A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

1242 VERRES. VERRES.
empire of Rome. We shall, therefore, briefly give decessor in the Cilician quaestorship, C. Malleolus,
the dates and periods of Verres's public career, and of his patrimony: he exacted from the heir and
dwell rather on the history of the cause than on executors of P. Junius a heavy fine for neglecting
that of the criminal. to repair the temple of Castor; and intercepted
That he took an active part in Sulla's proscrip- the fine from the state's coffers; and, instead of
tion may be inferred from Cicero (Verrin. i. 1. rebuilding, whitewashed the defective columns of
~ 16), who, while exploring the darkest recesses the temple; his edicts varied with the person or
of the defendant's life, purposely passes over his rather with the price, and were drawn in defiance
apprenticeship in crime,-" Omni temnpore Sullano of precedent, law, and common sense; and unex accusatione circumscripto "- as common to the less his political preferences were for the moment
times, and not peculiar to the man. For a like suspended by his avarice or his lust, his summary
reason he excepts from exposure whatever vices decisions were invariably favourable to the oligarand excesses Verres had displayed or committed chical party. In B. c. 74, occurred the notorious
previous to his holding a public magistracy. Judiciumn Junianum [JUNIUS, No. 5]. In this
Verres was quaestor to Cn. Papirius Carbo transaction, Verres was not so deeply involved as
(No. 7) in his third consulship B. c. 82. He was others of his party; but neither was he exempt
therefore at that period of the Marian faction from the ignominy attached to the verdict, since
(Schol. Gronov. in Ve-rin. p. 387, Orelli), which he declared that the list of the judices had been
he quitted for that of Sulla, betraying Carbo by tampered with, and their signatures forged, himdesertion, and the republic by embezzling the self having previously subscribed the list, and
monies with which as quaestor he was intrusted sanctioned the verdict officially. The repeal of
for the administration of Cisalpine Gaul. Sulla Sulla's laws had been guarded against by the
sent his new adherent to Beneventunl, where he dictator himself, who imposed a nimulct on any
was allowed a share of the confiscated estates, person who should attempt to abrogate or modify
but at the same time narrowly watched by the any portion of the Cornelian constitution. But
veterans. He was, however, called to account for in B. c. 75, M. Aurelius Cotta as consul brought
his receipts from the treasury by the quaestores forward a bill for exempting the tribunes of the
-erarii for B. c. 8], with what result is unknown. plebs from that clause of the Lex Cornelia
Verres next appears in the suite of Cn. Cornelius which excluded them from the higher offices of
Dolabella (No. 6), praetor of Cilicia inB. c. 80- the commronwealth, and Q. Opimius, tribune of
79, and one of the most rapacious and oppressive the plebs, introduced it to the conmitia. Opimius,
of the provincial governors. On the death of the in the following year, was condemned and fined
regular quaestor C. Malleolus, Verres, who had by Verres for this offence: his property was put up
been Dolabella's legatus, became his pro-quaestor. to auction, and Verres enriched himself equally at
In Verres Dolabella found an active and unscru- the expense of the defendant and the treasury.
pulous agent, and, in return, connived at his ex- On the expiration of his praetorship, Verres obcesses. But the proquaestor proved as faithless tained the wealthiest and most important province
to Dolabella as he had been to Carbo; turned of the empire. Sicily was not merely the granary
evidence against him on his prosecution by M. of Rome, but from its high civilisation, its proScaurus in B. C. 78, and by shifting his own crimes ductive soil and vicinity to Italy, had long been
to the praetor's account, and stipulating for a par- the favourite resort of Roman capitalists. The yoke
don for himself, mainly contributed to the verdict of conquest pressed more lightly on this island
against Dolabella. During this pro-quaestorship than on any other of the state's dependencies.
Verres first acquired or affected a taste for the fine The ancient Greek nobility had rather gained
arts. It is not clear, indeed, whether Cicero be- than lost by their change of rulers: the fiscal relieved him to possess a genuine relish for the gulations of the Hieros and Gelos were retained:
beautiful, or whether he considered the legate's the exemptions which the Marcelli had granted
appropriations as a mere brutal lust of pillage, and and the Scipios confirmed, were respected; and
a means of purchasing the support of the oligarchy the Sicilians hardly regretted their turbulent deat Rome. The criminality of the acts was the mocracies in the enjoyment of personal freedom
same. But Cicero at one time describes Verres, and social luxury. Verres and his predecessor
ironically, as a fine gentleman and a connoisseur; Sacerdos came to the government of that province
and, at another, as better fitted for a porter than at a critical period. Two servile wars had rean artist (Verrin. ii. 4. 44, 57). The wealth cently swept over the island, and during the two
Verres acquired ill Achaia and Asia, he employed years of Verres's administration, Italy itself was
in securing a praetorship in B. C. 74. The lot as- ravaged by Spartans, and the Mediterranean
signed to him the urbana jurisdictio, and he re- swarmed with the Cilician pirates. The loss or the
hearsed at Rome the blunders, the venality, and retention of Sicily was, therefore, an object of higher
the licence, which afterwards marked his Sicilian moment than ever to Rome; and even an ordinary
administration. His official duties were mostly praetor might have risked by supineness or cadischarged by his clerks and his freedwoman and price this portion of the state demesnes. But
mistress Chelidon. Without the interest of the in Verres, Sicily received a governor, who, even in
latter, indeed, nothing could be obtained from tranquil times, would have tried its allegiance or
him, and she, accordingly, charged high for exert- provoked disaffection. Accompanied by his son,
ing it. The city-praetor was the guardian of his daughter's husband, and a suite of rapacious
orphans; the curator of public buildings, civil and clerks, parasites and pandars, he began his extorreligious; the chief judge in equity; and the sit- tions even before he landed in the island. No
ting magistrate within the bounds of the pomae- class of its inhabitants was exempted from his
rium, during his year of office. In each of avarice, his cruelty, or his insults. The wealthy
these departments, according to Cicero, Verres vio. had money or works of art to yield up; the
lated a trust. He defrauded the son of his pre- middle classes might be made to pay heavier im