In Verrem Revision

In Verrem (70 BCE)Verres Trial:• Cicero’s 1st prosecution – Prosecuting Verres (corrupt governor of Sicily for 3 years (73-71))• Cicero facing Hortensius, proclaimed “King of the courts,” and wins case – Making him Rome’s

supreme orator• Case close to hearts of Sicilians, as Verres was stealing from the wealthy province – Cicero being

man of principle in fighting the politically significant case & looking out for his class (equites – businessmen)

• Cicero recognised as opponent to dishonest administration, a protector of republican government under authority of the senate (given it was fair & efficient)

• Cicero had aligned himself with Pompey (popularis) – Gaining political support

Verres’ actions as governor of Sicily:• Controlled all lawsuits• Stole monuments from temples/shrines/homes• Stole expensive/superficial items• Ruined the province’s navy• Treated allies as enemies• Criminals acquitted through bribery• Sicilians starved to death• Committed adultery/lechery• Innocent men prosecuted/convicted/banished• Roman citizens tortured & killed like slaves

Cicero’s motives in prosecuting Verres

• Desire to defeat Hortensius (Biggest rival)• Opportunity to display oratorical skill & gain publicity• Cicero hated dishonest administration• Wanted to expose senatorial corruption• Felt injustice regarding Sulla’s decision to exclude

equites from the jury• Looking out for equites (businessmen), who Verres

would have been stealing from• Needed to gain political advancement (aedileship),

through advocacy, as opposed to military command

Verres’ underhand tactics• Defence’s main objective was to delay the trial for the following year (69 BCE),

when a more corruptible judge (Verres’ ally), Marcus Caecilius Metellus, would be presiding over the case, and Hortensius & Quintus would be consuls

• Attempted to put up false prosecutor, Quintus Caecilius Niger, Verres’ supporter & ex-quaestor

• Cicero was selected as prosecutor, after a appealing to a senatorial panel, through speech, outlining:

1. Most Sicilians preferred him to Caecilius Niger2. He, unlike Caecilius Niger, had no conflict of interest3. He closely understood how Verres had victimised the provincials4. Caecilius Niger lacked the skills to be an effective prosecutor

• Defence wanted to postpone the trial until autumn games, which would move the trial to the following year – Through convincing Glabrio to prioritise the extortion charges against the governor of Achaia, putting it one day before the Verres case

• Verres also tried to ruin Cicero’s chances of aedileship, through bribing electorates, but Cicero was still successfully elected, because of his publicity as a fair politician, opposing dishonest administration

Cicero’s preparation

1. Cicero formally charged Verres with extortion of 40 million sesterces – A penalty of 100 million sesterces (maximum allowed by law)

2. Cicero was granted a 110-day adjournment to travel to Sicily to gather evidence – Allowing the governor of Achaia case to be put one day ahead of the Verres case

3. After only 50 days, enough evidence had been gathered – Showing highly efficient attention to fine detail – Also avoiding prolongation & maximising publicity (needed for aedileship)

4. Glabrio, unusually, avoided delaying the case, as a result of Verres’ underhand tactics – Verres’ postponement plan failed

Cicero’s presentation• Highly rhetorical performance• Cicero emphasises personal danger involved in case – Avoided

with the help of friends• Hyperbolic extension – Danger to the senate, the Roman

people and even the whole world• Creates impression that the senate’s reputation is at risk –

Elections controlled through bribery, especially under Verres• Sensationalist statements about Verres’ alleged public boasting

& acquittal though bribery (Chapters 7 & 8)• Lists Verres’ crimes and hints they are just a fraction of the

entire picture, as he has refrained from giving details of other major offences, out of respect for victims

• Exposes Verres’ plans of postponement, bribery & plans to ruin Cicero’s chances of aedileship, etc.

