[69]
In the first place, have they been given rightly, or
wrongly? If they were given rightly, that was the law which was decided to be so. If they were
wrong, then it cannot be doubtful which are to be blamed, the judges or the lawyers. Besides,
if any decision has been given on a disputed point, they are not deciding against the opinion
of the lawyers, if they give sentence contrary to the decision of Mucius, any more than they
would be deciding in compliance with their authority, if sentence were given according to the
precedent of Manilius. Forsooth, Crassus himself did not plead his cause before the centumviri in such a way as to speak against the lawyers; but he urged
that the arguments which Scaevola brought forward in his defence were not law; and he not only
brought forward good arguments to that point, but he also quoted Quintus Mucius, his
father-in-law, and many other most learned men, as precedents.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1856.
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