Q^iod ei dumtaocat licet adulari, quem licet occi
The Limits of Flattery
The author distinguishes between the treatment of friends and tyrants, arguing that flattery is a permissible tool against the latter.
—and that a tyrant is a public enemy. But who actually deserves this 'oil of the sinner'—the oil that the forerunner of faithful kings rejects, and which the Gospel says the foolish virgins went off to buy? It is certainly owed to the person who is mired in filth and who, by the just judgment of God, becomes even filthier, preferring to shine in the eyes of the crowd rather than burn with the fire of charity and its works. Therefore, secular literature also warns that you must treat a friend differently than you treat a tyrant. It is certainly not acceptable to flatter a friend, but it is acceptable to soothe the ears of a tyrant. After all, it is acceptable to flatter someone whom it is acceptable to kill. Furthermore, it is not only acceptable to kill a tyrant, but it is fair and just; for whoever takes up the sword deserves to perish by the sword. But 'taking up' refers to someone who usurps the sword through their own recklessness, not someone who receives the authority to use it from the Lord.
The Crime of Usurping Justice
True authority serves the law, whereas tyranny subverts it, making the tyrant a target for public justice.
Certainly, anyone who receives power from God serves the laws and is a servant of justice and the law. But whoever usurps it suppresses the laws and subjects them to his own will. Therefore, the laws are rightly armed against anyone who disarms them, and public authority rages against anyone who tries to strip the public hand of its power. And although there are many crimes of treason, none is more serious than that which is committed against the very body of justice. Tyranny, therefore, is not merely a public crime, but, if it were possible, it is something even worse than public. For if the crime of treason admits all persecutors, how much more so does that crime which suppresses the laws that ought to govern the emperors themselves? Certainly, no one leaves a public enemy unpunished, and whoever does not pursue him sins against himself and against the entire body of the worldly commonwealth.
Read the original Latin
dere; et quod tirannus puhlicus hostis est. Verumtamen cui debetur hoc oleum peccatoris, quod reprobat praeambulus regum fidelium, et ad quod emendum in fatuitate sua exclusas uirgines mittit euangelicus sermo? Ei utique qui in sordibus est et iusto Dei iudicio sordescit amplius et uulgi opinione potius splendere appetit quam caritatis operumque eius feruere incendio. Vnde et in secularibus litteris cautum est quia aliter cum amico, aliter uiuendum est cum tiranno. Amico utique adulari non licet, sed aures tiranni mulcere licitum est. Ei namque licet adulari, quem licet occidere. Porro tirannum occidere non modo licitum est sed aequum et iustum, Qui enim gladium accipit, gladio dignus est interire. Sed accipere intelligitur qui eum propria temeritate usurpat, non qui utendi eo accipit a Domino potestatem.
Vtique qui a Deo potestatem accipit, legibus seruit et iustitiae et iuris famulus est. Qui uero eam usurpat, iura deprimit et uoluntati suae leges summittit. In eum ergo merito armantur iura qui leges exarmat, et publica potestas seuit in eum qui euacuare nititur publicam manum. Et, cum multa sint crimina maiestatis, nullum grauius est eo, quod aduersus ipsum corpus iustitiae exercetur. Tirannis ergo non modo publicum crimen sed, si fieri posset, plus quam publicum est. Si enim crimen maiestatis omnes persecutores idmittit, quanto magis illud quod leges premit, quae ipsis debent imperatoribus imperare? Certe hostem publicum nemo ulciscitur, et quisquis eum non persequitur, in seipsmn et in totum rei pubKcae mundanae corpus delinquit.
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
Pair the outline with the Chosen Portion app, which serves short daily portions from the same royal devotional tradition — free on iOS.
John of Salisbury argued that rulers must keep the law of God before their eyes daily; Chosen Portion gives modern readers that same daily discipline in five minutes a morning.
- 8 weeks, one book per week, with the 3-4 key chapters flagged in each
- Discussion questions usable for a reading group from week one
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