--- title: "Against Verres · In Verrem" author: "Cicero" translator: "Charles Duke Yonge" languages: [la, en] shelf: "Classical Latin" section: 26 of 31 url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-in-verrem/26/ cite: "Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, Against Verres · In Verrem, section 26. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-in-verrem/26/" --- # 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. ## 26. Actio Secunda · Book V · sections 1–31 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-in-verrem/26/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-in-verrem/26/#p-N [¶0] 1. I see, O judges, that it is not doubtful to any one of you that Caius Verres most openly plundered everything in Sicily, whether sacred or profane, whether private or public property; and that, not only without the slightest scruple, but without even the very least disguise, he practiced every possible description of robbery and plunder. But a very heightened and pompous defence of him is put forward in reply to me, which I must consider very carefully beforehand, O judges, how I am to resist. For his cause is stated in this way; that by his valour, and by his singular vigilance exerted at a critical and perilous time, the province of Sicily was preserved in safety from fugitive slaves, and from the dangers of war. > Latin: 1. video dubium esse, iudices, quin apertissime C. Verres in Sicilia sacra profanaque omnia et privatim et publice spoliarit, versatusque sit sine ulla non modo religione verum etiam dissimulatione in omni genere furandi atque praedandi. quaedam mihi magnifica et praeclara eius defensio ostenditur; cui quem ad modum resistam multo mihi ante est, iudices, providendum. enim causa constituitur, provinciam Siciliam virtute istius et vigilantia singulari dubiis formidolosisque temporibus a fugitivis atque a belli periculis tutam esse servatam. [¶1] 2. What am I to do, O judges? In what way am I to shape my accusation? which way am I to turn? For to all my attacks the appellation of a gallant general is opposed, as a wall of defence. I am acquainted with the topic;—I see how Hortensius is going to boast himself. He will dilate upon the dangers of the war, the critical time of the republic, the scarcity of able generals; and that he will entreat of you, he will even claim as a right belonging to himself, that you do not suffer so great a general to be taken from the Roman people through the evidence of the Sicilians; that you do not allow his glory as a general to be overclouded by accusations of avarice. > Latin: 2. agam, iudices? quo accusationis meae rationem conferam? quo me vertam? ad omnis enim meos impetus quasi murus quidam boni nomen imperatoris opponitur. Novi locum; video ubi se iactaturus sit Hortensius. Belli pericula, tempora rei publicae, imperatorum penuriam commemorabit; tum deprecabitur a vobis, tum etiam pro suo iure contendet ne patiamini talem imperatorem populo Romano Siculorum testimoniis eripi, ne obteri laudem imperatoriam criminibus avaritiae velitis. [¶2] 3. I cannot dissemble my alarm, O judges; I am afraid that Caius Verres, on account of this amazing warlike valour of his, may escape with impunity from the consequences of all his actions. For it occurs to me, what great influence, what exceeding authority, the oration of Marcus Antonius was supposed to have had at the trial of Marcus Aquillius; who, as he was not only skillful as an orator, but bold also, when he had nearly finished his speech, took hold of Marcus Aquillius and placed him in the sight of every one, and tore his robe away from his chest, in order that the Roman people and the judges might see his scars, all received in front; and at the same time he enlarged a good deal on that wound which he had received on his head from the general of the enemy; and worked up the men who were to judge in the cause to such a pitch, that they were greatly afraid lest the man whom fortune had saved from the weapons of the enemy, and who had not spared himself, should appear to have been saved not to receive praise from the Roman people, but to endure the cruelty of the judges. Now again this same plan and method of defence is to be tried by the opposite party. > Latin: 3. possum dissimulare, iudices; timeo ne C. Verres propter hanc eximiam virtutem in re militari omnia quae fecit impune fecerit. enim mihi in mentem in iudicio M’. Aquili quantum auctoritatis, quantum momenti oratio M. Antoni habuisse existimata sit; qui, ut erat in dicendo non solum sapiens sed etiam fortis, causa prope perorata ipse arripuit M’. Aquilium constituitque in conspectu omnium tunicamque eius a pectore abscidit, ut cicatrices populus Romanus iudicesque aspicerent adverso corpore exceptas; simul et de illo vulnere quod ille in capite ab hostium duce acceperat multa dixit, eoque adduxit eos qui erant iudicaturi vehementer ut vererentur ne, quem virum fortuna ex hostium telis eripuisset, cum sibi ipse non pepercisset, hic non ad populi Romani laudem sed ad iudicum crudelitatem videretur esse servatus. [¶3] 4. The same object is aimed at. He may be a thief, he may be a robber of temples, he may he the very chief man in every sort of vice and criminality; but he is a gallant general and a fortunate one, and he must be preserved for the critical emergencies of the republic. I will not plead against you according to strict law; I will not urge that point, which perhaps I ought to carry if I did, that as this trial is appointed to take place according to a particular formula, the point that required to be proved by you, is not what gallant exploits you may have performed in war, but how you have kept your hands from other people's money,—I will not, I say, urge this; but I will ask, as I perceive you are desirous that I should, what has been your conduct and what have been your great exploits in war. > Latin: 4. nunc ab illis defensionis ratio viaque temptatur, idem quaeritur. fur, sit sacrilegus, sit flagitiorum omnium vitiorumque princeps; at est bonus imperator, at felix et ad dubia rei publicae tempora reservandus. agam summo iure tecum, non dicam id quod debeam forsitan obtinere, cum iudicium certa lege sit,—non quid in re militari fortiter feceris, sed quem ad modum manus ab alienis pecuniis abstinueris abs te doceri oportere; non, inquam, sic agam, sed ita quaeram, quem ad modum te velle intellego, quae tua opera et quanta fuerit in bello. [¶4] 5. What will you say? That in the war of the runaway slaves Sicily was delivered by your valour? It is a great praise; a very honourable boast. But in what war? For we have understood that after that war which Marcus Aquillius finished, there has been no war of fugitive slaves in Sicily. Oh! but there