32. Do you then, O Hortensius, defend this man on the ground of his having been a general? Do you endeavour to conceal his thefts, his rapine, his cupidity, his cruelty, his pride, his wickedness, his audacity, by dwelling on the greatness of his exploits and his renown as a commander? No doubt I have cause to fear here, that at the end of your defence you may have recourse to the old conduct of Antonius, and to his mode of ending a speech; that Verres may be brought forward, his breast bared, that the Roman people may see his scars, inflicted by the bites of women, traces of lust and profligacy.
32. tu igitur imperatorem esse defendis, Hortensi? huius furta, rapinas, cupiditatem, crudelitatem, superbiam, scelus, audaciam rerum gestarum magnitudine atque imperatoriis laudibus tegere conaris? scilicet est metuendum ne ad exitum defensionis tuae vetus illa Antoniana dicendi ratio atque auctoritas proferatur, ne excitetur Verres, ne denudetur a pectore, ne cicatrices populus Romanus aspiciat, ex mulierum morsu vestigia libidinis atque nequitiae. faciant ut rei militaris, ut belli mentionem facere audeas!
33. May the gods grant that you may venture to make mention of military affairs and of war. For all his ancient military service shall be made known, in order that you may be aware, not only what he has been as a commander, but also how he behaved as a soldier in his campaigns. That first campaign of his shall be brought up again, in which he was, as he says himself, subservient to others, not their master. The camp of that gambler of Placentia shall be brought: up again, where, though he were assiduous in his attendance, he still lost his pay. Many of his losses in his campaigns shall be recounted, which were made up for and retrieved by the most infamous expedients.
33. enim omnia istius aera illa vetera, ut non solum in imperio verum etiam in stipendiis qualis fuerit intellegatis. prima illa militia, cum iste e foro abduci, non, ut ipse praedicat, perduci solebat; aleatoris Placentini castra commemorabuntur, in quibus cum frequens fuisset tamen aere dirutus est; multa eius in stipendiis damna proferentur, quae ab isto aetatis fructu dissoluta et compensata sunt.
34. But afterwards, when he had become hardened by a long course of such infamy,—when he had sated others, not himself,—why need I relate what sort of man he turned out? what carefully guarded defences of modesty and chastity he broke down by violence and audacity? or why should I connect the disgrace of an, one else with his profligacy? I will not do so, O judges. I will pass over all old stories; I will only mention two recent achievements of his, without fixing infamy on any one else; and by those you will be able to conjecture the rest. One of them is, that it was so notorious to every one, that during the consulship of Lucius Lucullus and Marcus Cotta, no one ever came up from any municipal town to Rome on any law business, who was so ill-informed of what was going on as not to know that all the laws of the Roman people were regulated by the will and pleasure of Chelidon the prostitute. The other is that, after he had left the city in the robe of war,—after he had pronounced the solemn vows for the success of his administration, and for the common welfare of the republic, he was accustomed, for the sake of committing adultery, to be brought back into the city, at night, in a litter, to a woman who, though the wife of one man, was common to all men, contrary to law, contrary to what was required by the auspices, contrary to everything which is held sacred among gods and men.
34. vero, cum in eius modi patientia turpitudinis aliena non sua satietate obduruisset, qui vir fuerit, quot praesidia, quam munita pudoris et pudicitiae vi et audacia ceperit, quid me attinet dicere aut coniungere cum istius flagitio cuiusquam praeterea dedecus? faciam, iudices; omnia vetera praetermittam, duo sola recentia sine cuiusquam infamia ponam, ex quibus coniecturam facere de omnibus possitis,—unum illud, quod ita fuit inlustre notumque omnibus ut nemo tam rusticanus homo L. Lucullo [et ] M. Cotta consulibus Romam ex ullo municipio vadimoni causa venerit, quin sciret iura omnia praetoris urbani nutu atque arbitrio Chelidonis meretriculae gubernari, alterum quod, cum paludatus exisset votaque pro imperio suo communique re publica nuncupasset, noctu stupri causa lectica in urbem introferri solitus est ad mulierem nuptam uni, propositam omnibus, contra fas, contra auspicia, contra omnis divinas atque humanas religiones!
35. O ye immortal gods! what a difference is there between the minds and ideas of men! So may your good opinion and that of the Roman people approve of my intentions, and sanction my hopes for the rest of my life, as I have received those offices with which the Roman people has as yet entrusted me with the feeling that I was bound to a conscientious discharge of every possible duty. I was appointed quaestor with the feeling that that honour was not given to me so much as lent and entrusted to me. I obtained the quaestorship in the province of Sicily, and considered that every man's eyes were turned upon me alone. So that I thought that I and my quaestorship were being exhibited on some theatre open to the whole world; so that I denied myself all those things which seem to be indulgences, not merely to those irregular passions, but even those which are coveted by nature itself and by necessity.
35. O di immortales! quid interest inter mentes hominum et cogitationes! mihi meam voluntatem spemque reliquae vitae vestra populique Romani existimatio comprobet, ut ego, quos adhuc mihi magistratus populus Romanus mandavit, sic eos accepi ut me omnium officiorum obstringi religione arbitrarer! quaestor sum factus ut mihi illum honorem tum non solum datum, sed etiam creditum et commissum putarem; sic obtinui quaesturam in Sicilia provincia ut omnium oculos in me unum coniectos esse arbitrarer, ut me quaesturamque meam quasi in aliquo terrarum orbis theatro versari existimarem, ut semper omnia quae iucunda videntur esse, ea non modo his extraordinariis cupiditatibus, sed etiam ipsi naturae ac necessitati denegarem.
