--- title: "Against Verres · In Verrem" author: "Cicero" translator: "Charles Duke Yonge" languages: [la, en] shelf: "Classical Latin" section: 15 of 31 url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-in-verrem/15/ cite: "Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, Against Verres · In Verrem, section 15. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-in-verrem/15/" --- # Against Verres · In Verrem *Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge* Cicero prosecutes the governor who plundered Sicily for three years: the first speech won the case, the five books of the second show Verres’ crimes one by one. > Latin: ed. William Peterson, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0474.phi005, CC BY-SA 4.0). > English: Charles Duke Yonge, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0474.phi005.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included. > Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence. ## 15. Actio Secunda · Book III · sections 41–71 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-in-verrem/15/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-in-verrem/15/#p-N [¶0] 41. Oh, you sold the tenths for more than others had sold them. By what means did you manage that? by innocent means? Look at the temple of Castor, and then, if you dare, talk of your innocent means. By your diligence? Look at the erasures in your registers at the name of Sthenius of Thermae, and then have the face to call yourself diligent. By your ability? You who refused at the former pleadings to put questions to the witnesses, and preferred presenting yourself dumb before them, pray call yourself and your advocates able men as much as you please. By what means, then, did you manage what you say you did? For it is a great credit to you if you have surpassed your predecessors in ability, and left to your successors your example and your authority. Perhaps you had no one before you fit to imitate. But, no doubt, all men will imitate you, the investor and first parent of such excellent methods. > Latin: 41. rebus id adsecutus es? innocentia? aedem Castoris; deinde, si audes, fac mentionem innocentiae.? lituras tui contemplare in Stheni Thermitani nomine; deinde aude te dicere diligentem.? testis interrogare priore actione nolueris et iis tacitus os tuum praebere malueris, quamvis et te et patronos tuos ingeniosos esse dicito. igitur id quod ais adsecutus es? Magna est laus si superiores consilio vicisti, posterioribus exemplum atque auctoritatem reliquisti. fortasse idoneus fuit nemo quem imitarere; at te videlicet inventorem rerum optimarum ac principem imitabuntur omnes. [¶1] 42. What cultivator of the soil, when you were praetor, paid a tenth? Who paid two-tenths only? Who was there who did not think himself treated with the greatest lenity if he paid three tenths instead of one, except a few men, who, on account of a partnership with you in your robberies, paid nothing at all? See how great a difference there is between your harshness and the kindness of the senate. The senate, when owing to any necessity of the republic it is compelled to decree that a second tenth shall be exacted, decrees that for that second tenth money be paid to the cultivators, so that the quantity which is taken beyond what is strictly due may be considered to be purchased, not to be taken away. You, when you were exacting and seizing so many tenths, not by a decree of the senate, but by your own edicts and nefarious regulations, shall you think that you have done a great deed if you sell them for more than Lucius Hortensius, the father of this Quintus Hortensius, did,—than Cnaeus Pompeius or Caius Marcellus sold them for; men who did not violate justice, or law, or established rules? > Latin: 42. arator te praetore decumam dedit? quis duas? quis non maximo se adfectum beneficio putavit cum tribus decumis pro una defungeretur, praeter paucos qui propter societatem furtorum tuorum nihil omnino dederunt? inter importunitatem tuam senatusque bonitatem quid intersit. cum temporibus rei publicae cogitur ut decernat ut alterae decumae exigantur, ita decernit ut pro his decumis pecunia solvatur aratoribus, ut, quod plus sumitur quam debetur, id emi non auferri putetur: tu cum tot decumas non senatus consulto, sed novis edictis tuis nefariisque institutis exigeres et eriperes, magnum te fecisse arbitrare si pluris vendideris quam L. Hortensius, pater istius Q. Hortensi, quam Cn. Pompeius, quam C. Marcellus, qui ab aequitate, ab lege, ab institutis non recesserunt? [¶2] 43. Were you to consider what might be got in one year, or in two years, and to neglect the safety of the province, the well-doing of the corn interest, and the interests of the republic in future times, though you came to the administration of affairs when matters were so managed that sufficient corn was supplied to the Roman people from Sicily, and still it was a profitable thing for the cultivators to plough and till their land? What have you brought about? What have you gained? In order that, while you were praetor, some addition might be made to the revenue derived from the tenths, you have caused the allotments of land to be deserted and abandoned. Lucius Metellus succeeded you. Were you more innocent than Metellus? Were you more desirous of credit and honour? For you were seeking the consulship, but Metellus neglected the renown which he had inherited from his father and his grandfather. He sold the tenths for much less, not only than you had done, but even than those had who had sold them before you. I ask, if he himself could not contrive any means for selling them at the best possible price, could he not follow in the fresh steps of you the very last praetor, so as to use your admirable edicts and regulations, invented and devised by you their author? > Latin: 43. tibi unius anni aut bienni ratio fuit habenda, salus provinciae, commoda rei frumentariae, ratio rei publicae in posteritatem fuit neglegenda? rem ita constitutam accepisses ut et populo Romano satis frumenti ex Sicilia suppeditaretur et aratoribus tamen arare atque agros colere expediret, quid effecisti, quid adsecutus es? Vt populo Romano nescio quid te praetore ad decumas accederet, deserendas arationes relinquendasque curasti. tibi L. Metellus. innocentior quam Metellus? tu laudis et honoris cupidior? enim consulatus quaerebatur, Metello paternus honos et avitus neglegebatur. minoris vendidit non modo quam tu, sed etiam quam qui ante te vendiderunt., si ipse excogitare non potuerat quem ad modum quam plurimo venderet, ne tua quidem recentia proximi praetoris vestigia persequi poterat, ut tuis praeclaris abs te principe inventis et excogitatis edictis atque institutis uteretur? [¶3] 44. But he thought that he should not at all be a Metellus if he imitated you in anything; he who when he thought that he was to go to that province sent letters to the cities of Sicily from Rome, a thing which no one in the memory of man ever did before, in which he exhorts and entreats the Sicilians to plough and sow their land for the service of the Roman people. He begs this some time before his arrival, and at the same time declares that he will sell the tenths according to the law of Hiero; that is to say, that