cicero - against verres, 2.1.53-86 (openbook, 2011)

8/16/2019 Cicero - Against Verres, 2.1.53-86 (OpenBook, 2011)

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CICERO

G INST

VERRES

2.1.53-86


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Cicero gainst Verres 2.1.53-86:

Latin Text with

Introduction

Study

Questions Commentary and English

Translation

Ingo

Gildenhard


5/208

ublishers

Open Book Publishers CIC Ltd.,

40 Devon

s

hire Road, Cambridge,

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Kingdom

http://www.openbookpubli

s

her

s.com

2011

Ingo

Gildenhard

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ontents

age

Acknowledgement

s

Vll

Preface

lX

Introduction

1

Latin

Text and

Study

Questions

2

Commentary

55

List

of Abbreviations 67

List

of

Rhetorical

Term

s

69

Tran

s

lation 75

Appendix

I

ss

ues for

Further

iscu

ss

ion

89

Map of

Italy

and the Greek East 93


7/208


8/208

Acknowledgements

I am

very

grateful to the friends

and

colleagues who provided

comments

and feedback

during

my

work

on

thi

s volume, notably Benjamin

Biesinger, Wolfgang

Havener, Ted

Kaizer,

Myle

s

Lavan, who

also

generously

s

hared

forthcoming work of his own, Mathew Owen,

and

Rik Van Wijlick. Closer to home, I would like to acknowledge

the help

of

Norbert Gildenhard who read through an early

draft

,

offering

comments

and corrections

page by page,

and

Paola Ceccarelli who

volunteered

to design the

map.

I had hoped to

include

a reprint of Catherine Steel s

superb analysis

of the Lampsac

us

episode ( Being

Economical

with the

Truth: What Really Happened at

Lampsacu

s? , in J Powell and J Paterson

(eds.), Cicero the Advocate

Oxford:

Oxford

University Press, 233-51

in

th i

s volume; unfortunately, problems to

do with copyright

interfered,

but

I am neverthele

ss

very grateful for

her per

sonal agreement

and

support.

Alessandra Tosi and

Corin Throsby

at

Open

Book Publis

her

s

have

simply

been wonderful in

accommodating thi

s rather unus

ual

project as well as

its urgent time frame. I also benefited much from the speedy endorsement

and

feedback offered

by

the two anonymous

ref

erees.

As

previous

work, this volume profited

considerably from the library resource

s of

the

Philologische

Seminar of

Tiibingen

Univer

sity, and I

am

once

again

extremely grateful to Professo r Maennlein-Robert for offering hospitality.

My most

significant

debt

is

to three PhD students

in

the Department

of

Classics Ancient His

tory at Durham

University. Zara Chadha,

Louise

Hodgso

n, and

Lauren Knifton generously volunteered to read through

the penultimate

draft

, provided

invaluable

annotations, and agreed

to join

in

a

serie

s

of workshops

(

having fun with

Cicero )

devoted

to

discu

ss

ing issues to do with the volume large

and small.

Their eagle

eyes

spotted

more embarrassing

mistal


9/208

...

Cicero gainst Verres 2.1.53- 86lll

their good sen se and sensibility

vas

tly improved the final product Their

critical

engagement

with

the commentary

and ability

to improve upon

my

own reading of

Cicero

exemplify

my notion

of

this

vo

lume s

id

eal

reader It is thus a particular pleasure

to

de

dicat

e th is book

to

them and

th

e

ir

s

pirit of int

e

llectual camaraderie


10/208

reface

This little vol

um

e has its origins

in

a coincidence. I

had

just finished writing

Creative Eloquence: The onstruction o Reality in Cicero s Speeches (Oxford, 2011),

w hich involved some close analysis of Cicero s orations against Verres,

when

I

wa

s as

ked

to

give

a lecture on how

be

st to teach a new set-

text

that

the Examination Board

of Oxford

,

Cambridge

, and

the

Royal Society of

Arts (OCR) has specified for their A-Level

Latin

exam

ination for the ye ars

2012-2014.

The pass

age

in

question, in

Verrem

2.1.53-69,

consists of some

paragraphs on Verres looting of artworks from Greek cities in Asia Minor

during

hi

s l

ega

teship

und

er Dolabella

(§§ 53-62)

and

of about

a third

of

the infamous

episode

at Lampsacus. Paragraphs 63

-

69 contain

an

account

of w

hat

happened

when

Verres visited

the

Greek city. According to Cice

ro

,

he

tried to abduct

and

rape

the

daughter of the local notable Philodamus,

which resulted in

th

e death of one of his lictors and broug

ht

the inhabitants

of the town to the brink of rioting. Paragraphs

70--86

deal with

th

e aftermath

of the sordid affair,

includin

g the trial and public execution of

Philodamu

s

and his son

in

what Cice

ro portra

ys as a blatant miscarriage of justice

des

ign

ed

to

cover

up

Verre

s

c

rim

es.

Part

of th

e brief

was

to talk a

bout th

e resources available for teaching

th

e

text. These

turned

out to be

rather

less spectacular

than

the c

ho

sen passage.

There is,

of cour

s

e

T. N. Mitchell s s

uperb

Aris Phillips edition w

ith

tran

slation and commentary of Verrines II.1 (London, 1986),

which

remains

an invaluable port of call for anyone work

ing

on, or teaching, (portions of) the

speech.

Yet

one of the main

purpo

ses of the

edi

tion is to render the oration

accessible to students wi

th

out Latin, and thus the commentary, w

hich

is

keyed

to

th

e

tran

s

lati

on, focuses

on

hi

storical co

nt

ext

rath

er

than

d

eta

ils

of lang

uage

and style (even

though

Mitchell s explication of

the

rhetorical

texture is

uniforml

y excellent). And

other

than

that

, one

pretty

much draws

a

blank

, at least

in

term s of co

mm

e

ntari

es. I th

ere

for e decided

to

w ri te

up


11/208

x Cicero Against Verres 2.1.53 86

my own set of notes,

drawing

on

the work

done for Creative Eloquence.

Feedback

from the

Latin

teachers to whom I had the

chance

to circulate a

draft

version

in June was sufficiently encouraging to explore

the

possibility

of

making

the material more generally available, not least since it seemed

an excellent

opportunity to

link

re

sea

rch

and

outreach.

For the

commentary, it

seemed inadvisable

to

follow

OCR

in

their

understandable) decision

to

chop the Lamp

sac

us episode

in

half. Hence

the present volume includes Ver. 2.1.53-86 rather than

just

§§ 53-69.

And

while I have to agree

with one

of

the anonymous

referees that a full-scale

linguistic

commentary

on the entire speech

would have been very de

sirable,

exigencies of

timing

militated against including more.

For one thing

,

extending the coverage from

the

33 paragraphs

now

covered to

the

full

158 that

comprise

the oration

would

have rendered the exercise use

less

for

the current generation of Latin A-level students.

There

is

only

so much one

can

do in

the course of a summer.

At

the

same

time, A-level students

are

not the only

constituency I had in mind

when

designing th is volume. The

portion

of Cicero explicated here would al

so

seem to lend itself for study

in

other settings, such as

Latin

summer schools, undergraduate reading

courses

in

American or British universitie

s,

or postgraduate Latin

courses

at MA-level. I have

therefore

added content

meant

to widen the

appeal,

even

though not

all of it will seem immediately rele

va

nt to all

user

s.

The

edition now tries to cater to students as well

as

their teachers, to dedicated

students of Latin as well as to

language

learners (s

uch

as

ancient

historians

at po

stgraduate level) who study

Latin

perhaps not so much for its own

sake but as a

research

tool.

All users, however, should be able to relate to the primary

mi

ss

ion

of

the commentary:

it

is to render Cicero s text intelligible and reso

nant

with

m eaning and thereby to enhance appreciation and enjoyment of the chosen

pa

ssage as a fascinating historical

document

and a s

uperb

specimen of

rhetorical artistry.

The

commentary offers help in

three

areas in particular.

