see that a certain temple of Castor in the city was given up in proper
condition by the executors of a defunct citizen who had taken a
contract for keeping it in repair. This man, whose name had been
Junius, left a son, who was a Junius also under age, with a large
fortune in charge of various trustees, tutors, as they were called,
whose duty it was to protect the heir's interests. Verres, knowing of
old that no property was so easily preyed on as that of a minor, sees
at once that something may be done with the temple of Castor. The heir
took oath, and to the extent of his property he was bound to keep the
edifice in good repair. But Verres, when he made an inspection, finds
everything to be in more than usually good order. There is not a
scratch on the roof of which he can make use. Nothing has been allowed
to go astray. Then "one of his dogs"--for he had boasted to his friend
Ligur that he always went about with dogs to search out his game for
him--suggested that some of the columns were out of the perpendicular.
Verres does not know what this means; but the dog explains. All
columns are, in fact, by strict measurement, more or less out of the
perpendicular, as we are told that all eyes squint a little, though we
do not see that they squint. But as columns ought to be perpendicular,
here was a matter on which he might go to work. He does go to work.
The trustees knowing their man--knowing also that in the present
condition of Rome it was impossible to escape from an unjust Praetor
without paying largely--went to his mistress and endeavored to settle
the matter with her. Here we have an amusing picture of the way
in which the affairs of the city were carried on in that lady's
establishment; how she had her levee, took her bribes, and drove
a lucrative trade. Doing, however, no good with her, the trustees
settled with an agent to pay Verres two hundred thousand sesterces to
drop the affair. This was something under L2000. But Verres repudiated
the arrangement with scorn. He could do much better than that with