[113]
What use will formal topics of argument be in such
a case, unless I first convince myself that the gift of
Alexander made no difference, that he had not the
power to make it, and that he did not make it?
The opening of the Thebans' plea presents no
difficulty and is likely to win the approval of the
judges, since they are seeking to recover by right
what was taken from them by force. But out of this
point arises a violent controversy as to the right of
war, since the Thessalians urge that kingdoms and
peoples and the frontiers of nations and cities
depend upon these rights.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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