Political Speeches (Oxford World's Classics)

by Cicero

  virtually the entire jury will have changed: eight jurors would have changed. The total number of jurors in unknown, but for Cicero’s statement to make sense (and allowing for some moderate exaggeration) it can hardly have been more than twelve or fifteen.

  the Votive Games: the Votive Games were held on 16 August–1 September (August had twenty-nine days), the Roman Games on 4–18 September, the Games of Victory on 27–31 October, and the Plebeian Games on 4–17 November. The Votive Games celebrated Pompey’s victory in the war against Sertorius in 72, and the Games of Victory Sulla’s victory over the Marians in 82. The other two sets of games were traditional (see first note on Ver. 2.5.36 below).

  among the jurors I rejected: see first note on §10 above. In view of what Cicero is about to say, it is surprising that he did not reject Metellus; presumably the jurors that he did reject were even more hostile.

  who had previously … to the test: i.e. when Cicero served as a quaestor in Sicily in 75.

  all my youthful energy: Cicero was in fact 36.

  our entire order: the senatorial order.

  in that place: the rostra. Cicero is threatening to conduct prosecutions as plebeian aedile before the plebeian assembly.

  the grandest … spectacle of my aedileship: aediles were expected to put on games. During his aedileship Cicero put on three sets of games, but is not known to have undertaken any prosecutions.

  Let me advise, warn, and give notice: the traditional formula used when declaring war.

  the ten years: actually eleven; the courts were transferred to the senate by the lex Cornelia of 81.

  for nearly fifty years: actually only forty-one (or forty-two); equestrian juries in extortion trials were established by the lex Acilia of 122 (or 123) and abolished in 81.

  Quintus Calidius: praetor in 79 (elected with the help of the Metelli) and governor of Nearer Spain in 78; he was convicted of extortion in 77. The jury consisted of his fellow senators, who would naturally have taken his side; those who voted against him had been bribed by the prosecution. The point of his remark was that it was understandable if the jurors voted against a fellow senator in return for a truly massive bribe, but it reflected badly on him if they did so for only a relatively modest sum.

  the senator Publius Septimius: Publius Septimius Scaevola was convicted of extortion, apparently against the Apulians, in 72. In the assessment of damages, the amount he had to pay was increased to take account of the fact that he had allegedly accepted a bribe when serving on the jury in the trial of Oppianicus in 74 (see fifth note on §29 above). Cf. Clu. 138–9, where Cicero attempts to explain away this passage by saying that he may not have said it at all, but that if he did, then he was not saying something he knew to be true, but was merely reporting a rumour.

  Gaius Herennius and Gaius Popillius: the former may have been tribune in 88 or 80, and may equally have been killed while serving under Sertorius in Spain in 76 or 75; the latter is entirely unknown. The dates of their trials are also unknown.

  Marcus Atilius: Marcus Atilius Bulbus, one of the jurors in the trial of Oppianicus. He was convicted of tampering with a legion in Illyricum; the date of the trial is unknown.

  Gaius Verres was drawing lots as city praetor: i.e. drawing lots to decide which members of a panel assigned to a particular case that was coming up for trial should be selected as jurors (exactly as at §16, where see note). The case Cicero is referring to, held in 74, is unknown (it is not, for once, the trial of Oppianicus, since on that occasion a ‘proper trial’ was indeed held).

  a senator was found: Gaius Aelius Paetus Staienus, quaestor in 77, a juror in the Oppianicus trial.

  with symbols of different colours: see first note on §17 above. Cicero is alluding to the flagrant use of bribery at the trial of Aulus Terentius Varro for extortion in 74, at which Varro was successfully defended by his cousin Hortensius.

  a powerful friend: Hortensius.

  those of the second to his advocates: this was in fact technically illegal.

  The lex Cincia of 204 BC prohibited advocates from accepting fees or gifts in return for their services; but it was regularly flouted. Verres is known to have given Hortensius a valuable bronze sphinx as payment for defending him.

  when the rejection of jurors was being held: see first note on §10 above.

  the restoration of the tribunes’ powers: in 81 Sulla had removed the tribunes’ power to initiate legislation and to exercise limited jurisdiction, had curtailed their right of veto, and had disqualified them from holding further public office. In 75 the disqualification from office had been removed; the other powers were restored in 70 by the consuls Pompey and Crassus.

