35 HENRY U. BRANDENSTEIN LeV THE TWO LAST PLEADINGS OF CICERO AGAINST VERRES. THE Ctoo last $leatitng0 OF MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO AGAINST ' CAIUS VERRES; TRANSLATED, AND ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES, By CHARLES KELSALL, Esq. AUTHOR OF A LETTER FROM ATHENS. TO WHICH IS ADDED A POSTSCRIPT, CONTAINING REMARKS ON THE STATE OF MODERN SICILY. Virtutes ex seipso effert immortalis ingenii beatissima ubertate vir, dono quodam providentiaj genitus, in quo tota vires suas eloquentia experiretur. Hortemius de actione,secunda, lib. v. LONDON: r Tinted by T. BEN-SLEY, Dolt Court, FOR WHITE, COCHRANE, AND CO. HORACE'S HEAD, FLEET-STREET. 1812, IN MEMORIAM ^o^. TO SIR SAMUEL ROMILLY, SIR, I TAKE the liberty of dedicating to you this translation of two brilliant spe- cimens of forensic eloquence. And to whom, Sir, can the' originals be more acceptable than yourself, the avowed and irreconcilable enemy not only of Ver- rine proceedings, but of all sinister practices, whether in private or in public life, whether behind the shop-board, or the Exchequer? I am, Sir, Your very obedient and very humble Servant, THE TRANSLATOR. ADVERTISEMENT. A HE pleadings against Caius Verres, praetor of Sicily, must be enumerated among the most * r aluable monu- ments of the eloquence of Cicero. The variety of entertaining anecdotes with whjch they abound, the works of art which are commemorated, the topogra- phical descriptions, the glaring guilt of the accused, the insight afforded into the laws and manners of the ancient Sicilians, conspire to dazzle the imagination, and rivet the attention of the reader. The Translator originally wished to undertake the version of all the pleadings ; but reflection suggested, that exclusive of the great labour of such a task, the continuation of so long an invective, together with the dry statements of the prices of corn, however curious to refer to, would pall upon the English reader. He has therefore at- tempted the translation of the two last only, by far the finest of all, in which indeed, but more especially the last, the quintessence of the crimes of Verres may be said to be concentrated. The De signis speaks to the imagination, the De suppliciis to the heart. The genius of the orator of the Roman Forum is no where more conspicuously displayed than in the plead- ing concerning the punishments; not in the Catili- narian harangues, nor in the divine Philippic itself. When the reader pictures to his imagination that au- gust tribunal, at which a Roman praetor with his fasces Vlll was arraigned with the commission of every species of crime, surrounded by deputies from nearly all the Sici- lian cities, who came to make their depositions against him; when he remembers the great corruption that prevailed at Rome, and the immense influence of Verres, whose defence devolved on Hortensius ; when he brings to mind the dangers that beset his antagonist during his fifty days' tour, while procuring materials for the impeachment; who received for his trouble neither fee nor present; he will probably be convinced, that the Verrine cause alone would have conferred immortality on Cicero. The notes subjoined to each pleading have been added with the view of briefly illustrating the anti- quities of the minor Sicilian cities, which preceding travellers, dazzled probably by the more splendid and notorious monuments of Agrigentum and Syracuse,, have omitted to notice. ;.. ^ . THE PLEADING CONCERNING THE STATUES, THE ARGUMENT, WRITTEN BY ERNESTUS. THIS book exposes the depredations of Verres in the statues, and other ornaments of Sicily, whether public or private, whether sacred or profane ; how he seized the pictures, tapes- try, gold and silver plate, vases, gems, Corinthian, and Deliac bronzes. The orator proves that the defence of Hortensius is groundless, who maintained that these things were bought, not purloined by Verres. For by law, the governors of provinces were prohibited from buying any thing in their governments. The prices moreover given not being adequate to the value of the articles, could not exculpate Verres from the imputation of theft. This oration is entitled " De Signis," as it records the removal of the statues from the temples, which are consequently of the greater importance. PANORMVS ET METKLLVS duo sign a quae extant in CVEIA PANOKMITANA. ' ,1 AM now, my Lords, to treat of what Verres calls his inclination, what his friends term dis- ease and madness, what the Sicilians, theft; how I shall call it I know not I will state the case to you, and I beg you to estimate it not by its title, but its effects. Be first acquainted, my Lords, with its nature, and then perhaps you will have no great trouble in deciding how it should be termed. I affirm that in all Sicily, thaj wealthy and^anciejrr^^ra^mce; aboundin g with so many towns, so many families, there was no silver, CorinjJiian^^QxJ^gUac .vase, no gem or pearl, nothing worked in gold, ivory, or silver, no painting or tapestry, but what Verres procured and inspected, and seized what he chose.\ I appear to say much. Listen now in what manner I will say it; for I do not include every thing for the sake of placing his crimes, or my eloquence, in a stronger light, when I proclaim that he left no one of these things in the whole province. Know that I address you in simple Latin, and not in the kmgua^e of theHBar. Have _ ' O O it still plainer: that he left nothing in the pri- vate dwellings, whether of Sicilian or Roman, nothing in the towns, nothing in the places of public resort, nothing that he noticed or heard of, whether private or public, whether sacred or profane, in all Sicily. In what manner can I begin my accusation better, than from that city, which you patro- nized and loved, or from what class of men better than those flatterers of your's? For it will be placed in a clearer light how you be- haved towards those, who hate you, accuse you, and persecute you, if you are detected as an infamous freebooter, among your friends the Messanians. *2jCaiusHeius is a native of Mcssana ; (those who luvtrvrsitcd that city will not deny it), and he holds there a high station. His house, if not the first at Messana, is certainly of the ;reatest notoriety, and in it our countrymen lire most' hospitably received. Before the ar- rival of Verres, this mansion was so embellished, thaTlt "was" considered as^arPornamenT to the city.j For Messana itself, though beautiful from its situation, walls, and harbour, contains none of those things, which are that fellow's passion. x JLieius had a magnificent sacristy * attached to his dwelling, of great antiquity, and which he had inherited from his ancestors. In it there were four most beautiful statues, exquisitely carved, and of great repute, which could not only aiford delight to that accomplished dilet- tante, but to any of us, whom he terms idiots. One was a marble Cupid, from the hand of Praxiteles ; 3 for I informecTmyself of the artists' names, as I procured materials for the impeach- ment. I believe he is the same statuary who carved the Thespian Cupid : people pi',* fp sec it, flju) there is np otb for strangers to go thither. \ For which reason, Mu mm ius, ^v T l^en_lle_.I^Jlla 1 ^ed-flom that city fh.e statuesjof the Muses, and the other marbles which are deposilecTTinPthe temple^6F~Happi- ness, respected'the Cupid, because it was there held in veneration^' But to return to the sa- cristy. This, as I before said, was a marble Cupid; Qn^4he-t>pposit^-stde^hcre was a Her- ules in bronze _fine_l_Y cast, I believe, byJMvron; certainly so. Before these figures were placed little altars, which might indicate to any one the sanctity of the place. There were, more- over, two bronze figujgs. not very large, but of exquisite beauty, attired asgir^which with ^lifted hands, supported on their heads votive offerings, in thTmanner of the Athenian virgins. They were called Canephpra?. But who was the artist ? s Who ? Right Pplyclctus, it was believed. Any Roman visiting Messana, went to see these curiosities. The sacristy was daily open to the public ; and the mansion was not more ornamental to its owner, than to the city. Cams Claudius, 6 whose edileship we know was distingiiished with great pomp, Jiad. this Cupid in his possession so long as he occupied thaJfomm, embellished with the jrtatuesTo the gods, and presence of the Roman people. Being the friend of the Heii, and patron of the Mcs- sanians, as he profited from their good will in accommodating him, so was he diligent in re- storing what he had borrowed. People of high birth, my Lords, lately acted in that manner. Why do I say lately ? But just now we have seen some adorn the forum and places of wor- ship, not with the spoils of the provinces, or the thefts of guilty persons, but with the offerings of friends, and pledges of good will ; .which they always took care to return to the pro- prietors. ThejMdid not remove them from the ciUej^oj^ for the sake of making a four days' show, with the pretext of the edileship. All these statues, as I before statecITmy tsrds, Verres plundered from the sacristy of Heius. Not one thing did he there leave, except, an ancient figure in wood, I think, a personification of Good Fortune. TheTfutnis, he would not receive that in his house. :^. In the name of heaven and earth, what pre- text could there he for this outrage? These statues, before they were removed by thee, Verres, no one came to Messana, vested with authority, without examining. All the prastors and consuls who have been in Sicily, all of whatever condition of life, I speak not of men of integrity, and observance of religious duties, all the avaricious and abandoned, were they endued with ever so much authority and power, never dared to request, take, or even touch any thing in that sacristy. Shall Verres then rer move what was univesaj.lyj^teemed most pre- cious? Shall iKnone be permitted~to" retain 'any t.h o- i t " ? ^hishouse be ad o r n e d Have others abstained from these things, that it might remain with him to force them away? Did C. Clau^iju^ Pnlrhrr restore this marble that Verres might make himself the owner? That Cupid did not require a residence devoted to libertinism and impurity, he was properly stationed in that hereditary sacristy ; he knew that he was transmitted through the family, by a sacred entail, to Heius; he did not look to the heir of a harlot. But why am I thus borne away by argument? For I am repulsed with one word; " I bought them," he says. An energetic defence forsooth ! \We have sent a pretty commercial Praetor to Sicily, for the sake of buying up the pictures, gold and silver plate, ivory, and gems, and to plunder every body of his property. Here rests his defence : that he purchased them. To begin then, let us grant that you purchased them, for you will plead your cause, in this way, throughout. I demand, in what manner you think equity is administered at Rome, if you imagine that you can escape with the plea of having purchased, when Praetor, articles so precious, so many goods in short, of every assignable value. t/TMark well, my Lords, the vigilance of our ancestors, who, notwithstanding that they sus- pected nothing of this nature, took care to pro- vide against what might happen in things of small moment. They never even dreamed that any one vested with proconsular authority, could be so rash as to purchase plate, or clothes ; for they were allowed by law from the treasury, and looked upon as the Praetor's right. This law we all acknowledge, and Praetors are not supplied with these things from the community. It is enacted, " that property cannot be purchased, except the owner be deceased." Is it so with respect to the Praetors in the case of a person's death at Rome? Certainly it is, as well as else- where. For they did not mean that you should decorate your house at the expense of the pro- vince, but carry with you the means of sup- plying the province with wealth. What then was the reason why they should have been so vigilant in preventing us from making pur- chases in the provinces? \Plainly this, my Lords, for every thing was considered as a theft, and not a purchase, since the vender was not justified in disposing of goods at his own option. They were aware, that if permission was granted to any one vested with the pra^torial authority, to purchase the property of another, the result would be, that he might get possession of what he chose, whether saleable or not. Some one may remark, do not deal thus with Verres, do not probe his deeds by the strict test of ancient lawsd grant, that he should be considered the lawful purchaser, provided he bought the goods honestly ; that he procured nothing by an un- just exercise of power : I will deal with him thus. If Heius had any thing for sale, and parted with it at his price, I will no longer ask why you purchased them. O, How now am 1 to act? Am I to have recourse to argument in a cause of this nature^ I must inquire, I con- ceive, whether Heius owed any thing, whether he had a sale by auction ; and if he had, whether he was involved in such pecuniary difficulties, as to make it necessary for him to part with the ornaments of his sacristy, and sell the deities which he had inherited. I perceive that the man had no sale at all ; Vthat he never sold any thing, but the produce of his estate; that so far from being in debt, he was always in the full enjoyment of his income^and that even if things had not turned out prosperously with him, he would never have parted with what had been so many years in his family, and in the sacristy of his ancestors. Let us suppose, that he was tempted by the considerable sum. It is not even probable that so wealthy and honourable a man could prefer a sum of money, to the monuments of religion, which had been bequeathed him by his ancestors. \The case is as I state it: nevertheless, people are sometimes led to swerve from their determinations, by the temptation of a large sum. > -Jtet us see what this sum was which could induce Heius, a very rich and liberal man, to depart from his reve- rence for the religion of his ancestors. You ordered him, I believe, thus to register it in his account-book: " All these statues of Praxiteles, Myron, and Polycletus, were sold to Verres, for six thousand five hundred sesterces/' 7 Refer to the account-book. (The account -book of Hems is read in court.) . I am rejoiced to find that these artists, who are extolled to the skies by the Greeks, are so depreciated by Verres. Here is a Cupid by Praxiteles, for one thousand six hundred ses- terces ! ! No doubt this was the origin of the proverb, " Better buy than beg." V Somebody will say perhaps that I am esti- mating the value of these things at a high rate. I am not computing their price according to my own judgment, or for my own advantage, but am of opinion, that they should be rated according to the judgment of people conver- sant with works of art, and the value usually set upon them; in short, at as much as they would fetch, if publicly sold, or Verres himself would give for them. \ For if he had thought that Cupid worth four hundred pence, he surely would never have committed himself so much as to be the subject of conversation and public reproach. Which of my hearers is ignorant then of the value of these things ? Have we not seen, in a public sale, a small bronze statue fetch one hundred and twenty thousand ses- terces? 8 ^What if I were to name people who have not given less, nay, more? Do you think I cannot? The value is necessarily in propor- tion to the eagerness with which things of this description are sought, and it would be as dif- ficult to set bounds to the one, as to the other\ I 10 am clear therefore, that Heius was not induced to part with these statues voluntarily, by dis- tress, or the temptation of a large sum. I am clear that with the pretext of buying, you ex- ercised in an unjustifiable manner, your prae- torial authority, to extort these things from a man who had fallen into your power, and was committed to your protection, together with ^he other Sicilians, by the Roman people. Nothing would be more satisfactory to me, my Lords, than if Heius were able to confirm what I say; verily, nothing. But let us not hope to clear all difficulties. ^sHeius is a citizen of Messana; that city alone is attached to Verres, and lavishes praises on him in her senate. To the rest of the Sicilians, he is an object of detestation ; by the Messanians alone he is beloved. Heius headed the embassy which was sent to compliment him, he holding the chief rank in the city, with the view probably that Avhile he discharged his public duties, he might be compelled to be silent on his private wrongs. 9 On revolving these circumstances, my Lords, I Jiave nevertheless committed my- self to Heius ;Vor I summoned him as a witness in my first pleading, which I did however without any risk.^And how could he have an- swered me, if he was an unprincipled man, which he is far from being ? Was it possible 11 for him to sau that he, and not Verres, retained the statues? Could he assert any such thing? Supposing him the most worthless and lying fellow, he would thus state the case ; that he had the statues on sale, and that he had dis- posed of them for what he pleased. \This re- spectable man, who particularly courts your good opinion, in the first place, said, that he joined in the praise of Verres, because he was so ordered ; and in the second place, that he never intended to part with his property; that he was moreover unable, on any terms, to sell those things which were deposited in the sa- cristy, and which he had inherited from his an- cestors. (j Why do you keep your seat ; what are you waiting for, Verres? Why do you give out that snares are laid for your destruction by the cities of Centuripe, Catine, Alassa, I0 Tyndaris, Enna, Agyrium, and the other Sicilian towns? Messana, that other country of your's, to use your accustomed phrase, your own Messana, I repeat, the witness of your crimes, the pander of your lewdness, the receptacle of your thefts and depredations, circumvents yorf;^ Here is a nobleman of that city, who left his home for the sake of being present at this trial, who headed the mission sent to congratulate you; who even openly praises you, for he acted V 12 under orders. But you well remember how he would answer, if he were interrogated respect- ing your speronara. % He would say that it was built at the public expense, and that a senator of Messam superintended its construction pro- fessedly. This .same man, my Lords, flies to you unobserved. He has recourse to the law which takes cognizance of the private and public property of our allies. The law to pre- vent extortion entitles him to the recovery of his money, which however he is not very soli- citous to regain?^ He looks to you for the re- storation of the sacred property which he in- herited from his aneestorsT^e demands from you his household gods. Have you any shame, any fear, any religion left, Verres? You lodged with Heius at Messana^ "you saw kim attend divine service in his sacristy daily. He is re- gardless of money; he does not therefore wish to recover his statues merely because they are ornamental. Keep the C^nephorx ; but restore the effigies of the gods. \Since this is his de- claration, since he, who is an ally and friend of the Roman people, has modestly submitted his complaints to you at a stated time, since he has been very scrupulous not only in the observance of his religion in demanding the restoration of his objects of worship, but also in his testi- mony and oath,\I would have you know that 13 Verres dispatched one of his officers to Mes- sana, the same man who superintended the build- ing of the speronara, to use his influence with the senate to brand Heius with infamy. -V O frantic man ! what could be your object ? Was you not aware of the authority which Heius had in Messana, of the esteem in which he was held by his fellow-citizens ?\ But let us suppose you could gain your object, let us suppose the Messanians would decree something severe against Heius ; of what weight do you think would their praise be, who should decree a punishment on him, who it is obvious spoke nothing but the truth in the deliverance of his testimony ? I But of what value is that praise, when the confer rer being questioned, heaps damnation on its object? Are not those your p raisers, my witnesses? >Heius praises you, and is highly injurious to your cause; I will summon others, who may conceal, if they will, what they are able : they must bear testimony to what is essential, whether they will or no. Will these deny that a large speronara was built at Messana ? Let them, if they can ; let them deny that a senator of that city publicly superintended the work. I only wish they would deny it ! There are also other points which I wish to reserve untouched, that as little oppor- tunity as possible may be allowed for the fabri- cation, and consummation of perjury. Let this praise then which you have gained, serve for one reckoning; let the authority of these men be of service to you, who if they had it in their power, ought not to assist you, and if they willed it, are unable. These are the very men whom you have calumniated in private; this is the very city in which you have ruined many families, by your vile and infamous conduct. Professedly indeed you have come to terms with them, | but not without being noxious to the republic, and the province of Sicily. It used to be their duty to furnish the Roman people with sixty thousand bushels of wheat annually, which you alone have neglected to send. {The republic has suffered, because through you its authority is diminished in one city: (the Sicilians have suffered, because this tribute of corn has not been deducted from the general stock, but transferred, to the inhabitants of Centuripe and Alsesa.; ^people governed by their own laws, who have had to bear alone the burthen of this tribute. If you had acted according to the spirit of the treaty, it was your duty to order a vessel to be built ; you delayed doing so for three years. During that time, you never even put a soldier in requisition. You have behaved in the way that pirates do, who though they be the com- 15 mon enemies of the public, take care to procure some friends whom they not only spare, but en- rich, more especially those who have a harbour in a convenient situation, where it is sometimes necessary for them to moor their vessels. fO-The city of Phaselis, " which P. Servilius took, was not heretofore a receptacle of Cili" cians and pirates. The Lycians, a nation of Grecian origin, dwelt there -.Nike Messana, it is situated on a projecting point of land, so that the pirates were often compelled to take shelter therein. They appropriated that city to them- selves; first by the monopoly of commerce, and afterwards by a ratified alliance. Messana heretofore bore a fair character, and never countenanced rascals. She had a suit with Caius Cato, " concerning army baggage. But what sort of man was he? Why, he was the grandson of the illustrious L. Paulus and Marcus Cato, and nephew of P. Africanus} and who, notwith- standing his being consul, was condemned. At that period, when the laws were strictly en- forced, the damages stood in the city of Mes- sana at eighteen thousand sesterces. The inha- bitants nevertheless, bore him no ill-will, who have often expended for the entertainment of Timarchides, 13 a greater sum, than the going to law with Cato occasioned. But Messana has now become a sort of Pha- 16 sells to that Sicilian free-booter and pirate. Hither every thing was carried, and left in charge to the inhabitants. S If any plate was to be wrought, it was consigned to them and hid; was through them that he contrived to em- bark, and export clandestinely what he chose : he took care, in short, that they should build a large vessel, to send to Italy loaded with his booty. For these services, he excused them from furnishing their quota of taxes, labour, militia, and every thingT^For the space of three years, they alone, not only in Sicily, but I be- lieve throughout the world, were utterly ex- empt from all duties, trouble, and taxes. NHere it was that those scandalous deeds of Verres had their origin : here he ordered Sex. Commi- nius to be dragged into his banquet room, whose head he aimed at with his cup ; whom he throttled in the midst of dinner, and ordered to be thrown into a dungeon in chains.^ Here was reared that cross, to which he attached a Roman citizen, in the presence of numerous spectators, which he would not have dared to put up any where, except in the city of those who were the accomplices of his thefts and crimes.//Do you, Messanians, dare to come and bestow praise on any one ? do you imagine it can have weight? Which do you think it should bias, the senatorial order, or the people ? 17 / jl only ask, is there a city, either in our pro- vinces, or most distant nations, either endued with power or freedom, with barbarism or ferocity; is there in short, any sovereign who would not shew hospitality to a Roman senator? \Which is not only a mark of respect to the in- dividual, but to the Roman people at large, through whose favour, I belong to that rank. It is moreover a compliment to the senate, which unless it be highly respected by our friends, what will become of the dignity and power of the state? The Messanians did not give me a public invitation. With respect to my- self, it was a matter of no consideration ; Nbut in refusing to invite a senator of the Roman people, they shewed want of respect to the order, not to the individual. For to Tuilius himself, the doors of the splendid and spacious mansion: of Cn* Pompeius_Basiliscus were flung open: w r ith whom, nevertheless, he would have lodged, even if he had received an invitation from you. There was an excellent house belonging to the family of the Parcennii, who also are of the family of Pompeius ; I4 with these my brother Lucius lodged conformably to their washes. A senator of the Roman people, you having it in your power to receive him, was compelled to pass the night in a public lodging at Mes- sana. No other city ever behaved in this man- 18 ner. You summoned my friend to take his trial. Will you signify to the world my private concerns, by diminishing the dignity of the senate? SBut we will complain of these things hereafter, if the senate thinks proper to take \cognizance of your behaviour in slighting them. With what insolence have you conducted your- selves in the eyes of the Roman people? Have you not yet removed that cross, nor committed it to the deep, which stood at your city har- bour, stained with the blood of a Roman citizen? Have you not purified the spot before you en- tered Rome, and this seat of judgment? A monument of the cruelty of Verres is erected in a territory at peace, and in alliance with the republicX Is your city fixed upon as the place, where those who cross from Italy should meet the crucifix of a Roman, before he sees a friend of the republic? You exhibit this cross to the Rhcgians, of whose city you are jealous : you exhibit it to your subjects, and to Roman citi- zens, that they might fall in their own estima- tion, and not think meanly of you, when they see the infringement of your laws punished with the infliction of tortures. But you persist in declaring that you bought the statues, Verres./i-How then did you forget to purchase of Heius, those magnificent tapes- tries celebrated throughout. Sicily ? They were as much in your power as the statues. What have you done? Did you order them not to be set down in the account-book ? The truth is, this escaped the notice of the blockhead, who thought it wduld be less notorious to steal from the press, than from the sacristy. But how did he obtain them? I cannot state it clearer than in the words of Heius. When I asked him whether any of his goods had fallen into the hands of Verres, he replied^ that he was commissioned to send the tapestries to him at Agrigentum. I asked, whether he had sent them ; he said, that such was his duty, since he had heard the praetor give orders that they should be sent. I wanted to be informed whether they had arrived at Agrigentum ; he replied, they had. I asked, if they had been restored; he answered, no, Laughter and mur- murs resounded from the populace. Did not Heius come to bid you remember that he should register these articles also, and set them down to your account at six thousand five hundred sesterces? 15 Was you apprehen- sive of increasing your debts, if they stood you in at so much? Articles which you might sell at any day, for two hundred thousand sesterces. If you paid such a sum, you might plead your cause with effect : no one would inquire into the value. Jf you can but prove that you 20 bought them, it would be easy to convince any one of the justice of your dealings; but you have no possible way of disentangling yourself from the dilemma of these tapestries. Tell me now whether you bought, or swin- dled from Philarchus, a rich gentleman of Cen- turipe, those splendid horse-trappings, which, according to report, belonged to King Hiero? For so I heard, when I was in Sicily, both from the inhabitants of Centuripe and others. It is not less true that you robbed Philarchus of his harness, than that you deprived Aristus of Pa- nonnus, and Cratippus of Tyndaris, of theirs. If Philarchus had sold them to you, you would not have promised to return them, after you had stipulated to pay a fixed price. You were aware that many knew this; and if you had restored them, that you would only be a loser, and that your nefarious method of getting them, would still be notorious; you therefore took care not to return the harness. Philarchus, in the de- livery of his testimony against you said, that when he was summoned in your presence, be denied having the trappings in his possession, aware of that rage of your's (to use the language of your friends), to get the ornaments copied by an engraver , and said, to prevent your find- ing them, that they were deposited elsewhere ; but that such was your cunning, you contrived. through him, to find the place of their conceal- ment. He then acknowledged that he fell into your snares, and lost the harness, without get- ting an adequate compensation. / v^Jt is worth your while, my Lords, to know how all these things were searched and found- There were two brothers, by name Tlepolemus and Hiero, natives of Cibyra, I6 one was a mo- deller in wax, the other a painter. These, as I have heard, being suspected by their fellow- citizens, of having robbed the temple of Apollo at Cibyra of a statue, and dreading the pu- nishment of the law, fled from their country. When Verves was in Asia, they became ac- quainted with him, knowing his passion for their trades, and as you have heard from the witnesses, consigned themselves to him as out- laws, when he came to Cibyra loaded with un- answerable bonds. At that period he retained them in his service, and he turned them to ac- count in the thefts and plunders he committed when ambassador. These are the men in whose accounts Q. Tadius was registered, when he .gave, by order of Verves, his property to the Grecian painters. These pettifoggers, perfectly skilled in their trade, he took with him to Sicily. The blood-hounds, as soon as they ar- rived, shewed such fine scent and activity, that either through threats or promises, slaves or frcedmen, friends or enemies, they were sure to trace the object of their search. Whatever pleased them was to be lost ; those, whose plate was put in requisition, thought nothing more desirable than that it should displease Tlepo- lemus and Hiero. Indeed, my Lords, I can pledge the truth of this/^-I remember that Pamphilus, a gentleman of Lilybaeum, who re- ceived me in his house and was my friend, told me, that when he was compelled to deliver up a large water-flagon, exquisitely carved by the hand of Boethus, he returned to his house with sorrow and regret at having lost so fine a vase, which had been bequeathed him by his an- cestors, and which he used to produce, in com- pliment to his friends, on days of festivity. '-' As I was sitting," he said, " in my house re- gretting what had been seized, a slave in the service of the temple of Venus Erycina 17 came in, and ordered me forthwith to produce to the prretor, my cups embossed in alto-relievo. I was surprized," he added ; " I had two. I or- dered them to be brought forth; and lest any- thing worse should befall me, I determined to go with them to the praetor. When I arrived at his palace, he was taking his siesta: Tlepo- lemus and Hiero were walking about, who, when they saw me, cried, 'Where, friend Pamphilus, are your ciips ?' I displayed them mth regret 23 They gave me credit for being a good sort of man. I began to complain, that if they took these away, there would remain nothing of value in my possession. They then seeing me distressed, proposed, ' What will you give us, if we let you keep them ?' They demanded two hundred sesterces ; I offered one hundred. In the interim, the praetor summoned me in his presence. They told him, that according to ^vhat they had heard, they were at first of opi- nion that the cups were of some value, but that they now found they were trash, and not fit to stand on the side-board of Verres. The pra3tor observed, ' it appeared so to him." Therefore Pamphilus retained his cups, which were very good ones : \and in troth, before I heard of this transaction, though I do not know how it came to pass to be thus adjusted, I was aware that the things were of no moment. I could not help wondering, however, that he should give proofs of any delicacy in affairs of this nature, for he never shewed any before,/ ,Slt was then that I discovered that tl^ese Cibyratic brothers were kept in his service,\hat he might employ their hands and their eyes in his system of plunder. But so ambitious is he of this honourable repu- tation of being thought intelligent in works of art, that it was but lately, (mark the folly of the man), during the adjournment of his trial, when he was looked upon as sure of being con. 24 demned to die, that he coolly inspected and ex- amined the plate and counterpilts on the morn- ing of the Circensian games, in the splendid dwelling of L. Sisenna, I8 and in the presence of respectable visitors. Some stared at his folly, that during his trial for rapine, he should do all he could to excite, not veil, suspicion ; others at his madness, that in the interval of his ad- *^ journed trial, he should suggest any thing to witnesses, who had jnven so much evidence ~S^ against him. The servants of Sisenna, I helieve, who were aware of his character, took care to have their eyes upon him, and not leave the plateTslt is the part of a good judge, my Lords, to draw inference of a person's abandoned pro- pensity to thieve, from trifling circumstances. ^ If he who was guilty, and whose trial was only adjourned, damned almost universally, could pot abstain at a great assembly from examining and handling Sisenna' s,. plate, can any one be- Jieve, that when prastor in a province, he could restrain his cupidity to possess that of the Sici- lians ?/But to return to Lilybaeum. I9 There is one Diodes, the son-in-law of Pamphilus, the same who lost the water-flagon ; his surname is Popilius. From him he seized all the vases which were deposited in the recess of his dining- room. Let him give out that he bought them ; for I conclude that an account was made out in consequence of the magnitude of the theft. He 25 ordered Timarchides to rate their value. At what sum? Why, as lowly as an actor could. But I have begun wrong, who have already said so much about your purchases, and I must in- quire whether you bought them at all, and if you did, for how much. One word will settle this. Let me see written, what plate you bought in Sicily ; whence you got it, and at what price. What is the result? Strictly speaking, I ought to produce your accounts, and not require them of you. But you deny that you bargained for these things some years since. I demand that you explain the affair of the money : I will look to the rest. (Here Verres probably was to answer, " I have no written documents, I cannot tell.') What do you think will be the consequence? How do you imagine your judges can act? Your palace was filled with the finest statues before you was named praetor; you had several in your villas, several with your friends, several you bestowed as presents. Ycur account-book does not state that they were bought. In short, all the plate has been removed from Sicily, and nothing of value left with any one. Recourse is had to that wretched plea, that a praetor bought up ail the plate ; and yet he cannot prove that he did so, on the examination of his accounts. If you were able to produce them, 26 they would not state how you came possessed of any property whatever; notwithstanding you pretend that at this period you bought many goods, you are utterly unable to produce your accounts. Produced, or not, must you not ne- cessarily be considered as guilty Pf^f^ou swin- dled from M^jCglius, a Roman knight, and most promising young man, the silver vases which you selected at Lilybaeum; you did not hesitate to rernoveali the furniture of C. Cacurrus, a most obliging man, and of prepossessing man- ners.\In the same city, you compelled Q. Lu- tatius Diodorus, to give up his beautiful citron jtable, on whom Sylla conferred the rights of Roman citizen, through the kindness, of Q. Catulus, and this every body knows. I will not lay to your charge, that you cheated Apol- lonius, alias A. Clpdius, an inhabitant of Dre- panum, " the son of Nicon, a man exactly your counterpart, of all his service of plate. I am silent upon this : he does not think you did him an injury. "You was of use to a man who had a halter round his neck, for having shared with you the property of his wards at Drepanum, I evencongratulatc you on having robbed him; and declare that you never did a better thing in your life. At the same time, you had no right to defraud L^son, a man of conse- quence at Lilybasum, at whose house you lodged, of his statue of Apollo. I am aware that you will say you bought it, for six hundred sesterces, I believe ; I know you did. I can produce the account; at the same time you had no right to do it. Those wrought cups, which belonged to a young ward of Marcellus, whom you defrauded of a large sum, will you say that you embezzled or bought at Lily baeum?\ But why should I dwell on these petty larcenies? on these trivial injuries, which only affected those you robbed? ^Hear, my Lords, if you please, a circumstance of the same kind, that you may duly estimate not his avarice, but his extraordinary folly, his mania//^.Thcre is one Diodorus of Melite, who has borne witness against" him in your presence. He has inha- bited Lilybaeum many y^ars, and wherever he went, recommended hin^elf by his probity and good breeding. Verres was^ i n form cd, that he M r orks in relief; among others, two CUDS tenpp^ r] iKuiiiV? 11 - " finely executed by Mentor. As soon as he heard it, he was so in- flamed with the thirst not only of seeing, but possessing them, that he summoned Diodorus. and jemanded him to givethcm up.^He, who derived much pleasure from retaining them, an- swered, that they were not at Lilybaeum, that he had left them with a relation at Melite ; Verres immediately dispatches confidential agents to that island, writes to some of the in- habitants, that they should procure for him the vases, and begs Diodorus to write to his rela- tion. The time passes heavily, while in expec- tation of the plate : Diodorus, a careful and active man, who wished to preserve his pro- perty, cautions his relation to tell the agents of Verres, that the cups were sent to Lilyba^um a few days ago.^As soon as the praetor heard this, he, beyond doubt, gave signs of ungovernable madness before all present. Because he was unable to make himself master of the plate, he swore that his finest vases were taken away by Diodorus j^he dealt out threats against him ; he called loudly for him ; he could scarcely refrain from shedding tears. We read in fabulous story, that Eriphyle was so smitten with the lustre of a splendid necklace, composed of gold and gems, that she betrayed her husband's place of concealment. " The avarice of Verres is of this nature, only more violent, and of a madder cast. She only panted for what she saw ; his passions were stimulated not only by eyes, but ears. 