in the whole business of the tenths he will do nothing like that man. And he writes this, not from being impelled by any covetousness to send letters into the province before his time, but out of prudence, lest, if the seed-time passed, we should have not a single grain of corn in the province of Sicily. See Metellus's letters. > Latin: 44. vero tum se minime Metellum fore putavit si te ulla in re imitatus esset; qui ab urbe Roma, quod nemo umquam post hominum memoriam fecit, cum sibi in provinciam proficiscendum putaret, litteras ad Siciliae civitates miserit, per quas hortatur et rogat ut arent, ut serant. beneficio praetor hoc petit aliquanto ante adventum suum et simul ostendit se lege Hieronica venditurum, hoc est in omni ratione decumarum nihil istius simile facturum. haec non cupiditate aliqua scribit inductus ut in alienam provinciam mittat litteras ante tempus, sed consilio, ne, si tempus sationis praeterisset, granum ex provincia Sicilia nullum haberemus. [¶4] 45. Read the letter of Lucius Metellus. [The letters of Lucius Metellus are read.] It is these letters, O judges, of Lucius Metellus, which you have heard, that have raised all the corn that there in this year in Sicily. No one would have broken one clod of earth in all the land of Sicily subject to the payment of tenths, if Metellus had not sent this letter. What? Did this idea occur to Metellus by inspiration, or had he his information from the Sicilians who had come to Rome in great numbers, and from the traders of Sicily? And who is ignorant what great crowds of them assembled at the door of the Marcelli, the most ancient patrons of Sicily? what crowds of them thronged to Cnaeus Pompeius, the consul elect, and to the rest of the men connected with the province? And such a thing never yet took place in the instance of any one, as for a man to be openly accused by those people over whose property and families he had supreme dominion and power. So great was the effect of his injuries, that men preferred to suffer anything, rather than not to bewail themselves and complain of his wickedness and injuries. > Latin: 45. Metelli litteras.. epistvla L. Metelli. litterae, iudices, L. Metelli, quas audistis, hoc quantum est ex Sicilia frumenti hornotini exaraverunt: glebam commosset in agro decumano Siciliae nemo, si Metellus hanc epistulam non misisset.? Metello divinitus hoc venit in mentem an ab Siculis, qui Romam frequentissimi convenerant, negotiatoribusque Siciliae doctus est? quorum quanti conventus ad Marcellos, antiquissimos Siciliae patronos, quanti ad Cn. Pompeium tum consulem designatum, ceterosque illius provinciae necessarios fieri soliti sint, quis ignorat? quod quidem, iudices, nullo umquam de homine factum est, ut absens accusaretur ab iis palam quorum in bona liberosque summum imperium potestatemque haberet. vis erat iniuriarum ut homines quidvis perpeti quam non de istius improbitate deplorare et conqueri mallent. [¶5] 46. And when Metellus had sent these letters couched in almost a supplicating tone to all the cities, still he was far from prevailing with them to sow the land as they formerly had. For many had fled, as I shall presently show, and had left not only their allotments of land, but even their paternal homes, being driven away by the injuries of that man. I will not indeed, O judges, say anything for the sake of unduly exaggerating my charges. But the sentiments which I have imbibed through my eyes and in my mind, those I will state to you truly, and, as far as I can, plainly. > Latin: 46. litteras cum ad omnis civitates prope suppliciter misisset Metellus, tamen antiquum modum sationis nulla ex parte adsequi potuit; diffugerant enim permulti, id quod ostendam, nec solum arationes sed etiam sedes suas patrias istius iniuriis exagitati reliquerant. mehercule augendi criminis causa, iudices, dicam, sed, quem ipse accepi oculis animoque sensum, hunc vere apud vos et, ut potero, planissime exponam. [¶6] 47. For when four years afterwards I came into Sicily, it appeared to me in such a condition as those countries are apt to be in, in which a bitter and long war has been carried on. Those plains and fields which I had formerly seen beautiful and verdant, I now saw so laid waste and desolate that the very land itself seemed to feel the want of its cultivators, and to be mourning for its master. The land of Herbita, of Enna, of Morgantia, of Assoria, of Imachara, and of Agyrium, was so deserted as to its principal part, that we had to look not only for the allotments of land, but also for the body of owners. But the district of Aetna, which used to be most highly cultivated, and that which was the very head of the corn country, the district of Leontini, the character of which was formerly such that when you had once seen that sown, you did not fear any dearness of provisions, was so rough and unsightly, that in the most fruitful part of Sicily we were asking where Sicily could be gone? The previous year had, indeed, greatly shaken the cultivators, but the last one had utterly ruined them. > Latin: 47. cum quadriennio post in Siciliam venissem, sic mihi adfecta visa est ut eae terrae solent in quibus bellum acerbum diuturnumque versatum est. ego campos antea collisque nitidissimos viridissimosque vidissem, hos ita vastatos nunc ac desertos videbam ut ager ipse cultorem desiderare ac lugere dominum videretur. Herbitensis ager et Hennensis, Murgentinus, Assorinus, Imacharensis, Agyrinensis ita relictus erat ex maxima parte ut non solum iugorum sed etiam dominorum multitudinem quaereremus; Aetnensis vero ager, qui solebat esse cultissimus, et, quod caput est rei frumentariae, campus Leontinus,—cuius antea species haec erat ut, cum obsitum vidisses, annonae caritatem non vererere,—sic erat deformis atque horridus ut in uberrima Siciliae parte Siciliam quaereremus; labefactarat enim vehementer aratores iam superior annus, proximus vero funditus everterat. [¶7] 48. Will you dare also to make mention to me of the tenths? Do you, after such wickedness, after such cruelty, after such numerous and serious injuries done to people, when the whole province of Sicily entirely depends on its arable land, and on its rights connected with that land; after the cultivators have been entirely ruined, the fields deserted—after you have left no one in so wealthy and populous a province—not only no property, but no hope even remaining; do you, I say, think that you can acquire any popularity by saying that you have sold the tenths at a better price than the other praetors? As if the Roman people had formed this wish, or the senate had given you this commission, by seizing all the fortunes of the cultivators under the name of tenths, to deprive the Roman people for all future time of that revenue, and of their supply of corn; and, as if after that, by adding some part of your own plunder to the total amount got from the tenths, you could appear to have deserved well of the Roman people. And I say this, as if his injustice was to be reproved in this particular, that, out of a desire for credit to be got by surpassing others in the sum derived from tenths, he had put forth a law rather too severe, and edicts rather too stringent, and rejected the examples of all his predecessors. > Latin: 48. mihi