The Powerpoint covers the main events of Cicero's life with brief extracts from some of his writings and the first Word document contains lines 1-285 of the selections from his speeches against Verres (70 B.C.) included in Wheelock's Latin Reader with macrons and illustrations added. The second Word file includes both the Latin text and and interlinear English glossing of each word The audio-files provide recordings of the Latin. The portion of Wheelock covered includes extracts from the Actio Prima, the only one of the speeches actually delivered in court, and from the Actio Quarta, which Cicero published after Verres, realising the evidence already presented against him was damning, pre-empted a guilty verdict by fleeing into exile in Massilia (Marseilles).
To make full use of the materials on this page, you are strongly recommended to purchase Wheelock's Latin Reader itself, which includes a full commentary on the texts and a vocabulary. As well as extensive coverage of Cicero's work, the book includes extracts from Livy, Pliny, Ovid, the Vulgate, and medieval Latin literature and is a valuable resource for intermediate learners, whether or not they used the Wheelock's course to learn the basics of the language.
`Cecilius Calvert''s YouTube recitation below covers chapter 1 and part of chapter 2 of the original text of In Verrem I. It includes only the first two paragraphs of Wheelock's text (p.7-9), plus part of chapter 1 and the whole of chapter 2, which Wheelock omits.
Latin Text:
[1] Quod erat optandum maximē, iūdicēs, et quod ūnum ad invidiam vestrī ōrdinis īnfāmiamque iūdiciōrum sēdandam maximē pertinēbat, id nōn hūmānō cōnsiliō, sed prope dīvīnitus datum atque oblātum vōbīs summō reī pūblicae tempore vidētur. Inveterāvit enim iam opīniō perniciōsa reī pūblicae, vōbīsque perīculōsa, quae nōn modo apud populum Rōmānum, sed etiam apud exterās nātiōnēs, omnium sermōne percrebruit: hīs iūdiciīs quae nunc sunt, pecūniōsum hominem, quamvīs sit nocēns, nēminem posse damnārī. Nunc, in ipsō discrīmine ōrdinis iūdiciōrumque vestrōrum, cum sint parātī quī contiōnibus et lēgibus hanc invidiam senātūs īnflammāre cōnentur, [reus] in iūdicium adductus est [C. Verrēs], homō vītā atque factīs omnium iam opīniōne damnātus, pecūniae magnitūdine suā spē et praedicātiōne absolūtus. Huic ego causae, iūdicēs, cum summā voluntāte et expectātiōne populī Rōmānī, āctor accessī, nōn ut augērem invidiam ōrdinis, sed ut īnfāmiae commūnī succurrerem. Addūxī enim hominem in quō reconciliāre exīstimātiōnem iūdiciōrum āmissam, redīre in grātiam cum populō Rōmānō, satis facere exterīs nātiōnibus, possētis; dēpecūlātōrem aerārī, vexātōrem Asiae atque Pamphȳliae, praedōnem iūris urbānī, lābem atque perniciem prōvinciae Siciliae. Dē quō sī vōs vērē ac religiōsē iūdicāveritis, auctōritās ea, quae in vōbīs remanēre dēbet, haerēbit; sīn istīus ingentēs dīvitiae iūdiciōrum religiōnem vēritātemque perfrēgerint, ego hoc tam adsequar, ut iūdicium potiūs reī publicae, quam aut reus iūdicibus, aut accūsātor reō, dēfuisse videātur.
[2] Equidem, ut dē mē cōnfitear, iūdicēs, cum multae mihi ā C. Verre īnsidiae terrā marīque factae sint, quās partim meā dīligentiā dēvītārim, partim amīcōrum studiō officiōque repulerim; numquam tamen neque tantum perīculum mihi adīre vīsus sum, neque tantō opere pertimuī, ut nunc in ipsō iūdiciō. Neque tantum mē exspectātiō accūsātiōnis meae, concursusque tantae multitūdinis (quibus ego rēbus vehementissimē perturbor) commovet, quantum istīus īnsidiae nefāriae, quās ūnō tempore mihi, vōbīs, M'. Glabriōnī, populō Rōmānō, sociīs, exterīs nātiōnibus, ōrdinī, nōminī dēnique senātōriō, facere cōnātur: quī ita dictitat, eīs esse metuendum, quī quod ipsīs sōlīs satīs esset surripuissent; sē tantum ēripuisse, ut id multīs satīs esse possit; nihil esse tam sānctum quod nōn violārī, nihil tam mūnītum quod nōn expugnārī pecūnia possit. Quod sī quam audāx est ad cōnandum, tam esset obscūrus in agendō, fortasse aliquā in rē nōs aliquandō fefellisset.
NOTE ON MACRONISATION Macrons have been added to the texts with the aid of Johan Winge (Alatius)'s on-line macroniser. This is highly accurate with normal classical Latin but requires editing to deal with post-classical vocabulary and ambiguous forms (e,g, nominative hoc v. ablative hōc). I would be grateful if anyone spotting errors I have missed could let me know via the comments form at the bottom of my home page.
INTRODUCING CICERO The Word file below, which is being progrressively extended, gives the macroned text of the Cicero extracts from the Scottish Classics Group's Introducing Cicero -a Latin Reader, a highly regarded anthology which is in use at both school and university level. Recordings of the passages are also being added. To make proper use of these materials, readers will need the extensive help with translation and the background to the passages provided in the book itself. This can be ordered through Book Depository or Amazon.
The extracts from In Catalinam II in chapter 8 are the prescribed prose text for the Cambridge IGCSE exam in 2020-22.
Southern Asia Minor in Cicero's time - the province of `Cilicia' which he governed in 50-51 B.C. included Cilicia proper and also territory stretching West to Laodikea in Caria