was in Italy. I admit that; a great and formidable war. Do you then attempt to claim for yourself any part of the credit arising from that war? Do you think that you are to share any of the glory of that victory with Marcus Crassus or Cnaeus Pompeius? I do not suppose that even this will be too great a stretch for your impudence, to venture to say something of that sort. You, forsooth, hindered any part of the forces of these slaves from passing over from Italy into Sicily? Where? When? From what part of Italy, as they never attempted to approach Sicily in any ships or vessels of any sort? For we never heard anything whatever of such an attempt; but we have heard that care was taken, by the courage and prudence of Marcus Crassus, that most valiant man, that the runaways should not make boats so as to be able to cross the strait to Messana; an attempt from which it would not have been so important to have cut them off, if there were supposed to have been any forces in Sicily able to oppose their invasion. > Latin: 5. dicis? an bello fugitivorum Siciliam virtute tua liberatam? Magna laus et honesta oratio; sed tamen quo bello? enim, post illud bellum quod M’. Aquilius confecit, sic accepimus, nullum in Sicilia fugitivorum bellum fuisse. “in Italia fuit.”, et magnum quidem ac vehemens. igitur ex eo bello partem aliquam laudis appetere conaris? num tibi illius victoriae gloriam cum M. Crasso aut Cn. Pompeio communicatam putas? arbitror hoc etiam tuae deesse impudentiae, ut quicquam eius modi dicere audeas. videlicet ne ex Italia transire in Siciliam fugitivorum copiae possent. Vbi, quando, qua ex parte? cum aut ratibus aut navibus conarentur accedere? enim nihil umquam prorsus audivimus, sed illud audivimus, M. Crassi, fortissimi viri, virtute consilioque factum ne ratibus coniunctis freto fugitivi ad Messanam transire possent, a quo illi conatu non tanto opere prohibendi fuissent, si ulla in Sicilia praesidia ad illorum adventum opposita putarentur. [¶5] 6. But though there was war in Italy so close to Sicily, still it never came into Sicily. Where is the wonder? for when it existed in Sicily, at exactly the same distance from Italy, no part of it reached Italy. What has the proximity of the countries to do with either side of the argument in discussing this topic? Will you say that access was very easy to the enemy, or that the contagion and temptation of imitating that war was a dangerous one? Every access to the island was not only difficult to, but was entirely cut off from men who had no ships; so that it was more easy for those men, to whom you say that Sicily was so near, to go to the shore of the ocean than to Cape Pelorus. > Latin: 6. cum esset in Italia bellum tam prope a Sicilia, tamen in Sicilia non fuit. mirum? ne cum in Sicilia quidem fuit eodem intervallo, pars eius belli in Italiam ulla pervasit. propinquitas locorum ad utram partem hoc loco profertur? utrum aditum facilem hostibus an contagionem imitandi belli periculosam fuisse? omnis hominibus sine ulla facultate navium non modo disiunctus sed etiam clausus est, ut illis quibus Siciliam propinquam fuisse dicis facilius fuerit ad Oceanum pervenire quam ad Peloridem accedere. [¶6] 7. But as for the contagious nature to that servile war, why is it spoken of by you more than by all the rest of the officers who were governors of the other provinces? Is it because before that time there had been wars of runaway slaves in Sicily? But that is the very cause why that province is now and has been in the least danger. For ever since Marcus Aquillius left it all the regulations and edicts of the praetors have been to this effect, that no slave should ever be seen with a weapon. What I am going to mention is an old story, and one, probably, owing to the severity of the example, not unknown to any one of you. They tell a story that Lucius Domitius was praetor in Sicily, and that an immense boar was brought to him; that he, marveling at the size of the beast, asked who had killed it. When he was told that it was such-an-one's shepherd, he ordered him to be summoned before him; that the shepherd came eagerly to the praetor, expecting praise and reward; that Domitius asked him how he had slain so huge a beast; that he answered “With a hunting spear;” and that he was instantly crucified by order of the praetor. This may, perhaps, appear harsh: I say nothing either way; all that I understand from the story is, that Domitius preferred to appear cruel in punishing, to seeming negligent in overlooking offences. > Latin: 7. autem ista servilis belli cur abs te potius quam ab iis omnibus qui ceteras provincias obtinuerunt praedicatur? quod in Sicilia iam antea bella fugitivorum fuerunt? at ea ipsa causa est cur ista provincia minimo in periculo sit et fuerit. posteaquam illinc M’. Aquilius decessit, omnium instituta atque edicta praetorum fuerunt eius modi ut ne quis cum telo servus esset. est quod dicam, et propter severitatem exempli nemini fortasse vestrum inauditum, L. Domitium praetorem in Sicilia, cum aper ingens ad eum adlatus esset, admiratum requisisse quis eum percussisset; cum audisset pastorem cuiusdam fuisse, eum vocari ad se iussisse; illum cupide ad praetorem quasi ad laudem atque ad praemium accucurrisse; quaesisse Domitium qui tantam bestiam percussisset; illum respondisse, venabulo; statim deinde iussu praetoris in crucem esse sublatum. hoc fortasse videatur, neque ego ullam in partem disputo: tantum intellego, maluisse Domitium crudelem in animadvertendo quam in praetermittendo dissolutum videri. [¶7] 8. Therefore, while these were the established regulations of the province, Caius Norbanus, a man neither very active nor very valiant, was at perfect ease, at the very moment that all Italy was raging with the servile war. For at that time Sicily easily took care of itself, so that no war could possibly arise there. In truth, as no two things are so closely united as the traders are with the Sicilians, by habit, by interest, by reason, and by community of sentiment; and as the Sicilians have all their affairs in such a state that it is most desirable for them to be at peace; and as they are so attached to the sway of the Roman people that they would be very sorry that its power should be diminished or altered; and as ever since the servile war all such dangers as these have been provided for, both by the regulations of the praetors, and by the discipline of the masters; there is no conceivable domestic evil which can arise out of the province itself. > Latin: 8. his institutis provinciae iam tum, cum bello sociorum tota Italia arderet, homo non acerrimus nec fortissimus, C. Norbanus, in summo otio fuit: perfacile enim sese Sicilia iam tuebatur, ut ne quod ex ipsa bellum posset