etiam audes mentionem facere decumarum? tu in tanta improbitate, in tanta acerbitate, in tot ac tantis iniuriis, cum in arationibus et in earum rerum iure provincia Sicilia consistat, eversis funditus aratoribus, relictis agris, cum in provincia tam locuplete ac referta non modo rem sed ne spem quidem ullam reliquam cuiquam feceris, aliquid te populare putabis habere cum dices te pluris quam ceteros decumas vendidisse? vero aut populus Romanus hoc voluerit aut senatus hoc tibi mandaverit, ut, cum omnis aratorum fortunas decumarum nomine eriperes, in posterum fructu illo commodoque rei frumentariae populum Romanum privares, deinde, si quam partem tuae praedae ad summam decumarum addidisses, bene de re publica, bene de populo Romano meritus viderere. perinde loquor quasi in eo sit iniquitas eius reprehendenda, quod propter gloriae cupiditatem, ut aliquos summa frumenti decumani vinceret, acerbiorem legem, duriora edicta interposuerit, omnium superiorum auctoritatem repudiarit. [¶8] 49. You sold the tenths at a high price. What will be said, if I prove that you appropriated and took to your own house no less a sum than you had sent to Rome under the name of tenths? What is there to obtain popularity for you in that plan of yours, when you took for yourself from a province of the Roman people a share equal to that which you sent to the Roman people? What will be said if I prove that you took twice as much corn yourself as you sent to the Roman people? Shall we still expect to see your advocate toss his head at this accusation, and throw himself on the people, and on the assembly here present? These things you have heard before, O judges; but perhaps you have heard it on no other authority than report, and the common conversation of men. Know now that an enormous sum was taken by him on pretences connected with corn; and consider at the same time the profligacy of that saying of his, when he said that by the profit made on the tenths alone, he could buy himself off from all his dangers. > Latin: 49. Magno tu decumas vendidisti.? si doceo te non minus domum tuam avertisse quam Romam misisse decumarum nomine, quid habet populare oratio tua, cum ex provincia populi Romani aequam partem tu tibi sumpseris ac populo Romano miseris?? si duabus partibus doceo te amplius frumenti abstulisse quam populo Romano misisse, tamenne putamus patronum tuum in hoc crimine cerviculam iactaturum et populo se ac coronae daturum? vos antea, iudices, audistis, verum fortasse ita audistis ut auctorem rumorem haberetis sermonemque omnium. nunc innumerabilem pecuniam frumentario nomine ereptam, ut simul illam quoque eius vocem improbam agnoscatis qui se uno quaestu decumarum omnia sua pericula redempturum esse dicebat. [¶9] 50. We have heard this for a long time, O judges. I say that there is not one of you who has not often heard that the collectors of the tenths were that mans partners. I do not think that anything else has been said against him falsely by those who think ill of him but this. For they are to be considered partners of a man, with whom the gains of a business are shared. But I say that the whole of these gains, and the whole of the fortunes of the cultivators, went to Verres alone. I say that Apronius, and those slaves of Venus, who were quite a new class of farmers first heard of in his praetorship! and the other collectors, were only agents of that one man's gains, and ministers of his plunder. How do you prove that? > Latin: 50. hoc iam diu, iudices: nego quemquam esse vestrum quin saepe audierit socios istius fuisse decumanos. aliud arbitror falso in istum esse dictum ab iis qui male de isto existimarint, nisi hoc. socii putandi sunt quos inter res communicata est: ego rem totam fortunasque aratorum omnis istius fuisse dico, Apronium Veneriosque servos,—quod isto praetore fuit novum genus publicanorum,—ceterosque decumanos procuratores istius quaestus et administros rapinarum fuisse dico. [¶10] 51. How did I prove that he had committed robbery in the contract for those pillars? Chiefly, I think, by this fact, that he had put forth an unjust and unprecedented law. For who ever attempted to change all the rights of people, and the customs of all men, getting great blame for so doing, except for some gain? I will proceed and carry this matter further. You sold the tenths according to an unjust law, in order to sell them for more money. Why, when the tenths were now knocked down and sold,—when nothing could now be added to their sum total, but much might be to your own gains,—why did new edicts appear, made on a sudden and to meet an emergency? For I say, that in your third year you issued edicts, that a collector might summon a man before the court anywhere he liked; that the cultivator might not remove his corn from the threshing-floor, before he had settled the claims of the collector; that they should have the tenths delivered at the water-side before the first of August. All these edicts, I say, you issued after the tenths had been sold. But if you had issued them for the sake of the republic, notice would have been given of them at the time of selling; because you were acting with a view to your own interest, you, being prompted by your love of gain and by the emergency, repaired the omission which had unintentionally occurred. > Latin: 51. “modo hoc doces?” modo ex illa locatione columnarum docui istum esse praedatum: opinor, ex eo maxime quod iniquam legem novamque dixisset. enim umquam conatus est iura omnia et consuetudinem omnium commutare cum vituperatione sine quaestu? Pergam atque insequar longius. lege vendebas, quo pluris venderes. addictis iam et venditis decumis, cum iam ad summam decumarum nihil, ad tuum quaestum multum posset accedere, subito atque ex tempore nova nascebantur edicta? ut vadimonium decumano, quocumque is vellet, promitteretur, ut ex area, nisi pactus esset, arator ne tolleret, ut ante Kalendas Sextilis decumas deportatas haberet, haec omnia iam venditis decumis anno tertio te edixisse dico; quae si rei publicae causa faceres, in vendundo essent pronuntiata; quia tua causa faciebas, quod erat imprudentia praetermissum, id quaestu ac tempore admonitus reprehendisti. [¶11] 52. But who can be induced to believe this—that you, without any profit, or even without the greatest profit to yourself, disregarded the great disgrace, the great danger to your position as a free man, and to your fortunes, which you were incurring, so far as, though you were daily hearing the groans and complaints of all Sicily,—though, as you yourself have said, you expected to be brought to trial for this,—though the hazard of this present trial is not at all inconsistent with the opinion you yourself had formed,—still to allow the cultivators of the soil to be harassed and plundered with circumstances of the most scandalous injustice? In truth, though you are a man of singular cruelty and audacity, still you would be unwilling for a whole province to be alienated from you,—for so many most honourable men to be made your greatest enemies, if your desire for money and present booty had not overcome all reason and all consideration of safety. > Latin: 52. vero cui probari potest, te sine tuo quaestu, ac maximo quaestu, tantam tuam infamiam, tantum capitis tui