First, while a basic grasp of Latin grammar and syntax is presupposed, the

notes explicate more unusual grammatical

phenomena

as well as difficult

syntax

and

sentence construction. Secondly, the commentary pays careful

attention to the craftsmanship of Cicero s text, not

lea

st in showing how his

rhetorical

de

s

ign

interacts

with,

and

reinforces,

hi

s

arguments

and

theme

s

And thirdly,

the edition

tries to situate Cicero s prose within

wider

contextual

and historical frames, such as the courtroom

setting

and Rome s system of

imperial exploitation.

The

principle that

informs the

commentary is simple:

the more one sees in his

text

, the

more

enjoyable,

indeed

exciting, reading


12/208

Preface

•

l

Cicero becomes. A

nd

he merits re-r

eading:

it took som e time, for

in

s

tan

ce,

for the penny to drop that the eight connectives Cicero uses

in

the massive

se

nt

ence

in

§ 82 produce a pleasing s

ymm

e

tr i

c

al

p a

tt

e

rn

.

1

Th

e example is a

good illustration of

th

e c

ar

e Cicero took o

ver th

e

mo

st insi

gn

ificant detail,

easily overlooked: his verbal craftsm anship is simply extraor

din

ary,

and

I am

sure the text under discu

ss

ion hides many m ore delights

than

I mana

ge

d to

spot: I encoura

ge eve

ry student to ponder, discover, and enjoy.

n an atte

mpt

to render th is edition as useful as possible to as many

different e

nd

-users as p ossible, I have included the following features:

(a)

Introduction:

exce

ll

e

nt

acco

unt

s of

th

e w

id

er

hi

stori

ca

l

ba

ckgro

und

and the l

eg

al c

ir

c

um

s

tan

ces of Cicero s prosec

uti

on of Verres exist

in

abundance (

and

are c

it

ed in

th

e

introdu

ction .

t

neve

rth

eless

seemed u

se

ful to

includ

e a rudime

nt

ary s

ur

vey of s

om

e basic

facts

and

figures,

and

brief indications of k

ey

i

ss

ues

and

them es

to help

or

ie

nt tho

se who are new to Cicero and

hi

s speech es. The

introdu

ction

th

ere fo re p rovides br ief biogra

phi

cal sketches of Cicero

and

Ve

rr

es, offers information on

th

e trial, s

itu

ates

th

e p assage

und

er c

on

s

id

eration w

ithin

th

e

Verrines

as a w hole, di

sc

usses

so

m e

imp

ortant asp ects of Cicero s o ratory

and

relates the text in

qu

estion

to developments

in

late re

publi

c

an

history and c

ultur

e. In all, it is

m

ea

nt to p ro vide

qui

ck

and

easy access to

so

m e basic contextual

information, w

ith

references to

wo

rks of seco

nd

ary li tera

tu

re for

th

ose who wish to

pur

su e a specific aspect

furth

er.

(b) The Latin text: the Latin text of Cicero s

Verrines

is available online in

various formats. The text printed here is taken from The La

tin

Library

(

www.th

elatinlibrary.com/cicero/verres.2.l .shtml), w

ith

s

om

e

mino

r

changes and corrections, mainly of a typographical na

tu re.

I h ave

cons

ult

ed the a

pparatu

s of the standard critical edition (W. Peterson s

Oxford Classical Text ,

but

discuss variants only occasionally. Even these

rare

in

s

tan

ces might be cons

id

ered too much for

an

edition such as

this, which is primarily addressed to students still in the process of

learning the language. But even at this stage, an occasio

nal

reminder

that

an

y classic

al

text

we

n

owad

ays re

ad

is not

an

autograph,

but

the

res

ult

of

tran

s

mi

ssion

and

e

dit

orial constitution, seemed

appr

o

pr i

ate.

From the point of view of transmission, at any rate, the chosen

pa

ssage

1.

atque, et, et, e

t

-que, -que, -que,

atqu

e.

See f

ur

ther below,

p

159.


13/208

xii Cicero Against

Verres

2.1.53- 86

is fairly

unpr

oble

mati

c. t is wo

rth

me

nti

oning, too, that

th

e text of

Cicero's

Verrines

is freely available on the website of

th

e Perseus Project

(http://www.perseus.

tuft

s.e

du

/), w

hi

ch offers the

Oxford

Classical

Text

e

dition

w

ith

critical a

pparatu

s

and

hyperlinks

of

each w

or

d to

th

e

Lewis Short Latin Dictionary.

I

imagin

e

th

at

man

y s

tud

e

nt

s will want

to r

ea

d

th

e text o

nlin

e

in

th i

s fo

rmat

, pe

rh

aps w

ith th

e co

mm

e

ntary

op ened in a separate w

indo

w (or in hardcopy on th e desk).

(c)

Study questions far grammar and syntax, style and theme:

each par

ag raph

of

th

e

Latin

text is followed by som e s

tud

y ques

tion

s designed

to

draw

atte

nti

on to fea

tu

res

in th

e p

assage th

at are either difficult or

interes

tin

g o r both). Th

ey

are meant as gateways in to the passage.

The distinction bet

wee

n grammar and syntax' and style and

th

em e

is of course som ewh at artificial, but seem ed n

eve

rtheless wo rth

m a

kin

g for didactic reasons,

eve

n

th

ou gh some of

th

e

qu

estions

deliberately

tr

y to

blur th

e

bound

ary.

Answe

rs to

th

e

qu

estions c

an

us

uall

y be fo

und

e

mb

e

dd

ed

in

th

e co

mm

e

ntar

y

(th

ough

they

are

not ex

pli

citly

mark

ed

up

as su ch

).

(

d) Help with grammar and syntax:

I assume that users of th is edition,

w ho

ar

e still

in

th

e

pro

cess

of

ac

quirin

g facility w

ith

th

e t

ec

hni

cal

terminology of

Latin

grammar and syntax, will h ave access to a

Latin grammar, su ch as J

ames Mo

rwood's excellent Latin Grammar

(

Ox

ford 1999), which is a m odel of con cision and clarity and is as

accessible as

it

is affordable.

2

t includes a Gl

oss

ary o f Grammatical

Terms on pages ix-xv, and I h ave tr ied to abide b y his terminology.

I

am aware th

at

diff

ere

nt

systems of gra

mm

atic

al

nom encla

tur

e exist,

but, despite

th

e suggestion of one

of th

e referees, fe

lt th

at multiple

labe

llin

g of

ph

en om ena (su ch as

e

th i

c

dative

or

th

e 'p o

li t

e d ati

ve

or - the way I learned

it

-

th

e

dativus ethicus

would add a lot of

clutt

er

for fairly limited returns. I have therefore only supplied alternative

terminology occasionally, w hen

it see

m ed especially

appr

o

pri

ate for

one reason or another.

(e) Technical terms for figures o speech: fig

ur

es of speech (*anaphora,

*chia

s

mu

s, *pl

eo

n asm, etc.) are prefaced by a sta r *)

in th

e co

mm

entary

2.

A

note

of

cautio

n:

not

every

gr

ammatical

and

sy

ntactical f

eatu

re

in the set passage

f

inds

explication in

Morwood.

When it comes to

the use of

t

he

subjun ctive in rel

ative

clauses,

for

example, he

covers

the

t

wo most

f

reque

nt

types,

i.e.

exp

r

ession of pur

p

ose (under

Pu rpose clauses, p. 97)

an

d the generic

or

consecutive use

(under

Result Clauses,

p

p.

100

-1

),

but has no

th i

ng

on the - ad mitted ly less frequent - use of

th

e subjunctive in a

re

lative clause to

convey

a

causal

or concessive sense.


14/208

reface

...

xm

and briefly glossed

in the

List of Rhetorical

Term

s on p. 169. Apart

from enabling students to acquire familiarity and ease

with

a range of

rhetorical fig

ure

s,

the

star-system is al

so de

s

igned

to

draw

attention

to recurrent f

eatur

es of Cicero s style and could be used to raise

qu

estions to do with aesthetic value. Readers may wish to ponder,

for instance, whether Cicero s use of *alliteration in the

pa

ssage

is

excessive , a sign of his youthful exuberance, to be scaled back in his

more mature writing.

