3. The Trial of Verres

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about Cicero's prosecution of Gaius Verres in 70 BC, focusing in particular on the importance of the trial to Cicero's political career, Cicero's rhetorical strategy in the trial itself, and the publication and later circulation of the speeches from the trial.

Course

In this course, Dr Henriette van der Blom (University of Birmingham) explores the politics of the Late Republic through one of its central figures: Marcus Tullius Cicero. We begin by providing a broad introduction to Cicero's life and career as well as the nature of the sources – most of which were written by Cicero himself. In the second module, we turn to the concept of the res publica, focusing in particular on how Cicero thought the Roman state should be run – and how it was actually run. In the third module, we think about Cicero's prosecution of Verres in 70 BC and the importance of this trial in his burgeoning political career, before turning in the fourth module to the most important year of Cicero's life – 63 BC. In the fifth module, we consider the importance of Cicero's private letters as a source for this period, before turning in the sixth and final module to the final decade or so of Cicero's life – his return from exile, the descent into Civil War, and his murder in 43 BC.

Lecturer

Dr Henriette van der Blom is Reader in Ancient History at the University of Birmingham. She specialises in the history and political life of the Roman Republic, Roman oratory and rhetoric, all aspects of Cicero, and Roman approaches to the past. She is the founding director of the Network for Oratory and Politics which gathers speech practitioners and academics in discussions of political oratory across historical periods, including current British political speech.