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Chapter 41:  You’ve Crossed The Line
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Verres watched Cicero’s attempt to explain the charges with a relaxed expression.
Quintus, who didn’t know about Verres’ dealings with the pirates, whispered anxiously in a low tone.
“How is this going to work? Why did Hortensius agree to Cicero’s proposal?”
“He must have thought there was no disadvantage for him. Cicero is just kicking up a fuss right now.”
“How can you be so sure? If you lose this trial, our family will suffer a great loss too. You will be ruined as well. Are you really okay with being so calm?”
“Of course. Cicero doesn’t have any solid evidence to back up his claims. At most, he might bring up some bribes I received from Syracuse or Messana.”
Such evidence would fade from the jurors’ minds after the long first trial.
With Hortensius’ eloquent defense in the second trial, it would be over by then.
By that time, no one would remember any evidence or witnesses.
“Hmm, but Cicero said he had a lot of evidence and witnesses to present, didn’t he?”
“That’s obviously bluffing. Of course, he might have scraped up some witnesses from somewhere, but they won’t be enough to prove the charges, so don’t worry.”
“Hmm, if you, the defendant, are so confident, then…”
“If he loses this trial, Cicero won’t be able to set foot in Rome for at least five years. He’s probably trying to raise his popularity by causing a stir.”
It was natural that he had to take a corresponding risk for suing the highest nobles as a commoner.
In the past, Caesar also lost a trial and went to Greece for a cooling-off period.
Caesar was from a prestigious noble family, so he only spent three years there, but Cicero was different.
He was just a commoner, so he might never be able to return to Rome.
Verres, who was certain of his victory, decided to mobilize all his clients.
After the trial, there would be voices condemning Cicero for disturbing Rome with an unreasonable prosecution.
‘Just wait and see. I’ll make you pay for showing your teeth at me without knowing your place.’
After getting rid of Cicero, the next target would naturally be Pompey, who supported him.
It would be impossible to bring down someone like Pompey, but he could at least send him a signal to behave himself.
Then the senators who hated Pompey would welcome him with open arms.
It was not a dream to run as a candidate for the next consul with the support of the senate.
Verres’ reverie was interrupted by Cicero’s speech that had just begun.
Before explaining Verres’ charges, he emphasized the significance of this trial to the jurors.
“Dear jurors. This is the last year that only senators can serve as jurors and decide the outcome of trials.
From next year on, this right will be shared by knights and commoners. Why did this happen? The ones who were stripped of their senatorial rank for corruption were all acquitted in court. Sadly, we have stained our own faces. And now we are facing another choice.”
Cicero glanced at the faces of the jurors and continued his speech.
“This trial is not only watched by the citizens of Rome, but also by all the allied cities and provinces. Your choice will determine whether Rome can continue to rule its provinces peacefully.
I am glad that only senators can serve as jurors for this trial. Because we still have a chance to prove that we can correct ourselves.
I’m not asking you to make a wrong verdict to please the provincials. I hope you will make a fair verdict based on clear evidence and witnesses.
So that the provincials can be moved by our justice and remain loyal to us, so that Rome’s reputation can once again cover the whole Mediterranean! I have no doubt that you will make a wise verdict.”
As soon as Cicero’s passionate speech ended, Hortensius began his rebuttal.
“We need to be rational. If you are a governor of a region, you will inevitably face unexpected situations.
Some of the praetors may act out of line, or the provincial defense forces may commit fraud. But you can’t blame the governor for that without clear evidence, just based on people’s words.
If this precedent is established, who will be willing to take the responsibility of being the highest authority in the future? I agree with one thing in the prosecutor’s speech. Don’t be swayed by emotional aspects and look at the objective evidence.”
The jurors exchanged uneasy glances, as both sides’ arguments sounded plausible.
But they couldn’t keep hesitating.
Thanks to postponing unnecessary speeches until the second trial, the witness examination began right away.
The first witness that Cicero summoned was a farmer from Agrigentum, on the southwest coast of Sicily.
Verres showed his first sign of agitation when he recognized the farmer’s face.
Cicero shouldn’t have gone to Agrigentum. No, he couldn’t have gone there.
The farmer, who had been farming on the same land for five generations in Agrigentum, stared at Verres and began his testimony.
“My family had been growing wheat on the land we inherited from our ancestors until two years ago. But not long after my father passed away, a praetor who said he worked for the governor came with a document.
He said that my land had been sold. And it was ridiculously cheap. I protested that it was impossible, but he pushed a will of my father as evidence. But my father never wrote such a will.”
Cicero lifted a document above his head so that all the jurors could see it.
“This is the will in question. And this is not the only case. There are more than thirty people in each region that I have confirmed. I also brought other wills here. Do you think it makes sense that they sold their ancestral lands for a low price, and all to the governor? The wills were forged!”
“That’s a lie!”
Verres jumped up from his seat and shouted. He spat at Cicero and the farmer as he ranted.
“They’re all lies! I never forged any wills!”
“Verres, lower your voice.”
