¹⁶ I answered them that it was not the Roman custom to sentence a man to be punished until the accused met his accusers face to face and had an opportunity to defend himself against the charge. ¹⁷ So they came here with me, and the next day without any delay I sat down in the judge’s seat and ordered the man to be brought in. ¹⁸ When his accusers stood up, they didn’t accuse him of any of the crimes^[a] I was expecting.