fortunarumque tuarum periculum neglexisse ut, cum totius Siciliae cotidie gemitus querimoniasque audires, cum, ut ipse dixisti, reum te fore putares, cum huiusce iudici discrimen ab opinione tua non abhorreret, paterere tamen aratores indignissimis iniuriis vexari ac diripi?, quamquam es singulari crudelitate et audacia, tamen abs te totam abalienari provinciam, tot homines honestissimos ac locupletissimos tibi inimicissimos fieri nolles, nisi hanc rationem et cogitationem salutis tuae pecuniae cupiditas ac praesens illa praeda superaret. [¶12] 53. But, O judges, since it is not possible for me to detail to you the sum total and the whole number of his acts of injustice,—since it would be an endless task to speak separately of the injuries done to each individual,—I beg you, listen to the different kinds of injustice. There is a man of Centuripa, named Nympho, a clever and industrious man, a most experienced and diligent cultivator. He, though he rented very large allotments, (as other rich men like him have been in the habit of doing in Sicily,) and though he cultivated them at great expense, keeping a great deal of stock, was treated by that man with such excessive injustice, that he not only abandoned his allotments, but even fled from Sicily, and came to Rome with many others who had been driven away by that man. He then contrived that the collector should assert that Nympho had not made a proper return of his number of acres, according to that notable edict, which had no other object except making profit of this sort. > Latin: 53. quoniam summam ac numerum iniuriarum vobis, iudices, non possum expromere, singillatim autem de unius cuiusque incommodo dicere infinitum est, genera ipsa iniuriarum, quaeso, cognoscite. Nympho est Centuripinus, homo gnavus et industrius, experientissimus ac diligentissimus arator. cum arationes magnas conductas haberet, quod homines etiam locupletes, sicut ille est, in Sicilia facere consuerunt, easque magna impensa magnoque instrumento tueretur, tanta ab isto iniquitate oppressus est ut non modo arationes relinqueret, sed etiam ex Sicilia profugeret Romamque una cum multis ab isto eiectis veniret. ut decumanus Nymphonem negaret ex edicto illo praeclaro, quod nullam ad aliam rem nisi ad huius modi quaestus pertinebat, numerum iugerum professum esse. [¶13] 54. As Nympho wished to defend himself in a regular action, he appoints some excellent judges, that same physician Cornelius, (his real name is Artemidorus, a citizen of Perga, under which name he had formerly in his own country acted as guide to Verres, and as prompter in his exploit of plundering the temple of Diana,) and Volusius the soothsayer, and Valerius the crier. Nympho was condemned before he had fairly got into court. In what penalty? perhaps you will ask, for there was no fixed sum mentioned in the edict In the penalty of all the corn which was on his threshing-floors. So Apronius the collector takes, by a penalty for violating an edict, and not by any rights connected with his farming the revenue—not the tenth that was due, not corn that had been removed and concealed, but seven thousand medimni of wheat—from the allotments of Nympho. > Latin: 54. Nympho cum se vellet aequo iudicio defendere, dat iste viros optimos recuperatores, eundem illum medicum Cornelium, is est Artemidorus Pergaeus, qui in sua patria dux isti quondam et magister ad spoliandum Dianae templum fuit, et haruspicem Volusium et Valerium praeconem. Nympho antequam plane constitit condemnatur. fortasse quaeritis. erat edicti poena certa: frumenti eius omnis quod in areis esset. Apronius decumanus non decumam debitam, non frumentum remotum atque celatum, sed tritici Vll milia medimnum ex Nymphonis arationibus edicti poena, non redemptionis aliquo iure tollit. [¶14] 55. A farm belonging to the wife of Xeno Menenius, a most noble man, had been let to a settler. The settler, because he could not bear the oppressive conduct of the collectors, had fled from his land. Verres gave his favourite sentence of condemnation against Xeno for not having made a return of his acres. Xenosaid that it was no business of his; that the farm was let. Verres ordered a trial to take place according to this formula,—“If it should appear” that there were more acres in the farm than the settler had returned, then Xeno was to be condemned. He said not only that he had not been the cultivator of the land, which was quite sufficient, but also that he was neither the owner of that farm, nor the lessor of it; that it belonged to his wife; that she herself transacted her own affairs; that she had let the land. A man of the very highest reputation, and of the greatest authority, defended Xeno, Marcus Cossetius. Nevertheless Verres ordered a trial, in which the penalty was fixed at eighty thousand sesterces. Xeno, although he saw that judges were provided for him out of that band of robbers, still said that he would stand the trial. Then that fellow, with a loud voice, so that Xeno might hear it, orders his slaves of Venus to take care the man does not escape while the trial is proceeding, and as soon as it is over to bring him before him. And at the same time he said also, that he did not think that, if from his riches he disregarded the penalty of a conviction, he would also disregard the scourge. He, under the compulsion of this violence and this fear, paid the collectors all that Verres commanded. > Latin: 55. Xenonis Menaeni, nobilissimi hominis, uxoris fundus erat colono locatus; colonus, quod decumanorum iniurias ferre non poterat, ex agro profugerat. Verres in Xenonem iudicium dabat illud suum damnatorium de iugerum professione. Xeno ad se pertinere negabat; fundum elocatum esse dicebat. iste iudicium, si pareret ivgera eivs fvndi plvra esse qvam colonvs esset professvs, tum uti Xeno damnaretur. ille non modo se non arasse, id quod satis erat, sed nec dominum eius esse fundi nec locatorem; uxoris esse; eam ipsam suum negotium gerere, ipsam locavisse. Xenonem homo summo splendore et summa auctoritate praeditus, M. Cossutius. nihilo minus iudicium HS iↄↄↄ dabat. tametsi recuperatores de cohorte latronum sibi parari videbat, tamen iudicium se accepturum esse dicebat. iste maxima voce Veneriis imperat, ut Xeno audiret, dum res iudicetur hominem ut adservent; cum iudicata sit, ad se ut adducant; et illud simul ait, se non putare illum, si propter divitias poenam damnationis contemneret, etiam virgas contempturum. ille vi et hoc metu adductus tantum decumanis dedit quantum iste imperavit. [¶15] 56. There is a citizen of Morgentia, named Polemarchus, a virtuous and honourable man. He, when seven hundred medimni were demanded as the tenths due on fifty acres, because he refused to pay them, was summoned before the praetor at his own house; and, as he was still in bed, he was introduced into his bed-chamber, into which no one else was admitted, except his woman and the collector. There he was beaten and kicked about till, though he had refused before to pay seven hundred medimni, he now promised a thousand. Eubulides Grosphus is a man of Centuripa, a man above all others of his city, both for virtue and high birth, and also for wealth. They left this man, O judges, the most honourable man of a most honourable city, not merely