'He gives orders that search should be made throughout the province for Diodorus, who had removed his head-quarters from Sicily, and car- ried his plate with him. The man, to induce him to come back, devised this scheme : he suborns one of his^ blood-hounds to proclaim 29 that he Wjgjtgj, JtojaTT*" gri D i o riorum for a Capital offence. The public began to wonder that Diodorus, a most, peaceable man, on whom not the slightest suspicion of an error, much less of crime, had ever fallen, should be considered as a guilty person. They presently discovered, that the possession of plate was his crime. He does not hesitate to impeach him, and it was then, I believe, for the first time, that he heard of his absence, "^it was notorious, throughout Sicily, that people were accused of crime, merely through this man's passion for engraved plate; and that several individuals, whether in or out of Sicily, were taxed with infringement of the lawtfS- Diodorus, reduced to a state of wretchedness, wandered about Rome, relating the circumstance to his patrons and friends. Xetters, couched in strong language, were sent from the father of Verres to his hopeful son : his friends also wrote to caution him against taking any further steps in opposition to Diodorus; to inform him that the aifair was manifest; that Dipdorus was stirring heaven and earth against him ; that unless he minded what he was about, he would ruin himself by this one crime\ At that period he had a sufficient sense of duty to consider his father, if not in the light of. a rela- tion, at least as belonging to the human race. He was not yet sufficiently stored with booty 30 to make hiriiself amenable as a criminal ; it was the first year of his government, and he was nofy as in the case of Sthenius, * 3 overflowing with plunder; so that his mania was for the moment, curbed by a sense of fear, not shame. He dares not condemn Diodorus; he cancels his name from the list of the accused, In the mean time Diodorus, during the three years of his praetor^ ship, was exiled from his family and country. Several of the Sicilians^ as well as Roman citi-^ zens, had determined to leave Sicily, for he made such strides for the gratification of his avarice, that they imagined no one would be able to retain what struck his fancy ever so \ttle. '.As soon as they understood that Q. Arrius was not to replace him in the government, which Sicily hoped from her soul would be the case, they were convinced that it was impossible to have any thing so locked up and hid, but what C. Verres would be sure to get. His next step was to embezzle from Cn. Calidius, whose son he knew was a senator of Rome, his beau- tiful little horses cast in silver, which had be* longed to Q. Maximus. But I have made a mistake, my Lords, he bought them, he did not steal them. I wish I had not said what I have, Well then, let him ride triumphant on his little steeds, and exclaim, " I bought them, I have 31 paid the money," I believe you; the account 1 can be produced. They cost so much. Shew me the statement of the sum. Wash him clean of this crime, while I cast up the account. How came it then that Calidius complained at Rome, that he, as well as the Sicilians, should be de- spised, maltreated, and robbed by you alone, during the many years that he was engaged in business in Sicily? If you bought, and he sold them voluntarily, how came it that he was able to prove that he demanded the restoration of his plate? Could you then take care that it should not be restored to Cn. Calidius, espe- cially as he was intimate with L. Sisenna, a par- tizan of your's, and when you would not re- fuse to restore it to the rest of the friends of Sisenna? I believe then you will say that you restored the plate, through your friend Potamon, to L. Cordius, a respectable man, but not of better manners than Calidius. This only makes the testimonies of your other accusers stronger: for when you had pledged the restoration of the articles, you refused to fulfil your promise, after Cordius had asserted in his testimony, that you had consigned them to him ; for you were aware, that if you had let slip your plunder, you still could not escape the deposition against you. Cn. Calidius, a Roman knight, was allowed by every other praetor, .to retain his superb plate;, he was allowed to decorate his banquet with his private effects, when any magistrate or per- son of high rank partook of his hospitality. Many persons of high authority frequented his house, hut no one was mad enough to think of seizing his fine and costly plate ; no one so au- dacious as to ask for it ; no one so destitute of a sense of propriety as to request him to sell it. It is insupportable arrogance, my Lords, for a praetor in a province to say to a wealthy and respectable man, " Sell me your engraved vases;" just as if he were to say, " You are not worthy of having such fine things, they apper- tain more properly to a person of my rank." Are you, Verres, fitter for these things than Calidius ? you, who gave eighty thousand ses- terces to procure votes for your nomination as praetor; three hundred to silence one of your accusers. God forbid that I should compare his conduct and reputation with your's, for they will not admit of comparison; I only state the case of bribery, in which you certainly are his superior. And for this superiority, do you con- temn and hold cheap the Roman knighthood; was it for this that you accounted Calidius less worthy of possessing what struck your notice than yourself? He holds his head high now above Calidius* 33 ;>nd tells every body that he bought the silver horses. Tell me now whether you purchased of L. Papirius, an eminent and wealthy Roman knight, his censer; who, in the testimony de- livered against you, swore, that when he lent it you to look at, you returned it with one of the reliefs torn off, to prove that you had taste, not avarice; that you was fond of art, not money. It was not with respect to Papirius alone, that he shewed this abstemious modesty; he pur- sued the same system in plundering all the censers besides in Sicily : it is incredible how numerous and beautifully wrought they were. I am of opinion, that when Sicily abounded with wealth and resources, art was carried to a high state of perfection in that island. * 4 For there was no decent house, before his arrival as praetor, in which there was not to be found a censer, a charger inlaid with works in relief, and images of the gods, and a patera, which the women employed in the celebration of sacri- fices, even if there was nothing else besides. All these were works of ancient artists, and elaborately wrought. It may be permitted us to suspect, that they had also family utensils for the service of their dinner-tables, but of which a change of fortune had deprived them, notwithstanding that they retained what was essential for their religious ceremonies. I re- 54 peat, my Lords, that nearly all the Sicilians were in possession of much property. I, the same man, do now proclaim, that they have nothing left. What is this? What monstrous ahortion of nature have we sent into the pro- vince ? Does he not appear to have acted thus, to satiate on his return to Rome, not merely his own greediness, but that of all the avaricious in the world? Did he visit any town? His Cibyratic blood-hounds were immediately un- muzzled, to get scent of what they could. If they discovered a large vase, or some consider- able work of art, they promptly produced it ; if they could not, they were presently on the scent for other things of that description. Large dishes, patene, and censers, were pitiful game for them. I leave you to imagine what lamen- tations, what tears, these thefts occasioned among the women, which perhaps may appear of trifling moment to you ; they nevertheless cause deep distress to delicate females espe- cially, when these utensils are wrested from them, which they were accustomed to employ in their sacrifices, which they inherited from their ancestors, and had been time immemorial in their family. 3. 3 Do not expect, my Lords, that I can pos- sibly trace this pilfering system from door to door. He robbed ^Eschylus the Tyndarite, a * of 35 his patera; Thraso, of the same city, of his charger; and Nymphodorus, of Agrigentum, of his censer; I can interrogate witnesses from Sicily, and will leave him to select which he chooses, respecting his robbery of these articles. I can interrogate every town : no decent family can be found which has not suffered from his rapacity. If, my Lords, he ever went to a banquet, he could not eye any wrought plate without touching it. There is one Cn. Pom- peius Philo, a native of Tyndaris ; he invited A r erres to dine at a villa in the territory of that city. He did there what no Sicilian would dare to do ; and because he was a Roman citi- zen, thought he might do it with impunity. A dish was served up set with fine cameos : he kept his eye constantly fixed on this dish, and blushed not to remove from a friend's table, what was appropriated to the household gods. He restored the dish nevertheless, without any wish to retain it, but not without plucking out the cameos, which he did before, in another proof which I have given of his decorous con- duct. Did he not treat Eupolemus of Calacte, 26 the intimate friend of the Luculli, and who is now serving under L. Lucullus, in the same manner? Verres dined with him; he produced all his silver plate, doubtless lest the praetor should steal it if out of his sight. Eupolemus 36 produced two cups, inlaid with gems : he, like an actor at an opera, took care to pick out the gems in the presence of the spectators, for fear of departing from the entertainment without some little present. I cannot enumerate all his pilferings; it is not indeed necessary; and if it was, I should be unable : I only seek to produce examples and proofs of his method of proceeding with regard to each individual. In these transactions he did not act as if one day or other he should be summoned to give an ac- count erf himself, but exactly as if he should never be arraigned as a criminal; or as if he had in view, that by seizing as much as possible, he might thereby diminish the danger of being- brought to trial. He did not, I affirm, do these things craftily, or through agents and spies, but openly, with a professed exertion of autho- rity. gffiVlieu he came to Catine,* 7 a wealthy and populous city, he commanded that Dionysiar- chus, the mayor, should be summoned in his presence; he publicly gave him orders to pro- cure all the plate that was in Catine, and deliver it into his possession. Did you not hear Phi- larchus of Centuripe, a8 a virtuous and wealthy man of rank, swear upon oath, that he commis- sioned him to extort all the plate from the citi- zens of that large and opulent town, and then 37 .consign it to him? In the same manner, Apol- lodorus, whose testimony you have heard, was ordered to make away with all the Corinthian vases in the city of Agyrium, 29 and transport them to Syracuse. I am now going to recite a noble trait in his character. When the indefatigable and duteous prastor arrived at Aluntium, he would not enter the town, because it is situated on an abrupt precipice, difficult of access. He sum- mons in his presence Archagatbus of that city, a man not only the first of his family, but also much respected by all the Sicilians. He com- mands him to bring instantly to the sea-shore all the plate and bronzes that could be found in Aluntium. Archagathus returns home. This nobleman, who sought the esteem and good- will of his fellow-citizens, could not brook that it should devolve on him to be the bearer of so irksome an injunction. He did not know what to do : he proclaims the orders he received, and ordered each individual to produce what he had. The fear was extreme, for the tyrant was at hand, who was waiting for Archagathus and the plate, in his litter, on the shore beneath the town. I leave you to imagine the concourse of people that assembled, the murmurs that were made, and the tears of the females that were 38 shed : they said the Trojan horse had entered their city, and that it must surrender. The vases were taken -without their cases, some were wrenched from the hands of the women, many doors were burst open, and many hars broken. What do you think of this, my Lords? If ever a requisition is made of arms from pri- vate property, in times of war and tumult, people deliver them up unwillingly, though they are aware that it is for the general good. By no means then think that the Aluntians could produce their engraved plate, to fall into the hands of another, without the greatest reluct- ance. Every thing is carried to the praetor. The Cibyratic hell-hounds are called in; they discard a few articles : the mouldings and gems are wrenched off from those they approve. Thus the Aluntians were compelled to return home, with their silver vessels bereft of their choicest ornaments, V^Vas ever such a drag-net 3 as Verres thrown over the province of Sicily. Bad prastors used to misapply the public monies as cun- ningly as possible, and they sometimes dared clandestinely to rifle private property. They nevertheless were condemned ; and if you ask who were the accusers, (to Remove this office from myself), they were those who were able to trace out the thefts committed by men of this de- scription, from some slight printing of footsteps. 39 But bo\v r are we to act in the case of Verres, whose whole body is bedaubed with the splash- ings of his ? Can it be a matter of difficulty to plead against him, who, as he passed a city, or- dered his litter to wait for a moment, and plun- dered the inhabitants from door to door, not by any under-hand tricks, but openly, by one man- date, by a professed exercise of praetorial autho- rity? 31 But to be able to hold forth that he bought these goods, he commissioned Arclia- gathus to give a paltry sum -to the proprietors of silver plate : Archagathus found a few who were ready to accept what he gave. He did not, however, repay Archagathus, who sought for redress at Rome. Cn. Lentulus Marcellinus dissuaded him, as you have heard him say. Read the testimonies of Archagathus and Lentulus. (The testimonies of' Archagathus and Lentulus read in court.) Do not imagine that the man wished to collect so great a number of ornamental devices, without an adequate reason. Mark how deeply lie is impressed with a proper sense of respect J^rjgyii, the Roman people^ trie lalv^ tlfe tribi^ nals, the Sicilian merchants, and those who are come to arraign him. After he had collected so many reliefs, that nothing longer remained in possession of any one, he opened a vast shop in the pajaceiat Syracuse, where all the manu- 40 facturers of plate and vases were ordered to attend. x " A great concourse of people was there Brought together, and he had many in his own pay.^VFor eight whole months these men were continually employed in the manufacture of solid gold plate flie then soldered in his golden vases, with such taste, the cameos which he had torn from the censers, dishes, and paterae, that you would declare they were expressly made for each respectively. This same praetor, who gives out that through his vigilance Sicily was at peace, used to preside at this laboratory for the greater part of the day, dressed in black. \I scarcely venture, my Lords, to state these facts, lest, peradventure, you should say that you have heard more concerning him from common re- port, than from me in court. For who is there that has not heard of this shop, of the golden vases, and of his black apparel? Name any re- spectable man of Syracuse; he shall bear wit- ness to what I declare. There is no one verily, who can say that he has not seen or heard of these transactions. O the corruption of the times! O the de- generacy of our manners ! I will not quote ex- amples of ancient date. Many of you, my Lords, were acquainted with L, Piso, the father of that Piso who was praetor. 32r When praetor in Spain, (where he met his death), by some acci- , 41 dent or other, as he was fencing, a gold ring which he wore was broken : he wished to re- place it by another, and ordered a goldsmith at Corduba to attend him in the forum, to whom he publicly weighed out the gold : he ordered a chair to be placed for him in the forum, and a ring to be manufactured in the presence of the by-standers. Perhaps you will say this was going too far. Let any one cavil at it if he pleases, and we will have done with it. But he cannot deny the truth of my statement. He was the son of that L. Piso, who first instituted a law against bribery. It is ridiculous for me now to revert to Verres, after dwelling on the rigid dis- cipline of Piso Frugi. But only mark the con- trast. As the one was moulding golden vases for his sideboard, he used his utmost exertions that it should not only be notorious throughout Sicily, but also in a criminal court at Rome : the other, in an affair of half an ounce of gold, wished all Spain to understand how it came into his pos- session. As Verres 33 proved the meaning of his name, so indeed did Piso of his surname^It is impossible for me to remember, or include in my oration, all his nefarious dealings. I only wish to expose briefly, the nature of his depre- dations ; indeed this ring of Piso has suggested what would otherwise have escaped me. How many men of rank do you imagine he deprived 42 of the rings they wore on their fingers? He never refrained from seizing any cameo or in- taglio belonging to another, which struck his fancy. It may appear incredible, but it is so ma- nifest, that I do not think he will himself deny it. When Valentius, his agent, received a letter from Agrigentum, Verres happened to notice the impression of a seal on the letter; it hit his fancy, and he asked, "Whence came the letter?" Valentius replied, " From Agrigentum." The prretor immediately wrote to his agents in that city, to send the seal as soon as possible. In consequence of this letter, L. Titius, a Roman citizen, was robbed of his seal. His cupidity was insatiable ; for though it would appear that he exceeded all bounds in furnishing his dining- rooms not only at Rome, but in all his villas, with three hundred couches decorated with rich counterpilts, still there was no wealthy house in Sicily, which he did not turn into a furnish- ing warehouse. There is a certain lady of Segesta, 34 ex- tremely rich, Lamia by name, and of good family. For three years her house was stocked for him, with carpets and works in embroidery ; every article was dyed with purple. There is Attains, a wealthy man of Neaetum ; 35 Lyso, at Lilybaeum ; Critolaus, at Enna ; 36 JEschrio, Cleo- menes, and Theomnastus, at Syracuse; Arcjio- 43 nicies and Megistus, at Elorus. " My voice will fail me before I can enumerate them ; he fur- nished, I believe, the purple dyes; his friends, the manufactures. It does not suit me now to charge him with every thing. As if it would not be sufficient reason for his condemnation, that he had so much to give away; that he wished to remove so much, and that, what he himself allows, employed his friends in traffic of this description. Do you believe, my Lords, that any bronze bedsteads and chandeliers, were manufactured at Syracuse, during three years, for any one, but him alone? He bought them. I give him credit for having bought them. 3 * I only, my Lords, beg to inform you, what he did in the province when praetor,' lest he should appear not to have feathered his nest sufficiently when he had it in his power. <$ V. I am now going to state a case, that can neither be termed mere theft, avarice, or cupi- dity ; but a deed of such atrocity, that it may be said to combine all imaginable crimes; in the perpetration of which, the sanctity of the gods has been violated ; the esteem and autho^ rity of the Roman people diminished ; the duties of hospitality subjected to craft and violence ; and the affection of the kings in alliance with Rome, and in allegiance to Syria, alienated from the republic. You are aware, my Lords, 44 that the young Syrian princes, the sons of An- tiochus, were lately at Rome. They did not come to have their right to that kingdom rati- fied; for that, they beyond dispute,^ were en- titled to, as heirs to their fathers and ancestors ; but they were of opinion, that the kingdom of Egypt devolved on them, in right of their mother, Selene. This the senate could not as- sent to, in consequence of the state of affairs. They therefore departed for their own country, Syria. One of them, by name Antiochus, 39 wished to make a tour in Sicily, and duly ar- rived at Syracuse, in the proconsulate of Verres. Upon this, our praetor imagined himself come into possession of a large inheritance; since one had fallen into his power, whom he had heard, and suspected to have many things of value in his retinue. He orders some con- siderable presents to be sent to the prince, for the supply of his kitchen ; as much wine and oil as was necessary, and a sufficient quantity of wheat, from his magazine of tithes. 4 He then invites the prince to dine. His couch is magnificently and elegantly adorned; and his finest plate, of which there was a great profu- sion, produced. He had not at that time manu- factured his golden vessels. He takes care in short, that the banquet should be spendidly served. And the young prince leaves the en- IS**' (* 45 tertainment with the idea that his host pos- sessed much wealth, and had feasted him sump- tuously. In his turn, he gives a dinner to the praetor, displays all his wealth, a consider- able quantity of silver plate, with many golden goblets, which as suited for royal use, especially in Syria, were inlaid with exquisite gems. There was also a wine decanter, hollowed out of a single gem of large size, with a golden handle. You have heard, I believe, Q. Minucius, a re- spectable witness,, state what I do. Immediately our praetor begins to handle, gaze at, and ad- mire every utensil ; and the prince is pleased, that his entertainment answers so well the ex- pectations of a magistrate of the Roman people. After he had departed from the festival, he thought of nothing, as the circumstance itself declares, but how to rob the prince, and send him pennyless from Sicily. He asks permission to see the vases, which struck his fancy the most; pretending that he wanted to shew them to his artists. The prince, ignorant of the sort of man he had to deal with, willingly lent them, without entertaining the slightest suspicion ; he sends also to request the loan of the gem- decanter, stating that he wished to inspect it minutely. That also is consigned to him. -I have now, my Lords, to request your par- ticular attention on the subject of an event, 46 which has not now for the first time been dis- closed to you, and the Roman people. Indeed, the noise of it has spread to foreign nations, and the remotest parts of the earth. These princes brought with them to Rome, a magnificent chandelier, set with precious stones, to be de- posited in the capitol. As the temple was not completed, they were unable to make their de- posit, and consequently were unwilling to make a public exhibition of their present, which, to appear of the greater importance, was to be placed, at an appointed time, in the cell of the temple consecrated to the omnipotent omnis- cient Jupiter ; and that it should strike the at- tention more, was to be suddenly exhibited in public. They resolved on carrying it back with them to Syria, that when they heard of the con- secration of the statue of the God, they might dispatch ambassadors to be the bearers of that splendid present, as well as of other offerings. Somehow or other, this circumstance was made known to Verres. The prince had wished it should be concealed, not that he apprehended its seizure, but that as few as possible should see it, before it was consigned to Rome. Verres, in the most importunate manner, requests that it should be sent to him ; he says he wishes to inspect it, and promises that no one shall see it but himself. 47 Antiochus, who was of a loyal and unsus- pecting disposition, never dreaming of his vile intentions, orders his servants to carry it well packed, and with as much secrecy as possible, to the praetorial palace. As soon as they had deposited and unpacked it, he exclaims, that it is a present worthy of the kingdom of Syria, worthy of a prince, worthy of the capitol. As indeed he might, for it was of that brilliance which only proceeds from the brightest gems ; of that variety of ornament, that art might be said to contend with the number of the mate- rials ; of that size, that it might appear appro- priated not for human, but divine service. As soon as he appeared to the bearers suffi- ciently to have gratified his curiosity, they pre- pare to carry it back. He declares that he wishes to examine it again, and again; that he can never be satiated with looking at it. He orders them to go, and leave the chandelier. They return to Antiochus without their charge. QThe prince at first, apprehended nothing, sus- pected nothing. One day passes ; another ; many : it is not restored. The prince then sends, that if agreeable to him, he should be obliged if he would return it. Verres orders the prince's servants to come for it at a later hour. Antiochus wonders at the delay, and sends again. No answer. He calls upon him, and 48 entreats him to restore the chandelier. Mark the barefacedness and singular arrogance of the man. He began to beg and vehemently demand what he heard was destined for the capitol, from the prince's own mouth, what he saw was espe- cially preserved for the omniscient omnipotent Jupiter, and for the Roman people. The prince answered, that he was prevented from com- plying with his wishes, out of respect for reli- gion, and public opinion, for he was to make this present to the capitol, in the eyes of nu- merous nations. Verres has recourse to the severest threats; but when he sees that the prince is no more to be influenced by them, than by prayers, he orders him to depart from the province before night, pretending that he had discovered that pirates were on their way from Syria to Sicily. The prince, in the pre- sence of a great assembly at Syracuse, in the forunij (let none imagine I am engaged in an obscure cause, or that I tax him with any thing, merely through general suspicion,) in the forum, I repeat, of the city of Syracuse, with tears in his eyes, as he called the gods and men to witness, began to complain loudly that Gains Verres had forced from his hands that chan- delier embossed with gems, which he had de- stined for the splendid temple of the capitol, to stand there as a monument of the alliance that subsisted between Syria and the Roman people; that he was indifferent with respect to the fate of his other effects in gold and gems, but that it was shameful and not to be endured that he should be deprived of this ; that though it was sufficiently sacred in his, and his brother's esti^ mation, he nevertheless had made it more so, by dedicating and consecrating it to the om- niscient omnipotent Jupiter, whom he had called to witness the sincerity of his wishes and religion. \3 QjWhat voice, what expansion of ribs, what powers of eloquence can suffice to paint this transaction in its true colours? The prince Antiochus, who almost always appeared in public at Rome, with a splendid and royal retinue, at once the ally and friend of the Roman people, as were his father, grandfather, and ancestors, most ancient and illustrious sovereigns, himself heir to an opulent and extensive kingdom, is treated as an outcast in a province of the Roman people ! How do you imagine foreign nations will receive this? What effect do you think the report of your conduct will have in distant kingdoms, and the utmost limits of the earth, when tbey shall be apprized that a prince was robbed by a praetor of a Roman province, who was his guest, and the especial friend and ally ^f the Roman people? Rest assured, my Lords, 50 that if this crime escapes unpunished, both your name, and that of the Roman people, will be held in abhorrence by foreign nations. This will be the universal sentiment, especially as the belief of the avarice and cupidity of our magistrates has generally obtained, as well as the idea that this was not the deed of Verres alone, but also of those who winked at his crime. Many kings, and free states, many pri- vate persons of property intend indeed to em- bellish the capitol, in a manner that corresponds with the dignity and lustre of our empire, as soon as they shall have understood that you have taken due cognizance of, and disproved this embezzlement of royal property ; they will moreover think, that their zeal and offerings will be acceptable to you, and the Roman people. But if they should understand that you overlooked this outrage against so great a sove- reign, in so glaring a case, in so manifest a guilt, they will not be mad enough to devote their thoughts, money, and trouble to the pur- chase of things, in which they believe you to be indifferent. <3'/Here, Quintus Catulus, 41 I call upon thee. I am speaking of your splendid and beautiful or- nament. It belongs to you, not only to repro- bate this crime, with the severity of a judge, but even with that of an enemy, or accuser. 51 Your glory is raised with that temple, through the kindness of the Roman senate and people ; your name and that temple are together conse- crated. It is your duty, it devolves on you to take care that by how much the more magni- ficently it has been restored, so it should be adorned; that that thunderbolt may appear to have been darted from heaven, not for the sake of destroying the shrine of the omniscient om- nipotent Jupiter, but of requiring a more spa- cious and magnificent fabric 4 * for his residence. You have heard Q. Minucius Rufus state that prince Antiochus lodged with him at Syra- cuse ; that he knew the chandelier was carried to, and not restored by Ver-res.^ You have heard, and will hear in every assembly at Syra- cuse, people declare they understood, that it was dedicated and consecrated by prince An- tiochus, to the omniscient omnipotent Jupiter. If you were not a judge, 4S and the investigation of this crime not committed to you, it would still be your part to inquire into the particulars. I therefore am no longer at a loss to know your sentiments of this crime, you being a judge, since you ought to be a more strenuous pleader and accuser, in the presence of any other judge, than myself. J $But, my Lords, is it possible for an}' thing 52 to appear more intolerable, more outrageous than this ? Shall Verres possess that chandelier, composed of gold and precious stones, designed for the service of the great God? Which was to irradiate the interior of his temple? Shall that, I say, decorate his banquet polluted with lust and obscenity ? In the house of that vile debauchee, shall the ornaments of the capitol be placed on the same table, as the jewels of Che- lidon? 44 What do you think he can ever hold sacred, what must his religion be, if he is not aware of the atrocity of such a crime? Who must stand his trial without having it in his power to supplicate Jupiter, and demand his aid, as is usual ; from whom the immortal gods themselves demand the restitution of their pro- gerty, at the same tribunal that men do their's?' Can we wonder that he violated the temple of Minerva at Athens, that of Apollo at Delos, that of Juno at Samos, that of Diana at Perga, and several others throughout Asia and Greece, if he was unable to resist from plundering the capitol? 45 That fane, which private persons do, and are about to adorn, from their private purses, C. Verres has not allowed to be em- bellished by kings. Therefore, after he had imagined this crime, he esteemed nothing after- wards as sacred throughout Sicily ; in which pro- vince, during three years, he so conducted him- self, that he was believed to wage war at once with heaven and earth. ^^eggsta, my Lords, is a very ancient Sicilian city j which,it is proved, was founded by ^Eneas, when a refugee From Troy, coming into that quarter. The Segestans therefore consider themselves as connected by a perpetual alliance and strict intimacy with Rome. \This city for- mer Iy_wjij:aj3tu^^ Car- thaginians, when it undertook a war of itself against them ; and every thing ornamental-was transported to Carthage. The Segestans had in their possession a very fine bronze statue of DJana, to which they attached, from time imme- morial, the highest veneration. It was beautir- fully wrought; when it was~transferred to Caiv thage, it only changed its place of abode and worshippers; there also respect was paid to it as of nlfl ; for even enemies thought it worth}' of marked attention, from its exquisite beauty. Some centuries afterwards, P. Scipip in the. third Punic war, took Carthage. x After his vic- tory, (note, I beseech you, the virtue and acti- vity of that general, that you may be pleased with a national example of spendid virtue, and consequently judge the insolence of Verres as meriting the greater reprehension,) he assembled all the Sicilians, and ordered their effects to be 54 gathered together ; for he knew that Sicily had been frequently and sorely vexed by incursions of the Carthaginians. He promised to use his utmost endeavours to restore to the inhabitants of each city, their respective properties. It was then that the things which had formerly been removed from Hiinera, 46 of which I have pre- viously spoken, were restored to the inhabitants of Thermae, some to the Gelensians, 47 others to the Agrigentines. Among the last, was that celebrated bull, which Phalaris, the most cruel j)f tyrants, is said to ^^ pr^f>rx^ r i an( j j n which he used to enclose criminals alive, while lig^ applied fire^umierneath; : -- v -?ScipT6V when he restored this infernal machine to the Agrigen- tines, is reported to have said, that it would be well for them to weigh, whether it would be more advantageous for the Sicilians, to be go- verned by their own sovereigns, or by the Roman people, since they possessed at once a monument of their ow r n ferocity, and of our clemency. y a sense 6f religion ;4ie repeated his solicitations, having alternately recourse to threats, hopes, and the inspiration of fear. 'They answered him in the name of Scipio Africanus, and added it was a present of the Roman people, that it was not with them to dispose of what that consummate general designed as a monu- ment of the conquest of Carthage. He daily urges with vehemence his solicitations, and the circumstance is referred to the senate; where the surrender of the statue is violently opposed, and positively denied, at his first arrival in the assembly. He afterwards imposed additional 56 burdens on the levying of naval equipments, an/Oft the exaction of corn from the Segestons, in a greater degree than they coiiTcTwill bear. He summoned moreover the magistrates in his presence, and selected the most distinguished of their body. He rifled^allJii_.niai'ket-places in their territory ; he declared to one after another, that their refusal would only be pro- ductive of misery to themselves, and threatened ta destroy th^-wJiQlejuty from its foundations. The Segestans at length, intimidated by his threats, decreed to submit to the will of the praetor. With the greatest grief, tears, and lamentations of the male and female inhabitants 4^_ _- ._ ^ __. ,,,,, , o^the city, it is enacted that the statue of Diana be removedSoMark, my Lords, how re- ligiously it was preserved by the Segestans ; be assured there was found no freeman, no slave, no citizen, no foreigner, who dared to touch it. Know, that certain foreign workmen were sum- moned from Lilybaeum to remove it. They dislodged it for a stipulated sum, not aware of the reason of its removal, or of the respect in which it was held. I leave you to imagine the multitude of women assembled on this_occa- sion, and the weepings of the elders, some of whom recollected the day, when that same Diana was brought back from Carthage, and proclaimed by its return, the victory of the 57 Roman people. How different was that day from this ! Then a most distinguished general of the Roman people restored to the Segestans their own gods recovered from a hostile city ; now, from an allied city, an abominable prastor of that very same people, sacrilegiously made away with those identical gods. What is more notorious throughout Sicily than that all the Segestan matrons and virgins assembled to wit- ness the removal; that they perfumed it with spikenard ; that they crowned it with flowery chaplets that they followed it to the confines of their territory ; burning, as they went, frank- incense and odours ? If, Verres, when governor, your cupidity and insolence overwhelmed all sense of religion, do you not now shudder in consequence of its violation, at the urgency of your case and that of your children? What man will fly to your assistance, in opposition to the immortal gods; what god do you think will be propitious to you, so deeply implicated in sacrilege? Could not that Diana inspire you with religious duty at a period of repose and security ? She, who had witnessed the destruction of either of the cities, in which she was stationed? She, who had twice escaped the fire and sword of two destruc- tive wars, who did not lose her veneration by the victory of the Carthaginians ; and recovered 58 it at her first residence, through the generosity of P. Africanus ? After the perpetration of this crime, when the pedestal with the name of Africanus in- scribed, was bereft of its ornament, all thought it scandalous and intolerable, that not only the sanctity of religion was violated, but that the glory of the deeds of the immortal Scipio, the monument of his virtue, the trophy of his vic- tory, should be despoiled by C. Verres. When he heard of the inscription on the pedestal, he concluded^that the whole affair would be forgot, provided he could effect the removal of that pedestal, which proclaimed his outrage. They therefore decreed by his orders, that it should be removed. This has been confirmed to you, my Lords, in the deposition of the Segestans against him, which was read in my first pleading. xJ-oThee now, Publius Scipio, thee, I invoke, O illustrious, accomplished youth ! I demand thy interposition, due to thy family and name. Why dost thou exert thyself in his defence, who has robbed thee of thy praise, and family honour? Why dost thou wish him to be de- fended? W T hy is it for me to undertake thy cause? Why am I to bear the weight of it? Marcus Tullius Cicero demands the monument of Publius Scipio Africanus ! P. Scipio defends 59 him who forced it away ! 49 Since it is an esta- blished custom, that every one should so defend the monuments of his ancestors, as not even to allow another to inscribe them with his name, dost thou come forward in his cause, who has not merely altered the situation of thy monu- ment, but fundamentally removed and destroyed it? Is there any one, in the name of heaven, to defend the memory of the deceased Scipio ? to protect the trophy, and proof of the valour of thy ancestors, if thou dost abandon them? If thou not only sufferest it to be removed, but defendest the free-booter ? Here are the Seges- tans, thy dependants, the allies and friends of the Roman people, to declare to thee, P. Sci- pio, that P. Africanus restored to their ances- tors, the effigy of Diana, after the destruction of Carthage ; that it was dedicated in the city of Segesta, with his name inscribed; that Verre's removed it; and effaced the inscription of the name of P. Scipio ; they entreat thee, they conjure thee to restore the praise clue to thy name and family; that what they recovered through Africanus, from a hostile city, may be rescued by thee, from the house of a despoiling robber3y(Canst thou answer them satisfactorily? Canst thou do any thing to Verres, without their supplicating thy assistance? They are here with their prayers. It rests with thee, 60 Scipio, to protect the greatness of thy name; it rests with thee. Thou hast all the advan- tages, which fortune and nature can heap on man. I do not anticipate the honour of thy task ; I seek not the praise due to another. I am not to be reproached with being the de- fender and avenger of the monuments of P. Scipio, when thou, illustrious youth ! art still alive. If, then, thou under takes t to plead in defence of thy own name, it will not only be my duty to be silent on this occasion, but like- wise to rejoice at the fortune of the deceased Africanus, whose reputation is defended by one of his own family, and does not require adven- titious support. But if a friendship for Verres should prove an obstacle, if you think this mea- sure which I demand is not strictly appropriated to you, I will be your substitute ; on me shall devolve that duty, which I believed to belong to another. Let our famed and long established nobility no longer complain, that the Roman people commits willingly, and always com- mitted this honourable part to industrious heads of families. It ought not to be a subject of com- plaint that virtue can effect much in that city, which triumphs over the world by its virtue. Let others have the statue of P. Africanus ; let others be honoured by the virtue and reputa- tion of the deceased. So great was that man. 61 so well deserving of his country, that he merits the praise, not only of one family, but of the whole state. I then must use my strenuous endeavours, as belonging to that city, which he increased, and rendered illustrious by his ex- ploits; especially since as far as lies in my power, I am used to those exercises of the mind, in which he shone, to equity, industry, temper- ance, to the protection of the good, and to the hatred of the bad ; and the association of these qualities is not less valuable, than that respect .and high birth, of which you think so highly. 3 $ I demand of thee, Caius Verres, the restitu- tion of the monument of P. Africanus. I have nothing to do for the present with the cause of the Sicilians, which I have undertaken to de- fend. Let there be now no cognizance taken of monies procured unjustly; let the wrongs of the Segestans for the moment be obliterated ; but let the pedestal of P. Africanus be restored ; let the name of the invincible general be en- graved; let the exquisite statue rescued from Carthage be replaced. It is not the defender of the Sicilians, it is not your accuser, it is not the Segestans, who require this of you ; it is he, who has undertaken to preserve inviolated the glory of P, Africanus. I am not afraid of displaying my zeal in the presence of Publius Servilius, 5 the judge, who having executed the 62 most splendid exploits, and having raised there- by his own monument, devotes his time to the pursuit of glory, and certainly wishes to trans- mit to posterity the monuments of his actions, to be defended by the virtuous, from the de- predations of plunderers. I am satisfied it will not displease thee, Quintus Catulus, whose noblest and most con- spicuous monument is established by the opi- nion which you cherish, that all the good are the guardians of monuments, that the defence of the glory of others appertains to them. In contemplating the other thefts and crimes of Verres, I feel so affected as only to think them severely reprehensible; but in this, I am so overwhelmed with grief, that nothing can ap- pear to me more intolerable and scandalous. Shall he decorate his palace filled with lust, ra- pacity, and shame, with the monuments of $cipio? Shall Verres place the statue of the virgin Diana, a monument of a temperate and religious man, in that house of his, the sink of whoredom, and iniquity? But have you been satisfied with the viola- tion of this monument of Africanus? What! "Pd yrm Tinf rpmnvp tVip fin^ stal-iio o f Mercury, presented to the Tynd.arit.csj by the samf? S(*ipi n ? And in what manner? Great God of heaven, with what unbridled insolence, and audacity! 63 You have lately heard the deputies from Tyn- daris, excellent men, and of high rank, depose, that the Mercury which was worshipped by the inhabitants, on annual festivals, which P. Afri- canus, after the fall of Carthage, presented to them, as a token of reciprocal faith, and monu-> ment of his victory, was forcibly removed by his unjustifiable and criminal orders; who on his arrival in that city, not only as if a matter of right, but of necessity, as if the senate and Iloman people had commissioned him to do it, gave instant orders that the statues should be pulled down, and removed to Messana. This transaction appeared scandalous to those who witnessed it, to those, who only heard of it, in- credible; he did not, however, persist in the execution of his order, on his first arrival. At his departure, he bids Sopater, the mayor, whose tes- timony you have heard, pull the Mercury down. On his refusing- to comply, he addsjviolent thrrafq, nnd rlmi l"iivi 111" l"vm-- The mayor states the circumstance to the senate, who are unanimous in reclaiming it; Verres presently returns, and urges his demand for the statue ; he receivers answer, that_the^senate cannot Accede to his wish ; that it is with them a capital crime, if any one touch the statue without the senate's permission. They mention also the veneration in which it was held. " What have 64 I to do with your religion," he replies, " what with your punishments, what with your senate? If you do not instantly deliver the statue, you shajj^be flogged to death/* Sopater, in tears, carries his message to the senate, and represents the eagerness and me- naces of the prsetor. The senate returns no answer to Sopater, but breaks up in violent agi- tation. He, summoned by one of the praetor's- servants, states the case ; the praetor answers : " My commands must be obeyed.'?