Conclusion
While it is not Verres's last attack on sacred property, the foiled robbery at Agrigentum highlights what these episodes contribute to the overall invective goals of the Verrines.
Extortion is a rather minor offense compared to everything else that the former governor has allegedly done. How he treats sacred property, in particular, shows that he does not know how to behave in civilized society. He sees only the material value of objects and is unable to grasp their religious, or even artistic, significance. Verres cannot claim to be an art collector; he amasses things and then hides them away instead of displaying them. Cicero therefore presents the former governor as a figure who transgresses all social and religious norms.To create this portrait of the defendant, the Verrines give us an insight into the rhetorical sanctification of objects. Far from all artifacts that Verres steals in the course of the speeches can properly be considered ritual objects. The candelabrum taken from the sons of Antiochus, for example, is merely intended as a votive offering at some unspecified time in the future. Yet the orator's emphasis on the physical context of objects, how people other than Verres behave toward them, and their extraordinary appearance gives even such problematic artifacts a sacred air, however dubious and unconvincing individual cases may be.
What for others is sacred art is merely stuff for the former governor. What others place in a sacrarium and show off to guests, Verres hides deep within his walls. What others keep hidden for future dedication, Verres unwraps and misappropriates. What others touch only to show their reverence, Verres orders to have brutally torn from its foundations. As a result the former governor becomes the inverse of a regular inhabitant of the ancient world. He seeks to acquire or destroy what others worship. His conviction therefore becomes a statement that the jury knows how to treat religious objects properly and will go after those who do not. Cicero's Verrines are therefore a testament to the invective power of emphasizing the ritual life of works of art.