Quid lex; et quod princepa, licet dt legis nexihus
The Prince Under the Law
The prince is defined as a servant of equity and justice, bound by the law's spirit even when technically exempt from its literal constraints.
He is free, yet he is a servant of the law and of equity; he bears a public role, and he sheds blood innocently. Princes shouldn't consider it an insult to them, unless they believe their own legal statutes should take precedence over the justice of God, whose justice is eternal, and whose law is equity. Furthermore, equity—as legal experts assert—is a harmony of things that balances everything through reason; it seeks equal rights for unequal things, remains fair to all, and grants to each person what is his own. The law is its interpreter, as it is the one to whom the will of equity and justice has become known. Hence, Chrysippus asserted that it is the master of all divine and human things; therefore, it stands as the prince and leader of all goods and evils, and of both things and people. Papinian, a man highly experienced in the law, and Demosthenes, a powerful orator, seem to support this and subject everyone to its obedience. They argue that every law is truly an invention and gift of God, a teaching of the wise, a correction of voluntary excesses, a composition of the state, and a way to avoid all crime; it is fitting for all who live within the community of the state to live according to it. Therefore, everyone is bound by the necessity of keeping the law, unless perhaps there is someone who seems to have been granted a license for iniquity. The prince, however, is said to be free from the bonds of the law—not because he is permitted to do what is unjust, but because he ought to be someone who cultivates equity not out of fear of punishment, but out of love for justice; he looks after the welfare of the state and, in all things, prefers the interests of others to his own private will.
The Minister of Public Utility
The ruler acts as a public servant whose authority is an image of fairness, using his power to protect the innocent and punish the wicked.
But who would speak of a ruler's personal will in public affairs, when in those matters he's not allowed to want anything except what the law or fairness suggests, or what the reason of common utility dictates? For his will ought to have the force of judgment in these matters; and it's most right that what pleases him in such cases holds the vigor of law, because his decision does not discord from the mind of fairness. “Let my judgment come forth from your face,” it says, “let your eyes see fairness”; for he is an uncorrupted judge whose decision is an image of fairness born from constant contemplation. A ruler is therefore a minister of public utility and a servant of fairness, and he bears a public persona in that he punishes the injuries, damages, and even all the crimes of everyone through the medium of fairness. His rod and staff, too, when the moderation of wisdom is applied, bring the contracts and errors of all back to the path of fairness, so that he may rightly congratulate himself on the power of the spirit, saying: “Your rod and your staff, they have comforted me.” But his shield is also strong, though it is the shield of the weak, and it is one that powerfully catches the darts of the wicked for the sake of the innocent. His office also benefits those who can do the least, and it opposes those who desire to do harm. He doesn't, therefore, carry the sword without cause, with which he innocently sheds blood so that he may not be a man of blood, and he kills men frequently so that he doesn't incur the name or guilt of homicide.
The Sword of the Dove
True justice involves punishing offenders without personal malice, mirroring the gentle judgment of the law.
If we believe the great Augustine, David was called a man of blood not because of his wars, but because of Uriah. And Samuel is never written of as a man of blood or a murderer, even though he killed Agag, the very fat king of the Amalekites. This, indeed, is the sword of the dove, which fights without gall, strikes without anger, and when it battles, feels no bitterness at all. For just as the law pursues guilt without hating the person, so too does the prince punish offenders most justly, not out of any impulse of anger, but by the judgment of the gentle law. For although a prince may seem to have his own officers, he himself must be considered the sole or primary officer, for he is the one permitted to strike through a hand acting on his behalf. Turning to the Stoics, who investigate the origins of words more diligently: a lictor is so called as if he were a 'striker of the law,' because it's his duty to strike the one whom the law judges must be struck. Hence, in ancient times, when a sword hung over a criminal, it was said to the officials by whose hand the judge punishes the guilty, 'Obey the judgment of the law,' or 'Fulfill the law,' so that the gentleness of the words might mitigate the sadness of the condemned.