3

Enhanced awarene

ss

of figures of speech is a

significant s

ide

benefit of studying Latin

and

of a classical education

more

generally;

but

the identification of rhetorical features can eas

ily

turn into a

mechanical

exercise (along the lines of

give

m e three

tricola and a climax, please ). To

draw

attention to

the

risk of turning

the hunt for rhetorical figures into

an

end in itse

lf

and to highlight

the powerful presence of cla

ss

icizing rhetoric in the wes

tern

cultural

tradition, I have chosen to illustrate

th

e terms in

th

e glossary

with

exa

mples drawn from

Shakespeare,

esp ecially the staging

of

the Pyramus-and-Thisbe episo de from

Ovid,

Metamorphoses 4,

towards the

end of

A Midsummer Night s Dream. The

passage

is

arguably the greatest

s

poof

of

rhetorical

ornamentation ever written,

full of frivolous fun with fig

ur

es and

forms,

not least excessive

*alliteration and a

brilliant

reductio ad absurdum of classical rhetoric.

A compare

-a

nd-contrast exercise on the (effective) use of

figur

es in

Cicero

and

Shakespeare s

hould

produce

inter

es

ting

res

ult

s.

(f) References

to

secondary literature:

in the introduction

and throughout

the commentary I have included, in footnotes, a very selec

tiv

e - but,

I

hop

e, judicious - s

ampl

e of som e

of th

e best

sc

holarly literature

available on

th

e

variou

s

them

es

menti

oned

in

or

raised

by

th

e

pa

ssage

from Cicero considered here. The reasons behind this practice, which

is unusual for a commentary keyed to language

learner

s, are various.

So

me

i

ss

ues

ma

y capture the

imagination

of readers who want to

pur

sue them further.

The

references offer

teach

ers the opportunity

to introduce ex

tra material

or

per

spectives according to personal

preference,

perhap

s via s

tud

ent reports.

And so

me of

the

language

students may

come

from sub-disciplines of cla

ss

ics s

uch

as ancient

hi

s

tor

y

where greater knowledge of the background gathered

by

following up

on

som e

of th

e secondary literature will

enhance

the

3. Cf. Hofman, J B., Szantyr, A. (1965), Lateinische Syntax und Stilistik vol. 2 Munich, 701.


15/208

xiv Cicero Against Verres 2.1.53

86

inh

ere

nt

in terest of

th

e Latin text. E

ve

n for th

ose

users w ho do not f

ee

l

th

e n eed

or

desire to c

ha

se up any of

th

e

it

ems m e

nti

oned,

th

e

pr

esence

of references m ay be of benefit: it serves as a u

se

ful reminder that a

mountain

of

scholars

hip

exists, h as accumulated over centuries and

is g r

owin

g

on

a daily

ba

sis.

Thi

s mountain does

not

obstru ct ou r view

of

th

e ancie

nt

world, but ena

bl

es

it

, even if

th

e vi

ew

from

th

e top and

more gra

duall

y

from

any of

th

e lower foothills is constantly changing.

While

mo

st of

th

e referen ces are to secondary litera

tur

e

in En

glish,

I

ha

ve n ot shied

away from

titles

in va

rious

Eur

ope

an

la

ngua

ges,

partl

y to acknowled

ge int

elle

ctual

debts and p a

rt l

y to

und

erscore

th

e

point that classics is, a

nd

h as always been, an international ente

rpri

se.

An

y su ch material, h

oweve

r, has been confined to the footnotes. I cite

all

it

ems in full on

th

e spot (sacrific

in

g economy and el

ega

nce in

pr

ese

ntati

on to c

onveni

ence of u se) w ith fo

ur

exce

ption

s: r

ec

urr

e

nt

references to G

ild

e

nhard

(2011), Mitchell (1986), Mor

woo

d (1999),

a

nd

St

ee

l 2004) are

pr

ese

nt

ed

in th

e H arv

ard sys

tem of

auth

or s

nam

e year of

publi

cation. Full details are included in the List of

Abbreviation

s on p age 167.

(g)

Translation:

I

ha

ve decided to

includ

e m y own

tran

slation of

th

e

p assage.

t

is soleiy m eant as an aid to understanding

th

e original

and stays as close to

th

e Latin as p

oss

ibl

e.

As such,

it

h as no literary

value. Put differentl

y,

m em orizing

this

ve rsion for

th

e

exa

m

wo

n t

e

arn

students any style-p oints.

(h) Map:

th

e edition

includ

es a

map

of

th

e geog

raphi

cal

nam

es

mention ed

in

th

e co

mm

e

ntary.

The

hard

c

op

y is a sn apshot

of

a m ap

designed w ith the help

of

C

oo

gle Earth.

Th

e (in te

ra

ctive) 3D ve rsion

of

th

e

map

is available

und

er

Ex

t

ra

R

eso

ur

ces on

th

e book s

we

bs

it

e

at

Open Book

Publi

sh ers.

(i)

Appendix

issues for

further

discussion: finall

y,

I h

ave

included an

a

pp

endix

th

at fl

ags

up som e big them es and op en-ended questions

raise d by the t

ex

t. They le

nd th

emselves for debate and

gr

oup

di

scu ssion and sho

uld

h elp to

re

late

th

e detailed

wor

k on

th

e

p assage to w

id

er

fram

es of referen ce.

For

an

y on e

rea

der

th

e edition m

ay includ

e information

th

at m

ay appea

r

e

ith

er t

oo

basic or too advanced. Less m ay perhaps have been more, but

in th

e end I decided to trust in

th

e ability of all u sers to screen o

ut

d ata

d

ee

m ed superfluous. Selecti

ve

re

adin

g for pe

rtin

e

nt inf

ormation i

s, in

any

case, an

in

creasingly important transferable skill .


16/208

ntroduction

n

70 BC, w hen Gnaeus

Pomp

ei us

and

M arcus Licinius Crassus shared

th

e

cons

ul

ship for

th

e

fi rs

t

tim

e, Rome's ris

in

g star

in ora

tor

y

Marcus Tullius

Cicero, su ccessfully p rosec

ut

ed Ga

iu

s V

erres

on

th

e ch

arge

of misconduct,

especially

ex

to

rt i

on,

durin

g

hi

s te

rm

as

govern

or of Sicily

(73-7

1 BC). Cicero

wo

n

th

e case

again

st

major

resis

tan

ce. Verr

es po

ckets were sufficient y

deep for an extensive camp aign of bribery. In Quintus Caecilius Mete

llu

s

Pius Scipio N asica,

Lu

c

iu

s Cornelius Sise

nn

a and Quintus Ho

rt

ens

iu

s

Horta

lu

s,

th

e consul design ate fo r 69 and a formidable public sp eaker,

Ve rres

man

aged to recruit a

gro

up of defence ad vocates brimming w ith

n obility

and tal

e

nt

. Not

th

e l

eas

t of

th

e

ir

skills

was

th

e ability to

think

up pr

oce

dur

al she

naniga

ns to derail or at l

eas

t

de

l

ay

th

e trial

until

th

e

following year. These included the no

min

ation

of Ve

rres fo

rm

er quaestor

Quintus Caecilius Niger as a

riv

al p rosecutor, w hich meant that Cicero had

to

ar

gue for

th

e rig

ht

to bring Ve rres to

ju

stice

in

a

pr

eliminary h e

arin

g (he

obviously won) . O

th

er powerful s

upp

orters chipped

in

by emba

rkin

g upon

strat

eg

ic intimidation of

th

e Sicilian w

itn

esses. None of this m a

tt

ered: at

th

e

ac

tual

trial, Cicero

triumph

ed res

oundin

gly by o

ut-

w

ittin

g, o

ut-p

rep

arin

g,

and o

ut-talkin

g

th

e o

ppos

ition.