36. Now I am aedile elect, I consider what it is that I have received from the Roman people; I consider that I am bound to celebrate holy games with the most solemn ceremonies to Ceres, to Bacchus, and to Libera; that I am bound to render Flora propitious to the Roman nation and people by the splendour of her games; that it is my office to celebrate those most ancient games, which were the first that were ever called Roman games, with the greatest dignity and with all possible religious observance, in honour of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva; that the charge of protecting all the sacred buildings and the whole city is entrusted to me; that as a recompense for all that labour and anxiety these honours are granted to me,—an honourable precedence in delivering my opinion in the senate; a toga praetexta; a curule chair; a right of transmitting my image to the recollection of my posterity.
36. sum designatus aedilis; habeo rationem quid a populo Romano acceperim; mihi ludos sanctissimos maxima cum cura et caerimonia Cereri,, Liberaeque faciundos, mihi Floram matrem populo plebique Romanae ludorum celebritate placandam, mihi ludos antiquissimos, qui primi Romani appellati sunt, cum dignitate maxima et religione Iovi, Iunoni, Minervaeque esse faciundos, mihi sacrarum aedium procurationem, mihi totam urbem tuendam esse commissam; ob earum rerum laborem et sollicitudinem fructus illos datos, antiquiorem in senatu sententiae dicendae locum, togam praetextam, sellam curulem, ius imaginis ad memoriam posteritatemque prodendae.
37. I wish, O judges, that all the gods may be propitious to me, as I do not receive by any means so much pleasure from all these things, (though the honours conferred on me by the people are most acceptable to me,) as I feel anxiety, and as I will take pains, that this aedileship may not seem to have been given to some one of the candidates, because it could not be helped, but to have been conferred on me because it was proper that it should be, and to have been conferred by the deliberate judgment of the people.
37. his ego omnibus rebus, iudices,—ita mihi omnis deos propitios velim,— etiamsi mihi iucundissimus est honos populi, tamen nequaquam capio tantum voluptatis quantum et sollicitudinis et laboris, ut haec ipsa aedilitas, non quia necesse fuerit, alicui candidato data, sed, quia sic oportuerit, recte conlocata et iudicio populi in loco esse posita videatur.
38. You, when you were appointed praetor, by whatever means it was brought about,—for I leave out and pass over everything that was done at that time,—but when you were appointed, as I have said, were you not roused by the very voice of the crier, who made such frequent announcements that you had been invested with that honour by the centimes of the seniors and juniors, to think that some part of the republic had been entrusted to you? that for that one year you must do without the house of a prostitute? When it fell to you by lot to preside in the court of justice, did you never consider what an important affair, what a burden you had imposed on you? Did it never once occur to you, if by any chance you were able to awaken yourself, that that province, which it was difficult for a man to administer properly even if endowed with the greatest wisdom and the greatest integrity, had fallen to the lot of the greatest stupidity and worthlessness? Therefore, you were not only unwilling to drive Chelidon from your house during your praetorship, but you even transported your whole praetorship to Chelidon's house.
38. cum esses praetor renuntiatus quoquo modo,—mitto enim et praetereo quid tum sit actum,—sed cum esses renuntiatus, ut dixi, non ipsa praeconis voce excitatus es, qui te totiens seniorum iuniorumque centuriis illo honore adfici pronuntiavit, ut hoc putares, aliquam rei publicae partem tibi creditam, annum tibi illum unum domo carendum esse meretricis? tibi sorte obtigisset uti ius diceres, quantum negoti, quid oneris haberes, numquam cogitasti? neque illud rationis habuisti, si forte te expergefacere posses, eam provinciam, quam tueri singulari sapientia atque integritate difficile esset, ad summam stultitiam nequitiamque venisse? non modo a domo tua Chelidonem in praetura excludere noluisti, sed in Cheliodonis domum praeturam totam detulisti.
39. The province followed; in which it never occurred to you that the fasces and axes, and such absolute authority, and such dignity, and every sort of decoration, was not given to you in order, by the power and authority derived from these things, to break down all the barriers of law and modesty and duty, and to consider every man's property as your own booty; so that no man's estate could be safe, no man's house closed; no man's life protected, no woman's chastity fortified, against your cupidity and audacity; in which you behaved yourself in such a way that, being detected in everything, you take refuge in an imaginary war of runaway slaves; by which you now perceive, that not only no defence is procured for you, but that an immense body of accusations is raised up against you; unless, indeed, you are going to speak of the relics of the war in Italy, and the disaster of Temsa. But when your fortune recently conducted you to that place, at a most seasonable time, if you had any courage, or any energy, you were found to be the same man that you had ever been.
39. provincia est; in qua numquam tibi venit in mentem non tibi idcirco fascis ac securis et tantam imperi vim tantamque ornamentorum omnium dignitatem datam ut earum rerum vi et auctoritate omnia repagula pudoris officique perfringeres, ut omnium bona praedam tuam duceres, ut nullius res tuta, nullius domus clausa, nullius vita saepta, nullius pudicitia munita contra tuam cupiditatem et audaciam posset esse; in qua tu te ita gessisti ut, omnibus cum teneare rebus, ad bellum fugitivorum confugias; ex quo iam intellegis non modo nullam tibi defensionem, sed maximam vim criminum exortam. Nisi forte Italici fugitivorum belli reliquias atque illud Tempsanum incommodum proferes, ad quod recens cum te peropportune fortuna attulisset, si quid in te virtutis aut industriae habuisses, idem qui semper fueras inventus es.
40. When the men of Valentia had come to you, and when a noble and an eloquent man, Marcus Marius, was addressing you on their behalf, begging you to undertake the business, and, as the power and the name of praetor belonged to you, to act as their chief and leader in extinguishing that small band that was at Temsa, you not only shunned that task, but at that very time, while you were on the shore, that dear Tertia of yours, whom you were carrying with you, was there in the sight of all men. And to the deputies from Valentia, such an illustrious and noble municipality, you gave no answer at all in matters of such moment, while you were still in your dark-coloured tunic and cloak. What can you, O judges, suppose that this man did while on his journey? what can you suppose he did in the province itself who, when he was on his way from his province, not to celebrate a triumph, but to be put on his trial, did not avoid a scandal which could not have been accompanied by any pleasure.
