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[17] And that into such doings strict investigation was made no man of good sense will find fault. For we do not deny that the safety of a lawful prince, the protector and defender of good men, on whom depends the safety of others, ought to be safeguarded by the united diligence of all men; and in order to uphold him the more strongly when his violated majesty is defended, the Cornelian laws 1 exempted no one of whatever estate from examination by torture, even with the shedding of blood. 2

1 On the Cornelian Laws (Lex Cornelia maiestatis), see Cicero in Pisonem, 21. They were emended and enlarged by Julius Caesar as the Lex Iuliua maiestatis.

2 See Cod. Theod. ix., Tit. 35, in maiestatis crimine omnibus aequa est condicio.

Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.

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