Seneca the Younger Quotes
The wise man will not pardon any crime that ought to be punished, but he will accomplish, in a nobler way, all that is sought in pardoning. He will spare some and watch over some, because of their youth, and others on account of their ignorance. His clemency will not fall short of justice, but will fulfill it perfectly.
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Moral Essays, Volume I. Translated by John W. Basore, Harvard University Press, 1928, p. 443.
Manava Dharma Shastra. Interestingly in an otherwise cruel and authoritarian system, slander of the king was overlooked in several situations including men in litigation who may be distressed with the king’s verdict. This text is a part of the Hindu Holy Texts. Hindus believe that Manu was a prophet whose text is revealed or inspired.
Unfortunately, his close successors did not share Alexander’s surprisingly modern view.
Most Americans would with this characterized their own judges. This is the most formalized and sophisticated compendium of laws of the so-called “barbaric peoples” of Europe. The compilation was in many ways a documentation of the traditional laws of the Visigoths that had evolved over hundreds of years.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (/ˈsɛnɪkə/; c. 4 BC – AD 65), usually known as Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work, satirist from the Silver Age of Latin literature.