  Quintus Catulus: Quintus Lutatius Catulus, son of the consul of 102 and himself consul in 78 and censor in 65; in 78–77 he was chiefly responsible for suppressing his colleague, the rebel Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. He was a strong defender of the Sullan settlement, and was the leader of the conservatives in the senate in the 70s and 60s, opposing the lex Gabinia in 67 and the lex Manilia in 66; he also opposed Caesar in 63. He had previously resisted the restoration of the tribunes’ powers; his change of mind in 70 allowed both the restoration of the tribunes’ powers and the abolition of senatorial juries to proceed without serious opposition. His sister was the wife of Hortensius.

  illustrious: Cicero refers to senators as clarissimi and to equites (less commonly) as splendidi. This was a standard convention and in order to reproduce it in English I have translated these words throughout (when they refer to individuals) as ‘illustrious’ and ‘worthy’ respectively.

  outside the city: Pompey still held his grant of military power (given to him for his war against Sertorius in Spain and against Spartacus’ slave revolt), but in law this would be forfeited if he were to cross the city boundary and enter Rome. He did not want to give up his power because (1) this would make him ineligible for a triumph (he would no longer be a general), and (2) it would expose him to prosecution (holders of official power could not be prosecuted until their power had expired and they returned to the status of an ordinary citizen). He therefore held his triumph on the last day of December 71, and became consul (and immune from prosecution) on 1 January 70.

  the law about the tribunes: the law restoring their powers, passed earlier in the year.

  of slender means: and therefore unable to bribe his jurors. The senator’s identity is unknown.

  a different order altogether: the equestrian order.

  barring only him: Verres.

  your own father’s Acilian law: the lex Acilia, the law of 122 (or 123) which set up a new permanent extortion court with equestrian juries. The law was part of Gaius Gracchus’ legislative programme, designed in part to win equestrian support for his agrarian scheme; it was carried by the elder Manius Acilius Glabrio, a tribune (about whom nothing else is known). A fragmentary bronze inscription, the so-called Tabula Bembina, gives the text of an extortion law which also prescribes equestrian juries; this law is usually presumed to be the lex Acilia (see M. H. Crawford (ed.), Roman Statutes (London, 1996), i. 39–112).

  your grandfather Scaevola: Glabrio’s maternal grandfather, Publius Mucius Scaevola, consul in 133, pontifex maximus from 130, and an eminent jurist (hence the description ‘wise’ above); he trained Glabrio in oratory and law. As consul he advised Tiberius Gracchus and refused to take violent action against him.

  your father-in-law Scaurus: Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, consul in 115, censor in 109, and princeps senatus (leader of the senate). He was closely connected with the Metelli; he married Caecilia Metella, who after his death married Sulla. Aemilia, the daughter of Scaurus and Metella, was married first to Glabrio, and then taken from him by Sulla and married to Pompey.

  people who collectively refused … the lictors of consuls: see §§25, 27.

  after forty days have gone by: see §31.

  the census: the census was a register of all adult male citizens, compiled by the censors in theory every five years, but in practi
ce at irregular intervals. It was abandoned in 89, held in 86 and 70, and abandoned in 65 and 64. In 70 the census recorded 910,000 names.

  leaders of our country: Cicero refers to the brothers Lucius Licinius Lucullus and Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus. Lucius was the consul of 74, who in 70 was in Asia Minor fighting Mithridates; Marcus was consul in 73, and in 71 celebrated a triumph for successes in Macedonia. Together they prosecuted one Servilius, perhaps in 91. Details of this trial are uncertain, but it is possible that it was an extortion trial, and that Servilius was convicted.

  IN VERREM II.5

  has openly plundered … public or private: in the preceding speech, Ver. 2.4, Cicero recounted Verres’ theft of works of art from temples and from secular places, and from communities and private individuals.

  from runaway slaves and from the threat of war: Sicily was in serious danger from Spartacus’ slave revolt in southern Italy (see first note on §5 below); further afield, the Third Mithridatic War (73–63) was in progress in Asia Minor.

  Manius Aquillius: commander of the army against the Cimbri and Teutoni in Gaul in 103 (standing in for Marius), and, as consul in 101 (with Marius), commander in the Second Sicilian Slave War (104–100). He completed the war as governor of Sicily in 100–99, killing Athenio, the leader of the slaves, in a hand-to-hand fight. He was accused of extortion, perhaps in 97, but, although guilty (Flac. 98), was successfully defended by Marcus Antonius; Marius was a character witness for him. Later, in 88, he precipitated the First Mithridatic War (88–85), and was defeated, captured, and cruelly executed by Mithridates.

  Marcus Antonius: consul in 99 and censor in 97. He was an important orator, heard and admired by Cicero (who later gave him a prominent role in his De oratore); he did not publish his speeches. He was murdered by the Marians in 87. (See further first note on Imp. 33 below.)

  under a specific law: the lex Cornelia de repetundis (Cornelian law concerning extortion).

  the war against the slaves: i.e. the war against Spartacus (73–71). This was a revolt of slaves and the rural poor in southern Italy led by Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator from Capua. There were eventually as many as 70,000–120,000 insurgents, and they were remarkably successful for two years, defeating both consuls in 72; they would have crossed into Sicily, but failed to obtain transport from the pirates. In 71 Marcus Licinius Crassus defeated most of them, crucifying the survivors (Spartacus was killed in battle); a last remnant was then destroyed by Pompey in the north. Pompey’s claim of the credit for completing the war soured relations permanently between him and Crassus; the two men went on to hold the consulship together in 70.

