Of the nature of their government a picture has been
left by Cicero, himself one of the senatorial party, and certainly not to
be suspected of having represented it as worse than it was in the famous
prosecution of Verres. There is nothing to show that Verres was worse than
the rest of his order. Piso, Gabinius, and many others equalled or perhaps
excelled him in villainy. But historical fate required a victim, and the
unfortunate wretch has been selected out of the crowd individually to
illustrate his class.
By family he was connected with Sylla. His father was noted as an election
manager at the Comitia. The son had been attached to Carbo when the
democrats were in power, but he had deserted them on Sylla's return. He
had made himself useful in the proscriptions, and had scraped together a
considerable fortune. He was employed afterward in Greece and Asia, where
he distinguished himself by fresh rapacity and by the gross brutality with
which he abused an innocent lady. With the wealth which he had extorted or
stolen he bought his way into the praetorship, probably with his father's
help; he then became a senator, and was sent to govern Sicily--a place
which had already suffered, so the Senate said, from the malpractices of
Lepidus, and needing, therefore, to be generously dealt with.
Verres held his province for three years.
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