The legality of satire was the key issue confronted by the Augustan theorists of satire. The issued originated in the debate about the merits of general and personal satire: is personal satire more libellous than general satire? Critics divide the Augustan satirists into groups according to their preferences for particular types of satire they wrote. Addison favors general satire and Dryden, who is equivocal, seems to favor both general and personal satire. While Dryden defends personal satire on legal grounds, he also acknowledges that personal satire violates the principle of Christian charity, a higher law. These two satirists develop those terms which dominate the study of satire, one of which is “libel.” with its source from Rome.