verres

• Date of Trial, and where it took place

  70BC, Extortion court in Rome
• Cicero acted as


  Prosecution Lawyer
• Verres was accused of

  Extorting 400,000 sesterces from the province which he governed in Sicily between (73-71BC)
• Crime Verres accused of shows


  Corrupt nature of Nobilis who governed provinces (link to how Caesar during consulship in 59BC restricted exploration of provinces)
• Significance of trial for Cicero


  -Turning point in career, wanted to establish himself as he was a novus homo and climb ranks of curses honorum for his ancestral line, had married and gained wealth

  - Allowed him to be called upon earlier in the senate for debates alongside preators (law allowed any senator who won prosecution to be given accused position in senate)

  - Established him as the greatest orator in Rome- as he beat Hortensius (leading orator at the time and also part of Nobiles)

  - Gained support and extended client base through new amancitia ties (key for a novas homo to have good patrons)

  - Proved himself as novus homo and speech was delivered whilst he was running for aedileship

  - Cicero proved himself as ultimate roman patriot (stoicism) able to form and defend his ideal of Concordia ordinum rooting out unromantic behaviour and protecting the republic from corruption
• Focus of In Verrem 1

  - Responsibility of jury to stop corruption

  -Early crimes of Verres and how he and supporters tried to pervert the cause of justice

  - Wrecked Verres' character

  -using rhetoric and oratorical skills able to convince senate to break with old traditions for the good of the republic and find Verres guilty

  - Cicero married person ambition and political ideas in case which resulted in an elevation in his dignitas

  - establishes his political position and principles- shows him fighting fro traditional roman values elevating the optimises and senate

  - Showed himself as a friend to the victims and a champion of roman law and justice.
• how many of the 7 speeches prepared were delivered

  2 (did not need to read the rest)
• when was Cicero quaestor in Sicily

  75BC, Sicilians asked him to plead their case
• Why were people gathered in Rome and why was this a good thing for Cicero

  crowd gathered in Rome to celebrate Pompey's victory in the East- good time to showcase his talents to an audience
• Who was the judge and who made up the jury

  Judge= Glabrio and Jury made up of nobiles in the senate (same class as Verres) as a novus homo he had no political support network and equities were not allowed to stand on the jury
• Who was Verres' lawyer and what did he advise Verres

  Hortensius (greatest orator at the time) and told Verres to leave Rome in voluntary exile
• How did Verres try to corrupt and disrupt the trial

  -Tried to delay trial till the following year of 69BC, did this by him and his supporters introducing a case against another governor on extortion and requested 108 days to gather evidence meaning Verres' case would edge to the following year. Verres tactic= slow down trial

  -Offered 500,000 Sesterces to any individual who was prepared to bribe electrode not to vote for Cicero as Aedile (which is the position Cicero was running fro at the time)
• Why did Verres try to delay the trial

  As Hortensius (his lawyer) was elected as consul for following year and Metellus (an amancitia tie of Verres) was to be Preator the following year and preside over the Law court.

  Verres spent lots of money to bribe the political elections for the following year in favour of his supporters.

  Bribed jury (had jury stacked) for following year
• What did Cicero do in retaliation to Verres trying to disrupt the trial


  -Worked faster and harder to gather evidence in order to ensure Verres' trial would take place that year

  -Sped up trial

  - Counteracted Verres' attempts to corrupt trial by delivering a hard hitting speech followed by a plethora of witnesses examination and presenting evidence he had gathered from Italy.

  - Refers in his speech to the reason why Verres would want to speed up trial in ch29-30 by stating that with Glabrio as a respectable judge and respectable jurymen he would not stand a chance at winning, as in 69BC he would have a more favourable court.
• Cicero and importance of Roman Legal Oratory

  -Public speaking is essential part of Roman education system as it prepared boys for duty to state, success in public life demanded public speaking. Oratory skill= power in society

  - Cicero wrote about art of writing and how to deliver successful speeches in De Oratore
• How the jury were influenced by Roman Oratory

  - Authoritivness of speaker

  - Evidence

  - How the accused was painted

  - The common ground the jury shared with speaker (how the trial would effect the senate and the roman people)

  - Courtroom drama (made interesting using rhetoric)
• What style of speech did Cicero use

  He amalgamated his own style infusing together the traditional formal austere originally used and Hortensius' new style he adapted from Asia which incorporated word, drama and emotion.
• Secondary source- how Cicero differed from Modern day standard of lawyers: Valsey


  ' A lawyer shall not assert personal knowledge or state a personal opinion as to the justness of a cause'

  - Cicero did not conform to modern day standards however it is difficult to judge his skill by modern day standards as it is important to consider cultural context at the time and differences between now and then.
• Common place rhetoric Cicero employed in speech


  -Appealing to how important crime is to the senate, people of Rome, ancestors and Gods

  - Victim is presented sympathetically

  - what would happen if crime goes unpunished

  - emphasises the fact that unable to turn back on judgement

  - proves premeditation of the crime

  - emphasis on foulness of crime

  - appeals to the idea of setting an example of offender to prevent behaviour from occurring in the future