/: 'And these things took place, (for I must not omit any trait of his arrogance,) in the presence of the public, from a curule chair, placed in a commanding situation. It was the depth of winter ; the sea- son, as you have heard Sopater himself state, was inclement; it rained hard; notwithstand- ing, he orders the lictors to hurry Sopater from the portico where he was sitting, towards the forum, and strip him naked. Scarcely were these commands delivered, before he was stripped, and environed by lictors. It was the general opinion, that the unhappy and innocent man was doomed to be flogged. It was not well-ground- ed. " Can he cut to pieces without cause (they said), a friend and ally of the Roman people ? he is not quite so bad yet; all crimes are not centered in him ; he never shewed a propensity to cruelty; he received Sopater with mildness 65 and affability." In--theanid&tjo-hajfQmm at Tyndaris, there are equestrian statues of the '"'*' * . Marcelli, as in nearly all the other Sicilian cities. Of these, he pitched upon one of Caius Marcellus, whose benefits to Tyndaris, as well as to all Sicily, were considerable, and of late date. He orders Sopater, who is of noble family, and vested with authority, to sit cross-legged on one of the statuSjmd to be strapped to it. Every body must be impressed with a sense of the pain, which such a situation must have oc- casioned to a person bound naked to a bronze statue, and exposed to the inclejnency^of the weather. Nor was {Here an end to this outrage, till the multitude, touched with compassion at his situation, compelled the senate with their murmurs to promise the surrender of the statue to Verres. They cried, that the gods would revenge his cruelty, but that it was not for them to suffer an innocent man to die. The senate in a body, goes to him, and promises the statue; and Sopater, almost stiff with cold, is taken down nearly lifeless. If I wished it, I should be unable here to accuse his conduct in due order ; to do so, not only genius, but a won- derful dexterity is necessary ^(It appears to me, that this one crime, and which is stated by me as such, is constituted of many ; but how to distinguish and analyze them, I know not It 66 is a crime of larceny, for he forced a valuable statue from our friends ; it is a crime of pecu- lation, since he has not hesitated to bear off an image, the common property of the Roman people, which was taken as booty from our enemies, and had our general's name inscribed ; it is a crime against the state, since he has dared to overturn and carry off the monuments of the glory of our empire, and military exploits ; it is a crime of impiety, for he has violated religion; it is a crime of cruelty, for he has devised a new and unparalleled method of punishment, to a man who is at once our friend, and innocent. I cannot indeed now enter upon the nature of the offence, neither do I know how to term this outrage against the statue of Marcellus. What had he in viesv ? Was it that he was -the owner? \Vas it that he meant by this transaction, to assist or injure the cause of our dependants and friends? (Did you do it to prove that no owner of property could keep his goods secure against your rapacity? Who would not understand by this that there is greater po\ver in the mandate of a worthless fellow present, than in the protec- tion of the virtuous, who are absent? Was it that you meant to signify this, by that inveterate obstinacy and pride of your's? You probably hoped to detract from the glory of the Marcelli. Forsooth the Marcelli are no longer to be con- 67 sidered the patrons of the Sicilians ; Verres is become their substitute. 51 What merit, what virtue do you imagine centered in you, as to make you endeavour to transfer to yourself so illustrious a patronage of so splendid a pro- vince, from its ancient and acknowledged pos- sessors? Do you fancy that by that folly and sluggishness, you are able to patronize even a Sicilian of the lowest rank, as well as a whole province? Was it for you to turn the statue of Marcellus into a crucifix, on which to fasten the dependants of the Marcelli ? Did you seek to inflict punishment on those, who held him in honour, with a monument of that very honour? Do you mean that your statues hereafter should be turned to the same use? But the Tyndarites pulled down his statue, though he ordered it to be raised on a higher pedestal close to the Mar- celli, as soon as they had experienced this out- rage. The fortune of the Sicilians has therefore assigned C. JVIarcellus to be your judge, who decrees, that you be tied hand and foot to the same statue to which you strapped the Sicilians during your proconsulate. And first, my Lords, he gave out that the Tyndarites sold this statue of Mercury to C. Marcellus jEserninus; he hoped therefore, that this same Marcellus would plead his cause, which never appeared probable 68 to me, that a young man born atTyndaris, and a friend of the Sicilians, would lend his name to countenance such a crime. I have never- theless taken such precautions, that even if he be detected as an accomplice, and ready to bear the blame of Verres, such a measure would effect nothing. For I can summon such wit- nesses, and produce such documents, that there can be no doubt of the guilt of Verres. There are written documents, and I do proclaim, that the Mercury was transported to Messana. They ask, for how much? I say that Poleas was com- missioned to do it. Where is Poleas ? Here he is. Listen to his testimony. (Here Poleas is brought to the bar, and says, " It was removed by order ofSopater the mayor.") Where is he who was strapped to the statue? Call him in. Listen to his deposition. (Here Sopater probably gave his deposition, and having done so, left the court.) You have seen the man, and heard his testi- mony. Demetrius, the gymnasiarch, saw that it was pulled down, for it was his office. I say that he himself was present. And it was but lately, that Verres promised at Rome to restore to the deputies from Tyndaris the statue, if they would not deliver their testimony against him. Zosippus and Hismenias have deposed this, who are noblemen of Tyndaris. /. 69 - 9 f What! did you not plunder from the holy temple of ^Esculapius, 54 at'Agrigeritupi, another monument of the same Scipio, I mean that ex- [uisite statue of Apollo, which exhibited the nameoTTKe" sculp tor Myron, inscribed in small silver letters in the inside of the thigh? When he attempted this clandestinely, my Lords, the whole city was thrown into a ferment, as he employed for this purpose, his nefarious agents. The Agrigentines unanimously demanded to re- tain, what was considered as ornamental to their city, a monument of the kindness and prowess of Scipio, and a pledge of their alliance with the republic. The nobles therefore gave orders to theguestors and ecTifesTjo mount a" nightly watch about the temple. FoFYerTes byjao means^ dared to force away publicly, or even to request at Affrigentum whgt^pleaseH his taste.; I believe he was deterred by the opi- nion that he had of the spirit and good cha- racter of the inhabitants, who had dealings, and were intimate with numerous Roman citizens of high repute, resident at Agrigentum. There is a temple of Hercules not far from the forum, helcTurhigh veneration by the Agri- gentines. 53 In it, there is_^JbrjanzL&lalii_pf the deity, than which it would not be easy for me to say I ever saw any thing more beautiful, (not that I profess to be a virtuoso, though 70 many of these things have fixed my attention :) it would have been perfect, my Lords, had not the chin and mouth been a little worn by the kisses of the numerous votaries, who there offered up their prayers. When Verres was at Agrigentum, an attack is suddenly made on the Hpa.H_njJTe^jiight. J by armed ser- vants headed by Timarchides. Alarm is given by the nightly watch; who in their attempt to defend the temple, are driven away, dreadfully mauled by sticks and cudgels. After breaking open the bolts and bars, they endeavour to knock away the statue with their clubs. The alarm spreads throughout the city, that the sanctuary of the gods is violated, not by a sudden incursion of enemies, or pirates, but by an armed band of vagabonds equipped for the purpose from the prastorial guard. There was no one at Agrigentum, ever so infirm by sick- ness or age, who did not leave his bed at the intelligence, and seize whatever weapon lay in his way; a great multitude in consequence flocked to the place; for a whole hour men were employed in endeavouring to effect the removal of the statue, either by making use of levers, or by attaching ropes to it, with which they pulled with all their might; notwithstand- ing which, it did not give way to their efforts. The Agrigen tines crowd together, and pelt the 71 freebooters with stones. The picquet of our renowned prsetor is put to rout ; they succeeded however in making away with two small cameos, not to return with em pty hands to that arch plunderer. No calamity ever befalls the Sici- lians, but what they turn it off with good humour, 5+ and a witty saying, as upon this oc- casion, when they remarked, that this horrible Verres had no less a claim to be classed among the labours of Hercules, than the Erymanthian boar himself. J ^The inhabitants of Assorus, 55 a spirited and honourable people, afterwards imitated the in- trepidity of the Agrigentines, but not with as good success, though their city is opulent and considerable. The river Chrysas flows through theiv territory, which is deified, and held by them in the greatest respect. His temple stands near the road, which leads from Assorus to Enna : in it there was a marble statue of Chrysas beautifully carved. 56 He did not dare to de- mand this of the Assorians, on account of the sanctity in which it was held. He orders there- fore Tlepolemus and Hiero to use their en- deavours to procure it, who conduct an armed force by night, to break open the doors of the temple. The guards are presently aware of his intention, and blow a horn, which was the known signal of alarm to the neighbourhood. 72 The inhabitants fly to the spot ; Tlepolemus is put to flight, and they are left to regret the loss of nothing from the temple of Chrysas, but a very small bronze figure. There is a temple consecrated to Cybele at Engyium. 57 I find myself not only necessitated to dwell lightly on each circumstance, but wholly to omit many, that I may come without delay to his more notorious burglaries. In this temple there were brazen habergeons, and helmets, worked at Corinth ; also large flagons in bronze, of equally fine execution, which the same excellent Scipio had placed there, and on which his name was inscribed. But not to dwell or complain any longer on his outrages, these my Lords, he all removed. He left nothing in that sacred fane, but the indications of sacrilege, and the name of P. Scipio. In fine, the spoils of our ener mies, the monuments of our generals, the deco- rations of our temples, must be enumerated hereafter among the effects of Verres, bereft of the names of the illustrious donors. Are you then the only person to be pleased with Corinthian vases? Are you alone emi- nently skilled in judging of the temper of bronze, and correctness of outline ? Could not the enlightened Scipio estimate the value of these things ? Do you pretend to a knowledge of virtu without genius, literature, or education f 73 I would have you beware lest he should be found not only superior to you, but likewise to those who aim at being accounted elegant in matters of taste. For he thought those things which are esteemed beautiful, not designed for private luxury, but to be ornamental to towns and temples, that posterity might contemplate them as proofs of our respect for religion. . Listen, my Lords, now to another proof of his unbridled and unparalleled phrenzy, in the violation of sanctuaries, which it w r as not only illegal to touch, but even to attach disrespectful thoughts to. At Catine", there is a sacristy of Cere^, hejfl jp as mnrh veneration, as the other temples of that goddess at Kome7"~6F nearly in every part of the world. In the adytum, there stood a most ancient statue of the goddess, of the shape of which men were not only igno- rant, but even of its existence. For the sanc- fyiary was r^t a feasible to males ; matrons and virgins there only officiated. His agents at iright clandestinely remove this statue from its ancient and holy residence. The day after, the priestesses of Ceres, the wardens of the temple, together with respectable women of high birth, state the robbery to the magistrates. It ap- peared universally a subject of grief, and indig- nation. Verres, confounded at the magnitude of his offence, commissions one of his agents to 74 exert himself in removing all idea of guilt from him, and to pretend that it was the work of another, moreover that he should endeavour to convict him of the offence, and remove suspi- cion from himself. The mock impeachment is conducted without delay. At the praetor's de- parture from the city, the name of some slave is given in, he is accused; and suborned wit- nesses give evidence against him. All the Catanian senate take cognizance of it according to law. The priestesses are summoned, and interrogated in what manner they imagine the statue was made away with. They reply that the praetor's servants were seen about the temple. The circumstance which before, was not doubted, was sufficiently cleared by their deposition. The senate holds a committee, when it is determined unanimously to acquit the slave ; by this, you may with more ease condemn him also unanimously. What have you to say for yourself, Verres? What have you to hope for ? What God or man do you think can favour you? Did you dare to make an irruption with your slaves into that sanctuary which freedmen were not allowed to enter for the sake of praying? To pollute with your hands those things, which by sacred laws you were not even allowed to behold? Notwith- standing that you have the use of your eyes, 75 you have fallen into the commission of this flagrant offence. You have coveted that, which you never beheld ; you have been enamoured, I say, with what you had never before seen. You have imbibed such covetousness with your ears, that neither the opinion of mankind, nor the fear of offended heaven, has been able to restrain it. Forsooth, I give you credit for having heard of this statue from a good man. How could that be? For it was impossible for you to be apprized of it from any. Some woman then informed you of it, since no man could either see or know of the existence of the statue. What sort of woman then, my Lords, do you conceive this to have been? What modest female to hold conversation with Verres ? What religious woman to indicate to him the method of robbing the sacristy ? But there is no room for wondering that these sacred things, which are protected by the most rigid chastity, both of men and women, should have been violated through his lasciviousness. But was this the only thing that he coveted through report? There are many others. Of these I will select the robbery of a most ancient and splendid fane, of which you heard the wit- nesses make their deposition, in a former plead- ing. I beg you, my Lords, to listen with the 76 same attention to this case, as you have to the preceding. oyo*The island of Melite 58 is separated from Sicily by a pretty broad and dangerous sea*. In it, there is a town of the same name, which Verres never visited, where nevertheless he es- tablished a weaver's shop for the manufacture of lawns for three years. Not far from the city, there is a temple dedicated to Juno, of long standing; which was always so venerated, that it not only escaped inviolate, during the Punic wars, of which Melite was often the scene of action, but also from the depredations of pirates, It is moreover related traditionally, that when Masinissa put in here with his fleet, the go- vernor removed some ivory tusks, of incredi- ble size, from the temple, and carried them to present to Masinissa in Africa; that that king was pleased with the present, but that when he heard whence they were taken, he sent confidential persons in a quinquireme to re- place them. They therefore bore this inscrip- tion : " King Massanissa received these as presents, not knowing whence they came; as soon as he was informed, he took care to replace them here." The temple contained besides, a great quan- tity of ivory, in which there were sculptured 77 two exquisite figures of Victory. All these things Verres seized at once, by means of slaves in the service of the temple of Venus Erycina," whom he sent for that purpose. In the name of heaven, what sort of man is it that I am pleading against ? who is it that I prosecute at a judiciary tribunal ? what sort of being is it, my Lords, that you have to pronounce sentence against? The deputies from Melit& have de- posed that the temple of Juno was robbed; that he has left nothing in that most sacred fane, to which the enemies of our country resorted with their fleets, and where pirates annually wintered; which no pirate, no enemy ever ventured to violate ; that this same temple has been entirely despoiled by that one man. Can he now be looked upon as an accused person, I, as an accuser, this, as a tribunal ? Is he con- victed as a criminal, or brought only into court on suspicion? It is proved that the gods are forced away, the temples ransacked, the cities plundered. There is no possible way left for him to deny this, or to state any thing in his defence. Of all these crimes he is convicted by me, and by the witnesses ; he is overwhelmed by his own confession ; he is detected in mani- fest villanies; he stands nevertheless, but in silence acknowledges his guilt. I appear per- haps to expatiate too long on one description 78 of crimes ; I am aware, my Lords, that you must be oppressed with satiety. I therefore will omit many. But, in the name of heaven, I be- seech you, my Lords, to recruit your attention while I relate what follows ; I conjure you, in the name of those very deities, of whose sanc- tity I have just spoken, while I relate and ex- pound another outrage, by which all Sicily was thrown into commotion ; and forgive me, if I dwell rather longer on religious topics, than may appear necessary. The magnitude of the offence will not allow me to descant lightly upon so atrocious a deed. oy $-It has been believed, my Lords, from time immemorial, and proved from ancient Grecian literature and records, that the whole island of Sicily is under the especial patronage of Ceres and Proserpine. Foreign nations are also of the same opinion, and the Sicilians are so firmly persuaded of it, that it may be said to be en- grafted in their minds at their birth. They believe that these goddesses were born in the island, that com was there discovered, and that Libera, whom they call Proserpine, was ravished in the groves of Enna ; which city being situ- ated in the middle of the island, is termed the navel of Sicily. Ceres, when she travelled in pursuit of her daughter, is said to have lighted her torches with the flames that burst from the 79 crater of ^Etna, 60 which she extended before her, as she wandered throughout the world. Enna, where these transactions are fabled to have taken place, stands on a lofty and com- manding situation ; on the summit is an even plain, irrigated with living springs. The whole city is insulated, and difficult of access ; in the neighbourhood, there is a lake and numerous groves, where flowers blow throughout the year. The place itself appears to declare that the rape of Proserpine there took place, which we have been accustomed to hear from our cradles. Contiguous, there is a cavern of amazing; height, looking towards the north, O O ' O ' from which they fable that Pluto suddenly emerged in his car, and having ravished Pro- serpine, penetrated the ground near Syracuse, where a lake was suddenly formed, 6I where even now the Syracusans celebrate annual festivals, numerously attended both by men and women. fG, On account of the ancient date of the opi- nion, that this place is ascertained to be the origin and cradle of these deities, devotion to the Ennasan Ceres is most religiously paid, both publicly and privately, throughout Sicily. Many miracles declare her authority and patronage ; in times of trouble, she interposes with her as- sistance, and in so conspicuous a manner, that the island might seem, not only her delight, but 80 also her habitation and care. Nor is her wor- ship confined to the Sicilians ; for other nations adore the Ennasan Ceres. If her rites at Eleusis are the special object of attention among the Athenians, whom she is reported to have visited during her peregrination, and to have instructed in the use of corn, how great a veneration is due from those, among whom it is believed she was born, and to have discovered the utility of grain ! At the death therefore of Tiberius Grac- chus, when the republic was beset by difficulties and dangers, and when people were in great apprehension from the appearance of prodigies, the Sibylline oracles were consulted in the con- sulate of P. Mucius, and L. Calpurnius, in which it is said, these words were found : " It is requi- site that the most ancient Ceres be propitiated" It was then that the priests of the most noble decemviral college, notwithstanding that there was a beautiful- and ancient temple at Rome, made a pilgrimage to Enna. For so sacred and ancient was the religion there held, that at their departure, they appeared to be about to visit Ceres herself, and not her shrine. I will not obtrude longer on your patience, I am already afraid that my speech has appeared to deviate from the established forensic usage. I will only say, that this most holy, most ancient Ceres, which held the highest rank among the religious 81 of all nations, was forced from her sacred re- ceptacle by Caius Verres. If any of you have been at Enna, you have seen there a marble statue of Ceres, and in another temple, a figure of Proserpine. They are very large and beau- tiful, but not of great antiquity ; there Avas a bronze one of moderate size and singular work- manship, bearing torches, 6Z by far the most an- cient statue in the temple. He was not content with merely pillaging this. In the front of the temple, there are two statues, one of Ceres, the other of Triptolemus, both of considerable size and fine execution, and placed in an open and conspicuous situation. Their beauty en- dangered them, their size saved them, for their demolition and transportation appeared exceed- ingly difficult; in the right hand of Ceres, ther was a beautiful little figure of Victory ; this he contrived to dislodge from the statue J^.What must be the state of his mind on the reflection of these crimes, when I in the mere relation of them am not only agitated, but absolutely thunder-struck ? For now the circumstances of the temple, ground, and religion are so im- pressed on my mind, that every thing is trans- acted before my eyes. That day is before me, when I arrived at Enna, and the priestesses of Ceres were at hand with their mitres and sweet- scented herbs; when there was an assembly of G 82 the citizens ; which when I addressed, so great a lamentation took place, that the whole town appeared to be absorbed in grief. His extortion of tithes, his plunder of property, his iniquitous decrees, his barefaced lewdness, his power and reproaches under which they groaned, were no longer subjects of complaint. They sought to redress the violation of Ceres and her ancient temple, by the punishment of that abandoned and audacious villain. They affirmed that they passed over and dwelt not on his other deeds. So great was their consternation, that Verres, like another Pluto, might have appeared to have come to Enna, and not to have ravished Pro- serpine, but Ceres herself. For that city can- not be called a city, but rather a temple of Ceres. The Ennosans are of opinion that Ceres dwelled among them, and so strong is this per- suasion, that all the inhabitants seemed to me to be rather her ministers than citizens of the town. Did you, Verres, dare to remove the statue of Ceres from Enna? To pluck the Victory from her hand? to tear away a goddess from a goddess ? Which those who were more inclined to sacrilege than religious observance, having it ever so much in their power, never dared to touch or violate. For vagabond slaves at war with the republic, occupied Enna, in the con- sulship of Popilius and Rupilius. But they were not such slaves to their masters, as you to your concupiscence ; nor were they such run-a-ways from their lords, as you from your country's laws ; nor were they so barbarous in dialect or race, as you by nature and in manners ; nor were they such enemies of the human kind, as you of the immortal gods. What excuse then can be left for him, who exceeds slaves in vile- ness, vagabonds in audacity j barbarians in im- piety, and enemies in cruelty P^You have heard, my Lords, Theodorus, Numinius, and Nicasio, the deputies from Enna, depose, that they were commissioned by their fellow-citizens, to re- quire of Verres, the restoration of the statues of Ceres, and Victory ; and that if they could have obtained them, they would not have delivered their testimonials against him, and this, for the sake of not deviating from an established custom of the Ennasans, which had been instituted by their ancestors, and which prevented them from deposing against any one, notwithstanding that he was the scourge of Sicily. But that if he refused to comply, that they would denounce him in court, to procure redress for their wrongs, and more especially for their injured religion* In the name of heaven, my Lords, do not turn a deaf ear to their complaints, do not despise, or neglect them. The power of our laws, the 84 wrongs of our allies are at stake. The opinion of the candour of our tribunals is at stake. They are all of high import, but more especially the last. The whole province is so wrought upon by religion^ so great a superstition has laid hold of the minds of the Sicilians, that whatever public or private adversity has happened, it is looked upon as the consequence of his nefarious dealings. You have heard the inhabitants' of CentU" ripe, Agyrium, Catine, Herbita, 63 and Emia, many others also, depose, what a solitude there is in the lands, how abandoned by the husband- men, how uncultivated, and neglected they lie. Notwithstanding that these things have hap- pened through his numerous unjust proceedings, the Sicilians unanimously attribute them to the violation of the sanctity of Ceres, and that on that account all the crops have failed. Heal, my Lords, the wounds which are inflicted on the religion of our allies; preserve your own. It is not foreign, and unknown to you. And if you are not inclined to favour it, and even if foreign to you, still you ought not to let him who has wronged it, pass unpunished. But how is it possible for us to be indifferent, or neglect- ful, even if we willed it, in a religion that is common to all nations, in those rites, which our ancestors have borrowed from foreign 85 tribes, and which are accounted Greek, as in fact they are ? fiZ*I will now, my Lords, commemorate and expatiate upon the plunder of Syracuse^ the most beautiful and splendid of cities; that I may close with it my oration, that exposes this species of depredations. There is no one of you, who has not often heard how Syracuse sur- rendered to Marcellus; you have sometimes _".' .'*)_ read it in our.,afi rials. Compare ^his peace, with that war; this prtutor's arrival, with that gc- neraTs victory ; this impure cohort, with that. invincible army ; the lust of. Verres with the continence of Marcellus; and you will say that Syracuse was founded by him who captured it; by him who found it entire, destroyed. But I will now omit dwelling upon these points which have been and will be discussed on a future oc- casion: that the Syracusan forum, which .was not stained with slaughter on the entry of Mar- cellus, at the arrival of Verres, overflowed with the blood of innocent Sicilians : that the port, which was not accessible either to our fleets, or those of the Carthaginians, was infested, during his proconsulate, with Cilician feluccas and pirates. I omit, for the present, the pressing of freemen, the violation of matrons, which never took place at the capture of the city, either through the hatred or licentiousness of the 86 military, nor by the laws of war, nor by the rights of conquerors. I omit, I repeat, all these things, which were perpetrated by him, during three whole years. Listen now to those crimes, which have an intimate connexion with what I have before touched upon. You have often heard that the city of Syra- cuse is the largest and most beautiful of the Grecian colonies. It is, my Lords, as report makes it. It is fortified both by sea and land, and its situation is beautiful to behold. It pos- sesses harbours inclosed as it were by the build- ings and site of the city ; they have different entrances, and communicate with each other behind. At their union, the part of the city which is called the island, separated by a narrow channel, is joined to the main land by a bridge. ^3 So vast is Syracuse, that it may be said to con- sist of four large cities. 6+ One of these, as I before stated^ is, the island, which, surrounded by the two havens, is projected to the entrance of either. In\ it there is the palace which be- longed to ^^ffi e - r : pj and which the praetors usually inhabi t7~*~Here there are many temples, but there are two superior to all the others; one is consecrated to Diana, the other, highly em- bellished before the arrival of Verres, to Mi- nerva. At. the P.pjrj_n f1)is islanr^ thcrpjs a fountain of sweet water called Arethusa, of in- 87 credible size, and well stocked with fish, which would be broken in upon by the sea, if it was not hindered by a projecting mole of stones. Another portion of Syracuse is called Aj^rar^a, in^ which there is an extensive forum, magnifi- cent porticoes, a splendid prytaneum, and a spacious senate-house, also a fine temple of the Olympian Jupiter ; the rest of this quarter is divided by one broad street throughout, 65 inter- sected by others transversely, and composed of private buildings. The_third city is called T^cha^ because there was an ancient temple dedicated to Fortune, in which there is a spa- cious gymnasium^ and sacred edifices; this por- tion of the city is thickly inhabited. The fourth, because it was built the last, is termed Neapolis; where, in fine, there is a large theatre, 66 besides two splendid temples, one de- dicated to Ceres, the other to Proserpine. Here also is a statue of Apollo, called Temenites, of large size, and fine workmanship, which if Verres could have made away with, no doubt he wrmlfl 67 ' ,"Riif- fr> ygtiirt tri. Marrplliig for otherwise I may appear to have been too prolix in what I have here commemorated. When he took this celebrated city after a siege, he did not think that it belonged to the Roman people's honour to raze and demolish such beautiful monuments, especially as no danger could be apprehended from their remaining ; he therefore so spared all the edifices, whether public or private, whether sacred or profane, that it would appear he came rather to defend than capture them. With regard to the deco- rations of the city, he at once preserved the rights of conquest, and laws of humanity; the rights of conquest, in taking several things which would be ornamental to Rome; the laws of hu- manity, in not entirely despoiling that city, which he wished to spare. In this participation therefore, of the ornaments, he not only grati" iied the Roman people by his victory, but spared the Syracusans by his humanity. We see what were transported to Rome; they are deposited in the temples of Honour and Virtue, as well as in other places. . He placed nothing in his own house, nothing in his gardens, nothing in his villa; he thought that by not appropriating the ornaments to his own dwelling, that that dwelling would prove ornamental to the city. He left nevertheless many fine things in. Syracuse; he neither touch- ed, nor violated any deity. Coingare with his, the conduct of Verres, (not to draw a^cdm- parison between him, and Marcellus, for by so doing you would do injury to so great a man deceased;) but compare his peace with the pther's war; established laws, with military 19 force; his forum and judiciary sentences, with the other's sword and arms ; the arrival and re- tinue of the one, with the armed force, and victory of the other.^jln the island, there is a temgle sacred to Minerva, of which \ have hefore spoken, which Marcellus left untouched, and decorated with its ornaments-; which has been so despoiled by Verres, that it would ap- pear not to have been ransacked by an incur- sion of enemies, (who, however, in war, preserve some respect for established customs and reli- gious institutions,) but by barbarous pirates. Here was a battle-piece representing Agathocles charging at the head of his cavalry, finely painted; the inner walls were also hung with pictures. There was nothing finer than this painting, nothing at Syracuse esteemed better worth seeing. These paintings M. Marcellus, when every thing was looked upon as lawful prey in the hour of victory, bound as he was by a sense of religion, did not violate. Verres on the contrary, when he had received these things into his protection, as sacred, removed all the pictures, notwithstanding that the fidelity of the Syracusans demanded that he should be their guarantee. He stripped, in fine, those walls, which with their ornaments had escaped un- touched during so many centuries, and so many >vars. And notwithstanding that Marcellus had 90 made a vow to dedicate two temples at Home in case of success against Syracuse, he abstained from decorating them with those things, which had fallen into his power. That Verres who never thought of dedicating a temple to Honour and Virtue as Marcellus, hut rather to Cupid and Venus, attempted to despoil the temple of Minerva. The former would not adorn the deities with the spoils of others ; the latter con- signed the ornaments of the virginal Minerva to a harlot's house. He took besides from the same temple, twenty-seven paintings beautifully designed, which exhibited the portraits of the Sicilian sovereigns and tyrants, not only grati- fying as works of art, but as memorials of the individuals. And mark how much more odious a tyrant he was to the Syracusans, than any former, for they took care, in spite of their tyranny, to embellish the temples, he, to rob them of their monuments and ornaments.; .But what am I to say concerning the temple-gates? I am apprehensive that those who have not witnessed these transactions, will accuse me of exaggeration. Let no one suspect that I am so rash as to wish to deceive so many respectable persons, especially those who preside in judg- ment, who have been at Syracuse, and know that these things there took place. I can- affirm, my Lords, that there never were seen in any 91 temple more magnificent gates, or more elabo- rately wrought in gold and ivory. is It is incre- dible bow many Greeks have left written me- morials of these doors. Perhaps they cried them up too much. Granted. But it is more honourable to our republic, my Lords, for one of our generals to leave these things untouched, which were accounted beautiful, than for a praetor in time of peace to take them from their hinges. There were fine reliefs in ivory on these gates, all of which Verres took care to tear off. He. forced away a fine Gorgon's head with snaky hair ; and proved that he was not only induced to make away with it by the fine- ness of the work, but also for the value of the materials ; for he wrenched out all the golden studs from these gates, which were numerous and heavy, not only for the sake of the art which they displayed, but the weight and value of the metal. He left then these doors in such a state, that what were before considered as highly ornamental to the temple, are now only looked upon as of use to close. The reeden fi * spears too? I perceived that when the wit- nesses deposed to the robbery of these, the court Avas surprised, because they were of such a nature, that one view of them would be suffi- cient to gratify any one's curiosity. In fact, they exhibited neither art nor beauty ; but were 92 only of incredible size, so that their fame alone would have sufficed any body else ; to see them more than once, would have been more than | enough. Did you also covet these? 69 But the SapphooaJiirh yon- rfimovfd from the Prytaneum, speaks with so much effect in 'your defence/TfraTtiiat violence is surely to be overlooked and forgiven. 7 Is it possible for any private person, or even nation, to possess so elegant, so highly a finished work of Silanion, 7I with so mucE propriety, as that refined and con- summate Dilettante, Caius Verres? Nothing surely can be started against this. For any one of us, though as rich as he, cannot by any means be blessed with so delicate a taste. If, at any future time, he wishes to see any thing of that sort, let him go to the temple of Happiness, to the monument of Catulus, to the portico of Metellus; let him contrive to procure admis- sion into any of their Tusculana, let him ex- amine the ornaments of the forum, to see if any suit the taste of his ediles. Shall Verres retain these things in his mansion r Shall Verres have his^ d3^jQm^_stocked with the ornaments of temples andwhole' towns r* Will you still, my Lords, endure to hear ofl:he pursuits and ele- gance of this mechanic, who is so born and bred, so organized in bodv and mind, as to ap- pear much more suited, to have statues laid at 93 his feet, than to have them taken from him? It can hardly be described how much regret the removal of this Sappho occasioned. For since it was beautifully carved, it had a Greek epi- gram inscribed on the pedestal, of considerable merit, which that accomplished Greek scholar, who is alone intelligent in works of art, who judges of these things with such discernment, would certainly not have removed, had he known how to read one Greek letter. For now the inscription on the pedestal, bereft of its statue, declares what was there, and what has been taken away. 7X What! Did you not force away from the fane of ^Esculapius, tl^v^rieTai)re~ciiid beatttiful statue of Apollo, which e vci yj3ne_was wont to go to see for its beauty, to adore^for its sanc- tity ? Was not the image of Aristaeus removed froimjbhe_ternple of ffa(-nhns 1 hy your positive o^deis? The holy statue of Jupiter, finely carved, which the Greeks call Urius, from the temple of that god ? Did you hesitate to take that beautiful bust from the temple of Proser- pine which we all went to see ? That Apollo, together with the yEsculapius, was worshipped by the Syracusans on annual festivals. Ans- taeus, as the Greeks believe, was the son of Bacchus and the reputed inventor of oil; his statue therefore was consecrated at Syracuse jii the same temple, as his progenitor. IBut I leave you to judge of the veneration in /which the Jupiter was held, by calling to your me- mories the respect that was shewn to a figure of the same form, brought from Macedonia, and deposited in the capitol by Flaminius. It was believed that there were only three statues of Jupiter Imperator in the world, carved on the same model. One was in Macedonia, which we now see in the capitol ; another in the straits of the Thracian Bosphorus, at the mouth of the Euxine, and a third at Syracuse, before the pro- consulate of Verres. Flaminius therefore re- moved it from his house, to place it in the capitol, the earthly habitation, of Jupiter. But that which is stationed at the entrance of the Euxine, notwithstanding the numerous wars, which have been waged in, and proceeded from that quarter, has remained to this day inviolate. The third at Syracuse, and which our general Marcellus saw, which he conceded to religion, which the Syracusans and strangers go ex- pressly to see and adore, that Verres removed from the sanctuary. Hear this, my Lords, of Marcellus, (to dwell on that general, rather longer than I ought:) that the Syracusans lost more gods by the arrival of Verres, than they did men, by the victory of the other. Mar- cellus is said to have inquired for Archimedes, 75 95 renowned for his genius and science, and when he was apprized of his murder, to have regretted it deeply. Verres on the contrary put all things in requisition, not for security's sake, but to bear them off. ,1 will pass over those things of lesser moment, such as the Delphic tables of marble, the bronze goblets, and the profusion of Corinthian vases, which he pillaged from all the Syracusan temples. In consequence, my Lords, the showers of these sights, and sacred curiosities, have now their duty reversed ; for as they before conducted strangers to what was to be seen, so they now explain what has been removed. Do you think then, that the loss of these articles is but slightly felt ? It is not so, my Lords. In the first place, people are uni- versally attached to that religion, which they have received from their ancestors, and which they think it their duty to protect. Grecians besides, enthusiastically admire statues, paint- ings, and all works of art. You may therefore conclude from their murmurs, that these losses, which to us may appear trifling and of no mo- ment, are severely felt by them. Believe me, my Lords, (I am sure you are aware of it, since our allies and foreign nations have experienced these outrages of late,) that the Greeks could, least of all calamities, endure the pillages of their temples and cities. Let him hold forth, 96 as usual, that he bought these things. I de- clare, my Lords, that no city, either in Asia or Greece, sold voluntarily to him, any statue, painting, or ornament. Unless you are of opi- nion that after the laws ceased strictly to be enforced at Rome, natives of Greece began to part with these things, which they were so fai* from selling when our laws were properly ad- ministered, that they bought them up wherever they could. Or unless you think that L. Crassus, Q. Scrcvola, and C. Claudius, men of high authority, and whose edileships were splendid, did not carry on that traffic with Greeks ; and that those did purchase works of art who were made ediles, after the slack ad- ministration of the laws^fBut I would have you to know, that these pretended and simultaneous purchases are more galling to cities, than if any one should clandestinely steal, or openly rob. For they think it a mark of dishonour to have it registered in the public accounts, that a city was induced to sell and alienate at a small rate$ those ?nonuments of art, which it had inherited from its ancestors. The Greeks moreover are passionately fond of those things,- which we think contemptible. Our ancestors, therefore, permitted willingly the enjoyment of them, that our allies might possess them in as great number as possible, and that their cities might prove i/' 97 ornamental to our empire; they also allowed them, to those, who were tributary to the re- public, that what they esteemed, however de- preciated by us, might be left as the solace of their dependent condition. What remuneration, do you imagine, could compensate the Rhegians, 7+ now Roman citi- zens, for the loss of their marble Venus? 75 What the Tarentines, if they were to lose their Europa on a bull, flieir Satyr, and other works deposited in their temple of Vesta ? What the Thespians, for their statue of Cupid, for which alone strangers crowd to Thespix? What the Cnidians, for their marble Venus? What the Coans, for the picture of that goddess? What the Ephesians, for the loss of their Alexander ? What the inhabitants of Cyzicus, for their Ajax or Medea? What the Rhodians, for their laly- sus? What the Athenians, for their marble Bacchus, their picture of Paralus, or their bronze heifer, by Myron? It would be tedious and superfluous to dwell upon all the rarities, which attract strangers throughout Asia and Greece ; this nevertheless I will dwell upon, and what I wish you to believe, that the loss of these things is very acutely felt by the inhabitants of those cities from whom they are taken. But to omit the others, be acquainted with what befell the Syracusans. When I arrived H 98 among the inhabitants, I was at first of opinion, that that city, on account of the hereditament of. Heraclius, was not less friendly to Verres than Messana, the receptacle of all his booty and frauds ; and this I had heard at Rome, from his partizans. I was also apprehensive lest I should be opposed in my inquiries, through the influence of beautiful women of high rank, as well as their husbands who were at his nod, during* his proctorship of three years, and who through deference and generosity, might be un- willing to depose what they knew against him, and prevent my examining the registers of the Syracusans. I therefore resided with Romans at Syracuse, examined into their papers, and made myself acquainted with their wrongs. Having been much embarrassed by care and business, for the sake of recreation and rest, I looked over the fine pictures of Carpinatius. and developed at the same time, the affair of Verrutius, 76 to which I have before alluded, to some distinguished Roman knights. I expected no assistance from the Syracusans, nor indeed did I seek it, in my public or private inquiries. At this time, Heraclius, a magistrate of Syra- cuse, a nobleman, and who had been high priest to Jupiter, a post of high honour among the Syracusans, proposes to me and my brother, if we thought proper, to attend at the senate, 99 where there was a full meeting) and which they had been ordered to leave for the sake of ask- ing us to come. We at first were undecided what to do ; we presently agreed, that it would be better to go,. .