This text is part of:
Search the Perseus Catalog for:
[4]
Diverse laws are those against which arguments
[p. 145]
may be brought without reference to any contradictory law. The following theme will provide an
example. “A magistrate shall not quit the citadel.
One who has rendered heroic service to his country
may choose what reward he pleases. A magistrate
who left his post and saved his country, demands an
amnesty for his conduct.” In this case, even though
there be no other law covering the case, we may
raise the question whether a hero ought to be
granted anything he chooses to claim. Again, many
conclusive arguments may be brought against the
letter of the law restricting the movements of the
magistrate: for example, a fire may have broken out
in the citadel, or a sally against the enemy may have
been necessary.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.