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:

The act was not committed, and, if it was committed, it was not by me.

But if the defence say,

Prove that the man was killed,

the burden falls solely on the accuser, for the accused can say nothing more against the charge except perhaps in the way of casting certain suspicions, which he should throw out in the vaguest terms, since if you make one definite assertion, you will have to prove it or run the risk of losing your case. For when the question lies between our statement and that of our opponent, one or other will be regarded as true. Thus when the point on which we relied for our defence is overthrown, there is nothing left but the points that tell against us.