^Vs soon as we arrived in the senate, they stood up and received us honour- ably. We took our seats at the request of the magistrates. Diodorus Timarchides, who took the lead both in rank, authority, and the know- ledge of business, began to speak ; and the whole tenour of his discourse Avas this : that the Syracusan senate and people took it ill, that I in the other Sicilian towns, should suggest to the senate and people what would be of utility and benefit to them, and that having procured testimonies, deputies, and commissions from others, I did not take the same measures at Sy- racuse. To which I replied, that in an assembly of Sicilians at Rome, when my assistance was sought by the common advice of the deputies, and the cause of all Sicily had devolved upon me, no deputies from Syracuse were present, or demanded of me, that any thing should be de- creed against Caius Verres by that senate, wherein I beheld a golden statue of Caius Verres. As soon as I had spoken, such a groaning took pfcicj^iit the sight and recollection of the statue, lhat it appeared to have been erected in 100 the senate-house, as the monument of his crimes, not of his benefits. tfThen every one, according as he was able, bsg'an to inform me of these things, which I have just stated, how the city had been plundered, and the temples robbed, that he had appropriated to himself by , far the greatest part of the hereditament of Heraclius, which he had promised to the wrest- lers ; 77 that it was not a subject of inquiry whether he had any consideration for them, when he had plundered the statue of that deity who was the inventor of oil; and as for the golden statue, it was neither granted nor erected from the public purse ; but that those who shared with him the division of the heredita- ment, had taken care to erect it; that those same persons who had arrived as deputies at Rome, were the assistants of his wickedness, and participators of his thefts ; that I ought to cease to wonder, if they had not joined the other deputies, in procuring the salvation of Sicily. /'^As soon as I was informed, that they were equally as much stung by their wrongs, or even more so, than the rest of the Sicilians. I then declared openly my good disposition to serve them, and revealed the plan of my under- taking. I then encouraged them not to be backward in the common cause, and to oblite- rate that praise, which they said they had de- 101 creed, overawed by the fear of his power. Tlie Syracusans, then, my Lords, act thus, though they are his dependants and friends. They pro- duce their testimonials to me, which they pre- served in the archives of their treasury; in which all that I have related, and even more than it were possible for me to relate of his thefts, were registered thus : " The things from the temple of Minerva, those from the temple of Jupiter ; those from the temple of Bacchus;' 9 meaning what was wanting in each ; as each was nominated to have the charge of these things, so was it or- dained, that he should give an account of them, and implore forgiveness if any were wanting ; and therefore that all the overseers were set at liberty, and that it was unknown to each, what had become of them. These registers I took care to have publicly sealed, and brought away. They thus state the reason of their con- ferring a mark of approbation on Verres. At first, a little before my arrival, no notice had been taken of the letters of Verres, concerning a proof of the approbation of his conduct ; some of his friends suggested that it ought to be de- creed; they were opposed with the greatest vehemence and abuse; but as soon as Verres heard of my approach, he ordered it to be done 102 without delay; it was then so enacted as to have been more prejudicial than of service to him. This circumstance therefore, my Lords, as it was proved to me by them, so understand it now from me. It is a custom at Syracuse, that if any topic is before the senate, any one who chooses, may deliver his opinion. No one is asked for it by name. Every one speaks in his turn, nevertheless, according to his rank and age, and others make way for him. If all are silent, they draw lots, and he on whom it falls, is compelled to deliver his opinion. With this established usage, the senate consults upon a mark of approbation for Verres. As some de- lay at first took place, many stepped forward. When they heard that that task was to devolve on Sextus Peducceus, who had deserved well of Syracuse, and of all the province, when many wished to praise that senator for his great and numerous deserts, they were prohibited by Verres ; notwithstanding that Peducasus would not court th-eir applause, it Avas unfair that they did not of their own accord decree that to him before, which they were now obliged to bestow on another. All concur in deciding that it ought to be done. And a debate takes place concerning Peduceeus. According to his rank, and age, each gives his opinion. Be informed 103 of this from the decree itself. For the speeches of the principal senators are usually taken down. Read (Here the speeches of some of the members of the Syracusan senate concerning Peducaus are read in court.) It says who were the first movers of the debate. A decree is passed. They then de- bate concerning Verres. Tell me, I beg, how ? (Here the speeches of the Syracusan senate con- cerning Verres are read in court.) What is registered afterwards? (Here the words " No one rose to deliver his opinion," are read in court.) How is this? (The words, " They draw lots to speak" are read in court.) What! Will no one rise to speak volun- tarily in praise of your preetorship, to be your defender in a period of danger, especially as he was then able to court favour from the praetor? No one. Those guests of your's, those coun- sellors, those companions of your guilt dared not pronounce one word. In that senate, where your statue was erected, as well as a naked one of your son, could no one be found, whom your naked son in a naked province might instigate to speak? The senate also informed me, that a decree 104 passed concerning his praise ; couched in such a manner, that all would think it rather a mockery than a compliment ; all, rather a re- gister of the iniquities of his calamitous procon- sulate, than any thing else. It is thus written ; " That he had flogged no one to death" From which you may infer, that noble and innocent men were decapitated. It is written also : " That he had administered the affairs of the -province with diligence" All his vigils were passed in obscenity and adultery. This also is registered, which the criminal would not dare to assert, nor the accuser to cease from repeat- ing : " That Verres had kept Sicily clear from pirates." These actually penetrated into Orty- gia. As soon as I was informed of these trans- actions, my brother and myself left the senate, to decree if they pleased, any thing in our ab- sence.C/c^They then first passed a resolution, " That my brother Lucius should be publicly en- tertained" because he had shewn the same zeal in the Syracusan cause as I had uniformly. They not only registered that decree, but de- livered it to us inscribed in brass. Forsooth, your Syracusans, whom you are so often men- tioning, love you much, since they think there exists a sufficient reason for forming a strict friendship with your accuser, who came to pro- cure materials for your impeachment. It was 105 afterwards decreed, but not quite unanimously, " that the praise which had been decreed to " Caius Ferres, should be rescinded.*' When they had adjourned and registered their decrees, the praetor is summoned. But who summons him? Some magistrates? Not one. Some senator? No. Some Syracusan then? Least of all. Who then summons the praetor ? CJECI- lius, who had been his quaestor. Too absurd ! O the wretch utterly abandoned by the Sicilian magistracy ! No friend, no guest, no Sicilian summons the praetor, but a quaestor to prevent the senate from passing a decree, according to their own laws, and established usages. Who ever witnessed, or heard of such a proceeding? The equitable and sagacious praetor orders the assembly to be broken up. A great crowd flocks round me. The senators immediately began to exclaim that they had lost their liber- ties and laws ; the people, to thank the senators, and praise them. The Roman citizens never left my side. Nothing was more difficult on that day to prevent the populace from offering violence to the quaestor, which however I effected at considerable risk. When we en- tered the court, where the praetor was presiding, he was meditating deeply what he should de- cree. And before I could speak, he rose from his seat, and departed. We therefore, as even- 106 ing approached, left the forum //'6 .The next morning, I requested of him to let me have the decree, which the Syracusans passed the pre- ceding day. He refuses to grant it, and says it is an unpardonable breach of established custom, that I should speak my sentiments in a Grecian senate, that it was absolutely intolerable that I should address Greeks in their own dialect. I answered the man, as I could, as I wished, as I ought. Among other things, I remember to have said, that it was obvious how great a dif- ference there was between him and Numi- dicus, 73 a true and staunch Metellus, who would not flatter L. Lucullus his brother-in-law, though he was on excellent terms with him ; but that he on the contrary, sought to extort praise for himself who was an object of supreme hatred to the city. As soon as I understood that he had re- ceived many messengers of late, and that his tributary, but not commendatory letters, had been of essential service to him, at the instiga- tion of the Syracusans, I used all my endeavours to get at the registered decrees. Here another contest with the rabble took place. I would not have you imagine that he is absolutely destitute of friends at Syracuse. There was one Theomnastus who retained the decrees, a ridi- culous madman, whom the Syracusans call 107 Theoractus, and whom from his behaviour the children follow in the streets. If ever he at- tempts to speak, a universal laughter ensues. This folly, ridiculous to others, proved then a source of real trouble to me. For with foam- ing mouth, and flashing eyes, he cried as loud as he could, that I had assaulted him ; we went into court together. Here I began to demand that I might publicly seal, and bear away the decrees. He, on the other hand, refused to de- liver them up, stating that it was a decree of the senate at which the praetor had been sum- moned. I quoted the law, which authorized the surrender to me of all the letters and de- crees. He furiously retorted, that our laws were nothing to them. The clever praetor in- sisted that it was his pleasure to retain them, that the decree ought not to have been passed in the senate, by which I was allowed to carry them to Rome. What need have I of stating more? Unless I had threatened the man with vehemence, unless I had quoted the sanction and punishment of the laws, I should not have been able to procure them. But that maniac, who had declaimed with such fury against me, finding that he could not obtain what he wished, probably with the hopes of reconciliation with me, presented me after- 108 wards a little scroll, in which all the depreda- tions of Verres were registered, and of which I had before been informed. ^?Let now your Messanians praise you with all their hearts, the only people in the province who hope for your acquittal ; but let them so praise you that Heius, the chief of their em- bassy to you, be also present ; let them so praise you, that they may be ready to reply to what I shall question them. And lest they should be confounded all at once by me, I will ask these things : " Was a ship due from them to the Roman people?" They will confess, there was. " Did they furnish it, in the prastorship of Verres?" They will deny they did. " Did they build at the public expense, an im- mense speronara, which they presented to Verres?" They will not be able to deny they did. " Did Verres require corn of them, to send to the Roman people, like his prede- cessors?" They will deny he did. " What soldiers or sailors did they furnish during his prastorship ?" They will say they furnished none/ They cannot deny that Messana was the receptacle of all his thefts and depreda- tions; that much merchandize was exported by numerous ships from thence ; that in fine, the large speronara presented to him by the Messa- 109 nians, left the harbour deeply laden, with the praetor himself on board. Glut yourself then with the praises of the Messanians. We now perceive that the city of Syracuse, which was never disposed to favour you, is be- come your irreconcilable enemy. For even there those flagitious acts of Verres are abro- gated. Little did it become one to have divine honours paid him, who forced away the statues of the gods. And in troth, I think the Syracusans are reprehensible for having can- celled from their anniversaries a festival which commemorated the capture of Syracuse by Mar- cellus, and for naming another to celebrate games in compliment to Verres ; since the latter plundered them of those things, which the day of the capture of the city had left inviolated. But mark the unprecedented insolence of the man, my Lords, who was not content with in- stituting those vile and ridiculous Verrine games, out of the hereditament of Heraclius, but also ordered the abolition of the Marcel- lean ; that annual sacrifices might be offered to him, through whom, the Syracusans had lost all their deities and sacred rites; while the holi- days should be abolished in compliment to that family, which had restored to them their other festivals. \ O T E S. NOTES. 1 2 BUONFIGLIO, in his Messina Illustrata, calls the temple of Hercules Manticlus, now the church of San Giovanni dei Fio- rentini, the sacristy of Heius j the ruins of whose house, it is pretended, are still to be seen in the Strada d' Austria. All the antiquities which the translator saw at Messina, were the church Delle Anime in Purgatorio, which was a Roman basilica, probably built about the age of Constantine ; and the massive granite columns now in the cathedral, which were taken from the temple of Neptune, near Pelorus. There is a statue on the Dromo, which, though neither ancient nor well executed, is interesting to the classic traveller. It represents Neptune chain- ing Scylla and Charybdis. Underneath are these lines : Impia nodosis cohibetur Scylla catenis j Pergite securae per freta nostra rates. Capta est praedatrix, Siculique infamia poiiti, Nee fremit in mediis sseva Charybdis aquis. Ride now secure, ye ships, our seas frequent j In knotty chains outrageous Scylla's pent. Seiz'd is Charybdis, scourge of Zancle's shores ; No more the harpy from her vortex roars. There is an interesting inscription in Greek found at Mes- sina recording the fate of some inhabitants of Cyzicus. It pro- bably commemorates those thirty-seven youths, who perished in the straits of Messina, and in whose memory as many statues were erected in that city ; according to Pausanias, they were the works of Cailon of Elis. Pausan. lib. v, 446, 114 KYZIKOZ HN MIA F1AZI F1ATPIZ KAI MOIPA AE HANTAZ IM AYZEN POAEITA MIA OY TO KAAON KOZMEI HEPIKEIMENON OYNO MA TYMBOYZ OY KAYKYZ EZ HMEIN KAN 4>0I MENOIZIN The youths to whom proud Cyzicus gave birth, A common fate restor'd to kindred earth ; Their name adorns not the sepulchral bust, Within our hearts it lives, though they 're consign' d to dust. Another at Messina, commemorating an actor, with the playfulness of Adrian. nA4>IANOCnA4>l OCTHAYnorH AEAIMSKWMU) AOCAW0EIC TON BIOTOYCTS ANON 3 Pliny fixes the period when Praxiteles flourished, in the hundred and fourth Olympiad. He worked in bronze, as well as marble -, but excelled particularly in the latter material. Praxitelem propria vindicat arte lapis. Propert. We have a fine copy of his Apollo Sauroctonos in marble. His Niobe is the finest union of grace and sublimity ever perhaps exhibited. The Thespian Cupid alluded to by Cicero, was 115 transported to Rome by or^er of Caligula, according to Sueto- nius. Claudius sent it back to Thespiae ; and it was removed a second time to Rome, in the reign of Nero, where it was de- stroyed by fire. His Venus of Cos vied with that of Cnidos. Pliny says that the former was clothed, the latter naked. Ac- cording to Winckelmann, there is a copy of the latter some- where in England. Some idea may be formed of the value set on this monument by the Cnidians, whose debts a king of Bithynia promised to remit if they would consign it to him j but the offer was refused. Winckelmann, speaking of his style, says that he was to Phidias, what Guido was to Raphael. Lu- cian thus conceives his idea of a perfect model of female beauty : the face should resemble that of the Venus of Lemnos by Phidias ; the hair, eye-brows, and forehead as the Cnidian of Praxiteles ; with the attractive grace and softness displayed in that statue - } and the hands should be as those of the Venus of Alcamenes. What a sepulchre of art is Constantinople ! In the eleventh century, the Pallas of Lindus, the Olympian Ju- piter of Phidias, the Venus of Cnidos, the Opportunity of Lysippus, the Juno of Polycletus, were, it is confidently be- lieved, there to be seen. Winckelmann mentions Myron as one of those artists, who knew how to unite grace with greatness. He flourished in the eighty-seventh Olympiad, and excelled particularly in bronze. His animals were highly esteemed. According to Propertius, there were four oxen by him ranged round the altar of the Palatine Apollo at Rome. His famous heifer has been comme- morated in no less than thirty-six epigrams; two of which are by Anacreon. According to Pliny, he did not execute" hair more happily than his predecessors ; but he was the first to ex- hibit variety of manner. His three colossal statues of Minerva, Hercules, and Jupiter, Mark Antony transported from Samos to Rome ; but Augustus restored the two first. One of his most celebrated works was the Discobolus, of which an indis* putable copy was found some years since on the Esquiline hill. 116 Quintilian praises it, as one of those works, which proved the transcendant merit of the Grecian artists. Notwithstanding his superior talents, Myron lived and died poor. Of Polycletus, we know from Pliny that he lived in the ninety-fifth Olympiad. He was a greater master of grace than Phidias, but probably not equal to him, in the expression of the sublime. The Juno of Argos was his reputed masterpiece 5 but as that statue, like the Minerva of Phidias, was composed of gold and ivory, the TO a-s^vov and I'D p,yaAor?p,/voy was most probably more conspicuous in his Doryphorus, a statue of a young warrior, which served as a model to the first artists of Greece. In the schools of art at Athens, the pupils studied the heads of Myron, the arms of Praxiteles, and the breasts of Poly- cletus. There is an ancient bas-relief in terra cotta given by Winck- elmann, supposed to represent the Canephorae alluded to by Cicero. Monum. ined. Num. 182. 4 Now Neocorio, a town of Baeotia, near Mount Helicon. 5 Here probably some one reminded Cicero of the name of the sculptor. 6 The Claudii were numerous at Rome. The individual here alluded to was most probably the Claudius, who was praetor in Sicily. Appius Claudius, the consul, has been com- memorated in an inscription preserved in brass at Messina, which however has been thought spurious by Castelli. S. P. Q. R. APPIO CLAVDIO Q.VINTOGL, FABIO CONSVL1B, ALTERO MES- SANAM SICILIE CIVITATEM CLASSE PROFECTO RESFRANTE PERCEPIT, HYERONEM SIRACVSANORVM REGEM PENOR. GL. COPIAS HYERONI CONIVNCTAS TAM CELERITER SVPERATAS VT APPIVM CLAVDIVM CONSVLEM AD HANC REM GERENDAM POTl' CIVITAS SVE VIRTVTIS ADMIRATOREM, ttVAM BELLI SVSIPERET ADIVTOREM, NAM HYERO REX PENIGt. VRBIS NON TAM MUL- TITVDINE ftVAM ANIMOSA NOBILITATB PROFVLSI, VICTOS 117 SE DIDICERE CONGRESSOS, dVI ANTE CONSVLIS ADVEN- TVM VLTRA LEONTINVM PROFVGI, PACEM EXPOSCENTES, RO- MANOR. GLORIA, MESSANENSIVM NOBILITATE, PROPRIAft MVLTA, DVCENTA TALENTA HERARIO SOLVENDO SVPPLICES INPETRARVNT, OB ttVOD STATVIT VRBEM IPSAM TITVLO NOBI- I.1TATIS EXTOLLI, ALI1SG. PROVINCIE CIVITATIB, SACERDOTES EIVSQ. GIVES ROMANOR. HONORE SICILIE, CAPVT ILLIC FVNGl POTESTATE ROMANA, LAPIDE3 EIVS ALEONTINIO VSGl PATHAS EX.TENDI, NAM ID SPACIVM CETERIS DEFICIENTIB. ROMANE D1CIONI SERVAVIT, CIROGRAFVM HOC FASTIS ROMANIS AD- IVNCTVM LAVDEM CIVITATIS OSTENTANS, ASCRIBI , ROMANAMft GRATITVDINEM MERITO R ESPON D ERE/APPROBATVM EST FRE- SENS DECRETVM PATRVM A GN. CALATHINO PLEBI TRIBVNO POST VRBEM CONDITAM ANNO QVATRINGENTESIMO OCTVAGE- SIMO TERCIO, REMPVBLICAM PRIMO BELLO PVN1CO CONTVR- BANTE. 7 Fifty-two pounds nine shillings and four-pence three farthings. The translator has endeavoured to restore the statues in the frontispiece. 8 Cicero must surely here mean sestertii nummi ? Fine works of art fetched however immoderate prices in antiquity. Pliny says, that the wealth of a whole town was scarcely suf- ficient to buy a fine 'picture. The same author mentions that M. Agrippa paid for a Venus and an Ajax 12,000 sesterces. Augustus gave 100 talents, or about 1 9,000 / English, for the Venus of Apelles. Lucullus promised 60,OOO sesterces for a statue of Happiness. The statue of a boy by Polycletus was sold for the same sum as the Venus of Apelles. And a painting of Parrhasius cost Tiberius 60,000 sesterces. Winckel. passim. 9 In the original, Cf ne forte dum publicis mandatis serviat, de privatis injuriis reticeat.'.' The translator proposes ut, in- stead of ne with Ernestus. 10 Aloesa stood very near the fortress of Tusa, on the northern coast. It was founded by a citizen of Herbita, and submitted 118 successively to the Messanians, Syracusans, Carthaginians, and Romans ; from the latter it enjoyed several immunities, and the privilege of having a senate of its own. Many Roman fami- lies settled in Alaesa, and during the civil wars, when the citi- zens shewed symptoms of disaffection, tranquillity was restored through the exertions of Claudius Pulcher. There is a statue yet preserved at Tusa, with the insignia of a Roman consul, and it has been supposed to represent this benefactor of Alaesa. According to Torremuzza, the city extended three miles in cir- cumference, in which there were temples dedicated to Apollo, Bacchus. Jupiter Milichius, and the Sicilian deity, Adranus. The same author discovered in its ruins three statues, one of Saturn, the others of Triptolemus. We may conclude, that it was a distinguished city, from a passage in a former pleading. " Siciliae civitates multae sunt et honestse > in quibus imprimis enumeranda est civitas Alesina." The governor of the fortress told the translator, with an air of pride in his countenance, that Cicero had been at Alaesa, and had admired the situation. The luxuriant growth of the oleander and myrtle is very remarkable along this shore ; the former delights in the beds of the mountain torrents, and even flourishes within a few yards of the sea-beach ; the latter also thrives best near the sea, and often attains such a height as to form a pro- tecting shade, completely verifying the assertion of Virgil : Littora myrtetis laetissima. Inscriptions found in the ruins of Alaesa. BOH) HA2I oAAMOS TON AAAI2IN&N &OFENHN AIOFENEOS suEPFESIAS . ENEKEN Dys omnibus populus Halcesinorum 119 Dlogenem Diogenis F. Lapironem leneuohnticc causa IMP A CAESAREI A DIVI A F A AVGVSTO A PO . . MVNICIPIVM A The last confirms what Cicero states, that Alaesa was go- verned by its own laws. 11 City of Lycia in Asia Minor. P. Servilius, who took it, was named Isauricus, in reward of the conquest of Isauria. 12 The Caius Cato, whose baggage was detained by the citizens of Messana, was condemned subsequently for bribery in Macedonia, and lived in exile at Tarraco, now Tarragona, in Spain. This explains the words (f condemnatus est." The note of Ernestus to the sentence below, " huic irati non fue- runt," is unhappy. The word " huic" must surely refer to Cato, and not to Verres. The passage otherwise is unintelligible. 13 Agent of Verres. 14 There are some inscriptions preserved in Sicily, com- memorating different individuals of the family of the Pompeii. At Messina. CEZTOC nOMRHIOC 4>OIBOC ARO PHMHC N0AA KEI TAI D . M M . VIRGINIO POMPEIO . FIL BENEMERENTI 120 VIXIT . ANNIS . XxV POMPEIA ATTIlici A. MATER At Palermo. ARAM . VICTORIAE . SEX . POMPEIVS . MER CATOR . vf.VIR. AVG. PRAETER . SVMMVM . PRO . KONORE . D. D. P . S . P . 13 This probably is irony, in allusion to the sum given for ihe statues belonging to Heius. 16 A city of Caria, now called Buraz, famous for its breed of dogs. Hence Cicero calls Tlepolemus and Hiero, Cibyratic blood-hounds. 17 Boethus was a Carthaginian ; according to Pausanias, he made a statue for the temple of Juno at Elis. Many of his works were deposited in the temple of Minerva at Lindus. Plin. lib. xxxiii. M. de Choiseul Gouffier found a valuable intaglio in the ruins, I think, of the city of Assos, with the in- scription BOH0OY. See his Voyage de la Grece, where it is engraved. 13 A Roman of high birth, who composed the history of his country, and which Cicero praises. 19 Lilybaeum is now Marsala, and of repute as furnishing a wine little inferior in quality to Madeira. Lilybaeum was sup- posed, in antiquity, to have been the residence of one of the Sibyls j for an account of these priestesses consult Vossius. Near the town, the translator was shewn a cave, called the Sibyl's j where he found some traces of fresco paintings,, but in- differently executed. Lilybaeum was the seat of government 121 ibr the western division of Sicily, as was Syracuse for the eastern. It is of note as having been the retreat of Porphyry, during his illness, and here he vented his spleen against that religion which breathes peace and good will to mankind. A fragment of an interesting inscription was found some years since near Marsala. May we not suppose that it was a pedestal, which supported a statue either of Scipio, or Cicero ? RESTITVTORI . ROMANI . IMPERII . LIBERTATISQUE . Another found at Marsala, by which we discover the name of a proconsul of Sicily. C . BVLTIO . GEMINIO TITIANO . PRO COS . PROV . SICIL . COC . C OB INSIGNEM EIVS BENIVOLENTIAM ERGA . ORDINEM ET PATRIAM . XII . TRIE PATRONO . MERENTI. 20 Now Trapani. The modern Trapancse display a greater spirit of industry than the rest of the Sicilians. Here are con- siderable salt-works, which to a person approaching the town, have the appearance of an immense camp. Cotton is much cultivated in the vicinity. It blew a dreadful sirocco, when the translator was there, which brought with it myriads of mus- quitoes from the African shore, and made it oppido antique. De jurisdictione Sicil. The baths, which are very hot, are much frequented for their medicinal virtues, and the translator found them in the same condition that the Romans left them. They were fabled to have sprung forth at the command of the nymphs to refresh Hercules fatigued with travel. In the environs, there are the ruins of a Roman aqueduct, and near the town fragments of various mem- bers of architecture. In the town-hall they have erected a mutilated statue, purposing to put it off for the statue of Stesi- chorus, mentioned in the de jurisdictione Siciliensi, and which Verres attempted to get. In the interior, there are bad fresco- paintings representing the acts of Stesichorus for his country, as related in the spurious letters of Phalaris, and the spirited conduct of Sthenius, as before mentioned. They are indeed un- worthy of the place, which gave birth to Demophiius, the master of Zeuxis. Two of the most interesting inscriptions found in the ruins of Thermae Himerenses. NICARIN . MVNATIAE . L . L . ZOZI MAE . FILIA . HYMNETRIA . A . S TERRA . PRECOR . QVAECVNQVE IACES . NICARIO . SVPER . OSSA SIS . LEVIS . IN . TENERO . CORPORE . DEPOSITA VIXIT . ANNOS . XVIII. C. MAESIO . AQVILLIO FABIO TITIANO CVCOS OPTIMO CIVI AC PATRONO BENEME RENTI ORDO ET POPVLVS SPLEN DIDISSIMAE COL AVG HIMEREORVM theRMIT PECVNIA SVA POSVIT There are also other hot baths of great celebrity near Sci- acca, the ancient Thermae Selinuntiae. They are, in the opi- nion of the translator, to be enumerated among the most 124 valuable relics of antiquity in the world -, they being one of the monuments of the ingenuity of Daedalus. They are thus de- scribed by Diodorus, lib. iv. p. 278. j 9s ( ;, xa/ xa7a piKziv fjv$ gyjarfi/3ov SssaTZ'susfy T'O. crw^ala, pyftsy if ftps'/ oyhQUtASvous UTTO T^ >. The translator explored this fine vapour-bath in September, 1808, still affording relief to numerous invalids, which was excavated previous to the argonautic expedition, and after a lapse of three thousand two hundred years, attesting the dexterity of the architect of Crete. 24 This the translator can bear witness to. Signer Landolina shewed him at Syracuse, a marble Venus, scarcely inferior to the Medicean in execution ; in the museum of the prince of Biscari, exclusive of numerous cameos and intaglios, there is a torso of Jupiter of very fine execution. Many of the Sicilian medals are finely wrought, especially the Syracusan. But it is probable that art was no where carried to greater perfection in Sicily, than at Centuripe, the modern Centorbi, of which city a fine medal of Hercules is in the possession of the translator. 23 Tyndaris still exhibits some interesting ruins ; it stood on the projecting point of a steep promontory, and according to tradition, derived its origin from Castor and Pollux : geminoque Lacone Tyndaris attollens sese adfuit. Sil. Ital. Some vestiges of a Greek theatre, and a portal supposed of the temple of Venus, are all the translator could find of the an- cient Tyndaris ; but the waves have undermined a considerable part of the ground, on which the city stood ; and when the sea is tranquil, many of the ruins are discernible at bottom. He can never forget the heavenly view he enjoyed from the balcony of S. Maria di Tindaro. The fragrance of the morning air, the fecerat, ii sese Thermis collocarunt in ejusdem agri rlnibus, nee longe ai> oppido antique. De jurisdictione Sicil. The baths, which are very hot, are much frequented for their medicinal virtues, and the translator found them in the same condition that the Romans left them. They were fabled to have sprung forth at the command of the nymphs to refresh Hercules fatigued with travel. In the environs, there are the ruins of a Roman aqueduct, and near the town fragments of various mem- bers of architecture. In the town-hall they have erected a mutilated statue, purposing to put it off for the statue of Stesi- chorus, mentioned in the de jurisdictione Siciliensi, and which Verres attempted to get. In the interior, there are bad fresco- paintings representing the acts of Stesichorus for his country, as related in the spurious letters of Phalaris, and the spirited conduct of Sthenius, as before mentioned. They are indeed un- worthy of the place, which gave birth to Demophilus, the master of Zeuxis. Two of the most interesting inscriptions found in the ruins of Thermae Himerenses. NICARIN . MVNATIAE . L . L . ZOZI MAE . FILIA . HYMNETRIA . A . S TERRA . PRECOR . QVAECVNQVE IACES . NICARIO . SVPER . OSSA SIS . LEVIS . IN TENERO . CORPORE . DEPOSITA VIXIT . ANNOS . XVIII. C. MAESIO . AQVILLIO FABIO TITIANO CVCOS OPTIMO CIVI AC PATRONO BENEME RENTI ORDO ET POPVLVS SPLEN DIDISSIMAE COL AVG HIMEREORVM theRMIT PECVNIA SVA POSVIT There are also other hot baths of great celebrity near Sci- acca, the ancient Thermae Selinuntiae. They are, in the opi- nion of the translator, to be enumerated among the most This, which the brothers' exploit owns with pride, That, to which Alpheus' streams in secret glide j Alpheus, that speeds to blend his wave with thine, O Arethuse! untainted with the brine. Catania is now the most beautiful of the Sicilian cities. It contains several interesting antiquities ; of which, its amphi- theatre is the most striking, but it is nearly obliterated by the united power of time, earthquakes, and streams of lava. There are however considerable remains of the exterior wall to be traced, which is constructed of square pieces of lava, cut with incredible toil. The dens are still shewn, where it is presumed the lions were kept. Of the theatre, one of the entrances to the corridor is yet entire, and a spot is seen where a curule chair was placed for a magistrate. Adjoining is an odeum, to which there was a communication from the theatre. A circular church, called Santa Maria della Rotonda, is supposed to have formed a part of the immense baths, which are now covered by the lava, in front of the Benedictine monastery. Near the con- vent of the Carmelites, there is an octagon chamber, not un- like the temple of the winds at Athens, which was an ancient bath. Under the cathedral, buried by a stratum of lava, are very considerable ruins of the Thermae, or public baths, in which there are vestiges of fresco-paintings. Plans of the anti- quities of Catania have been raised by Ittar, a Maltese architect, and do great credit to the talents of that artist. To the west- ward of the town, there are still to be seen three or four arches of an ancient aqueduct, which braved the force of the dreadful current of lava, A. D. 1669. When perfect it must have been a striking proof of the opulence of the ancient Catanians, for it brought water from a spring eighteen miles distant ; so that this work yielded but little to the aqueducts of ancient Rome. The modern city contains many objects worthy the attention of the stranger, but from the vicinity of so terrible a neighbour as ./Etna, must be always liable to share the fate of the anti- 127 quities. A torrent of lava flowed to within a league of the city walls in January, 1812. So that the inhabitants are always sensible of the force of the line in Silius Italicus : Catine, nimium ardenti vicina Typhaeo. Of the inscriptions preserved in Catania, the two following are the most interesting. P. ANCITIO . P. F, QVI VIXIT ANNIS VII. ET . DIEBVS VII. CVIVS . FVRIBVND^E RV PERVNT . FILA . SORORES . CVIVS FVNVS . MISERI . V IDERE . PARENTES . ANCITIA FORTVNATA . ET . CORNE LIVS . NEPTVNALIS . FILIO . DVLCISSIMO . FECERVNT . The other is in Greek verse : TYMBQNOPACHAPOAEITAriEPIKAEITHC POAOrOYNHCHNKTANENOYKOZinC AAECI AEI NOCAN H PKAAYCEAEKAITA POYCABIANIOCHNriAPAKOITINKAl BAIHNCTHAHTHNAAnEAIlKEXAPIN Pause, trav'ller, pause, by this sepulchral urn, With tears th* illustrious Rhodoguna mourn : A hardened wretch, who no compassion knew, With pelted stones th' unhappy matron slew. Avienius drops the tributary tear For his lost spouse, and consecrates Small token of his love, and grief sincere. this bier ; V sincere. J Here the classic traveller will venerate the memory of Cha- rondas, that legislator of Catania, the excellence of whose in- 12$ stitutions has been praised by Plato, and whose laws were pre- ferred by Cicero, to those of Rome j he will call to mind the fame of the pious brothers, Amphinomus and Anapius, who, as is seen in the following inscription, gave their name to the city : EYCEBEWNKAYTON ACTY flANOABIQN ANAPA AN E0HKE ZtOCYMI . ANEAHN ArtA)NO0E0HPA CEBHPON CWPAKA1 ECOM ENOI C( IPOriQCASZEBPO He will also remember that the poet Stesichorus was here buried , as is shewn in some verses preserved in the Antho- logia. ou O'u KOiloi HutyovyogEuj $'J$IK Substances in which sal-ammoniac predominates 3 L 146 Varieties, Metallic substances in which iron predominates 3 Lavas decomposed by sulphuric acid vapours ..... 2O Lavas decomposed by the influence of the atmo- sphere and water 15 Substances created by the filtration of water in the lavas , 14 Agglutination of various volcanic substances 7 Airs sulphureous, hepatic, inflammable. Smokes white, morbidezza di cotone, black. Plants flourishing on the decomposed lavas. Asphodelus lutaeus, Angelica sylvestris, Psoratea bituml- nosa, Securidaca Sicula, Melissa Calamintha, Valeriana major rubra, Physalis somnifera, Caucolis Daucoides, Scandix odorata, Alsine orbiculatis foKis, Herniaria glabra, Scutellaria, Sedum album, Galium verum, Daphne laureola, Stellar ia nemorum, Xigustrum vulgare, Atropa mandragora, Lycopsis arvensis, Clematis vitalba, Seneciajacobea, Bunias Cakile, Genista florida, Hippomarathrum siculurn, Pastinaea Opoponax, Vitex Agnus- castus, Acanthus mollis, Ruscus aculeatus, Tanacetum vulgare, Berberis vulgaris, Astragalus Tragacantha, Juniperus communis, Rheum Rhaponticum, Cactus Opuntia, Pistacia Terebinthus, Pistacia foemina, &c. Elevation of ^Etna according to Dolomieu 10,080 feet above the level of the sea. Of the great men, who, attracted by the phcenomena of this wonderful volcano, have visited Sicily, Plato stands in the first rank, who, according to Apuleius, * came expressly to investi- gate its nature. The fate of Empedocles, and the story of one of his slippers having been thrown up from the crater, is toot well known to need repetition > it is however more than pro- * Platonis tres in Siciliam adventus : prim, histoiiae gratia* ut yEtnae naturam, et incendia concavi mentis intelligeret APUL. 147 bable, that his suicide which the poets * have attributed to a wish of immortalizing himself, was merely the result of a violent hypochondriac affection. I do not find that Cicero mentions his having explored this volcano j but as we know that he was twice in Sicily, we may conclude that he did not let slip the opportunity of gratifying his active mind with a sight of th most remarkable feature of the island. According to Donatus, Virgil explored JEtna, and if we may believe their commen- tators, Pindar> and Cornelius Severus, have each observed the phenomenon, which is described in their respective works. Ovid f in his elegy to Macer brings to his recollection, that they witnessed an eruption together. And Spartianus relates that the Emperor Adrian went twice to the crater, with the hopes of seeing the sun rise and present the appearance of a rainbo\v. It is extraordinary that Homer, who places the scene of part of his Odyssey in Sicily, should have omitted the de- scription of ^Etna, a subject so worthy the sublimest efforts of his Muse. This volcano so panic-struck with its fires the Emperor Caligula, J that he fled precipitately from Messina by night, after having laughed at Polyphemus and his crew. Among the moderns, Pietro Bembo, who has composed a dialogue on this mountain, the indefatigable Kluver, who * deus immortalis haberi Dum cupit Empedocles, ardentem frigidus Insiluit. HORAT. f Te duce magnificas Asiae perspeximus urbes ; Trinacris est oculis, te duce, nota meis. Vidimus ^Etnaea coelum splendescere flamma, Suppositus cineri quam vomit ore Gigas. t Peregrinatione quidem Siciliensi, irrisis multcrum loco- rum miraculis, repentc eMessana noctuprofugit, ,/Etnae ivertids fumo ac murmure pavefactus. SUET on. 148 travelled over all Sicily on foot, Klavius, Grienberger, Kircher, Spallanzani, Hamilton, and Schot, have all come to contemplate and admire the wonders of /Etna. Neither have we any grounds for surprize, why this mountain should present such attractions, not only to the natural philosopher, but also to the lover of the picturesque and sublime. If we refer to Burke, who has analyzed the sublime more philosophically than any one else, we shall find that Mongibello unites more of its qua- lities than perhaps any spot in the world. " To make any thing very terrible," says that illustrious man, IA KEIZAI TAYTAN ATO MOPZIMON There are few spots so gratifying to the classic traveller aa Syracuse. For on retracing the leading features of its history, the reader is impressed with a greater interest, than in the perusal of the annals pf other nations of antiquity. They are not so mucljt stained with nefarious proceedings as those of Athens, Carthage, or Rome j and, generally speaking, we shall find that Syracuse was seldom the aggressor, that she waged war chiefly to repel injuries, and but rarely from motives of ambition. This has been happily recorded in the following lines by Julius Caesar Scaliger. Ilia ego sum Romae labor, atque injuria Pseni, Pro me etiam cladis Graecia sensit onus. Figere quae voluore aliis in sedibus arma, Exturbata jacent sedibus orba suis. That Syracuse I am, whose mighty arm Proud Carthage of her great resources drain'd ; For me Rome delug'd Sicily with blood, And Greece for me a weight of woes sustain'd. Those armies that with headstrong fury fraught, To wrest their right from others basely try'd -, Expel I'd their own domains my vengeance fejt, And prostrate at my feet ignobly dy'd. The remembrance of Marcellus, on whom so splendid a panegyric is conferred by Cicero, will naturally lead the stranger who visits Syracuse, to the ruins of the castle of Labdalus, where that general, in the midst of victory, gave proofs that the bloody toil of war had not obliterated from his heart those sen- timents which do honour to human nature. In arce earum constititj casum ejus lugubrem intuens, fletum cohibere non potuit. Val. Max. Those who visit spots celebrated in the page of history, experience a double satisfaction when the re- membrance is at once awakened by the accomplishment of a brilliant exploit, and the display of the amiable qualities of the heart. Who does not feel a greater emotion at the idea of Marcellus melting into tears, than at that of his being borne in triumph along the Flaminian way, the eager Romans accosting each other, nearly in the words of the poet ? Aspice ut insignis spoliis Marcellus oplmis . Ingreditur, victorque viros supereminet omnes ! Inscription preserved at Nola in Italy, commemorating Marcellus. M. CL . MARCELLO ROMANORVM . ENSI . FVGATO . HANNIBALE DIREPTIS . SYRACVSIS V . CONS S . P . Q . NOLANVS Other inscriptions commemorating two of the Marcelli, one of whom we find was praetor of Sicily, both recorded by Castelli. .... RER .... . . . . L . CORN . . MARCELLVS .... PR . PROV . SiCIL . L . . . PR . PROV . EIVSD . PRO . . . EX MVLTIS 153 C . BVLTIO . GEMINIO MARCELLO CI ---- IN . HONOREM GEMINI . TITIANI PATRIS . XII . TRIE PATRONO . MERENTI The ruins of both of the temples mentioned by Cicero, are still to be seen. The temple of Minerva is become the cathe- dral. And the fragments of the temple of Diana are in a pri- vate house. The fountain of Arethusa so celebrated by the poets, is still protected by a stone wall, from the incursion of the sea. It is now the rendezvous of all the- washer-women in Syracuse, who prove by their prating disposition, that they are descended from Gorgo and Praxinoe in a rigfy line. Notwithstanding its present uninspiring appearance, mere are some Greek verses, preserved in the Anthologia, relative to this fountain, which the translator subjoins in English. hunc Arethusa, mini concede laborem, Sic tibi cum fluctus subterlabere Sicanos, Doris amara suam non intermisceat undam ! nai. si. Impassion'd Alpheus ! down whose sacred stream Roll the bright crowns of Pisa's dusty plain, Tranquil awhile : anon precipitate Hurries thy rapid wave athwart the trackless main Thou bears' t the pledges of thy ardent hopes T' enjoy Sicilian Arethusa's charms ; Th' enamour' d nymph receives thee panting, faint, And locks her wat'ry lover in her arms. And gently wipes the briny weed away, And prints upon his lips the burning kiss ; 154 Th' Olympic stream in am'rous fetters bound. Pants on her breast, and quaffs ecstatic bliss. * * * * * Thy Syracusan bride delights no more ; Melting desire from thy breast is fled ; The purple blushes rise no more thy Hood Tinges the deep, or Arethusa's bed. Yet oft the thought of tasted joy returns, On am'rous converse bent, thon speed'st away j But fly'st, at seeing thy lov'd mistress' wave Bright, and untainted with the briny spray Fair Arethusa by Pelorus sees Her weeping lover pine, and beats her breast j Wastes like the dew on fragrant roses shed, And sinks, by sympathetic grief oppress'd. fl5 This street is still visible 5 and still exhibits the rut* of carriage wheels. 