40. ad te Valentini venissent et pro iis homo disertus ac nobilis, M. Marius, loqueretur, ut negotium susciperes, ut, cum penes te praetorium imperium ac nomen esset, ad illam parvam manum exstinguendam ducem te principemque praeberes, non modo id refugisti, sed eo ipso tempore, cum esses in litore, Tertia illa tua, quam tu tecum deportaras, erat in omnium conspectu; ipsis autem Valentinis ex tam inlustri nobilique municipio tantis de rebus responsum dedisti, cum esses cum tunica pulla et pallio. hunc proficiscentem, quid in ipsa provincia fecisse existimatis qui, cum iam ex provincia non ad triumphum sed ad iudicium decederet, ne illam quidem infamiam fugerit quam sine ulla voluptate capiebat?
41. Oh! the noble murmur of the crowd in the temple of Bellona! You recollect, O judges, when it was getting towards evening, and when mention had been made a short time before of this disaster at Temsa, when no one was found who could be sent into those districts with a military command, that some one said that Verres was not far from Temsa. You recollect how universally every one murmured; how openly the chief men repudiated the suggestion. And does the man who has been convicted of so many accusations by so many witnesses, now place any hope in the votes of those judges, who have already openly condemned him, even before his cause was heard?
41. O divina senatus frequentis in aede Bellonae admurmuratio! tenetis, iudices, cum advesperasceret et paulo ante esset de hoc Tempsano incommodo nuntiatum, cum inveniretur nemo qui in illa loca cum imperio mitteretur, dixisset que quidam Verrem esse non longe a Tempsa, quam valde universi admurmuraverint, quam palam principes dixerint contra. his tot criminibus testimoniisque convictus in eorum tabella spem sibi aliquam proponit, quorum omnium palam causa incognita voce damnatus est?
42. Be it so. He has gained no credit either from any war of the runaway slaves, or from the suspicion of such a war; because there has neither been any such war, nor danger of any such war in Sicily; nor were any precautions taken by him to prevent such a war. But, at all events, against any war of pirates he had a fleet well equipped, and he exhibited extraordinary energy in that matter. And therefore, while he was praetor, the province was admirably defended. I will speak of the war with the pirates, and of the Sicilian fleet, when I have first of all solemnly stated, that with respect to this matter alone, he committed all his most enormous crimes,—crimes of avarice, of treason, of insanity, of lust and of cruelty. I beg of you to give your most diligent attention, as you have hitherto given it, while I briefly detail the events that took place.
42. ; nihil ex fugitivorum bello aut suspicione belli laudis adeptus est, quod neque bellum eius modi neque belli periculum fuit in Sicilia, neque ab isto provisum est ne quod esset; at vero contra bellum praedonum classem habuit ornatam diligentiamque in eo singularem, itaque ab isto praeclare defensa provincia est. de bello praedonum, sic de classe Siciliensi, iudices, dicam ut hoc iam ante confirmem, in hoc uno genere omnis inesse culpas istius maximas avaritiae, maiestatis, dementiae, libidinis, crudelitatis. dum breviter expono, quaeso, ut fecistis adhuc, diligenter attendite.
43. In the first place, I say, that the naval affairs were managed, not with the view of defending the province, but of acquiring money under presence of providing a fleet. Though this had been the custom of former praetors, to impose a contribution of ships and of a fixed number of sailors and soldiers on each city, yet you imposed no contribution on the very important and wealthy city of the Mamertines. What money the Mamertines gave you secretly for that indulgence, will be seen hereafter; we will ascertain that from their own letters and witnesses.
43. navalem primum ita dico esse administratam, non uti provincia defenderetur, sed uti classis nomine pecunia quaereretur. praetorum consuetudo cum haec fuisset, ut naves civitatibus certusque numerus nautarum militumque imperaretur, maximae et locupletissimae civitati Mamertinae nihil horum imperavisti. hanc rem quid tibi Mamertini clam pecuniae dederint, post, si videbitur, ex ipsorum litteris testibusque quaeremus.
44. But I assert, that a merchant vessel of the largest size, like a trireme, very beautiful, and highly ornamented, was openly built at the public expense, with the knowledge of all Sicily, and given and presented to you by the magistrates and senate of the Mamertines. This ship, laden with Sicilian booty, itself being also a part of that booty, put into Velia, at the same time that he himself left the province laden with many articles, and especially with such as he did not like to send to Rome along with the rest of the fruits of his robberies before he arrived himself, because they were the most valuable, and those which he was most fond of. I myself have lately seen that vessel at Velia, O judges, and many other men have seen it too; a very beautiful and highly ornamented ship, which, indeed, seemed to all who beheld her, to be now looking for the banishment, and to be waiting for the departure of her owner.
44. vero cybaeam, maximam triremis instar, [pulcherrimam atque ornatissimam cybaeam ], palam aedificatam sumptu publico tuo nomine, publice, sciente tota Sicilia, per magistratum senatumque Mamertinum tibi datam donatamque esse dico. navis onusta praeda Siciliensi, cum ipsa quoque esset ex praeda, simul cum ipse decederet, adpulsa Veliam est cum plurimis rebus, et iis quas iste Romam mittere cum ceteris furtis noluit, quod erant clarissimae maximeque eum delectabant. navem nuper egomet vidi Veliae multique alii viderunt, pulcherrimam atque ornatissimam, iudices: quae quidem omnibus qui eam aspexerant prospectare iam exsilium atque explorare fugam domini videbatur.
