Cicero, in Verrem 2.1.53–69

1. Cicero, in Verrem 2.1.53–69 Ingo Gildenhard (ingo.gildenhard@dur.ac.uk) Department of Classics & Ancient History Durham University JACT Workshop, London 19 May 2012

2. Agenda: • How important was the set passage in the trial of Verres overall? • What are some of the major themes in the passage? • What, for a Roman audience, would have been the most salient fact in the Lampsacus affair? How does Cicero present it? • What happens right after the set passage? How does that affect our reading of the set passage? • How does Roman criminal procedure differ from modern criminal procedure? • Headline exercise: Cicero, the sensationalist

3. 1. How important was the set passage in the trial of Verres overall?

4. The Passage in Context (1) • The Verrines • Divinatio in Caecilium • Actio Prima: • In Verrem 1 • Actio Secunda: • In Verrem 2.1: Verres’ public career prior to his governorship of Sicily • In Verrem 2.2: Sicily - abuse of judicial power • In Verrem 2.3: Sicily - extortion of taxes • In Verrem 2.4: Sicily - robbery of artworks • In Verrem 2.5: Sicily - Verres as magistrate with imperium, responsible for public safety, and endowed with the power to punish

5. The Passage in Context (2) • In Verrem 2.1: • 1-23: Preface • 24-31: Explanation why Cicero didn’t indict in detail during the first hearing • 32-34: Blueprint of the speech • 34-40: Verres’ quaestorship • 41-61: Verres’ thefts of artworks as legate of Dolabella • 62-85: The Lampsacus episode • 86-90: The theft at Miletus • 90-102: Verres’ crimes as a guardian and proquaestor • 103-27: Verres’ praetorship • 128-54: Misconduct as a supervisor of the maintenance of public buildings • 155-58: His jury-tampering in other trials

6. The Passage in Context (3) • Points to note: • In the trial overall, the chosen passage was of no importance whatsoever: it comes from a speech that Cicero never delivered; and it deals with incidents, for which Verres never stood trial: Cicero devotes all of in Verrem 2.1 to mapping out Verres’ public career before he become governor of Sicily. • NB: At the JACT-workshop we had a very interesting discussion of how and when (if at all) to share these points with students, who might find the information potentially deflating. Are there ways to use this information up front so as to ratchet up interest? If you know of any, please share!

7. 2. What are some of the major themes in the passage?

8. Major Themes • 2.1.53–62: • Space: geopolitical (Rome and the provinces); public versus private • Imperial expansion and exploitation (the rights and the impotence of Rome’s subjects or allies) • (Cicero’s) distinction between conquest and robbery • Account keeping and accountability of Roman magistrates • 2.1.63–69: • Ethopoiea of Verres, in particular his depiction as a creature of depraved lust for artworks and sex • Cicero’s talents and techniques as a spell-binding narrator and what is implied/ omitted from his account • Clash of cultures and cross-cultural misunderstandings at dinner table • Cicero’s distinction between Rome’s institutions and Rome’s human resources

9. 3. What, for a Roman audience, would have been the most salient fact in the Lampsacus affair? How does Cicero present it?

10. Taxis and Tactic • 67: Hic lictor istius Cornelius, qui cum eius servis erat a Rubrio quasi in praesidio ad auferendam mulierem conlocatus, occiditur; servi non nulli vulnerantur; ipse Rubrius in turba sauciatur. • At this point, Cornelius, the lictor of this man here, who had been stationed together with the slaves of Verres by Rubrius as if on guard to abduct the woman, is killed; some of the slaves suffer wounds; Rubrius himself is injured in the melee.

11. 4. What happens right after the set passage? How does that affect our reading of the set passage?

12. 5. How does Roman criminal procedure differ from modern criminal procedure?This question lends itself to an out-of-class group exercise, with students asked to find out/ clarify their understanding of how our modern justice system works first, as a basis for comparison. The comparison can focus both on the protocols of court-room rhetoric (what is permissible, what in Cicero’s speech would have been ruled out of court?) and procedural issues (how does a case get into court?)

13. Ancient and Modern (flowchart courtesy of Professor Bohlander)

14. 6. Headline exercise: Cicero, the sensationalistThe idea here is to come up with a tabloid headline for each of the paragraphs of the set passage. (See next slide for an illustration of how tabloid headlines work: they go for the sensational, rather than the factual, just like Cicero in his orations.) This should be a fun exercise, that should also help with revision: the more memorable the headlines, the better students will recall the contents of the set text (as well as the sequence of paragraphs). Please send me yours, indicating whether you would be happy for me to post them (anonymously, of course) on the interactive commentary!

15. Headline Exercise The film The Shipping News has an illustrative exchange between the protagonist, who is learning how to write for a local newspaper, and his publisher: Publisher: It’s finding the center of your story, the beating heart of it, that’s what makes a reporter. You have to start by making up some headlines. You know: short, punchy, dramatic headlines. Now, have a look, [pointing at dark clouds gathering in the sky over the ocean] what do you see? Tell me the headline. Protagonist: HORIZON FILLS WITH DARK CLOUDS? Publisher: IMMINENT STORM THREATENS VILLAGE. Protagonist: But what if no storm comes? • Publisher: VILLAGE SPARED FROM DEADLY STORM. • Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headline