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From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS
VIII. THE GREAT AGE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC, 264-31 B.C.
» Contents of this Chapter
Page 25
IMPEACHMENT OF VERRES, 70 B.C.
Cicero rose to prominence through his prosecution of Verres, a thieving governor of Sicily. Verres had powerful friends among the nobles at Rome and counted on his influence and wealth to escape punishment. He openly boasted that he had plunder enough to live in luxury, even though he had to surrender two-thirds of it as fees to his lawyers and bribes to the jury. But Verres had not reckoned with the brilliant young advocate who took up the cause of the oppressed provincials. Cicero hurried to Sicily and there collected such an overwhelming mass of evidence that the bare statement of the facts was enough to condemn the criminal. Verres went into exile. Cicero became the head of the Roman bar. Seven years later he was elected consul.
CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE, 63 B.C.
The year of Cicero's consulship was marked by an event which throws a lurid light on the conditions of the time. Lucius Catiline, a young noble of ability, but bankrupt in character and purse, organized a conspiracy to seize Rome, murder the magistrates, and plunder the rich. He gathered about himself outlaws of every description, slaves, and starving peasants --all the discontented and needy classes throughout Italy. He and his associates were desperate anarchists who sought to restore their own broken fortunes by overturning the government. The spread of the insurrection was checked by Cicero's vigorous measures. In a series of famous speeches he exposed Catiline's plans to the astounded Senate. Catiline then fled to his camp in Etruria and shortly afterwards perished in battle, together with three thousand of his followers. Cicero now gained fresh popularity and honor. The grateful citizens called him "Father of his Country" (_Pater Patriae_).
THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents
url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp
Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy
