Gellius’ Dilemma at Noctes Atticae XIV 2: Legal and Ethical Approaches in the Court

Abstract

At Noctes Atticae XIV 2, Aulus Gellius describes a case over which he presided and in which he was unable to reach a final verdict. His indecision revolves around the mismatch between the moral characters of the litigants and the state of evidence (or lack thereof). This paper takes a close look at the role of Favorinus, who quotes Cato the Elder in an attempt to help Gellius make a decision. Linking the anecdote to larger debates about character-based argumentation in the court, the present paper argues that Gellius is not exactly confused by a contradiction in the evidence, but rather that he cannot decide between two different evaluative frameworks that could be used for resolving the problem: ethics and the law.