66 For the detail of its remains see Wilkins. 67 This statue was transported to Rome by Tiberius, ao cording to Mirabella. Alter Verres ! 63 Manuzio proposed fraxineas for gramineas. The trans- lator often saw in Sicily, large reeds of sufficient size and stiff- ness for the fabrication of spears. He has therefore followed the old reading. 69 In the original ef etiamne id concupisti?" The trans- lator proposes " eas" 70 Fine vein of irony, continued afterwards. The translator has endeavoured to restore the Sappho in the frontispiece. 71 According to Pliny, Silanion flourished in the hundred and fourteenth Olympiad ; he was cotemporary with Lysippus, and was. self-taught. Zeuxis and lades were his scholars. He cast a statue of Apollodorus, who was so passionately fond of his art, that he could never be satisfied with his productions j often destroying the finest of his works. Silanion executed 3 155 fine statue of Achilles, and a wrestler. He was a native of Athens, and made a statue of Plato, which was placed in the academy. He executed also a Corinna in bronze, a dying Jocasta, and a Theseus. Junius de Pict. veter. passim. 79 Verres probably wrenched out the letters, and the holes which were left, still indicated the lines of the epigram j or we must suppose that another epigram was inscribed commemorat- ing the theft. 73 Here the classical reader will no doubt bring to mind, that if Marcellus inquired for the living Archimedes, Cicero did not forget, when quaestor, to be informed of the spot where he lay ; and of which so entertaining an account is preserved in the Tusculan Questions, book v. ch. 23. 74 The city of Reggio suffered severely from the earthquake of 1782, and bears dreadful marks of the devastation it caused. The translator could find nothing of the ancient Rhegium, but a few mutilated granite columns. 75 The Venus here alluded to was probably the work of Pythagoras, a native of Rhegium ; whose skill Pliny comme- morates. He executed the Europa on a bull preserved at Ta- rentum. Tatianus. The Satyr was perhaps one of his works -, unless Cicero alluded to the celebrated one of Praxiteles called FIERI BOHTOX. On the Cnidian Venus and Thespian Cupid by the same sculptor, see a preceding note. The Ephesian Alexander painted by Apelles, as well as the Coan Venus, are mentioned by Pliny. Speaking of the first, he says " Digit! eminere videntur, et fulrnen extra tabulam esse." The Ajax and Medea here alluded to by Cicero, was probably the work of Timanthes, in which he excelled Parrhasius, Plin. lib. xxxv. cap. 10. The lalysus was the finest of the works of Protogenes j for a circumstantial account of which see Plin. loc. citat. When Demetrius besieged Rhodes, he abstained from setting fire to the city for the sake of this picture. The Paralus mentioned by Cicero, was also a work of Protogenes,, an4 placed within the Propylaea at Athens. Plin. ubi supru\ 156 76 Verrutius, fictitious name which Verres used to mask hi* frauds. In this sentence the words " praeclaras tabulas" occur. They may indeed refer to the registers of Carpinatius, in which Verres was entered under the false title of Verrutius ; but the- words here probably mean " fine pictures 5" for the orator would surely not have discussed a knotty point of law for the sake of recreation ; let us then imagine that Cicero in company with some Roman knights amused himself in the picture gallery of Carpinatius, at the same time indulging in some ironical sallies on the spurious Verres. 77 It would appear that Heraclius made Verres his heir, who probably to court favour with the wrestlers, promised to consign the property to them ; part of which however he took care to keep back. 78 Probably a former proconsul of Sicily. THE PLEADING CONCERNING THE PUNISHMENTS. TH1 ARGUMENT, WRITTEN BY QUINTUS HORTENSIUS.* THE fifth and last book of the pleadings against Caius Verres, is beyond comparison the finest. As often as any one peruses the elegant and numerous descriptions of the plunder of the statues in the fourth book $ of the violated temples, and pillaged monuments of Sicily j as often as it is suggested to him with what pathos, with what power of language, the calamity and flight of Sthenius, or the catastrophe and punishment of the Philodami, is described in the preceding books, it would appear that nothing could be added to that elegance and volubility of language, or to the power and dignity of the eloquence. But as soon as he casts his eye on this book, it then becomes evident that Tully only before glanced intentionally at the other iniqui- ties of Verres, that he might insist upon the cruelties practised on Roman citizens, with the greater vehemence, and display in the narration all his powers. Cicero might almost seem in his former pleadings only to Lave dipped into the brook of his eloquence, but in this, to have rolled forth his whole torrent in the description of the punish- ments of the captains and of Gavius, and in so atrocious a case, to have consumed all the elocutory powers he possessed ; did tiot he who was born by a special interposition of heaven, and m whom eloquence was destined to exhibit all her powers-, 160 produce new and unexpected flashes of his exuberant and im- mortal genius. It was no longer doubtful that Verres had given in to every species of fraud and depredation, in the most shameless manner ; and that this most abandoned and avaricious man was so clearly convicted, that no room for pleading in his defence appeared left. But since the duties of praetors were two-fold j namely, the administration of the laws, and the direction of war; Hortensius could build his defence on that point, and divert the attention from his avarice, to the praises of his military valour. Cicero therefore having combated and gained the other points, in this book, attacks the citadel of his adversary, and pretends, as in the- preceding pleadings, that the defence of Verres is valid: that for the good of the state, he had sold the tithes for so large a sum, that he had bought, not plundered the pic- tures, statues, and other ornaments of Sicily. These pretended pleas nevertheless he presently tears to pieces, and attacks him in this oration, by a similar stratagem. He takes as a fictitious ground of argument, the military virtue so cried up by Hor- tensius, and contends that his right to the title of good general ought to be eradicated from the opinions of the judges. Tully does not refute this plea of his adversary by argument, but by embellishing and exaggerating it. And he never opposes him so happily as when he develops those playful and facetious sallies, which enliven the narration throughout, and by which the defence of Verres is wholly turned into ridicule. This is the first part of the contest. But when Cicero enters upon the second, and melts into tears, as he describes the tortures of slaves applied to Roman citizens, and the captains of ships, he excites at once in his audience sentiments of indignation, hatred; and compassion, not only by the recollection of the unhappy lot of the sufferers, of the scene, and mode of their punishment, but also by the proof of the goodness of his own heart. The style then of this oration, is most deeply impressive to those who read it, It not merely fascinates, but overwhelms them with horror. This is effected not only by the painful idea of the infliction of tortures, but by the astonishing profusion of facetious and ironical sallies, to which the descriptions and fictions add force. They are frequent in this book, and so highly wrought, as to strike the imagination deeply, by placing the circumstance before the eyes, so as to appear to be actually carried on, rather than described. But since weariness is near a-kin to the highest pleasures, and an oration, however bril- liantly coloured, could not for ever please, it was necessary for the orator to exhibit his skill in darkly shading some parts of his speech, that it might be more gratifying from its variety, and not weary by profusion of ornament ; that the brilliant parts> in fine, might stand out conspicuous. 169 racy. The case is laid before Verres. The sus- picious persons are immediately apprehended, and brought to Lilybasum, as may be imagined. Their master is ordered to attend ; a trial takes place, and they are condemned. /.What do you infer from this, my Lords ? Do you think they were guilty of some thvft or depredation? By no means expect it. In the fear of war, what room can there be for pillaging ? And if an oc- casion presented itself, it was passed over in this case. He could then deprive Leonidas of some of his money, when he summoned him in his presence. There was some scandalous cor- ruption, not unpractised by him before, that Leonidas should not plead his cause, and another bribery must have been attempted to effect the* acquittal of the slaves. Since the slaves were condemned, what power could they have of robbing? They must notwithstanding suffer punishment. Those of the council are wit- nesses of this ; the public records attest it ; the splendid city of Lilybseum itself attests it; an honourable and great assembly of Roman citi- zens attest it. It is of no avail. They are to be led forth, and tied to the stake. You now, my Lords, appear to wish to be apprized of the issue of this transaction ; for ho never did any thing of this sqrt, without having some lucre in view. What advantage then, do 170 you apprehend, he gained from an occurrence of this nature ? Picture to your imaginations, as bad a deed as you are able, I will neverthe- less surpass all your expectations. Condemned with the imputation of crime and conspiracy? though given over to punishment, and tied to the stake, all of a sudden, in the presence of many thousand spectators, they are released, and restored to their master Leonidas! O frantic manl what have you to say for yourself? ex- cept that, which I do not seek to know, which nevertheless, in so nefarious a case, though it cannot be doubted, yet if doubted, should be cleared up? How much money did you com- pound for ? I will release you from your anxiety on this score; neither am I apprehensive, of your being able to persuade any one that you accomplished this business for nothing; a deed which no one but you, could have been tempted to do, by any sum. But I will pass over that system of bribery and robbing. I am now to call in question the praise due to your military skill. What have you to say, my vigorous admi- nistrator and defender of the province? Did you dare to release those slaves from the stake, whom you had ascertained to wish to take up arms, and ravage Sicily with war, when you had approved of the decree of the court which sen- 171 tenced them to suffer the usual punishment? Did you release them, for the sake of preserv- ing that crucifix unstained, which you had erected for condemned slaves, to impale inno- cent Roman citizens? States verging to de- struction, generally experience these disastrous ends. The emancipation of the guilty, the re- lease of convicts, the revocation of exiles, the annulling of judiciary sentences usually mark the close of their career. 5 In whatever state these things occur, every body must be sensible of its approaching ruin. And then it is that its case is hopeless. And whenever these things take place, they are so managed that noblemen in favour with the people get their sentences of banishment, or punishment annulled, but not by those who preside at the tribunals ; but not im- mediately ; but not if they be condemned of those crimes, which affect the lives and fortunes of the community. But this is an unprecedented case and of such a nature, that it would appear more credible on account of the character of the person at the bar, than from the case itself; that these slaves whom he himself had judged as guilty of a crime which nearly affected the lives and fortunes of all freemen, should all of a sudden be let loose in the midst of their pu- nishment. O the consummate general ! surely not to res be compared to the intrepid M. Aquillius, but to the Paulli, the Scipios, the Marii ! Was he thus far provident in the dangerous crisis of the province? How much terror did he inspire when he saw the dispositions of the slaves ia Sicily held in suspense by the war which was waging against them in Italy? He ordered them to be seized. Who would not be alarmed? The owners to plead for them. How terrible to the slaves ? He said, they appeared to be im- plicated in conspiracy ; and he seems to have extinguished the flame of rebellion by the pu- nishment and death of a few individuals. What follows? Stripes, fire, tortures, and a crucifix, for the sake of deterring others. They are all liberated from these punishments. Who can doubt but that he inspired the minds of the slaves with the greatest terror, when they saw the prsetor so indifferent as to give orders for the release of conspirators, the executioner him- self being the go-between? V.What? Did you not treat Aristodamus of Apollonia, 6 and Leon of Megara in the same way ? I ask, if that sedi- tion of the slaves gave rise to activity in your protection of the province, or to a new system of the vilest peculation? When the steward of Eumenides, a noble and wealthy citizen of Alycia, 7 was impeached by your orders, you took sixty sesterces from 173 his master, and he lately deposed upon oath, how it was transacted. You took a hundred, from C. Matrinius, a Roman knight, in his ab- sence, because you had said his stewards and shepherds were suspicious persons. L. Flavius, the bailiff of Matrinius, declared this, who counted out the money to you. Matrinius him- self declared it ; as will Cn. Lentulus the censor, who took care to send you bills lately, on the credit of Matrinius. p[s it possible to pass over in silence the transaction relative to Apollonius of Panormus, the son of Diocles, whose sur- name is Geminus? What is clearer than this case throughout Sicily, what more scandalous, what more barefaced can be mentioned?. On his arrival at Panormus, he ordered Apollonius to be summoned before him from the seat of judgment, in the presence of a great concourse of people ; "Who began to wonder how he could have so long suffered Apollonius, a wealthy man, to enjoy his fortune unmolested. He me- ditated therefore some plan or other. For no opulent man is suddenly summoned by Verres without some reason. \\\l were eagerly expect- ing what that could be; when behold Apollo- nius, panic struck, hastens towards him with his young son. His father being decrepid with age, had long been confined to his bed. Verres- names a slave of his, who had looked after his 174 cattle, and whom he accused of having entered into a conspiracy, and excited other families to do the same. There was no such slave in his family. He orders him to be brought forth instantaneously. Apollonius continued to de- clare that he had no servant at all of that de- scription. \yerres orders him to be forced away from the seat of judgment, and to be thrown into prison. The other exclaimed, as they were hurrying him along, that he was wronged, had done nothing, had committed nothing ; that he possessed no ready money, but that some was owing to him. While a great assembly of by- standers witnessed these proceedings, any one of whom was convinced that because he did not surrender his money he was doomed to so severe a punishment ; when, I affirm, he loudly declared the same mUfifirning his money, he was cast into prison.^ mark well the firmness of our prastor, and or that praetor, who now stands an accused person, and is not to be de- fended as a man of moderate capacity, but to be absolutely praised, as a consummate go- vernor. At a period when the servile war was apprehended, he inflicted that punishment on innocent masters, from which he rescued guilty slaves. He consigned Apollonius to prison, with the pretext of there being a revolt among his slaves, without suffering him to plead in his 175 defence ; himself a wealthy man, and who, had there been any commotions among the slaves in Sicily, would have lost his valuable property. The slaves, whom he ascertained to have con- spired against the peace, without consulting the opinion of the council, and of his own doing, he emancipated from punishment wholly. But if Apollonius had been implicated, how was cognizance of his offence taken legitimately? Shall we, notwithstanding, so state the case, that we may think it ought to be imputed as crime, or a subject of grudge to the accused, if he judged any man with severity? i will not press so hard upon him ; I will not avail myself of that usual method of accusing ; if he has shewn clemency in any case, I will not tax him with negligence ; if he has punished any crime with asperity, I will not draw over him the detesta- tion due to cruelty, u say, I will not deal thus with him ; I will follow your own verdicts, I will defend your authority, as long as you please, and abide by you, as soon as you begin to re- scind your verdicts. Cease therefore to bear animosity against me. For I will contend on my own ground, that he who is condemned by his own verdicts, ought to be so in the opi- nions of judges upon oath. I will not defend the cause of Apollonius, my host and friend, for fear of rescinding your own verdict ; I will 176 not commemorate the temperance, virtue, anct activity of that man ; I will pass over the cir- cumstance, to which I have before alluded, that his property was so settled whether in slaves, cattle, villas, and money upon trust, that it would suit no one less to witness any distur- bances in Sicily. I will not indeed dwell upon this point, that, be Apollonius ever so guilty, an honourable man of a distinguished city ought not so severely to have been punished, without /having it in his power to plead in his defence. I will not stir up any hatred against you in these proceedings, nor from the circumstance of a man being thrown into a dark and noisome dungeon by your tyrannical edicts, and of his not having it in his power to meet his father, in a state of decrepitude, or his youthful son. ' I will moreover omit this circumstance, that as often as you came to Panormus, 7 during those eighteen months that Apollonius was impri- soned, so often did the senate of that city, at- tended by the magistrates and priests, beseech you with entreaties and prayers to suifer the unhappy and innocent man to be released from his undeserved calamity. N[ will pass over all these things ; which, if I wished to insist upon, I could easily shew that from your cruelty to others, all avenues of compassion from the judges towards you have been long since closed. 177 #1 will then give way to you, and not insist upon these atrocities. I foresee how Hortensius intends to defend you. He will say that neither the age of the father, the youthfulness of the son, nor the tears of either, could outweigh your consideration for the welfare and salvation of Sicily : he will say that the affairs of the state cannot be administered without severe measures, or the inspiration of fear\he will ask why the fasces are borne before the praetors, why the axe is committed to their charge, why prisons are built, why so many punishments, in fine, are decreed for the bad by the laws of our ancestors. All of which when he has stated with impressive dignity, I will inquire, why the same Verres ordered the identical Apollonius to be set free from jail, without any assignable reason, plea, or cause. And I will say, that there is so much weight in the suspicion of this crime alone, that I will leave the judges them- selves to guess, without any arguments on my part, how infamously, and how shamefully, with a view to immense gain, this system of peculation appears to have been carried on\Hear, in short, of what nature, and in what number are his unjust proceedings with respect to Apollonius. Then weigh and estimate them by the value of money ; and you will find that this one wealthy man was so variously ill-treated, that from his case 178 alone, the fear of similar inconveniences, and an example of danger was held out to all other individuals. In the first place, there is a sudden impeachment of an odious and capital crime, (estimate it at what rate you choose, and believe ^that numerous people ransomed him); in the next place, there' is a charge without an accuser, a sentence without a court, a condemnation without a defence, (estimate what could possibly compensate for these deeds, and believe that Apojlonius alone was guilty of those iniquities, and that others liberated themselves from a similar dilemma by the advancement of money) ; lastly, there were chains, a dark and solitary dungeon, seclusion from the light and air, and the company of his parents and children. These things may be compensated by the death of the criminal, but certainly not by any pecuniary donative. Apollonius, it is true, was rescued, though late, but not till he was reduced to a skeleton through grief and calamity ; he never- theless warned others to beware of the avarice and wickedness of Verres ; unless perhaps you are of opinion that this wealthy man, without any view for gain, was pitched upon as a perpe- trator of so incredible a crime, or without the same object, was all of a sudden let loose from jail; or that this method of plundering was adopted by Verres against him alone, and that 179 I through him, fear was not inspired in all the / other opulent Sicilians. U*I wish, my Lords, to be prompted hy him, if I should happen to omit any circumstance touching his military prowess. But I appear to have related all his exploits which had any thing to do with suspected disturbances among the slaves. Certainly, I have not knowingly omitted any. You have heard stated the vigi- lance, energy, and foresight, displayed by the man, in his protection of the province. It re- mains for you to know to what class of go- vernors he is to be assigned, for you are aware, there are many. That you should not be longer kept in ignorance of this consummate praetor, especially as there is such a dearth of great men, I beg you not to think there is any thing so contemptible in him as the sagacity of Q. Maximus, the celerity of the movements of the elder Africanus, the singular prudence of the younger, the discipline and firmness of Paulus, or the energy and valour of C. Marius ; but I entreat you to refer him entirely to a higher of men. ich regard to his mjjjaier of travell i n g, which is an essential requisite in military duties, and more especially in Sicily, listen my Lords, how easy and pheasant he made it both in theory jajid practice, flln the first place7 he provided 180 >' ail excellent remedy againstjh.e. severity of the climate in the winter months, and_the_cpklness and inundations. For upon the city of Syracuse as his brabi- the climate and situation of that no yiclement season occurs, butjwhatJjic sun at visibleTTThis active tiiiie~l:hereaurjgTEe was^Rardlyev er seen eTnThe \ \ \ \ ; short time he was up was passed in ^ji^ojiej:ing| his Iong~mghts7~m the indulgence of brutal ap- petites.. ) At the a^proachof springpwnTclI was not notified to him by the western breeze, or the appearance of any star, (for he only guessed it had set in, .by the blowing of the roses,) he undertook his fatiguing journies, in which he displayed such dauntless hardihood and pa- tience, that he was never ever seen on horseback, as was customary with the jdngs^of Bi- th^nia, he was carried in a lettiga, 8 borne Jby which there was laTcTlrTrTcrsiin d witffToses, maTulla^ture7r"Tli wore a crown on Inecl cule spun with the finest thread, and embrot dered with spots, to his nose, filled with roses) Thus journeying, on his arrival at any town, he 181 wasjcarrifid in- the -same-JjeJ^i^lo^Ms. -lodging. There the Sicilian magistrates, and the Roman l^ip^its^^ere ilT^ you have heard from numerous witnesses on oath. Law- suits were privately laid before him, and soon after the verdicts were openly repealed. Then after remaining a little time in his chamber, and 'he had given verdicts according to a stated price, not to the established laws, he^thought f^h stinieto Ven us and Bacchus. And as I am on this subjecLacon- * --- __ . v spicuous example of^the^&m^trraT vigilance- and activity of oujran-accomplishcd praetor .jnust I would have you know, there is no town in all Sicily, where the praetors are wont to hold the sessions, wherein .some woman 3- ofrcspetablfarmly was not gratification of Jiis desires. Some of them ap- p^ a rpfl i n p^ hli r-) a LlliJi2:lI!Il!l^ i ' s j those who had a greater sense of decorum, avoided being gp^iT^inrr^piYip a* n torship? That city alone did not contribute what it ought by treaty ; that alone, in his praetorship, was free from taxes ; that alone en- joyed such immunities, as to give nothing to the Roman people, and deny nothing to Verves. 5L$JBut to return to the fleet, from which I have digressed. You took a ship from the Messanians contrary to law; you excused them from furnishing one contrary to treaty. You therefore acted twice illegally in one city, in. dispensing with what you ought not, and in taking what you ought not. It was your duty to require a ship against the pirates, not to navigate the seas with your plunder on board ; which should defend, not rob the province, by new depredations. Messana became the de- pository of your plunder, and furnished you with a ship to export it. That city was the receptacle of your booty, its inhabitants the witnesses and guardians of it ; they furnished at once a storehouse and vehicle for your rapine. At the period when you lost our fleet through your wickedness and avarice, you did not for the above reason, dare to require a vessel of the Messanians ; at a time when there was a 201 scarcity of shipping, and great calamity in the province, a ship could have been obtained from them, even if the request was merely hinted. That fine speronara presented to our praetor, re- pressed all his energy in government, and the power of requiring a bireme for the service of the republic. That, forsooth, was the reward of his government, his assistance, his observance of good faith, and treaties. You have heard of the loss of the alliance of one city, sold to him for a stipulated sum ; listen now to a new system of plunder first devised by him. $JjJt was customary with each city to consign to the captain of the ship it was to furnish, the care of supplying the fleet with corn, payment, and stores. He did not dare to misapply this, for fear of being accused by the sailors, and it was necessary to give a statement of the expen- diture to his fellow-citizens. In the manage' ment of these concerns, he was subjected to great labour, as well as hazard. This method was always had recourse to, not only in Sicily, but in the other provinces, as well as in the payments of the Roman auxiliaries, when we used to call in their assistance. Verres, when vested with authority, first gave orders that all the money should be counted out to him, by the different cities, and that a person named by him should have charge of the cash. Can it be 202 questioned by any one, wherefore you broke through the established usage, wherefore you neglected the public advantage in suffering the money to pass through the hands of others, wherefore you undertook a task of such dif- ficulty with crime, of so much trouble, with suspicion ? Presently other methods of obtain- ing lucre are instituted, from one system of naval equipment ; and I beg you, my Lords, to mark how many. The acceptance of money from cities to exempt them from furnishing sailors ; the dismissal of sailors sent, for a sti- pulated sum ; the defrauding those of their pay, who were sent; the not giving to the rest their due. All these things shall be proved to you, by the depositions of the cities. Read them. (Here the depositions of the Sicilian cities are read in court.) callow am I to describe such a man, my Lords? such barefaced audacity? such sums paid by cities in lieu of their quota of troops? The establishment of a fixed price, six hundred ses- terces, for the dismissal of sailors ? The giver of which was deprived of his sustenance for a whole summer; while Verres was to turn to his own profit what he had received for the pay- ment arid support of the sailor! So that a double gain was made by the sending of one man. And these things the maniac did so 03 openly, that at the moment when the pirates put the province in extreme danger of an attack, they, as well as all Sicily, were witnesses of his proceedings. I In consequence of this inordinate avaHce, "wlien there was nominally a fleet in Sicily, but in fact nothing but empty hulks, fit for carrying plunder to the praetor, not fear to the pirates, P. Cassetius, and P. Tadius, notwith- standing, set sail in them half manned, and con- trived to lead away rather than capture a cer- tain piratical vessel, absolutely overloaded with its cargo. It was stored with young and beau- tiful women, embossed plate, and a profusion of carpets. This one ship was not captured by our fleet, but found off Megara, not far from Syracuse. As soon as Verres got intelligence of this, though he lay drunk on the shore among his concubines, he got up, and immediately or- dered his guards to tell his quaestor and agent, to display before him all the cargo entire. The ship is brought round to Syracuse, and all ex- pect that the captives will be punished. He, as if some plunder was brought, not as if pirates were captured, classes all the old and deformed among the enemies of the republic, and selects all the artists and handsome individuals, whom he distributes to his scribes, his son, and guards, and sends six musicians as a present to a friend at Rome. The whole night is passed in empty- 204 ing the vessel; no one saw the piratical cap- tain^who by rights ought to have been punish- ed. VVnd all are to this day persuaded, (which you may conjecture was the case) that he took a bribe from the pirates for the rescue of their captain.-vU'iilhe conjecture is valid. No one can be a good judge, who is not moved on secure grounds of suspicion. You know the character of the man ; as well as the usual method of pro- ceeding in cases of this sort; any one capturing a pirate captain or enemy, would most willingly suffer him to be exposed to public view. I saw no man, at Syracuse, my Lords, who affirmed that he beheld this captain of the pirates a pri- soner ; (though a multitude collected, as is usual, demanded, and wished to see him. What hap- pened then to occasion his being concealed with such care, as to prevent him from being- seen by any chance ? Seafaring people at Sy- racuse, who had often heard and dreaded his name, -^HO wished to feed their eyes, and satu- rate their souls with his tortures, had not even the power of beholding him. P. Servilius alone took more chiefs of pirates alive, than all pre- ceding him. When then was any one deprived of that privilege of seeing a pirate who was made prisoner? On the contrary he exhibited to all wherever he went, the agreeable spectacle of enemies in chains. 3The Centuripan quadrireme sails from port, with its admiral Cleomenes on board. It is followed by the ships of Segesta, of Tyndaris, of Herbita, of Heraclea, * of Apollonia, of Alun- 217 tium, splendid indeed in appearance, but weak from the dismissal of the rowers and marines. ^As long as our diligent praetor continued his scandalous revels, so long did he see the fleet at his nod. Not having exhibited his person for many days, he deigned to gratify the sailors with a view of it for a while. A Roman praetor, my Lords, was seen to stand upon the beach at \ Syracuse, reclining on the arm of his mistress, sandaled, and clothed in a purple robe reaching to his heels. NVlany Romans as well as Sicilians have often seen him thus attired. After the fleet had made a little way, and was drifted towards Pachynus, ZI the sailors impelled by hunger, pulled up the roots of the dwarf palms which grow in abundance throughout Sicily, and with this wretched food the unhappy men were forced to content themselves. " But Cleo- menes, who fancied himself another Verres, both in profligacy and authority, got dead drunk for whole days together in a tent upon the beach. But lo ! on a sudden, while Cleomenes was in liquor, and the rest perishing with hunger, news arrives of piratical vessels being moored in the port of Edissa, a3 for so that place is named. Our fleet was in the port of Pachynus. As there was a garrison of soldiers at hand, not indeed effective, Cleomenes hoped to be able to fill up with drafts his complement of sailors. In 218 effecting this, he had recourse to the same ava- ricious method as in the equipment of the fleet. For the residue was small, and the others were dismissed. Cleomenes, the admiral, orders the rigging of the Centuripan quadrireme to be put in order, and the anchor to be weighed. He made a signal for the rest of the ships to follow. This Centuripan vessel was an excellent sailor. No one knew the qualities of any ship during the prastorship of Verres. Though in this qua- drireme, out of compliment to Cleomenes, but few sailors and marines were wanting. The quadrireme had scudded out of sight with in- conceivable rapidity, before the other vessels had left their moorings. The crews of the other ships had spirit and heart left. Though few in number, notwithstanding their plight, they gave out that they were willing to fight, and sell as dearly as possible, the few sparks of life which their hunger had left. And if Cleomenes had not been so much ahead, there would have been some chance of making an effectual re- sistance. The admiral's ship was the only one decked, and so large, that it might have proved a protection to the others. And had it come into action, it would have been a city as it were, among those piratical feluccas. Deserted then by the^idmiral, they began to steer the same course. %Like Cleomenes, they made for 219 Elorus. They did not so much fly from the pirates, as pursue their admiral. And as each was most in the rear, so was he the more ex- posed to danger. For the pirates attacked each rearmost vessel in its turn. The ship of Alun- tium strikes first ; her captain was Pilarchus, a nobleman of that city; whom the Locrians afterwards redeemed from the pirates. In a former pleading you heard the circumstances from him upon oath. The ship of Apollonia strikes next, and her captain, Anthropinus, is kiUed.Kt-While these transactions are taking place, Cleomenes had touched and landed at * , Elorus, while he left his quadrireme floating at large. The other captains made after him, since the admiral had landed, and they were unable to fight, or escape from the pirates. Presently the piratical captain, Heracleo, who had gained the victory contrary to liis expec- tations, not through his own valour, but the avarice and wickedness of Verres, as evening approached, ordered a splendid fleet of the Roman people, which lay wrecked on the shore, to be burnt to ashes. O the bitter and afflicting moment for the province of Sicily ! O the catastrophe pregnant with calamity to so many innocent men ! O the unprecedented turpitude of Verres ! One and the same night consumed a praetor with the 220 vilest lust, and a Roman fleet with fire ! In the dead of the night, the bearer of the bad tidings arrives at Syracuse ; he runs to the praetorial palace, where courtezans a little before, had brought back the praetor from his revels, at- tended by vocal and instrumental musicians. Cleomenes, though it was night, dared not shew himself in public, but he shut himself up, nor had his wife access to him, to console her hus- band in affliction. -^3o strict was the discipline observed in the palace of our illustrious praetor, that in a case of such importance, no one was admitted into his presence, no one, who dared to disturb his slumbers, or interrupt him when up. As soon as the circumstance was made known, great multitudes of people flocked together, from all parts of the city. For the approach of the pirates was not signified to them in the customary manner, not by signals placed on an eminence, nor by lights suspended from the towers ; but their calamity and danger was made known by the blaze itself of the whole navy in flames ! Z4> & oAs the praetor was inquired for, and it ap- peared that no one had related what had hap- pened, a great concourse of people attack the palace with a loud noise. He at last goes out, and hears the whole affair from Timarchides. Tie puts on his cloak, and about dawn, sallies 221 forth stupified with wine, lust, and sleep. He is assailed with universal murmurs, so that the counterpart of the danger which he incurred at Lampsacum,* 5 might appear to have been trans- acted before him. This probably appeared the more terrible, for here was a greater concourse of people impelled by similar hatred of Verres. His deeds and flagitious revels were then the subject of animadversion ; his concubines were called by name from the crowd ; ^e was then publicly asked what he had been doing, where he had been for so many days together, that no one could even get a sight of him ; then Cleo- menes, who had been appointed by him as ad- miral, was demanded ; and nothing was nearer taking place, than the transferring of the ex- ample made of Hadrian at Utica, to Syracuse, by erecting two monuments of two vile prastors in two provinces. 26 The mob nevertheless took into account the crisis, the disorder, and their respect for public opinion; for the populace at Syracuse consists of Roman citizens, who are much looked up to, not merely in the province, but throughout the republic. While Verres was stupified with drowsiness, they encourage one another, take up arms, and occupy the forum and the island, which forms a consider- able portion of the city. The pirates as they tarried at Elorus for that one night, while they 222 left our ships smoking, took measures to attack Syracuse. They had often heard that nothing is more beautiful than the harbour and build- ings of Syracuse, and had established it as an axiom, that they would never be able to see them, except while Verres was praetor. py?Their first step was to approach that part of the shore where our renowned praetor had pitched his summer tents for the gratification of luxury. As soon as they found the spot de- serted, and had discovered that the praetor had struck his tents, they fearlessly began to enter the harbour itself. When I say the harbour, my Lords, (for I must be accurate in my state- ment to those who are ignorant of the situa- tion,) I mean, that the pirates entered the city, the very interior of the city. For the town is not shut in by the port, but the port is sur- rounded by the city ; not that the outer walls are washed by the sea, but the sea flows into the very bosom of the city. 27 Here then, in your pnetorship, the piratical captain, Hera- cleo, navigated at his leisure in paltry feluccas. What! in the name of heaven! Is it possible that a piratical vessel could penetrate into the forum and every crevice of that city which was the seat of the Roman government? which neither the powerful fleets of the Carthaginians, though they had made frequent attempts during numerous wars, could ever effect; wherein neither the invincible Roman navies could ever penetrate before you was praetor, during the course of so many Punic and Sicilian wars. The place is so fortified, that the Syracusans would sooner expect to see an armed force within their walls, than a single hostile ship in the in- terior of their port. The small craft of pirates here sailed while you was praetor, where the Athenian navy alone, consisting of three hundred ships, was able to force an entrance in the me- mory of man; and which was afterwards sub- dued by the advantageous site of the port itself. There, for the first time, the resources of that city were diminished and kept under ; there it was that a wreck of the Athenian glory, em- pire, and reputation, was believed to have been made.v^^Was it then here that a pirate could penetrate, and not only leave the city to his right, but have it absolutely in his rear? Orty- gia, a considerable portion of Syracuse, was sailed by; where, as I have said before, no Sy~ racusan was permitted to live, for those who garrisoned that quarter, were believed to have the whole port at their beck. And in what manner did they scour the harbour? Why they displayed the roots of the dwarf-palms, which they discovered in our ships, for all Syracuse to witness the calamity of Sicily, and the villany of the praetor. Was it for Sicilian troops, the sons of husbandmen, whose fathers cultivated so much corn, themselves born in the island of Ceres, where the use of corn was first disco- vered; was it for them, I say, whose fathers supplied the Roman people with grain, to have recourse to that food which their ancestors dis- carded after the introduction of the use of wheat? In your prastorship, Sicilian troops were nourished with the roots of palms, while pirates were devouring corn ! O the afflicting, the heart-rending spectacle ! The glory of Sy- racuse and honour of the Roman name to be turned to scorn in the presence of a great mul- titude ! A pirate in an insignificant boat to triumph over the Roman fleets in the harbour of Syracuse ! While the oars of the free-booters dashed the spray in the eyes of the abominable and indolent pnetor ! After they had departed, not through fear, but satiety, people began to inquire into the cause of so great a calamity. They openly avowed that there was no room for wondering at such a catastrophe, if the sailors and marines were dismissed, and the residue left to perish with hunger, while the prsetor got drunk with his concubines. This blame and infamy was further corroborated by those who had been appointed severally to the ships by each city; and by those who of that 225 number had been left, and fled to Syracuse, when they heard of the loss of the fleet. They named those sailors whom they knew to have been dismissed from their respective ships. The case was manifest; and not only proved by argument, but also by faithful witnesses of the avarice of Verres. J^^The man is himself informed that nothing occurs in the forum and assemblies, but ques- tions relative to the loss of the fleet, put to the captains ; who answer individually, that it was in consequence of the dismissal of the rowers, the famine of those who were left on board, and the cowardly flight of Cleomenes. As soon as he heard of this, he devised the following scheme. He had determined to plead his own cause, before he could benefit himself from so doing, as you have heard him state in a former accusation. He saw it was impossible to sup- port the conviction of so great a crime in the presence of the captains who were witnesses of it. He adopts a foolish but gentle mode of proceeding. He orders Cleomenes and the cap- tains to be summoned in his presence. They come. He accuses them of holding out language of this sort against him, beseeches them to de- sist, and to say that they had each their quota of sailors, and that none were dismissed. They make shew that they will act according to hLs 26 pleasure. He delays no longer convoking his friends, and demands individually how many sailors they each had. Each answers according as it was prescribed. The provident man has the answers registered, and sealed with his friend's seals ; that he might make use of their depositions, if necessary at any time, in answer to this charge. I suspect the madman was laughed to scorn by his advisers, and warned that these registers would have no weight, that they would even tell against him by creating Suspicion from the pains he had taken with them. He frequently had recourse to this foolish expedient before, so as to give public orders to have what he pleased cancelled or re- gistered in the archives of the cities. He now discovers that this plan is of no avail, since he is convicted by the testimonies of faithful re- gisters and witnesses.