The Game of Chess

In the left margin, a faint ink sketch depicts a tall, multi-tiered structure, resembling a tower or perhaps a belfry, likely illustrating the architectural metaphors of the text regarding the "standing" or stability of a judge.

...and they themselves, through their own wisdom, should order and arrange [these matters]. A judge ought to be firm and steadfast, so that he is not corrupted by the love of money, nor by fear of a superior judge original: "timore iudic[is]," referring to the fear of being overruled or punished by a higher authority, nor by the ties of kinship original: "carnis origine," literally "origin of the flesh".

Regarding the first point, Seneca Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Roman Stoic philosopher, frequently cited in medieval works for his moral teachings. says that Diogenes was more powerful than Alexander the Great, even though Alexander possessed all things. For there was more that Diogenes was unwilling to accept than what Alexander was able to give.

It is also told of Marcus Curius Marcus Curius Dentatus (d. 270 BCE), a Roman hero known for his incorruptibility., the noble Roman, that when he was besieging the Samnites (that is, the people of Benevento) and they heard that he was a man of poor means, they brought to him a great weight of gold. They found him in his camp, sitting at dinner and eating his food from wooden vessels, not golden ones. They thought that because he was poor, he would wish to become wealthy. They said to him: "Behold, the Samnites bring this gift to you," and they requested that he depart from the siege. To them he replied: "Go and tell the Samnites that Marcus Curius would rather command the wealthy than be wealthy himself. And remember that he can neither be defeated in battle, nor corrupted by money."

Another example is found concerning those whose virtue and effectiveness are buried by greed. Aulus Gellius A 2nd-century Roman author of "Attic Nights," a collection of anecdotes. relates that when Demosthenes asked the actor Aristodemus how much payment he had received for a performance, he replied "a talent of gold." Demosthenes answered: "And I have received more than that to keep silent." Thus the tongue of legal advocates is often ruinous; for it is not only with "silver quinsy" original: "fauces argenteis," a metaphor for a throat "blocked" by bribes, preventing the speaker from telling the truth. that they are silenced. Among advocates, even silence itself is for sale.

Valerius Maximus A 1st-century Roman writer known for his collection of historical anecdotes. relates that when a decree of the Roman Senate was being considered, the Senate inquired about two men: one was poor, and the other was very wealthy but greedy, to see which of them was better suited for...