exsistere. cum nihil tam coniunctum sit quam negotiatores nostri cum Siculis usu, re, ratione, concordia, et cum ipsi Siculi res suas ita constitutas habeant ut iis pacem expediat esse, imperium autem populi Romani sic diligant ut id imminui aut commutari minime velint, cumque haec a servorum bello pericula et praetorum institutis et dominorum disciplina provisa sint, nullum est malum domesticum quod ex ipsa provincia nasci possit. [¶8] 9. What then do you say? Were there no disturbances of slaves in Sicily while Verres was praetor? Are no conspiracies said to have taken place? None at all that have ever come to the knowledge of the senate and people of Rome; none which that man has thought worth writing public despatches to Rome about; and yet I do suspect that the body of slaves had begun to be less orderly in some parts of Sicily; and I infer that, not so much from any overt act, as from the actions and decrees of Verres. And see with how little of a hostile feeling I am going to conduct this case. I myself will mention and bring forward the things which he wishes to have mentioned, and which as yet you have never heard of. > Latin: 9. igitur? nulline motus in Sicilia servorum Verre praetore, nullaene consensiones factae esse dicuntur? sane quod ad senatum populumque Romanum pervenerit, nihil quod iste publice Romam scripserit; et tamen coeptum esse in Sicilia moveri aliquot locis servitium suspicor. adeo non tam ex re quam ex istius factis decretisque cognosco. videte quam non inimico animo sim acturus: ego ipse haec quae ille quaerit, quae adhuc numquam audistis, commemorabo et proferam. [¶9] 10. In the district of Triocala, a place which the fugitive slaves had occupied before, the family of a certain Sicilian called Leonidas was implicated in suspicion of a conspiracy. Information of the matter was laid before Verres. Immediately, as was natural, by his command, the men who had been named were arrested and taken to Lilybaeum. Their master was summoned to appear, and after the case had been heard they were condemned. What happened afterwards? What do you suppose? Perhaps you expect to hear of some robbery or plunder;—do not look on all occasions for the same things—when a man is in fear of war, what room is there for petty thefts? However, even if there was any opportunity for such a thing in this matter, it was overlooked. Perhaps he could have got some money out of Leonidas when he summoned him to appear. There was besides room for bargaining, (and that was an opportunity that he was not new to,) to get the cause adjourned; and a second chance, to get the slaves acquitted. But when the slaves had been condemned, what opportunity of plundering could there be? They must be brought up for punishment. For there were the witnesses who were sitting on the bench; the public records were witnesses; that most splendid city of Lilybaeum was a witness; that most honourable and numerous assembly of Roman citizens was a witness. Nothing can be done; they must be brought up. Accordingly, they are brought up, and fastened to the stake. > Latin: 10. Triocalino, quem locum fugitivi iam ante tenuerunt, Leonidae cuiusdam Siculi familia in suspicionem est vocata coniurationis. delata ad istum., ut par fuit, iussu eius homines qui fuerant nominati comprehensi sunt adductique Lilybaeum; domino denuntiatum est, causa dicta, damnati. deinde? quid censetis? furtum fortasse aut praedam exspectatis aliquam. usque quaque idem quaerere. metu belli furandi locus qui potest esse? etiam si qua fuit in hac re occasio praetermissa est. potuit a Leonida nummorum aliquid auferre, cum denuntiavit ut adesset; fuit nundinatio aliqua, et isti non nova, ne causam dicerent; etiam alter locus, ut absolverentur: damnatis quidem servis quae praedandi potest esse ratio? produci ad supplicium necesse est. enim sunt qui in consilio fuerunt, testes publicae tabulae, testis splendidissima civitas Lilybitana, testis honestissimus maximusque conventus civium Romanorum: fieri nihil potest, producendi sunt. producuntur et ad palum alligantur. [¶10] 11. Even now, O judges, you seem to me to be waiting to see what happened next; because that man never did anything without some gain and some booty. What could be done in such a case? What is profitable? Expect then to hear of some crime as infamous as you please; but I will outdo all your expectation. The men who had been convicted of wickedness and conspiracy, who had been delivered up for punishment, who had been bound to the stake, on a sudden, in the sight of many thousands of men, are unbound and restored to Leonidas their master. What can you say on this topic, O most insane of men? except, indeed, that which I do not ask you; what, in short, in so nefarious a business, although there can be no doubt about it, still, even if there were a doubt, ought not to be asked; namely, what or how much money you took to release them, and how you managed it. I give up the whole of this to you; and I release you from this anxiety; for I am not afraid of any one believing that you, without any payment, undertook an action which no man in the world except you could have been induced to undertake by any sum of money whatever. But about that system of thieving and plundering of yours I say nothing;—what I am now discussing is your renown as a general. > Latin: 11. nunc mihi exspectare videmini, iudices, quid deinde factum sit, quod iste nihil umquam fecit sine aliquo quaestu atque praeda. in eius modi re fieri potuit? commodum est, exspectate facinus quam vultis improbum; vincam tamen exspectationem omnium. sceleris coniurationisque damnati, ad supplicium traditi, ad palum alligati, repente multis milibus hominum inspectantibus soluti sunt et Triocalino illi domino redditi. hoc loco potes dicere, homo amentissime, nisi id quod ego non quaero, quod denique in re tam nefaria, tametsi dubitari non potest, tamen ne si dubitetur quidem quaeri oporteat, quid aut quantum aut quo modo acceperis? tibi hoc totum atque ista te cura libero; neque enim metuo ne hoc cuiquam persuadeatur, ut, ad quod facinus nemo praeter te ulla pecunia adduci potuerit, id tu gratis suscipere conatus sis. de ista furandi praedandique ratione nihil dico, de hac imperatoria iam tua laude disputo. [¶11] 12. What do you say, O you admirable guardian and defender of the province? Did you dare to snatch from the very jaws of death and to release slaves whom you had decided were eager to take arms and to make war in Sicily, and whom in accordance with the opinion of your colleagues on the bench you had sentenced, after they had been already delivered up to punishment after the manner of our ancestors and had been bound to the stake, in order to reserve for Roman citizens the cross which you had