#facing gaius verres
Chapter 18: A Senate Confrontation
Entering the Curia Hostilia, Cicero’s eyes immediately fell on Gaius Verres, his pale skin and bright red hair hard to miss among the sea of black and brown heads and olive complexions.
Surrounded by his fellow patricians, Verres sat self-assured, his eyes locked on Cicero as he made his way to his seat near the back of the chamber. Cicero gave a slight nod of greeting, and Verres immediately looked away, pointedly ignoring my master’s acknowledgement.
As the presiding consul, Gaius Scribonius Curio, was calling the House to order, in walked Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, his mop of blond hair tousled from the wind.
Smiling, Pompey walked to the front of the chamber and pushed himself between two patricians, Gaius Marcellus and Quintus Metellus, both of whom looked horrified by the intrusion. A loud laugh drew Cicero’s attention to Marcus Licinius Crassus, who apparently found the scene quite hilarious.
“Very well, I now call the House to order,” Curio said. “Given that both our victorious generals have returned, I have no outstanding dispatches to read, so I will open the floor to new orders.”
Gaius Verres rose and cleared his throat.
“The chair recognizes Gaius Verres, Praetorian Governor of Sicily,” Curio said.
“Thank you, consul,” Verres said, standing. “I thank the House for the warm welcome I have received – although I cannot claim it has come from all quarters. In fact, it has been made known to me that I have been quite regularly criticized and attacked in this House by a man for whom good breeding is an unknown quality.”
The aristocratic contingent greeted this comment with laughter.
“Indeed, I am told that one Marcus Tullius Cicero intends to prosecute me for corruption! Corruption, mind you – despite the fact that I return from Sicily with my books in order and a chest full of gold for Rome’s treasury! I doubt anyone will disagree that these are important goals for any provincial governor, and, having achieved them, I am mystified as to why I am being villainized by this mushroom from Arpinum, other than due to the jealousy he feels for a man of noble birth who has served Rome with dignity while he himself has not!”
“Hear, hear!” Catulus called out.
“Yet I am sure that, should Cicero choose to pursue his prosecution, that you, Conscript Fathers, will be fully satisfied in my innocence, given the testimony of those who served under me – good Romans, all – and the support of those Sicilians who consider me not a criminal, but a hero to the people of that island!”
As Verres finished, Cicero stood.
“Then obviously, my dear governor, I have been grossly misinformed,” Cicero said.
The back-benchers laughed, catching Cicero’s thinly veiled sarcasm.
“I must assume that the evidence I have collected – and, Conscript Fathers, I must admit I am overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of evidence the good people of Sicily have provided – has all been fabricated! That our own Gaius Verres is simply being painted as a villain by those who wish him ill.”
“Yet there still stands the question of the bronzes belonging to Sosethius, which he claims were stolen from him,” Cicero continued. “Stolen by this very man, who has – according to the witnesses who have come forward – chosen to abuse his powers as a Roman governor.”
“While, of course, I will concede that any foreigner’s report might be considered suspect, I find it fascinating that one of the very bronzes he described – down to the last detail – now stands in a place of honor in the peristyle garden of our very own Princeps Senatus, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus – a gift from Gaius Verres!”
A few gasps greeted this statement, but even more laughter.
“Or that other similar bronzes seem to have found their way to other illustrious members of this House, if reports are true.”
“So I would beg the house’s pardon should I choose to proceed with my prosecution. For only though it – and the careful presentation of evidence on both sides, will the truth of this matter finally be known! And if there is any virtue that should be precious to the members of this house, it is truth.”
Cicero sat down as the house erupted into a combination of applause, laughter, derision and flying insults.
