 Chapter 5 of The Life of Cicero, Volume 1. Cicero was elected Quistor in his thirtieth year, B.C. 76. He was then nearly thirty-one. His predecessors and rivals at the bar, Cota and Hortensius, were elected Consul and Pritor, respectively, in the same year. To become Quistor at the earliest age allowed by the law, at thirty-one, namely, was the ambition of the Roman advocate who purposed to make his fortune by serving the state. To act as Quistor in his thirtieth year, Edial in his thirtieth seventh, Pritor in his forty-first, and Consul in his forty-fourth year, was to achieve in the earliest succession allowed by law all the great officers of trust, power, and future emolument. The great reward of Proconsula wrapping did not generally come till after the last step. Though there were notable instances in which a Propritor with Proconsula authority could make a large fortune, as we shall learn when we come to deal with Veris. And though Edials and even Quistors could find pickings. It was therefore a great thing for a man to begin as early as the law would permit, and to lose as few years as possible in reaching the summit. Cicero lost none. As he himself tells us in the passage to which I have referred in the last chapter, and which is to be found in the appendix, he gained the goodwill of men, that is, of free Romans who had the suffrage, and who could therefore vote either for him or against him, by the assiduity of his attention to the cases which he undertook, and by a certain brilliancy of speech which was new to them. Putting his hand strenuously to the plow, allowing himself to be diverted by none of those luxuries to which Romans of his day were so wont to give way, he earned his purpose by a resolution to do his very best. He was Novus Homo, a man that is, belonging to a family of which no member had as yet filled high office in the State. Against such there was a strong prejudice with the aristocracy who did not like to see the good things of the Republic dispersed among an increased number of hands. The power of voting was common to all Roman male citizens, but the power of influencing the electors had passed very much into the hands of the rich. The admiration which Cicero had determined to elicit would not go very far unless it could be produced in a very high degree. A verise could get himself made prior to, or a lepidus some years since could receive the consulship, or now an Antony, or almost a Catiline. The candidate would borrow money on the security of his own audacity, and would thus succeed, perhaps with some minor gifts of eloquence, if he could achieve them. With all this, the borrowing and the spending of money, that is, with direct bribery, Cicero would have nothing to do, but of the art of canvassing, that art by which he could, at the moment, make himself beloved by the citizens who had a vote to give, he was a profound master. There is a short treatise de petizione consulatus on canvassing for the consulship, of which mention may be made here, because all the tricks of the trade were as essential to him when looking to be quite store, as when he afterward desired to be consul, and because the political doings of his life will hurry us on too quickly in the days of his consulship to admit of our referring to these lessons. This little piece of which we have only a fragment, is supposed to have been addressed to Cicero by his brother Quintus, giving fraternal advice as to the then coming great occasion. The critics say that it was retouched by the orator himself. The reader who has studied Cicero's style will think that the retouching went to a great extent, or that the two brothers were very like each other in their power of expression. The first piece of advice was no doubt always in Cicero's mind, not only when he looked for office, but whenever he addressed a meeting of his fellow citizens. Bethink yourself, what is this republic, what it is you seek to be in it, and who you are that seek it? As you go down daily to the forum, turn the answer to this in your mind. I am a man of an untried family. It is the consulship that I seek. It is Rome in which I seek it. Though the condition of Rome was bad, still to him the republic was the greatest thing in the world, and to be consul in that republic the highest honour which the world could give. There is nobility in that, but there is very much that is ignoble in the means of canvassing which are advocated. I cannot say that they are as yet too ignoble for our modern use here in England, but they are too ignoble to be acknowledged by our candidates themselves or by their brothers on their behalf. Cicero, not having progressed far enough in modern civilisation to have studied the beauty of truth, is held to be false and hypocritical. We who know so much more than he did, and have the doctrine of truth that our fingers ends, are wise enough to declare nothing of our own shortcomings, but to attribute such malpractices only to others. It is a good thing to be thought worthy of the rank we seek by those who are in possession of it. Make yourself out to be an aristocrat, he means. Canvass them and cotton to them. Make them believe that in matters of politics you have always been with the aristocracy never with the mob, that if you have at all spoken a word in public to tickle the people, you have done so for the sake of gaining Pompey. As to this it is necessary to understand Pompey's peculiar popularity at the moment, both with the Liberals and with the Conservatives. Above all, see that you have with you the Jeunesse d'Orée. They carry so much. There are many with you already. Take care that they shall know how much you think of them. He is especially desired to make known to the public the iniquities of Casaline, his opponent, as to whom Quintus says that, though he has lately been acquitted in regard to his speculations in Africa, he has had to bribe the judges so highly that he is now as poor as they were before they got their plunder. At every word we read we are tempted to agree with Momson that on the Roman oligarchy of the period no judgment can be passed save one of inexorable condemnation. Remember, says Quintus, that your candidature is very strong in that kind of friendship which has been created by your pleadings. Take care that each of those friends shall know what special business is allotted to him on the occasion, and as you have not troubled any of them yet, make them understand that you have reserved for the present moment the payment of their debts. This is all very well, but the next direction mingles so much of business with its truth that no one but Machiavelli or Quintus Cicero could have expressed it in words. Men, says Quintus, are induced to struggle for us in these canvassings by three motives, by memory of kindness done, by the hope of kindness to come, and by community of political conviction. You must see how you ought to catch each of these. All favours will induce a man to canvass for you, and they who owe their safety to your pleadings, for there are many such, are aware that if they do not stand by you now, they will be regarded by all the world as sorry fellows. Nevertheless, they should be made to feel that, as they are indebted to you, you will be glad to have an opportunity of becoming indebted to them. But as to those on whom you have a hold only by hope, a class of men very much more numerous and likely to be very much more active, they are the men whom you should make to understand that your assistance will be always at their command. How severe, how difficult was the work of canvassing in Rome, we learned from these lessons. It was the very essence of a great Roman's life that he should live in public, and to such an extent was this carried, that we wonder how such a man as Cicero found time for the real work of his life. The Roman patron was expected to have a levy every morning early in his own house, and was wont when he went down into the forum to be attended by a crowd of parasites. This had become so much a matter of course that a public man would have felt himself deserted had he been left alone either at home or abroad. Rome was full of idlers, of men who got their bread by the favours of the great, who lounged through their lives, political quidnunks who made canvassing a trade, men without a conviction, but who believed in the ascendancy of this or the other leader, and were ready to fawn or to fight in the streets, as there might be need. These were the cuirates of the day, men who were in truth fattened on the leavings of the plunder which was extracted from the allies, for it was the case now that a Roman was content to live on the industry of those whom his father had conquered. They would still fight in the legions, but the work of Rome was done by slaves, and the wealth of Rome was robbed from the provinces. Hence it came about that there was a numerous class to whom the name Asectatores was given, who of course became specially prominent at elections. Quintus divides all such followers into three kinds, and gives instructions as to the special treatment to be applied to each. There are those who come to pay their respects to you at your own house, Salutatores, they were called. Then those who go down with you into the forum, Deductores, and after these the third, the class of constant followers, Asectatores as they were specially named. As to the first, who are the least in consequence, and who according to our present ways of living come in great numbers, you should take care to let them know that their doing even so much as this is much esteemed by you. Let them perceive that you note it when they come, and say as much to their friends who will repeat your words. Tell themselves often if it be possible. In this way men, when there are many candidates, will observe that there is one who has his eyes open to these courtesies, and they will give themselves heart and soul to him, neglecting all others. And mind you, when you find that a man does but pretend, do not let him perceive that you have perceived it. Should any one wish to excuse himself, thinking that he is suspected of indifference, swear that you have never doubted him nor had occasion to doubt. As to the work of the Deductores who go out with you, as it is much more severe than that of those who merely come to pay their compliments, let them understand that you feel it to be so, and, as far as possible, be ready to go into town with them at fixed hours. Quintus here means that the Deductores are not to be kept waiting for the patron longer than can be helped. The attendance of a daily crowd in taking you down to the forum gives a great show of character and dignity. Then come the band of followers which accompanies you diligently wherever you go. As to those who do this without special obligation, take care that they should know how much you think of them. From those who owe it to you as a duty, exact it rigorously. See that they who can come themselves do come themselves, and that they who cannot send others in their places. What an idea does this give as to the labour of a candidate in Rome. I can imagine it to be worse even than the canvassing of an English borough, which to a man of spirit and honour is the most degrading of all existing employments not held to be absolutely disgraceful. Quintus then goes on from the special management of friends to the general work of canvassing. It requires the remembering of men's names, nomen classionem, a happy word we do not possess, flattery, diligence, sweetness of temper, good report, and a high standing in the republic. Let it be seen that you have been at the trouble to remember people, and practise yourself to it so that the power may increase with you. There is nothing so alluring to the citizen as that. If there be a softness which you have not by nature, so affect it that it shall seem to be your own naturally. You have indeed a way with you which is not unbecoming to a good-natured man, but you must caress men, which is in truth vile and sordid as other times, but is absolutely necessary at elections. It is no doubt a mean thing to flatter some low fellow, but when it is necessary to make a friend it can be pardoned. A candidate must do it, whose face and look and tongue should be made to suit those he has to meet. What perseverance means, I need not tell you. The word itself explains itself. As a matter of course you shall not leave the city, but it is not enough for you to stick to your work in Rome and in the Forum. You must seek out the voters and canvass them separately, and take care that no one shall ask from another what it is that you want from him. Let it have been solicited by yourself, and often solicited. This seems to have understood the business well, and the elder brother no doubt profited by the younger brother's care. It was so they did it at Rome. That men should have gone through all this in search of plunder and wealth does not strike us as being marvellous or even out of place. A vile object justifies vile means. But there were some at Rome who had it in their hearts really to serve their country, and with whom it was at the same time a matter of conscience that in serving their country they would not dishonestly or dishonorably enrich themselves. There was still a grain of salt left. But even this could not make itself available for useful purpose without having recourse to tricks such as these. Sidenote. BC. 75. Aetat. 