This paper reconstructs the political context of the trial of C. Verres in 70 BC and the defence mounted by Verres’ advocate, Q. Hortensius. In 74 BC the city of Rome was in the midst of famine, and piracy and insurrection were rife throughout the Mediterranean. The senate sent Verres to Sicily with the task of securing Italy’s food supply; he also cooperated with M. Crassus in preventing Spartacus from crossing into Sicily, while his personal profiteering was in line with current practice. Hortensius defended Verres on those grounds. Verres was in fact successful enough to be retained in his province for three years; indeed, a slip by Cicero reveals Verres as a plausible candidate for the consulship of 68 BC, and other evidence points to connections with Caecilli Metelli and Crassus. The villain of the Verrines was thus neither typical nor unique, and better connected than has been realized previously. However, following embarrassments in 71, Verres was made a scapegoat by political enemies—above all Cn. Pompeius Magnus—in their promotion of a milder approach to empire. It was Pompeius who stood behind Cicero’s prosecution of Verres.