[57]
I am not sure, however, that it is not in our
attitude towards our opponents that this care for
decorum, which we are now discussing, should be
most rigorously maintained. For there can be no
doubt, that in all accusations our first aim should
be to give the impression that it is only with the
greatest reluctance that we have consented to undertake the role of accuser. Consequently, I strongly
disapprove of such remarks as the following which
was made by Cassius Severus:1 “Thank Heaven, I
am still alive; and that I may find some savour in
[p. 189]
life, I see Asprenas arraigned for his crimes.” For,
after this, it is impossible to suppose that he had
just or necessary reasons for accusing Asprenas, and
we cannot help suspecting that his motive was sheer
delight in accusation.
1 Cp. x. i. 22. In 9 B.C. he accused Nonius Asprenas, a friend of Augustus, of the crime of poisoning. Asprenas was defended by Pollio, and supported by Augustus during his trial.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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