Cicero's Against Verres 1 remains as one of the only ancient sources available with which to analyse corruption within the Roman Senate and provincial administration. This has led to major debate throughout the history world and it is the contention of R.E. Smith, A. Lincott and T.W. Hilliard that indeed the First Verrine is a reliable source when it comes to revealing crucial information about the bad reputation of the Senatorial Order and misgovernment by magistrates. However, others such as E. Gruen and C. Steel believe that Cicero's speech is anecdotal and unsubstantiated.

The political motive behind Cicero's speech plays a crucial role in understanding how much Verrines 1 reveals about corruption and misgovernment and its reliability. Smith reveals that Cicero took up the prosecution for his clientelae knowing full well that this could create inimicitiae. It can also be seen that Cicero wanted to win this trial...