Thence he was transferred to Cilicia, where again he proved a traitor
to his superior officer, and stole from cities, private persons,
temples, and public places, every thing that his rapacity coveted. One
city offered him a vessel as a loan, and he refused to return it;
another had a statue of Diana covered with gold, and he scraped off the
precious metal to put it in his pocket. Using the money thus gained to
ensure his election to office at Rome, Verres enjoyed a year at the
Capitol, and then entered upon a still more outrageous career as
governor of the island of Sicily. Taking with him a painter and a
sculptor well versed in the values of works of art, he systematically
gathered together all that was considered choice in the galleries and
temples. Allowing his officers to make exorbitant exactions upon the
farmers, he confiscated many estates to his own use, and reaped the
crops. Even travellers were attacked to enrich this extraordinary
thief, and six vessels were afterward dispatched to Rome with the
plunder, which he asserted was sufficient to permit him to revel in
opulence the remainder of his life, even if he were obliged to give up
two thirds in fines and bribes.
The people Verres had outraged did not, however, suffer in quiet.
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