causā cupere ac dēbēre intellegebat; ipse adsiduitāte, cōnsiliō, auctōritāte, diligentia perfēcit, ut Sex. Rōsci vita, ērepta de manibus sectōrum, sententiis iudicum permitterētur. Nimirum, iūdicēs, prō hāc nōbilitāte pars maxima civitātis in armis fuit; haec ācta rēs est, ut ei nōbilēs resti- 5 tuerentur in civitatem, qui hoc facerent quod facere Messālam vidētis, qui caput innocentis defenderent, qui iniuriae resisterent, qui quantum possent in salūte alterius quam in exitiō māllent ostendere; quod si omnes qui eōdem locō nāti sunt facerent, et rēs pūblica ex illis et ipsi ex 10 invidia minus labōrārent.

Appeal to the Court against Chrysogonus.

LII. 53. Vērum si a Chrysogonō, iūdicēs, nōn impetrāmus, ut pecūniā nostrā contentus sit, vitam nē petat, si ille addūcī nōn potest, ut, cum adēmerit nōbis omnia quae nostra erant propria, nē lūcem quoque hanc, quae commūnis 15 est, eripere cupiat, si non satis habet avaritiam suam pecūniā explēre, nisi etiam crūdēlitātī sanguis praebitus sit,

:

ūnum perfugium, iūdicēs, ūna spēs reliqua est Sex. Rōsciō, eadem quae rei publicae, vestra pristina bonitas et misericordia. Quae si manet, salvi etiam nunc esse 20 possumus ; sin ea crūdēlitās, quae hoc tempore in rē pūblicā versāta est, vestrōs quoque animōs id quod fieri profecto non potest dūriōrēs acerbiōresque reddidit, actum est, iūdicēs inter ferās satius est aetatem dēgere, quam in hāc tantā immanitāte versāri. 54. Ad eamne rem võs reservāti 25 estis, ad eamne rem dēlēcti, ut eōs condemnārētis, quōs sectōrēs ac sīcārii iugulāre nōn potuissent? Solent hōc boni imperātōrēs facere, cum proelium committunt, ut in eō loco quo fugam hostium fore arbitrentur milites conlocent, in quōs, si qui ex acie fugerint, de improvisō incidant. 30 Nimirum similiter arbitrantur isti bonōrum ēmptōrēs, Võs hic, talis virōs, sedere, qui excipiatis eōs qui de suis manibus

effugerint. Di prohibeant, iūdicēs, ut hōc, quod māiōrēs consilium publicum vocārī voluērunt, praesidium sectōrum existimetur.

Real Danger to Roscius Comes from Greed of Dominant Party.

55. An vērō, iūdicēs, vōs nōn intellegitis nihil aliud agi 5 nisi ut prōscriptōrum liberi quavis ratiōne tollantur, et eius rei initium in vestrō iureiurandō atque in Sex. Rosci periculo quaeri? Dubiumne est ad quem maleficium pertineat, cum videātis ex altera parte sectōrem, inimicum, sīcārium eundemque accūsātōrem hōc tempore; ex altera parte egentem, 10 probatum suis filium, in quo non modo culpa nulla, sed ne suspicio quidem potuit consistere ? LIII. 56. Numquid huic aliud vidētis obstāre Röscio], nisi quod patris bona vēniērunt? Quodsi id vōs suscipitis, et eam ad rem operam vestram profitēminī, sī idcircō sedētis, ut ad vōs addūcantur 15 eōrum liberi quōrum bona vēniērunt, cavēte, per deōs immortalis, iudicēs, nē nova et multo crūdēlior per vōs prōscriptiō instaurāta esse videatur. Illam priorem, quae facta est in eōs qui arma capere potuērunt, tamen senātus suscipere nōluit, në quid acrius quam mōre mãiōrum comparātum 20 esset publicō consilio factum vidērētur. Hanc vērō, quae

25

ad eōrum liberōs atque ad infantium puerōrum incūnābula pertinet, nisi hōc iūdiciō ā vōbīs reicitis et aspernāminī, vidēte, per deōs immortālīs, quem in locum rem pūblicam perventuram putētis.

The Court Implored to Rescue him.