32. In his proper year Cicero became Qaestor, and had assigned to him by lot the duty of looking after the western division of Sicily. For Sicily, though but one province as regarded general condition, being under one governor with proconsular authority, retained separate modes of government, or rather varied forms of subjection to Rome, especially in matters of taxation, according as it had or had not been conquered from the Carthaginians. Cicero was quartered at Lilibeum on the west, whereas the other Qaestor was placed at Syracuse in the east. There were at that time twenty Qaestors elected annually, some of whom remained in Rome, but most of the number were stationed about the empire, there being always one as assistant to each proconsul. When a consul took the field with an army, he always had a Qaestor with him. This had become the case so generally that the Qaestor became, as it were, something between a private secretary and a senior lieutenant to a governor. The arrangement came to have a certain sanctity attached to it, as though there was something in the connection warmer and closer than that of mere official life, so that a Qaestor has been called a proconsul's son for the time, and was supposed to feel that reverence and attachment that a son entertains for his father. But to Cicero and to young Qaestors in general, the great attraction of the office consisted in the fact that the aspirant, having once become a Qaestor, was a senator for the rest of his life, unless he should be degraded by misconduct. Similarly it had come to pass that the senate was replenished by the votes of the people, not directly, but by the admission into the senate of the popularly elected magistrates. There were in the time of Cicero between five hundred and six hundred members of this body, the numbers down to the time of Sulla had been increased or made up by direct selection by the old kings, or by the censors, or by some dictator such as was Sulla, and the same thing was done afterward by Julius Caesar. The years between Sulla's dictatorship and that of Caesar were but thirty, from seventy-nine to forty-nine B.C. These, however, were the years in which Cicero dreamed that the republic could be re-established by means of an honest senate, which senate was then to be kept alive by the constant infusion of new blood, accruing to it from the entrance of magistrates who had been chosen by the people. Tacitus tells us that it was with this object that Sulla had increased the number of quiestores. Cicero's hopes, his futile hopes of what an honest senate might be made to do, still ran high, although at the very time in which he was elected quiestore he was aware that the judges, then elected from the senate, were so corrupt that their judgment could not be trusted. Of this popular mode of filling the senate he speaks afterwards in his treatise De Legibus. From those who have acted as magistrates the senate is composed, a measure altogether in the popular interest, as no one can now reach the highest rank, namely the senate, except by the vote of the people, all power of selecting having been taken away from the censors. In his pleadings for P. Sextus he makes the same boast as to old times, not with absolute accuracy as far as we can understand the old constitution, but with the same passion at Arda as to the body. Romans, when they could no longer endure the rule of kings, created annual magistrates, but after such fashion that the council of the senate was set over the republic for its guidance. Senators were chosen for that work by the entire people, and the entrance to that order was opened to the virtue and to the industry of the citizens at large. When defending Cluantius he expaciates on the glorious privileges of the Roman senate. Its high place, its authority, its splendour at home, its name and fame abroad, the purple robe, the ivory chair, the appanage of office, the faschis, the army with its command, the government of the provinces. On that splendour, upward exterasquentes, he expaciates in one of his attacks upon Veres. From all this will be seen Cicero's idea of the chamber into which he had made his way as soon as he had been chosen crystal. In this matter, which was the pivot on which his whole life turned, the character namely of the Roman senate, it cannot but be observed that he was wont to blow both hot and cold. It was his nature to do so, not from any aptitude for deceit, but because he was sanguine and vacillating, because he now aspired, and now despaired. He blew hot and cold in regard to the senate, because at times he would feel it to be what it was, composed for the most part of men who were time-serving and corrupt, willing to sell themselves for a price to any buyer. And then again at times he would think of the senate as endowed with all those privileges which he names, and would dream that under his influence it would become what it should be, such a senate as he believed it to have been in its old, palmy days. His praise of the senate, his description of what it should be and might be, I have given. To the other side of the picture which shall come soon, when I shall have to show how, at the trial of Berries, he declared before the judges themselves how terrible had been the corruption of the judgment seat in Rome, since, by Sulla's enactment, it had been occupied only by the senators. One passage I will give now in order that the reader may see by the juxtaposition of the words that he could denounce the senate as loudly as he could vaunt its privileges. In the column on the left hand in the note I quote the words with which in the first pleading against Berries he declared, that every base and iniquitous thing done on the judgment seat during the ten years since the power of judging had been transferred to the senate should be not only denounced by him, but also proved. And in that on the right I will repeat the noble phrases which he afterward used in the speech for Cluentius when he chose to speak well of the order. Contraverem, Actio Prima, Chapter 13. Omnia non modo commemora buntur, sed etiam expositis kertis rebus agentur, coi in ter decem annus posteaco amjudiciat senatum translata sunt, in rebus judicandis ne farii flagetiosa coe facta sunt. Pro Cluentio, 56. Locus, autoritas, domis splendor, apud exteras nationes nomenet gratia, toga pretesta, kella curulis, insignia, fasques, exerquitos, imperia, prowincia. End of footnote. It was on the senate that they who wished well for Rome must depend. On the senate, chosen, refreshed and replenished from among the people, on a body which should be at the same time august and popular, as far removed on the one side from the tyranny of individuals, as on the other from the violence of the mob, but on a senate freed from its corruption and dirt, on a body of noble Romans fitted by their individual character and high rank to rule and to control their fellow-citizens. This was Cicero's idea, and this the state of things which he endeavored to achieve. No doubt he dreamed that his own eloquence and his own example might do more in producing this than is given to men to achieve by such means. No doubt there was conceit in this, conceit, and perhaps vanity. It has to be admitted that Cicero always exaggerated his own powers. But the ambition was great, the purpose noble, and the course of his whole life was such as to bring no disgrace on his aspirations. He did not thunder against the judges for taking bribes and then plunder a province himself. He did not speak grandly of the duty of a patron to his clients and then open his hands to illicit payments. He did not call upon the senate for high duty and then devote himself to luxury and pleasure. He had a beau idéal of the manner in which a Roman senator should live and work, and he endeavored to work and live up to that ideal. There was no period after his consulship in which he was not aware of his own failure. Nevertheless, with constant labour, but with intermittent struggles, he went on, till at the end in the last fiery year of his existence he taught himself again to think that even yet there was a chance. How he struggled and in struggling perished we shall see by and by. What Cicero did as questor in Sicily we have no means of knowing. His correspondence does not go back so far that he was very active and active for good we have two testimonies one of which is serious, convincing and most important as an episode in his life the other consists simply of a good story told by himself, of himself not intended at all for his own glorification but still carrying with it a certain weight. As to the first Cicero was questor in Lilibeum in the thirty-second year of his life in the thirty-seventh year he was elected Edile and was then called upon by the Sicilians to attack Veris on their behalf. Veris was said to have carried off from Sicily plunder to the amount of nearly four hundred thousand pounds after a misrule of three years duration. All Sicily was ruined. Beyond its pecuniary losses its sufferings had been excruciating but not till the end had come of a governor's proconsular authority could the almost hopeless chance of a criminal accusation against the tyrant be attempted. The tyrant would certainly have many friends in Rome the injured provincials would probably have none of great mark. A man because he had been questor was not necessarily one having influence unless he belonged to some great family. This was not the case with Cicero but he had made for himself such a character during his year of office that the Sicilians declared that if they could trust themselves to any man at Rome it would be to their former questor. It had been a part of his duty to see that the proper supply of corn was collected in the island and sent to Rome. A great portion of the bread eaten in Rome was grown in Sicily and much of it was supplied in the shape of a tax. It was the hateful practice of Rome to extract the means of living from her colonies so as to spare her own labourers. To this, hard as it was the Sicilians were well used. They knew the amount required of them by law and were glad enough when they could be quit in payment of the dues which the law required but they were seldom blessed by such moderation on the part of their rulers. To what extent this special tax could be stretched we shall see when we come to the details of the trial of Verri's. It is no doubt only from Cicero's own words that we learn that although he sent to Rome plenty of supplies he was just to the dealer liberal to the pawns and forbearing to the allies generally and that when he took his departure they paid him honors hitherto unheard of. But I think we must take it for granted that this statement is true firstly because it has never been contradicted and then from the fact that the Sicilians all came to him in the day of their distress. As to the little story to which I have eluded it has been told so often since Cicero told it himself that I am almost ashamed to repeat it. It is however too emblematic of the man gives us too close an insight both into his determination to do his duty and to his pride and his conceit, if you will, at having done it to be omitted. In his speech for Planchius he tells us that by chance coming direct from Sicily after his Christorship he found himself at Puteoli just at the season when the fashion from Rome betook itself to that delightful resort. He was full of what he had done how he had supplied Rome with corn but had done so without injury to the Sicilians how honestly he had dealt with the merchants and had in truth won golden opinions on all sides so much so that he thought that when he reached the city the citizens in a mob would be ready to receive him. Then at Puteoli he met two acquaintances ah! says one to him when did you leave Rome what news have you brought? Cicero drawing his