45. What answer will you make to me now? Unless, perhaps, you say what, although it cannot possibly be admitted as an excuse, yet must be urged in a trial for extortion, that that ship was built with your own money. Dare, at least, to say this which is necessary. Do not be afraid, O Hortensius, of my asking how it became lawful for a senator to build a ship? Those are old and dead laws, as you are accustomed to call them, which forbid it. There was such a republic here, once, O judges; there was such strictness in the tribunals, that an accuser would have thought such a transaction worthy to be classed among the most serious crimes. For what did you want of a ship? when, if you were going anywhere on account of the state, ships were provided for you at the public expense, both to convey you, and to guard you? But it is not possible for you to go anywhere on your own private account, nor to send for articles across the sea from those countries in which it is not lawful for you to have any possessions, or any dealings.
45. mihi hoc loco respondebis? nisi forte id quod, tametsi probari nullo modo potest, tamen dici quidem in iudicio de pecuniis repetundis necesse est, de tua pecunia aedificatam esse navem. hoc saltem dicere quod necesse est; noli metuere, Hortensi, ne quaeram qui licuerit aedificare navem senatori; antiquae sunt istae leges et mortuae, quem ad modum tu soles dicere, quae vetant. ista res publica quondam, fuit ista severitas in iudiciis, ut istam rem accusator in magnis criminibus obiciendam putaret. enim tibi navi? qui si quo publice proficisceris, praesidi et vecturae causa sumptu publico navigia praebentur; privatim autem nec proficisci quoquam potes nec arcessere res transmarinas ex iis locis in quibus te habere nihil licet.
46. Then, why have you prepared anything contrary to the laws? This charge would have had weight in the ancient severity and dignity of the republic. Now, I not only do not accuse you on account of this offence, but I do not even reprove you with an ordinary reprimand. Lastly, did you never think that this would be discreditable to you? did you never think it would be ground for an accusation, or cause for unpopularity, to have a transport openly built for you, in a most frequented place in that province in which you had the supreme command? What did you suppose that they said who saw it? What did you suppose that they thought who heard of it? Did they think that you were going to take that vessel to Italy, empty? that you were going to let it out as a sailing boat, when you got to Rome? No one would even believe that you had in Italy any farm on the coast, and that you were preparing a merchant vessel for the purpose of moving your crops. Did you wish every man's conversation to be such as for men to say openly that you were preparing that ship to carry all your plunder from Sicily, and to go to and fro for the booty which you had left behind?
46. cur quicquam contra leges parasti? hoc crimen in illa vetere severitate ac dignitate rei publicae; nunc non modo te hoc crimine non arguo, sed ne illa quidem communi vituperatione reprehendo: tibi hoc numquam turpe, numquam criminosum, numquam invidiosum fore putasti, celeberrimo loco palam tibi aedificari onerariam navem in provincia quam tu cum imperio obtinebas? eos loqui qui videbant, quid existimare eos qui audiebant arbitrabare? inanem te navem esse illam in Italiam adducturum? naviculariam, cum Romam venisses, esse facturum? illud quidem quisquam poterat suspicari, te in Italia maritimum habere fundum et ad fructus deportandos onerariam navem comparare. modi voluisti de te sermonem esse omnium palam ut loquerentur te illam navem parare quae praedam ex Sicilia deportaret, et ad ea furta quae reliquisses commearet.
47. But, however, I give up and grant the whole of this, if you say that the vessel was built with your money. But, O most demented of men, are you not aware that this ground was cut from under your feet by those very friends of yours, the Mamertines themselves, in the previous pleading? For Heius, the chief man of the city,—the chief man of that deputation which was sent to utter a panegyric on you, said that the ship had been built for you by the public labour of the Mamertines, and that a Mamertine Senator had been appointed by public authority to superintend the building of it. The only thing that remains is the materials. And this you yourself compelled the Rhegians to furnish at the public expense, as they say themselves (not that you can deny it), because the Mamertines have no proper materials. If both the materials of which the vessel is built, and if those who built it, were provided by your authority, not at your expense, what, then, is the secret thing which you say was paid for with your money? Oh! but the Mamertines have no enemies respecting it in their public accounts.
47. haec omnia, si doces navem de tua pecunia aedificatam, remitto atque concedo. hoc, homo amentissime, non intellegis priore actione ab ipsis istis Mamertinis, tuis laudatoribus, esse sublatum? dixit Heius, princeps civitatis, princeps istius legationis quae ad tuam laudationem missa est, navem tibi operis publicis Mamertinorum esse factam, eique faciendae senatorem Mamertinum publice praefuisse. est materies. Reginis, ut ipsi dicunt— tametsi tu negare non potes—publice, quod Mamertini materiem non habent, imperavisti. et ex quo fit navis, et qui faciunt, imperio tibi tuo non pretio praesto fuerunt, ubi tandem istud latet quod tu de tua pecunia dicis impensum? Mamertini in tabulis nihil habent.
48. In the first place, I can understand that it may be possible that they did not disburse any money out of the treasury. In fact, even the Capitol, as it was built in the time of our ancestors, was able to be built and completed by public authority, but without any public payment, workmen being pressed into the service, and a fair quota of work being exacted from each person respectively. In the next place, I see this also, (which I will prove when I produce my witnesses, from the accounts of the Mamertines themselves,) that a great deal of money was spent by that man which was entered as paid for imaginary contracts for works that never existed. For it is not at all strange that the Mamertines should in their accounts have shown a regard for that man's safety, from whom they had received the greatest benefits, and whom they had known to be much more friendly to them than he was to the Roman people. But if it is any argument that the Mamertines did not give you money, because they have not got it down in their accounts, let it be an argument also that the ship cost you nothing, because you have no entry to produce of having bought it, or having made a contract with any one to build it for you.
48. video potuisse fieri ut ex aerario nihil darent; etenim vel Capitolium, sicut apud maiores nostros factum est, publice coactis fabris operisque imperatis gratiis exaedificari atque effici potuit; deinde—id quod perspicio et quod ostendam, cum ipsos produxero, ipsorum ex litteris—multas pecunias isti erogatas in operum locationes falsas atque inanis esse perscriptas. illud minime mirum est, Mamertinos a quo summum beneficium acceperant, quem sibi amiciorem quam populo Romano esse cognoverant, eius capiti litteris suis pepercisse. si argumento est Mamertinos tibi pecuniam non dedisse, quia scriptum non habent, sit argumento tibi gratiis stare navem, quia, quid emeris aut quid locaris, scriptum proferre non potes.
