Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, ed. Harold Edgeworth Butler, 7.2.21

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[21] utrum simul de utroque pronuntietur an sententia de uno feratur. ¹ Quo in genere semper prior debebit esse defensio, primum quia natura potior est salus nostra quam adversarii pernicies, deinde quod plus habebimus in accusatione auctoritatis, si prius de innocentia nostra constiterit, postremum, quod ita demum duplex causa erit. nam qui dicit, ego non occidi, habet reliquam partem, ut dicat, tu occidisti; at qui dicit, tu occidisti, ² supervacuum habet postea dicere, ego non occidi.

Institutio Oratoria. Quintilian. ed. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge, Mass.. 1920-1922.

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Current edition Perseus

Institutio Oratoria (Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, editor. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.)

Translations (1)

Institutio Oratoria Perseus (Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.) — 7.2.21 focus

[21] In such cases the defence must always come first for three reasons. In the first place, we naturally prefer to secure our own safety than to injure our opponent, while secondly, our accusation will carry greater weight if we have first proved our own innocence, and thirdly, we shall thus secure a double line of defence. For the man who says,

I did not kill him,

is then free to go on to say,

You killed him,

whereas it is superfluous for the man who says,

You killed him,

to go on to say,

I did not kill him.

Notes on the current edition

Institutio Oratoria

1. sententia. . feratur, Regius , Zumpt: etiamsi fertur, MSS.

2. at qui dicit occidisti, added by Regius.

Quintilian Institutio Oratoria 7.2.21

ed. Harold Edgeworth Butler

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