This is CBSI in the world.

I'm John Batchel with Professor Josiah Osgold's new book is Lawless Republic, the story of first century BCE, the Roman Republic, before it becomes the empire, because of it sinks under corruption and theft and doubt and lack of trust and mockery of the Senate.

But it's 70 BCE now.

August.

It's hot.

And Cicero is going to take the field against a man named Veris, Gaius Ferris, who is a notable in that he doesn't hide his thievery. He has a thing he says for art,

statuary, tapestries, anything that moves essentially anything that's Greek. Because this is Syracuse,

which was a Greek island in the battlefront with Carthage several hundred years before, but right now

we're dealing with the Greek island stripped of all of its artwork by Gaius Veras.

And the new governor, Mattelus, comes in and sort of covers up for Veras, because they're all

in this together.

This is the Senate.

And the courts only care about the Senate.

Ordinary people walking around in the streets,

let them take care of themselves, let them settle their own disputes. This is 2,000 years ago.

Cicero's taken up the cause, however, of some of the Sicilian citizens, especially those around

a village named Etna, who are offended by having everything

stolen from them.

And they bring a case against Gaius Ferris.

But there's one part of the case that is emphasized by Cicero, who follows the rules of the

Senate, there's timing, the courts, there's timing about how long you

have to produce your trial, to produce witnesses, to finish your testimony. He tells the story

...