Law courts/ Verres Flashcards
(19 cards)
Who presided over the extortion court
The Iduex (judge), oversaw the preliminary processes leading up to the trial, the selection of jurymen, and confirmed the verdict and the sentence.
Role of jurymen
They would deliver the verdict, in 70 BC, all jurymen were senators. Their selection could be challenged by both the prosecution and defence.
Who was the defence counsel for Verres?
Hortencius
Who was the iudex in the trial against Verres?
Manius Acilius Glabrio
When/ what was Verres’ role in Sicily
propraetorian governor of Sicily between 73-71
What was the principal charge against Verres?
That he had extorted 400,000 sesterces from the people of Sicily
Besides extortion, what other crimes does Cicero accuse Verres of?
Denying the provincials and Roman citizens their rights
Theft from temples and public buildings
Executing Roman citizens without trial
Failing to defend Sicily’s harbours against piracy
Sexual depravity.
Bill proposed by Praetor Cotta
Praetor Lucius Aurelius Cotta- introduced bill to divide law court between senators, equites, and lower class of equites called tribuni aerarii.
This law would reuse the authority of the senate, and the senator’s ability to save fellow senator’s accused of crimes
Cicero used the threat of this to put pressure on the jury to convict Verres
Public attention of the Verres trial
Elections and the public festibals granted to celebrate Pompey’s military successes in the East- created the perfect arena for him to showcase his talents to as many citizens as possible.
Benefit of prosecuting Verres as Aedile of 69
Sicilians would provide him with grain cheaply
Anaphora
A word or phrase that is repeated at the start of neighbouring clauses for dramatic effect
Apostrophe
A direct adress to a third party, to break up narrative voice
Asyndenton
A lack of conjunctions in a list to give the description inensity
Polysyndeton
The use of an unnecessarily large number of conjunctions in a list to emphasise the number of things being listed.
Praeteritio
Saying you will not mention something and in doing so, deliberately mentioning it and bringing it to mind.
How did Verres try to derail Cicero’s prosecution?
Verres attempted to delay the prosicution by creating a charge of extortion against the governor of Achaia, asking for 108 days - 2 days less than Cicero’s request. This would delay Verres’ trial to the following year when Hortencius would be consul, and a new jury would have been selected.
Steel - in verrem/ cicero
all we know about the case is what Cicero tells us, and he is a very unreliable source of information.
Vasaly
oratory is a tool to manipulate an audience, most effectively by playing their emotions.
Taylor
Cicero was a roman patriot.
he would not have taken the case if he had not been convinced that it would further his career.