head up as we can see him replied that he had just returned from his province of course just back from Africa said the other not so said Cicero bridling in anger stomacans fastidiose as he describes it himself but from Sicily then the other lounger a fellow who pretended to know everything put in his word do you not know that our Cicero has been quite sure at Syracuse? the reader will remember that he had been quite sure in the other division of the island at Lilibeum there was no use in thinking any more about it says Cicero I gave up being angry and determined to be like anyone else just one at the waters yes he had been very conceited and well understood his own fault of character in that respect but he would not have shown his conceit in that matter had he not resolved to do his duty in a manner uncommon then among quite stores and been conscious that he had done it perhaps there is no more certain way of judging a man than from his own words if his real words be in our possession in doing so we are bound to remember how strong will be the bias of every man's mind in his own favour and for that reason a judicious reader will discount a man's praise of himself but the reader to get at the truth if he be indeed judicious will discount them after a fashion conformable with the nature of the man whose character he is investigating a reader will not be judicious who imagines that what a man says of his own praises must be false or that all which can be drawn from his own words in his own dis-praise must be true if a man praise himself for honour, probity, industry and patriotism he will at any rate show that these virtues are dear to him unless the course of his life has proved him to be altogether a hypocrite in such utterances it has not been presumed that Cicero was a hypocrite in these utterances he was honest and industrious he did appreciate honour and love his country so much is acknowledged and yet it is supposed that what good he has told us of himself is false if a man doubt of himself constantly if in his most private intercourse and closest familiar utterances he admit occasionally his own human weakness if he find himself to have failed and says so the very feelings that have produced such confessions are proof that the highest points which have not been attained have been seen and valued a man will not sorrowfully regret that he has won only a second place or a third unless he be alive to the glory of the first but Cicero's acknowledgements have all been taken as proof against himself all manner of evil is argued against him from his own words and ill meaning can be attached to them but when he speaks of his great aspirations he is ridiculed for bombast and vanity on the strength of some perhaps unconsidered expression in a letter to Atticus he is condemned for treachery whereas the sentences in which he has thoughtfully declared the purposes of his very soul are counted as claptraps no one has been so frequently condemned out of his mouth as Cicero and naturally in these modern days we have contemporary records as to prominent persons of the characters of those who lived in long past ages we generally fail to have any clear idea because we lack those close chronicles which are necessary for the purpose what insight have we into the personality of Alexander the Great or what insight had Plutarch who wrote about him as to Samuel Johnson we seem to know every turn of his mind having had a Boswell Alexander had no Boswell but here is a man belonging to those past ages of which I speak who was his own Boswell and after such a fashion that since letters were invented no records have ever been written in language more clear or more attractive it is natural that we should judge out of his own mouth one who left so many more words behind him than did anyone else particularly one who left words so pleasant to read and all that he wrote was after some fashion about himself his letters, like all letters are personal to himself his speeches are words coming out of his own mouth about affairs in which he was personally engaged and interested his rhetoric consists of lessons given by himself about his own art founded on his own experience and on his own observation of others his so called philosophy gives us the workings of his own mind no one has ever told the world so much about another person as Cicero has told the world about Cicero Boswell pales before him as a chronicler of minutiae it may be a matter of small interest now to the bulk of readers to be intimately acquainted with a Roman who was never one of the world's conquerors it may be well for those who desire to know simply the facts of the world's history to dismiss as unnecessary the aspirations of one who lived so long ago but if it be worthwhile to discuss the man's character it must be worthwhile to learn the truth about it oh that my adversary had written a book who does not understand the truth of these words it is always out of a man's mouth that you may most surely condemn him Cicero wrote many books and all about himself he has been honoured very highly Middleton in the preface to his own biography which with all its charms has become a byword for eulogy quotes the opinion of Erasmus who tells us that he loves the writings of the man not only for the divine felicity of his style but for the sanctity of his heart and morals this was the effect left on the mind of an accurate thinker and most just man but then also has Cicero been spoken of with the bitterest scorn from Dio Cassius who wrote two hundred and twenty years after Christ down to Mr. Frude whose Caesar has just been published he has had such hard things said of him by men who have judged him out of his own mouth that the reader does not know how to reconcile what he now reads with the opinion of men of letters who lived and wrote in the century next after his death with the testimony of such a man as Erasmus and with the hearty praises of his biographer Middleton the sanctity of his heart and morals it was thus that Erasmus was struck in reading his works it is a feeling of that kind I profess that his induced me to take this work in hand a feeling produced altogether by the study of his own words it has seemed to be that he has loved men so well has been so anxious for the true has been so capable of honesty when dishonesty was common among all around him has been so jealous in the cause and has been so hopeful when there has been but little ground for hope as to have deserved a reputation for sanctity of heart and morals of the speeches made by Cicero as advocate after his quest to ship and before those made in the accusation of varies we have the fragment only of the second of two spoken in defence of Marcus Tullius Decula whom we may suppose to have been distantly connected with his family he does not avow any relationship what he says in opening his argument does it become me a Tullius to do for this other Tullius a man not only my friend but my namesake it was a matter of no great importance as it was addressed to judges not so called but to recuperatores judges chosen by the praetor and who acted in lighter cases end of chapter 5 chapter 6 part 1 of the life of Cicero volume 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Philippa Jevons the life of Cicero volume 1 by Anthony Trollop chapter 6 varies part 1 there are six episodes or as I may say divisions in the life of Cicero to which special interest attaches itself the first is the accusation against varies in which he drove the miscreant howling out of the city the second is his consulship in which he drove catiline out of the city and caused certain other conspirators who were joined with the arch rebel to be killed either legally or illegally the third was his exile in which he himself was driven out of Rome the fourth was a driving out to though of a more honourable kind when he was compelled much against his will to undertake the government of a province the fifth was Caesar's passing of the Rubicon the battle of Varsalia and his subsequent adherence to Caesar the last was his internecine combat with Anthony which produced the Philippics and that memorable series of letters in which he strove to stir into flames the expiring embers of the Republic the literary work with which we are acquainted is spread but spread very unevenly over his whole life I have already told the story of Sextus Roschius Amorinas having taken it from his own words from that time onward he wrote continually but the fervid stream of his eloquence came forth from him with unrivaled rapidity in the twenty last miserable months of his life we have now come to the first of those episodes and I have to tell the way in which Cicero struggled with Veriz and how he conquered him in seventy-four B.C. Veriz was Praetor in Rome at that period of the Republic there were eight praetors elected annually two of whom remained in the city whereas the others were employed abroad generally with the armies of the empire in the next year seventy-three B.C. Veriz went in due course to Sicily a consular or propratorial authority having the government assigned to him for twelve months this was usual and constitutional but it was not unusual even if unconstitutional that this period should be prolonged in the case of Veriz it was prolonged so that he should hold the office for three years he had gone through the other offices of the state having been Quistor in Asia and Edile afterward in Rome to the great misfortune of all who were subjected to his handling as we shall learn by and by the facts are mentioned here to show that the great offices of the Republic were open to such a man as Veriz they were in fact more open to such a candidate than they would be to one less iniquitous to an honest man or a scrupulous one or to one partially honest or not altogether unscrupulous if you send a dog into a wood to get truffles you will endeavour to find one truffles as possible a proconsular robber did not rob only for himself he robbed more or less for all Rome Veriz boasted that with his three years of rule he could bring enough home to bribe all the judges secure all the best advocates and live in splendid opulence for the rest of his life what a dog he was to send into a wood for truffles to such condition as this had Rome fallen the deputies from Sicily came to complain of their late governor and to obtain the services of Cicero in seeking for whatever reparation might be possible Veriz had carried on his plunder during the years 73, 72, 71 B.C. during this time Cicero had been engaged sedulously as an advocate in Rome we know the names of some of the cases in which he was engaged those for instance for Publius Opius Cicero in Bithynia was accused by his proconsul of having endeavoured to rob the soldiers of their dues we are told that the poor province suffered greatly under these two officers who were always quarrelling as to a division of their plunder in this case the senior officer accused the younger and the younger by Cicero's aid was acquitted Quintillion more than once refers to the speech made for Opius Cicero also defended Veranus engaged with having murdered his brother and won Chios Mustius of whom we only know that he was a farmer of taxes he was advocate also for Sthenius a Sicilian who was accused before the tribunes by Veriz we shall hear of Sthenius again among the victims in Sicily the special charge in this case was that having been condemned by Veriz as Prito in Sicily he had run away to Rome which was illegal but was however acquitted of these speeches we have only some short fragments which have been quoted by authors whose works have come down to us such as Quintillion by which we know at any rate that Cicero's writings had been so far carefully preserved and that they were commonly read in those days I will translate here the concluding words of a short paper written by Monsieur de Rozois in reference to Cicero's life at this period the aciduity of our orator at the bar had obtained for him a high degree of favor among the people because they had seen how strictly he had observed that Sicilian law which forbade advocates to take either money or presents for their pleadings which law however the advocates of the day generally did not scruple to neglect it is a good thing to be honest when honesty is in vogue but to be honest when honesty is out of fashion is magnificent in the affair with Veris there are two matters to interest the reader indeed to instruct the reader if the story was sufficiently well told the iniquity of Veris is the first which is of so extravagant a nature as to become farcical by the absurdity of the extent to