[3]
I cannot dissemble my alarm, O judges; I am afraid that Caius Verres, on account
of this amazing warlike valour of his, may escape with impunity from the
consequences of all his actions. For it occurs to me, what great influence, what
exceeding authority, the oration of Marcus Antonius was supposed to have had at the
trial of Marcus Aquillius; who, as he was not only skillful as an orator, but bold
also, when he had nearly finished his speech, took hold of Marcus Aquillius and
placed him in the sight of every one, and tore his robe away from his chest, in
order that the Roman people and the judges might see his scars, all received in
front; and at the same time he enlarged a good deal on that wound which he had
received on his head from the general of the enemy; and worked up the men who were
to judge in the cause to such a pitch, that they were greatly afraid lest the man
whom fortune had saved from the weapons of the enemy, and who had not spared
himself, should appear to have been saved not to receive praise from the Roman
people, but to endure the cruelty of the judges. Now again this same plan and method
of defence is to be tried by the opposite party.
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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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