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Quintilian · Institutes of Oratory §5.4.1-5.4.2

Reliability of Evidence Under Torture and Specific Criteria

Passage 128 of 366 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the general arguments concerning the reliability of statements under torture and the specific, individual factors of each case, such as the circumstances of the interrogation and the suspect's reactions.

§5.4.1sicut in tormentis quoque, qui est locus frequentissimus, cum pars altera quaestionem vera fatendi necessitatem vocet, altera saepe etiam causam falsa dicendi, quod aliis patientia facile mendacium faciat, aliis infirmitas necessarium.
Just so also in the case of torture, which is a most common topic, while one party calls the interrogation a necessity of speaking the truth, the other often calls it even a cause of speaking falsehood, because for some, endurance makes a lie easy, while for others, weakness makes it necessary.
quid attinet de his plura? plenae sunt orationes veterum ac novorum.
What is the use of saying more on these matters? The speeches of old and new authors are full of them.
§5.4.2quaedam tamen in hac parte erunt propria cuiusque litis.
Nevertheless, in this department there will be certain things peculiar to each individual lawsuit.
nam sive de habenda quaestione agetur, plurimum intererit, quis et quem postulet aut offerat et in quem et ex qua causa; sive iam erit habitat, quis ei praefuerit, quis et quomodo sit tortus, incredibilia dixerit an inter se constantia, perseveraverit in eo quod coeperat. an aliquid dolore mutarit, prima parte quaestionis an procedente cruciatu.
For if it is a question of holding an interrogation, it will matter of the greatest importance who demands or offers whom, and against whom, and for what reason; or if it has already been held, who presided over it, who was tortured and how, whether they said incredible things or things consistent with one another, whether they persevered in what they had begun, or whether they changed anything due to pain, and whether in the first part of the interrogation or as the torture proceeded.
Quae utrinque tam infinita sunt quam ipsa rerum varietas.
These points on both sides are as infinite as the variety of the matters themselves.

Notes

  1. 5.4.1aliis infirmitas necessarium — The verb `faciat` and its object `mendacium` from the preceding clause are omitted, resulting in the structure `aliis infirmitas [mendacium] necessarium [faciat]` ('for others, weakness makes a lie necessary'). `necessarium` is an adjective functioning as an object complement to the omitted neuter accusative singular noun `mendacium`.
  2. 5.4.2sive iam erit habita — Understood by supplying the auxiliary verb `erit` (future perfect) to form `sive iam [quaestio] erit habita`. In contrast to the preceding clause `sive de habenda quaestione agetur` which uses a gerundive for a future hypothetical case, this clause uses the future perfect passive to hypothesize a situation where the torture has already taken place.
  3. 5.4.2quis ei praefuerit... an procedente cruciatu — All the clauses following `sive iam erit habita` from `quis...` to `an procedente cruciatu` are indirect questions acting as the subject of the impersonal main verb `plurimum intererit` ('it will matter of the greatest importance'). The subsequent choices introduced by `an` are also nested within this series of indirect questions.

Cite this passage

Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory §5.4.1-5.4.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi1002.phi001.humanitext-lat2:5.4.1-5.4.2

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