Cicero’s opening speech in the ‘Trial of Verres’ is focused on the failings of Gaius Verres as he rose up in the Roman political system to the level of governor, and his subsequent attempts to corrupt the court system in order to be acquitted and avoid a legitimate trial. Cicero doesn’t attempt to portray Verres’ situation as unique, and states that these acts of corruption and provincial malpractice are rampant throughout the Roman political system. Cicero systematically goes through Verres’ misdoings in each of his positions, from abandoning his governor as a Quaestor, through to plundering households and cities as a provincial legate in Asia, then stealing from temples and public buildings during his Praetorship in Rome, and finally his great atrocities as a Governor of Sicily, leaving the province in a ruinous state. Following his outline of Verres’ crimes, he moves on to how he has tried to avoid prosecution through corruption of the judges, and attempts to hinder court proceedings.
In the position of Quaestor, the Trial of Verres reveals how provincial malpractice can occur so far down on the political system, as Cicero relates Verres crimes of firstly stealing public funds, and then secondly of his disloyalty to his governor and betrayal by switching sides and leaving his governor, Gnaeus Papirius Carbo deserted and defenceless. The trial shows how easy it was for a financial administrator to steal and redirect public funds for himself, and that there were no implications for him.
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November 11 th, 1975 The Dismissal of the Whitlam Government on November 11, 1975 was the most dramatic political event in the history of Australia's Federation. Edward Gough Whitlam's Labor government had been elected on December 2, 1972 and was the first Labor government in 23 years. Australia's Prime Minister for 16 years was Robert Menzies, whose Liberal Party governed in coalition with the ...
When Verres became a provincial legate, he had more power than when he was a Quaestor, and thus he increasingly abused his power and plundered the cities of the Asian province, leaving it in ruins while accumulating great amounts of money for himself. Verres continued to be disloyal toward his superiors and abandons his new governor, Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, and then subjects him to abuse. The fact that Verres was promoted from Quaestor to Legate exposes that the Roman system condones malpractice, and certainly doesn’t discourage it.
Verres is promoted again to a Praetor in Rome, and he again steals from temples and public buildings. As a Praetor, he began to take a role in legal cases, and awarded cases against past precedent. Cicero exposes the great flaws in the Roman legal system that allow cases to be decided in such an unfair and biased manner, and the fact that it goes unchecked by any higher authority.
Finally, Verres is elevated to Governor of Sicily, and Verres leaves the province in such a bad state that according to Cicero, ‘a succession of honest governors, over a period of many years, could scarcely achieve even a partial rehabilitation.’ Verres removed the Sicilians rights and tortured and put them to death as if they were slaves. He robbed farmers, and cancelled inheritances, redirecting funds to himself. He treated his allies like enemies and let his ports go to ruin. Cicero lists all of his great atrocities, and exposes the fact that during his three years of absolute malpractice in Sicily, no-one rose up against him and he was never taken from his position by the Senate. The fact that this could occur in a province, devastating the lives of thousands of people without anyone stopping him, shows that there were huge holes in the Roman political system that allowed malpractice to occur.
The trial of Verres revealed that the lack of restraints combined with the fact that so many positions had great power led to provincial malpractice which later led them into the courts.
Corruption in the Roman law court was not a new thing, and Cicero demonstrates this, but he also states the fact the Verres’ goes to much further lengths than most do and is worse than the average defendant. He opens by severely warning the judges of the court not to take bribes or otherwise they will face the wrath of the people, who have already lost much faith in the honesty of the Roman Courts, ‘To increase the unpopularity of your order is very far from my intention. On the contrary, I am eager to remove your bad reputation … and the defendant whom I am prosecuting … provides you with the opportunity to recover the lost prestige of these courts.’ Cicero reveals how rampant the corruption and bribery of the judges was, and how far it has spread.
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He quotes Quintus Calidius saying that ‘… no ex-praetor could be honourably convicted for less than three-million sesterces!’ Cicero then moves on to the corruptness of Verres’ as an individual and how not was he corrupt as a judge when he was governor, but also that ‘…his belief in the ruinous corruption of the senatorial courts [is] unbounded’ . Cicero reports that Verres’ first step, before thinking about his defence, when he realised he was accused was to bribe the whole panel of judges, and thus wasted a lot of money on a plan that failed. Cicero concludes by stating Verres’ famous quote about the money he earned whilst governor of Sicily, ‘…one year’s profits for my own use, the second year’s profits for my protectors, and the whole of my third years … for the judges who try me.’
Verres didn’t just try to corrupt the court by bribing the judges, but he also attempted to hinder the case preparation and made friends with people in high places. Cicero details the problems he faced in trying to prepare the case, and the false diversions that Verres set up to distract him. Verres forced Cicero to cut his investigations by 2 days by using a false excuse of needing to perform his own investigations in another province. Verres then attempted to buy the date of the trial, so that he could choose which judges would try him and buy them off. Cicero goes on to reveal that when Hortensius was elected as consul, an official, Caius Scribonius Curio met with Verres to announce ‘that today’s elections mean your acquittal’ . Cicero reveals the fact that Verres is conspiring with top officials to get the case thrown out and gain freedom for himself, corrupting the courts by not allowing them to follow the correct path of Justice.
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INTRODUCTION: Law is one part of a set of processes, social, political, economic and cultural, which shape and direct the development of society. Like all other mechanisms the law seeks to govern human behaviour. The Irish law system belongs to common law systems established in England by the Norman’s. This type of law responded to actual rather than anticipated problems. In contrast the law ...
Cicero reveals many important facts about the widespread nature of corruption in those times, and that defendants were employing new ways of averting the course of the law.
In Conclusion, the Trial of Verres is an important source that not only deals with the provincial malpractice and corruption directly associated with Verres, but also with information about how widespread the malpractice is and the peoples hate of it. Cicero finishes his opening speech by showing the relationship between corruption in the court and provincial malpractice, ‘For if no such [extortion] court existed, they suppose that each governor would only take away with him enough for himself and his family and his children. At present … with the courts as they are, a governor takes enough for himself, and his protectors, and his counsel, and the president of the court, and the judges! In other words, there is no end to it.’ This makes governors raise taxes and steal money in order to gain enough for acquittal, but in doing so they are causing themselves to go to court in the first place.