Hi

s stunning su ccess helped to eclip

se

H

or

tensiu

s

reputation as Rom e's leading

ora

tor and esta

bli

sh Cicero as

th

e

'kin

g of

th

e co

urts ,

a m o

nik

er

pr

eviously

ow

ned by

hi

s ri

va

l.

After the co

nclu

sion of the pr

ocee

dings, Cicero publish ed

th

e

se

t of

speeches he had given

in th

e context of

pro

secuting Verres as well as th

ose

he h ad p rep ared f

or

delivery - 'p

re

pared f

or

delivery becau

se

the case

ca

m e to a p

re

m a

tu

re end bef

ore th

e sp

eec

hes co

uld

be deli

vere

d. Soon

after

th

e first h

earin

g

actio prima),

Ve

rr

es w

ithdr

ew int

o vo

lunt

ary exile;

he was fo

und

g

uilt

y in absentia without

th

e need for a second hea

rin

g

actio secunda). The so-called Verrine Orations thus comprise

th

e Divinatio

in Caecilium

('

Pr

eliminary hea

rin

g against

Cae

ciliu

s

), w

hi

ch won

him th

e


17/208

2

Cicero, Against Verres, 2.1.53-86

right to act as prosecutor of Verres; the decisive

speec

h he gave during the

first hearing (in Verrem 1); and

the

material Cicero prepared for the second

hearing

, repackaged into five

undeli

ve

red

orations

(in Verrem

2.1-5).

4

The

di

ssemination

of this

corpus

of speeches constituted

an unprec

ede

nted

enterprise,

the largest single publication of [his]

entire

career, if

not

the

biggest such

undertaking

in the first

century

B.C.

5

Cicero s rationale for

publishing the speeches against Verres in written form was most likely

complex

and

will have involved his desire to

consolidate

his standing as

an orator and

the wish

to

broadca

st the

enormous amount

of

work

he had

put into

the

trial.

The orations

are brilliant models of

eloquence

(as well as spin)

by

arguably the supreme prose stylist

ever

to write in Latin.

The

Verrines are

full of magnificent pass

age

s

that

illustrate Cicero at

hi

s best: as a s

uperb

raconteur who generates a

gripping

s

tor

y out of precious few facts; as

a h eavy-hitting

cross-examiner

who

lay

s into his

adversaries

with a

remor

sele

ss

flurry of rhetorical questions; as a master in the projection or

portrayal of

character

(so-called

ethos

or ethopoiea) and the manipulation of

emotions

(so-called pathos);

and,

not

lea

st, as a creative individual

gifted

with an

impi

sh

imagination

who

know

s

how

to

entertain. The

pa

ssage

under

discussion

here is no exception.

t

covers a series

of

lurid

incident

s

from an early s

tage

of Verres career,

which,

so Cicero

argues,

all originated

in the defendant s insatiable lust for two primary sources of

plea

sure: art

and

sex. First,

we

get a detailed account of

the

s

hameless

looting of artistic

trea

sures Verres committed as

legate

in the Greek East in the late 80s BC.

This is followed by an account of the infamous episo de at Lampsacus,

which revolves around an unsuccessful attempt

to

abduct and

rap

e a local

woman

that resulted

in

the death

of a

Roman

official,

provincial

s

pu

s

hed

to

the

brink of rioting,

and

judicial murder. Cicero s version of what

happened

at

Lampsacus is the

centrepiece of

the first oration he prepared for the

second

hearing (i.e. in Verrem 2.1) and affords a priv

ileged glimpse of

the

sor

did

underbelly of Roman imperialism- whatever degree of truth we are

willing

to

grant

to his s

pin

on the events.

4. I follow the p ractice

of

the Oxford Latin Dictionary in

referring

to the speeche

s, but

reference

sys

tems

va

r

y.

Some

cite

th

e five speech

es

d

es

ign

ed

for

th

e

seco

nd

act

io

as

V

e

r

l,

2

Ver 2 etc.

or u

se

a Roman numeral (Ver 11.1 11.2 etc.).

5. Settle, J N. (1962),

The publication

of

Ci

cero

s orations,

Diss. North

Carolina

, 83,

cited

by

Fraze , T D. (2004), The

Composition

and Circulation of Cicero's

In Verrem ,

Cla

ssic

al

Quarterly n.s. 54,

128-42

(133).

See

also Gurd, S. (2010),

'Verres and

the

Sce

ne

of

Rewriting',

Phoenix 64, 80-101.


18/208

Introduction

3

This introduction

contains

some background material des

igned

to aid

in the understanding of the rhetorical and histo rical dimension of the

chosen pa

ssage.

Sec

tion

1 provides a

minimum

of biographical informat ion

on Cicero

and

Verres. Sec

tion

2

tak

es a look at

the circumstances

of

th

e

trial and situates

th

e chosen

pa

ssage within the

corpus

as a whole. Section 3

outlines the

main

m odes of persuasion in (ancient)

rhetoric

and

briefly

indicate

s how Cicero applies them

in

our passage. Section 4 explores so

me

pertinent

issues

in late republican histo ry. And Section 5 offers a s

hort

introduction to the

type

of law

court

in which Verres stood trial. Each

sec

tion

is s

uppo

sed to

give

easy access to

pertin

ent contextual information,

with a sprinkling of references to works of secondary literature for those

who wish to pursue a specific aspect further.

1

he

Protagonists: Cicero and Verres

The

Oxford

Classical

Dictionary

(3rd revised edition,

edited

by S. Hornblower

and

A. Spawforth, Oxford, 2003) offers good overviews

of the

lives

and

careers

of Marcus Tullius Cicero and Gaius Ve rres.

6

About

the former

we

know more

than about an

y

other per

so

n

from

antiquit

y

mainl

y

from

his

own

writings;

about th

e latter

we know

very little beyo

nd

what Cicero tells us

n

the

Verrines

Given

the lack

of

independent evidence, one

of th

e

greatest

challenges

in dealing

with

Cicero s orations against Verres is d oing Verres justice. This

ma

y sound perverse, but Cicero was an

absolute

genius when

it came

to the

tactical (mis-)representation of evidence.

Ind

eed, his talent for s

pin

was

only topped

by his ability to assassinate someone s character.

Helped

by

the

fact

that

ancient Rome had

no

s

lander

or libel laws, he verbally

tarred and

feathered

hi

s

adversaries

with

imaginative

gusto.

7

While

Cicero

took care

that

his recourse to personal abuse always aided the

aims

of his argument,

he

mu

st have made up many of what we

would consider

s

landerou

s or

libe

llou

s details that he hurled

at

his opponents, blurring

th

e boundary

6. B

ewa

re, though: l

ooking

for Cicero in

the

OCD und er Cicero will prove futile. He is

entered under his nomen gentile Tullius, Marcus Cicero See Morwood (1999) 149 for a

br

ief

introduc

tion to Roman names.

7.

On

Cicero and invective, see the papers in Booth, J (ed.) (2007), Cicero on the Attack:

Invective and Subversion in

the

Orations and Beyond

Swansea. For the problem

of

plau

sibility

in ab use,

see

Craig, C (2004),

Audience

Expectations, Invective,

and Proof ,

in

J

Powell

and J Paterson (eds.), Cicero the Advocate Oxford, 187-213. Mo re general studies

include

Corbeill, A. (1996), Controlling Laughter: Political Humor in the Late Roman Republic

Princeton

and

Edwards, C (1993), The Politics of Immorality in Ancient Rome Cambridge.

Both monographs

are

excellent pieces of scholars

hip

as

we

ll as highly

enter

t

aining

reads.


19/208

4 Cicero Against Verres, 2 .1.53- 86

between fact and fiction, hard data and rhetorical invention. It is therefore

unwise to

take anythin

g he says

ab

out

th

e character of

an

y

of hi

s see

min

gly

socio

pathi

c villains

at

face v

alu

e -

includin

g Ve

rr

es.

In

the context

of

the

Verrines ,

the

opp

o

rtunit

y

of in

ve

ntin

g

hi

s

fa

cts was

particul

arly availa

bl

e

when Cice

ro

covered

th

e early stages of Verres c

ar

eer, which h e did in in

Verrem 2.1.

