Il piccolo Verre e i grandi uomini della Sicilia

Abstract

In the Verrinae, Cicero’s image of the defendant – an inept, a ‘little’ man, albeit fierce and terrible – also takes shape through pitiless comparisons with the great men who in the remote or near past had ruled Sicily, whether a Greek tyrant or a famous Roman, or had simply given universal examples of good governance. The cases are countless. The allusions – often telegraphic as they are absolutely clear to that audience – overlap one another. Crowds of witnesses, lists of evidence and processions of figures from the past and present flock to discredit the defendant, who acted in countertendency with every previous example, even of bad governance.