Kitap 1
3
This Chilo, then, though a man of surpassing wisdom, was in doubt how far he ought to have gone counter to law and counter to equity for the sake of a friend, and that question distressed him even at the very end of his life. So too many subsequent students of philosophy, as appears in their works, have inquired very carefully and very anxiously, to use their own language, ei) dei= bohqei=n tw=| fi/lw| para\ to\ di/kaion kai\ me/xri po/sou kai\ poi=a. The sentence which follows translates the Greek literally, except that for to\ di/kaion what is right, we have in the Latin ius moremve, law or precedent. The Romans laid great stress on the mos maiorum, the precedent set by their forefathers. That is to say, they inquired whether one may sometimes act contrary to law or contrary to precedent in a friend's behalf, and under what circumstances and to what extent.
