77. supplices: supplex, suppliant.
omnis: = omnes; this alternate acc. pl. form for i-stems is common in Cicero and other class. authors.
78. verum: conj., but.
deplorandi: deplorare,to weep, lament the loss of, complain of.
80. ut…statim: noun cl. in appos. with hoc non novum.
81. testis: acc. pl. (cp. omnis in 77).
quod…explicem (82): in appos. to illud…novum; instead of delivering the usual opening argument, providing an overview of the case, Cicero will introduce witnesses to support each charge as he enumerates them, a clever ploy allowing him to produce evidence before the defense attorney (Quintus Hortensius Hortalus) has an opportunity to counter with his own opening remarks.
constituam: here, arrange, deploy.
82. crimen: charge, accusation.
83. altera actione: excerpts from this second action, i.e., the second part of the trial, are included below.
87. quadringentiens sestertium: = quadringentiens (centena milia) sestertium, 400 x 100,000 sesterces = 40,000,000 sesterces; a sestertius was a sesterce, and sestertium, 1,000 sesterces, when used with a numeral adv., stood for 100,000 sesterces.
89. statuatis: statuere, to set up, decide, determine.
spatium:space, time, opportunity.
90. nostro commodo: commodum, convenience, advantage; ABL. OF ACCORDANCE, according to our convenience.
91. oratione: ABL. OF MEANS with the idiom opus est, there is need of (lit., there is work to be done by…).
nihil: emphatic for non.
dixi: indicating the end of his opening remarks; depositions and the testimony of witnesses followed.
93. Syracusarum: Syracusae, pl. in form but sg. in meaning; Syracuse was capital of the province of Sicily.
direptionem: direptio,plundering.
Mihi certum est non committere ut in hac causa praetor nobis 75 consiliumque mutetur. Non patiar rem in id tempus adduci ut homines miseri, antea socii atque amici populi Romani, nunc servi ac supplices, non modo ius suum fortunasque omnis amittant, verum etiam deplorandi iuris sui potestatem non habeant.
Faciam hoc non novum, sed ab eis qui nunc principes nostrae 80 civitatis sunt ante factum, ut testibus utar statim; illud a me novum, iudices, cognoscetis quod ita testis constituam ut crimen totum explicem. Si quis erit qui perpetuam orationem accusationemque desideret, altera actione audiet.
Haec primae actionis erit accusatio: dicimus C. Verrem, cum 85 multa libidinose, multa crudeliter in civis Romanos atque in socios, multa in deos hominesque nefarie fecerit, tum praeterea quadringentiens sestertium ex Sicilia contra leges abstulisse. Hoc testibus, hoc tabulis privatis publicisque auctoritatibus ita vobis planum faciemus ut hoc statuatis, etiam si spatium ad dicendum 90 nostro commodo vacuosque dies habuissemus, tamen oratione longa nihil opus fuisse. Dixi. (I.32–33, 53–56, excerpts)
IN C. VERREM: ACTIO SECUNDA
Verres’ Plundering of Syracuse
Contrast the treatment of Syracuse by Marcellus in war and by Verres in peace.
Temple G, 6th century B.C. Selinunte, Sicily, Italy
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
Unius etiam urbis omnium pulcherrimae atque ornatissimae, Syracusarum, direptionem commemorabo. Nemo fere vestrum est quin quem ad modum captae sint a M. Marcello 95 Syracusae saepe audierit, non numquam etiam in annalibus legerit. Conferte hanc pacem cum illo bello, huius praetoris adventum cum illius imperatoris victoria, huius cohortem impuram cum illius exercitu invicto, huius libidines cum illius continentia: ab illo qui cepit, conditas, ab hoc qui constitutas accepit, 100 captas dicetis Syracusas.
94. vestrum: PARTITIVE GEN.
quin: when used to introduce a REL. CL. OF CHARACTERISTIC after a generalizing negative word (here nemo) has the force of qui non.
M. Marcello: Hiero II, the Syracusan king, had been friendly to the Romans in the Second Punic War, but on his death in 216 B.C. the city went over to the Carthaginians; Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a former consul and commander of Rome’s legions in Sicily, then besieged Syracuse and finally won it back for Rome in 212 B.C.
95. audierit: = audiverit, perf. subjunct., one of the common short forms of perf. system tenses which drop the v (and sometimes an accompanying vowel as well, e.g., amasset for amavisset).
annalibus: annales,annals = history; Roman historical writings were frequently annalistic.
96. conferte: the contrast between Marcellus and Verres was not quite so sharp as Cicero suggests, for Marcellus, as a victorious general, did permit considerable plundering, and he sent many art treasures to Rome; however, the acts of Marcellus in war were hardly so heinous as those of Verres in peace.
97. cohortem: commonly a military term but here = band, retinue.
99. conditas…captas: sc. esse.
constitutas: here, well established.
101. omitto: a good example of the common rhetorical device known as PRAETERITIO (“passing over”), where a speaker says that he will not talk about something and then proceeds to do so.
102. introitu: introitus, entrance.