  I suppose … to Sicily: cf. Sallust, Histories 4 fr. 32 Maurenbrecher ‘Gaius Verres strengthened the coastline close to Italy.’

  there have been slave wars in Sicily in the past: the First (135–132 BC) and Second (104–100) Sicilian Slave Wars, the second of which was ended by Manius Aquillius (first note on §3 above).

  Lucius Domitius: Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, governor of Sicily in c. 97, consul in 94. His severity is understandable in view of the fact that the Second Sicilian Slave War was only just over; but on the other hand the Domitii Ahenobarbi were a notably cruel family, later to produce the emperor Nero (Suetonius, Nero 1–5).

  Gaius Norbanus: a ‘new man’; governor of Sicily at some point during the Social War (91–87, the war between Rome and her Italian allies); consul in 83 (after him, Cicero was the next new man to attain the consulship). He was not as inactive as Cicero implies: he defeated an Italian attack on Regium. Cicero speaks disparagingly of him because Verres’ trial took place before Sullan jurors: Norbanus was a prominent Marian, committing suicide in 82 to avoid falling into Sulla’s hands.

  he himself would like to be aired: because they back up his case regarding the reality of the danger of slave risings.

  at an earlier date: 104 BC, at the beginning of the Second Sicilian Slave War.

  some act of theft or looting: i.e. committed by Verres.

  Verres … summoned him to appear: Leonidas would have been anxious for his slaves not to be convicted, because, if they were, they would be executed, and he would suffer financial loss.

  tied to the post: for flogging, prior to crucifixion.

  people of the popular or the aristocratic faction: Cicero is using Roman terms but is thinking of Greek situations, i.e. of democrats and oligarchs. He will be thinking particularly of the amnesty at Athens which followed the disastrous defeat at Aegospotami in 405 BC, at the end of the Peloponnesian War.

  Paullus, Scipio, and Marius: Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul in 182 and 168 BC, censor in 164), who defeated Perseus of Macedon at Pydna (168); his son Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus (consul in 147 and 134, censor in 142), the destroyer of Carthage (146) and Numantia (133); and the new man Gaius Marius (consul in 107, 104–100, 86), victor over Jugurtha (105), the Teutoni (102), and the Cimbri (101). Cicero’s argument at this point seems particularly unfair.

  Gaius Matrinius: mentioned at Ver. 2.3.60 as having been imprisoned for two days at Leontini by Verres’ crony Apronius. The amount Verres took from him, 600,000 sesterces, was a vast sum: the property qualification for equestrian rank was 400,000 sesterces.

  Lucius Flavius: also an eques (§155; also Ver. 2.1.14).

  Gnaeus Lentulus: Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus, consul of 72 and censor in 70. As consul he proposed a motion in the senate to protect the Sicilians from Verres (Ver. 2.2.94–8); in the same year he was twice defeated by Spartacus, and withdrawn from his command. As censor with Lucius Gellius Publicola (who had been his colleague as consul), he expelled sixty-four men from the senate as being unworthy. Later, in 67, he served as one of Pompey’s legates against the pirates. Cicero says that he looked intelligent, but was not, and was an indifferent orator (Brut. 234).

  (Apollonius’ aged father … for some time.): Cicero adds this information to explain why Apollonius’ father did not come too.

  rods of office: the fasces (see Glossary).

  there is a general lack of fine soldiers: ironic. We are expected to think of Pompey and Crassus (who had recently crushed Spartacus’ revolt), and compare Verres unfavourably with them.

  Quintus Maximus … Gaius Marius: Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus (consul in 233, 228, 215, 214, and 209, censor in 230, dictator in 221 and 217) was one of the leading generals in the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), noted for his successful policy of avoiding direct confrontation with Hannibal (hence his nickname ‘Cunctator’, ‘Delayer’). The elder Africanus (Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, consul in 205 and 194, censor in 199) was the conqueror of Hannibal (202). For the others, see note on §14 above.

  the first roses: i.e. decorating his dining room (since he allegedly spent his days eating and seldom ventured out of doors). Dining rooms were strewn with rose petals at Roman banquets.

  Cannae: 216 BC, the battle during the Second Punic War at which Hannibal inflicted on the Romans their worst-ever defeat, killing almost 80,000 men.

  because that is when the slaves … stand in their way: this long parenthesis gives a list of reasons why the slaves were more likely to revolt at harvest time, and therefore why the governor needed to keep a close eye on them.

  where the gulf … towards the city: i.e. on the tip of Ortygia, an island (though connected to the mainland by a bridge) projecting across, and so serving to narrow, the natural mouth of the Great Harbour. I have preserved the slight obscurity of Cicero’s description in the translation.

  King Hiero: Hiero II, king of Syracuse (c. 271–216 BC) at the peak of its prosperity.

  (and it is remarkable … in Syracuse): a criticism of the Syracusans. Cicero criticizes the Syracusans because some of them supported Verres against himself.

  separated … by violence and trickery: Verres had obtained his mistress Tertia by forcibly taking her from her partner, the piper, and marrying her to his friend Docimus, who then allowed him to pursue his relationship with her (Ver. 2.3.78).r />