erected for condemned slaves? Ruined cities, when their affairs are all desperate, are often accustomed to these disastrous scenes, to have those who have been condemned restored to their original position; those who have been bound, released; those who have been banished, restored; decisions which have been given, rescinded. And when such events take place, there is no one who is not aware that that state is hastening to its fall. When such things take place, there is no one who thinks that there is any hope of safety left. > Latin: 12. ais, bone custos defensorque provinciae? quos servos arma capere et bellum facere in Sicilia voluisse cognoras et de consili sententia iudicaras, hos ad supplicium iam more maiorum traditos ex media morte eripere ac liberare ausus es, ut, quam damnatis crucem servis fixeras, hanc indemnatis videlicet civibus Romanis reservares? civitates desperatis iam omnibus rebus hos solent exitus exitialis habere, ut damnati in integrum restituantur, vincti solvantur, exsules reducantur, res iudicatae rescindantur. cum accidunt, nemo est quin intellegat ruere illam rem publicam haec ubi eveniant; nemo est qui ullam spem salutis reliquam esse arbitretur. [¶12] 13. And whenever these things do take place, their effect has been to cause popular or high-born men to be relieved from punishment or exile; still, not by the very men who have passed the sentences; still, not instantly; still, not if they have been convicted of those crimes which affected the lives and property of all the citizens. Still this is an utterly unprecedented step, and of such a character as to appear credible rather from consideration of who the criminal is, than from consideration of the case itself That a man should have released slaves; that that very man who had sentenced them should release them; that he should release them, in a moment, out of the very jaws of death, that he should release slaves convicted of a crime which affected the life and existence of every free man— O splendid general, not to be compared now to Marcus Aquillius, a most valiant man, but to the Paulli, the Scipios, and the Marii! > Latin: 13. haec sicubi facta sunt ita facta sunt ut homines populares aut nobiles supplicio aut exsilio levarentur, at non ab iis ipsis qui iudicassent, at non statim, at non eorum facinorum damnati quae ad vitam et ad fortunas omnium pertinerent. vero novum et eius modi est ut magis propter reum quam propter rem ipsam credibile videatur, ut homines servos, ut ipse qui iudicarat, ut statim e medio supplicio dimiserit, ut eius facinoris damnatos servos quod ad omnium liberorum caput et sanguinem pertineret. [¶13] 14. That a man should have had such foresight at a time of such alarm and danger to the province! As he saw that the minds of all the slaves in Sicily were in an unsettled state on account of the war of the runaway slaves in Italy, what was the great terror he struck into them to prevent any one's daring to stir? He ordered them to be arrested—who would not he alarmed? He ordered their masters to plead their cause—what could be so terrible to slaves? He pronounced “That they appeared to have done....” He seems to have extinguished the rising flame by the pain and death of a few. What follows next? Scourgings, and burnings, and all those extreme agonies which are part of the punishment of condemned criminals, and which strike terror into the rest, torture and the cross? From all these punishments they are released. Who can doubt that he must have overwhelmed the minds of the slaves with the most abject fear, when they saw a praetor so good-natured as to allow the lives of men condemned of wickedness and conspiracy to be redeemed from punishment, the very executioner acting as the go-between to negotiate the terms? > Latin: 14. O praeclarum imperatorem nec iam cum M’. Aquilio, fortissimo viro, sed vero cum Paulis, Scipionibus, Mariis conferendum! tantumne vidisse in metu periculoque provinciae! servitiorum animos in Sicilia suspensos propter bellum Italiae fugitivorum videret, ne quis se commovere auderet, quantum terroris iniecit! iussit; quis non pertimescat? causam dicere dominos; quid servo tam formidolosum? fecisse videri pronuntiat; exortam videtur flammam paucorum dolore ac morte restinxisse. deinde sequitur? atque ignes et illa extrema ad supplicium damnatorum, metum ceterorum, cruciatus et crux. omnibus suppliciis sunt liberati. dubitet quin servorum animos summa formidine oppresserit, cum viderent ea facilitate praetorem ut ab eo servorum sceleris coniurationisque damnatorum vita vel ipso carnifice internuntio redimeretur? [¶14] 15. What more? Did you not act in the same manner in the case of Aristodemus of Apollonia, and in that of Leon of Megara? What more? Did that unquiet state of the slaves, and that sudden suspicion of war, inspire you with any additional diligence in guarding the province, or with a new plan for acquiring most scandalous gain? When at your instigation the steward of Eumenides of Halicya, a highborn and honourable man of great wealth, was accused of some crime, you got sixty thousand sesterces from his master, and he lately explained to us, as a witness on his oath, how you managed it. From Caius Matrinius, a Roman knight, you took in his absence, while he was at Rome, a hundred thousand sesterces, because you said that his stewards and shepherds had fallen under suspicion. Lucius Flavius, the agent of Caius Matrinius, who paid you that money, deposed to this fact; Caius Matrinius himself made the same statement, and that most illustrious man, Cnaeus Lentulus the censor, who quite recently has both sent letters to you himself, and has procured others to be sent to you for the purpose of doing honour to Caius Matrinius, will prove the same thing. > Latin: 15. ? hoc in Apolloniensi Aristodamo, quid? in Leonte Imacharensi non idem fecisti?? iste motus servitiorum bellique subita suspicio utrum tibi tandem diligentiam custodiendae provinciae an novam rationem improbissimi quaestus attulit? Halicyensis Eumenidae, nobilis hominis et honesti, magnae pecuniae vilicus cum impulsu tuo insimulatus esset, HS lx a domino accepisti, quod nuper ipse iuratus docuit quem ad modum gestum esset. equite Romano C. Matrinio absente, cum is esset Romae, quod eius vilicos pastoresque tibi in suspicionem venisse dixeras, HS dc abstulisti. hoc L. Flavius, qui tibi eam pecuniam numeravit, procurator C. Matrini, dixit ipse Matrinius, dicit vir clarissimus, Cn. Lentulus censor, qui Matrini honoris causa recenti negotio ad te litteras misit mittendasque curavit. [¶15] 16. What more? Is it possible to pass over the case of Apollonius, the son of Diocles, a Panormitan, whose surname is Geminus? Can anything be mentioned which is more notorious