VERRES, GAIUS

born c. 115 BC died 43 Roman magistrate notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. His trial pointed up the extent of official corruption in the Roman provinces during the Late Republic. The son of an undistinguished senator, he became quaestor to the consul Gnaeus Carbo, but, when civil war broke out in 83, Verres embezzled the military funds and joined the forces of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In 80 Verres was legate on the staff of Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, governor of Cilicia. Together they plundered the provincials until, in 78, Dolabella was tried at Rome and convicted, mainly on Verres' evidence. In 74 Verres used lavish bribery to obtain the city praetorship then abused his authority for personal gain. He was next sent as governor to Sicily (7371). Although corrupt governors were by no means rare, Verres was clearly remarkable for the extent to which he extorted bribes, juggled with the requisition of grain, looted works of art, and arbitrarily executed provincials and Roman citizens. He returned to Rome in 70, and, in the same year, at the Sicilians' request, Cicero prosecuted him. So effective was Cicero's first brief speech and the testimony of his witnesses that Verres' lawyer, the leading Roman advocate Quintus Hortensius, refused to reply. Verres left Rome before the verdict and lived in exile until 43, when he was murdered by order of the general Mark Antony, who apparently coveted his works of art.