To the first period belong several speeches delivered in different kinds of lawsuits, the most remarkable of which are the seven orations in the suit against Verres (70 B. C.) for extortion and misgovernment in Sicily. At the earnest request of the Sicilians, Cicero undertook the prosecution. [Sidenote: The first period.] The first speech, the _Divinatio in Cæcilium_, was delivered to determine whether Cicero or Q. Cæcilius Niger, who had been quæstor under Verres in Sicily, should conduct the prosecution. The first speech in the prosecution itself settled the case. Cicero had prepared all the evidence and summoned the witnesses, and instead of giving the defence an opportunity for delay, brought forward his overwhelming evidence at the beginning, after a mere introduction. Hortensius, Verres’ advocate, gave up the defence after hearing the evidence, and Verres was banished. The five remaining orations, called the _Actio Secunda in Verrem_, were published by Cicero in order that the facts might be universally known, but were never delivered in court. They show not only that Cicero was at this time a consummate master of eloquence, but also that his diligence in the collection and preparation of his material was remarkable. In addition to his speeches, Cicero wrote in this period several translations from the Greek, which are lost, and also a handbook of oratory, the _De Inventione_, in two books. This work was written when the author was only twenty years old, and is based upon the treatise addressed to Herennius (p. 45). In it Cicero treats of the various divisions of oratory and their uses. The work is greatly inferior to his later rhetorical writings. [Sidenote: The second period.] The second period opens with the superb oration _For the Manilian Law_ or _De Imperio Gnæi Pompei_ (66 B. C.), in which Cicero advocates the appointment of Pompey with extraordinary powers to carry on the war against Mithridates. The four brilliant and vehement speeches _Against Catiline_ belong to the year of Cicero’s consulship, 63 B. C. To the same year belongs the witty and able speech _For Muræna_, in which Cicero defends Muræna against a charge of bribery. The delightful speech _For the Poet Archias_ was delivered in 62 B. C. in support of the poet’s claim to the Roman citizenship. Throughout this period Cicero’s time and energy were so fully occupied with affairs of state and with the suits in which he was engaged as to leave him little leisure for purely literary production. In 60 B. C., however, when the troubles that led to his banishment were thickening about him, he made a metrical version of the astronomical poems of Aratus, portions of which are preserved in his later work _On the Nature of the Gods_, and wrote a poem in three books _On His Consulship_, which is lost.