The year is 70BC. It is the height of decline in the Late Roman Republic. Gaius Verres, governor of Sicily, is on trial for extortion. The Senatorial Order that runs the extortion courts is, therefore, also on trial for it's perpetual blind-eye to corruption. Their prosecutor? Marcus Tullius Cicero (on the behalf of the Republic, of course).

This episode provides a full summary of the events and context of the speech, before also offering a slightly-abridged re-telling of the First Verrine Oration itself.