That the Worse is wont to Attack the Better

“And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us make our way to the plain. And it came to pass when they were on the plain that Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him” (Gen. 4:8). What Cain is aiming at is by means of a challenge to draw Abel into a dispute, and to gain the mastery over him by plausible sophistries that have the appearance of truth. For, drawing our conclusions about things that are obscure from things that are manifest, we say that the plain, the rendezvous to which he summons him, is a figure of contest and desperate battle.

For we see that most contests both in war and peace take place on plains. In peace those who contend in athletic sports look out for race-courses and spacious plains; and in war it is not usual to fight infantry or cavalry battles on hills; for the casualties arising from the unfavourable nature of the ground would outnumber those inflicted on each other by the combatants.