His secretary happened one day to receive a letter which bore a noteworthy impression on the composition of chalk which the Greeks used for sealing.  It attracted the attention of Verres, who inquired from what place it had come.  Hearing that it had been sent from Agrigentum, he communicated to his agents in that town his desire that the seal-ring should be at once secured for him.  And this was done.  The unlucky possessor, another Roman citizen, by the way, had his ring actually drawn from his finger.

A still more audacious proceeding was to rob, not this time a mere Sicilian provincial or a simple Roman citizen, but one of the tributary kings, the heir of the great house of Antiochus, which not many years before had matched itself with the power of Rome.  Two of the young princes had visited Rome, intending to prosecute their claims to the throne of Egypt, which, they contended, had come to them through their mother.  The times were not favorable to the suit, and they returned to their country, one of them, Antiochus, probably the elder, choosing to take Sicily on his way.  He naturally visited Syracuse, where Verres was residing, and Verres at once recognized a golden opportunity.  The first thing was to send the visitor a handsome supply of wine, olive-oil, and wheat.  The next was to invite him to dinner.  The dining-room and table were richly furnished, the silver plate being particularly splendid.  Antiochus was highly delighted with the entertainment, and lost no time in returning the compliment.  The dinner to which he invited the governor was set out with a splendor to which Verres had nothing to compare.  There was silver plate in abundance, and there were also cups of gold, these last adorned with magnificent gems.

Conspicuous among the ornaments of the table was a drinking vessel, all in one piece, probably of amethyst, and with a handle of gold.  Verres expressed himself delighted with what he saw.  He handled every vessel and was loud in its praises.  The simple-minded King, on the other hand, heard the compliment with pride.  Next day came a message.  Would the King lend some of the more beautiful cups to his excellency?  He wished to show them to his own artists.  A special request was made for the amethyst cup.  All was sent without a suspicion of danger.

But the King had still in his possession something that especially excited the Roman’s cupidity.  This was a candelabrum of gold richly adorned with jewels.  It had been intended for an offering to the tutelary deity of Rome, Jupiter of the Capitol.  But the temple, which had been burned to the ground in the civil wars, had not yet been rebuilt, and the princes, anxious that their gift should not be seen before it was publicly presented, resolved to carry it back with them to Syria.  Verres, however, had got, no one knew how, some inkling of the matter, and he begged Antiochus to let him have a sight of it.  The young prince, who, so far from being suspicious, was hardly sufficiently cautious, had it carefully wrapped up, and sent it to the governor’s palace.  When he had minutely inspected it, the messengers prepared to carry it back.  Verres, however, had not seen enough of it.  It clearly deserved more than one examination.  Would they leave it with him for a time?  They left it, suspecting nothing.