Thursday, October 17, 2013

Book Excerpt for the Day


    Cicero’s famous prosecution of Verres had brought out a telling point.  In the course of the trial, a former colleague of Verres had quoted him on his philosophy of administration when he was in the process of looting Sicily.  He had said that the profits of his first year he would keep to enrich himself, the second would go to enrich his friends and the third would be for his jury.  It was a sign of the times that most people took tis as excellent wit rather than a shocking comment on the quality of Roman provincial administration.


    (from SPQR by John Maddox Roberts)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.
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