[14]
These men know that this request was not only made to me, but
that it was made so frequently and with such earnestness, that I had no alternative
except either to undertake the cause, or to repudiate the duty of friendship. But why do
I cite these men as witnesses, as if the matter were doubtful or unknown? Most noble men
are present here from the whole province, who being present, beg and entreat you, O
judges, not to let your judgment differ from their judgment in selecting an advocate for
their cause. Deputations from every city in the whole of Sicily, except two, 1 are present; and if deputations from
those two were present also, two of the very most serious of the crimes would be
lessened in which these cities are implicated with Caius Verres.
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1 Cicero means Syracuse and Messana, which did not join in the outcry against Verres, because Verres had resided at Syracuse, and had enriched that city with some of the plunder which he had taken from other cities; and he had treated Messana in the same way, which place he had made the repository of his plunder till he could export it to Italy.
M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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