Thi

s is not to s ay

th

at Ve rres was a p articularly delightful

human

being .

The son of a first-generation senator, h e did

we

ll for himself in the turbulent

ye

ar

s of

th

e civil w

ar

bet

wee

n

Mariu

s and S

ulla

a

nd

afterwards as a minor

m

ag

is

tr

ate in

th

e (w ild) East during the p eriod

th

at saw Rome s

pr

otr acted

struggle w ith King Mithrad ates of

Pontu

s, not least by showing a fin e

sense of

jud

ge

m ent when best to doublecross his superiors. His service as

qua

es

tor und

er the cons

ul

Gnaeus Papirius Carbo c

am

e to an

abrupt

and

disgraceful e

nd

wh en h e scarpered with the public m oney entrusted to

him

(some h a

lf

million sesterces) to Carbo s enem y S

ull

a.

8

And

a couple of

years later he repaid

th

e support he had enjoyed as legate under Gnaeus

Dolabella in Cilicia by

acting

as prime w itne

ss

in

th

e extortion trial

th

at

Dolabella faced upon

hi

s return to Rom

e.

9

C

omplaint

s about his

abuse

of p

owe

r d

ogge

d

hi

s

gove

rn

ors

hip

in

Sicily

throu

gh o

ut

hi

s te

rm

in

o

ffi

ce,

even n ecessit ating the (futile) intervention of a consul

in

72 BC. But Cice

ro

put

an

e

nd

to Ve rres cr

im

es

an

d his career: after the

tr i

al, Verres remained

in exile

until

his death in 43 BC.

f

Ve rr

es advanced

hi

s career b y m e

an

s of

hi

s strategic

tr

eacher

y

Cicero,

the s

on

of a

kni

ght (equ

es

) and hence a so-called n

ew

man (homo no

vu

s),

that is,

so

m eone w ithout

se

natorial an ces tors in the fa

mil

y

in

vested in a

s

up

e

rb

edu

ca

tion as a m eans of

ge

tting

ah

ead .

10

He w as under no

illu

sion:

batt lefie

ld

su ccess

wa

s

th

e

pri

vil

ege

d

path

way to glory at Rome

and

Cicero

did

hi

s best t o accumulate military accolades wh en

th

e occas

ion pr

ese

nt

ed

it

se

lf - as it did during

hi

s stint as

pr

o-consul in Cilic

ia

in 51, the s

am

e

province in which Ve rres se r

ve

d as legate

thirt

y

yea

rs previously. On the

basis of some

mino

r military victories, he

un

successfully petitioned his

8.

See be

low § 77.

9. See again bel

ow§

77.

10. Wi

se

ma

n,

T.

P.

(1971),

New en in

the R oman Senate,

O

xf

o

rd;

G

ild

e

nhard,

I

(2011),

Creative Eloquence: The Construction of Reality in Cicero s Speeches, O xfo

rd

, 50-58, w hich

includes a d iscuss ion of how Cicero p

os

itions h ims

elf

v is-a-vis the es tablished ruling

e

li t

e in the Ven ines . A good accoun t of ed ucational practices in the late Roman republic

can be fo

und

in

Corb

eill, A. (2002), R

he t

orical

Ed

ucation in

Cicero

s You th , in

J M. May

(

ed

.),

Brill s Companion

to

Cicero: Oratory and Rhetoric,

L

eiden

, Bos ton, Co logne, 2

3-48

.


20/208

Introduction 5

senatorial peers for the right to celebrate a

triumph.

In the main,

however

,

Cicero built his career,

and

even more

so

his legacy on s

upreme

ability

in

the realm

s of language, literature,

and

thought.

He

was

the be

st

orator

Rome produced, authored

a large

number

of

rhetorical and

philo

so

phical

works,

and

also distinguished himself as a poet (though few of his verses

have survived). n the law courts, he saw his role

mainly

as an advocate for

the oppressed. Even in

the case

against

Verres, where he

acted

as prosecutor,

he stressed that he

entered

into

the

fray as an advocate of

the

Sicilians.

Overall, the careers of Cicero and Verres s

hare

a series of

coincidental

parallel

s that

are

fun to ponder. In the

years before

their showdown in

70 BC, each of the two men s

pent

time

in

the Greek East and

in

Sicily.

Some years after his consulship in 63

BC

, Cicero suffered the

same

fate as Verres:

vo

luntary exile. And

several ancient authors

comment

on the remarkable irony that Cicero and Verres died in the

sa

me year,

pro

scr

ibed by

th

e same m n

th

e former for his tongu e, the latter for hi s

art

collection.U A

bar

e skeleton of their respective careers in the

form

of

a table

would

lo ok so m ething like this:

Year Verres

Cicero

c.115 BC born

106

born

90

-

88

Military Service

84

Service as quaestor under the

consul

Cn. Papiriu s Carbo

Continuing service probably

83

as

pro-quaestor; desertion

to

Sulla

81

F

irst surviving

public speech

pro Quinctio)

Service as

legatus, then

also

80

as pro-quaestor

under

Cn.

Dolabella, proconsul in Cilicia

continued)

11. See Pliny the Elder, N tur l History 34.6; Seneca the Elder, Suasori e 6.24 (citing a brilliant

passage from As inius Pollio s history, in which the Caesar ian contrasts the brave death

of Verres with the

pitiable

death of Cicero, in

th

e

context

of an ingeniously

malicious

appraisal

of

Cicero s character overall); and Lactantius,

Divine Ins

ti

tu

tes 2.4.37.


21/208

6

Cicero

Against

Verr es

2.1.53-

86

continued)

ear Verres Cicero

79-77

Rh

etorical a

nd

philosophical

studies in Rhodes and Athens

Trial and conviction of

78

Dol

abe

lla for e

xt

ortion; Ve

rr

es

acting as main

wi

tness for

th

e

pr

osecution

75 Qua

est

or in

Sicily

74

Urban

Pr

aetor

73

-

71

Gove

rn

a

nc

e of Sicily as

pr

o-pr

ae

tor

70 Trial and

vo

luntary

ex

ile

Pr

osec

uti

on of Verres

69

Aedile

66

Praetor

63 Consul

Pushed in to exile on account

58 of the execution of the

Catilinarian

s (till

57

51 Pro-consu l in

Ci

licia

43

Proscription by Mark Antony; Proscription by Mark Antony;

d eath d eath

2.

The

Trial of Verres and Cicero s Set of

peeches

against Verres

2.1 The

run-up

12

When

th

e Sicilians turned to Rome for help

again

st the plundering and

extortion perpetrated by Verres, Cicero

was

a

natural

po

int of

contact: he

12. For issues of chronology, see

Ma

rinone, N. (1950), Quaestiones Verrinae T

urin

; and (1977),

Cronologia

Ciceroniana,

Rome, 65- 7. Many more deta iled accou

nt

s of the circumstances

of the trial exist than the bare-bone coverage

prov

ided here. T

wo

of the best are

Berry,

D. H. (2006), Cicero.

Political

Speeches:

A New Translation, Oxford, 3-

12, and

Lintott,A

(2008), Cicero

and

the C

itad

el of the Allie

s ,

in

Cicero

as Evidence: A Historian s Companion,

Oxford, 81-100.


22/208

Introduction 7

had been quaestor in Sicily

only

a few years earlier, knew the

province

well,

had close ties with various

leading

locals, and saw himself as

their

patron.

13

He

agreed to act as

the

Sicilians legal represe

ntati

ve,

in

what s

haped up

as a

case for

one of

Rome

s s

tanding

courts ,

th

e so-called

quaestio de repetundis.

14

Because Roman officials enjoyed immunity from prosecution during

their

time

in office, the trial could

not

start before Verres period as pro-magistrate

finished at the end of 71 BC. His return to the s

tatu

s of

privatus

( an individual

not

holding public office ) set in motion the following procedural steps:

postulatio c.