57. Hominēs sapientēs et istā auctoritāte et potestāte praeditōs, qua võs estis, ex quibus rebus maximē rēs publica laborat, eis maximē mederi convenit. Vestrūm nēmō est quin intellegat populum Rōmānum, qui quondam in hostis lēnissimus existimābātur, hōc tempore domestică 30 crūdēlitāte labōrāre. Hanc tollite ex civitāte, iudicēs.

Hanc pati nōlite diūtius in hac rē pūblicā versāri. Quae nōn modo id habet in sẽ mali, quod tot civis atrocissimē sustulit, vērum etiam hominibus lēnissimis adēmit misericordiam consuētūdine incommodōrum. Nam cum omnibus hōrīs aliquid atrociter fierī vidēmus aut audīmus, etiam 5 qui nātūrā mītissimi sumus, adsiduitāte molestiārum sēnsum omnem humānitātis ex animis amittimus.

CAIUS VERRES, a man of noble birth, but notorious for his crimes and exactions in the civil war and in the offices he had held since, was city prætor (praetor urbanus) B.C. 74. At the close of his term of office, he went, in accordance with the law, as proprætor, to govern the province of Sicily. By reason of the disturbed condition of Italy, from the revolt of Spartacus, he was not relieved at the end of a year, as the law required, but continued two years longer in the government of the province, when he was succeeded by Lucius Cæcilius Metellus. During these three years he was guilty of the most abominable oppressions and exactions; and the Sicilians, as soon as they were relieved of his presence, brought suit against him in the court of Repetundae (that for the trial of cases of Extortion), then presided over by the prætor Manius Acilius Glabrio. To conduct the prosecution they had recourse to Cicero, who already stood high among Roman advocates, and who was personally known and trusted by the Sicilians on account of his honorable administration of the quæstorship in their island in B.C. 77. Cicero willingly took charge of the case, the more so

as the counsel for Verres was Hortensius, the leading lawyer of the time, against whom he was eager to measure his strength.

Although the cruelty and rapacity of Verres were notorious, yet his relations to the Roman nobility insured him the same kind of support at home which recently, under somewhat similar circumstances, was afforded to Governor Eyre in England, on his return from Jamaica: not only Hortensius, but Curio, a man of excellent reputation, with members of the eminent families of Scipio and Metellus, stood firmly by him. The only hope of Verres lay in preventing a fair and speedy trial. First he tried to obtain a prosecutor who should be in collusion with him, and would not push him too hard. For this purpose one Cæcilius was put forward, an insignificant person, but a native of Sicily. Cicero's first speech in the case (In Q. Caecilium) was therefore a preliminary argument before the prætor Glabrio in person, to show that he, rather than Cæcilius, should be allowed to conduct the case. This it was not hard to do, and he set out at once for Sicily to collect evidence, for which purpose he was allowed one hundred and ten days.

To consume time the opposition had planned to bring before the same court a trumped-up action against another provincial governor which should have precedence of the trial of Verres. To this end they had procured for the prosecutor in the rival suit an allowance of one hundred and eight days for collecting evidence in Achaia - or two days less than the time which Cicero was expected to need. This intrigue was foiled by Cicero's industry and skill. He used not quite half of the time allowed him, arriving in Rome, with ample evidence, not only before the prosecutor in the rival case was ready, but even before the latter had left Italy on his pretended tour of investigation. The trial of Verres was now fixed for Aug. 5, B.C. 70 (consulship of Pompey and Crassus).

Meantime (in the latter part of July) the elections were held for the next year. As was the custom in Rome, these occurred several months before the newly elected magistrates were to enter upon their offices. The successful candidates, under the title of designati, enjoyed a dignity almost equal to that of the actual magistrates, although with no real power (see ch. ix.). In these elections Cicero was designated ædile; but his rival Hortensius was chosen consul, with Quintus Metellus Creticus, Verres' fast friend, as his colleague. More than this, Marcus Metellus, brother of Quintus, was chosen prætor, and the lot fell to him to preside the next year in the court of Repetundae. If now the trial could be put over till the next year, when Hortensius and the two Metelli would be in the three most influential positions in the