[113]
Afterwards I see that this also is stated, which, if the Roman
people has formed a correct estimate of your characters, O judges, he, at the very
hour of death, truly prophesied of you,—“That it was not
possible for Verres to efface his own crimes by murdering the witnesses; that he, in
the shades below, should be a still more serious witness against him, in the opinion
of sensible judges, than if he were produced alive in a court of justice; for that
then, if he were alive he would only be a witness to prove his avarice; but now,
when he had been, put to death, he should be a witness of his wickedness, and
audacity, and cruelty.” What follows is very
fine,—“That, when your cause came to be tried, it would not be
only the bands of witnesses, but the punishments inflicted on the innocent, and the
furies that haunt the wicked, that would attend your trial; that he thought his own
misfortune the lighter, because he had seen before now the edge of your axes, and
the countenance and hand of Sextus your executioner, when in an assembly of Roman
citizens, Roman citizens were publicly executed by your command.”
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