49. Oh! but you did not command the Mamertines to furnish a ship, because they are one of the confederate cities. Thank God, we have a man trained by the hands of the Fetiales; a man above all others pious and careful in all that belongs to public religion. Let all the men who have been praetors before you be given up to the Mamertines, because they have commanded them to furnish ships contrary to the provisions of the treaty. But still you, O you pious and scrupulous man, how was it that you commanded the people of Tauromenium, which is also a confederate city, to furnish a ship? Will you make any one believe that, while the case of both the states was exactly the same, the law that you administered, and the condition in which you left each, was so different, without money being the cause of the difference?
49. enim idcirco navem Mamertinis non imperasti, quod sunt foederati. adprobent! hominem in fetialium manibus educatum, unum praeter ceteros in publicis religionibus foederum sanctum ac diligentem; omnes qui ante te fuerunt praetores dedantur Mamertinis, quod iis navem contra pactionem foederis imperarint. tamen tu, sancte homo ac religiose, cur Tauromenitanis item foederatis navem imperasti? hoc probabis, in aequa causa populorum sine pretio varium ius et disparem condicionem fuisse?
50. What, if I prove, O judges, that these two treaties with the two states were of such a nature, that in the case of the people of Tauromenium it was expressly provided for and guarded against in the treaty, “that they were not bound to furnish a vessel;” but that in the case of the Mamertines it was set down and written in the treaty itself, “that they were bound to furnish a vessel;” but that Verres, in opposition to both treaties, compelled the Tauromenians to furnish one, and excused the Mamertines? Can it, then, be doubtful to any one that, while Verres was praetor, that merchant-vessel was a greater assistance to the Mamertines than the treaty was to the Tauromenians? Let the treaties be read. [The treaties of the Mamertines and the Tauromenians with the Roman people are read.] By that act therefore, of kindness, as you call it—of corruption and dishonesty, as the case itself proves,—you detracted from the majesty of the republic, you diminished the reinforcements of the Roman people—you diminished their resources, acquired by the valour and wisdom of their ancestors; you destroyed their imperial rights, and the terms on which the allies became such, and all recollection of the treaty. They who by the express words of the treaty were bound to send at their own expense and risk a ship properly armed and equipped with everything necessary, even as far as the ocean if we ordered them to do so, those men bought from you for money a release from the terms of the treaty, and a release from the lights of sovereignty which we had over them, so as to be excused from even sailing in that narrow sea before their own houses and homes, from defending their own walls and harbours.
50. ? si eius modi esse haec duo foedera duorum so populorum, iudices, doceo, ut Tauromenitanis nominatim cautum et exceptum sit foedere ne navem dare debeant, Mamertinis in ipso foedere sanctum atque praescriptum sit ut navem dare necesse sit, istum autem contra foedus et Tauromenitanis imperasse et Mamertinis remisisse, num cui dubium poterit esse quin Verre praetore plus Mamertinis cybaea quam Tauromenitanis foedus opitulatum sit? foedera. igitur tuo, quem ad modum ipse praedicas, beneficio, ut res indicat, pretio atque mercede minuisti maiestatem rei publicae, minuisti auxilia populi Romani, minuisti copias maiorum virtute ac sapientia comparatas, sustulisti ius imperi, condicionem sociorum, memoriam foederis: qui ex foedere ipso navem vel usque ad Oceanum, si imperassemus, sumptu periculoque suo armatam atque ornatam mittere debuerunt, hi ne in freto ante sua tecta et domos navigarent, ne sua moenia portusque defenderent, pretio abs te ius foederis et imperi condicionem redemerunt.
51. How much labour, and trouble, and money, do you suppose the Mamertines at the time of making this treaty would willingly have devoted to the object of preventing this bireme from being mentioned in it, if they could by any possibility have obtained such a favour from our ancestors? For when this heavy burden was imposed on the city, there was contained somehow or other in that treaty of alliance some badge, as it were, of slavery. That which then, when their services were recent, before the matter was finally determined, when the Roman people were in no difficulties, they could not obtain by treaty from our ancestors; that now, when they have done us no new service, after so many years,—now that it has been enforced every year by our right of sovereignty, and has been invariably observed—now, I say, when we are in great want of vessels, they have obtained from Caius Verres by bribery. Oh! but this is all that they have gained, exemption from furnishing a ship! Have the Mamertines for the last three years furnished one sailor, one soldier, to serve either in fleet or in garrison, all the time you have been praetor?
51. censetis in hoc foedere faciendo voluisse Mamertinos impendere laboris, operae, pecuniae ne haec biremis adscriberetur, si id ullo modo possent a nostris maioribus impetrare? cum hoc munus imponebatur tam grave civitati, inerat nescio quo modo in illo foedere societatis quasi quaedam nota servitutis. tum, recentibus suis officiis, integra re, nullis populi Romani difficultatibus, a maioribus nostris foedere adsequi non potuerunt, id nunc, nullo novo officio suo, tot annis post,—iure imperi nostri quotannis usurpatum ac semper retentum,—summa in difficultate navium, a C. Verre pretio adsecuti sunt, ac non hoc solum adsecuti, ne navem darent: ecquem nautam, ecquem militem, qui aut in classe aut in praesidio esset, te praetore per triennium Mamertini dederunt?
52. Lastly, when according to the resolution of the senate, and also according to the Terentian and Cassian law, corn was to be bought in equal proportions from all the cities of Sicily, from that light burden also, which they shared too with all the other cities, you relieved the Mamertines.—You will say that the Mamertines do not owe corn. How do not owe corn? Do you mean to say they were not bound to sell us corn? For this corn was not a contribution to be exacted, but a supply to be purchased. By your permission, then, by your interpretation of the treaty, the Mamertines were not bound to assist the Roman people, even by supplying their markets, and furnishing them with provisions.
