Providing an historical study of Cicero's speech pro Flacco, this book grounds the text in its Roman political context and analyses the evidence for Roman rule, local agency and provincial society. In late summer 59 BCE, M. Tullius Cicero defended L. Valerius Flaccus, the returned governor of 'Asia', against the charge of extortion levelled by the inhabitants of the province – the latest in a litany of embassies, prosecutions and complaints of mismanagement which had begun in the earliest years of Roman administration.

Despite being the longest defence speech in the Ciceronian corpus, it remains one of most overlooked texts with most commentaries focusing mainly on its literary aspects rather than the historical context. Yet this speech provides an unmatched opportunity to pursue an integrated analysis of text grounded in historical context both at Rome and in province. This book provides a nuanced understanding of these crucial developments through detailed study of this significant text from a Roman and a provincial perspective.