person
Furius Heracleensis
also: Heraclean Furius, Furius's defence of his case
Furius the Heracleote, one of the Sicilian-Greek trierarchs of the squadron lost off Helorus; condemned and executed by Verres for the disaster, he made an impassioned defence-speech from the rostra at Syracuse and is held up by Cicero (Verr. 2.5.112-117) as a man of singular courage in the face of injustice.
Reading notes
- Against Verres, Second Hearing, Book V §112 Furius's defence of his case
The Heraclean captain Furius wrote his own defence in prison nights at Syracuse and circulated it before his execution. Cicero cites it as a written witness now in everyone's hands in Sicily --- a martyrdom-document predating its name.