which he was not afraid to go in the furtherance of his avarice and lust as the victims suffered two thousand years ago we can allow ourselves to be amused by the exhaustible fertility of the man's resources and the singular iniquity of his schemes then we are brought face to face with the bare faced corruption of the Roman judges a corruption which however became a regular trade if not ennobled made at any rate aristocratic by the birth wealth, high names and senatorial rank of the robbers Sulla for certain state purposes which consisted in the maintenance of the oligarchy transferred the privileges of sitting on the judgment seat from the equites or knights to the senators from among the latter a considerable number thirty perhaps or forty or even fifty were appointed to sit with the bridal to hear criminal cases of importance and by their votes which were recorded on tablets the accused person was acquitted or condemned to be acquitted by the most profuse corruption entailed no disgrace on him who was tried and often but little on the judges who tried him in Cicero's time the practice with all its chances had come to be well understood the provincial governors with their quiet stores and lieutenants were chosen from the high aristocracy which also supplied the judges the judges themselves had been employed or hoped to be employed in similar lucrative service the leading advocates belong to the same class if the proconsular thief when he had made his bag would divide the spoil with some semblance of equity among his brethren nothing could be more convenient the provinces were so large and the Greek spirit of commercial enterprise which prevailed in them so lively that there was room for plunder ample at any rate for a generation or two the republic boasted that in its love of pure justice it had provided by certain laws for the protection of its allied subjects against any possible faults of administration on the part of its own offices if any injury were done to a province or a city or even to an individual the province or city or individual could bring its grievance to the ivory chair of the praetor in Rome and demand redress and there had been cases not a few in which a delinquent officer had been condemned to banishment much indeed was necessary before the scheme as it was found to exist by Veriz could work itself into perfection Veriz felt that in his time everything had been done for security as well as splendor he would have all the great officers of state on his side the Sicilians, if he could manage the case as he thought it might be managed would not have a leg to stand upon there was many a trick within his power before they could succeed in making good even their standing before the praetor it was in this condition of things that Cicero bethought himself that he might at one blow break through the corruption of the judgment seat and this he determined to do by subjecting the judges to the light of public opinion if Veriz could be tried under a bushel as it were in the dark as many others have been tried so that little or nothing should be said about the trial in the city at large then there would be no danger for the judges it could only be by shaming them by making them understand that Rome would become too hot to hold them that they could be brought to give a verdict against the accused this it was that Cicero determined to effect and did effect and we see throughout the whole pleadings that he was concerned in the matter not only for the Sicilians or against Veriz could something be done for the sake of Rome for the Republic to redeem the courts of justice from the obliquy which was attached to them might it be possible for a man so to address himself not only to the judgment seat but to all Rome as to do away with this iniquity once and forever could he so fill the minds of the citizens generally with horror at such proceedings as to make them earnest in demanding reform Hortensius the great advocate of the day engaged on behalf of Veriz but he was already chosen as consul for the next year Metellus who was elected Pritol for the next year was hot in defence of Veriz indeed there were three Metelluses among the friends of the accused who also had on his side the Scipio of the day the aristocracy of Rome was altogether on the side of Veriz as was natural but if Cicero might succeed at all in this which he meditated the very greatness of his opponents would help him when it was known that he was to be pitted against Hortensius as an advocate and that he intended to defy Hortensius as the coming consul then surely Rome would be awake to the occasion and if Rome could be made to awake herself then would this beautiful scheme of wealth from provincial plunder be brought to an end I will first speak of the work of the judges and of the attempts made to hinder Cicero in the business he had undertaken then I will endeavour to tell something of the story of Veriz and his doings the subject divides itself naturally in this way there are extant seven so called errations about Veriz of which the two first apply to the manner in which the case should be brought before the courts these two were really spoken and were so effective that Veriz, or probably Hortensius on his behalf was frightened into silence Veriz pleaded guilty as we should say which in accordance with the usages of the court he was unable to do by retiring and going into voluntary banishment this he did sooner than stand his ground and listened to the narration of his iniquities as it would be given by Cicero in the full speech the perpetual oratio which would follow the examination of the witnesses what the orator said after the examination of the witnesses was very short he had to husband his time as it was a part of the grand scheme of Hortensius to get adjournment after adjournment because of certain sacred rites and games during the celebration of which the courts could not sit all this was arranged for in the scheme but Cicero in order that he might baffle the schemers got through his preliminary work as quickly as possible saying all that he had to say about the manner of the trial was about the scheme but dilating very little on the iniquities of the criminal but having thus succeeded having gained his cause in a great measure by the unexpected quickness of his operations then he told his story then was made that perpetual oratio by which we have learned the extent to which a Roman governor could go on desolating a people who are entrusted to his protection this full narration is divided into five parts each devoted to a separate class of iniquity these were never spoken though they appear in the form of speeches they would have been spoken if required in answer to the defence made by Hortensius on behalf of Veriz after the hearing of the evidence but the defence broke down altogether in the fashion thus described by Cicero himself in that one hour in which I spoke this was the speech which we designate as the actio prima contra uerem the first pleading made against Veriz to which we shall come just now I took away all hope of bribing the judges from the accused from this brazen-faced, rich, disilute and abandoned man on the first day of the trial on the mere calling of the names of the witnesses the people of Rome were able to perceive that if this criminal were absolved then there could be no chance for the Republic on the second day his friends and advocates had not only lost all hope of gaining their cause but all relish for going on with it the third day so paralysed the man himself that he had to rethink himself not what sort of reply he could make but how he could escape the necessity of replying by pretending to be ill it was in this way that the trial was brought to an end but we must go back to the beginning when an accusation was to be made against some great Roman of the day on account of illegal public mis-doings as was to be made now against Veriz the conduct of the case which would require probably great labour and expense and would give scope for the display of oratorical excellence was regarded as a task in which young aspirant public favour might obtain honour and by which he might make himself known to the people it had therefore come to pass that there might be two or more accusers anxious to undertake the work and to show themselves off a solicitous on behalf of injured innocents or desirous of labouring in the service of the republic when this was the case a court of judges was called upon to decide whether this man or that other was most fit to perform the work in hand such a trial was called divinatio because the judges had to get their lights in the matter as best they could with the assistance of witnesses by some process of divination with the aid of the gods as it might be Cicero's first speech in the matter of Veriz is called because one Caicilius came forward to take the case away from him here was a part of the scheme laid by Hortensius to deal with Cicero in such a matter would no doubt be awkward his purpose his diligence, his skill his eloquence, his honesty were known there must be a trial so much was acknowledged but if the conduct of it could be relegated to a man who was dishonest or who had no skill, no fitness no special desire for success then a little scheme could be carried through in that way so Caicilius was put forward as Cicero's competitor and our first speech is that made by Cicero to prove superiority to that of his rival whether Caicilius was or was not hired to break down in his assumed duty as accuser we do not know the biographers have agreed to say that such was the case grounding their assertion no doubt on extreme probability but I doubt whether there is any evidence as to this Cicero himself brings this accusation but not in that direct manner which he would have used had he been able to prove it the Sicilians at any rate said that it was so as to the incompetency of the man there was probably no doubt and it might be quite as serviceable to have had an incompetent as a dishonest accuser Caicilius himself had declared that no one could be so fit as himself for the work he knew Sicily well having been born there he had been quite sore there with various and had been able to watch no doubt there was or had been in more pious days a feeling that a quite store should never turn against the proconsul under whom he had served and to whom he had held the position almost of a son but there was less of that feeling now than here to for Veres had quarrelled with his quite store Opius was called on to defend himself against the proconsul with whom he had served no one could know the doings of the governor of a province as well as his own store and therefore so said Caicilius he would be the preferable accuser as to his hatred of the man there could be no doubt as to that everybody knew that they had quarrelled the purpose no doubt was to give some colourable excuse to the judges for rescuing Veres the great paymaster from the fangs of Cicero Cicero's speech on the occasion which as speeches went in those days was very short of sagacity and courage he had to plead his own fitness the unfitness of his adversary and the wishes in the matter of the Sicilians this had to be done with no halting phrases it was not simply his object to convince a body of honest men that with the view of getting at the truth he would be the better advocate of the two we may imagine that there was not a judge there not a Roman present who was not well aware of that before the orator began it was needed that the absurdity of the comparison between them should be declared so loudly that the judges would not dare to betray the Sicilians and to liberate the accused by choosing the incompetent man when Cicero rose to speak there was probably not one of them of his own party not a consul, a praetor an edile or a questor not a judge, not a senator not a hanger on about the courts but was anxious that Veres with his plunder should escape their hope of living upon the wealth of the provinces hung upon it but if he could speak winged words words that should fly all over Rome that might fly also among subject nations then would the judges not dare to carry out this portion of the scheme when, he says I had served as questor in Sicily and had left the province after such a fashion that all the Sicilians had a grateful memory of my authority there though they had older friends on whom they relied much they felt that I might be a bulwark to them in their need these Sicilians, harassed and robbed have now come to me in public bodies and have implored me to undertake their defence the time has come they say not that I