Read the original Latin
ahsolutus, legis tamen seruus est et aequitatis, geHtque personam publicam, et innocenter sanguinem fundit. Nec in eo sibi principes detrahi arbitrentur, nisi iustitiae suae statuta praeferenda crediderint iustitiae Dei, cuius iustitia iustitia in euum est, et lex eius aequitas. Porro aequitas, ut iuris periti asserunt, rerum conuenientia est, quae cuncta coaequiparat ratione et imparibus rebus paria iura desiderat, in omnes aequabilis, tribuens unicuique quod suum est. Lex uero eius interpres est, utpote cui aequitatis et iustitiae uoluntas innotuit. Vnde et eam omnium rerum diuinarum et humanarum compotem esse Crisippus asseruit, ideoque praestare omnibus bonis et malis et tam rerum quam hominum principem et ducem esse. Cui Papinianus, uir quidem iuris experientissimus, et Demostenes, orator praepotens, uidentur suffragari et omnium hominum subicere obedientiam, eo quod lex omnis inuentio quidem est et donum Dei, dogma sapientum, correctio uoluntariorum excessuum, ciuitatis compositio, et totius criminis fuga; secundum quam decet uiuere omnes qui in politicae rei uniuersitate uersantur. Omnes itaque necessitate legis seruandae tenentur adstricti, nisi forte aliquis sit cui iniquitatis licentia uideatur indulta. Princeps tamen legis nexibus dicitur absolutus, non quia ei iniqua liceant, sed quia is esse debet, qui non timore penae sed amore iustitiae aequitatem colat, rei publicae procuret utilitatem, et in omnibus aliorum commoda priuatae praeferat uoluntati.
Sed quis in negotiis publicis loquetur de principis uoluntate, cum in eis nil sibi uelle liceat, nisi quod lex aut aequitas persuadet aut ratio communis utilitatis inducit? Eius namque uoluntas in his uim debet habere iudicii; et rectissime quod ei placet in talibus legis habet uigorem, eo quod ab aequitatis mente eius sententia non discordet. De uultu tuo, inquit, iudicium meum prodeat, oculi tui uideant aequitatem; iudex etenim incorruptus est cuius sententia ex contemplatione assidua imago est aequitatis. Publicae ergo utilitatis minister et aequitatis seruus est princeps, et in eo personam publicam gerit, quod omnium iniurias et dampna sed et crimina omnia aequitate media punit. Virga quoque eius et baculus, adhibita moderatione sapientiae, contractus omnium et errores ad uiam reducit aequitatis, ut merito potestati spiritus congratuletur, dicens: Virga tua et baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt. Sed et clipeus eius fortis quidem sed infirmorum clipeus est et qui malignantium iacula pro innocentibus potenter excipiat. Officium quoque eius illis qui minimum possunt, plurimum prodest, et illis qui nocere desiderant, plurimum aduersatur. Non ergo sine causa gladium portat, quo innocenter sanguinem fundit, ut tamen uir sanguinum non sit, et homines frequenter occidat, ut non incurrat nomen homicidii uel reatum.
Si enim magno creditur Augustino, Dauid uir sanguinum dictus est, non propter bella sed propter Vriam. Et Samuel nusquam uir sanguinum aut homicida scribitur, licet Agag pinguissimum regem Amalech interfecerit. Hie siquidem gladius est columbae, quae sine felle rixatur, sine iracundia ferit et, cum dimicat, nullam omnino concipit amaritudinem. Nam, sicut lex culpas persequitur sine odio personarum, ita et princeps delinquentes rectissime punit, non aliquo iracundiae motu sed mansuetae legis arbitrio. Nam, etsi suos princeps uideatur habere lictores, ipse aut solus aut praecipuus credendus est lictor, cui ferire licitum est per supositam manum. Vt enim ad Stoicos accedamus, qui causas nominum diligentius inuestigant, lictor dicitur, quasi legis ictor, eo quod ad ipsius spectat officium ferire quem lex iudicat feriendum. Vnde et antiquitus officialibus, quorum manu iudex nocentes punit, cum reo gladius immineret, ' Obtempera legis arbitrio ' dicebatur, uel ' Legem imple,' ut rei tristitiam mitigaret uel mansuetudo uerborum.
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
- A daily 5-minute companion portion in the app alongside your weekly study