[29]
In the second place, an
accuser must be trustworthy and veracious. Even if I were to think that you were
desirous of being so, I easily see that you are not able to be so. Nor do I speak of
these things, which, if I were to mention, you would not be able to invalidate, namely
that you, before you departed from Sicily, had
become reconciled to Verres; that Potamo, your secretary and intimate friend, was
retained by Verres in the province when you left it; that Marcus Caecilius, your
brother, a most exemplary and accomplished young man, is not only not present here and
does not stand by you while prosecuting your alleged injuries, but that he is with
Verres, and is living on terms of the closest friendship and intimacy with him. These,
and other things belonging to you, are many signs of a false accuser; but these I do not
now avail myself of. I say this, that you, if you were to wish it ever so much, still
cannot be a faithful accuser.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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