred to the previous chapter, and inserted after
“deferri opertere,” but there is not the least
reason for this transposition, which is contrary to the authority of every
manuscript. which matter you heard Charidemus of Chios give his evidence at the former pleadings,
that he, when he was captain of a trireme, and was attending Verres on his departure
from Asia, was with him at Samos, by command of Dolabella and that he then knew
that the temple of Juno had been plundered, and the town of Samos; that afterwards he had been put on his trial
before the Chians, his fellow citizens, on the accusation of the Samians; and that
he had been acquitted because he had made it plain that the allegations of the
Samians concerned Verres, and not him.
You know that Aspendus is an ancient and
noble town in Pamphylia, full of very fine
statues. I do not say that one statue or another was taken away from thence: this I
say, that you, O Verres, left not one statue at Aspendus; that everything from the temples and from all public places
was openly seized and carried away on wagons, the citizens all looking on. And he
even carried off that harp-player of Aspendus, of whom you have often heard the saying, which is a proverb
among the Greeks, who used to say that he could sing everything within himself, and
put him in the inmost part of his own house, so as to appear to have surpassed the
statue itself in trickery.
At Perga we are aware that there is a very ancient and very holy temple of Diana.
That too, I say, was stripped and plundered by you; and all the gold which there was
on Diana herself was taken off and carried away. What, in the name of mischief, can
such audacity and inanity mean? In the very cities of our friends and allies, which
you visited under the pretext of your office as lieutenant, if you had stormed them
by force with an army, and had exercised military rule there; still, I think, the
statues and ornaments which you took away, you would have carried, not to your own
house, nor to the suburban villas of your friends, but to Rome for the public use.
Why should I speak of Marcus Marcellus, who took Syracuse, that most beautiful city? why of Lucius Scipio, who waged
war in Asia, and conquered Antiochus, a
most powerful monarch? why of Flaminius, who subdued Philip the king, and Macedonia? why of Lucius Paullus, who with his might
and valour conquered king Perses? why of Lucius Mummius, who overthrew that most
beautiful and elegant city Corinth,
full of all sorts of riches, and brought many cities of Achaia and Boeotia under the
empire and dominion of the Roman people?—their houses, though they were rich in
virtue and honour, were empty of statues and paintings. But we see the whole city,
the temples of the gods, and all parts of Italy, adorned with their gifts, and with memorials of them.
I am afraid all this may seem to some people too ancient, and long ago obsolete.
For at that time all men were so uniformly disposed in the same manner, that this
credit of eminent virtue and incorruptibility appears to belong, not only to those
men, but also to those times. Publius Servilius, a most illustrious man, who has
performed the noblest exploits, is present. He will deliver his opinion on your
conduct. He, by his power, had forces; his wisdom and his valour took Olympus, an ancient city, and one strengthened and
embellished in every possible manner. I am bringing forward recent example of a most
distinguished man. For Servilius, as a general of the Roman people, took Olympus after you, as lieutenant of the quaestor in
the same district, had taken care to harass and plunder all the cities of our
friends and allies even when they were at peace.