causa cupere ac debere intellegebat; ipse adsiduitate, consilio, auctoritate, diligentia perfecit, ut Sex. Rosci vita, erepta de manibus sectorum, sententiis judicum permitteretur. Nimirum, judices, pro hac nobilitate pars maxima civitatis in armis fuit; haec acta res est, ut ei nobiles resti- 5 tuerentur in civitatem, qui hoc facerent quod facere Messalam videtis, qui caput innocentis defenderent, qui injuriae resisterent, qui quantum possent in salute alterius quam in exitio mallent ostendere; quod si omnes qui eodem loco nati sunt facerent, et res publica ex illis et ipsi ex 10 invidia minus laborarent.

Appeal to the Court against Chrysogonus.

LII. 53. Verum si a Chrysogono, judices, non impetramus, ut pecunia nostra contentus sit, vitam ne petat, si ille adduci non potest, ut, cum ademerit nobis omnia quae nostra erant propria, ne lucem quoque hanc, quae communis 15 est, eripere cupiat, si non satis habet avaritiam suam pecunia explere, nisi etiam crudelitati sanguis praebitus sit, — unum perfugium, judices, una spes reliqua est Sex. Roscio, eadem quae rei publicae, vestra pristina bonitas. et misericordia. Quae si manet, salvi etiam nunc esse 20 possumus; sin ea crudelitas, quae hoc tempore in re publica versata est, vestros quoque animos-id quod fieri profecto non potest - duriores acerbioresque reddidit, actum est, judices inter feras satius est aetatem degere, quam in hac tanta immanitate versari. 54. Ad eamne rem vos reservati 25 estis, ad eamne rem delecti, ut eos condemnaretis, quos sectores ac sicarii jugulare non potuissent? Solent hoc boni imperatores facere, cum proelium committunt, ut in eo loco quo fugam hostium fore arbitrentur milites conlocent, in quos, si qui ex acie fugerint, de improviso incidant. 30 Nimirum similiter arbitrantur isti bonorum emptores, VOS hic, talis viros, sedere, qui excipiatis eos qui de suis manibus

:

effugerint. Di prohibeant, judices, ut hoc, quod majores consilium publicum vocari voluerunt, praesidium sectorum existimetur.

Real Danger to Roscius Comes from Greed of Dominant Party.

55. An vero, judices, vos non intellegitis nihil aliud agi 5 nisi ut proscriptorum liberi quavis ratione tollantur, et ejus rei initium in vestro jurejurando atque in Sex. Rosci periculo quaeri? Dubiumne est ad quem maleficium pertineat, cum videatis ex altera parte sectorem, inimicum, sicarium eundemque accusatorem hoc tempore; ex altera parte egentem, Io probatum suis filium, in quo non modo culpa nulla, sed ne

suspicio quidem potuit consistere? LIII. 56. Numquid huic aliud videtis obstare [Roscio], nisi quod patris bona venierunt? Quodsi id vos suscipitis, et eam ad rem operam vestram profitemini, si idcirco sedetis, ut ad vos adducantur 15 eorum liberi quorum bona venierunt, cavete, per deos immortalis, judices, ne nova et multo crudelior per vos proscriptio instaurata esse videatur. Illam priorem, quae facta est in eos qui arma capere potuerunt, tamen senatus suscipere noluit, ne quid acrius quam more majorum comparatum 20 esset publico consilio factum videretur. Hanc vero, quae ad eorum liberos atque ad infantium puerorum incunabula pertinet, nisi hoc judicio a vobis reicitis et aspernamini, videte, per deos immortalis, quem in locum rem publicam perventuram putetis.

The Court Implored to Rescue him.

25 57. Homines sapientes et ista auctoritate et potestate praeditos, qua vos estis, ex quibus rebus maxime res publica laborat, eis maxime mederi convenit. Vestrum nemo est quin intellegat populum Romanum, qui quondam in hostis lenissimus existimabatur, hoc tempore domestica 30 crudelitate laborare. Hanc tollite ex civitate, judices.

Hanc pati nolite diutius in hac re publica versari. Quae non modo id habet in se mali, quod tot civis atrocissime sustulit, verum etiam hominibus lenissimis ademit misericordiam consuetudine incommodorum. Nam cum omnibus horis aliquid atrociter fieri videmus aut audimus, etiam 5 qui natura mitissimi sumus, adsiduitate molestiarum sensum omnem humanitatis 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