[88]
When that fellow claimed those things, and the subject was mooted in the senate,
Sthenius resisted his claim most earnestly, and urged many arguments, for he is
among the first men in all Sicily for
fluency of speech. He said that it was more honourable for the men of Thermae to
abandon their city than to allow the memorials of their ancestors, the spoils of
their enemies, the gifts of a most illustrious man, the proofs of the alliance and
friendship with the Roman people, to be taken away out of their city. The minds of
all were moved. No one was found who did not agree that it was better to die. And so
Verres found this town almost the only one in the whole world from which he could
not carry off anything of that sort belonging to the community, either by violence,
or by stealth, or by his own absolute power, or by his interest, or by bribery. But,
however, all this covetousness of his I will expose another time; at present I must
return to Sthenius.
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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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