Indeed they say that something like this happened to the first Augustus. It happened that he had decided a certain case correctly and acquitted a defendant who had been unjustly prosecuted on a most serious charge. The man acknowledged his gratitude in a loud voice: “Thank you, Emperor, for your bad and unjust judgment!” Augustus’s courtiers were furious and would have torn him to pieces, but the emperor said, “Calm your anger. It is his meaning, not his words, that you must consider.” That was his answer, but if you look at my meaning, the intention, you’ll see, was good; if at my words, they too were auspicious.