mea: with eloquentia.
304. in illo numero: earlier in the speech Cicero told how Verres had brutally incarcerated in the quarries at Syracuse fugitives from the army of Quintus Sertorius, a revolutionary who had been defeated by Pompey (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus) a few years earlier.
305. nescio qua: nescio qui/quae/quod taken together form a frequently used indef. adj., some (lit., I do not know what).
306. lautumiis: lautumiae, stone-quarry; presumably the same quarries in which the remnant of the Athenian force to Sicily came to an ignominious end during the Peloponnesian War and which can still be seen today.
307. Reginorum: Regium was only four miles across the strait from Messana.
308. tenebris: tenebrae, shadows, darkness, gloom.
311. sibi: DAT. OF POSSESSION, with iter esse Roman, lit., that he had a journey to Rome = that he was going to Rome.
recta: sc. via, i.e., directly.
praesto: adv., on hand, ready, waiting for.
advenienti:for him arriving = on his arrival, i.e., ready to prosecute him on his return, a threat that clearly cost Gavius his life.
312. interesse: the basic vb. means to be between, in the midst of, but the frequently used impers. sense employed here = to be important, of interest, of concern, make a difference; with nihil here, it made no difference.
313. praetorio: praetorium, general’s tent, governor’s residence.
314. iste: Cicero repeatedly uses this word, with its contemptuous force, of Verres.
delegerat: deligere,to pick out, choose, select.
quam haberet: REL. CL. OF PURPOSE, to have it (as).
adiutricem…consciam (315): TRICOLON CRESCENS.
315. furtorum: furtum, theft, stolen property.
consciam: here, accomplice.
316. Mamertinum: a name applied to the residents of Messana, the Mamertini were originally Campanian mercenaries who served Agathocles, tyrant of Messana, and after his death seized the town for themselves (289 B.C.).
318. esse civem: IND. STATE. suggested by res defertur, that there was….
319. quem: conjunctive rel. = et eum.
320. minitantem: minitari + dat., to threaten.
321. in eum…quod videretur: i.e., what seemed best to do with him.
324. eminebat: eminere, to project, stand out, be conspicuous.
325. quo tandem: just how far.
quidnam: quisnam, an emphatic form of the interrog. pron., who/what in the world.
327. deligari: deligare, to bind.
virgas: virga,stick, rod.
expediri: expedire,to let loose, prepare, procure.
clamabat: the impf. suggests that Gavius cried out repeatedly.
328. meruisse: sc. se as subj.; from merere, to earn (one’s pay), serve as a soldier.
Gavius voiced complaints which were reported to Verres.
Gavius hic, quem dico, Consanus, cum in illo numero civium 305 Romanorum ab isto in vincula coniectus esset et nescio qua ratione clam e lautumiis profugisset Messanamque venisset—qui tam prope iam Italiam et moenia Reginorum, civium Romanorum, videret et ex illo metu mortis ac tenebris, quasi luce libertatis et odore aliquo legum recreatus, revixisset—loqui Messanae 310 et queri coepit se, civem Romanum, in vincula coniectum, sibi recta iter esse Romam, Verri se praesto advenienti futurum. Non intellegebat miser nihil interesse utrum haec Messanae an apud istum in praetorio loqueretur. Nam (ut antea vos docui) hanc sibi iste urbem delegerat quam haberet adiutricem scelerum, 315 furtorum receptricem, flagitiorum omnium consciam. Itaque ad magistratum Mamertinum statim deducitur Gavius: eoque ipso die casu Messanam Verres venit. Res ad eum defertur: esse civem Romanum qui se Syracusis in lautumiis fuisse quereretur; quem, iam ingredientem in navem et Verri nimis 320 atrociter minitantem, ab se retractum esse et adservatum, ut ipse in eum statueret quod videretur. (V. 160)
Though Gavius protested that he was a Roman citizen, Verres had him beaten and prepared a cross for his crucifixion.
Agit hominibus gratias et eorum benivolentiam erga se diligentiamque collaudat. Ipse, inflammatus scelere et furore, in forum venit. Ardebant oculi; toto ex ore crudelitas eminebat. Exspectabant 325 omnes quo tandem progressurus aut quidnam acturus esset; cum repente hominem proripi atque in foro medio nudari ac deligari et virgas expediri iubet. Clamabat ille miser se civem esse Romanum, municipem Consanum; meruisse cum L. Raecio, splendidissimo equite Romano, qui Panhormi negotiaretur, 330 ex quo haec Verres scire posset. Tum iste, se comperisse eum speculandi causa in Siciliam a ducibus fugitivorum esse missum—cuius rei neque index neque vestigium aliquod neque suspicio cuiquam esset ulla. Deinde iubet undique hominem vehementissime verberari. Caedebatur virgis in medio foro Messanae 335 civis Romanus, iudices, cum interea nullus gemitus, nulla vox alia illius miseri inter dolorem crepitumque plagarum audiebatur, nisi haec, “Civis Romanus sum.” Hac se commemoratione civitatis omnia verbera depulsurum, cruciatumque a corpore deiecturum, arbitrabatur. Is non modo hoc non perfecit, 340 ut virgarum vim deprecaretur, sed, cum imploraret saepius usurparetque nomen civitatis, crux—crux, inquam—infelici et aerumnoso, qui numquam istam pestem viderat, comparabatur. (V.161–62)
329. equite: here, knight, equestrian, i.e., a member of the equestrian class, wealthy Roman businessmen.
Panhormi: loc. of Panhormus, an important town in northwest Sicily, modern Palermo.
330. iste: sc. dixit.
comperisse: comperire,to find out, learn, discover.
331. speculandi: speculari, to spy.