  - Noting the unique nature of crime and need for suitable punishment

  - showed scale of crime by comparing it to others

  - crime described in extensive detail (vivd)
• Anaphora


  Repetition of a word or phrase
• Anastrophe


  Inversion of the natural or usual word order
• Aposiopesis


  stopping abruptly and leaving a statement unfinished
• Apostrophe


  addressing someone in speech
• Hyperbole


  exaggeration
• hysteron proteron


  place first what is meant to come last
• Metaphor


  something is something else
• Oxymoron


  contradiction
• Personification


  A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes
• Simile


  A comparison using "like" or "as"
• Tricolon


  three clearly defined words
• Praeteritio


  intentionally mentioning something whilst claiming you cannot discuss it
• In summary what did Verres do in In Verrem 1 which made the jury of nobiles 'betray' one of their own

  - Created a situation where jury had no choice but to find the accused guilty, as he framed the trial as a way of highlighting the social and political crisis the republic is facing- they had no choice but to find the accused guilty (or else they are just as guilty as Verres)

  - he appealed to the bigger picture- what was at stake for the republic (stability of social order and superiority of the state) all depend upon a guilty verdict

  - Role of jury more pivotal than before in the stability of the state and his ideal of Concordia ordinum

  - Represented himself and his principles as those of a model roman citizen- (devoted to his country ad high moral, political and legal standards)
• Key quote/ Classical (primary source)- Ch 1 In Verrem, 'destructive for the republic and dangerous for you. The rumour is spreading now, not only among Roman people but amongst foreign nations, that in these courts how they exist now, no wealthy man, however guilty he may be, will be convicted'


  - Appeals to how important the crime is to Rome and the senate and hinting at what would happen if crime goes unpunished. (rhetoric used)

  - Hyperbolic 'dangerous'

  - Demonstrates scale of problem 'amongst foreign nations'

  - Does not allow any man to be an exception as addresses the whole room 'any man'

  -Cicero trying to uphold the morals of the state

  
  

  - Reframing the trial as an opportunity for the senate/jury to resume the republic from crisis, the real issue is bigger than Verres, it is the corruption at the core of the senate and people are now noticing the fact that money speaks louder than justice.

  - Puts pressure on jury to find Verres guilty from outset as they are morally and politically obligated to find Verres guilty or they themselves will be viewed as politically corrupt, and they could lose their place in society.

  - The effect of finding verses not guilty= destroying Concordia ordinum
• A quote from In Verrem of Cicero defending the state and also trying to be accepted as a novus homo (does not want to isolate the senate- makes himself 'one of them')

  ' Not so that I may increase the unpopularity of the senate, but so that I may relieve it of dishonour
• Example of where Cicero uses his own style of speech of an infusion of traditional formal austere originally used and Hortensius' new style he adapted from Asia which incorporated word, drama and emotion.


  ch 29-30 where he adopts Verres' viewpoint and shows how it would be better for Verres if he did not have the judges he had and if the trial could be moved to the following year. He infuses the comedic technique which makes courtroom drama and entertainment as well as flattering the Jury by effectively calling them too clever to let Verres be found not guilty. Flattery and entertainment= best form of persuasion

  - Places pressure for senate (jury) to seize opportunity to display a corrupt individual and prove they are capable of fulfilling their legal dualities (so they do not have to hand their role over to the equities who were not par of the jury at this point)
• Example showing the corruption within the senate from In Verrem 1

  'we are held in contempt and despised by the roman people: we are branded with a heavy and now longstanding infamy' (inclusivity of Cicero within the nobilies establishes his principles of wanting to join the ranks of the upper class and also his principle of stoicism and aim of Concordia ordinum)
• Cicero demonstrating the anger of the roman people


  ' the roman people showed their assent not with a shout but with the greatest uproar' Bribery and corruption which verres was guilty of is universally recognised and disliked. Demonstrated the greater threat the trial holds as it is potentially damaging to the republic system and Concordia ordinum. Crime underlines the corruption within the senate which needs to be dealt with.
• Example of Cicero appealing to his shared principles with the jury (nobiles) his stoic values and patriotic love and duty to the republic. Directly addresses his role of defender of the state

  ' lose life itself... than fall short of vigour and perseverance needed
• What is significant about the fact that Cicero concludes his last line of his speech with the actual crime of Verres?

  He places more emphasis on the corruption within the state and reframes trial as something larger than just a corrupt individual who is guilty of extortion
• Cicero's portrays of Verres- Criminal Corruption- site ch 11 in Verrem


  Focus on his criminal history and dependance upon bribery and corruption within the senate (which Cicero argued needed to be rooted out)

  - Political crimes when Verres was Quaestor in 74BC in ch.11 'What else happened except Carbo was robbed of public money, the consul was betrayed, army deserted, province abandoned, religious rites and duties violated'

  - Highlights how he betrayed the political amancitia ties when provincial in Asia (attacked and betrayed a man who he had been lieutenant)

  - Sacrilegious figure as when preator in Rome he was guilty of the destruction of the temples

  - yet his governorship of Sicily is his worst crime 73-71BC (where he extorted 400,000 sesterces) he also cancelled inheritances, robbed farmers, left criminals unpunished, found innocent men guilty and left pirates to Rome seas as well as leave civilians starved 'roman citizens were tortured and killed like slaves