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[German version] is an argument and interchange which can take place in the Senate or in judicial (criminal or civil) proceedings. In the latter case altercatio stands in contrast to the self-contained lecture oratio continua regularly given at the beginning of a hearing by the counsel of both parties. As proceedings progressed they repeatedly gave rise to debate, due to evidence recorded or other findings, on the status of the dispute and the legal situation; it took place in the form of an altercatio, shown as an example in Dig. 28,4,3. Oratio like altercatio was the field of action f…

[German version] The advocatus, as ‘one called on’, developed from adviser to the ultimate legal adviser in the late classical period (around AD 200). At first advocatus referred to a usually influential person, who supported someone as an act of friendship in court proceedings (both in criminal and -- notorious for being more boring, Cic. Opt. Gen. 9 f. -- civil law) -- simply by his presence or by his legal knowledge (general knowledge acquired through his training and education); cf. Ps.-Asc. on Cic. in Caec. 11. Here he is distinguished (at least theoretically) from the patronus, who …