Deposition After this will you regard the testimony of Nicodemus as more worthy of credence than the evidence provided by our uncle's own acts? ἐκμαρτυρία , which is strictly a technical term meaning a deposition taken in writing outside the court, is here rhetorically used for the evidence of a person's acts. And will anyone attempt to persuade you that our uncle made a legal marriage with this woman who was a common courtezan? No, you will never, I am sure, believe it unless Nicodemus can explain the following points, which I mentioned at the beginning of my speech;