Besides his renowned prosecution of Gaius Verres, Cicero also appeared as defense counsel in a number of cases in which former governors were accused of misconduct in the provinces. This volume unites two such defenses, both incompletely preserved, from an early phase of Cicero's career (ca. 69 BC) and from his maturity (54 BC).
The first speech is on behalf of Marcus Fonteius. Fonteius was governor of Transalpine Gaul probably from 74 to 72 BC, a time when the Romans were consolidating their control of that province and simultaneously fighting a bitter war with rebels under Sertorius in...