Letter 2076: While a well-known case was pending before the Prefect's court, Dyscolius, who had brought the charge of theft,...

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 398 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
imperial politics
From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To: [Unnamed correspondent]
Date: ~398 AD
Context: Symmachus reports on a legal case before the Prefecture involving a man named Dyscolius.

While a well-known case was pending before the Prefect's court, Dyscolius, who had brought the charge of theft, found himself in a complicated position. The details of the case are tangled, as legal matters so often are, but the principle at stake is clear: justice must not be swayed by influence, and a man's accusation must stand or fall on its own merits. I bring this to your attention because I know your care for fairness, and because the outcome may have implications beyond the immediate parties. I will keep you informed as the case proceeds.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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