Chapter 1

• Introduction to case – Cicero implies that this criminal case is like the whole senatorial order is on trial, not just Verres

• Persuasive techniques:– Exaggeration/Hyperbole – “The deduction will be that

there are no good judges in the land”– Emotive/Violence language – “Fatal effect on our nation”– Strong imagery – “An annihilating pestilence”– Patriotism – “At this grave crisis in the history of our

country”

Chapter 2

• Cicero explains that Verres has plotted a “fresh series of criminal plots”

• Verres bribes everyone – “Nothing is too sacred to be corrupted by money”

• Self-aggrandisement – “The keen hopes that are invested in this speech of mine”

• Verres is hated by the people – “Virulent hostility”• Cicero exposes the governor of Achaia case – The

investigator never even left Rome – “Indeed, this Achaian investigator never even reached Brundisium!”

Chapters 3, 4 & 5

• Chapter 3:– Flattery – Cicero describes the jury as “highly responsible

deputations”– Psychological manipulation – Flattery & self-aggrandisement to

convince the jury that supporting Cicero is the right thing to do, to benefit the state

– Cicero talks about Verres’ hopes of acquittal are poor with Glabrio as praetor (presiding judge)

• Chapters 4 & 5 – Cicero summarises Verres’ career up to & including governorship of Sicily:– Robbing/looting of holy shrines & people’s homes, etc.– “Disloyalty to his superior” – Verres gave evidence against Dolabella

Chapter 6

• Verres’ attempted bribery of the judges• Cicero’s challenging of the panel of the judges –

“My labours again frustrated the unscrupulous tactics of the opposition” – Verres now truly at risk of condemnation

• Cicero’s detection of the defence’s schemes – “But then next year’s consuls were elected, and see, the same old intrigues are under way again!”– 70 BCE consuls: Pompey & Crassus– 69 BCE consuls: Hortensius & Quintus Metellus

Chapter 7• Cicero gives evidence of postponement plan – Curio’s

public congratulations of Verres on Hortensius’ consulship for the coming year – “I hereby proclaim... that today’s elections mean your acquittal”

• Cicero reflects on the powerlessness of the courts in the face of such political corruption – “...it was now clear for all to see how impotent our country has become. Does a man one day regard his conviction as certain, and on the next procure acquittal when his advocate [Hortensius] has become consul?”

Chapter 8• Expresses senatorial fears that the control of the courts

will be taken away from them if Verres is acquitted• The 8 praetors for 69 BCE allotted their duties: Marcus

Caecilius Metellus given presidency of the extortion court – “Verres had again received warm congratulations. He even sent people to his home to tell his wife the news!”

• According to Cicero – Verres uses Sicilian plunder to bribe election agents in Cicero’s run for aedileship – “Then he (Verres) had at once gone on to promise them (the electorates) any sum they chose to ask if they would block my election as aedile”

Chapter 9• The people in favour of Cicero, so still elected as aedile – “However

the citizens of Rome... most whole-heartedly arranged matters so that the man [Verres]... did not succeed any better in his attempt to keep me out of office”

• Cicero explains why the defence want to put off the trial – To wait until Marcus is president of the extortion court – “Marcus Metellus is extremely well-disposed to Verres”

• Cicero implies that 69 BCE’s joint consulship of Hortensius & Quintus Metellus was achieved through Verres’ bribery

• Quintus Metellus tries to intimidate the Sicilian witnesses – “I am consul, one of my brothers is governor in Sicily, the other is going to be president... many measures have been taken to ensure that Verres will come to no harm”

Chapter 10

• Cicero emphasises & flatters upstanding character of current judges:– Caesonius - “He is a well-known and experienced judge”– “Nor shall we have the just and scrupulous Quintus

Manlius”– Publius Sulpicius – “Another judge of strict and lofty

principle”• Defence wanted to delay the trial until the games in

mid-August – Public & legal business suspended on such festival days – “They count on these circumstances to damp and exhaust the prosecution”

Consequences

• Verres retired to Massilia in voluntary exile & is condemned an outlaw

• Cicero successfully elected aedile• Cicero becomes Rome’s supreme orator –

After defeat of Hortensius• Cicero a politician of principle – Similarly to

Pompey, supports interests of equites – Seeks to increase their political influence in the state