should look after the interest of this or that man but that I should protect the very life and well-being of the whole province I am inclined by my sense of duty by the faith which I owe them by my pity for them by the example of all good Romans before me by the custom of the Republic by the old constitution to undertake this task not as pertaining to my own interests but to those of my close friends that was his own reason for undertaking the case then he reminds the judges of what the Roman people wished the people who had felt with dismay the injury inflicted upon them by Sulla's withdrawal of all power from the tribunes and by the putting the whole authority of the bench into the hands of the senators the Roman people much as they have been made to suffer regret nothing of that they have lost so much as the strength and majesty of the old judges it is with the desire of having them back that they demand for the tribunes their former power it is this misconduct of the present judges that has caused them to ask for another class of men for the judgment seat by the fault and to the shame of the judges of today the censor's authority which has hitherto always been regarded as odious and stern is now requested by the people then he goes on to show that if justice is intended this case will be put into the hands of him whom the Sicilians have themselves chosen had the Sicilians said that they were unwilling to trust their affairs to Caicilius because they had not known him but were willing to trust him Cicero whom they did know would not even that have been reasonable enough of itself but the Sicilians had known both of them had known Caicilius almost as well as Cicero and had expressed themselves clearly much as they desired to have Cicero they were as anxious not to have Caicilius even had they held their tongues about this everybody would have known it but they had been far from holding their tongues yet you offer yourself to these most unwilling clients he says turning to Caicilius yet you are ready to plead in a cause that does not belong to you yet you would defend those who would rather have no defender than such a one as you then he attacks Autensius the advocate for Veris let him not think that if I am to be employed here the judges can be bribed without infinite danger to all concerned in undertaking this cause of the Sicilians I undertake also the cause of the people of Rome at large it is not only that one wretched sinner should be crushed which is what the Sicilians want but that this terrible injustice should be stopped altogether in compliance with the wishes of the people when we remember how this was spoken in the presence of those very judges in the presence of Autensius himself in reliance only on the public opinion which he was to create by his own words we cannot but acknowledge that it is very fine after that he again turns upon Caicilius learn from me he says how many things are expected from him who undertakes the accusation of another if there be one of those qualities in you I will give up to you all that you ask Caicilius was probably even now in alliance with Veris he himself when Caisto had robbed the people in the collection of the corn dews and was unable therefore to include that matter in his accusation you can bring no charge against him on this head lest it be seen that you were a partner with him in the business he ridicules him as to his personal insufficiency what Caicilius as to those practices of the profession without which an action such as this cannot be carried on do you think that there is nothing in them need there be no skill in the business no habit of speaking no familiarity with the forum with the judgment seats and the laws I know well how difficult the ground is let me advise you to look into yourself and to see whether you are able to do that kind of thing have you got voice for it prudence, memory wit are you able to expose the life there is as it must be done to divide it into parts and make everything clear in doing all this though nature should have assisted you as it has not at all is of course implied if from your earliest childhood you had been imbued with letters if you had learned Greek at Athens instead of at Lilibeum Latin in Rome instead of in Sicily still would it not be a task of strength to undertake such a case so widely thought of to complete it by your industry and then to grasp it in your memory to make it plain by your eloquence and to support it with voice and strength sufficient have I these gifts you will ask would that I had but from my childhood I have done all that I could to attain them Cicero makes his point so well that I would feign go through the whole speech were it not that a similar reason might induce me to give abridgments of all his speeches it may not be that the readers of these orations will always sympathize with the orator in the matter which he has in hand though his power over words is so great as to carry the reader with him very generally even at this distance of time but the neatness with which the weapon is used the effectiveness of the thrust for the purpose intended which the nail is hit on the head never with an expenditure of unnecessary force but always with the exact strength wanted for the purpose these are the characteristics of Cicero's speeches which carry the reader on with the delight which he will want to share with others as a man when he has heard a good story instantly wishes to tell it again and with Cicero we are charmed by the modernness by the tone of today which his language takes the rapid way in which he runs from scorn to pity from pity to anger from anger to public zeal and then instantly to irony and ridicule implies a lightness of touch which not unreasonably surprises us as having endured for so many hundred years that poetry should remain to us even lined so vapid as some of those in which Ovid sang of love seems to be more natural because verses though they be light must have been labored but these words spoken by Cicero seem almost to ring in our ears as having come to us direct from a man's lips we see the anger gathering on the brow of Ortencius followed by a look of acknowledged defeat we see the startled attention of the judges as they begin to feel that in this case they must depart from their intended purpose we can understand how Cicilius cowered and found consolation being relieved from his task we can fancy how Veriz suffered Veriz whom no shame could have touched when all his bribes were becoming inefficient under the hands of the orator Cicero was chosen for the task and then the real work began the work as he did it was certainly beyond the strength of any ordinary advocate it was necessary that he should proceed to Cicili to obtain the evidence which was to be collected over the whole island he must rate up too all the previous details of the life of this robber he must be thoroughly prepared to meet the schemers on every point he asked for a hundred and ten days for the purpose of getting up his case but he took only fifty we must imagine that as he became more thoroughly versed in the intrigues of his adversaries new lights came upon him were he to use the whole time allotted to him or even half the time and then make such an exposition of the criminals he would delight to do were he to indulge himself with that perpetua oratio of which we hear then the trial would be protracted till the coming of certain public games during which the courts would not sit there seem to have been three sets of games in his way a special set for this year to be given by Pompey which was to last fifteen days then the Ludi Romani which were continued for nine days soon after that would come the games in honour of victory so soon that an adjournment over them would be obtained as a matter of course in this way the trial would be thrown over into the next year when Hortensius and one Metellus would be consuls and another Metellus would be the praetor controlling the judgement seats Glabrio was praetor for this present year in Glabrio Cicero could put some trust with Hortensius and the two Metelluses in power Veres would be as good as a quitted Cicero therefore had to be on the alert so that in this unexpected way by sacrificing his own grand opportunity for a speech he might conquer the schemers we hear how he went to Sicily in a little boat from an unknown port so as to escape the dangers contrived for him by the friends of Veres if it could be arranged that the clever advocate should be kidnapped by a pirate what a pleasant way would that be of putting an end to these abominable reforms let them get rid of Cicero if only for a time and the plunder might still be divided against all this he had to provide when in Sicily he travelled sometimes on foot for the sake of caution never with the retinue to which he was entitled as a Roman senator as a Roman senator he might have demanded free entertainment at any town he entered at great cost to the town but from all this he abstained and hurried back to Rome with his evidence so quickly that he was able to produce it before the judges so as to save the adjournments which he feared Veres retired from the trial pleading guilty after hearing the evidence of the witnesses and of the manner in which they told the story we have no account the second speech which we have the Divinacio or speech against Chalcilius having been the first is called the Actio Prima Contraverem the first process against Veres this is almost entirely confined to an exhortation to the judges Cicero had made up his mind to make no speech about Veres till after the trial should be over there would not be the requisite time the evidence he must bring forward and he would so appalled these corrupt judges that they should not dare to acquit the accused this Actio Prima contains the words in which he did appall the judges as we read them we pity the judges there were fourteen whose names we know that there may have been many more is probable there was the Praetor Orbanus of the day, Glabrio with him were Metellus one of the Praetors for the next year and Caesonius who with Cicero himself was Edile Designate there were three tribunes of the people and two military tribunes there was a Servilius a Catulus a Marcellus whom among these he suspected we can hardly say certainly he suspected Metellus to Servilius he paid an ornate compliment in one of the written orations published after the trial was over from whence we may suppose he was well inclined toward him of Glabrio he spoke well the body as a body was of such a nature that he found it necessary to appall them it is us that he begins not by human wisdom oh ye judges but by chance and by the aid as it were of the gods themselves an event has come to pass by which the hatred now felt for your order and the infamy attached to the judgment seat may be appeased for an opinion has gone abroad disgraceful to the Republic full of danger to yourselves which is in the mouths of all men not only here in Rome but through all nations that by these courts as they are now constituted a man if he be only rich enough will never be condemned though he be ever so guilty what an ex-audium with which to begin a forensic pleading before a bench of judges composed of pritals, ediles and coming consuls and this at a time too when men's minds were still full of Sulla's power when some were thinking that they too might be Sulla's when the idea was still strong that a few nobles ought to rule the Roman Empire for their own advantage and their own luxury what words to address a metellus and a marcellus I have brought before you such a wretch he goes on to say that by a just judgment upon him you can recover your favour with the people of Rome and your credit with other nations this is a trial in which you indeed will have to judge this man who is accused but in which also the Roman people will have to judge you by what is done to him will be determined whether a man who is guilty and at the same time rich can possibly be condemned in Rome if the matter goes amiss here all men will declare not that better men should be selected out of your order which would be impossible but that another order of citizens must be named from which to select the judges this short speech was made the witnesses were examined during nine days Julius with hardly a struggle to reply gave way and Verri's stood condemned by his own verdict End of Chapter 6 Part 1 Chapter 6 Part 2 of the Life of Cicero Volume 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Philippa Jevons The Life of Cicero Volume 1 by Anthony Trollop Chapter 6 Verri's Part 2 When the trial was over and