10

January

70):

in early January

of 70, Cicero

applied

to

the

praetor

pre

s

iding over the

extortion

court,

Manlius Acilius Glabrio, for

p e

rmi

ss

ion

to

pro

sec

ut

e V

erres

(pos

tu

latio

.

divinatio c. 20 January 70): no

doubt

at the

in

s

tigation

of Verres or his

advocate

Hort

ens

iu

s Verres

quae

s

tor Q.

Caecilius

Niger

al

so applied

for the

leave

to prosecute; such rival requests entailed the

need

for a

so-called divinatio, which consisted of a hearing before a jury

pre

sided

over

by

the praetor

at

which

th

e rival parties staked

th

eir

claim

s. Cicero

triumphed with the (surviving) speech Divinatio in Caecilium,

in

which

he showed that his adver

sa

ry

was

just

not

up to the task.

nominis delatio and nominis receptio

(c. 20

Januar

y 70 or s

oon

thereafter):

after

hi

s

victory over

Caeciliu

s,

Cicero submitted a formal charge

(nominis delatio),

which was

accepted

by the prae

tor

(nominis receptio .

inquisitio:

to

pr

epare

hi

s case, Cicero asked for,

and was

granted, 110

days, during

which

he travelled to Sicily to secure witnesses and

documentation.

Tim

e was prec

iou

s:

he was aware of the fact

that

th

e

defence

wanted

to de

la

y

th

e trial

until th

e following year. At various

place

s

in

the

Verrines,

he

boasts

about the

sp

ee

d

with

which

he

mar

s

halled

evidence. Thus he calls the period he requested for gathering evidence

as tonis

hingly

brief

(Ver.

1.6:

dies pere

xigu

).

About sixty of

the

110

day

s

h e had available, he spent on a trip to Sicily, priding

himself

on the

speed of his return (Ver. 2.1.16: ce leritas reditionis .

2.2

The

trial

After the selection of the jury in

th

e second

half

of

Jul

y, the trial

began

on

5

August.

As already mentioned, Verres and

hi

s supporters tried to

pr

olong

13. Brunt, P. A (1980),

Pa

tronage and Politics in the Verrines , Chiron 10, 273-89.

14. See below Section

5:

The Roman extortion co

ur t

.


23/208

8 Cicero Against

Verres

2.1.53- 86

the trial

until

the foll

ow

ing year. In 69, Ho

rt

ens

iu

s, on e of

hi

s

ad

vocates,

and Q. Caecilius Metellus Creticus, one of his main frie

nd

s a

nd

supporters,

wo

uld have been cons

ul

s, and M. Caecilius

Me

tellus (a

broth

er of the

aforem enti

oned

Me

te

llu

s) would have

pr

es

id

ed over the ex tortion cou rt as

praeto r.

n

a society

th

at

pl

aced a p re

mium

on esteem for m agist

ra

tes,

thi

s

would h ave m eant a powe rful boost to

Ve rr

es

ca

use. Likewise, there was

the pr

os

p

ec

t of a more favourable jury

(th

at is, on e

mor

e liable to corruption)

since several of the chosen jury m embers were due to leave

Rom

e in 69 BC to

take up offi ces, ruling them

out

of ju ry duty.

15

At

on

e p oint, w hen it looked

as

i

the pl

oy

were to succeed, a third bro

th

er,

L. Cae

cilius

Me

tellus, who

h ad taken over the govern

ors

hip of Sicily from Verres as p

ro

-praetor, tried

to

intimid

ate the Sicilians against g

ivin

g tes

tim

on y ag

ain

st

Ve rr

es, b

oastin

g

so

m

ewhat pr

em aturely that

Ve

rr

es

acquittal w as ce

rtain

a

nd

that it was

in

the Sicilian

s

own

int

erest not to cau

se

diffic

ulti

es. As a counte

rmove

and

to accelerate proceedings, Cicero brok e w ith con ve

nti

ons in his opening

sp eech : instead of a lengthy

di

s

qui

sit ion

se

tting out all of the ch arges

(oratio perpetua), followed by a prolo

ng

ed h

ea

ring of supporting w itnesses,

he

qui

ckly and summarily s ketched out each of the ch arges and

pr

oduced

a

limit

ed

numb

er of s

upp

o

rtin

g w

itn

esses.

Ve rr

es

ad vocate Hortens

iu

s did n ot expect this devi

ation

from standard

p rocedure

an

d faced a difficult challenge. As M. Alexand

er

points out, he

was put

in

the invidious p osition of having to reply to ch arges that

had

not

been fully

ar

gu ed, a

nd

while [he]

pr

obably h ad a good

idea

of

th

e arg

um

ents

which Cicero would be m aking at the seco

nd

hearing, he would not ha

ve

wanted to give credence to

th

em by stating them

him

self,

an

d then trying

to refute

th

em . 1

6

In the

Orator,

a

rh

etorical

tr

eatise he w rote

in

46 BC, Cicero

seem s to

impl

y

th

at H o

rt

ens

iu

s never

gave

a fo

rmal

speech

in

re

pl

y

an

d o

nl

y

cross-examined some w itnesses during the first h e

arin

g (Orat. 129).

17

With

the actio prima completed on 13 August, the court adjourned for the Vo tive

Gam es that began on 16 Au gust (comperendinatio ).

t

never reconvened:

Verres consid

ere

d the case that Cicero p resented aga

in

st him dur

in

g the fi

rs

t

h

ear

ing so co

mp

elling

th

at he we

nt int

o vo

luntary

exile. The

actio secunda,

f

or

15. For details,

see

Marshall, A. J. (1967), Verres and Judicial Corruption ,

Classical Quarterly

17, 408- 13; McDer

mott,

W.

C. (1977),

Th

e Ver

rine

J

ur

y ,

Rheinisches

useum

120, 64-75.

16. Alexa nder, M. (1976), Ho rtensius Speech

in

Defense

of

Verres , Phoenix 30, 46-53 (52).

17. The

speech

of Ho

rt

ensius that

Qui

ntilian read (Institutio Oratoria 10.1.23) might have

been a mere literary composition o r the

one he

delive

red at the litis aestimatio, af ter

Verres condemnation in absence :

Bru

nt, P. A. (1980),

Patrona ge and

Politics

in the

Verrines , Chiron

10, 273-89 (280 n. 44).


24/208

Introducti

on 9

which

Cicero had prepared a massive amount of material adding up to five

full s

peeche

s, never

took

place.

2.3

The

corpus of speeches

18

n the aftermath of the trial, Cicero not only publis

hed

the iv

inati

o in

Caecilium

and the

speech he gave during

the

actio

prima

(commonly

labelled

in

Verrem 1), but also

the

five sp eeches he

had

pre

par

ed for

th

e actio sec

unda

(in Verrem

2.1-5). In outline, we have the following corpus:

iv

inati

o in Caecilium [deliv

ere

d January 70 BC]

in Verrem

1

[delivered Augu

st 70 BC,

during the actio

prima

]

in

Verrem

2

[plann

ed for the

actio secunda,

but never delivered]

in Verrem

2.1: Verres youthandpubliccareerpriortohi

s governorship

of Sicily

in

Verrem 2.2: Sicil

y-

abuse of

judicial powe

r

in Verrem 2.3: Sic

ily-

extortion of taxes

in Verrem 2.4:

Sicily-

robbery of artworks

in

Verrem 2.5:

Sicily - Verres as magistrate with

imperium,

res

pon

sible

for public safety and endowed

with

the power to punish

Cicero only decided to

publish

a selection of

his

s

peeche

s.

19

The

fact

that he

circulated

all the speeches to do with the trial of Verres indicates his high

opinion of the set and his beliefin the

ir

value as documents ofself-promotion.

Scholars

have

debated, more or less inconclusively whether and, i f so, to

what degree Cicero revised speeches after delivery before circulating them

in written form. No clear

consensus ha

s emerged, not least since his practice

will

mo

st likely have differed from case to case,

ranging from

almost instant

relea

se w ith only minor adjustments to significant revision and publication

several years after

th

e original delivery.