only so much corn, but only so much life as pleased Apronius. For by force, by violence, and by blows, he was induced to give corn, not as much as he had, but as much as was demanded of him, which was even more. > Latin: 56. Polemarchus est Murgentinus, vir bonus atque honestus. cum pro iugeribus quinquaginta medimna dcc decumae imperarentur, quod recusabat, domum ad istum in ius eductus est, et, cum iste etiam cubaret, in cubiculum introductus est, quod nisi mulieri et decumano patebat alii nemini. cum pugnis et calcibus concisus esset, qui dcc medimnis decidere noluisset, mille promisit. Eubulidas est Grospus Centuripinus, homo cum virtute et nobilitate domi suae, tum etiam pecunia princeps. homini, iudices, honestissimae civitatis honestissimo non modo frumenti scitote sed etiam vitae et sanguinis tantum relictum esse quantum Aproni libido tulit; nam vi malo plagis adductus est ut frumenti daret, non quantum deberet, sed quantum cogeretur. [¶16] 57. Sostratus, and Numenius, and Nymphodorus, of the same city, three brothers of kindred sentiments, when they had fled from their lands because more corn was demanded of them than their lands had produced, were treated thus,—Apronius collected a band of men, came into their allotments, took away all their tools, carried off their slaves, and drove off their live stock. Afterwards, when Nymphodorus came to Aetna to him, and begged to have his property restored to him, he ordered the man to be seized and hung up on a wild olive, a tree which is the forum there; and an ally and friend of the Roman people, a settler and cultivator of your domain, hung suspended from a tree in a city of our allies, and in the very forum, for as long a period as Apronius chose. > Latin: 57. Sostratus et Numenius et Nymphodorus eiusdem civitatis cum ex agris tres fratres consortes profugissent, quod iis plus frumenti imperabatur quam quantum exararant, hominibus coactis in eorum arationes Apronius venit, omne instrumentum diripuit, familiam abduxit, pecus abegit. cum ad eum Nymphodorus venisset Aetnam et oraret ut sibi sua restituerentur, hominem corripi ac suspendi iussit in oleastro quodam, quae est arbor, iudices, Aetnae in foro. diu pependit in arbore socius amicusque populi Romani in sociorum urbe ac foro, colonus aratorque vester, quam diu voluntas Aproni tulit. [¶17] 58. I have now been recounting to you, O judges, the species of countless injuries which he has wrought,—one of each sort. An infinite host of evil actions I pass over. Place before your own eyes, keep in your minds, these invasions by collectors of the whole of Sicily, their plunderings of the cultivators of the soil, the harshness of this man, the absolute reign of Apronius. He despised the Sicilians; he did not consider them as men, he thought that they would not be vigorous in avenging themselves, and that you would treat their oppression lightly. > Latin: 58. iam dudum innumerabilium iniuriarum, iudices, singulis nominibus profero, infinitam multitudinem iniuriarum praetermitto. ante oculos animosque vestros tota Sicilia decumanorum hos impetus, aratorum direptiones, huius importunitatem, Aproni regnum proponite. Siculos; non duxit homines nec ipsos ad persequendum vehementis fore, et vos eorum iniurias leviter laturos existimavit. [¶18] 59. Be it so. He adopted a false opinion about them, and a very injurious one about you. But while he deserved so ill of the Sicilians, at least, I suppose, he was attentive to the Roman citizens; he favoured them; he was wholly devoted to securing their good-will and favour? He attentive to the Roman citizens? There were no men to whom he was more severe or more hostile. I say nothing of chains, of imprisonment, of scourgings, of executions. I say nothing even of that cross which he wished to be a witness to the Roman citizens of his humanity and benevolence to them. I say nothing, I say, of all this, and I put all this off to another opportunity. I am speaking about the tenths,—about the condition of the Roman citizens in their allotments; and how they were treated you heard from themselves. They have told you that their property was taken from them. > Latin: 59. ; falsam de illis habuit opinionem, malam de vobis; verum tamen, cum de Siculis male mereretur, civis Romanos coluit, iis indulsit, eorum voluntati et gratiae deditus fuit. civis Romanos? nullis inimicior aut infestior fuit. Mitto vincla, mitto carcerem, mitto verbera, mitto securis, crucem denique illam praetermitto quam iste civibus Romanis testem humanitatis in eos ac benivolentiae suae voluit esse,—mitto, inquam, haec omnia atque in aliud dicendi tempus reicio; de decumis, de civium Romanorum condicione in arationibus disputo; qui quem ad modum essent accepti, iudices, audistis ex ipsis; bona sibi erepta esse dixerunt. [¶19] 60. But since there was such a cause for it as there was, these things are to he endured,—I mean, the absence of all influence in justice, of all influence in established customs. There are, in short, no evils, O judges, of such magnitude that bravo men, of great and free spirit, think them intolerable. What shall we say if, while that man was praetor, violent hands were, without any hesitation, laid by Apronius on Roman knights, who were not obscure, nor unknown, but honourable, and even illustrious? What more do you expect? What more do you think I can say? Must I pass as quickly as possible from that man and from his actions, in order to come to Apronius, as, when I was in Sicily, I promised him that I would do?—who detained for two days in the public place at Leontini, Caius Matrinius, a man, O judges, of the greatest virtue, the greatest industry, the highest popularity. Know, O judges, that a Roman knight was kept two days without food, without a roof over his head, by a man born in disgrace, trained in infamy, practiced in accommodating himself to all Verres's vices and lusts; that he was kept and detained by the guards of Apronius two days in the forum at Leontini, and not released till he had agreed to submit to his terms. > Latin: 60. haec, quoniam eius modi causa fuit, ferenda sunt, nihil valuisse aequitatem, nihil consuetudinem; damna denique, iudices, nulla tanta sunt quae non viri fortes ac magno et libero animo adfecti ferenda arbitrentur. si equitibus Romanis non obscuris neque ignotis, sed honestis et inlustribus manus ab Apronio isto praetore sine ulla dubitatione adferebantur? exspectatis, quid amplius a me dicendum putatis? id agendum ut eo celerius de isto transigamus quo maturius ad Apronium possimus, id quod ego illi iam in Sicilia pollicitus sum, pervenire? qui C. Matrinium, iudices, summa virtute hominem, summa industria, summa gratia, Leontinis in publico biduum tenuit. A Q. Apronio, iudices, homine in dedecore nato, ad turpitudinem educato, ad Verris flagitia libidinesque accommodato, equitem Romanum scitote biduum cibo tectoque prohibitum, biduum Leontinis in foro custodiis Aproni retentum atque adservatum, neque ante dimissum quam ad condicionem eius depectus est. [¶20] 61. For why, O judges, should I speak of Quintus Lollius, a Roman knight of tried probity and honour? (the matter which I am going to mention is clear, notorious, and undoubted throughout all Sicily;)—who, as he was a cultivator of the domain