Institutio Oratoria
Quintilian
Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.
This fact makes the refusal to take an oath all the more difficult, unless indeed the affair in question be of such a nature that it cannot be supposed that the facts are known to the person asked to take the oath. Failing this excuse, there
But in my young days advocates grown old in pleading used to lay it down as a rule that we should never be in a hurry to propose that our opponent should take an oath, just as we should never allow him the choice of a judge [*]( The choice of the single iudex in civil cases rested with the plaintiff, though the defendant had the right to refuse the person proposed. ) nor select our judge from among the supporters of the opposite side: for if it is regarded as a disgrace to such a supporter [*]( Not an actual advocate, but a supporter and adviser on points of law. ) to say anything against his client, it is surely a still worse disgrace that he should do anything that will harm his client's case.