in the whole of Sicily? anything which is more scandalous? anything which is more fully proved? This man Verres, as soon as he came to Panormus, ordered to be summoned before him, and to be cited before his tribunal, in the presence of a great number of the Roman settlers in that city. Men immediately began to talk; to wonder how it was that Apollonius, a wealthy man, had so long remained free from his attacks. “He has devised some plan; he has brought some charge against him; a rich man is not summoned in a hurry by Verres without some object.” All are in the greatest state of anxiety to see what is to happen, when on a sudden Apollonius himself runs up, out of breath, with his young son; for his father, a very old man, had been for some time confined to his bed. > Latin: 16. ? de Apollonio, Diocli filio, Panhormitano, cui cognomen est, praeteriri potest? hoc tota Sicilia clarius, ecquid indignius, ecquid manifestius proferri potest?, ut Panhormum venit, ad se vocari et de tribunali citari iussit concursu magno frequentiaque conventus. statim loqui: “quod Apollonius, homo pecuniosus, tam diu ab isto maneret integer; excogitavit nescio quid, nescio quid attulit; profecto homo dives repente a Verre non sine causa citatur.” summa omnium quidnam id esset, cum exanimatus subito ipse accurrit cum adulescente filio; nam pater grandis natu iam diu lecto tenebatur. [¶16] 17. Verres names one of his slaves, who he said was the manager of his flocks; says that he has formed a conspiracy, and excited slaves in other households. He had actually no such slave in his family at all. He orders him to be produced instantly. Apollonius asserts that he has no slave whatever of that name. Verres orders the man to be hurried from the tribunal, and to be cast into prison. He began to cry out, while he was being hurried off, that the, unhappy man that he was, had done nothing; had committed no offence; that his money was all out at loan, that ready money he had none. While he kept making these declarations in a very numerous assembly of people, so that every one could understand that he was treated with this bitter injustice and violence because he had not given Verres money,—while, I say, he kept making these statements about his money at the top of his voice, he was thrown into prison. > Latin: 17. iste servum, quem magistrum pecoris esse diceret; eum dicit coniurasse et familias concitasse, —is omnino servus in familia non erat,—eum statim exhiberi iubet. Apollonius adfirmare se omnino nomine illo servum habere neminem: iste hominem abripi a tribunali et in carcerem conici iubet. ille, cum raperetur, nihil se miserum fecisse, nihil commisisse, pecuniam sibi esse in nominibus, numeratam in praesentia non habere. cum maxime summa hominum frequentia testificaretur, ut quivis intellegere posset eum, quod pecuniam non dedisset, idcirco illa tam acerba iniuria adfici—cum maxime, ut dico, hoc de pecunia clamaret, in vincla coniectus est. [¶17] 18. See now the consistency of the praetor, and of that praetor who, now being on his trial, is not defended as a tolerable praetor, but is extolled as an admirable general. While a war of slaves was dreaded, he released condemned slaves from the same punishment which he inflicted on their masters who were not condemned. He threw into prison, under pretence of a servile war, without a trial, Apollonius, a most wealthy man, who if the runaway slaves had kindled a war in Sicily would have lost a most magnificent fortune: the slaves whom he himself, with the agreement of his assessors, decided had conspired together for the purpose of war, those, without the consent of his assessors, of his own accord, he released from all punishment. > Latin: 18. constantiam praetoris, et eius praetoris qui in his rebus non ita defendatur ut mediocris praetor, sed ita laudetur ut optimus imperator. servorum bellum metueretur, quo supplicio dominos indemnatos adficiebat, hoc servos damnatos liberabat: Apollonium, hominem locupletissimum, qui, si fugitivi bellum in Sicilia facerent, amplissimas fortunas amitteret, belli fugitivorum nomine indicta causa in vincla coniecit: servos, quos ipse de consili sententia belli faciendi causa consensisse iudicavit, eos sine consili sententia sua sponte omni supplicio liberavit. [¶18] 19. What more shall I say? If anything was done by Apollonius to justify his being punished, shall we conduct this affair in such a manner as to impute it as a crime to the defendant, as to seek to excite ill-feeling against him, if he has judged a man rather too harshly? I will not act in so bitter a spirit. I will not adopt the usual method of accusers, so as to disparage anything which may have been done mercifully, as having been so done out of indifference; or, if anything has been punished with severity, so as to pervert that into a charge of cruelty—I will not act on that system. I will follow your decisions; I will defend your authority as long as you choose; when you yourself begin to rescind your own decrees, then cease to be angry with me, for I will contend, as I have a right to do, that he who has been condemned by his own decision ought to be condemned by the decisions of judges on their oaths. > Latin: 19. ? si aliquid ab Apollonio commissum est quam ob rem in eum iure animadverteretur, tamenne hanc rem sic agemus ut crimini aut invidiae reo putemus esse oportere si quo de homine severius iudicaverit? agam tam acerbe, non utar ista accusatoria consuetudine, si quid est factum clementer, ut dissolute factum criminer, si quid vindicatum est severe, ut ex eo crudelitatis invidiam colligam. agam ista ratione; tua sequar iudicia, tuam defendam auctoritatem, quoad tu voles; simul ac tute coeperis tua iudicia rescindere, mihi suscensere desinito; meo iure enim contendam eum qui suo iudicio damnatus sit iuratorum iudicum sententiis damnari oportere. [¶19] 20. I will not defend the cause of Apollonius, my own friend and connection, lest I should seem to be rescinding, our decision; I will say nothing of the economy, of the virtue, of the industry of the man; I will even pass over that which I have mentioned before, that his fortune was invested in such a manner, in slaves, in cattle, in country houses, in money out at loan, that there was no man to whom it would be more injurious for there to be any disturbance or war in Sicily; I will not even say this, that if Apollonius were ever so much in fault, still an honourable man of a most honourable city ought not to have been so severely punished without a trial. > Latin: 20. defendam Apolloni causam, amici atque hospitis mei, ne tuum iudicium videar rescindere; nihil de hominis frugalitate, virtute, diligentia dicam; praetermittam illud etiam de quo ante dixi, fortunas eius ita