in the district of Aetna, and as his farm belonged to Apronius's district as well as the rest, relying on the ancient authority and influence of the equestrian order, declared that he would not pay the collectors more than was due from him to them. His words are reported to Apronius. He laughed, and marveled that Lollius had heard nothing of Matrinius or of his other actions. He sends his slaves of Venus to the man. Remark this also, that a collector had officers appointed to attend him by the praetor; and see if this is a slight argument that he abused the name of the collectors to purposes of his own gain. Lollius is brought before Apronius by the slaves of Venus, and dragged along, at a convenient moment, when Apronius had just returned from the palaestra, and was lying on a couch which he had spread in the forum of Aetna Lollius is placed in the middle of that seemly banquet of gladiators. > Latin: 61. quid ego de Q. Lollio, iudices, dicam, equite Romano spectato atque honesto? res est quam dicturus sum, tota Sicilia celeberrima atque notissima. cum araret in Aetnensi, cumque is ager Apronio cum ceteris agris esset traditus, equestri vetere illa auctoritate et gratia fretus adfirmavit se decumanis plus quam deberet non daturum. eius sermo ad Apronium. vero iste ridere ac mirari Lollium nihil de Matrinio, nihil de ceteris rebus audisse. ad hominem Venerios. quoque attendite, apparitores a praetore adsignatos habuisse decumanum, si hoc mediocre argumentum videri potest istum decumanorum nomine ad suos quaestus esse abusum. a Veneriis atque adeo attrahitur Lollius, commodum cum Apronius e palaestra redisset, et in triclinio quod in foro Aetnae straverat recubuisset. LolIius in illo tempestivo gladiatorum convivio. [¶21] 62. I would not, in truth, O judges, believe the things which I am now saying although I heard them commonly talked about, if the old man had not himself told them to me in the most solemn manner, when he was with tears expressing his thanks to me and to the willingness with which I had undertaken this accusation. A Roman knight, I say, nearly ninety years old, is placed in the middle of Apronius's banquet, while Apronius in the meantime was rubbing his head and face with ointment. “What is this, Lollius,” says he; “cannot you behave properly, unless you are compelled by severe measures?” What was the man to do? should he hold his tongue, or answer him? In truth he, a man of that bright character, and that age, did not know what to do. Meantime Apronius called for supper and wine; and his slaves, who were of no better manners than their master, and were born of the same class and in the same rank of life, brought these things before the eyes of Lollius. The guests began to laugh, Apronius himself roared; unless, perchance, you suppose that he did not laugh in the midst of wine and feasting, who even now at the time of his danger and ruin cannot suppress his laughter. Not to detain you too long; know, O judges, that Quintus Lollius, under the compulsion of these insults, came into the terms and conditions of Apronius. > Latin: 62. mehercule haec quae loquor crederem, iudices, tametsi vulgo audieram, nisi mecum ipse senex, cum mihi atque huic voluntati accusationis meae lacrimans gratias ageret, summa cum auctoritate esset locutus., ut dico, eques Romanus annos prope lxxx natus in Aproni convivio, cum interea Apronius caput atque os suum unguento confricaret. “est, Lolli?” inquit; “tu nisi malo coactus recte facere nescis?” quid ageret, taceret responderet, quid faceret denique illa aetate et auctoritate praeditus nesciebat. Apronius interea cenam ac pocula poscebat; servi autem eius, qui et moribus isdem essent quibus dominus et eodem genere ac loco nati, praeter oculos Lolli haec omnia ferebant. convivae, cachinnare ipse Apronius, nisi forte existimatis eum in vino ac ludo non risisse qui nunc in periculo atque exitio suo risum tenere non possit. multa, iudices: his contumeliis scitote Q. Lollium coactum ad Aproni leges condicionesque venisse. [¶22] 63. Lollius, enfeebled by old age and disease, could not come to give his evidence. What need have we of Lollius? There is no one who is ignorant of this, no one of your own friends, no one who is brought forward by you, no one at all who, if he is asked, will say that he now hears this for the first time. Marcus Lollius, his son, a most excellent young man, is present; you shall hear what he says—For Quintus Lollius, his son, who was the accuser of Calidius, a young man both virtuous and bold, and of the highest reputation for eloquence, when being excited by these injuries and insults he had set out for Sicily, was murdered on the way; and the crime of his death is imputed indeed to fugitive slaves; but, in reality, no one in Sicily doubts that he must be murdered because he could not keep to himself his intentions respecting Verres. He, in truth, had no doubt that the man who, under the prompting of a mere love of justice, had already accused another, would be ready as an accuser for him on his arrival, when he was stimulated by the injuries of his father, and indignation at the treatment received by his family. > Latin: 63. Lollius aetate et morbo impeditus ad testimonium dicendum venire non potuit. opus est Lollio? hoc nescit, nemo tuorum amicorum, nemo abs te productus, nemo abs te interrogatus nunc se primum hoc dicet audire. M. Lollius, filius eius, adulescens lectissimus, praesto est: huius verba audietis. Q. Lollius, eius filius, qui Calidium accusavit, adulescens et bonus et fortis et in primis disertus, cum his iniuriis contumeliisque commotus in Siciliam esset profectus, in itinere occisus est. mortis causam fugitivi sustinent, re quidem vera nemo in Sicilia dubitat quin eo sit occisus quod habere clausa non potuerit sua consilia de Verre. porro non dubitabat quin is, qui alium antea studio adductus accusasset, sibi advenienti praesto esset futurus, cum esset parentis iniuriis et domestico dolore commotus. [¶23] 64. Do you now thoroughly understand, O judges, what a pest, what a barbarian has been let loose in your most ancient, most loyal, and nearest province? Do you see now on what account Sicily, which has before this endured the thefts, and rapine, and iniquities, and insults of so many men, has not been able to submit to this unprecedented, and extraordinary, and incredible series of injuries and insults? All men are now aware why the whole province sought out that man as a defender of its safety, from the effects of whose good faith, and diligence, and perseverance Verres could not possibly be saved. You have been present at many trials, you know that many guilty and wicked men have been impeached within your own recollection, and that of your ancestors. Have you ever seen any one, have you ever heard of any one, who has lived in the practice of such great, such open robberies, of such audacity, of such shameless impudence? > Latin: 64. intellegitis, iudices, quae pestis, quae immanitas in vestra antiquissima fidelissima proximaque provincia versata sit? iam videtis quam ob causam Sicilia, tot hominum antea furta rapinas iniquitates ignominiasque perpessa, hoc non potuerit novum ac singulare atque incredibile genus iniuriarum contumeliarumque perferre? omnes intellegunt