Overall, the careers of Cicero and Verres share a series of coincidental parallels that are fun to ponder. In the years before their showdown in 70 BC, each of the two men spent time in the Greek East and in Sicily. Some years after his consulship in 63 BC, Cicero suffered the same fate as Verres: voluntary exile. And several ancient authors comment on the remarkable irony that Cicero and Verres died in the same year, proscribed by the same man – the former for his tongue, the latter for his art collection.11 A bare skeleton of their respective careers in the form of a table would look something like this:
| Year | Verres | Cicero |
|---|---|---|
| c.115 BC | born | |
| 106 | born | |
| 90–88 | Military Service | |
| 84 | Service as quaestor under the consul Cn. Papirius Carbo | |
| 83 | Continuing service probably as pro-quaestor; desertion to Sulla | |
| 81 | First surviving public speech (pro Quinctio) | |
| 80 | Service as legatus, then also as pro-quaestor under Cn. Dolabella, proconsul in Cilicia | |
| 79–77 | Rhetorical and philosophical studies in Rhodes and Athens | |
| 78 | Trial and conviction of Dolabella for extortion; Verres acting as main witness for the prosecution | |
| 75 | Quaestor in Sicily | |
| 74 | Urban Praetor | |
| 73–71 | Governance of Sicily as pro-praetor | |
| 70 | Trial and voluntary exile | Prosecution of Verres |
| 69 | Aedile | |
| 66 | Praetor | |
| 63 | Consul | |
| 58 | Pushed into exile on account of the execution of the Catilinarians (till 57) | |
| 51 | Pro-consul in Cilicia | |
| 43 | Proscription by Mark Antony; death | Proscription by Mark Antony; death |