Verri's had consented to go into exile and to pay whatever fine was demanded the perpetua oratio which Cicero thought good to make on the matter was published to the world it is written as though it was to have been spoken with counterfeit tricks of oratory with some tricks so well done in the first part of it everyone thinks that when these special words were prepared he must have intended to speak them it has been agreed however that such was not the case it consists of a narration of the villainies of Verri's and is divided into what have been called five different speeches to which the following appellations are given De praitura urbana in which we are told what Verri's did when he was city praitor and very many things also which he did before he came to that office De juristicione sicilienzi in which is described his conduct as a Roman magistrate on the island De re frumentaria setting forth the abomination of his exactions in regard to the corn tax De signis detailing the robberies he perpetuated in regard to statues and other ornaments and De supplicis giving an account of the murders he committed and the tortures he inflicted A question is sometimes mooted in conversation whether or no the general happiness of the world has been improved by increasing civilization when the reader finds from these stories as told by a leading Roman of the day how men were treated under the Roman oligarchy not only Greek allies but Romans also I think he will be inclined to answer the question in favor of civilization I can only give a few of the many little histories which have been preserved for us in this actio secunda but perhaps these few may suffice to show how a great Roman officer could demean himself in his government Of the doings of various before he went to Sicily I will select two It became his duty on one occasion a job which he seems to have sought for purpose of wrapping to go to Lampascus a town in Asia as lieutenant or legate for Dolla Bella who then had command in Asia Lampascus was on the helispont an allied town of specially good repute here he is put up as a guest with all the honors of a Roman officer at the house of a citizen named Janitor but he heard that another citizen on Philodarmus had a beautiful daughter an article with which we must suppose that Janitor was not equally well supplied varies determined to get at the lady orders that his creature rubrius shall be quartered at the house of Philodarmus Philodarmus who from his rank was entitled to be burdened only with the presence of leading Romans grumbles at this but having grumbled consents and having consented does the best to make his house comfortable he gives a great supper at which the Romans eat and drink and purposely create a tumult varies we understand was not there the intention is that the girl shall be carried away and brought to him in the middle of their cups the father is desired to produce his daughter but this he refuses to do rubrius then orders the doors to be closed and proceeds to ransack the house Philodarmus who will not stand this fetches his son and calls his fellow citizens around him rubrius succeeds in pouring boiling water over his host but in the row the Romans get the worst of it at last one of varies his lictors absolutely a Roman lictor is killed and the woman is not carried off the man at least bore the outward signs of a lictor but according to Cicero was in the pay of varies as his pimp so far varies fails and the reader rejoicing at the courage of the father who could protect his own house even against Romans begins to feel some surprise that this case should have been selected so far the lieutenant had not done the mischief he had intended but he soon avenges his failure he induces dolla bella his chief to have Philodarmus and his son carried off to Laodicea and there tried before Nero the then proconsul for killing the sham lictor they are tried at Laodicea before Nero varies himself sitting as one of the judges and are condemned then in the marketplace of the town in the presence of each other headed a thing as Cicero says very sad for all Asia to behold all this had been done some years ago and nevertheless varies had been chosen Prytor and sent to Sicily to govern the Sicilians when varies was Prytor at Rome the year before he was sent to Sicily it became his duty or rather privilege as he found it to see that a certain temple of castor in the city was given up in proper condition by the executors of a defunct citizen who had taken a contract for keeping it in repair this man whose name had been Junius left a son who was a Junius also under age with a large fortune in charge of various trustees, tutors as they were called whose duty it was to protect the heirs interests varies knowing of old that no property was so easily preyed on as that of a minor sees at once that something may be done with the temple of castor the heir took oath and to the extent of his property he was bound to keep the edifice in good repair but varies when he made an inspection finds everything to be in more than usually good repair there is not a scratch on the roof of which he can make use nothing has been allowed to go astray then one of his dogs for he had boasted to his friend Ligur that he always went about with dogs to look for him suggested that some of the columns were out of the perpendicular varies does not know what this means but the dog explains all columns are in fact by strict measurement more or less out of the perpendicular as we are told that all eyes squint a little though we do not see that they squint but as columns ought to be perpendicular here was a matter on which he might go to work he does go to work he is knowing their man knowing also that in the present condition of Rome it was impossible to escape from an unjust priter without paying largely went to his mistress and endeavoured to settle the matter with her here we have an amusing picture of the way in which the affairs of the city were carried on in that lady's establishment how she had her levy took her bribes and drove a lucrative trade doing however no good with her the trustees settled with an agent to pay Veri's two hundred thousand cisterces to drop the affair this was something under two thousand pounds but Veri's repudiated the arrangement with scorn he could do much better than that with such a temple and such a minor he puts the repairs up to auction and refusing a bid from the trustees themselves the very persons who are the most interested in getting the work done if there were work to do has it knocked down to himself for five hundred and sixty thousand cisterces or about five thousand pounds then we are told how he had the pretended work done by the putting up of a rough crane no real work is done no new stones are brought no money is spent that is the way in which Veri's filled his office as praetor orbanus but it is not seen that any public notice has taken of his iniquities as long as he can find himself with this then we come to the affairs of Sicily and the long list of robberies is commenced by which that province was made desolate it seems that nothing gave so grand a scope to the greed of a public functionary who was at the same time governor and judge as disputed wills it was not necessary that any of the persons concerned should dispute the will among them given the fact that a man had died and left property behind him Veri's would find means to drag the heir into court and either frighten him into payment of a bribe or else rob him of his inheritance before he left Rome for the province he heard that a large fortune had been left to on Dio on condition that he should put up certain statues in the marketplace it was not uncommon for a man to desire the reputation of adorning his own city but to choose that the expense should be borne by his heir rather than by himself failing to put up the statues the heir was required to pay a fine to Venus Erychina to enrich that is the worship of that goddess who had a favourites temple under Mount Eryx the statues had been duly erected but nevertheless here there was an opening so Veri's goes to work and in the name of Venus brings an action against Dio the verdict is given not in favour of Venus but in favour of Veri's this manner of paying honour to the gods and especially to Venus was common in Sicily two sons received a fortune from their father with the condition that if some special thing were not done a fine should be paid to Venus the man had been dead twenty years but the dogs which the praetor kept were very sharp and distant as was the time found out the clause action is taken against the two sons who indeed gain their case but they gain it by a bribe so enormous that they are ruined men there was one Heraclius the son of Hiero a nobleman of Syracuse who received a legacy amounting to three million cesterces we will say twenty four thousand pounds from a relative also a Heraclius he had to a house full of handsome silver plate hand hangings and valuable slaves a man diues eccome diues pictae westis et auri Veri's heard, of course he had by this time taken some Sicilian dogs into his service men of Syracuse and had learned from them that there was a clause in the will of the elder Heraclius that certain statues should be put up in the gymnasium of the city they undertake to bring forward the presence of the gymnasium who should say that the statues were never properly erected Cicero tells us how Veri's went to work now in this court, now in that breaking all the laws as to Sicilian jurisdiction but still proceeding under the pretense of law till he got everything out of the wretch not only all the legacies from Heraclius but every shilling and every article left to the man by his father there is a pretense of giving some of the money to the town of Syracuse but for himself he takes all the valuables the Corinthian vases the purple hangings what slaves he chooses then everything else is sold by auction how he divided the spoil with the Syracusans and then quarrelled with them and how he lied as to the share taken by himself will all be found in Cicero's narrative Heraclius was of course ruined but in the epiquities in Sopata I must refer the reader to the oration in that of Sopata there is the peculiarity that Veri's managed to get paid by everybody all round the story of Sthenius is so interesting that I cannot pass it by Sthenius was a man of wealth and high standing living at Thurma in Sicily with whom Veri's often took up his abode for as governor he travelled much about the island always in pursuit of plunder Sthenius had his house full of beautiful things of all these Veri's possessed himself some by begging some by demanding and some by absolute robbery Sthenius grieved as he was to find himself pillaged bore all this the man was Roman Prytor and injuries such as these had to be endured at Thurma however in the public place of the city there were some beautiful statues for these Veri's longed and desired his host to get them for him Sthenius declared that this was impossible the statues had under peculiar circumstances been recovered by Scipio Africanus from Carthage and been restored by the Roman general to the Sicilians from whom they had been taken and had been erected at Thurma there was a peculiarly beautiful figure of Stesicorus the poet as an old man bent double with a book in his hand a very glorious work of art and there was a goat in bronze probably as to which Cicero is at the pains of telling us that even he, unskilled as he was in such matters, could see its charms no one had sharper eyes for such pretty ornaments than Cicero or a more decided taste for them but as Hortensius his rival and opponent in this case had taken a marble sphinx from Veri's he thought it expedient to show how superior he was to such matters there was probably something of joke in this as his predilections would no doubt be known to those he was addressing in the matter Sthenius was incorruptible and not even the praetor could carry them away without his aid Cicero, who is very warm in praise of Sthenius, declares that here at last he found one town the only one in the world from which he was unable to carry away something of the public property by force or stealth or open command or favour the governor was so disgusted with this that he abandoned Sthenius leaving the house which he had plundered of everything and buttock himself to that of one Agathinas who had a beautiful daughter Caledama who with her husband Dorotheus they were enemies of Sthenius and we are given to understand that Veris ingratiated himself with them partly for the sake of Caledama who seems very