The judge warned him in a soft tone.
“Leave the defense to your lawyer. And if you have something to say, answer when I ask you.”
Verres bit his lips and sat back down.
He then whispered to Hortensius with an annoyed voice, who was looking at him suspiciously.
“Those are all lies. You can crush those lies easily, right? Ask them to show evidence that I forged them.”
“I was going to do that anyway.”
Hortensius approached the witness and began his examination.
“Witness, are you sure that the will was forged?”
“Of course.”
“Why? Do you have any definite proof? Saying that it’s impossible is just a suspicion. If we punish people based on such circumstances, we could send half of the world to prison.”
As if he had been waiting for Hortensius’ words, Cicero submitted another document.
It was one of the decisive pieces of evidence that he had obtained with Marcus’ help.
“This is the original will that was given to the praetor who worked in Agrigentum. He was ordered to destroy it, but he kept it because he was worried that he might be threatened if something went wrong. This document clearly shows that the father didn’t intend to sell his land at all. He even asked his son to protect the land that had been passed down for generations.”
Hortensius’ expression twisted.
The will was undoubtedly genuine.
He gritted his teeth and glanced at Verres.
It looked like Verres did it, but he couldn’t admit his guilt.
“Ju, jurors! It seems that the will was forged, but there is no guarantee that the former governor did it. It could be someone else’s corruption using the governor’s name. There have been many cases of people impersonating the governor and committing crimes.”
“The praetor testified that he had the governor’s orders.”
“The praetor might be trying to cover up his own corruption by blaming it on the governor.”
“So you’re saying that a mere praetor sold the governor’s name to forge a will and then tried to cover it up. We agreed to skip the debate procedure, so I’ll leave the judgment to you, jurors.”
Cicero immediately summoned another witness.
He was a knight who lived in Syracuse, where the governor’s residence was.
He was a merchant who transported wheat.
“Verres threatened to exclude me from the wheat transportation business and kept demanding a price. And once, he openly plundered my art pieces and gold dishes at a dinner party.
I didn’t even get paid. He seemed to have come with that intention from the start, as he brought a large sack and ordered his slaves to sweep everything into it. If you go to Verres’ mansion, you’ll see all the things I was robbed of.”
“By the way, those art pieces and gold dishes were made by Polydias, a rising craftsman. Here is a receipt that proves that Polydias sold his works to this merchant.”
Verres’ face turned pale.
The jurors and Hortensius looked at him with disbelief.
It was not only the wickedness of his crime, but also the lack of dignity in his method.
A citizen who was watching the trial muttered what everyone was thinking.
“What is this? He’s not even a human…”
Hortensius didn’t know what to do while Cicero kept summoning witnesses.
The evidence of Verres’ embezzlement poured out endlessly for three, four, and more than ten days.
In the end, it took more than ten days just to list the evidence and witnesses.
Verres had to leave his seat among the slaves after August 13th to avoid being killed by the angry crowd.
The most serious crime that Verres committed was revealed on the last day of the first trial.
Especially when it was revealed that he had pirates plunder the temples’ art pieces and statues, the reaction was priceless.
The citizens, judges, jurors, and even Hortensius couldn’t hide their shock as they opened their mouths wide.
“He even secretly built a ship to bring these things to Rome, but the process was outrageous. He didn’t pay any wages to the craftsmen because he built it illegally.”
The witness who was a craftsman testified in detail how Verres illegally built the ship.
Hortensius couldn’t even muster up the courage to defend him anymore and just listened to the witnesses’ words.
Verres trembled when he realized that the pirates didn’t follow his orders properly.
What filled his heart was not anger, but fear.
He had heard that the pirates had cut off a corner of Cicero’s toga and sent it as proof.
That meant that they had contacted Cicero for sure.
But if they betrayed him anyway, he could guess why they sided with Cicero.
In other words, there was a possibility that his attempt to kidnap Cicero was exposed.
And that anxiety soon became reality.
Cicero summoned someone who no one expected as the last witness.
“The last witness I want to ask for testimony is Marcus Licinius Crassus II! The eldest son of the current consul will tell you the truth without a shred of lies.”
As Marcus walked out, Verres and the jurors widened their eyes.
Why did the son of Crassus, the leader of the Optimates faction, side with Cicero?
But that question was answered by Marcus’ testimony.
“I was ordered by my father to investigate this case objectively. If Verres’ corruption was true, it would be a huge obstacle for governing the province in the future.
The reason why Verres was able to be a governor in Sicily for three years was because of the rebellion led by Crassus. My father, no, all the Roman citizens were fighting fiercely against the rebels, while the governor was busy plundering the province. This is a disgrace to Rome as a whole. It’s a matter of honor for the nobility!”
The jurors nodded in unison at Marcus’ impassioned speech.
His words had a different weight than the other witnesses, as he was from a noble family.
“But there was also a possibility that this whole thing was a fabrication to impeach Verres. So I watched the investigation from Cicero’s side.