52. cum ex senatus consulto itemque ex lege Terentia et Cassia frumentum aequabiliter emi ab omnibus Siciliae civitatibus oporteret, id quoque munus leve atque commune Mamertinis remisisti. frumentum Mamertinos non debere. modo non debere? an ut ne venderent? non enim erat hoc genus frumenti ex eo genere quod exigeretur, sed ex eo quod emeretur. igitur auctore et interprete ne foro quidem et commeatu Mamertini iuvare populum Romanum debuerunt.
53. And what city, then, was bound to supply these things? As for those who cultivate the public domains, it is settled what they are bound to furnish by the Censorian Law. Why did you exact from them anything besides that in another class of contribution? What? Do those who are liable to the payment of tenths owe anything more than a single tenth, according to the Law of Hiero? Why have you fixed in their case also how much corn they were to be bound to sell to us, that being another description of contribution? Those who are exempt undoubtedly owe nothing. But you not only exacted this from them, but even by way of making them give more than they possibly could, you added to their burden those sixty thousand modii from which you excused the Mamertines. And this is not what I say, that this was not rightly exacted from the others; what I say is, that it was a scandalous thing to excuse the Mamertines, whose case was exactly the same, and from whom all previous praetors had exacted the same contribution that they did from the rest, and had paid them for it according to the resolution of the senate, and the law. And in order to drive in this indulgence with a big nail, as one may say, he takes cognisance of the cause of the Mamertines while sitting on the bench with his assessors, and pronounces judgment, that he, according to the decision of the bench, does not demand any corn from the Mamertines.
53. tandem civitas fuit quae deberet? publicos agros arant, certum est quid e lege censoria debeant: cur his quicquam praeterea ex alio genere imperavisti?? decumani num quid praeter singulas decumas ex lege Hieronica debent? cur his quoque statuisti quantum ex hoc genere frumenti empti darent? immunes? hi certe nihil debent. eis non modo imperasti, verum etiam, quo plus darent quam poterant, haec sexagena milia modium, quae Mamertinis remiseras, addidisti. hoc dico, ceteris non recte imperatum, sed Mamertinis, qui erant in eadem causa, et quibus superiores omnes item ut ceteris imperarant pecuniamque ex senatus consulto et ex lege dissolverant, his dico non recte remissum. ut hoc beneficium, quem ad modum dicitur, trabali clavo figeret, cum consilio causam Mamertinorum cognoscit et de consili sententia Mamertinis se frumentum non imperare pronuntiat.
54. Listen to the decree of the mercenary praetor from his own note-book; and take notice how great his gravity is in framing a degree, how great his dignity is in pronouncing it. Read the next memorandum of his decrees. [The decree, extracted from Verres's note-book, is read.] He says, “that he does this willingly,” and therefore he makes the entry in his book. What then? suppose you had not used this word “willingly,” should we, forsooth, have supposed that you made this profit unwillingly? “And by the advice of the bench;” you have heard a fair list of the assessors read to you, O judges Did it seem to you, when you heard their names, that a list of assessors to a praetor was being read, or a roll of the troop and company of a most infamous bandit?
54. decretum mercennarii praetoris ex ipsius commentario, et cognoscite quanta in scribendo gravitas, quanta in constituendo iure sit auctoritas.. commentarivs. consili sententia libenter ait se facere itaque perscribit., si hoc verbo non esses usus “libenter”? nos videlicet invitum te quaestum facere putaremus. “de consili sententia”! recitari consilium, iudices, audistis; utrum vobis consilium tandem praetoris recitari videbatur, cum audiebatis nomina, an praedonis improbissimi societas atque comitatus?
55. Here are interpreters of treaties, settlers of the terms of alliances, authorities as to religious obligations! Corn was never bought in Sicily by public order, without the Mamertines being ordered to furnish their just proportion, till that fellow appointed this select and admirable bench of his, in order to get money from them, and to act up to his invariable character. Therefore, that decree had just the weight that the authority of that man ought to have, who sold a decree to those men from whom it had been his duty to buy corn. For Lucius Metellus, the moment he arrived as his successor, required corn of the Mamertines, according to the regulations and appointment of Caius Sacerdos and Sextus Peducaeus.
55. foederum interpretes, societatis, pactionis, religionis auctores! in Sicilia frumentum publice est emptum quin Mamertinis pro portione imperaretur, antequam hoc delectum praeclarumque consilium iste dedit, ut ab his nummos acciperet ac sui similis esset. tantum valuit istius decreti auctoritas quantum debuit eius hominis qui, a quibus frumentum emere debuisset, iis decretum vendidisset. statim L. Metellus ut isti successit, ex C. Sacerdotis et ex Sex. Peducaei instituto ac litteris frumentum Mamertinis imperavit.
56. Then the Mamertines perceived that they could not longer retain the privilege which they had bought from its unprincipled author. Come now, you, who were desirous to be thought such a scrupulous interpreter of treaties, tell us why you compelled the Tauromenians and the Netians to furnish corn; for both of those are confederate cities. And the Netians were not wanting to themselves, for as soon as you pronounced your decision that you willingly excused the Mamertines, they came before you, and proved to you that their case under the treaty was exactly the same. You could not make a different decree in a case which was identical with the other. You pronounce that the Netians are not bound to furnish corn, and still you exact it from them. Give me the papers of this same praetor referring to his decrees, and to the corn that was ordered to be supplied, and to the wheat that was bought. [The papers of the praetor referring to the decrees, to the corn ordered to be supplied, and to the wheat purchased, are read.] In a case of such enormous and shameful inconsistency, what can we suspect, O judges, rather than that which is inevitable; either that money was not given to him by the Netians when he demanded it, or else that the Mamertines were given to understand that they had disposed of all their bribes and presents very advantageously, when others, whose case was identical with theirs, could not obtain the same privileges?