cur universa provincia defensorem suae salutis eum quaesiverit cuius iste fidei diligentiae perseverantiae nulla ratione eripi possit. iudiciis interfuistis, tot homines nocentis et improbos accusatos et vestra et superiorum memoria scitis esse: ecquem vidistis, ecquem audistis in tantis furtis, in tam apertis, in tanta audacia, in tanta impudentia esse versatum? [¶24] 65. Apronius had his attendants of Venus about him; he took them with him about the different cities; he ordered banquets to be prepared and couches to be spread for him at the public expense, and to be spread for him in the forum. Thither he ordered most honourable men to be summoned, not only Sicilians, but even Roman knights, so that men of the most thoroughly proved honour were detained at his banquet, when none but the most impure and profligate men would join him in a banquet. Would you, O most profligate and abandoned of all mortals, when you knew these things, when you were hearing of them every day, when you were seeing them, would you ever have allowed or endured that such things should have taken place, to your own great danger, if they had taken place without enormous profit to yourself? Was it the profit made by Apronius, and his most beastly conversation, and his flagitious caresses, that had such influence with you, that no care for or thought of your own fortunes ever touched your mind? > Latin: 65. Apronius stipatores Venerios secum habebat; ducebat eos circum civitates; publice sibi convivia parari, sterni triclinia, et in foro sterni iubebat; eo vocari homines honestissimos non solum Siculos sed etiam equites Romanos, ut, quicum vivere nemo umquam nisi turpis impurusque voluisset, ad eius convivium spectatissimi atque honestissimi viri tenerentur. tu, omnium mortalium profligatissime ac perditissime, cum scires, cum audires cotidie, cum videres, si sine tuo quaestu maximo fierent, cum tanto periculo tuo fieri paterere atque concederes? apud te quaestus Aproni, tantum eius sermo inquinatissimus et blanditiae flagitiosae valuerunt ut numquam animum tuum cura tuarum fortunarum cogitatioque tangeret? [¶25] 66. You see, O judges, what sort of conflagration, and how vast a torrent of collectors spread itself with violence, not only over the fields but also over all the other property of the cultivators; not only over the property, but also over the rights of liberty and of the state. You see some men suspended from trees; others beaten and scourged; others kept as prisoners in the public place; others left standing alone at a feast; others condemned by the physician and crier of the praetor; and nevertheless the property of all of them is carried off from the fields and plundered at the same time. What is all this? Is this the rule of the Roman people? Are these the laws of the Roman people? are these their tribunals? are these their faithful allies? is this their suburban province? Are not rather all these things such that even Athenio would not have done them if he had been victorious in Sicily? I say, O judges, that the evidence of fugitive slaves would not have equalled one quarter of the wickedness of that man. In this manner did he behave to individuals. What more shall I say? How were cities treated in their public capacity? You have heard many statements and testimonies from some cities, and you shall hear them from the rest. > Latin: 66. , iudices, quod et quantum incendium decumanorum impetu non solum per agros sed etiam per reliquas fortunas aratorum, neque solum per bona sed etiam per iura libertatis et civitatis isto praetore pervaserit. pendere alios ex arbore, pulsari alios, alios autem verberari, porro alios in publico custodiri, destitui alios in convivio, condemnari alios a medico et praecone praetoris; bona tamen interea nihilo minus eorum omnium ex agris auferri ac diripi. est hoc? populi Romani imperium? praetoriae leges, iudicia? [socios fidelis, provincia suburbana]. omnia potius eius modi sunt quae, si Athenio rex fugitivorum vicisset, in Sicilia non fecisset?, inquam, iudices, esset ullam partem istius nequitiae fugitivorum insolentia consecuta. hoc modo: quid? publice civitates tractatae quem ad modum sunt? Audistis permulta, iudices, testimonia civitatum, et reliquarum audietis. [¶26] 67. And first of all, listen to a brief tale concerning the people of Agyrium, a loyal and illustrious people. The state of Agyrium is among the first in all Sicily for honour;—a state of men wealthy before this man came as praetor, and of excellent cultivators of the soil. When this same Apronius had purchased the tenths of that district, he came to Agyrium; and when he had come thither with his regular attendants—that is to say, with threats and violence,—he began to ask an immense sum, so that when he had got his profit, he might depart. He said that he did not wish to have any trouble, nut that, when he had got his money, he would depart as soon as possible to some other city. All the Sicilians are not contemptible men, if only our magistrates leave them alone; but they are many, of sufficient courage, and very economical and temperate, and among the very first is this city of which I am now speaking, O judges. > Latin: 67. primum de Agyrinensi populo fideli et inlustri breviter cognoscite. Agyrinensis est in primis honesta Siciliae civitas hominum ante hunc praetorem locupletium summorumque aratorum. agri decumas cum emisset idem Apronius, Agyrium venit. cum apparitoribus eo et vi ac minis venisset, poscere pecuniam grandem coepit ut accepto lucro discederet; nolle se negoti quicquam habere dicebat, sed accepta pecunia velle quam primum in aliam civitatem occurrere. omnes Siculi non contemnendi, si per nostros magistratus liceat, sed homines et satis fortes et plane frugi ac sobrii, et in primis haec civitas de qua loquor, iudices. [¶27] 68. Therefore the men of Agyrium make answer to this most worthless man, that they will give him the tenths which are due from them, that they will not add to them any profit for himself, especially since he had bought them an excellent bargain. Apronius informs Verres, whose business it ready was, what was going on. Immediately, as if there had been some conspiracy at Agyrium formed against the republic, or as if the lieutenant of the praetor had been assaulted, the magistrates and five principal citizens are summoned from Agyrium at his command. They went to Syracuse. Apronius is there. He says that those very men who had come had acted contrary to the praetor's edict. They asked, in what? He answered, that he would say in what before the judges. He, that most just man, tried to strike his old terror into the wretched Agyrians; he threatened that he would appoint their judges out of his own retinue. The Agyrians, being very intrepid men, said that they would stand the trial. > Latin: 68. homini improbissimo respondent Agyrinenses sese decumas ei quem ad modum deberent daturos: lucrum, cum ille magno praesertim emisset, non addituros. Apronius certiorem facit istum cuia res erat., tamquam coniuratio aliqua Agyri contra rem publicam facta aut legatus praetoris pulsatus esset, ita Agyrio magistratus et quinque primi accitu istius evocantur. Syracusas; praesto est Apronius; ait eos ipsos qui venissent contra edictum praetoris