Marcus Tullius Cicero, In Verrem [Against Verres]

Kathryn Tempest (University of Roehampton)

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Ed. by William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Eleni Bozia (University of Florida), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Domains

Rhetoric and Oratory

Dates

First circulation or publication 70

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Resources

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In 70 BCE Cicero launched the only major prosecution of his career: the prosecution of C. Verres. Verres had been the governor of Sicily (73–71 BCE) and reports of his widespread extortion were forthcoming. Cicero claims that he undertook the prosecution because the Sicilians begged him to help them; for Cicero was popular among the provincials, having served there as quaestor in 75 BCE (Cicero,

Divinatio in Caecilium

2). The collection of speeches called the

In Verrem

contains three main speeches: the

Divinatio in Q. Caecilium

, the Actio Prima (

In Verrem

I), and the long Actio Secunda (

InVerrem

II) which can be further divided into five books (II.1–5), often treated by scholars as separate speeches (see Tempest 2007).

The evidence against Verres was so overwhelming that a second

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1032 words

Citation: Tempest, Kathryn. "In Verrem". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 June 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=20485, accessed 03 April 2025.]

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