**/ ("When he sees that their confession, and his own declaration from his fabricated registers are of no advantage, he adopts the expedient (not of a detestable pros tor, for that was to be endured) but of an importu- nate and frantic tyrant. He determined then, with the view of extenuating his crime, (for he did not imagine it could be wholly done away,) to put to death all the captains who were wit- - nesses of his offence. This method of reason- ing was suggested to him : " What can be done 227 with Cleomenes? Can I punish those who acted under his orders ? Can I pass him over "whom I vested with the supreme command? Can I inflict punishment on his followers? Can I forgive Cleomenes who ordered them to follow him in his flight? Can I he severe towards those who not only had empty ships, but also without decks? Can I overlook him who alone had a decked vessel, and better manned than the others ? Let then Cleomenes suffer death too." If so, where is his faith, where his pro- testations, his right hand pledged, his embraces? Where that female military mess on that effe- minate shore? He cannot possibly act other- wise than spare Cleomenes. He summons Cleomenes, and tells him he is determined to punish all the captains, and de- mands an account of the danger he had incurred. " I will spare you alone," he says, " and will bear the imputation of cowardice and blame myself, sooner than be cruel towards you, and surfer so many respectable witnesses of my mis- deeds to escape alive." Cleomenes returns thanks, and approves the design : he says it ought to be so. He nevertheless cautions him, not to animadvert on Phalargus, captain of the Centuripan quadrireme, (which circumstance had escaped him,) because he was with him in 228 the Centuripan vessel. " What/' he says, " shall that respectable young man remain, belonging to that city, to make his deposition against me?" " It will be better for the present," said Cleo- menes; " we will look to that matter hereafter, if he should happen to be in your way." ^flAs soon as these things are arranged, he starts forth from the pratorial palace inflamed with crime, madness, and cruelty. He goes to the forum, and orders the captains to be sum- moned. They, apprehensive of nothing, im- mediately attend. He orders the unhappy and innocent men to be put in irons. They im- plored the praetor's protection, and demanded why they were thus treated. He replies, be- cause they had surrendered their ships to the pirates. The populace murmur, and are asto- nished at the man's audacity in attributing the cause of the calamity to others, which, it was obvious to all, originated in his own avarice; or that he, who might be deemed an ally of the pirates, should tax others with the crime of treason; and lastly, that on the fifteenth day after the fleet had been lost, he should lay this to their charge. While these things were trans- acting, people inquired, " Where is Cleomenes?" Not that any one thought he should suffer pu- nishment of any description, on account of his disaster. For what could Cleomenes do? (I 229 cannot, my Lords, lay a false accusation on any body;) what could Cieomenes clo effectively with ships dismantled through the avarice of the praetor? They see him sit by the praetor and whisper, as was usual, familiarly in his ear. It then appeared quite scandalous to all, that honourable men named respectively by the cities to their ships, should be thrown in chains into prison; while Cieomenes, on account of his similar flagitious conduct, remained on the best terms with the praetor. One Naevius Turpio is named for the accusation of these captains, who in the pretorship of C. Sacerdos, was con- demned for an assault, a very proper person for seconding his insolence, who was his emissary and agent in the monopoly of tithes, in impeach- ments for capital offences, and in every species of fraudulent transactions. ?f 5- The parents and relations of the unhappy young men arrive at Syracuse much affected at the sudden news of the calamity which had befallen them. They behold their children bound in chains, and heaving on their necks the punishment due to that wretch's avarice. They are present, Verres; they defend their cause, and speak for them, in your presence; they implore your protection, which was never af- forded tp any one. The father of one of them, Dexio, of Tyndaris, a nobleman who enter- 230 tained you at his house, and whom you called your friend, was present. When you saw him, a man of authority bending under the weight of his affliction, could not his tears, his age, the rights and title of friendship, tear you away from crime to the exercise of a small degree of -humanity? But why am I putting this unna- tural wretch in mind of the duties of friendship? He who stripped the house of Sthenius, of Therma?, his host, set down his name among the accused, and without instituting a trial, con- demned him capitally? Must we look for the duties of friendship in such a man ! Have we to do with a cruel person, or a wild and fero- cious beast? Could not the tears shed by the father for the danger of his innocent son, touch you with compassion? When you had left the father at home, and had the son in your pos- session, could not the one who was absent re- mind you of indulgence to a father, and the other, who was present, of the clearness of chil- dren ? Your friend, Aristeus, son of Dexio, was in chains. And why ? He had struck his ship. Why this retribution? He had deserted his crew. But what was to become of Cleo- menes? For he had been negligent. But you had presented him with a golden crown to remu- nerate his valour. He had dismissed the sailors. You -had received money from all for their dis- 231 missal. There was another parent who attend- ed; Eubulides, of Herbita, a distinguished member of his family, who, because he had in- jured Cleomenes in defending his own son, was almost stripped of his property. What had any one to say in his defence? He was not allowed to name Cleomenes. But the cause is urgent. You shall die if you are appealed to. He never used moderate threats to any one. But the rowers were not present. Do you dare accuse the praetor? You had better break your own neck. What could be done since it was neither allowable to appeal to the praetor, or the praetor's rival, though the whole cause rested with these 7 O two. What then is to take place? Heraclius, of Segesta, a leading member of his family, also pleads his cause. Pay attention, my Lords, for your humanity demands it. You shall hear the grievances which our allies have suffered. Know that this Heraclius was also tried, who could not embark on account of a disorder in his eyes, and was ordered to remain at Syracuse by him, who had the supreme command, with the provi- sions for the fleet. Certainly he neither sur- rendered his ship, nor did he fly through cow- ardice, nor did he desert his crew. For this was remarked when the fleet sailed from Syra- cuse. He was nevertheless implicated in the same charge, as if apprehended in manifest guilt, he, on whom not even the pretext of cri- minality could fall. There was one Furius, of Heraclea, among those captains, (for sometimes Latin names designate the Sicilians,) a man much respected not only as long as he lived, but after death, in his own family, and through- out Sicily. This man had such spirit, that he not only would use his endeavours to injure Verres, for since he saw he was to suffer death, he knew he could do it without danger, hut with death before his eyes, when his weeping mother sat beside him night and day in prison, he wrote his defence, which every body in Sicily has in his possession, and reads, and takes warn- ing from that memoir, of your detestable cruelty. In this, he states how many sailors he received from his city, how many, and for what sum, he dismissed, how many he retained ; and the same of the other ships. When he stated these things to you, his eyes were smitten with rods. As death was before him, he bore his pain with firmness, and exclaimed in these words, which he has left in his written document : " That it was a scandalous crime) that an immodest woman should have more influence with you in procuring the salvation of Cleomenes, than the tears of his another in the sparing of his own life" I perceive besides another thing written, and if the Roman people are sufficiently aware of your character, 233 he did not prophesy falsely concerning you at his death. i r er res cannot wipe away his guilt by the murdering of witnesses; I shal(be a more terrible witness against him hereafter, than if I be brought alive to a seat of justice ; if I live, I can only con- vict you of avarice; if I die, I can depose against you for cruelty, wickedness, and audacity'' Then follow these memorable words : " When your trial takes place, not only crowds cf witnesses, but the punishment of innocent people, together with the furies, will denounce you from the shades below. My punishment I consider light, though the coun- tenance of your butcher Sestius, and the edges of your axes are before me, when compared with the execution of Roman citizens by your orders." No more, my Lords. He abused that liberty which you granted to our allies, and inflicted on them the bitterest punishments of the most degraded slaves. He condemns them all with the opinion of his council. He did not however in so im- portant a case, and in the trial of so many citi- zens, summon P. Vettius, the quaestor, to assist him with his advice ; nor P. Cervius, a man of such consequence, an ambassador, and who, be- cause he was such, was first excluded from the court by him ; but he condemns them all by the votes of his associates, or, which is the same, 234 his villains. Upon this, all the Sicilians, our faithful and old friends, attached to us through the kindness of our ancestors, are greatly troubled at the hazard to which themselves and their fortunes are exposed. The humane pro- ceedings of our government to be turned into such inhumanity! so many innocent men to be condemned! A vile praetor to veil his thefts by the shameful death of innocent people ! Wicked- ness, madness, and cruelty, cannot appear to be carried further, my Lords, in troth, they can- not. He will be found, upon comparison, to surpass in crime infinitely every one else. But he contends with himself; he so acts, that his last crime will be found always worse than the preceding. I have stated that Phalargus, the Centuripan, wasexcepted by Cleomenes, because he was in the same quadrireme with him; the young man nevertheless had cause to fear, for he saw that his case was similar to that of those who were condemned unjustly. Timarchides has an interview with him, and tells him he need not be apprehensive of being decapitated, and cautions him to beware of not being con- demned to be flogged. In short, you Uave heard the young man himself declare, that for fear of being publicly whipped; he gave a sum of money to Timarchides. These are the trivial offences of the accused. The captain of a 235 splendid city removed the fear of a flogging by- paying a sum of money. This is a mark of his humanity. Another gave a sum not to be con- demned. This is a usual way with him. The Roman people do not want to tax Verres with old-fashioned crimes, They demand to hear of new and unprecedented offences; they think not that a Sicilian preetor stands arraigned at the bar, but a blood-thirsty tyrant//*' The con- demned captains are thrown into prison. Pu- nishment is decreed, not only on them, but their wretched parents, who are prohibited approach- ing them, to furnish them with food or neces- saries. These fathers whom you see before you, lay at the threshold; these unhappy mothers passed the whole night at the prison-gates, pre- vented from embracing their children for the last time. They besought nothing else but to' receive the parting breath of their offspring. The lictor Sestius, who was the jailer, and butcher of the praetor, the death and terror of our allies, was there. His pay was estimated by the groans and distresses of all. " For ad- mittance you must pay so much," he cries ; ." and so much for the introduction of food." No one refused what he asked. " What Avill you give me for dispatching your son with one blow of the axe? that he should not be put to the torture? that he should not die in agonies?" 236 And money was paid to this lictor for compli- ance with these demands. O their unhappy destiny ! O their insupportable agonies ! Parents were compelled to pay not for the liberation of their children, but for their speedy execution. And the young men themselves bargained with Sestius for one stripe, and blow of the axe. And the children supplicated their parents that money should be given to the lictor for the mitigation of their torments. Severe torments were applied to the parents, and severe ones to their relatives. But death must put an end to their sufferings not so. Can cruelty be car- ried further? A scheme will be devised. For the children as sbdn as dead, will have their bodies thrown to wild beasts. And if the parent is affected at this, he must pay to be empowered to bury them. You have heard Onasus, of Se- gesta, a nobleman, depose, that for the inter- ment of the captain Heraclius, he paid a sum to Timarchides. A man of the first rank declares the truth of this, so do not come forward with the plea that the fathers came angry to you in consequence of the loss of their sons; he avers it, nor does he make mention of his own son. Was there any one at Syracuse that did not hear and know that compacts for burial were entered into by Timarchides and the con- demned? Did they not confer with him in 237 public? Were not all their relations applied to ? Were not the funerals of their living chil- dren settled ? When every thing was ratified and settled, they are dragged forth from prison, and tied to the stake. Who was so callous, so inexorable, but you alone, as not to be affected at their misery, age, and condition ? Was there any one who could refrain from tears ? who did not think that the calamity came home to them, and that the fortune of all was endangered? They are decapitated. You exult and triumph in their groans; you rejoice that the witnesses of your avarice are out of the way. You was mistaken, Verres, you was vehemently mis- taken, if you imagined that the spots of your depredations and iniquities could be washed out by the blood of our innocent friends. You was hurried headlong by phrenzy, in thinking that the wounds occasioned by your avarice, could be healed by your cruel proscriptions. For although the witnesses of your crimes are no more, their relations will be neither wanting to you or to them. And some of the captains are yet living, whom fortune seems to have pre- served for this trial, and rescued from the pu- nishment inflicted on the undeserving. Phi- largus, of Aluntium, is present, who, because he did not escape with Cleomenes, was subdued by the pirates, and made prisoner ; but his cala- 238 mity proved his security: for if he had not been taken by the pirates, he would have fallen into the hands of this pirate of our allies. He will bear witness to the dismissal of the sailors, to their famine, to the flight of Cleomenes. Phalargus, ofCenturipe, is also present, a native of a considerable city. He affirms the same, and no way differs. In the name of heaven, my Lords, can you keep your seats with patience? Can you en- dure to hear of these things ? Do I shew my weakness in grieving more than I ought for the affliction of our allies ? Do not these dire tor- tures and calamities of innocent people affect you equally with myself? For when I affirm that natives of Herbita and Heraclea were decapi- tated, the atrocity of their execution appears before my eyes.?/ ;Was it then for those people, the heirs of those lands which furnished an- nually Rome with a vast supply of corn, the fruit of their labours, who were educated by their parents in the hopes of our protection; was it for them to be reserved for the inhu- manity ^and bloody axe of Cains Yerres? As often as I think of that Tyndarite, and Segestan, so often do I remember the rights, and good offices of those cities to the republic. The cities which Publius Africanus deemed fit to be orna- mented with the spoils of our enemies, not only 23Q has C. Verres stripped of those ornaments, but also of their most valuable citizens, through his abominable wickedness. Behold the voluntary declaration of the Tyndarites : " IV e are classed among the seven- teen Sicilian cities; in all the Punic and Sicilian wars, we have uniformly sided with Rome; by us the Roman people have always been assisted in time of war, and supplied with luxuries in peace" Forsooth their rights had much weight with him when praetor. Scipio formerly headed your sailors against Carthage ; but now Cleomenes commands half manned vessels against the pirates. Africanus shared with you the spoils of the enemy ; but now you are accounted as enemies, robbed by me ; 28 and your ship is captured by the pirate?. But what besides ? These things are not only related, and inscribed in the archives of the Segestans, but their alliance with Rome is at- tested and confirmed by their good offices. And what is the reward of their fidelity in the pKEtorship of Verres ? This, my Lords ; that a young nobleman should be forced from the bosom of his father, that an innocent son should be torn from the embraces of his mother, and given over to that butcher Sestius. That city, to which our ancestors made considerable grants of rich lands, which they willed should remain 240 in the enjoyment of its own laws, could not even effect the salvation of one innocent citi- zen by the authority of its antiquity, alliance, and friendship with the republic^Whither shall our allies betake themselves? Whom shall they implore? What hopes can they entertain of enjoying life if you desert them ? Shall they come before the senate to require Verres to be punished? It is not usual, it is not senatorial. Shall they betake themselves to the Roman people? A trial is easily procured from them. They will say that they ordered a law to be passed for the protection of the allies, and named you as the guardians and executors of that law. This then is the only place to which they can fly. This is the harbour, this the bulwark, this the altar of our allies ; but they have not recourse to it as heretofore, when they used to reclaim lost property. They demand not a re- storation of plate, of garments, of slaves, nor of the ornaments taken from their temples. Rash men are apprehensive of these concessions being granted by the Roman people. For we have endured with patience for many years, a few individuals monopolizing the wealth of nations, and we appear the more to overlook these out- rages, since no one of them veils his misdeeds, since no one strives to conceal his cupidity. In 241 our beautiful and highly ornamented city, what picture, what statue is there which was not plundered from our vanquished enemies ? But the villas of our prsetors are filled with the choicest ornaments of our most faithful allies. What do you think is become of the wealth of foreign nations, which they all now stand in want of, since you behold Athens, Pergamus, Qyzicus, Miletus, Chios, Samos, in short all Asia, Achaia, Greece, and Sicily, hid in a few villas ? But of all these things, my Lords, as I have stated, your allies take now no heed. They have taken care by shewing good offices and fidelity, not to be robbed publicly of them by the Roman people. If they could not make an effectual resistance to the avarice of a few, they were able in some measure to compensate for it. But now all power is taken away, not only of resisting, but of making up the deficiency. They therefore neglect their affairs. They do not seek reparation for their losses at that place, which is called a seat of .judgment. They ab- solutely disregard them ; and in this prosperous condition they fly to you for succour. Attend to, my Lords, attend to the wretched plight of our allies^ $3ere is Sthenius, a Thermitan, with dishevelled hair, and tattered vest ; though his whole house has been stripped, he makes no mention of your thefts ; he seeks protection for his person, and nothing more. In consequence of your rapacious and cruel disposition, he is expelled his country, in which he held a dis- tinguished rank by his good conduct and pre- eminent merit. Here is Dexio ; he does not demand the restoration of the property which you stole privately from himself, and publicly from the city of Tyndaris, but he demands his only, excellent, and innocent son. He does not hope to carry back a compensation in damages for his lost property, but some consolation in your punishment, to the shade and ashes of his offspring. Here is the venerable Eubulides; who did not so late in life undertake this fati- guing journey to recover something of his pro- perty, but that he might see you condemned with those very eyes, wherewith he beheld gouts of blood dropping from the neck of his son! Had L. Metellus* 9 permitted it, my Lords, their wives and sisters would have been present. One of them, on my arrival at Heraclea by night, met me, atterilled by all the matrons of that city, and numerous torch-bearers, callmo- me her salvation, and Verres her butcher ; she fell in a swoon at my feet, exclaiming the name of her son, a* if it had been possible for me to raise him from the dead. The elder matrons did the same in the other cities, as well as the 243 little children of the deceased; and they all implored my labour and assistance as well as the proofs of your attachment, and compassion. In consequence, my Lords, Sicily complained to me of this, rather than of his other iniquities. I was induced to take up their cause by tears, rather than the hope of reaping glory. Lt not a groundless conviction, let not a dungeon, let not chains, nor axes, let not the tortures of our allies, let not the innocent blood, nor the cold bodies after death, let not the an- guish of their parents and relations be turned to the gain of our magistrates! If, my Lords, by his condemnation, through your just seve- rity, I shall have removed the fears of all Sicily, I shall think I have done my duty, and fulfilled the wishes of those who have requested my ex- ertions in their behalf. %/ w.If then you can find any one who wishes to defend your criminality in this naval transac- tion, let him use this argument : let him omit those common topics which have nothing to do with the cause itself; let him say, that I laid ill fortune to your charge, and called your ca- lamity crime ; that I taxed you with the loss of the fleet, which had often befallen good com- manders in the uncertainty of warfare both by sea and land. I do not lay misfortune to your charge. You will gain no advantage by stating 244 that other expeditions have been less suc- cessful; nothing, by collecting the wrecks of others' fortune. I affirm, that the ships were not manned, that the rowers and sailors were dismissed, that the residue lived on the roots of dwarf-palms, that a Sicilian commanded a Roman fleet, a Syracusan, our allies ; I say, that during^that time, and the preceding days, you was getting drunk with your concubines upon the beach. And I can produce witnesses of all these things. Do I then appear to insult you in calamity, to shut out a refuge for you in dis- tress ; do I lay to your charge the chances of war? Those notwithstanding who have com- mitted themselves to fortune, and are accus- tomed to its varieties, are unwilling to have their luck laid to their charge. Fortune had nothing to do with your calamity. Generals are wont to try the fortune of war in battle, not in revels. We may safely say, that Venus, and not Mars, occasioned that catastrophe. Since fortune ought not to be laid to your charge, why did you not overlook and forgive the bad fortune of these innocent captains? But let it be allowed that you are not amenable, that you are not to be taxed with crime by riie, because you decreed to decapitate the captains, pursuant to the laws of our ancestors. My ac- cusation does not turn upon the punishment; I 245 do not say that no one should have lost his head; I do not affirm that the severity of our laws, the punishment of offences, and the fear of our military, should be done away ; I con- fess that severe punishment is often essential not only for our allies, but also for our citizens and troops. /.You may therefore pass this over. I affirm that the fault was not in the captains, but in yourself. I am able to prove that you dismissed the sailors and marines for a bribe. The remaining captains declare this ; the federal city of Neaetum declares it, the cities of Her- bita, of Mytistratum, 30 of Enna, of Agyrium, of Tyndaris, declare it; your own witness, your own admiral, your friend Cleomenes, declares that he landed at Pachynus, and drafted soldiers from the garrison to serve on board the fleet ; which he certainly would not have done, if he had had his complement. For such is the me- thod observed in the full equipment of the fleet, that there is not only no room for many, but none for individuals. I affirm besides, that those remaining sailors perished through hunger; J affirm that no blame could attach to any, ex- cept him, who had the chief command, the best ship, and the most sailors, and that if all the captains were in fault, that Cleomenes ought not to have been constituted the spectator of their distress and punishment. I affirm, besides, 246 that a price for tears, for stripes, for wounds, for burial, was unlawfully fixed upon. Wherefore if you please to reply in your defence, speak thus : that the fleet was fully equipped, that no marine was absent, that there were no vacant benches of oars, that the rowers were supplied with corn, that the captains lie, that so many respectable cities lie, that all Sicily lies ; that you was be- trayed by Cleomenes, who said that he landed at Pachynus to procure drafts of soldiers ; that spirit was wanting to the forces, rjpt resources ; that Cleomenes while smartly engaged, was deserted by the others ; that no money was given for the burials. And if you declare these things, you shall notwithstanding be convicted; and if you have recourse to other pleas, you will still not be able to refute my charges^Vill you dare now to hold this forth, " My friend is among the judges, that fatherly friend of mine is present?" Would he, however intimate with you, not be highly ashamed of your guilt in this transaction?" " He is your fatherly friend." If your father himself was to try you, what, in the name of heaven, could you say for your- self? " Did you, Verres, when a Roman praetor, in the administration of a naval war, excuse for three whole years, the Messanians from furnish- ing that ship, which they ought to have pro- vided according to -treaty ? .Was a* large spero^ 247 nara built by them, for your private use, at the public expense? Did you raise money from the cities, with the pretext of equipping a fleet? Did you dismiss the sailors on receiving a stipu- lated sum ? When a piratical ship was taken by y our qiiiEstor, and lieutenant, didyou sequester in your house the captain from public view ? Could you decapitate those who were called Roman citizens, and who were recognized as such by many? Did you lead away the pirates to your house, and produce their captain before a seat of judgment? Did you in so splendid a pro- vince, in the presence of our most faithful allies, when the greatest danger impended, lie banquet- ing upon the beach for whole days together ? Could no one then have access to you in your palace, no one see you in the forum? Did you invite female heads of families to those festivals of your friends, and associates? Did you seat your son, a mere youth, my grandson, 3I among those concubines, to instil into him, at that age, the desire of imitating the profligacy, and corruption of his father? Was you, a praetor of a province, seen attired in purple robes reaching to your heels ? Did you for the grati- fication of your lust, delegate the command of vessels to a Syracusan, instead of an officer or the Roman people? Were your troops left des- titute of corn, in the pro vince of Sicily ? Through 248 your dissolute conduct and avarice, has a fleet of the Roman people been captured and burnt? From the period of the foundation of Syracuse, what enemy was ever seen in its harbour, pre- vious to your proconsulship? Neither did you endeavour to veil this disgrace by your own dissimulation, or by the silence and oblivion of those who witnessed it? Did you hurry to an Agonizing death, the naval captains without any cause, after tearing them from the embraces of their parents, who were your friends? Could not the remembrance of my name appease you in the bitterness of their grief? Was the blood of innocent men not only your delight, but also a source of profit to you?" If your father were to address you in these words, could you on any grounds hope for his pardon? My Lords, I have sufficiently fulfilled the wishes of the Sicilians, sufficiently answered the obligations of the task committed to me. It remains for me to state that part of the accu- sation, which has not been delegated to me, but which may be said to be born with me, which is engrafted in the inmost recesses of my soul, which not merely relates to the salvation of our allies, but to that of Roman citizens ; which affects the lives and fortunes of all of us. Do , my Lords, expect arguments on this head, 249 as if it were involved in any doubt. Every thing that I shall state relative to the punish- ments of Roman citizens, shall be placed in so glaring a light, that I can summon all Sicily to be the witness of the truth of my assertions. For a certain mania, the attendant of crime, has so overwhelmed his unbridled passions, his perverted nature, that he never hesitated to ap- ply those punishments, in a public assembly, to Roman citizens, which were only destined for convict slaves. Why should I, relate how many he punished with stripes ?^"f will only, my Lords, briefly declare, that during his prae- torship, there was no discrimination in this ^ method of punishment, l^nd the hand of the _^ C ^M Victor dealt stripes to Koman citizens^ quite inured by custom, and without waiting for his JU^.^.^ y assentr>*/,Can you, Caius Verres, deny, that in 'j^ty the presence of a great assembly, in the forum ^ at LilybsEiim, C. Servilius, a Roman citizen, of the company of merchants residing at Panor- mus, was whipped on the ground by rods, close to your feet? Dare, if you are ?ible, to refute this first charge. There was rio one of Lily- basum, who did not witness it; no one through- out Sicily, who did not hear of it. I say that PL Roman citizen was cut to pieces by the rods of lictors in your presence. And for what, in the name of Jieayen!" Though in asking the 50 question, I injure the common cause, and the laws of the republic. For had it been done with any plea, I ask with what right such a punish- ment was decreed on any Roman citizen, or on Servilius? > Pardon him, for this one offence, my Lords, I will not inquire deeply into the rest. x lie had conversed too freely on the un- principled conduct of the praetor. As soon as Verres is informed of this, he orders the man to find bail for his appearance at Lilybiciiin, to a slave in the service of the temple of Venus Erycina. He comes to Lilybseum,\pid begins to compel him to find bail to his lictor in the sum of two thousand sesterces, not to make gain of his booty ; though Servilius had no one to lay crime to his charge, no one to plead in his de- fence. He says that he will furnish commis- sioners to inquire into the matter out cf his prsetorial guard. Servilius began to deprecate his being convicted of a. capital offence by unjust judges, without having any one to charge him with crime. While he was loudly making these entreaties, six powerful lictors immediately environ him, well exercised in flogging; they apply the stripes with all their might. Then Sestius, who stood next to him, (and of whom I have often spoken,) turning the but-end of his staff, began to lay it, with all his might, about his eyes. \He presently fell to the ground with his mouth and eyes streaming with blood. \Jie notwithstanding had blows applied to his ribs, to make him promise he would find bail. Having undergone this punishment, and being taken up for dead, he presently expired. IThat vile slave in the service of the temple of Venus Erycina, overflowing with wealth and elegan- cies, placed a silver Cupid in the temple of Venus, which belonged to the deceased ;N thus abusing other peoples' fortunes, to perform his nightly orgies to avarice. But why am I to dwell individually on the other punishments of Roman citizens; why not rather generally? That prison which was excavated at Syracuse by the sanguinary tyrant, Dionysius, and called latomice, became during his government the abode of Roman citizens. Mf any one wronged him, either intentionally or apparently, here he was immediately consigned. This must appear shameful to all of you, my Lords, and I was aware it did in a former pleading, when the witnesses gave in thejr depositions. ^ You are of opinion that the rights of liberty ought to be preserved, not only here in the presence of the tribunes, and other magistrates, not only in the forum, and full senate; but you decree, that wherever the rights of Roman citizens are violated, it belongs to the splendour and dignity of the republic to take cognizance thereupon. 252 Did you, then, dare to imprison such multitudes of Roman citizens in a place allotted to the punishment of the worst malefactor sand pirates? Was you never struck with the idea of this tribunal, this numerous assembly, which now eyes you with the utmost horror and indigna^ tion? Had you never before your eyes the dignity of the Roman people absent, never the spectacle of this multitude present? Was you of opinion that it would never be laid before this tribunal, never be taken cognizance of by the laws? But what was the object of this cruelty, of the commission of so many crimes? None, my Lords, but the accomplishment of an unprecedented system of plundering. For in the same manner that those, whom poets fable to have infested promontories, and inlets of the sea, for the sake of murdering shipwrecked mariners, so did Verres infest all the seas from every part of Sicily. Whatever ship arrived in that island from Asia, Syria, Tyre, or Alexandria, it was sure to be detained by his confidential agents. The transporters of the merchandize were thrown into prison, the cargoes conveyed to the praetorial palace. It was not another Phalaris, riot a Dionysius, after a long interval, who occupied Sicily, (which island has pro- duced many horrid tyrants,) but some frightful abortion of nature, such as is reported in an- 253 cient times to have infested those parts. For I am of opinion that neither Scylla, nor Chary bdis, was so formidable to sailors, as he was in the same straits. He may be said to have been more terrible, begirt as he was with larger and fiercer blood-hounds. He was infinitely worse than Polyphemus, who occupied JEtna alone, but Verres was the scourge of all Sicily. But what pretext had he, my Lords, for this horrid cruelty? That, which will now be pleaded in his defence. Those who touched in Sicily pretty well stocked with wealth, he gave out to be the troops of Sertorius, and that they had escaped from Dianium. 3 * Some to avert their destiny, offered him purple dyes ; others, frankincense and perfumes; others, linen cloths; some offered gems and pearls; others, Greek wines, and Asiatic slaves, that he might be given to under- stand from what countries their vessels came, by the nature of the presents. They discovered that the offers, which they thought would pro- cure their salvation, would be ultimately the cause of ruin. He said that they belonged to the society of corsairs, and therefore consigned them to the latomia, and took especial care to keep the ships and cargoes/ 'Pursuant to his determinations, when the prison was full of mercantile people, those things then were done, which you will hear stated by the respectable Roman knight, L. Suetius, as well as by others. The necks of Roman citizens were inhumanly broken in prison, and that exclamation, " I AM A ROMAN CITIZEN,"" which had frequently rescued many from the hands of barbarians in remote countries, only served to accelerate and imbitter their fate.# J What is this, Verres? What do you think you can reply to this charge ? Is it that I lie, or fabricate any thing? Do I exaggerate your guilt? What will you dare to say to these defenders of your's? Give me, I beg, the letters of the Syracusans, which he thinks have been written at his beck; give me the registers of the prison, which have been ac- curately kept, and which state the day when each prisoner was confined, and when put to death. (Here the letters of the Syracusans are read in court.) Here, my Lords, you have Roman citizens thrown indiscriminately into the latomia ; you see a multitude of your fellow-countrymen heaped together in a noisome dungeon. 34 Now endeavour to find out how they effected their escape from thence. You cannot. Are they then all dead? If he could make that plea plausible, 110 one would believe him. But it is written in these very letters, which that igno- rant barbarian could not expect, or compre- 255 bend, EAIKH0H2AN, as the Sicilians say, that is, they were condemned to punishment, and death-palf any foreign king or nation were to treat a Roman citizen thus, should we not re- venge ourselves in a public manner? Should we not go to war? Can we let this injurious insult to the Roman name pass unpunished? How many wars do you think our ancestors were engaged in, to avenge the insults offered to Roman citizens, the retention of ships, or the despoiling of our merchants? But I have not now to complain of their being retained ; I think it to be endured that thev were robbed, that the merchants were despoiled of their mer- chandize, ships, and slaves, that they were bound in irons ; I am now to state that Roman citizens were put to death in prison. Were I to proclaim these things in Scythia, not to an assembly of Romans, not to the flower of the senate, not in the Roman forum; if I were to dwell on the many and dreadful punishments inflicted on Roman citizens, I should stir the compassion of barbarians themselves. For so great is the extent of our empire, so weighty the authority of the Roman name among all nations, that it is permitted to no one to ex- ercise cruelty against a native of Italy. Can I then think it possible for you to have any place of refuge left, when I behold you impli- 256 cated by the severity of our judges, and cir- cumvented in your crimes, by this multitude of Romans who are present? If indeed you are able to extricate yourself from this dilemma, (which I do not believe pos- sible) you must necessarily be inveigled in more inextricable toils by me, as I have shewn above. And if I were to yield that point on \vhich you ground your defence, that fictitious plea would be not less ruinous to you, than my true accusation. For what has he recourse to in his defence? He affirms that he received refugees from Spain, and condemned them to punishment. Who ever permitted you to act thus? With what right did you do it? Who ever did the same? We see the forum and temples filled with those deserters, and we allow them to take refuge here willingly. For the issue of that civil dis- sension, call it madness, fate, or calamity, i* not so burthensome to us, but what we allow those who survived, to be under our protection. That Verres, the betrayer of a consul, the trans- ferrer of a quaestor ship, the misapplier of the public monies, has obtained forsooth such in- fluence in the republic, as to have it in hi* power to inflict a cruel death on those men whom fortune might waft to any part of Sicily, and who are permitted by the senate, the magis- 257 trates, and Roman people to be at large in the city, and throughout the republic. After that Perpenna 35 was killed, many soldiers betook themselves to Cn. Pompeius, from the army of Sertorius, To whom of these, did he not shew protection with all his heart? To whom was that invincible arm not extended with the proffer of pardon and the hope of security ? Is it then for those, who were granted protection by him against whom they had borne arms, to suffer tortures and death inflicted by you, who never was of any weight in the state ? Only mark what a valid defence you have devisedu 1 had rather, by heaven, I had rather have your de^ fence proved in the presence of this court and the Roman people, than that, which I lay to your charge. I had rather, I repeat, have you thought inimical to that race of men, than to merchants and seafaring people. My charge only convicts you of unbridled avarice; your defence, of ungovernable madness, unparalleled cruelty, and almost a new proscription. But I cannot turn, my Lords, so much good to his ac-. count. I cannot. Here is all Puteoli; 36 in this court are numerous respectable merchants who will testify; some, that their friends, others, that their enfranchised slaves, were despoiled by him, and that several were decapitated by his order in prison. Only observe how impar- 258 tially I will deal with him. Refute, if you are able, P. Granius, a witness against you, who deposes that his bondmen lost their heads, and who reclaims from you his ship and merchan- dize. I will desert my witness, I will favour you, I say* I will even assist you. Prove now, that they served under Sertorius, that they were wafted to Sicily, that they were* refugees from Dianium. I should be rejoiced if you were able to prove it. For no crime can be detected de- serving a severer punishment. I will, if you please, summon a second time, L. Flavins, a Roman knight; because in a former pleading, to use the language of your friends, through your uncommon foresight, you interrogated no witness; but all are aware that you was re- pressed by the stings of your own conscience, and the authority of my witnesses. Let then Flavius be questioned, if you will, who was that L. Herennius, who he said made silver plate at Leptis. 