We have now come to the first of those episodes, and I have to tell
the way in which Cicero struggled with Verres, and how he conquered
him. In 74 B.C. Verres was Praetor in Rome. At that period of the
Republic there were eight Praetors elected annually, two of whom
remained in the city, whereas the others were employed abroad,
generally with the armies of the Empire. In the next year, 73 B.C.,
Verres went in due course to Sicily with proconsular or propraetorial
authority, having the government assigned to him for twelve months.
This was usual and constitutional, but it was not unusual, even if
unconstitutional, that this period should be prolonged. In the case of
Verres it was prolonged, so that he should hold the office for three
years. He had gone through the other offices of the State, having been
Quaestor in Asia and Aedile afterward in Rome, to the great misfortune
of all who were subjected to his handling, as we shall learn
by-and-by. The facts are mentioned here to show that the great offices
of the Republic were open to such a man as Verres. They were in
fact more open to such a candidate than they would be to one less
iniquitous--to an honest man or a scrupulous one, or to one partially
honest, or not altogether unscrupulous. If you send a dog into a wood
to get truffles, you will endeavor to find one that will tear up as
many truffles as possible. A proconsular robber did not rob only for
himself; he robbed more or less for all Rome. Verres boasted that with
his three years of rule he could bring enough home to bribe all the
judges, secure all the best advocates, and live in splendid opulence
for the rest of his life. What a dog he was to send into a wood for
truffles!

To such a condition as this had Rome fallen when the deputies from
Sicily came to complain of their late governor, and to obtain the