56. illi intellexerunt se id quod a malo auctore emissent diutius obtinere non posse. (22) (56) porro, tu, qui tam religiosum existimari te voluisti interpretem foederum, cur Tauromenitanis frumentum, cur Netinis imperasti? quarum civitatum utraque foederata est. Netini quidem sibi non defuerunt ac, simul pronuntiasti libenter te Mamertinis remittere, te adierunt et eandem suam causam foederis esse docuerunt. aliter decernere eadem in causa non potuisti; pronuntias Netinos frumentum dare non debere et ab his tamen exigis. mihi eiusdem praetoris litteras et rerum decretarum et frumenti imperati. litterae rervm decretarvm. Quid potius in hac tanta et tam turpi inconstantia suspicari possumus, iudices, quam id quod necesse est, aut isti a Netinis pecuniam cum posceret non datam, aut id esse actum ut intellegerent Mamertini bene se apud istum tam multa pretia ac munera conlocasse, cum idem alii iuris ex eadem causa non obtinerent?
57. Will he here again venture to make mention to me of the panegyric of the Mamertines? for who is there of you, O judges, who is not aware how many weapons that furnishes against him? In the first place, as in courts of justice it is more respectable for a man who cannot produce ten witnesses to speak to his character, to produce none at all, than not to complete the number made as it were legitimate by usage; so there are a great many cities in Sicily over which you were governor for three years; almost all the rest accuse you; a few insignificant ones, kept back by fear, say nothing; one speaks in your favour. What does all this show except that you are aware how advantageous genuine evidence to a person's character is; but that, nevertheless, your administration of the province was such that you are forced of necessity to do without that advantage?
57. mihi etiam audebit mentionem facere Mamertinae laudationis! in qua quam multa sint vulnera quis est vestrum, iudices, quin intellegat? enim in iudiciis qui decem laudatores dare non potest, honestius est ei nullum dare quam illum quasi legitimum numerum consuetudinis non explere. in Sicilia civitates sunt quibus tu per triennium praefuisti: arguunt ceterae, paucae et parvae vi et metu repressae silent, una laudat. quid est nisi intellegere quid habeat utilitatis vera laudatio, sed tamen ita provinciae praefuisse ut hac utilitate necessario sit carendum?
58. In the next place, as I said before on another occasion, what sort of a panegyric is that, when the chief men of the deputation commissioned to utter it, stated, both that a ship had been built for you at the public expense, and also that they themselves had been plundered and pillaged by you in respect of their private property? Lastly, what else is it that these people do, when they are the only people in all Sicily who praise you, beyond proving to us that you gave them everything of which you robbed our republic? What colony is there in Italy in possession of such privileges, what municipality is there enjoying such immunities, as to have had for all these years such a profitable exemption from all burdens, as the city of the Mamertines has had for three years? They alone have not given what they were bound to give according to the treaties; they alone, as long as that man was praetor, enjoyed immunity from all burdens; they alone under that man's authority lived in such a condition that they gave nothing to the Roman people, and refused nothing to Verres.
58. , quod alio loco antea dixi, quae est ista tandem laudatio, cuius laudationis legati et principes et publice tibi navem aedificatam et privatim se ipsos abs te spoliatos expilatosque esse dixerunt? quid aliud isti faciunt, cum te soli ex Sicilia laudant, nisi testimonio nobis sunt omnia te sibi esse largitum quae tu de re publica nostra detraxeris? colonia est in Italia tam bono iure, quod tam immune municipium, quod per hosce annos tam commoda vacatione omnium rerum sit usum quam Mamertina civitas? triennium soli ex foedere quod debuerunt non dederunt, soli isto praetore omnium rerum immunes fuerunt, soli in istius imperio ea condicione vixerunt ut populo Romano nihil darent, Verri nihil negarent.
59. But to return to the fleet, from which topic I have been digressing; you accepted a ship from the Mamertines contrary to the laws; you granted them relaxation contrary to the treaties; so that you behaved like a rogue twice in the case of one city, as you both granted indulgences which you had no right to grant, and accepted what it was not lawful for you to accept. You ought to have exacted a ship from them fit to sail against robbers, not to carry off the produce of your robberies; one which might have defended the province from being despoiled, not one that was to bear away the fresh spoils of the province. The Mamertines gave you both a city to which you might carry all the plunder you amassed from all quarters, and also a ship, in which you might take it away. That town was a receptacle for your plunder, those men were the witnesses to and guardians of your plunder; they supplied to you both a repository for your thefts, and a conveyance for them. In consequence, even when you had lost a fleet by your own avarice and worthlessness, you did not venture to require a ship of the Mamertines, at a time when our want of ships was so excessive, and the distress of the province so great, that, even if it had been necessary to beg as supplicants for a ship, they would have granted it. But all your power either of commanding a vessel to be furnished, or of begging for one, was crippled, not by the bireme supplied to the Roman people, but by that splendid merchant vessel given to the praetor. That was the price of your authority, of the reinforcement they were bound to supply, of exemption from the requirements of law, and usage, and of the treaty.
59. ut ad classem, quo ex loco sum digressus, revertar, accepisti a Mamertinis navem contra leges, remisisti contra foedera. in una civitate bis improbus fuisti, cum et remisisti quod non oportebat, et accepisti quod non licebat. te oportuit navem quae contra praedones, non quae cum praeda navigaret, quae defenderet ne provincia spoliaretur, non quae provinciae spolia portaret. Mamertini tibi et urbem quo furta undique deportares, et navem in qua exportares praebuerunt; illud tibi oppidum receptaculum praedae fuit, illi homines testes custodesque furtorum, illi tibi et locum furtis et furtorum vehiculum comparaverunt. ne tum quidem cum classem avaritia ac nequitia tua perdidisti Mamertinis navem imperare ausus es; quo tempore in tanta inopia navium tantaque calamitate provinciae, etiamsi precario essent rogandi, tamen ab iis impetraretur. enim tibi et imperandi vim et rogandi conatum praeclara illa non populo Romano reddita biremis, sed praetori donata cybaea. fuit merces imperi, auxili, iuris, consuetudinis, foederis.
