Cicero's Prosecution of Gaius Verres

A Roman View of the Ethics of Acquisition of Art

Bibliographic Data

ID4282575
AuthorsMargaret M Miles (University of California, Irvine, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume11
Issue1
Pages28-49
Publication date2002-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Cultural Property (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0940-7391 • E-ISSN: 1465-7317
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0940739102771567
OpenAlexW1990840399
LanguageEN
Citations received10

Cicero's speeches and essays-especially the Verrines-were widely read in France and England during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when they were used in public debates about the fate of art in wartime. The early development of the concept of "cultural property" owed much to careful readings and citations of Cicero's views. The main charge brought against Verres in 70 B.C. was extortion during his term as governor of Sicily, but in the course of his prosecution Cicero depicts Verres as a rapacious collector of art who even took cult statues from temples for his private collection. This portrait of a "collector" who felt entitled to anything he could get and who abused his official authority to acquire works of art was recalled and used in debates about "collecting" many centuries later. This paper examines how Ciceronian views contributed to the development of the concept of art as cultural property

Ancient history · Art · Art history · Cicero · Cult · Extortion · Governor · Political science · Portrait · Archaeological Research and Protection · Art History and Market Analysis · Classics · Engineering · History · Law · Law in Society and Culture

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