foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was
the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it
was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before
us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we are all going direct the other
way”.
276
A classic illustration comes from the 12 volume poem Aeneid by the Roman
poet Publius Vergilius Maro (70BC–19BC) known as ‘Vergil’ or ‘Virgil’. It is
named after the hero and central character Aeneas. It is the story of how
The Greeks had laid siege to Troy because one of the Trojans, Paris,
stole
Helen from her husband Menelaus, the King of Sparta. On his journey Aeneas
had a love affair with Dido. Eventually he came to Italy to become the ancestor
of the Romans
and by this, the founder of the Roman Empire. Vergil
commenced
this epic story of passion and power with this simple and
beguiling statement: “Arma virumque cano,” translating “This is the story of a
war and a man”.
277
In context it is about an epic clash of arms that was the
Trojan war, and the journey of one man, Aeneas, which would found an
almighty empire. Only the brief and massive understatement contained in the
words arma virumque cano
could convey the drama and majesty that
attended this heroic story of a mighty empire begat by a military defeat.
Newspaper articles often do not commence the story at the beginning, but by a
lead-in that states the most novel, interesting or sensational aspect of it. Having
grabbed the reader’s attention, good newspaper writing will then explain the
subject with a structured account. Since a writer likes to grab a reader’s
attention, there is temptation for a judge to commence a judgment in this way;
for example, a judgment can catch attention with a statement of the issue of
importance then revert to a structured treatment.
278
___________________
276
Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities (1859) Book I Chapter 1
277
The popular translation of cano arma virumque
is “I sing of arms
and the man”. For example in 1894 George Bernard Shaw wrote a play
entitled Arms and the Man. Some comments are needed on the variations
in the translation in this text. (i) The core meaning of the verb cano is
literally “I sing” but since Latin is a cryptic language with a sparse
vocabulary it also means something like “I recite” or “my poem is about”
which fits this context. (ii) The core meaning of arma is arms or weapons.
However in Latin there is usage derived from metonymy in which arma
also means war. This is illustrated by the legal maxim inter arma leges
sunt silentia. This says that in a state of war or disturbance, the law is
silent. Put broadly, the maxim is saying that necessity derived from war
overrules all laws.
278
Kirby (1990) p 702
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