constitutas fuisse familia, pecore, villis, pecuniis creditis ut nemini minus expediret ullum in Sicilia tumultum aut bellum commoveri; non dicam ne illud quidem, si maxime in culpa fuerit Apollonius, tamen in hominem honestissimae civitatis honestissimum tam graviter animadverti causa indicta non oportuisse. [¶20] 21. I will not seek to excite any odium against you, not even out of the circumstances that, while such a man was lying in prison, in darkness, in dirt and filth, all permission to visit him was refuted by your tyrannical prohibition to his aged father, and to his youthful son. I will even pass over this, that every time that you came to Panormus during that eighteen months, (for all that time was Apollonius kept in prison,) the senate of Panormus came to you as suppliants, with the public magistrates and priests, praying and entreating you to release some time or other that miserable and innocent man from that cruel treatment. I will omit all these statements; though, were I to choose to follow them up, I could easily show by your cruelty towards others, that every channel of mercy from the judges to yourself has been long since blocked up. > Latin: 21. in te invidiam ne ex illis quidem rebus concitabo, cum esset talis vir in carcere, in tenebris, in squalore, in sordibus, tyrannicis interdictis tuis patri exacta aetate et adulescenti filio adeundi ad illum miserum potestatem numquam esse factam. illud praeteribo, quotienscumque Panhormum veneris illo anno et sex mensibus— nam tam diu fuit Apollonius in carcere—totiens te senatum Panhormitanum adisse supplicem, cum magistratibus sacerdotibusque publicis, orantem atque obsecrantem ut aliquando ille miser atque innocens calamitate illa liberaretur. haec omnia; quae si velim persequi, facile ostendam tua crudelitate in alios omnis tibi aditus misericordiae iudicum iam pridem esse praeclusos. [¶21] 22. All those topics I will abandon, I will spare you them. For I know beforehand what Hortensius will say in your defence. He will confess that with Verres neither the old age of Apollonius's father, nor the youth of his son, nor the tears of both, had more influence than the advantage and safety of the republic. He will say that the affairs of the republic cannot be administered without terror and severity; he will ask why the fasces are borne before the praetors, why the axes are given to them, why prisons have been built, why so many punishments have been established against the wicked by the usage of our ancestors. And when he has said all this with becoming gravity and sternness, I will ask him why Verres all of a sudden ordered this same Apollonius to be released from prison, without any fresh circumstances having been brought to light, without any defence having been made, or any trial having taken place? And I will affirm that there is so much suspicion attached to this charge, that, without any arguments of mine, I will allow the judges to form their own opinion as to what a system of plundering this was, how infamous, how scandalous, and what an immense and boundless field it opens for inordinate gain. > Latin: 22. tibi ista concedam et remittam; provideo enim quid sit defensurus Hortensius; fatebitur apud istum neque senectutem patris neque adulescentiam fili neque lacrimas utriusque plus s valuisse quam utilitatem salutemque provinciae; dicet rem publicam administrari sine metu ac severitate non posse; quaeret quam ob rem fasces praetoribus praeferantur, cur secures datae, cur carcer aedificatus, cur tot supplicia sint in improbos more maiorum constituta. cum omnia graviter severeque dixerit, quaeram cur hunc eundem Apollonium Verres idem repente nulla re nova adlata, nulla defensione, sine causa de carcere emitti iusserit; tantumque in hoc crimine suspicionis esse adfirmabo ut iam ipsis iudicibus sine mea argumentatione coniecturam facere permittam quod hoc genus praedandi, quam improbum, quam indignum, quamque ad magnitudinem quaestus immensum infinitumque esse videatur. [¶22] 23. For first of all consider for a moment how many and how grievous were the evils which that man inflicted on Apollonius; and then calculate them and estimate them by money. You will find that they were all so continued in the case of this one wealthy man, as by their example to cause a fear of similar suffering and danger to all others. In the first place, there was a sudden accusation of a capital and detestable crime; judge what you think this worth, and how many have bought themselves off from such charges. In the next place, there is an accusation without an accuser, a sentence without any bench of judges, a condemnation without any defence having been made. Estimate the money to be got by all these transactions, and then suppose that Apollonius alone was an actual victim to these atrocities, but that all the rest, as many as they were, delivered themselves from these sufferings by money. Lastly, there were darkness, chains, imprisonment, punishment within the prison, seclusion from the sight of his parents and of his children, a denial of the free air and common light of heaven; but these things, which a man might freely give his life to escape, I am unable to estimate by the standard of money. > Latin: 23. quae iste in Apollonio fecit, ea primum breviter cognoscite quot et quanta sint, deinde haec expendite atque aestimate pecunia: reperietis idcirco haec in uno homine pecunioso tot constituta ut ceteris formidines similium incommodorum atque exempla periculorum proponeret. insimulatio est repentina capitalis atque invidiosi criminis,—statuite quanti hoc putetis et quam multos redemisse; deinde crimen sine accusatore, sententia sine consilio, damnatio sine defensione, —aestimate harum omnium rerum pretia et cogitate in his iniquitatibus unum haesisse Apollonium, ceteros profecto multos ex his incommodis pecunia se liberasse; postremo tenebrae, vincla, carcer, inclusum supplicium atque a conspectu parentium ac liberum, denique a libero spiritu atque a communi luce seclusum,—haec vero, quae vel vita redimi recte possunt, aestimare pecunia non queo. [¶23] 24. From all these things did Apollonius after a long time ransom himself, when he was worn out with suffering and misery; but still he taught the rest to meet that man's wickedness and avarice beforehand. Unless you think that a wealthy man was selected for so incredible an accusation without any object of gain; or that, again, he was on a sudden released from prison without any corresponding reason; or that this method of plundering was used and tried in the case of that man alone, and that terror was not, by means of his example, held out to and struck into every rich man in Sicily. > Latin: 24. omnia sero redemit Apollonius iam maerore ac miseriis