37 This man, notwithstanding that there were upwards of one hundred Roman citizens at Syracuse, who not only were acquainted with him, but also defended him with tears and en- treaties, was nevertheless in the presence of all Syracuse, decapitated by you. I only wish you to refute my witness, and to prove that Heren- nius served under Sertorius; //,What. shall we say of that crowd of people, who with heads 259 wrapped in their mantles, were classed with pirates and captives, and had their heads struck off? For what reason was this new active measure of your's devised? Did the cries of L. Flavins, and of the others for L. Herennius, urge you to the commission of this atrocity? Or, did the esteem and high authority of M. Annius, a most respectable and honest man, make you rather more active and suspicious? who lately deposed, that, not a foreigner, but a Roman citizen, well known by all, and born at Syracuse, suffered decapitation by your orders. After these outcries, these public complaints and murmurs, so far from shewing himself more lenient, he became more cruel in punishing. He dragged to the place of execution Roman citizens, with their heads enveloped in their mantles. And these he put to death openly, because, as I have before stated, they inquired too minutely into the number of the captured pirates. Is this then the condition, to which the Roman people are reduced in your prsetor- ship ? Are these the hopes they have of carry- ing on traffic? Is this the hazard to which their lives are exposed ? Are there then so few risks to which merchants are liable, that these terrors must be held over their heads by our provincial magistrates? Was it for this, that in that intimately connected province, Sicily, filled 260 with our most faithful allies, and valuable citi- zens, which always allowed most willingly Ro- man colonies to settle, that those, who navi- gated the seas from Syria and JEgypt, who even among barbarians were respected for the sake of the Roman name ; was it for those, I ask, who had escaped from the hands of pirates, or the dangers of tempests, when they believed they had arrived at their homes, to suffer deca- pitation in Sicily ? (^?/> In what language can I describe the fate of P. Gavius, a free citizen of Cosa? 38 My Lords ! with what power of words and voice, with what an- guish am I to relate it ? I am full of anguish. But I must exert all my powers in describing it with language suitable to the grief I feel. The offence is of such a nature, that when it was related to me, I did not think it would strengthen the charges against him. For though I was aware it was perfectly true, I did not think it would appear credible. Compelled nevertheless by the tears of all the Roman citizens, who trans- act commercial business in Sicily, induced by the testimonies of the Valentians, respectable men, as well as of all the Rhegians, and many Roman knights, who then happened to be in Messana, I brought such proofs of it, in the course of a former pleading, that no one can entertain the least doubt on the subject. 261 What remains to be done, since I am wast* ing so many hours in the narration of his horrid cruelty; since I have exhausted all power of language in the statements of his other iniqui- ties, and was not aware that I should have to call your attention to so multifarious a cata- logue of crimes ? In the statement of so grievous a case, how am I to act ? I am of opinion that there is but one method to be pursued ; which is, the fair statement of the crime ; and which has of itself so much weight, that neither my eloquence, which is nothing, nor that of any one else, can be required to inflame your indig- nation to the highest pitch. This Gavius of Cosa, to whom I allude, after he had been thrown into prison by Verres, and in some secret manner had fled from the latomice to Messana, where, when he saw Italy, and the Avails of Khegium, refreshed, as it were, with the scent of liberty and free air, from which he had been exempted in his dreary dungeon, began to complain at Messana, that he, who was a Roman citizen, had been thrown into pri- son ; and gave out that he would make the best of his way to Rome, where he would be able to denounce Verres on his arrival. ^The unhappy man was not aware that it was the same thing whether he spoke these things at Messana, or in the prastorial palace ; for as I have before in- formed you, Verres pitched upon this city to assist him in all his frauds, to be the receptacle and associate of all his thefts and villanies. Gavius therefore is immediately carried before the Messanian magistrates ; and on that very clay, as chance would have it, Verres arrived at Messana. He hears that a Roman citizen had complained of his having been confined in the IdtomicB at Syracuse; that as he was actually embarking, and dealing out threats against the praetor, he was detained by order of the magis- trates, that he might receive that punishment, which the praetor might think proper to inflict. Verres returns thanks to the magistrates, and praises their good will and activity in his behalf. Inflamed with choler and phrenzy, he rushes into the forum ; his eyes glistened, and cruelty was shot forth from his visage. All were anxious to know whither he was going, and what he intended to do. When he imme- diately ordered Gavius to be seized, to he stripped and bound in the midst of the forum, and rods tq be got ready. The unhappy man exclaimed, that he was a Roman citizen, that he had obtained the freedom of the city of Cosa, that he had deserved this honour together with L. Pretius, a Roman knight, who had commer- cial dealings at Panormus, and from whom Verres might be informed! of the truth of his. 263 assertions. The preetor then says, that he had discovered he was sent into Sicily as a spy, by the chiefs of the revolted slaves : of which ac- cusation not the slightest plea or suspicion could be traced. He immediately orders him to be severely flogged. A Roman citizen, my Lords, was cut to pieces in the midst of the forum at Messana. No groan, no words were heard to escape him in the midst of his pain, and the crackings of the lashes, but the exclamation, " I AM A RO- MAN CITIZEN." He thought that by this ex<- pression alone, he would be able to avert his stripes, and torments. As he used these words for the sake of procuring a respite from his pu- nishment, as he implored the executioners, and frequently mentioned the name of Rome, a cru- cifix, a crucifix, I repeat, was prepared for this wretched man, who never before had seen that unjustifiable punishment exercised. (0?$iO the dear name of liberty ! O the excel- lent laws of our republic ! O the Porcian, the Sempronian laws,! 39 O the power of the tri- bunes, so devoutly to be wished for, and once granted to the Roman people! Is every thing then come to this, that a Roman citizen, in a province of the Roman people, in a federal city, should be tied to a stake, and beaten with rods by him, who through the kindness of the 254 man people, had possession of the insignia of a praetor? What if fire, red hot irons, and other tortures be administered ? If his bitter lamen- tations, and entreaties could not fill you with compassion, could not those of the Roman citi- zens, who were present, restrain your seventy ? Did you dare to nail to a cross him who pro- claimed that he was a Roman citizen ? I was unwilling, my Lords, to dwell with such vehe- mence on this topic in my former pleading, I was indeed unwilling. For you saw how the indignation of the populace was stirred against him, by the sense of grief, hatred, and the ap- prehension of common danger. I placed bounds to the violence of my harangue, as well as to the indignation of C. Numitorius, a Roman knight, a man of the first consequence, and my witness ; and glad I was that he expelled from court Glabrio the witness, ,ifi doing which he displayed great judgment. I i For he was appre- hensive that the Roman people would with vio- lence demand justice to be taken against Verres, fearing that he should escape the judgment of the laws, and verdict of this tribunal. Now since it is evident to all, how your case is situated, and what will be determined rer specting your guilt, I will thus deal with you. I will prove that thatGavius, whom you pretend- ed to be a spy, was thrown by you into the fato- 265 mice of Syracuse, and I will not only make it manifest from the testimonials of the Syracu- sans, but I will summon witnesses, whom I will leave to you to name, who will depose, that he was cast by you into those latomice. And this I will do to prevent you saying, that I have coined his name, and taken it from some fabri- cated registers. I will also produce the Cosani, his fellow-citizens, and friends, who will now inform you too late, but not the judges, that that P. Gavius, whom you nailed to a cross, was a Roman citizen, a native of Cosa, and not a spy from the pirates. vAs soon as I shall have made manifest all these things which I promise in the aggregate to those who surround you, I will then apprehend you in that very point, which you have conceded to me. And I will say, that with that I am satisfied. For what were your expressions when you was seized with perturbation, and darted out of court, ter- rified at the clamour of the Roman people ? You said, because he wished to retard his punish- ment, that he exclaimed, he was a Roman citi- zen, though a spy. My true witnesses are at hand. For what does C. Numitorius depose; what M. and P. Cottius; noblemen from the territory of the Tauromenites ? What Q. Luc- ceius, who has a large plate manufactory at Rhegium ? What, the rest ? Here are still wit- 266 nesses, of the same description, who aver, not that they knew Gavius, but saw him exclaim- ing, that he was a Roman citizen, while he was dragged to crucifixion. You yourself allow this, you yourself confess, Verres, that he exclaimed he was a Roman citizen,Vand that the name of our city had not weight enough with you to make you hesitate in inflicting a most cruel and ignominious death. Here, my Lords, I stop ; with this one circumstance I am content, I pass over the other points. He is absolutely en- trapped and strangled by his own confession. Was you ignorant who he was ? Did you sus- pect he was a spy ? I do not inquire with what grounds. I accuse you by your own assevera- tion. -He said he was a Roman citizen. If, Verres, you were apprehended, and dragged to punishment in Persia, or the extremity of India, what could you say but that you are a Roman citizen ? And if among barbarous and distant nations, the illustrious name of Rome would be of service to you, though unknown as an indi- vidual, could not he, be who he may, when hui> ried to the cross, though unknown to you, upon declaring he was a Roman citizen, by mention* ing the name of the city, procure some respite? Men of small property, born in an obscure place, traverse the seas, and touch at places which thev never before saw, who are neither 267 able to make it known whence they came, nor can they always be recognized. They never- theless think themselves secure by confiding in the protection of the name of Rome, not merely from our magistrates, who are obligated by law and the risk of losing reputation ; not merely from Roman citizens, who are connected with them by language, laws, and commerce, but wherever they go, they believe that this name alone will afford them protection. Take this hope, take this safeguard away ; declare there is no use in this expression, " I AM A ROMAN CITIZEN," is it possible that a praetor can with impunity decree what punish- ment he pleases, on any one who declares that he is of Rome? Let any one be ignorant of this, and you deprive Roman citizens of that protection which they have uniformly found in all free cities, and throughout the world. What if he named L. Pretius, a Roman knight, who was then transacting commercial business in Sicily ? Would that have been a great task to send letters to Panormus? To have kept the man in custody ? To have confined him in the prisons of your own Messanians, till Pretius ar- rived? He would have recognized the man, and you might have remitted the severity of his punishment. Had he not known Gavius, then, if you pleased, you might have established 268 this law for all, that whether any body was un- known to you, or was unable to name a rich person who did know him, notwithstanding his being a Roman citizen, he should be dragged to crucifixion. w3ut what need have I to dwell so long on Gavins ? As if you was in this case, only his enemy, and not the common one of the rights, laws, and name of Roman citizens. I say, that you was not only an enemy to that individual, but to the common cause of liberty. For did it appertain to you to order the cross to be erected in that part of the city which faces the Straits, when the Messanians had placed it, as they were wont to do, in the Pompeian way, behind their city ? What right had you to add, which you can by no means deny, that you pitched upon that spot, (which people heard you say,) that he, who was a Roman citizen, might behold from the tree, Italy and his home? That was the only cross, my Lords, since the foundation of Messana, ever seen there. The view of the Italian shores was fixed upon pur- posely, that Gavius, from his agonizing cross, might witness the narrow sea, which separated slavery from liberty ; and that Italy might be- hold one of her own children writhing in ago- nies upon the strand. It is contrary to law that a Roman citizen be bound ; it is crime to sub- 269 nrit him to stripes ; it is almost parricide to put him to death ; what can I say if he be crucified ? So nefarious a deed cannot possibly be expressed in adequate language. But he was not content with the infliction of all these punishments; " let him die," he cries, " as he beholds his na- tive shores, let him die, in the presence of his own laws, of liberty." It was not here that you crucified Gavius, nor any Roman citizen; you nailed to the cross the common cause of liberty, and of the republic. Mark in this in- stance the audacity of the man. Do you not think, he could not brook the crucifixion of Roman citizens, in the forum, in the front of the town-hall, in the rostra? He fixed upon a spot, equally conspicuous as these, which were under his jurisdiction, and as contiguous as pos- sible to Italy. He willed that this monument of his unprincipled audacity should stand in the sight of Italy, in the very vestibule of Sicily, and to arrest the attention of all who sailed by. ^7' Were I to complain of and deplore these atrocities, not to Roman citizens, not to the friends of the republic, not to those who had heard of the Roman name ; if, in fine, I were to proclaim them not to the human race, but to the brute creation ; or, to go further, were I to deplore them in some desert wild, to the very rocks, to the very stones, I should touch with 270 Compassion inanimate nature herself by the bard recital of such horrid deeds. But now that I address the senators of the Roman people, the enactors of laws, and verdicts, I have no rea- son to fear that that Roman citizen be pro- nounced deserving of such a punishment, or* that all the rest were most shamefully exposed to the like danger. A little time since, my Lords, we melted into tears at the circumstance of the wretched and unjust deaths of the naval captains. We felt a proper degree of compas- sion for the fate of our innocent friends ; what now should we feel at the shedding of our own blood, since a regard for the public safety, and for the truth, requires us all to be considered as connected by the same ties of consanguinity? All the Roman citizens here present, as well as elsewhere, beseech and implore your severity in this judgment, they require a proof of your protection, and good faith; they think that all their laws, all the advantages, which they de- rive from their alliance with us, are at issue with your verdict. Notwithstanding that they be satisfied with my exertions, yet if the event be different from their expectations, they shall have still more from me, and probably more than they require. For if some violence should rescue him from the punishment decreed by you, (which, my Lords, I apprehend, cannot 271 possibly happen,) if, notwithstanding, my ex- pectations be deceived, if the Sicilians will have to complain of the failure of their impeachment, and will also take it ill of me ; the Roman peo- ple shall, in a short time, recover their rights, through my exertions, and by their own suf- frages, before the kalends of February, 4 since the power of pleading in their presence has been delegated to me. And if you inquire respecting my glory and greatness, my Lords, it will not be remote from my views of furthering them, that he, if eman- cipated from your tribunal, should be reserved to appear before that of the Roman people. That trial would be brilliant, plausible, and easy for me, and grateful to the Roman people. In fine, if I should appear to have wished to build my fame, (which I have not had in view,) on the condemnation of this one man, I shall hereafter be able to raise it from the condemnation of many, if his acquittal takes place, which cannot be, without the guilt of many. W^But in troth, my Lords, for your sake, and that of the republic, I am unwilling that such a crime, as his acquittal, should be committed by this honourable court. I am unwilling, that these judges, whom I esteem and love, should be so stigmatized by his acquittal, as to peram- bulate this city not bedaubed with wax, 4I but 272 with mud. Wherefore, Hortensius, from this* place I would recommend you again and again, to beware (if indeed advice be necessary) of what steps you are taking, of what lengths you are going, and to consider well whom you are about to defend. Neither do I wish to circum- scribe your exertions, that you should not con- tend with me by the display of all the orato- rical powers which you possess. But if you ima- gine that you are able to have recourse to any unlawful or secret measures with respect to this trial; if you think you can effect any thing, through artifice, design, power, or favour, or by means of his resources, I am decidedly of opi- nion that you should desist, and use your en- deavours to repress, and allow his sinister prac- tices to go no further, which he has already at- tempted, and which have been detected by me. You will commit yourself in this trial at a very great risk, a greater far than you are aware of. 4 * But if you, consul elect, think yourself exempt from the fear of losing reputation, and quit of your honours, believe me, those dignities con- ferred by the Roman people, are not less diffi- cult to be retained, than to be procured. This city has borne as long as it could, as long as was necessary, that royal authority of your's in the. tribunals, and throughout the republic. But from the clay, that the authority of the tribunes 273 was restored to the Roman people, all these pre- .rogatives (if you are not aware of it) have been taken from your hands. The eyes of all are now fixed on each of us ; to ascertain with what probity I conduct my accusation, with what sense of religion this court will deliver its ver- dict, with what discretion you will defend the prisoner. Of all of us, if any one treads ever so little out of the right path, it will not be noticed by that tacit disapprobation, which you were wont to despise ; but a vehement and open denuncia- tion from the Roman people, will be the conse- quence. You, Hortensius, have no connection of blood, no friendship with the accused. Those pleas which you were wont to have recourse to, with so much zeal, in other causes, you cannot use with respect to this man. It is most espe- cially your concern, to take care, that what he so often held out in the province, may not be thought true, when he said, that for the defence of what he there did, he relied upon your exer- tion./^/I trust that the duties of my task have been discharged to my bitterest foes. For in. the few hours of my first pleading, I have con- demned him in the opinion of all mankind. The remainder of the trial will refer, not to my good faith, which has been proved-; nor to his life, for that has been condemned; but it will 27* regard the judges, and, to speak candidly, your- self. But at what time will cognizance be taken of your manner of proceeding ? (For the time and opportunity is always of the greatest im- portance in affairs of state, and is to be taken into consideration, in all transactions ;) it will be at that time, when the Roman people will require another order of men to revise your judgment, which will be done pursuant to the law respecting new judgments and judges; which was not enacted by him, in whose name you see it published; 43 but this identical ac- cused person, with the hopes and opinion he entertained from you, took care to have this law registered and promulgated. In my first pleading, therefore, the law was not passed; while he, thunderstruck at your severity, gave many indications of his not appearing to be able to answer your charges, no mention was made of the law ; but as soon as he was confirmed in the hopes of his acquittal, the law was imme- diately passed. As your dignity is vehemently attacked by this law, so are his false expecta- tions and consummate insolence favoured by it. And on this score, if any one of you commit yourself reprehensibly, either the Roman people will take cognizance of that order, which they before believed unworthy of giving a verdict ; or there will be appointed new judges selected 27.5 from the old, in consequence of the abuse of the laws, pursuant to the tenor of the new one. With respect to myself, who of all human beings is more aware of the necessity of going all pos- sible lengths? Can I, Hortensius, be silent? Am I to play the hypocrite when the republic has sustained such a wound ? Are the provinces to be despoiled, our allies harassed, religion violated, Roman citizens put to torture and to death with impunity, when the impeachment devolves on me ? Can I discard so great a charge in this court, or remain silent? Is not the question to be discussed, to be brought to light? Is not the good faith of the Roman people to be implored ? Are not all to be summoned be- fore this tribunal, who are implicated in such crime, who have suffered their integrity to be corrupted, our tribunals to be corrupted? Some one perchance may ask, will you then undergo this labour, will you brave the enmities of so many individuals? Certainly I do not court their hatred. But I am not to act as those noblemen, who receive with indifference the benefits heaped upon them by the Roman people. I must run a very different career in this commonwealth. I call to recollection Marcus Cato, that wise and diligent man, who believed that he was to be recommended to the Roman people by his virtues, not by his rank; who 276 willed that the scion of his family should be grafted and propagated by himself; who braved the enmities of powerful people ; and who always lived in the greatest activity, and in the highest honour, to extreme old age. After him, did not Q. Pompeius attain the highest honours pf the state, though of obscure birth, by the great dangers which he ran, in braving the en- mities of many ? We have lately witnessed L. Fimbria, C. Marius, and C. Cselius, contending, with no mo- derate share of exertion and enmity, to arrive at those honours, which you have obtained by trivial occupations and neglect. This is the path I intend to tread : these are the examples I purpose to follow, 7/We see how much the virtue and industry of heads of families is ob- noxious to the envy and hatred of certain nobles. If we cast pur eyes ever so little askance, snares are immediately at hand; if we disclose any grounds for the suspicion of guilt, wounds must be received. We see we must be ever on our guard, ever on the alert. Are these then enmi- ties? let them be braved: are these then la- bours? let them be undergone. Indeed occult and tacit hatreds are more to be dreaded than declared and manifest. Scarcely do any nobles look on our exertions with a favourable eye. It is impossible with all our endeavours, to attract 277 their good will. As if disjoined by nature and species, so are they abhorrent of us in will and disposition. Therefore I ask with what danger can their enmities be accompanied, whose dis- positions you already have adverse and ini- mical, before you do any thing to provoke their resentment? It is therefore, my Lords, to be wished that the accusation of this culprit be put an end to ; since I hope the Roman people will be satis- fied, and the task which my friends the Sici- lians have imposed upon me, is discharged. I am nevertheless determined, if the verdict should prove contrary to my expectations, to prosecute not only those, to whom the crime of corrupting the tribunals may be imputed, but also those, with whose knowledge the corrup- tion has been effected. Finally, if there be any, who, to rescue this criminal, may be powerful, or daring enough to venture to corrupt our tri- bunals, let them be so prepared as to look to their contention with me, since the Roman people differ with them in opinion. And if, in the prosecution of this criminal, the Sici- lians are satisfied with my zeal, perseverance, and diligence, let them be warned, that I shall be far more violent and acrimonious with re- spect to those individuals, whose enmity I will court for the sake of the Roman people. 278 %l IMPLORE and appeal to thee, omniscient Omnipotent Jupiter ! whose royal present Cains Verres hath basely swindled from a prince's hands, fit ornament for thy splendid temple, for the capitol, that bulwark of the nations of the world, and worthy of the sovereigns who consecrated and promised it for thy service ; whose holy and magnificent image he hath re- moved from Syracuse : thee, imperial Juno ! whose two temples, erected in two islands of our allies, Melite and Samos, most holy, most ancient, that same Verres, impelled by a similar audacity, hath despoiled of all their votive offer- ings and ornaments : I implore thee, Minerva ! whose two celebrated and sacred fanes he hath pillaged; one, at Athens, of much precious gold; the other, at Syracuse, of every thing but the roof and walls : you, Latona ! Apollo ! and Diana ! whose ancient seat, and divine ha- bitation (I will not say temple), at Delos, held most sacred according to the religious opinions of mortals, he plundered in a felonious attack by night : thee, a second time, Apollo ! whom he removed from Chios : thee, again and again, Diana! whom he hath despoiled at Perga: whose revered image at Segesta, consecrated not only by the religion of the inhabitants, but also by the victory of P. Africanus, he dislodged and removed: and thee, O Mercury! whom 279 Verres placed in his villa, and private palaestra, but whom P. Africanus willed should stand in a city of our allies, in the gymnasium of the Tyn- darites, to be the guardian and protector of their youth : thee, O Hercules ! whom Verres, in the dead of the night, by means of an organized band of slaves, dared to force away from thy seat at Agrigentum : thee, Cybele ! great uni- versal mother ! whose most august and holy temple at Engyium, he hath so stripped of the monuments of victory, and other ornaments, that nothing remains now but the name of P. Africanus, and the proofs of thy violated reli^ gion : I invoke you, O Castor and Pollux ! you, who stand in the forum of the Roman people, ye arbiters and witnesses of forensic affairs, of laws, of judgments, of important councils, from whose temple he hath nefariously purloined plunder of exorbitant value: and you, ye as- sembly of the deities ! who enter the crowded games in your sacred cars, whose processions he instituted for the sake of lucre, not for the inspiration of respect for religion: you, O Ceres and Proserpine! whose rites according to the religion of mortals, are observed by the most important and mysterious ceremonies ; you, who have discovered, and disseminated among man- kind, the arts of life, laws, manners, and civili- zation ; whose sacrifices the Roman people have 280 adopted, and derived from the Greeks, and do hold in such veneration, both publicly and pri- vately, that they are esteemed rather of do- mestic than foreign origin; but which have been so defiled and violated by that one man, that he caused one image of Ceres to be forcibly removed from the sacristy at Catine, which for a man to touch, or even look at, was crime: another, from her abode at Enna, of such exqui- site beauty, that men imagined they saw Ceres herself, or at least her effigy, not from a human, but divine laboratory : I implore and invoke again and again, you, ye revered Goddesses ! who inhabit diose groves, and those lakes of Enna, to whom all Sicily is a care, the defence of which has been consigned to my hands ; whose sacred rites all nations respect, since they are indebted to you for the invention of corn, and its distribution throughout the earth : I implore and conjure the whole company of heaven, against whose temples and sacred rites Verres impelled by an ungovernable and auda- cious mania, hath ahvays declared sacrilegious war ; that, if in the trial of this criminal, all my exertions have been directed with the view of furthering the prosperity of our allies, of sup- porting the dignity of the Roman people, arid of proving my good faith ; if all my attentions and cares have been exerted for no other purr 281 pose but to discharge my duty, and vindicate the truth ; may that disposition, which has go- verned me throughout this trial, actuate you, my Lords, in the delivery of your verdict. And finally, I pray that by your decree, condign punishment may be conferred on Cains Verres for his nefarious and unexampled deeds of sa- crilege, audacity, perfidy, lust, avarice, and cruelty ; that the republic and my good faith remain satisfied with this one impeachment; and that it may devolve on me henceforth, rather to defend the virtuous, than accuse the abandoned. 44 NOTES. NOTES. 1 THIS valuable argument is interesting in every point of view. It does no less credit to the taste than the generosity of the rival of Cicero, who is not unfrequently treated with scorn in various passages of the Verrine pleadings. The elegance with which it is written, must make every scholar regret that no specimen of the eloquence of the author has been transmitted to us. Doubt- less there are many, who would be glad to compound for the loss of the In Vatinium, the Pro Murena, Flacco, Sylla, Plancio, and Sextio, for as many of the speeches of Hortensius. 2 Marcus Antonius who pleaded for Aquillius, was grand- father to the triumvir : he was killed in the civil wars of Marius. M. Aquillius was a praetor of Sicily ; he was accused by Fufius, and acquitted in consequence of his services in the servile war. He was afterwards in Asia Minor, where Mithridates put him to death by pouring liquid gold down his throat. 3 The slaves that revolted under Spartacus, established the theatre of war in Sicily for a considerable time. 4 Now Caltabellotta, in the Val di Mazzara. For its situa- tion, consult the translator's chart. Faden, 1812. 5 Memorable and instructive political lesson. 6 A town in the north of Sicily, situated according to Kluver, between Calacte and Aluntium, probably the same as the mo- dern Castri. Megara was a city, about five miles north of Sy- racuse ; it was founded by a colony from the Attic Megara. The translator would have passed unconsciously over its ruins, had he not found a mutilated statue, and some vestiges of its ancient walls, now the abode of scorpions, in the middle of a wheat field. 286 7 Now Salemi, a small town of the Val di Mazzara. 7 Now Palermo, the modern capital. It exhibits scarcely any vestige of its ancient grandeur. There are however some granite columns at the angles of several of the modern streets. In the sixteenth century, its ancient theatre existed, but the ruins have been since removed to enlarge the square in front of the viceregal palace. The medals illustrated by Paruta, com- memorate temples in honour of Jupiter and Hercules at Pa- lermo. The finest specimen of Roman sculpture existing at Palermo, is indisputably a prosopopeia of Panormus and the consul Caecilius Metellus. As it has reference to the union that subsisted between the Panormitans and Romans, previous to the sanguinary battle which took place on the banks of the river Amiraglio, and which Polybius has at length commemo- rated, an engraving of these statues is annexed at the head of this pleading. Among the few inscriptions preserved at Palermo, the following is the most worth notice : it is in verse, and has been commemorated by Peter Burmann. Hujus nympha loci, sacri custodia fontis, Dormio, dum blandae sentio murmur aquae. Parce meum, quisquis tangis cava marmora, somnum Rumpere; sive bibas, sive lavere, tace. Which has been so beautifully rendered by Pope: Nymph of the grot, these sacred streams I keep, And to the murmur of the waters sleep ; Ah ! spare my slumbers, gently tread the cave, And drink in silence, and in silence lave. 8 The lettiga is a method of conveyance now generally used in Sicily, only instead of being borne by men, it is supported by two mules. It was also anciently carried by mules, as we learn from an epigram by Automedon, preserved in the Antho- logia, recording his journey in a lettiga. 287 a^va< j,a rov ijAiov, ou J fv Ou 0p0 xp tQijv, oy^' sa^ Of jSoTavav H fAa^fj, xevfTjv ?joa Twin mules my litter bear, so lean they would affright ye, They each, from crown to heel', resemble Homer's Litae ; Like Mulciber they stumble, their skins dangle from their sides, Such squinting worn-out cattle I envy him who strides j The wretched hacks were ne'er tum'd out to graze in fields by day; They never ev'n dreamt of oats, or good rich meadow hayj Live on, live on, ye thriving beasts ! your master's age surpass ; Or ev'n a crow's, or stag's ; and grind the air instead of grass. 9 It must have been very near the fountain Arethusa. The spot is now closely built. 10 Cicero here continues a vein of irony which always glances at the plea of Hortensius, in favour of the military virtue of Verres. 11 Tempsa was a town of Calabria, near the modern St. Eufemia. Cicero here alludes to an invasion effected by th slaves near that city, which we may presume that Verms at- tempted to make a show to prevent. Valentia was also a town of Calabria, near the modern Bivona. 12 A town situated between Paestum, and Cape Palinurus. See D'Anville. 13 Now Tauormina. It is celebrated for its magnificent theatre, the detail of which not having been given by Mr. Wilkins, will perhaps not here be thought obtrusive. It stands on a bold promontory commanding an extensive view of JEtm 288 and the Sicilian shore in perspective, as far as Catariia. It wag built of brick, and enough remains of the proscenium and gallery that surrounded the seats, to indicate the general plan. The arches of the corridor still remain, which were continued all round the theatre, and by which the spectators entered, The translator counted thirty-six niches in the wall which bounded the seats, and which served as a socle for the columns that sup- ported the gallery. These were probably filled with statues. The form of the seats is entirely effaced, and his attempts to discover the vomitoria were fruitless. Two apartments to the right and left of the proscenium are yet entire with their roofs ; these, it is supposed, served, one for the actors to retire to, the other, as a depository for the scenery and decorations. Near the spot, where the translator judged the first row of seats begun, there is a hole cut in the rock, where probably there was placed a beam, which served to support an awning to pro- tect the spectators from the sun and rain. The distinctness with which the sounds are heard by a person standing near the corridor is truly surprizing. It possibly precluded the necessity of having those harmonic vases which were used by the anci- ents for the reverberation of sound. These echeia, Vitruvius tells us, were placed in cells between the rows of seats occupied by the spectators ; they were made of brass, or earthenware, and proportioned in magnitude to the size of the building. In the smaller theatres, they were tuned in harmonic proportions of fourths, fifths, eighths, and their replicates ; and in theatres of greater magnitude, there was a vase to correspond with every sound in the disdiapason throughout. The Romans were obliged to the Greeks for this invention, for the echeia xvere first brought into Italy by Mummius. For their probable situation, see Perrault's Vitruvius, In the remains of the amphitheatre at Nismes, there are numerous excavations under the seats, which probably served as receptacles for these vases. See Clerisseau. In the years 1748, 174p, many columns of foreign marble were dug from the ruins of this theatre. From which we may form 289 some opinion of the luxury of the ancient Sicilians, who not content with the fine marbles, which their own country pro- duces, transported from Italy and Africa materials for building. Travellers have doubted whether the theatre at Tauromenium be Grecian or Roman. It may be proved to be the latter. For by referring to Vitruvius, we find the distinction clearly marked. If a square be inscribed in a circle., the circumference of which determines the range of the lowest rank of seats, the spot where the pulpitum begins shall be determined by a side of the square, if the theatre be Greek; again, if an equilateraltriangle be inscribed in a circle, the side opposite the angle which touches the middle of the seats, shall determine where the pul- pitum begins, if the theatre be Roman. The beginning of the pulpitum in the theatre of Tauromenium coincides with the side of an equilateral triangle. The theatre is therefore Roman. There are also ruins of cisterns and a naumachia, which once displayed naval combats, but now blooms with oranges, lemons, palms, and carroub-trees. The following inscription, preserved at Rome, attests the ancient splendour of Tauromenium. THN . EHI . F1AZH . APETH . Zn>POZYNH . TE . Al AnPEHOYZAN . IOYAIAN . BAZZIAAAN . BOYAH . KAI . AHMOZ . THZ . AAMHAZIAZ . PIOAEnZ .TAYPOMENEITON . ANE0HZAN. " The senate and people of the splendid city of the Tauro- menians erected this in honour of Julia Vassilla, pre-eminent for her prudence, and other virtues." On a chest much worn by time, the translator read FVLGVK CONDITVM, which proves that the custom of preserving earth struck by lightning, and holding it sacred, obtained in Sicily. Another inscription preserved in a church in the square of Tauormina, recording a victor at the Pythian games. U 90 O AHMOZ TON TAYPOMENITAN OAYMHIN OAlMniOZ MEZTON NIKAZANTA HI0IA KEAHTI TEAEION. It is impossible to describe in adequate language the beauty of the site of Tauromenium. The translator can never forget the bold features of its promontory, nor the " gemitum ingen- tem pelagi, pulsataque saxa ;" Nee vos indigenis suffulta theatra columnis Tauromenitano conspicienda jugo ! 14 For the various methods of procuring corn from Sicily for the service of the republic, consult the De re frumentaria. 15 Inhabitants of Neaetum, the modern Noto. See note to the preceding pleading. 17 These quarries are now become the garden of the Capu- chins. They are so exceedingly picturesque and beautiful, that it was a dungeon much courted by the translator, during his stay at Syracuse. He noticed in one part of the rock, an inci- pient ear of Dionysius, which probably that tyrant originally in- tended to form in this place, but left off the work, and com- pleted another which is still seen in the quarries of Neapolis j and where a wonderful echo is heard. For a faithful view of the garden of the capuchins, the spot where Verres confined many Romans, and where the Athenians under Nicias perished, See Wilkins's Graecia Magna. There are several rings still seen in the sides of the rock, to which the criminals were attached. 18 Agent of Verres in the monopoly of tithes. See the De re frument. 19 This part of Syracuse is now very different, being closely built, and laid out in crooked streets. 80 The scanty remains of Heraclea Minoa, are still to be seen on the left bank of the modern Flume Platani near the 291 mouth. In the time of Fazello, there remained some arches of an aqueduct. A maenibus urbis ad Lycum usque, aquae ductus integer ad hue extat quadrato, sed gypseo lapide extruc- tus : monumenta reliqua, dum forma careant, ignoratur ad quern usum fuerint confecta. Faz. lib. iv. cap. 2. At pre- sent, there is nothing remaining but some broken walls, and cisterns. 31 Now Cape Passaro. 82 The chamaerops humilis of Linnaeus. The dwarf palm is particularly common about Campo-bello, near the mins of Selinus. Te que datis linquo vends palmosa Selinus. -#NEID, lib. iii. 83 Called in Greek O$verusing it will probably hail the memory of Cicero in the words which Caesar applied to the orator on another oc- casion : Salve omnium triumphorum. lauream adepte majorem! The orations against Verres appear to be strangely titled - } since the two first, that is the Divinatio, and Interrogatio tes- tium, were only spoken, there is surely no visible cause for call- ing the others Actio secunda. It would perhaps present a clearer view of the whole (to us moderns at least,) thus to title them : In Quintum Caecilium Oratio, quae est Divinatio. In Caium Verrem Actio prima, quae est Interrogatio testium. Orationum designatarum in C. Verrem, Liber primus. De Praetura urbana. Orationum designatarum in C. Verrem Liber secundus. De Jurisdictione Siciliensi. Orationum designatarum in C. Verrem Liber tertius, De re frumentaria. Orationum designatarum in C. Verrem Liber quartos, De Signis. Orationum designatarum in C. Verrem Liber quintus. De Suppliciis. For the word actio implies something carrying or carried into effect, which applies to the Divinatio and Interrogatio tes- tium, but not to the other five. Verres, after the delivery of the first pleading, absconded, and went into voluntary exile. According to Seneca, he was restored to his country through the influence of Cicero ; and what is worthy of note, both Pliny and Lactantius relate that he perished together with Cicero, in the proscription of Antony, because he refused to surrender his, Corinthian Vases to the triumvir. His name is consigned to eternal obloquy and detestation ; and holds out a memorable warning to those governors, who look for provinces as sources of emolument, and places for the gratification of crime, instead of a field for the exercise of huma* pity, and furtherance of salutary measures. POSTSCRIPT, CONTAINING MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS RELATIVE TO THE STATE OF MODERN SICILY. Quicquid Sicilia gignit, proximum est Us, quce optima dicunlur. SOLTNUS. Pater o Lencee ! tuit hie omnia plena Munerilus j Mi pampineo gravidus autumno Floret ager: spumat plenis vindemia laltis. VIRGIL. ADVERTISEMENT. THE translator has to apologize for introducing here matter certainly irrelevant to the Verrine pleadings. The case is this. When he arrived in Sicily in the year 1 808, he was fully prepared to collect materials for an original work; but he was deterred from proceeding, when he found that in nearly all his inquiries, he had been an- ticipated by Cluver, Mirabella, Arezzo, Hoiiel, or Wilkins for the antiquities; and often by Brydone, and Swinburne, for the description of the modern state of the island. On his arrival in the capital, however, he found that there were some points relative to the natural productions, manufactures, arts, and literature, which had been untouched, or very briefly dwelt upon by preceding travellers. These, however scanty, he lays before the public in the form of a post- script, apprehending that at a period when 298 Sicily attracts the general attention, they will not be deemed uninteresting or obtrusive. The translator invites some future traveller to collect materials for a Flora Slcula ; and the Arabic scholar, who would make drawings of the remains of Saracenic buildings existing in different parts of the island, and consult the pre- cious MSS, preserved in the monastery at Mor- reale, would leave little or nothing to be desired relative to Sicily. POSTSCRIPT. Dimensions of the Island. ANCIENT geographers and historians differ in their accounts of the size of Sicily. The esti- mates of Diodorus, Pliny, Marcian, andPtolem}', are as follows : Distance from P dor us to Lilybceum. Miles. Paces. Diodorus * 212 500 Pliny 170 Marcian 143 Ptolemy 265 From Lilybtfum to Pachynus. Miles. Paces. Diodorus 187 500 Pliny 200 Marcian 200 Ptolemy. . . \66 300 From P achy nus to P dor us. Miles. Paces. Diodorus 142 500 Pliny 166 Marcian . 