But Quintilian does at least transmit some of the basics of Greek thinking on the combination of evidence. “There are other non-necessary signs, called eikota in Greek. Even if these are not sufficient by themselves to remove doubt, they may be of the greatest value when taken together with others. . . . But bloodstains on a garment may be the result of the slaying of a victim at a sacrifice or of a bleeding nose. . . . Hermagoras would include among such non-necessary signs an argument such as, ‘Atalanta is not a virgin, since she has been roaming in the woods with young men.’ If we accepted
...more
