The paragraph focuses on the events that unfold in Philodamus’ house, and how the dwelling becomes the centre of attention for the entire town. For the news spread fast: first the son, informed of the outrage, rushes back, then all of the inhabitants of Lampsacus come together at the house. In his description of the fighting, Cicero foregrounds Rubrius and Philodamus and the slaves, and rather sidelines the fact that a Roman lictor (Cornelius) was killed in the melee. The paragraph concludes with an unexpected glimpse of Verres: he seems not to have been present at the banquet (at least Cicero never gives him an active part in the turmoil) and it remains unclear where precisely he was; but, Cicero submits, he somehow stayed abreast of developments and realized what he had caused.
