43/80 But as columns ought to be perpendicular, here was a matter on which he might go to work. The trustees knowing their man--knowing also that in the present condition of Rome it was impossible to escape from an unjust Praetor without paying largely--went to his mistress and endeavored to settle the matter with her. Here we have an amusing picture of the way in which the affairs of the city were carried on in that lady's establishment; how she had her levee, took her bribes, and drove a lucrative trade. Doing, however, no good with her, the trustees settled with an agent to pay Verres two hundred thousand sesterces to drop the affair. |