Cicero's Political Speeches Analysis

In Cicero’s selected political speeches, there is many things that are discussed about Rome. There is a total of nine speeches that are mentioned in this book and they are very detailed and help explain what happened in that time period of Ancient Rome through the speeches and point of view of Cicero. A little background informations on Cicero is that he was born to a wealthy family and he held important political positions in Rome so he was very influential. He also seemed to be someone who really cared about doing what was right. One of the very first series of speeches given by Cicero in this book are his speeches against Verres. These were supposed to actually be a total of seven speeches, but unfortunately Cicero was not able to give all of them because Verres actually was so ashamed and embarrassed that he went into exile before he could finish. He gave his speeches in 70 B.C., when …show more content…
He served as the prosecutor in this trial against Verres who was there for his corruption during his time as governor of Sicily. Cicero had a lot of evidence against Verres in his speeches because his main goal was to get the courts to convict him for his corruption and wrong doing. He knew that the courts and judicial system already had a bad reputation that also had to do with corruption and if they convicted Verres, it would work in their favor to put some of those rumors to rest. Cicero has to try his hardest and even has to attack Hortensius, Verres’ lawyer, and shame him for defending him. He has evidence of embezzlement and many other crimes against Verres. Its stated that Verres, although known as corrupt had a very important background as a military general and that could have saved him at trial. Cicero wants to put that to rest to and show the courts that in reality Verres was not a good general. He was known for protecting a pirate captain, setting them pirate captain free and even refusing to execute him. He made it