he could bring enough home to bribe all the
judges, secure all the best advocates, and live in splendid opulence for
the rest of his life. What a dog he was to send into a wood for
truffles!

To such a condition as this had Rome fallen when the deputies from
Sicily came to complain of their late governor, and to obtain the
services of Cicero in seeking for whatever reparation might be possible.
Verres had carried on his plunder during the years 73, 72, 71 B.C.
During this time Cicero had been engaged sedulously as an advocate in
Rome. We know the names of some of the cases in which he was
engaged--those, for instance, for Publius Oppius, who, having been
Quaestor in Bithynia, was accused by his Proconsul of having endeavored
to rob the soldiers of their dues. We are told that the poor province
suffered greatly under these two officers, who were always quarrelling
as to a division of their plunder. In this case the senior officer
accused the younger, and the younger, by Cicero's aid, was acquitted.
Quintilian more than once refers to the speech made for Oppius. Cicero
also defended Varenus, who was charged with having murdered his brother,
and one Caius Mustius, of whom we only know that he was a farmer of
taxes. He was advocate also for Sthenius, a Sicilian, who was accused
before the Tribunes by Verres. We shall hear of Sthenius again among the
victims in Sicily. The special charge in this case was that, having been
condemned by Verres as Praetor in Sicily, he had run away to Rome, which
was illegal. He was, however, acquitted. Of these speeches we have only
some short fragments, which have been quoted by authors whose works have
come down to us, such as Quintilian; by which we know, at any rate, that
Cicero's writings had been so far carefully preserved, and that they
were commonly read in those days. I will translate here the concluding
words of a short paper written by M. du Rozoir in reference to Cicero's
life at this period: "The assiduity of our orator at the bar had
obtained for him a high degree of favor among the people, because they
had seen how strictly he had observed that Cincian law which forbade
advocates to take either money or presents for then pleadings--which
law, however, the advocates of the day generally did not scruple to
neglect."[97] It is a good thing to be honest when honesty is in vogue;
but to be honest when honesty is out of fashion is magnificent.

In the affair with Verres, there are t