The paper deals with Cicero’s oration pro Tullio. The case is based on the formula created by praetor Lucullus few years before. The formula orders the judges to assess the damage caused dolo malo to the plaintiff (i.e. Tullius) by the defendant’s family (i.e. Fabii familia), with violence and by the means of men grouped and armed (vi hominibus armatis coactisve). Fabius’s lawyer (Quintius) uselessly pleads for the inclusion of the word iniuria into the formula. Fabius confessed the facts, and Quintius tries to defend him by claiming that his familia acted iure (maybe in self-defence). Cicero’s argumentation is aimed to demonstrate that Fabius’s confession is enough to condemn him. For this purpose, Cicero examines first the meaning of the formula words dolo malo, and then which should be the significance of the lack of the word iniuria.