20

The speeches that Cicero prepared

for the second hearing belong to those that he anyway ne ver gave, so

here

18. For an excellent account of the

co

rpus and its context, see Vasaly,

A.

(2002), Cicero s

Early Speeches ,

in J.

M.

May

(ed.),

Brill s Companion to Cicero: Oratory and Rhetoric,

Leiden, Boston, Co

logne, 71 - 111 (87-

10

3).

19.

For

th

ose

speeches

that

he dec

id

ed not to

disseminat

e in w

ritt

en form,

see

Cr

awford,

J.

W.

(1984),

M

Tullius

Cicero:

The Lost and Unpublished Orations, Go ttingen .

20. Excellent recent discussions include Berry, D.

H

(2004), The Publication of Cicero s Pro

Roscio Amerino , Mnemosyne 57, 80-87, Gurd, S. (2007),

C

icero and Editorial Revision ,

Classical Antiquity 26

,

49-80

, and Lintott, A. (2008),

Cicero

as

Evidence: A Historian s

Commentary, Oxford , 15-9.


25/208

10 Cicero, Against Verres, 2 .1.53- 86

the question is

moot

. Still, it be

ar

s s

tr

ess

ing

that

in

the fo

rm

w e have

th

em

they are indis

tin

guishable from the w ritten versions of th

ose

sp eeches he

actually delive red. In all

of hi

s

publi

shed

oration

s, Cicero

maintain

s the

illusion that

the text is the record of a pe

rforman

ce. (Devices that sus

tain

th is illus

ion

include direct addresses to the audience, in p articul

ar th

e

defendant, me

mb

ers of

th

e ju ry or opposing

ad

vocates, orders to the cle

rk

to read out documents, and the use

of

deictic

pronoun

s su ch as iste that

suggest the

pr

esence of the person thus referred to.) t w ould have been

Cicero s practice in

an

y ca

se

to wo

rk

up extensive w ritten notes for a speech

before its oral delivery - which of course does not m ean

th

at he read from a

script in cour and h e m ost likely h ad his

contributi

on to the actio secunda

m ore or less ready to go by

th

e

tim

e the trial b

ega

n.

21

The first sp eech

in t

e

nd

ed for

th

e sec

ond

h

earing

(Ver. 2.1),

from

w

hi

ch

our

pa

ss a

ge

com es, co

ntain

s an exh austive discussion of Ve rres car

ee

r

before he took on the governorship of Sicily. In outline the speech breaks

d

ow

n in to the foll

ow

ing sections:

1-2

3:

Pr

eface

24-

3

1:

Ex

planation

wh y Cicero

didn

t

indict in

detail

durin

g

th

e

actio prima

32- 34: Blueprint of

th

e actio secunda

22

34--4

0:

Verres quaestorship

41- 102: Ve rr

es

stint as legate

and

pro-quaestor of Dolabella in Cilicia

41-61: Verres thefts of artwo

rk

s

62

-8

6

a:

The

Lamp

sacus e

pi

s

od

e

86

b-90:

The

th

eft at Miletus

90- 102:

Ve

rr

es

c

rim

es as a g

uardian

and pr

o-

qu

aestor

103- 58: Verres urban prae

tor

ship

103- 27: Abu

ses

of his judicial po

we

rs

128

-54

: Misco

nduct

as a s

up

ervisor of the mainten ance of

public buildin

gs

155- 58: His jury-tampering in other

tr i

als

21. See Frazel, T. (2004),

Th

e Composition and Circulation of Cic

er

o s In Verrem , Classic

al

Quarterly

n.s. 54, 128

-42

.

22. Cicero u

ses pra

ete

ri

tio to pa ss o

ver

Verres (singularly depraved) youth, limiting his

covera

ge

of Verres cr

ime

s to the four p eriods

in

w hich he acted as a magis

tra

te of the

Roman peopl

e:

his quaes

tor

ship,

hi

s legatesh

ip in

Asia Minor,

hi

s urban praetorsh

ip

,

and

his govern orshi p of Sicily

§

34). Ver. 2.1

dea

ls wi th the firs t three parts of thi s fourfold

d ivision (quadripertita di ributio), Ver. 2.2- 5 w ith the fourth.


26/208

Introduction

11

The

Lamp

sacus episode stands out as

the

centrepiece of

the

oration - a

sustained and largely self-co

ntained

unit, in which Cicero explores Verres

pa

st in

particular

depth

and

detail. Yet

while

it is

the

centre of Ver 2.1, in

the

trial as a

whole

this

particular oration (and

hence the

Lamp

sacus e

piso

de

as well) is a bit of a sid eshow. f one only reads an excerpt from

th i

s speech,

it is easy to forget

that

Verres

was

not or had

ever

been on trial for

any

of his actions as legate. Cicero here

recon

siders

events

that happened

about a decade earlier,

in

an effort to portray Verres as evil

thr

ough

and

through. True, consistency of character was

an important argument in

Roman law

courts-

anyone who

could be

shown to

have

a criminal record

was considered more likely to have perpetrated the crime for which he was

on

trial

, whereas an unblemished past

could

be marshalled in s

upport

of a

plea

of innocence. Thus Cicero does his

be

st to depict Verres as a

heinou

s

and hardened criminal, with a particular penchant for debauchery from

his early youth. But in th e larg

er

schem e of

thing

s,

Ver 2.1 is primarily

a warm-up to his account of Verres' governorship of Sicily to which he

de

vo

ted

th

e four subsequent speeches.

23

3

odes

of

persuasion

4

Public sp

eak

ing is designed to persuade an audience of a specific po

int

of

view. f

the

setting is a court of law, the

pro

secu

tor

tries to convince those

who judge

the

case of the

guilt

of

the

defendant, whereas

the

advocate

aims to achieve a verdict of innocence. But how does

one

s

ucceed

in

causing

another

perso

n to

consent

to one's own

point

of view and to act according y?

Is it th

e rational force of the be

tter

argument?

Or

is it the authority of

th

e

speal


27/208

12 Cicero

Against

Verres

2.1.53-86

his arguments plausible by

mean

s of logos (that is, reasoning, analysis and

argument),

ethos (that is, the characters of the individuals involved in the trial,

especially that

of

the

defendant and the

speaker), or

pathos

(that is, strong

emotions

roused

by

the speaker

in his

audience).

25

The chosen

pa

ssage

showca

ses

Cicero s resourceful

handling of

all

three modes.

3.1 Reasoning and argument

n his

handling

of the affair at Lamp

sac

us, Cicero opts for a

two-pronged

approach

to prove Verres guilt: to begin with, he simply presupposes

that

the sequence of

events

has as

it

s unifying factor Verres

inability

to

keep

hi

s

lecherou

s

in

s

tincts under control. In hi

s

account of what happened at

Lamps

acu

s

and

the

aftermath (the trial and execution of

Philodamus

and

hi

s so

n)

Verres is

prese

nted as

the ma

s

termind

behind the

scene

, first

by

plotting sexual assault, then by trying to cover up hi s guilt.

By

showing

the

defendant

in action (as it were), Cicero thus makes narration (or a

narrative) do the work

of

argumentation.

26

Only after

he

ha

s

established

his version of the event as a compelling

point

of reference does he switch

into a more explicitly argumentative mode. In §§ 78- 85, he

explores and

rebut

s potential lines of defence Verres might have adopted to cast doubt

on Cicero s interpretation

and give

an

alternative

explanation of

what

happened.

According

to Cicero, Verres counter-arguments

do

not amount

to

much

and crumble under

scrutiny.

When

all is

said and done,

so Cicero

claims repeatedly Verres is unable to explain why

what

occurred did occur.

And this, so Cicero asserts, means that his own

version

of

th

e events, for

which he

ha

s two reliable

witne

ss

es, must represe

nt

the truth.

After

reading

the passage,

are

you

convinced

that Cicero has proved Verres

guilt?

3.2 Ethopoiea

Cicero

take

s

great care

to provide

vivid portrayal

s of the

characters he deal

s

with in hi

s s

peeche

s.

27

The Verrines are

no exceptions.