quickly to have been given up to him and partly that he might instigate them to bring actions against Sthenius this is done with great success so that Sthenius is forced to run away and take himself winter as it was across the seas to Rome it has already been told that when he was at Rome an action was brought against him by Veris for having run away when he was under judgment in which Cicero defended him and in which he was acquitted in the teeth of his acquittal Veris persecuted the man by every form of law which came to his hands as praetor but always in opposition to the law there is an audacity about the man's proceedings in his open contempt for the laws which it was his special duty to carry out making us feel how confident he was that he could carry everything before him in Rome by means of his money by robbery and concealing his robberies by selling his judgments in such a way that he should maintain some resistance by ordinary precaution he might have made much money as other governors had done but he resolved that it would pay him better to rob everywhere openly and then when the day of reckoning came to buy the judges wholesale as to shame at such doings there was no such feelings left among Romans before he comes to the story of Cenius Cicero makes a grandly ironical appeal to the bench before him yes oh judges keep this man keep him in the state spare him, preserve him so that he too may sit with us as a judge here too, may with impartiality advise us as a senator what may be best for us as to peace and war not that we need trouble ourselves as to his senatorial duties his authority would be nothing when would he dare or when would he care to come among us unless it might be the idle month of February when would a man so idle so debauched show himself in the Senate House let him come and show himself let him advise us to attack the Cretans to pronounce the Greeks of Byzantium free to declare Ptolemy king let him speak and vote as Hortensius may direct this will have but little effect upon our lives or our property but beyond this there is something we must look to something that would be distrusted, something that every good man has to fear if by chance this man should escape out of our hands he would have to sit there upon that bench and be a judge he would be called upon to pronounce on the lives of Roman citizens he would be the right hand officer in the army of this man here, of this man who is striving to be the lord and ruler of our judgment seats the people of Rome at least refuse this, this at least cannot be endured the third of these narratives tells us how Varys managed in his province that provision of corn for the use of Rome the collection of which made the possession of Sicily so important to the Romans he begins with telling his readers as he does too frequently how great and peculiar is the task he has undertaken and he uses an argument of which we cannot but admit the truth though we doubt whether any modern advocate would dare to put it forward we must remember, however, that it is custom to be shame faced in praising themselves what Cicero says of himself all others said also of themselves only Cicero could say it better than others he reminds us that he who accuses another of any crime is bound to be especially free from that crime himself would you charge anyone as a thief you must be clear from any suspicion of even desiring another man's property have you brought a man up malice or cruelty take care that you be not found hard-hearted have you called a man a seducer or an adulterer be sure that your own life shows no trace of such vices whatever you would punish in another that you must avoid yourself a public accuser would be intolerable or even a cavaler who should invade against sins for which he himself is called in question but in this man I find all wickedness is combined there is no lust no iniquity no shamelessness of which his life does not supply us with ample evidence the nature of the difficulty to which Cicero is thus subjected is visible enough as varies is all that is bad so must he as accuser be all that is good which is more we should say than any man would choose to declare of himself but he is equal to the occasion in regard to this man old judges I lay down for myself the law as I have stated it I must so live that I must clearly seem to be and always have been the very opposite of this man not only in my words and deeds but as to that arrogance and impudence which you see in him then he shows how opposite he is to varies at any rate in impudence I am not sorry to see he goes on to say that that life which has always been the life of my own choosing has now been made a necessity to me by the law which I have laid down for myself Mr. Peck Sniff spoke of himself in the same way but no one I think believed him Cicero probably was believed but the most wonderful thing is that his manner of life justified what he said of himself when others of his own order were abandoned to lust iniquity and shamelessness he lived in purity with clean hands doing good as far as was in his power to those around him a laugh will be raised at his expense in regard to that assertion of his that even in the matter of arrogance his conduct should be the opposite of that of varies but this will come because I have failed to interpret accurately the meaning of those words varies as we can understand had carried himself during the trial with a bragging, brazen, bold face determined to show no shame as to his own doings it is in this which was a matter of manner and taste that Cicero declares that he will be the man's opposite as well as in conduct as to the ordinary boasting by which it has to be acknowledged that Cicero sometimes disgusts his readers it will be impossible for us to receive a just idea of his character without remembering that it was the custom of a Roman to boast we wait to have good things said of us or are supposed to wait the Roman said them of himself the wainy, weedy, weaky was the ordinary mode of expression in those times and in earlier times among the Greeks this is distasteful to us and it will probably be distasteful to those who come after us two or three hundred years hence that this or that British statesman should have made himself an earl or a knight of the garter now it is thought by many to be proper enough it will shock men in future days that great peers or rich commoners should have bargained for ribbons and left tendencies and titles now it is the way of the time though virtue and vice may be said to remain the same from all time to all time the latitudes allowed and the deviations encouraged in this or the other age must be considered before the character of a man can be discovered the boastings of Cicero have been preserved for us we have to rethink ourselves that his words are two thousand years old there is such a touch of humanity in them such a feeling of latter-day civilization and almost of Christianity that we are apt to condemn what remains in them of paganism as though they were uttered yesterday when we come to the coarseness of his attacks his descriptions of Piso by and by his abuse of Gobinius and his invectives against Antony when we read his altered opinions as shown in the period of Caesar's dominion his flattery of Caesar when in power and his exultations when Caesar has been killed when we find that he could be coarse in his language and a bully and servile for it has all to be admitted we have to reflect under what circumstances under what surroundings and for what object were used the words which displease us speaking before the full court at this trial he dared to say he knew how to live as a man and to carry himself as a gentleman as men and gentlemen were then he was justified the description of Veriz's rapacity in regard to the corn tax is long and complex and need hardly be followed at length unless by those who desire to know how the iniquity of such a one could make the most of an imposition which was in itself very bad and pile up the burden till the poor province was unable to bear it there were three kinds of imposition as to corn the first called the Decumanum was simply a tithe which was through the island had to furnish Rome with a tenth of their produce and it was the praetor's duty or rather that of the questor under the praetor to see that the tithe was collected how Veriz sought of this himself and how he treated the Sicilian husbandmen in regard to the tithe is so told that we are obliged to give the man credit for an infinite fertility of resources then there is the Emptum or corn bought for the use of Rome of which there were two kinds a second tithe had to be furnished at a price fixed by the Roman senate which price was considered to be below that of its real value and then eight hundred thousand bushels were purchased or nominally purchased at a price which was also fixed by the senate but which was nearer to the real value three Cisterces bushel for the first and four for the last were the prices fixed at this time for making these payments vast sums of money were remitted to Veriz of which the accounts were so kept that it was hard to say whether any found its way into the hands of the farmers who undoubtedly furnished the corn the third corn tax was the Istematum this consisted of a certain fixed quantity which had to be supplied to the praetor for the use of his governmental establishment to be supplied either in grain or in money what such a one as Veriz would do with this the reader may conceive all this was of vital importance to Rome Sicily and Africa were the granaries from which Rome was supplied with its bread to get supplies from a province was necessary rich men have servants in order that they may live at ease themselves so it was with the Romans to whom the provinces acted as servants it was necessary to have a sharp agent some pro-console or pro-praetor but when there came one so sharp as Veriz all power of recreating supplies would for a time be destroyed even Cicero boasted that in a time of great scarcity he, being the quiet store in Sicily had sent extraordinary store of corn over to the city but he had so done it as to satisfy all who were concerned Veriz in his corn dealings with the Sicilians had a certain friend, companion and minister one of his favourite dogs perhaps we may call him named Apronius whom Cicero specially describes the description I must give because it is so powerful because it shows us how one man could in those days speak of another in open court before all the world because it affords us an instance of the intensity of hatred which the orator could throw into his words but I must hide it in the original language as I could not translate it without offence footnote in Uerem Actio Secunda Book 3, 9 Latin text follows from Iserat Apronius Ile to Inconvivio Saltare Nudos Coeparat end of footnote then we have a book devoted to the special pillage of statues and other ornaments which for the genius displayed in storytelling is perhaps of all the Veri narrations the most amusing the Greek people had become in a peculiar way devoted to what we generally call art we are much given to the collecting of pictures china, bronze and marbles partly from love of such things partly from pride in ornamenting our houses so as to excite the admiration of others partly from a feeling that money so invested is not badly placed with a view to future returns all these feelings operated with the Greeks to a much greater extent investment in consoles and railway shares were not open to them money they used to lend at usury no doubt but with a great chance of losing it the Greek colonists were industrious were covetous and prudent from this it had come to pass that as they made their way about the world to the cities which they established around the Mediterranean they collected in their new homes great store of ornamental wealth this was done with much profusion at Syracuse, a Greek city in Sicily and spread from there of the whole island the temples of the gods were filled with the works of the great Greek artists and every man of note had his gallery that varies, hog as he has described to have been had a passion for these things is manifest to us he came to his death at last in defence of some favourite images he had returned to Rome by means of Caesar's amnesty and Mark Antony had him murdered because he would not surrender some treasures of art when we read the designess about statues we are led to imagine that the search after these things was the chief object of the man throughout his three years of office as we have before been made to suppose that all his mind and