perditus, sed tamen ceteros docuit ante istius avaritiae scelerique occurrere; nisi vero existimatis hominem pecuniosissimum sine causa quaestus electum ad tam incredibile crimen aut sine eadem causa repente e carcere emissum, aut hoc praedandi genus ab isto in illo uno adhibitum ac temptatum, et non per illum omnibus pecuniosissimis Siculis metum propositum et iniectum. [¶24] 25. I wish, O judges, to be prompted by him, since I am speaking of his military renown, if by accident I pass over anything. For I seem to myself to have spoken of all his exploits which are connected with his suspicion of a servile war; at all events I have not omitted anything intentionally. You are in possession of the man's wisdom, and diligence, and vigilance; and of his guardianship and defence of the province. The main thing is, as there are many classes of generals, for you to know to what class he belongs. But that, in the present dearth of brave men, you may not be ignorant of such a commander as he is, know,—I beg you, O judges, to be aware, that his is not the wisdom of Quintus Maximus, nor the promptness of action belonging to that great man the elder Africanus, nor the singular prudence of the Africanus of later times, nor the method and discipline of Paulus Aemilius, nor the vigour and courage of Caius Marcus; but that he is to be esteemed and taken care of as belonging to quite a different class of generals. > Latin: 25. mihi ab illo, iudices, subici, quoniam de militari eius gloria dico, si quid forte praetereo. mihi videor iam de omnibus rebus eius gestis dixisse, quae quidem ad belli fugitivorum suspicionem pertinerent; certe nihil sciens praetermisi. hominis consilia, diligentiam, vigilantiam, custodiam defensionemque provinciae. illuc pertinet, ut sciatis, quoniam plura genera sunt imperatorum, ex quo genere iste sit, ne qui diutius in tanta penuria virorum fortium talem imperatorem ignorare possit. ad Q. Maximi sapientiam neque ad illius superioris Africani in re gerunda celeritatem, neque ad huius qui postea fuit singulare consilium, neque ad Pauli rationem ac disciplinam, neque ad C. Mari vim atque virtutem; sed aliud genus imperatoris sane diligenter retinendum et conservandum, quaeso, cognoscite. [¶25] 26. In the first place, see how easy and pleasant to himself Verres by his own ingenuity and wisdom made the labour of marches, which is a labour of the greatest importance in all military affairs, and most especially necessary in Sicily. First, in the winter season he devises for himself this admirable remedy against the severity of the cold and the violence of storms and floods; he selected the city of Syracuse, the situation of which and the nature of its soil and atmosphere are said to be such that there never yet was a day of such violent and turbulent storms, that men could not see the sun at some time or other in the day. Here that gallant general was quartered in the winter months, so securely that it was not easy to see him, I will not say out of the house, but even out of bed. So the shortness of the day was consumed in banquets, the length of the night in adulteries and debaucheries. > Latin: 26. primum laborem, qui vel maximus est in re militari, iudices, et in Sicilia maxime necessarius, accipite quam facilem sibi iste et iucundum ratione consilioque reddiderit. temporibus hibernis ad magnitudinem frigorum et tempestatum vim ac fluminum praeclarum hoc sibi remedium compararat. Vrbem Syracusas elegerat, cuius hic situs atque haec natura esse loci caelique dicitur ut nullus umquam dies tam magna ac turbulenta tempestate fuerit quin aliquo tempore eius diei solem homines viderint. ita vivebat iste bonus imperator hibernis mensibus ut eum non facile non modo extra tectum, sed ne extra lectum quidem quisquam viderit; ita diei brevitas conviviis, noctis longitudo stupris et flagitiis continebatur. [¶26] 27. But when it began to be spring, the beginning of which he was not used to date from the west wind, or from any star, but he thought that spring was beginning when he had seen the rose, then he devoted himself to labour and to marches; and in these he proved himself so patient and active that no one ever once saw him sitting on a horse. For, as was the custom of the kings of Bithynia, he was borne on a litter carried by eight men, in which was a cushion, very beautiful, of Melitan manufacture, stuffed with roses. And he himself had one chaplet on his head, another on his neck, and kept putting a network bag to his nose, made of the finest thread, with minute interstices, full of roses. Having performed his march in this manner, when he came to any town he was carried in the same litter up to his chamber. Thither came the magistrates of the Sicilians, thither came the Roman knights, as you have heard many of them state on their oaths; there disputes were secretly communicated to him; and from thence, a little while afterwards, decrees were openly brought down. Then, when for a while he had dispensed the laws for bribery, and not out of considerations of justice, he thought that now the rest of his time was due to Venus and to Bacchus. > Latin: 27. autem ver esse coeperat—cuius initium iste non a Favonio neque ab aliquo astro notabat, sed cum rosam viderat tum incipere ver arbitrabatur—dabat se labori atque itineribus; in quibus eo usque se praebebat patientem atque impigrum ut eum nemo umquam in equo sedentem viderit., ut mos fuit Bithyniae regibus, lectica octaphoro ferebatur, in qua pulvinus erat perlucidus Melitensis rosa fartus; ipse autem coronam habebat unam in capite, alteram in collo, reticulumque ad naris sibi admovebat tenuissimo lino, minutis maculis, plenum rosae. confecto itinere cum ad aliquod oppidum venerat, eadem lectica usque in cubiculum deferebatur. veniebant Siculorum magistratus, veniebant equites Romani, id quod ex multis iuratis audistis; controversiae secreto deferebantur, paulo post palam decreta auferebantur. ubi paulisper in cubiculo pretio non aequitate iura discripserat, Veneri iam et reliquum tempus deberi arbitrabatur. [¶27] 28. And when speaking of this, I must not omit the admirable and singular diligence of this great general. For know that there is no town in all Sicily of those in which the praetors are accustomed to stay and hold their court, in which there was not some woman selected for him out of some respectable family, to gratify his lust. Some of them were even openly present at his banquets. If there were some a little modest, they used to come at the proper time, and avoided the light of day, and the crowd. And these banquets were celebrated, not with the orderly silence of the banquets of praetors and generals of the Roman people, nor with that modesty which is usually found at the