Series | Antiquity Studies
Edited book | Un monde partagé : la Sicile du premier siècle av. J.-C. entre Diodore et Cicéron
Chapter | 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.
Submitted: Feb. 13, 2023 | Accepted: April 11, 2023 | Published Dec. 19, 2023 | Language: it
Keywords Verres • Sicily • Bribery • Trial • Tyrant • Extortion • Robbery • Cicero
Copyright © 2023 Luca Fezzi. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-742-5/004