Institutio Oratoria

There is also a different form of comparison, which comes into play when both parties claim the credit of some act, and yet another kind, when the question is not as between two persons, but as between two acts; that is to say, the question is not which of the two committed an act, but which of two acts was committed. Finally, if the act and the identity of the author are both

admitted, we may still raise the question of his intention. I shall now proceed to detail. As an example of joint denial covering both the act and the identity of the author we may take the following statements,

I have not committed adultery,

I have not sought to establish myself as tyrant.

In cases of murder or poisoning the denial is often divided as follows: