Varro, On the Latin Language, LCL 333: Varro 1, Books 5-7
Translated by Roland G. Kent
Number of quotes: 1
Book ID: 424 Page: 203
Section: 4B
The opposite of these are called dies nefasti ‘unrighteous days,’ on which it is nefas ‘unrighteousness’ for the praetor to say do ‘I give,’ dico ‘I pronounce,’ addico ‘I assign’; therefore no action can be taken, for it is necessary to use some one of these words, when anything is settled in due legal form.But if at that time he has inadvertently uttered such a word and set somebody free, the person is none the less free, but with a bad omen{a} in the proceeding, just as a magistrate elected in spite of an unfavourable omen is a magistrate just the same.
The praetor who has made a legal decision at such a time, is freed of his sin by the sacrifice of an atonement victim, if he did it unintentionally; but if he made the pronouncement with a realization of what he was doing, Quintus Mucius{b} said that he could not in any way atone for his sin, as one who had failed in his duty to God and country.
Quote ID: 8636
Time Periods: 0
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