Page:Cicero And The Fall Of The Roman Republic.djvu/77

70 B.C.] this, unless I am mistaken, was the work of Myron—yes, Myron was the name, I am sure. In front of these gods were small altars which sufficiently indicated the sanctity of the shrine, and furthermore two bronze statues, of no great size but of exquisite beauty, in the form and dress of young girls with the hands raised to support some sacred object, which they bore on their heads after the manner of Athenian maidens; 'Canephoræ' was what they were called, but what was the name of the artist? who was it?—thank you for reminding me; the artist was named Polycletus." It would be absurd of course to take all this seriously; it is merely as playing part of the antique and unsophisticated Roman, in which character Cicero is posing for the moment, that he must affect to have learned the names of Myron and Polycletus and Praxiteles as an incident of the getting up of his lawyer's brief.

Notwithstanding the notoriety of Verres' crimes, the Nobles of the Senate seem to have looked on him with favour. His provincial command, conferred originally for one year only, was extended for two succeeding years. The great family of the Metelli supported him both at home and in Sicily, where all the machinery of the government was set in motion to detain witnesses and to suppress evidence. Hortensius put not only his eloquence but his powerful influence at his disposal, and Verres seems to have fully expected that between influence and bribes he would be able to secure an acquittal. "Those," he observed, "had reason to be alarmed who had plundered only enough for themselves; he