60. You have now the case of the trusty assistance of one city lost to us and sold. Now listen to a new system of robbery first invented by Verres. Each city was always accustomed to give to its admiral the money necessary for the expense of the fleet, for provisions, for pay, and for all such things. The admiral did not dare to give the sailors any ground for accusing him, and was, besides, bound to render an account of the money to his fellow-citizens. In the whole business all the trouble and all the risk was his. This, I say, was the regular course not only in Sicily, but in every province, even in the case of the pay and expense of the Latin allies, at the time when we were accustomed to employ their assistance. Verres was the first man, ever since our dominion was established, who ordered that all that money should be paid to him by the cities, in order that whoever he chose to appoint might have the handling of that money.
60. unius civitatis firmum auxilium amissum ac venditum pretio: cognoscite nunc novam praedandi rationem ab hoc primum excogitatam. omnem in classem frumento stipendio ceterisque rebus suo quaeque nauarcho civitas semper dare solebat. neque ut accusaretur a nautis committere audebat, et civibus suis rationes referre debebat, et in illo omni negotio non modo labore sed etiam periculo suo versabatur. hoc, ut dico, factitatum semper, nec solum in Sicilia sed in omnibus provinciis, etiam in sociorum et Latinorum stipendio ac sumptu, tum cum illorum auxiliis uti solebamus: Verres post imperium constitutum primus imperavit ut ea pecunia omnis a civitatibus sibi adnumeraretur, ut is eam pecuniam tractaret quem ipse praefecisset.
61. Who can doubt why you were the first man to change the ancient custom of all your predecessors, to disregard the great advantage of having the money pass through the hands of others, and to undertake a work of such difficulty, so liable to accusation,—a task of such delicacy, inseparable from suspicion? After that, other sources of gain are established arising from this one article of the navy; just listen to their number, O judges;—he receives money from the cities to excuse them from furnishing sailors; the sailors that are furnished he releases for a bribe; he makes a profit of the whole of thee pay of those who are thus released; he does not pay the rest all that he ought to pay. All this you shall have proved to you by the evidence of the cities. Read the evidence of the cities. [The evidence of the cities is read.]
61. potest esse dubium quam ob rem et omnium consuetudinem veterem primus immutaris, et tantam utilitatem per alios tractandae pecuniae neglexeris, et tantam difficultatem cum crimine, molestiam cum suspicione susceperis? alii quaestus instituuntur, ex uno genere navali videte quam multi! accipere a civitatibus pecuniam ne nautas darent, pretio certo missos facere nautas, missorum omne stipendium lucrari, reliquis quod deberet non dare,—haec omnia ex civitatum testimoniis cognoscite.
62. Did you ever hear of such a man? Did you ever hear, O judges, of such impudence? of such audacity? to impose on the cities the payment of a sum of money in proportion to the number of soldiers, and to fix a regular price, six hundred sesterces, for the discharge of each sailor! and as those who paid that sum were released from service for the whole summer, Verres pocketed all that he received both for their pay and for their maintenance. And by this means he made a double profit of the discharge of one person. And this most insane of men, at a time of frequent invasion of pirates, and of imminent danger to the province, did this so openly, that the pirates themselves were aware of it, and the whole province was a witness to it.
62. . testimonia civitatvm. Huncine hominem, hancine impudentiam, iudices, hanc audaciam! civitatibus pro numero militum pecuniarum summas discribere, certum pretium, sescenos nummos, nautarum missionis constituere! quos qui dederat commeatum totius aestatis abstulerat, iste, quod eius nautae nomine pro stipendio frumentoque acceperat, lucrabatur. quaestus duplex unius missionis fiebat. haec homo amentissimus in tanto praedonum impetu tantoque periculo provinciae sic palam faciebat ut et ipsi praedones scirent et tota provincia testis esset.
63. When, owing to this man's inordinate avarice, there was a fleet indeed in name in Sicily, but in reality empty ships, fit only to carry plunder for the praetor, not to strike terror into pirates; nevertheless, while Publius Caesetius and Publius Tadius were sailing about with these ten half-manned ships, they, I will not say took, but led away with them one ship, laden with the spoils of the pirates, evidently overwhelmed and sinking with the burden of its freight. That vessel was full of a number of most beautiful quilts, full of quantities of well-wrought plate, and of coined money; full of embroidered robes. This one vessel was not taken by our fleet, but was found at Megaris, a place not far from Syracuse. And when the news was brought to him, although he was lying in his tent on the shore, with a lot of women, drunk, still he roused himself, and immediately sent to the quaestor and to his own lieutenant many men to act as guards, in order that everything might be brought to him to see in an uninjured state, as soon as possible.
63. propter istius hanc avaritiam nomine classis esset in Sicilia, re quidem vera naves inanes, quae praedam praetori non quae praedonibus metum adferrent, tamen, cum P. Caesetius et P. Tadius decem navibus suis semiplenis navigarent, navem quandam piratarum praeda refertam non ceperunt, sed abduxerunt onere suo plane captam atque depressam. ea navis plena iuventutis formosissimae, plena argenti facti atque signati, multa cum stragula veste. una navis a classe nostra non capta est, sed inventa ad Megaridem, qui locus est non longe a Syracusis. ubi isti nuntiatum est, tametsi in acta cum mulierculis iacebat ebrius, erexit se tamen et statim quaestori legatoque suo custodes misit compluris, ut omnia sibi integra quam primum exhiberentur.