9.  The general form of all trials was the same; the prosecutor or plaintiff made his complaint, and the defendant was compelled either to find sufficient bail, or to go into prison until the day of trial.  On the appointed day, the plaintiff, or his advocate, stated his case, and proceeded to establish it by evidence; the defendant replied; and the jury then gave their verdict by ballot.

10.  In cases tried before the general assembly of the people, it was allowed to make use of artifices in order to conciliate the popular favour.  The accused and his friends put on mourning robes to excite pity; they went into the most public places and took every opportunity of showing their respect for popular power.  When Cicero was accused by Clo’dius for having illegally put to death the associates of Cataline, the entire senatorian rank changed their robes to show the deep interest they felt in his fate.  At these great trials, the noblest specimens of forensic eloquence were displayed by the advocates of the accuser and the accused; but the decisions were usually more in accordance with the spirit of party than strict justice.

11.  The accused, however, might escape, if he could prevail on any of the tribunes to interpose in his behalf, or the accuser to relinquish his charge; if unfavourable omens appeared during the trial, it was usually adjourned, or sometimes the accusation withdrawn; and up to the very moment of the commencement of the trial, the criminal had the option of escaping a heavier penalty by going into voluntary exile.

12.  The punishments to which state criminals were sentenced, were usually, in capital cases, precipitation from the Tarpeian rock, beheading, or strangulation in prison; when life was spared, the penalties were either exile or fine.  Under the emperors severer punishments were introduced, such as exposure to wild beasts, or burning alive; and torture, which, under the republic, could not be inflicted on free citizens, was exercised unsparingly.

13.  The punishment of parricides was curious; the criminal having been beaten with rods, was sown up in a sack together with a serpent, an ape and a cock, and thrown either into the sea or a river, as if even the inanimate carcase of such a wretch would pollute the earth.

14.  Masters had an absolute, authority over their slaves, extending to life or limb; and in the earlier ages patrons had similar power over their clients.  The condition of slaves in Rome was most miserable, especially in the later ages; they were subject to the most excruciating tortures, and when capitally punished, were generally crucified.  Except in this single particular, the Roman criminal code, was very lenient and sparing of human life.  This was chiefly owing to the exertions of the plebeians, for the patricians always patronized a more sanguinary policy; and could do so the more easily, as the aristocracy retained their monopoly of the administration of justice much longer than that of civil government.