Περὶ τοῦ Ἡρῷδου φόνου

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Yunanca Yunanca

51 Then again, of the slave’s statements half are in favor of one side, half in favor of the other: his affirmations support my accusers, and his denials support me. [;Similarly with the combined statements of both the witnesses examined: the one affirmed, and the other consistently denied.];Clearly an addition by a reader who thought that the argument ought to be pushed still further. The syntax is harsh and the reasoning itself unsound; B had denied throughout, it is true; but A, as we have just heard, spent half his time denying, and the other half affirming; so he cannot be set against B. But I need not point out that any equal division is to the advantage of the defence rather than the prosecution, in view of the fact that an equal division of the votes of the jury similarly benefits the defence rather than the prosecution.

52 Such was the examination under torture on which the prosecution rely, gentlemen, when they say that they are convinced that I am the murderer of Herodes. Yet if I had had anything whatsoever on my conscience, if I had committed a crime of this kind, I should have got rid of both witnesses while I had the opportunity, either by taking them with me to Aenus or by shipping them to the mainland.i.e., to Asia Minor. I should not have left the men who knew the truth behind to inform against me.