166 Ptolemy . 105 Of modern geographers, Cluver obtained the most credit, in his determinations relative to Sicily, till a German, by name Schmettau, pub- lished a chart, and dedicated it to the Emperor Charles VI. which is received as the most ex- act, and of which copies have been made by the geographers of England. According to Schmettau, the admeasurements, including the sinuosities of the shores, are as follows : ItaL miles. From Pelorus to Lilybaeum 282 Lilybasum to Pachynus 208 Pachynus to Pelorus 160 Total circuit of Sicily , 650 Climate. The climate of Sicily, generally speaking, is grateful and salubrious. There are however spots in the interior, which during the autumnal heats, are as dangerous as the Campagna di Roma, from the marsh miasma ; these are fre- 301 quent along the banks of the Giarretta, and Dittaino, and by the stagnant] pools formed by the Fiume Salso in its course ; which but ill cor- responds with the poetic rapture of one of the shepherds in Theocritus, when he exclaims : w p a av0' vfafog feil Let floods of milk for water Him'ra pour ! The climate of Palermo is the hottest in the island, and at the same time, more liable to changes, than what are experienced in other parts. If the statement made by Count de Borch be correct, a difference of fifty-three de- grees has there been observed in a thermometer by Fahrenheit, in the short space of eight hours. Early in September, 1808, the mercury rose from eighty-two degrees, to one hundred and nine, and the translator has been credibly in- formed, that it has occasionally risen no less suddenly, to one hundred and fourteen, a de- gree of heat probably never exceeded in Syria, x 1 On examining the observation of the temperature of the atmosphere kept by Dr. Clarke, during his tour in Syria., in the midst of summer, the heat it appears never exceeded 100 in the shade j but during the blowing of the scirocco at Palermo, in September, 1808, the mercury stood for at least six hours at 109, though the thermometer was suspended on an inner wali. At this period, the metal buttons which the translator happened then to wear, gave sensible pain to the hand. 302 or Senegal. The winter is not less remarkable for the abundant rains. The Abate Balsam o, who has been in England, and holds a distin- guished rank among the Sicilian literati, assured the translator, that more rain falls annually in Palermo, than in England; and his assertion may be credited by those, who have observed with what force it is occasionally poured from the clouds during the winter months. The sci- rocco is certainly very pernicious to the animal and vegetable creation in Sicily; during its continuance the profoundest silence reigns in the streets, and nothing appears capable of with- standing its enervating influence, but the stub- born aloe, and opuntia. It is fortunate that this dreadful wind does not last beyond a few hours, or it would be attended by consequences as unpleasant, as what Gili relates of the banks of the Orinoco, where the food is injured by maggots, in the space of one day ; and where the Spaniards are under the necessity of binding their wrists with silver plates, to allay the vio- lent aching which they feel in the pulse. Productions and Manufactures. To enumerate its productions is the best eulogium of that island, which, from time im- memorial, has been celebrated for its fertility ; 303 which Marcus Cato* called the provisional^ storehouse of the republic, the nurse of the Roman people. We may venture to pronounce that there is no country in Europe so favoured by nature, and it must excite the admiration of all who consider the variety and richness of its animal, vegetable, and mineral productions. From the little attention paid to breeding, and rural economy in general, the cattle have not attained that degree of goodness of which they are susceptible. The beef is coarse, and the sheep are very inferior to the English, both in point of fineness of fleece, and flavour of flesh. But the pork is excellent ; so is the kid, and lamb. Goats abound, and their milk is substituted for that of cows, both for drinking, and the manu- facture of cheese. As heretofore, grain is con- sidered as the staple commodity of Sicily. They export it principally for Malta, at Augusta, Syracuse, Terranova, and Girgenti. Of fruits, oranges, lemons, figs, (of which they have two crops annually,) almonds, grapes, and walnuts, are all excellent in their kind, and form a con- siderable branch of commerce. Potash is ma- nufactured on the southern coast, and exported chiefly from Trapani, Marsala, and Girgenti. 2 Ille itaque M. Cato sapiens cellam penuariam Reipublicae nostrae, nutricem populi Romam Siciliam appellavit. Oral. Verrin. -lib. ii. 304 There are two plants, from which they extract soda, called in Sicily, Spimlla domestica, and selvaggia, and by Linnaeus, Salsola Soda, and Sal- sola tragus. A spot is generally chosen near the sea for their cultivation, as the saline par- ticles are found to be beneficial to the plants. The time of sowing is about February, and of cutting, in July. The crops are liable to suffer from a small insect, called Pulice, which in some years, have increased to so great a degree, as to destroy the whole produce; but this has been remedied by sowing spinage with the spinella, which has the property of poisoning the insects. After cutting the plants, and binding them in bundles, they throw them successively into a furnace, where they are presently consumed, and a liquor is distilled similar in colour to melted brass, which gradually becomes con- densed, and forms a hard stone. As soon as the furnace is filled with this liquefied matter, they leave it for two or three days, and afterwards break it, when it is ready for exportation. They export it annually to the amount of seventy, or eighty thousand ounces. Cantharides are common in the woods : the sugar-cane is a plant that will thrive in Sicily ; and who has not heard of the Hyblaean honey ? The herb sumach is an excellent substitute for the oak-bark in tanning hides. According to 305 an intelligent merchant resident at Palermo, they export annually of this herb, to the value of 240,000 ounces. 3 Hemp is cultivated, espe- cially about Syracuse ; and some attention has been paid to the culture of rice and cotton. The latter is not inferior in quality to the African. The process pursued in the cultiva- tion is as follows : they plough the land destined to receive the seed in November, and in the month of April, they commit it to the ground, having washed and cleared it of the filaments. As soon as the plants have attained the height of a foot, they assume a leaden colour, and then is the time for cutting off the top, which the Sicilians call accimare, and this operation 3 Table of Sicilian monies, weights, and measures. Monies. 6 piccioli = 1 grauo, 20 grani = 1 tari. 30 tari :=. 1 onze. 2 1 pezzi, or Spanish dollars 1 onze. Weights. 30 onzi = 1 rotoli. 10Q rotoli = 1 quintal, 2 English pounds. ~ 1 rotoli. Measures. Of Grain. 16 tomoli 1 salme. 1 salme = 2 quintals and 64 rotoli, Of Cloths. 8 palmi , . . = 1 canna. 1 306 strengthens the plant, and makes it produce more blossoms. They gather the crops in Oc- tober, and having carried them to the maga- zines, spread them on hurdles to dry, which faci- litates the separation of the seed. The plants shoot forth a second time, and they gather the produce in December, which however is inferior to the first. What an important branch of com- merce might cotton become in Sicily, were -the cultivation more encouraged ! Near San Felipe d' Argiro, there are annual crops of saffron. Both Pliny and Solinus celebrate the saffron of Cen- turipe. The time of sowing is in May, and of gathering the flowers in September. Liquorice is cultivated chiefly about Lentini, 4 and the plants are gathered in November. The manu- facturers cut the roots into slips, and submit them to the press; after they are sufficiently bruised, they are thrown into a cauldron filled with water, where they leave them to boil for 4 Very scanty are the remains of the ancient Leontium, the country of Gorgias the orator. On an elevated spot near the modern town, there are however the vestiges of an octangular tower built of square stones, and some fragments of aqueducts and cisterns. There are also some layers of the ancient walls formed of blocks of stone of immense size. They pretend to shew the remains of a gate, near which the Syracusan King, Hieronymus, was murdered. Two fine vases, called Etruscan, which the translator was shewn in the town-hall, were lately discovered in the ruins of Leontium. 307 five hours. When the roots are sufficiently moistened, they are heaped together in large frails, which have a hole at the bottom, through which the juice drops into a receptacle beneath. The liquor thus procured, is again boiled for twenty-four hours ; it gradually condenses, and becomes at last a thick paste, when it is rolled in bay-leaves, and packed in chests for expor- tation. The best manna-trees grow in the neigh- bourhood of Geraci, and the liquor is distilled from a tree very similar to the ash. They generally select an eastern situation for the culture of manna-trees, ( Fraxinus folio rotun- d'wre. Linn.) In the month of July, they make a horizontal incision in the bark, for the length of a span, taking care to cut it always on the same side, that the opposite one may serve for the ensuing year. A thick whitish liquor presently exudes, and soon becomes condensed. Manna is a cathartic, and is used by dyers to give a lustre to their cloths. Fossil salt is found in Camarata ; artificially procured from the sea, it is a lucrative object of commerce in Trapani. Of sulphur, jEtna alone affords an inexhaustible mine ; it is found also near Palma. The process of the separation from the stones is very simple. After digging them from the mountain, they are put into a furnace, where the heat presently separates and liquefies the sulphur, which flows 308 through a cock, and fills vessels, in which it is left to cool. The best oil is expressed at Cefalu. If the Sicilian oil is inferior to the Provencal or Lucchese, it must be attributed to the indo- lence of the Sicilians, who will not take the trouble to separate the good berries from the bad. Before they are submitted to the press, they are piled in heaps, and left to ferment. The oil in consequence acquires a pungent and fetid flavour, neither is it obtained in such pro- fusion as from olives newly gathered. The village of Le Giarre, between Tauor- mina and Catania, is remarkable for its large manufactures of vermicelli and macaroni. The paste when prepared, is put into a brass pan, at the bottom of which a number of small holes are cut in the shape of a ring; through these the paste is forced, by means of a pestle fitted tight to the pan, and this is pressed downwards by a screw, turned by a windlass. The terrify- ing aloe and opuntia (flood? India. Sic.) afford the best materials for the inclosure of fields, perhaps in the world. The tall stems of the aloe have a singular appearance as they are bent by their own weight downwards, and even lie upon the ground. It is well known that these plants obstructed in no small degree, the operations of the British cavalry in Portugal. Like fixed bayonets, they present their formidable display 309 of leaves, the strength of which may be esti- mated by any one, who aiming at the point with an oaken stick, may sever it by a moderate blow. The leaves are not without their use, for a strong thread is procured from the fibres. The Sicilians, after having soaked the leaf for eight or ten days in water, pound it between two stones, to clear away the softer parts ; and having nailed it up, draw a blunt knife from one end to the other, to clear away the trans- versal fibres. The thread thus procured, is at first of a bright yellow colour, which it soon loses, by being washed and beat. When dried, it is fit for use, and is employed by the Sicilians for the purposes of sewing. The Catalonians even attempted to make cloth with it, but the experiment failed. The opuntia is a far more valuable plant, for it produces a refreshing fruit during the summer months, and the poor live mostly upon it. But it is of a more repulsive character, than even the aloe ; for not only is each individual leaf thickly beset with thorns, but the exterior of the fruit is armed with prickles, similar to those of the common bar- berry. Nor is this all. Innumerable points almost invisible, surround the outer coat; and of such extreme subtility, that they will pene- trate gloves, and the pores of the skin, where they will remain for some days, causing a sen- sation similar ta what a person would experi- 310 ence, who should break to pieces in his naked hand, the finest spun glass. The fruit of the carroub tree, called by the Spaniards " algar- roba" is an excellent stomachic, and alterative ; the Sicilians feed their cattle with it ; and the finest trees grow in the neighbourhood of Len- tini, where they are often seen sweeping the ground with their luxuriant branches. There is a manufacture of nitre, near the ear of Dionysius, at Syracuse. Silk is procured in great quantities in the Val Demone ; there are many looms at Messina, but many more at Catania, where the manufacture is carried on with spirit, and where they have adopted such machines as are used at Manchester in the cotton manufactories. There is but little timber in Sicily ; the largest woods are in the neigh- bourhood of Polizzi, and in the woody region of ^Etna. The most esteemed wines are those of Castelvetrano, Catania, and Marsala. Mus- cat wine is made at Syracuse, but little inferior to Constantia in flavour. The sea, too, is a source of wealth to Sicily. Anchovies and tunnies are exported in great quantities. Cefalu and Tyndaris were the most renowned for their tunnies in antiquity, 5 as was Tauormina for its Ev IIoAAa; Antiphon apud Athen, 311 mullets. 6 The coral fishery is found to answer the expectations of those who undertake it. Sicily is likewise rich in its marbles, and pre- cious stones : agates, jaspers, porphyry, and ala- baster, are found in divers parts of the island ; lapis lazuli in the Fiume di Nisi, and amber, black and yellow, at Ragusa and Catania. There are silver and iron mines near Messina, but now no longer worked ; gold has also been found, but in too inconsiderable a quantity to compensate the expense of extraction. Character and Dispositions of the Inhabitants. But this munificence of nature is but ill seconded by the exertions of the modern inha- bitants, who seem to place the supreme good in indolence. Notwithstanding however the ge- neral corruption of manners, the nobles are very disinterested and obliging to strangers. Their minds are rarely cultivated, or if they pay attention to any accomplishments, it is to those which have an immediate reference to the imagination. Agriculture and gardening are never thought of, and the innumerable beauties of the Sicilian landscape pass unnoticed before their eyes. This is the way of life which they pursue * Mullus erit domino quern misit Corsica, vel quern Tauromenitanse rupes. Juvenal, Sat. iv. at Catania and in the capital, worthy of Sybaris, or " the crowned, the petulant, and the moist Tarentum." They rise late, and never appear till dinner, which takes place at two or three o'clock ; they adjourn to the siesta about four, which is continued till six. They then appear in their calashes, and parade up and down the high street in Catania, the Marino at Palermo, and the Dromo at Messina. An hypasthral opera then takes place in honour of Saints Agatha, Rosolia, or Placido. 7 7 That religious mummery, so revolting to the understand- ings of Englishmen, is eminently conspicuous at the festivals of Saint Agatha of Catania, and Saint Rosolia at Palermo j but is perhaps no where more remarkable for absurdity than at Syra- cuse -, where the people, to use the language of Locke, ' ' having been principled with an opinion, that they must not consult reason in the things of religion, however apparently contradic- tory, to common sense, and the very principles of all their knowledge, have let loose their fancies and natural superstition, and have been led by them into so strange opinions and prac- tices in religion, that a considerate man cannot but stand amazed at their follies, and judge them so far from being ac- ceptable to the great and wise God, that he cannot avoid think- ing them ridiculous and offensive to a sober good man." The translator witnessed a festival wherein the priesthood moved in procession to the church of St. Lucia, the pro- tectress of Syracuse. Dressed in white with crimson mantles, they bore tapers in their hands, and their faces were covered with hoods, leaving two holes for the eyes. Afterwards fol- lowed an image of the Virgin as large as life : to express the 313 They afterwards meet to pass their evenings at cards, and generally in the winter, crowd round a charcoal chafing-dish, where they drink iced water and eat sweetmeats : and this is their history. The ladies cultivate music with considerable poignancy of her grief, they had stuck poignards in her bosom $ she wore a periwig and a gown of crimson silk, while a pale blue pelisse floated behind in the air. Wherever there was an altar in the street, through which she passed, she was saluted with petards, the ringing of bells, and the firing of guns. To- wards the evening she returned to the altar from which she came, which was illuminated with numerous tapers. But on the morning of Easter day, the translator saw from the balcony of Baron Bosco's house, a multitude of people assembled at one corner of the square ; presently appeared the Virgin attired as before, and opposite to her, a figure of Jesus in crimson silk, and crowned with thorns. They first approached slowly, and tli en were made to nod to each other amid repeated vollies of petards. The bearers of the statues then ran towards the centre of the square with as much fury as two regiments on a charge. The ceremony concluded with the laughter, applause, and hootings of the populace. Oh the discordant mind, that could first devise the sounding of warlike instruments, and discharge of engines of destruction in honour of the Prince of Peace ! Far be it from the translator to be so presumptuous as to attack the religion of any country or individual. But he is per- suaded that the most zealous Catholic of either France, Ger- many, or Spain, would disapprove of the above ceremonies, which tend only to make religion a theatrical farce, and to draw npon it contempt and ridicule. 314 success. Their voices however are seldom clear ; so that the expedient of Ulysses might some- times be had recourse to, to prevent harsh sounds from offending the ears. The male in- dividuals of the lower classes, are generally handsome in their persons, athletic, and capable of enduring heat and much labour; but they are liable to fits of ungovernable passion, which often hurry them into the commission of un- premeditated crimes. They are vehement in their gestures and language, and to the northern stranger they often have the appearance of being engaged in quarrel, when they are talking of nothing but the common occurrences of the day. The most remarkable feature in their cha- racter is temperance, a virtue \vhich the nations in the south of Europe possess in an eminent degree. A rind of onion, glass of water, and Indian figs, generally form the frugal repast of the peasantry, who on festivals add an omlet, or salt fish dressed in oil. The women are not handsome ; they generally have a languid and sallow appearance, probably more in conse- quence of the indolent lives they lead, than any thing else. The few however that are beautiful, appear formed in nature's choicest mould. They are indeed, when handsome, so prepossessing, that the stranger who beholds them will cease to wonder at the great influence which the Sici- lian Lais formerly had in Greece. 8 8 When the translator was at Palermo, he made an excur- sion to Carini, a town twelve miles westward of the capital, to see if there remained any ruins of the ancient Hyccara, which gave birth to this celebrated beauty. Thucydides relates that Nicias touched at Hyccara, soon after Alcibiades had left Sicily, and that he plundered it, because it was hostile to the Segestans, whose cause the Athenians had espoused. He carried off Lais among the captives, who afterwards became so conspicuous in Greece, for her wit and intrigues. But Hyccara, instead of blooming with myrtles and roses, presents now nothing to the sight but a field overrun with thistles, and a few torn shrubs of the Indian fig. The rocks to the East of Carini, rise in the boldest and most picturesque forms, presenting subjects for pic- tures worthy of Salvator Rosa. The answer which Lais gave to the sculptor Myron, is prettily told by Ausonius. Two epi- grams are preserved in the Anthologia, recording this distin- guished courtezan, the first by Antipater, the second by Pompey the younger, who probably when in Sicily, relaxed his mind from the toils of war, by devoting his leisure hours occasionally to the Muses. BY ANTIPATER. Tijv xau dpa, %g vffw, xou oXoygyiS 1 /, xai , and pies, } len you rise, > ercise. J 336 Scattagnetti, liuti, e citarazzi j Balla, cavarca, opra, nuota, cammina, Sempri frusciu ad aremi, e fagghiu a mazzi, Sempri testa vacanti, e panza china. With noisy friends in number four, Sit where of eatables there's store ; Eat cabbage, radish, when you dine, And sip your beaker of mull'd wine j Eat wild fowl, sausages, And from the table when Fail not to take due exercise. To sound of piercing flageolet, Harp, or cracking castanet, Walk, or kick your heels about : Take ball, bath, opera, and rout. Always of money have enough ; Fear nor cane, nor fisty-cuff. A good long purse, and empty brains Will ease you of your chronic pains. The Abate Meli is also the author of some elegies, dithyrambics, and anacreontics ; which though containing some happy thoughts, are ad- mired, more perhaps from their being the only productions of the kind in the Sicilian dialect, than their intrinsic merit. Sicelides Musae, pau!6 majora canamus ! With respect to architecture, notwithstand- ing that the Sicilians have before their eyes the beautiful models existing at Segesta, Selinus, 337 and Agrigentum, the abuses of this noble art are really extraordinary. The best materials abound almost every where, and the numerous columns found among Grecian ruins would save much labour and ex- pense in the construction of buildings. It causes regret to behold the fine granite columns taken from the theatre at Catania so ill disposed, sup- porting broken entablatures, and every style of deformity, which Borromini and his stye could devise, in the front of the cathedral. The inte- rior is however very handsome, airy, and ele- gant. It may be questioned whether there be any city in the world that exhibits such mag- nificent materials for buildings, and makes withal so indifferent a figure, as the capital. The cathedral is a large pile, and would have presented a valuable specimen of Norman-Sara- cenic architecture, had not some additions in the Italian style been injudiciously added. The wings are separated from the nave by two rows of arches, which are supported by eighty co- lumns of Egyptian granite all of one piece, and of a fine polish. The church of St. Joseph is remarkable for the richness of its altar, inlaid in Mosaic, and presenting to view thirty-four columns of Sicilian marble each single blocks, and thirty-six feet in height. These magnificent shafts are ill-disposed, and disfigured by capitals 338 in a corrupt taste. The Messinesc, notwith- standing that their city is so liable to earth- quakes, have already begun to rebuild their Pa- lazzata with columns of Segestan Doric, and very handsome it will be, if the design, which the translator has in his possession, be carried into execution. The vice-regal palace is a vast irregular pile ; but if uninteresting from its want of architec- tural symmetry, it will not fail to attract the attention of the lover of art from the choice pictures which it contains. Hither has been removed the flower of the collection, which in a happier period of the Neapolitan court, deco- rated the palace at Capo di Monte. The most 1 conspicuous for their merit are as follows : - t It 'By RAPHAEL. A holy family with the infant St. John kneeling: in his very best manner. Another ,with the cradle of the infant Jesus : fine, but inferior to the first. A Madonna and child painted on wood. Another holy family, of which there was a duplicate in the Orleans collection. In the works of Raphael, comment is for the most part superfluous. It can admit of little but general praise. 339 BY LEONARDO DA VINCI. A Madonna and child, with that male cha- racter of beauty so peculiar to himself. The St. John pointing to the words " Ecce Agnus Dei." r BY TITIAN. The well-known Danae. The innumerable copies of this picture so greedily purchased argue sufficiently its excellence. The delicacy of the tints is perhaps unequalled. A penitent Magdalen. Titian appears to have valued himself on this production, for he has inscribed his name on one side in large gold letters. An excellent portrait of Pope Paul the third. f BY MICHAEL ANGELO. A small copy of the last judgment painted in the Cappella Sistina at Rome. In spite of the greatness of conception, and the profound knowledge of anatomy displayed in this far- famed painting, do not the devils, some tugging the damned into the bottomless pit, others thumping them with oars, some driving their grotesque griffins' claws into the bodies of those 340 who have inherited the wages of sin ; do not they, I say, inspire the spectator with senti- ments of disgust and derision, rather than of veneration and fear? It is difficult to contem- plate the bottom of this picture without feeling as much inclination to laugh as when we see the devils, in Hogarth's strolling company, fight- ing for a pot of porter. O Michelangiol non vi parlo in giuoco : Questo che dipihgeste e un gran giudizio, Ma del giudizio voi ne iVete poco. Salvalor Rosa. How different is the great painter of Urbino, who could express grace without affectation, and greatness without extravagance ! Bv RUBEXS. A very good portrait of a grandee of Spain, with that lustre of colouring, and freedom of stroke, which are the characteristics of the chief of the Flemish school. DOMENICHINO. The guardian angel protecting the young Tobit from an evil spirit. Domenichino is un- riValled in his children, and this picture tends to confirm his merit in that particular. Ihe drapery of the angel is ill-managed. 341 BY PARMEGGIANO. A portrait in full length of his mistress. He has known how to preserve his aceustomed grace, though the figure is strait and the face painted in full ; but there is a notorious defect in the management of the right shoulder. A Madonna and child. The Virgin has her hair a la grecque, and is applying her finger to the child's mouth. Parmeggiano in this pic- ture has nearly transgressed the very thin par^ tition which separates grace from affectation. A child reading the alphabet. A striking proof that a happy expression of delicacy is the leading trait of Parmeggiano's pencil. " BY ANNIBAL CARACCI. A Virgin and dead Christ. The foreshort- ening of the Virgin's arm is so masterly, that it cannot escape the admiration of those who can estimate the high merit of the Caraccis, who were able to exhibit in their works the excel- lencies of the Roman, Venetian, and Florentine schools. BY CORREGIO. La Madonna del coniglio. Raphael himself does not speak to the heart so sensibly as Cor-* regio. He is the Horace of painting. . admissus circum praecordia ludit. 342 Br SCHIDONE. His Charity. In which by a singular ma- nagement of light, he has acquired the merit of the invention of a new style of painting. A reclining Cupid. I have read somewhere : " tornd al terzo del dolce ridendo" which may serve as a comment to this picture. ' BY CLAUD LORRAIN. Diana and her nymphs. Colder than Claud in general. But there is a poetic charm in this picture which no one but Claud could surely express. As for the trees, they live, they sprout, they strike root, they grow. To this palace they have also transported some of the most valuable of the ancient Her- culanean pictures; and from these rare speci- mens of art, it is, I think, allowable to infer, that the ancient artists were capable of display- ing in their works, correctness of drawing; 23 sometimes, though rarely, an expression of majesty, 44 and the sublimer affections of the mind; 25 and a management of drapery, a6 and 25 Antichita di Ercolano. Tom. i. tav. 2. Ibid. tav. 5. 25 Ibid. tav. 8, 13. 26 Tom. iv. tav. 1 . fig. 2. 343 delineation of graceful attitude, * 7 surpassed by none of the moderns, Raphael and Corregio alone excepted. They probably only yielded to the moderns in colouring, the knowledge of perspective, and force of expression. The Theseus slaying the Minotaur, and figure of Achilles, * 8 are worthy the conception of Ra- phael ; and the Faun embracing a Nymph* 9 would not disgrace the pencil of Guido. The building in the botanic garden at Pa- lermo, the work of a French architect, would have been the chastest perhaps in Sicily, had not the artist engrafted on the capitals and frize some Parisian conceits. The French cer- tainly surpass us in architecture, but their vanity will not allow them to be satisfied with the pure specimens of Greece. They must have recourse to their fleurs-de-lys and other devices, which are often ostentatiously displayed, and only serve to bewilder the eye. Of late, however, they have made some happy efforts to revive the genuine spirit of the Grecian models. Horticulture is as much neglected in Sicily as her sister agriculture. The Capuchins how- ever have many gardens in a rude picturesque 27 Antichita di Ercolano. Tom. i. tav. 18. E undid se- guentij called i ballatrici di Ercolano. 2 * Ibid. torn. i. tav. 8. 29 Ibid. tav. 15. 344 state, attached to their monasteries. That at Syracuse is unrivalled for its singularity, having been the identical Latomiae alluded to in the last pleading against Verres. Th^t at Piazza is also very picturesque, and planted with roses, poplars, cypresses, and pines. The public gar- den, called the Villa Giulia at Palermo, merits a particular description. It is laid out in ave- nues formed by orange trees completely cover- ing trellis-work ; between these avenues are partqrres planted with a great variety of odori- ferous shrubs. There are also several fountains which play perpetually in the hottest weather. Of these, there is one of far better design than the rest. On a rock is seated a colossal statue, representing the genius of Palermo, surrounded by his attributes, and the insignia of the city, which it is said were granted by the Romans for the assistance they derived from the Panor- mitans in the first Punic war, and in the con- sulship of Cseciljus Metellus. The purest water falls in three sheets fro.rn this rock, and fills a feason. Marabiti, who carved this statue, has deservedly acquired the repute of being the best sculptor in Sicily next to Gaggino. Towards the centre of this garden, they have lately erected four cenotaphs in honour of Stesichorus, Diodorus, Epicharmus, and Charondas. And may the remembrance of those illustrious men 345 serve to rouse the dormant energies and literary spirit of the modern Sicilians ! What a country is Sicily for the exhibition of landscape-gardening on the best principles! Those princes who possess such extensive es- tates, and who would take advantage of some spots irrigated with living springs, and adopt the method of laying out their grounds, which Jacob Moor has displayed in the gardens of the Villa Borghdse at Home, might make of their domains paradises indeed! Sicily exhibits some specimens of Saracenic architecture : there are remains of a fortress built by the Arabs in the island at Syracuse. Near Palermo stands the Saracenic castle of La Zisa, which is thus described in an Arabic ma- nuscript, preserved in the monastery of Mor- reale : " Near the city, a copious source of water springs, which has been enclosed by a wall, and served for the fattening of fish of different kinds. The Arabs call it Albuhira. This piece of water is ornamented with small barks, painted and adorned with gold and silver. The king occasionally embarked here with his concu- bines, for the sake of recreation. In the royal gardens there is a large palace, the walls of which glitter with gold and silver. There is also a tessellated pavement, representing in Mo- saic, the different productions of the earth." 346 This castle is still to be seen, but in a dilapi- dated state. In the vice-regal palace, the pre- sent chapel served as a mosque to the Emirs of Palermo, and is a very curious specimen of the Saracenic style. The cathedrals of Morreale, and Castro-Giovanni, are particularly interest- ing; they are composed of a style partly Sara- cenic, and partly Norman ; or what is generally termed Gothic. They serve to add weight to the theory of the late Rev. George Whitting- ton, 30 relative to the origin of Gothic architec- ture in the East; whence it was, in all proba- bility, brought by the Normans, and by them propagated and improved in most European countries. The villa of the Prince of Belmonte at Acqua Santa near Palermo, is indisputably the handsomest building in Sicily. Nor is it less remarkable for the interior, than exterior elegance; some of the floors are inlaid in Mo- saic, with the choicest Sicilian marbles ; and here is a fine portrait by Rubens, a head of the Deity by Correggio, and a Galatea by Gu'ido. A hazardous subject for a man ev 7 en of such talents as Guido to undertake, w r hen it is re- membered how beautifully she has been con- ceived by Raphael in the Chigi palace at Rome. Here there is a cast of the Hebe of Canova. The 50 See Wellington on Gothic architecture. 347 walls of one of the apartments are most classi- cally painted by Velasquez, a living artist, and represent, in fresco, the various incidents of the fifth jEneid, the scene of which, it will be re- membered, lies in Sicily. It is from this spot that Palermo and its vale, poetically called La Conca $ oro, is seen to the greatest advantage. But it is no longer admired by its accomplished owner, who has fallen a victim to the capricious tyranny of a female Verres. Though racked with rheumatic pains in his damp dungeon in Pantellaria, he doubtless derives consolation from the reflection, that if he was unable to effect, he at least wished for a reform in the government of his country. 3I Abuses of the Sicilian Government. There is nothing that conveys so pointed a stigma on the present order of things in Sicily, as a comparison of the ancient and modern po- 31 Since writing the above, the Prince of Belmonte has been released from confinement, and restored to his country, to the great joy of the Palermitaris. A brilliant career is laid open for him to pursue. The eyes of all Europe are turned towards that parliament in which he presides. May it not disgrace itself by those half measures, by that shew of efficiency, which, it is but too justly feared, are the characteristics of the Spanish eortes ! 34S pulation. The census taken A. D. 1798, makes the population of the whole island amount to only 1,655,536 souls, or according to the Abate Balsamo, 1,700,000; 3i so that the number of inhabitants scarcely surpasses that of ancient Agrigentum and Syracuse ; each of which cities contained, according to Diodorus, 800,000 inha- bitants. But it is worth while to enumerate the causes of the diminished population, and the abuses which affect the prosperity of mo- dern Sicily. 1. And the chief must be considered the little attention paid to the encouragement of agriculture by the government. The plough and other implements of husbandry retain a rude and simple form ; the grain is separated from the chaff by the treading of cattle, and the burning of the weeds and stubble in the autumn is the only manure in use. In spite of the tributes, with which Sicily was harassed when a Roman province, agriculture was in a far more flourishing condition than at present, even if w r e draw a comparison from an equal portion of population. We learn from Cicero, 3 * that pursuant to the tributary system established by Hiero, Rome exacted from the Sicilians 32 Viaggio fatto in Sicilia, p. 3O4. 33 Qrat. Verrin. de re frument. passim. 349 eight hundred thousand bushels of corn annu- ally, which was a tenth of the produce of the island; that if it was necessary to exact more^ the owners of land were indemnified by money ; that according to the law of Hiero, the number of persons employed in agriculture was annually registered; that the lands were divided into small portions; that before the prastorsrhip of Verres, the cultivation of an acre was allotted to a considerable number of Sicilians,' who never relinquished their work. We may then con- clude, that though the praetors and quaestors were allowed respectively such large shares, as must necessarily have weakened the energies of the landlords and husbandmen, the ancient Sicilians carried agriculture to a high degree of perfection ; and that if they suffered on the one hand, from severe tributes imposed by the Romans, they gained on the other, from the activity with which tillage was pursued. How often did the translator, as he passed, in a lettiga, the uncultivated tracts in the interior, picture to his imagination the indignation of the Roman orator, could he now witness the neglected state of the lands ! Would he not ex- claim, that imbecility and supineness in a go- vernment, are attended by as great evils as the rapacity of that Verres, against whom he has so vehemently declaimed? Were it possible 350 for him to traverse the Leontine fields, as he did nineteen hundred years ago, would he not exclaim, in the words which he applied to that very tract, u In uberrimd SicilicE parte, Siciliam quarebam?" Nothing proves more the disor- dered state of Sicily, than the insecurity and alarm in which the peasantry live. In the Val cli Noto, the translator fell in with companies of reapers accoutred with their swords and muskets ; their master on horseback standing beside them armed cap-a-pied, presenting more the appearance of a sudden muster against in- vasion, or the fear of an Apronius, or Heracleo, than of the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. The shepherds, unlike those in the days of Daphnis, who only taught the woods to resound to the music of their pipes, now blow a warlike horn, to muster their companions in case of an attack, and instead of a crook, shoulder a blun- derbuss. 2. Latifundia perdid&re Italiam, jamverd et provincias, says Pliny ; " et pcrdunt Siciliam^ he would add, were he no\y alive. It does not re- quire the acumen of an Adam Smith to prove that the occupation of a great extent of land by a few possessors, is a severe check to the pro- motion of agriculture, and its consequence, in- crease of population. Estates, surpassing in size those of the greatest landholders .in England, 351 are possessed by the Princes Butera, Cattolica, Paternd, and perhaps a few others. But it is more especially the mode of tenure, that im- pedes the progress of agriculture. Leases are renewed every six years, nor is it lawful for the owner to let his lands for a longer period than nine. What inducement can the tenant have to undertake works of solid improvement, if he is subject to be dispossessed of his tenement at the expiration of so short a term ? There ex- ists also a pernicious law, which enforces the owners of estates to sell their stock in the town or village contiguous to their property. This institution may have originated from the laud- able motive of preventing that town or village from suffering want. But on the other hand, the owner of stock near a mean village sees the occupier of other lands selling articles of equal value at a higher rate in a richer town. He be- comes discouraged, and instead of using exer- tions to surpass his neighbour in the fineness of his stock, (which would be the case, could he send his goods to the same market) fosters only heart-burnings and jealousies against him. The transfer of landed property is severely taxed ; and the heir on succeeding to his estate, has the privilege of displacing the tenants before the expiration of the term of their leases. 3. The perplexed state of the civil code 352 must be considered as another source of dis- order. Sicily is certainly indebted to the Em- peror Frederic the Second, and Alphonso the Wise, for many excellent institutions ; but laws of a contrary tendency to these have been en- acted by sovereigns of different dynasties, and the old ones not effectively repealed. The con- sequence is, that cases frequently occur in the courts of judicature, wherein the judges are thrown into dilemmas, and wherein their sen- tences are but too often arbitrary. 4. The magistrates are not paid by the go- vernment in Sicily ; and they are changed an- nually. The short period of their remaining in office, and their only emolument proceeding from the claimants, lay open a wide field for corruption, Here is a specimen of the vigour and authority of these Pisones Frugis! A few years since a party of brigands entered Chiara- monte, a considerable town of the Val di Noto, plundered the dwellings of the inhabitants, and inspired terror every where, not by a nocturnal attack, but in broad day, in the very eyes of the magistrates, of the people ! The skulls of many criminals which the translator saw sus- pended in cages before the prison-gates of Cala- tagirone, do not deter the Sicilians from the commission of crimes, which but too often go unpunished. 353 - Here is another instance of the efficient ad- ministration of the laws by these praise-worthy magistrates. He who would travel securely in Sicily, must be informed that it is necessary to hire campieri, or chiefs of banditti to accompany him, and this must be understood as not merely necessary to be done in villages situated in re- mote and inaccessible parts of the mountains, but in the principal towns, nay, in the capital itself. The reason of this expedient is, that in case the traveller should fall in with these free- booters, they may suffer him to pass unmolested, which is always done, if he be in company with one of their tribe. This was a scheme of the viceroy Villa-Franca, who being unable to clear Sicily of banditti, came to terms with them, and proposed that they should adopt an uni- form, and serve as guides for travellers, and es- corts for the transportation of merchandize. For the most part these cam pier i let horses and mules, and they are generally very civil, and faithful to those who commit themselves to their charge. Nevertheless, many of these fellows correspond but too well with the de- scription given of some of them by the Abate Balsamo ; 34 which the translator bore witness to, as he fell in with a troop near the ruins of 31 Viaggio fatto in Sicilia, p. 84. 354 Camarina; 3S and which made him imagine that though in the Val di Noto, he was still in the Val Demone. " Erano grandi, robmti> e dijigura 35 The solitary chapel of S. Maria di Camarana, was the cella of a temple belonging to the ancient Camarina. There exists also a triangular tower, probably built by the Saracens with the materials of the old city This city was known more anciently under the name of Hypetia, and is the country of Psaumis, who has been immortalized by Pindar. Beneath the hill where the city stood, the lake is still seen nearly overgrown with weeds, which the oracle forbade the inhabitants to fill up in this memorable line : M>j xivsi Ka^apivay, axivr y 7o