[22]
There is no doubt about his
guilt; the question is whether the name given by
the law applies to the charge. It is therefore
debated whether the act constitutes sacrilege. The
accuser employs this term on the ground that the
money was stolen from a temple: the accused denies
that the act is sacrilege, on the ground that the
money stolen was private property, but admits that
[p. 97]
it is theft. The prosecutor will therefore give the
following definitions, “It is sacrilege to steal anything from a sacred place.” The accused will reply
with another definition, “It is sacrilege to steal
something sacred.” Each impugns the other's definition.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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