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Quintilian, and J.S. Watson. Institutes of Oratory. Edited by Lee Honeycutt, 2010. Kindle Electronic Edition. Book 7 Chapter 6.
Quintilian estimates that the most frequent question of lawyers “is concerning the written letter of a law, and the intention of it” (Quintilian VII.6.1). Therefore schools often study interpretation of laws. Quintilian gives examples of vague or misleading laws which can cause disputes. Sometimes the law is worded very clearly but the meaning is different from the wording (Quintilian VII.6.4). Sometimes the law clearly has a meaning other than its literal interpretation (Quintilian VII.6.8).