entertainments of magistrates, but with the most excessive noise and licence of conversation sometimes even affairs proceeded to blows and fighting. For that strict and diligent praetor, who had never obeyed the laws of the Roman people, observed most carefully those rules which are laid down for drinking parties. And accordingly the ends of these banquets were such that men were often carried out from the feast as from a battle; others were left on the ground as dead; numbers lay prostrate without sense or feeling, so that any one who beheld the scene would have supposed that he was looking not on a banquet of a praetor, but on the battle of Cannae. > Latin: 28. loco non mihi praetermittenda videtur praeclari imperatoris egregia ac singularis diligentia. scitote oppidum esse in Sicilia nullum ex iis oppidis in quibus consistere praetores et conventum agere soleant, quo in oppido non isti ex aliqua familia non ignobili delecta ad libidinem mulier esset. non nullae ex eo numero in convivium adhibebantur palam; si quae castiores erant, ad tempus veniebant, lucem conventumque vitabant. autem convivia non illo silentio populi Romani praetorum atque imperatorum, neque eo pudore qui in magistratuum conviviis versari soleat, sed cum maximo clamore atque convicio; non numquam etiam res ad pugnam atque ad manus vocabatur. enim praetor severus ac diligens, qui populi Romani legibus numquam paruisset, illis legibus quae in poculis ponebantur diligenter obtemperabat. erant exitus eius modi ut alius inter manus e convivio tamquam e proelio auferretur, alius tamquam occisus relinqueretur, plerique ut fusi sine mente ac sine ullo sensu iacerent,—ut quivis, cum aspexisset, non se praetoris convivium, sed Cannensem pugnam nequitiae videre arbitraretur. [¶28] 29. But when the middle of summer began to be felt, the time that all the praetors in Sicily have been accustomed to devote to their journeys, because they think that the best time for travelling over the province where the corn is on the threshing-floor, because at that time all the members of a household are collected together, and the number of a person's slaves is seen, and the work that is done is most easily observed; the abundance of the harvest invites travel and the season of the year is no obstacle to it; then, I say, when all other praetors are used to travel about, that general of a new sort pitched himself a permanent camp in the most beautiful spot in Syracuse. > Latin: 29. vero aestas summa esse coeperat, quod tempus omnes Siciliae semper praetores in itineribus consumere consuerunt, propterea quod tum putant obeundam esse maxime provinciam, cum in areis frumenta sunt, quod et familiae congregantur et magnitudo serviti perspicitur et labor operis maxime offendit, frumenti copia commonet, tempus anni non impedit: tum, inquam, cum concursant ceteri praetores, iste novo quodam genere imperator pulcherrimo Syracusarum loco stativa sibi castra faciebat. [¶29] 30. For at the very entrance and mouth of the harbour, where first the bay begins to curve from the shore of the open sea towards the city, he pitched tents of fine linen curtains; thither he migrated from the praetorian palace which had belonged to king Hiero, and lived here so that during the whole summer no one ever saw him out of his tent. And to that tent no one had access unless he was either a boon companion, or a minister of his lust. Hither came all the women with whom he had any intrigue, and of these it is incredible how great a number there was at Syracuse. Hither came men worthy of that man's friendship, worthy associates in that course of life also those banquets. Among such men and such women as these, his son, now grown up, spent his time; in order that if nature removed him at all from the likeness to his father, still use and constant training might make him resemble him. > Latin: 30. in ipso aditu atque ore portus, ubi primum ex alto sinus ab litore ad urbem inflectitur, tabernacula carbaseis intenta velis conlocabat. ex illa domo praetoria, quae regis Hieronis fuit, sic emigrabat ut eum per illos dies nemo extra illum locum videre posset. eum autem ipsum locum aditus erat nemini, nisi qui aut socius aut minister libidinis esse posset. omnes mulieres, quibuscum iste consuerat, conveniebant, quarum incredibile est quanta multitudo fuerit Syracusis; huc homines digni istius amicitia, digni vita illa conviviisque veniebant. eius modi viros et mulieres adulta aetate filius versabatur, ut eum, etiamsi natura a parentis similitudine abriperet, consuetudo tamen ac disciplina patris similem esse cogeret. [¶30] 31. That Tertia whom I have spoken of before, having been tempted by trick and artifice to leave her Rhodian flute-player and to come hither, is reported to have caused great disturbance in that camp; as the wife of Cleomenes the Syracusan, a woman of noble birth, and the wife of Aeschrio, a woman of very respectable patronage, were very indignant that the daughter of Isidorus the buffoon should be admitted into their company. But that Hannibal, who thought that in his army there ought to be no rivalry of birth, but only of merit, was so much in love with this Tertia, that he carried her with him out of the province. And all that time, while that man, clad in a purple cloak and a tunic reaching to his ankles, was reveling in banquets with women, men were not offended, nor in the least vexed that the magistrate was absent from the forum that the laws were not administered, that the courts of justice were not held; that all that shore resounded with women's vices, and music and songs. They were not, I say, at all vexed at there being a total silence in the forum, no pleading, and no law. For it was not law or the court of justice that seemed to be absent from the forum, but violence and cruelty, and the bitter and shameful robbery of good men. > Latin: 31. Tertia illa perducta per dolum atque insidias ab Rhodio tibicine maximas in istius castris effecisse dicitur turbas, cum indigne pateretur uxor Cleomenis Syracusani, nobilis mulier, itemque uxor Aeschrionis, honesto loco nata, in conventum suum mimi Isidori filiam venisse. autem Hannibal, qui in suis castris virtute putaret oportere non genere certari, sic hanc Tertiam dilexit ut eam secum ex provincia deportaret. per eos dies, cum iste cum pallio purpureo talarique tunica versaretur in conviviis muliebribus, non offendebantur homines neque moleste ferebant abesse a foro magistratum, non ius dici, non iudicia fieri; locum illum litoris percrepare totum mulierum vocibus cantuque symphoniae, in foro silentium esse summum causarum atque iuris, non ferebant homines moleste; non enim ius abesse videbatur a foro neque iudicia, sed vis et crudelitas et bonorum acerba et indigna direptio.