Note 55 — BOOK XII. CONCERNING THE PREVENTION OF OFFICIAL OPPRESSION, AND THE THOROUGH EXTINCTION OF HERETICAL SECTS.
S. P. (Samuel Parsons) Scott translation
In the words of the text, “veretri ex toto amputatione plectetur.” The sentence will not bear translation, and, in the words of a famous writer referring to a similar case, “must be veiled in the obscurity of a learned language.” While certainly to be classed under “cruel and unusual punishments,” it reveals a fiendish ingenuity in adapting the penalty to the so-called offence.—[Ed.]