fecisse., quid? se ad recuperatores esse dicturum. aequissimus homo formidinem illam suam miseris Agyrinensibus iniciebat: recuperatores se de cohorte sua daturum minabatur. Agyrinenses, viri fortissimi, iudicio se passuros esse dicebant. [¶28] 69. That fellow put on the tribunal Artemidorus Cornelius, the physician, Valerius, the crier, Tlepolemus, the painter, and judges of that sort; not one of whom was a Roman citizen, but Greek robbers of temples, long since infamous, and now all Corneliuses. The Agyrians saw that whatever charge Apronius brought before whose judges, he would very easily prove; but they preferred to be convicted, and so add to his unpopularity and infamy, rather than accede to his conditions and terms. They asked what formula would be given to the judges on which to try them? He answered, “If it appeared that they had acted contrary to the edict,” on which formula he said that he should pronounce judgment. They preferred trying the question according to a most unjust formula, and with most profligate judges, rather than come to any settlement with him of their own accord. He sent Timarchides privately to them, to warn them, if they were wise, to settle the matter. They refused. “What, then, will you do? Do you prefer to be convicted each of you in a penalty of fifty thousand sesterces?” They said they did. Then he said out loud, in the hearing of every one, “Whoever is condemned, shall be beaten to death with rods.” On this they began with tears to beg and entreat him to be allowed to give up their cornfields, and all their produce, and their allotments, when stripped of everything, to Apronius, and to depart themselves without insult and annoyance. > Latin: 69. iste Artemidorum Cornelium medicum et Tlepolemum Cornelium pictorem et eius modi recuperatores, quorum civis Romanus nemo erat, sed Graeci sacrilegi iam pridem improbi, repente Cornelii. Agyrinenses, quicquid ad eos recuperatores Apronius attulisset, illum perfacile probaturum: condemnari cum istius invidia infamiaque malebant quam ad eius condiciones pactionesque accedere. quae in verba recuperatores daret., sl pareret adversvs edictvm fecisse; qua in re in iudicio dicturum esse aiebat. verbis, improbissimis recuperatoribus conflictari malebant quam quicquam cum isto sua voluntate decidere. iste Timarchidem qui moneret eos, si saperent, ut transigerent.. “ergo? in singulos HS quinquagenis milibus damnari mavultis?” Malle dicebant. iste clare omnibus audientibus, “damnatus erit,” inquit, “virgis ad necem caedetur.” illi flentes rogare atque orare coeperunt ut sibi suas segetes fructusque omnis arationesque vacuas Apronio tradere liceret, ut ipsi sine ignominia molestiaque discederent. [¶29] 70. These were the terms, O judges, on which Verres sold the tenths. Hortensius may say, if he pleases, that Verres sold them at a high price. This was the condition of the cultivators of the soil while that man was praetor; that they thought themselves exceedingly well off, if they might give up their fields when stripped of everything to Apronius, for they wished to escaped the many crosses which were set before their eyes. Whatever Apronius had declared to be due, that they were forced to give, according to the edict. Suppose he declared more was due than the land produced? Just so. How could that be? The magistrates were bound, according to his own edict, to compel the payment. Well, but the cultivators could recover. Yes, but Artemidorus was the judge. What next? What happened if the cultivator had given less than Apronius had demanded? A prosecution of the cultivator to recover a fourfold penalty. Before judges taken from what body? From that admirable retinue of most honourable men in attendance on the praetor. What more? I say that you returned less than the proper number of acres: select judges for the matter which is to be tried, namely, your violation of the edict. Out of what class? Out of the same retinue. What will be the end of it? If you are convicted, (and what doubt can there be about a conviction with those judges?) you must be beaten to death with rods. When these are the rules, these the conditions, will there be any one so foolish as to think that what was sold were the tenths? Who believes that nine parts were left to the cultivator? Who does not perceive that that fellow considered as his own gain and plunder the property and possessions and fortunes of the cultivators? From fear of the gods the Agyrians said that they would do what they were commanded to. > Latin: 70. lege, iudices, decumas vendidit Verres. licet Hortensius, si volet, magno Verrem decumas vendidisse. condicio fuit isto praetore aratorum, ut secum praeclare agi arbitrarentur si vacuos agros Apronio tradere liceret; multas enim cruces propositas effugere cupiebant. Apronius edidisset deberi, tantum ex edicto dandum erat. si plus edidisset quam quantum natum esset?, quando magistratus ex istius edicto exigere debebant. arator repetere poterat. Artemidoro recuperatore. si minus dedisset arator quam poposcisset Apronius? in aratorem in quadruplum. quo iudicum numero? cohorte praetoria praeclara hominum honestissimorum. amplius? te iugerum professum esse dico: recuperatores reice, quod adversus edictum feceris. quo numero? eadem cohorte. erit extremum? damnatus eris, atque adeo cum damnatus eris,—nam dubitatio damnationis illis recuperatoribus quae poterat esse?—virgis te ad necem caedi necesse erit. legibus, his condicionibus erit quisquam tam stultus qui decumas venisse arbitretur, qui aratori novem partis reliquas factas esse existimet, qui non intellegat istum sibi quaestui praedaeque habuisse bona possessiones fortunasque aratorum? metu Agyrinenses quod imperatum esset facturos se esse dixerunt. [¶30] 71. Listen now to what his orders were; and conceal, if you can, that you are aware of what all Sicily well knew, that the praetor himself was the farmer of the tenths, or rather the lord and sovereign of all the allotments in the province. He orders the Agyrians to take the tenths themselves in the name of their city, and to give a compliment to Apronius. If he had bought them at a high price, since you are a man who inquired into the proper price with great diligence, who, as you say, sold them at a high price, why do you think that a compliment ought to be added as a present to the purchaser? Be it so; you did think so. Why did you order them to add it? What is the meaning; of taking and appropriating money, for which the law has a hold on you, if this is not it,—I mean the compelling men by force and despotic power against their will to give a compliment to another, that is to say, to give him money? > Latin: 71. nunc quid imperarit, et dissimulate, si potestis, vos intellegere ipsum praetorem, id quod tota Sicilia perspexit, redemptorem decumarum atque adeo aratorum dominum ac regem fuisse. Agyrinensibus ut decumas ipsi publice accipiant, Apronio lucrum dent. magno emerat, quoniam tu es qui diligentissime pretia exquisisti, qui, ut ais, magno vendidisti, quare putabas emptori lucrum addi oportere?, putabas: quam ob rem imperabas ut adderent? quid est aliud capere et conciliare pecunias, in quo te lex tenet, si hoc non est, vi atque imperio cogere invitos lucrum dare alteri, hoc est pecuniam dare?