[74]
Verres, though he is
a man of incredible effrontery and audacity, yet when he was thus suddenly left
alone got frightened and agitated. He did not know what to do, or which way to turn.
If he adjourned the investigation at that time, he knew that when those men were
present, whom he had got rid of for the time, Sopater would be acquitted; but if he
condemned an unfortunate and innocent man, (while he himself, the praetor, was
without any colleagues, and the defendant without any counsel or patron,) and
rescinded the decision of Caius Sacerdos, he thought that he should not be able to
withstand the unpopularity of such an act. So he was quite in a fever with
perplexity. He turned himself every way, not only as to his mind, but also as to his
body; so that all who were present could plainly see that fear and covetousness were
contending together in his heart. There was a great crowd of people present, there
was profound silence, and eager expectation which way his covetousness was going to
find vent. His attendant Timarchides was constantly stooping down to his ear.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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