Unfortunately, this was rarely the case in most Roman provinces.
Many governors of the time were corrupt, and none was more unscrupulous than Gaius Verres. Verres, while serving on the staff of the governor of Cilicia, stayed in a town called Lampsacus. While there he devised a plan to rape the daughter of the town's leading citizen. As she was a young and beautiful woman that still held on to her chastity, Verres' scheme was met with force by the young woman's father and brother. After one of Verres' men was killed in the dispute, Verres persuaded the Roman governor of Asia to prosecute the father and brother on charges of murder. A small majority from a jury on which Verres was a member convicted the father and brother. Verres then had the two men beheaded in the forum of Laodicea. On another occasion, after Verres had taken over the governorship of Asia, a very wealthy and respected man, Sopater of Halicyae, fell victim to Verres' corruption. He was tried and acquitted of a crime under the rule of the previous governor. Then he was retried for the same crime, by the same accusers, in Verres' court. Verres solicited a bribe from Sopator to ensure acquittal, and Sopator agreed. Then, when asked for more bribe money by Verres, Sopator refused. On the day of the trial, Verres had all of the jurors dismissed; then, without a jury or defense lawyer present, Verres overturned his predecessor's ruling and convicted Sopator (Doc. 321, Cicero, The Prosecution of Verres). Verres became governor of Sicily in 73 B.C. During his 3 years as governor, he used his position to enrich himself, and by the time he left Sicily, many of its inhabitants were destitute.
The Sicilians sent a delegation to Rome and brought Verres to trial on charges of extortion. The case was tried in a Senatorial court where all the members of the Jury were senators, making it difficult for the provincials to receive a fair hearing.