time had been devoted to the cheating of the Sicilians in the matter of corn but though Verri's loved these trinkets it was not altogether for himself that he sought them only one third of his plunder was for himself Senators, judges, advocates, consuls and priters could be bribed with articles of virtue as well as with money there are eleven separate stories told of these robberies I will give very shortly the details of one or two there was one Marcus Haus a rich citizen of Messana in whose house Verri's took great delight Messana itself was very useful to him and the Mamatines, as the people of Messana were called were his best friends in all Sicily for he made Messana the depot of his plunder and there he caused to be built at the expense of the government an enormous ship called the Cybea in which his treasures were carried out of the island he therefore specially favoured Messana and the district of Messana was supposed to have been scourged with him with lighter rods than those used elsewhere in Sicily but this man Haus had a chapel very sacred in which were preserved four specially beautiful images there was a cupid by Praxiteles and a bronze Hercules by Myro and two Canepheri by Polycletus these were treasures which all the world came to see and which were open to be seen by all the world these Verri's took away and caused accounts to be forged in which it was made to appear that he had bought them for trifling sums it seems that some forced assent had been obtained from Haus as to the transaction now there was a plan in vogue for making things pleasant for a proconsul retiring from his government in accordance with which a deputation would proceed from the province to Rome to declare how well and kindly the proconsul had behaved in his government the allies even when they had been as it were skinned alive by their governor were constrained to send their deputations deputations were got up in Sicily from Messana and Theracuse and with the others from Messana came this man Haus Haus did not wish to tell about his statues but he was asked questions and was forced to answer Cicero informs us how it all took place he was a man, he said this is what Cicero tells us that Haus said who was well esteemed in his own country and would wish you, you judges to think well of his religious spirit and of his personal dignity he had come here to praise Veres because he had been required to do so by his fellow citizens he, however, had never kept things for sale in his own house and had he been left to himself nothing would have induced him to part with the sacred images which had been left to him by his ancestors as the ornaments of his own chapel nevertheless he had come to praise Veres and would have held his tongue had it been possible Cicero finishes his catalogue by telling us of the manifold robberies committed by Veres in Syracuse especially from the temples of the gods and he begins his account of the Syracusan iniquities by drawing a parallel between two Romans whose names were well known in that city Marcellus, who had besieged it as an enemy and taken it and Veres, who had been sent to govern it in peace Marcellus had saved the lives of the Syracusans Veres had made the forum to run with their blood the harbour which had held its own against Marcellus as we may read in our Livy had been willfully opened by Veres to Cilician pirates this Syracuse which had been so carefully preserved by its Roman conqueror, the most beautiful of all the Greek cities on the face of the earth so beautiful that Marcellus had spared to it all its public ornaments had been stripped bare by Veres there was the temple of Minerva from which he had taken all the pictures there were the doors to this temple of such beauty that books had been written about them he stripped the ivory ornaments from them and the golden balls with which they had been made splendid he tore from them the head of the gorgon and carried it away, leaving them to be rude doors goth that he was and he took the Sappho from the Pritoneum the work of Cilician a thing of such beauty that no other man can have the like of it in his own private house yet Veres has it a man hardly fit to carry such a work of art as a burden not possess it as a treasure of his own what, too, he says have you not stolen peon from the temple of Isculapius a statue so remarkable for its beauty well known for the worship attached to it that all the world has been won't to visit it what, has not the image of Aristaeus been taken by you from the temple of Bacchus have you not even stolen the statue of Jupiter Imperator so sacred in the eyes of all men that Jupiter which the Greeks call Urios you have not hesitated to rob the temple of Rosapina of the lovely head in Parian marble when Cicero speaks of the worship due to all these gods as though he himself believed in their godhead as he had begun this chapter with the Mamateens of Massana so he ends it with an address to them it is well that you should come you alone out of all the provinces and praise Veres here in Rome but what can you say for him was it not your duty to have built a ship for the Republic to have built none such but have constructed a huge private transport vessel for Veres have you not been exempted from your tax on corn have you not been exempted in regard to naval and military recruits have you not been the receptacle of all his stolen goods they will have to confess these Mamateens that many a ship laden with his spoils has left their port and especially this huge transport ship which they built for him in the desupliques the treatment about punishments as the last division of this process is called Cicero tells the world how Veres extracted vengeance from those who were opposed to him and with what horrid cruelty he raged against his enemies the stories indeed are very dreadful it is harrowing to think that so evil a man should have been invested his powers so great for so bad a purpose but that which strikes a modern reader most is the sanctity attached to the name of a Roman citizen and the audacity with which the Roman proconsul disregarded that sanctity Chiues Romanus is Cicero's cry from the beginning to the end no doubt he is addressing himself to Romans and seeking popularity as he always did but nevertheless the demands made upon the outside world at large by the glory of that appellation are astonishing even when put forward on such an occasion as this one Gavius escapes from a prison in Syracuse and making his way to Messana foolishly boasts that he would be soon over in Italy out of the way of Praetor Veres and his cruelties Veres unfortunately is in Messana and soon hears from some of his friends the Mamateens what Gavius was saying he at once orders Gavius to be flogged in public Chiues Romanus Sum exclaims Gavius no doubt truly it suits Veres to pretend to disbelieve this and to declare that the man is a runigate slave the poor wretch still cries Chiues Romanus and trusts alone to that appeal whereupon Veres puts up a cross on the sea shore the man crucified in sight of Italy so that he should be able to see the country of which he is so proud whether he had done anything to deserve crucifixion or flogging or punishment at all we are not told the accusation against Veres is not for crucifying the man but for crucifying the Roman it is on this occasion that Cicero uses the words which have become proverbial as to the iniquity of this proceeding in Huerem Actio Secunda, Book 566 Facinos est winchiri Chiues Romanum Skelos weberari Prope parichidio necari Quid dicam in cruchem End of footnote During the telling of this story he explains this doctrine claiming for the Roman citizen all the world over some such protection as Freemasons are supposed to give each other whether known or unknown men of straw or he says of no special birth go about the world their resort to places they have never seen before where they know none and none know them here trusting to their claims solely they feel themselves to be safe not only where our magistrates are to be found who are bound both by law and by opinion not only among other Roman citizens who speak their language and follow the same customs but abroad over the whole world they find this to be sufficient protection then he goes on to say that if any pride or may at his will put aside this sanctity all the provinces all the kingdoms all the free states all the world abroad will very soon lose the feeling but the most remarkable story is that told of a certain pirate captain Veriz had been remiss in regard to the pirates very cowardly indeed if we are to believe Cicero piracy in the Mediterranean was at that time a terrible drawback to trade that piracy that a year or two afterward Pompey was effectual in destroying a governor in Sicily had among other special duties to keep a sharp lookout for the pirates this varies omitted so entirely that these scourges of the sea soon learn that they might do almost as they pleased on the Sicilian coasts but it came to pass that on one day a pirate vessel fell by accident into the hands of the governor's offices it was not taken Cicero says but was so overladen that it was picked up almost sinking it was found to be full of fine handsome men of silver both plated and coined and precious stuffs though not taken it was found and carried into Syracuse Syracuse is full of the news and the first demand is that the pirates according to Roman custom shall all be killed but this does not suit berries the slave markets of the Roman Empire are open and there are men among the pirates whom it will suit him better to sell than to kill there are six musicians Symphoniacas homines whom he sends as a present to a friend at Rome but the people of Syracuse are very much in earnest they're too sharp to be put off with pretenses and they count the number of slaughtered pirates there are only some useless, weak, ugly old fellows beheaded from day to day and being well aware how many men it must have taken to row and manage such a vessel they demand that the full crew shall be brought to the block there is nothing in victory more sweet says Cicero no evidence more sure than to see those whom you did fear and now got the better of brought out to tortures or death Varies is so much frightened by the resolution of the citizens that he does not dare to neglect their wishes there are lying in the prisons of Syracuse a lot of prisoners, Roman citizens of whom he is glad to rid himself he has them brought out with their heads wrapped up so that they shall not be known and has them beheaded instead of the pirates a great deal is said too about the pirate captain the arch-pirate as he is called there seems to have been some money dealings personally between him and Varies on account of which Varies kept him hidden at any rate the arch-pirate was saved in such a manner this celebrated victory is managed the pirate ship is taken and the chief pirate is allowed to escape the musicians are sent to Rome the men who are good-looking and young are taken to the Praetor's house as many Roman citizens as will fill their places are carried out as public enemies and are tortured and killed all the gold and silver and precious stuffs are made a prize of by Varies such are the accusations brought against this wonderful man the truth of which has I think on the whole been admitted the picture of Roman life which it displays is wonderful that such atrocity should have been possible and equally so of provincial subjection that such cruelty should have been endured but in it all the greatest wonder is that there should have risen up a man so determined to take the part of the weak against the strong with no reward before him apparently with no other prospect than that of making himself odious to the party to which he belonged Cicero was not a gracas anxious to throw himself into the arms of the people he was an oligarch by conviction born to oligarchy bred to it convinced that by it alone could the Roman Republic be preserved but he was convinced also that unless these oligarchs could be made to do their duty the Republic could not stand therefore it was that he dared to defy his own brethren and to make the acquittal of Varies an impossibility I should be inclined to think that the day on which Hortensius threw up the sponge and Varies submitted to banishment and fine was the happiest in the orator's life Varies was made to pay a fine which was very insufficient for his crimes and then to retire into comfortable exile from this he returned to Rome when the Roman exiles were amnestied and was shortly afterward murdered by Anthony as has been told before End of chapter 6