Institutio Oratoria

it is granted that they were adulterers.

But,

says the accuser,

you had no right to kill them, for you were an exile

or

had forfeited your civil rights.

The question is now one of law. On the other hand, if when the prosecution says,

You killed them,

the defence at once replies,

I did not,

the issue is raised without more delay. If it requires some search to discover where the dispute really begins, we must consider what constitutes the first question. The charge may be simple,

as for example

Rabirius killed Saturninus,

[*](cp. v. xi. 6. ) or complex like the following:

The offence committed by Lucius Varenus falls under the law of assassination for he procured the murder of Gaius Varenus, the wounding of Gnaeus Varenus and also the murder of Salarius.

[*](cp. v. xiii. 38. ) In the latter case there will be a number of propositions, a statement which also applies to civil suits as well. But in a complex case there may be a number of questions and bases : [*](cp. III. vi. 1 sq. ) for instance the accused may deny one fact, justify another and plead technical grounds to show [*](cp. III. vi. 23 and 52. ) that a third fact is not actionable. In such cases the pleader will have to consider what requires refutation and where that refutation should be placed.