The greatest

effort

25. The classic treatment

of

ethos and pathos in ancient

rh

etoric is Wisse, J (1989), Ethos and

Pathos from Aristotle

to Cicero

Amsterdam.

26.

One ma

y

wish

to

di

s

tin

guish the

act

of

narrati

on or the r

es

ult thereof, i.e. a story

or

narrative,

fr

om the technical term

narratio which

is u

se

d of

that part

of a f

ore

nsic speech

in

w hich the spea

ker

se ts

out

the fa cts of the case: see Levene, D.

S.

(2004), Reading

Cicero s Narratives ,

in

J. Powell and J Pater

so

n (eds.),

Cicero

the Advocate

Oxford,

117-46 (117).

27. On ethopoiea: Gildenhard (2011) 20-22 wi th

much

further bibli

og

raphy.


28/208

Introduction

3

goes of

course

into his

characterization

of Verres.

But

Cicero also gives us

ins

idiou

s character

apprai

sals of Gnaeus Dolabella, the

governor

of Cilicia

and Verres superior in

command, and

Gaius Nero,

the governor

of Asia,

that

is, the prov

ince

in

which

Lampsacus was located.

Th

e traits Cicero

emphasizes in the former are his

murd

erous villainy and conspicuous

stupidity whereas the latter comes into Cicero s rhetorical crosshairs for

his yellow-bellied cowardice. Cicero also spends so

me time

on Verres

worthless entourage, notably Rubrius. And even

individual

s or

groups that

only

make

a cameo appearance in his text have a distinct (if often one-sided)

identity and per

sonality profile

that

enables the audience to relate to them.

Example

s of minor

characters

include envoys legati)

from Asia

and Achaia

§ 59), lanitor, Verres host in Lampsacus §§ 63-4), the Roman citizens

who were

in Lamp

s

acu

s for business

reaso

ns § 69),

the

Roman creditors

of the Greeks § 73), one of whom acts as accuser of Philodamus § 74),

and

th

e

praefecti and

tribuni

militares

of Dolabe

lla

§ 73). Cicero also

knows

how to underscore the reliability of his two

prime

witnesses:

P.

Tettius

and

C. Varro, who both

serve

d on the staff of Nero

§

71).

When

it comes to

the

depiction of character, Cicero likes to

paint

in black

and

white. Whereas Verres

andhi

s ilk

appear

as villains

and

perve

rt

s,

he

lavis

hes

prai

se upon

the

inhabitants of

Lamp

sacus and in particular Philodamus and

his son. Cicero

portra

ys Verres and Dolabella

in

such a way as to remove them

from civilized soc

ie t

y: they come across as beasts

ruled

either by their passions

or even worse

in

stincts such as delight in cruelty;

th

e Lampsacenes,

in

contrast,

represent a peace-loving community that cherishes pr iva

te

and public values

dear to the Romans as well, such as devotion to family members, unselfish

courage,

and

commitment

to

civic life. One r

ewarding

exerci

se

in responding

to Cicero s ethopoi

ea

is to colour

in

s

had

es of

grey

-

that

is,

to int

erroga

te hi

s

categorical condemnations as well as his unqualified embraces,

in

an effort to

arrive at a more realistic picture

of

his perso

nneP

8

n th is context, it is also worth

noting

how Cicero constantly engages the

audience: he

appeals

to them as persons endowed with a special dis

po

sition

and committed to certain values,

but

does

not

h esita te to let them

know

how disas

trous

it would be i they did not

decide

the

case at hand in his

fa

vo

ur.

In

particular

, it

wo

uld

put

the judges at the

sa

me

level

as

the

defendant.

A

keynote

of

the

s

peech

(2.1:

eminem vestrum

ignorare

arbitror,

iudices

... ) is

that

Cicero s

audience

is

in

the

know:

Verres

28.

For

Cicero s tendency to sp lit his

personnel into

the good and the

bad

and

to character

ize

accordingly s

ee

Gilden

hard

(2011) 74-98 ( The good, the

bad, and

the in-between ).


29/208

14 Cicero

Against

Verres

2.1.53-86

shenanigans, trickery, and

attempts

at deception

cannot

fool them.

29

But

since his

guilt

is so glaring and well-established, a verdict of

innocent

would

reveal the

judge

s inevitably as

corrupt and

unfit for their role.

3.3 Pathos

Cicero s report of Verres looting of artworks and his narrative of

the

Lampsacus affair are both fraught

with patho

s, meant to

generate indignation,

i f not downright outrage, at Verres conduct. In addition, the portion of

te

xt under consideration here includes

two

paragraphs that are especially

de

s

igned

to appeal to

the

emotions. n § 59, Cicero recalls one of the rare

occasions in which Verres adorned

the

city

of

Rome with

hi

s

plundered

treas

ure

s for public viewing. By chance casu), a great

number

of embassies

from the

town

s Verres had ravaged happ

ene

d to be in Rome at the time,

and Cicero describes heart-wre

nching

scenes

of

Greek

ambassadors

se

tting

eyes on long lost treasures, often statues

of gods

and

goddesses

of profound

religious value and significance, breaking

down

on the spot,

in

public,

in

worship and tears. And

in

§ 76, Cicero describes the public execution of

Philodamus and his son in the city of Laodicea as a tragic

specta

cle matching

the bestial

cruelty

crudelitas) of the Roman officials Verres and Dolabella

against the

humanitas humanity)

and the family-values of

the

condemned.

The

sight, so Cicero, even moved the presiding Roman magistrate Nero to

tears - precisely the sort of response he wishes to generate in his

pre

sent

audience as well, grounded in sympathy

and compassion

for Verres victims

and righteous

anger at

his

abuse

of power and violation of

Roman

values.

4 Rome and the Mediterranean

n

the Late

Republic

Ver . 2.1.53-86

can

serve as an excellent

point

of departure for branching out

into Roman history

and

culture,

especially the imperial culture of the late

republic

and theme

s to

do

with

the imp

erial expansion of Rome across the

Mediterranean

world, in

particular the

Greek

East. In turn, a basic grasp of

historical facts

and

figures will

aid

in

under

sta

nding our pa

ssage.

29.

The

judges

are addre

ss

ed in the second perso

n

plural or

as

iud

ices

throughout

our

passage: 53: sc

itis, aud i

st

is;

57: cognosc

i

te

;

58:

iud i

ces

;

60:

iudices;

62:

existimatis?;

63:

iudices;

71:

potestis dubita

re ..

. ?

72:

audite, qua

eso iu

dices et

..

. miser

emi

ni ... et ostendite . .

; 76:

· ? 81

·

?

82

N z·

· · ·

a

·

1

86 · ·

1

putatrs

;

: parcetts. ; : o 1

te

... coger

e

... ms1 vos

vm zcatls.

; : a

cc

tptte nunc.


30/208

Introduction 5

4 1 Rome s military

conquest of

Greece and Asia

Minor

30

While

Rome

stood in contact with the wider, Greek-dominated world

of

the Mediterranean from early

on

(witness the legend of Aenea

s

arriving

in Italy after the

de

struction of Troy, as

preliminary

s

tep

towards the

foundation of the city),

it

had no military

pre

sence

in

the Greek East

until the end of the third century BC. Yet after the so-called First Illy

rian

War

(229 BC)

matter

s

proceeded quickl

y

In

167 BC,

the Greek

his

torian

Polybius considered

Rome s conquest of Greece

(and th

e

known world

more

generally) an accomplished fact.

That

a

ss

e

ss

ment, though,

may

have

been somewhat premature as further military

adventure

s

and

significant

territorial

gains

continued

to

happen afterwards . The driving forces and

motivations behind

Rom

e s imperial expansion have been the subject

of

much controversial

debate

31

But

whatever

the

in t

ent,

by

the tim e of the

Verrines the

rise of Rome from a town on the Tiber to the centre of

an

empire that spanned the

entire

Mediterranean world was

by

and large

complete. Landmark

cicero - against verres, 2.1.53-86 (openbook, 2011)

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