I wondered if he manipulated the witnesses or evidence, or made up crimes that didn’t exist with excessive investigation. I can assure you that I observed all the processes fairly.
But there was no manipulation or dishonesty here. All of Verres’ charges were proven to be true, as the previous evidence and witnesses said. But the reason I came here is because there is still one thing, the worst crime, that hasn’t been revealed yet.”
The eyes of the jurors and citizens who were watching the trial were filled with doubt.
It seemed enough to call it the worst with what had been revealed so far, but what else could there be?
Marcus looked around the audience once and threw his final blow at Verres.
“Verres used all kinds of methods to hide all this evidence. But when he couldn’t find a way to stop the prosecutor, he finally hired pirates that he controlled. He asked them to prevent the prosecutor from collecting any more evidence in Sicily. Fortunately, I and my escorts were there, so the prosecutor was able to escape from danger.”
“That’s absurd!”
One of the jurors raised his voice in disbelief.
It was unthinkable to order an attack on a Roman senator.
The senate was like a representative of Rome.
Threatening them was like pointing a sword at Rome itself.
Marcus calmly explained to the shocked jurors.
“Verres knew that his downfall was certain if all this evidence came out. He tried to stop the prosecutor from collecting evidence. If he could delay the trial until next year, he could have quashed it with his family and connections.”
“Do you have any evidence?”
“Of course. I captured one of the pirates who received Verres’ money. And if you look at this document he gave me, you’ll see that he wrote in detail how he received orders from Verres.”
Marcus deliberately didn’t say that Verres tried to kidnap him.
Of course, trying to kidnap a senator was also an unforgivable crime, but murder was more shocking than kidnapping.
The jurors and citizens were shocked and believed that Verres tried to kill Cicero.
With that and the evidence from the pirates, Verres had no way to deny it.
Both the citizens and the nobles agreed that Crassus had a good eye.
It was much better for a noble to condemn a noble than to be dragged down by a commoner.
The jurors had practically made up their minds.
The judge Glabrio looked at Verres with a cold gaze and asked him.
“Is it true that you tried to kill a senator? That’s an unforgivable crime. Do you have anything to say?”
Verres, who was cornered, looked around.
But no one met his eyes.
Quintus, let alone his lawyer Hortensius, avoided his gaze.
The citizens shouted to condemn the murderer.
Verres, who was half-crazy, shouted and shook his head.
“No! I didn’t order any murder! I just wanted them to kidnap him, just kidnap him and then release him! I…”
He blurted out whatever he could, but then realized what he had said and quickly covered his mouth.
But it was too late.
The eyes that looked at him became sharp knives that stabbed his whole body.
Cicero slowly raised his finger at Verres, who was in a state of panic.
“Gaius Verres, your ugly crimes and plots have been exposed to the world! The consul and the senate, all the people know it now.”
“If you are truly a Roman noble, if you have any conscience left in you, don’t deny it shamefully and admit your guilt bravely.”
“Verres, you have crossed the line that you shouldn’t cross as a Roman noble. That line is ultimately the path of death that leads to ruin. The immortal gods and the great souls of our ancestors must want you to receive the proper punishment. The great protector of Rome, Jupiter, and the goddess of law, Minerva! Thank you for revealing the horrible and ugly face of this crime to the world.”
He shouted passionately to the sky and then bowed politely to the judge.
“Respected judge, Verres will not try to pay for his sins. He is at risk of fleeing tonight to save even a bit of his property. Please allow him to be confined to his mansion until the day of the trial results. There is a precedent that we can arrest a defendant who has a clear risk of escape.”
This was what Marcus had hinted at.
Historically, Verres would flee in the middle of the night anyway.
Then he could recover some of his hidden assets even if he lost his property in Rome.
Marcus didn’t even want to show him that much mercy.
To Verres, Cicero’s finger pointing at him looked like the sword of Justitia, the goddess of justice.
The scales in the left hand of the goddess of justice finally tilted to one side.
“That’s ridiculous! I’m a noble and a former consul! You can’t confine me like a petty criminal!”
He tried to scream, but there was no hole for Verres to escape.
Glabrio closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
“The prosecutor’s claim is reasonable. Verres cannot leave his mansion except for necessary cases until the results of the second trial come out. The area around his mansion will be monitored so that no one can enter or leave without permission.”
“No! You can’t do that!”
Verres’ eyes were filled with madness. Did he think that it was really over if he stayed still?
He kicked his seat and got up, then ran away without looking back.
But unfortunately, the court was already surrounded by so many people that he couldn’t even get out easily.
“Hey, he’s running away!”
“Catch him!”
The angry crowd immediately blocked Verres’ way and captured him.
Verres’ struggle was a sign of his miserable end.
“No! I…I’m a former governor! You filthy bastards, let me go right now! I’m a former governor!”
Verres, who was dragged by the citizens, was handed over to the soldiers.
The judge’s solemn voice covered Verres’ flailing.
“He tried to escape on the spot, so there’s nothing more to see. Take him away and lock him up until the verdict comes out. Make sure he can’t get out by any means.”