De lateribus potestcUum, quorum necessiias ex- a
The Corruption of the Court
The author describes the pervasive greed, bribery, and bureaucratic obstructionism that define life at court.
It must be filled, and softness must be restrained. But this natural rule must also be observed by those who work alongside princes—that is, those who are supposed to assist them. It’s a fact that our character is formed by the company we keep. If you touch pitch, you’re defiled by it, and a grape that touches another grape takes on its bruise. Don't believe that justice, truth, or piety can be found in the homes of those where you see that everything is for sale. Christ himself is shut out, and if he knocks at the door, it isn't opened to him; those who do everything for a price, and nothing for free, flee from grace and drive it away. If petitions need to be presented, if a case needs to be examined, if a sentence needs to be carried out, or if a contract needs to be drawn up, money does it all; truth is blind and piety is crippled, for as much as a person keeps in their money chest, that is how much faith they have. The poor person is believed to despise even the gods, while the gods themselves forgive them. The more corrupt a person is in their ways and the more they can be corrupted by bribes, the more successful they are among these people. If you manage to escape the hands of the leaders, a long, narrow, and difficult road still lies ahead; you'll have to sweat before you can escape the final torturers. Look, Cossus is preparing your documents; if he deigns to greet you, consider it a big deal. If you don't bring a written note, you're wasting your time. But even if you do bring one, it's useless; he won't agree to let a noble hand be degraded by the flaw of a piece of parchment. Why say more? You have to buy your own, since neither the labor, nor the pen, nor the ink of the cuttlefish or the black squid comes to you for free. But even the very syllables and letters—unless you make him favorable to you—he will twist in such a way, and set so many traps of words for you, that he will seem to be writing wars instead of peace, and lawsuits instead of quiet, into your friend's document. If you happen to find a belt more attractive, a knife more suitable, or some minor household item more pleasing, add it to his list of things, unless you want to waste your time and money. Either it will be extorted from you through pleas, or you'll forestall them with your own generosity. In the end, your friend will carry off some hat or other in your memory. You'll be finished with Cossus, but a purgatorial fire awaits you; Vegento remains, whom you'll have to pester with much persistence and great artifice in your gestures, prayers, and gifts, so that he might look upon you with his mouth shut. Then they go into council over every single word, set a time for deliberation, and weigh every detail on a scale. Unless you've greased his palms, you'll be met with a distorted account of what actually happened, or a poorly written draft will stand in your way, or the kindness of the notary or clerk will wander from the official form, or there will be some legal negligence; and there will always be some knot that requires money to untie. So that it hurts as little as possible, you'll be tortured by long expectation while what cannot be denied is delayed. Believe someone who has experienced it: I've fallen into their hands a thousand times, and (to borrow something from the fables) the grim ferryman Charon, who never spared anyone, is far more merciful than these men; for he's usually content with a single coin. But these people insist on having their pennies multiplied. But why do I complain that everything at court is for sale, when even things that don't exist—the very absence of things—are up for sale? No work or word is given for free, and nothing is kept quiet unless you pay for it; silence itself is a commodity. They perhaps learned this from Demosthenes, who, when he asked the actor Aristodemus how much he had been paid for his performance and was told, "A talent," replied, "But I was paid more to keep quiet." The tongues of lawyers are truly destructive unless you bind them, as the saying goes, with silver cords. And it does no good to try to snare one person with gifts—unless perhaps he is the most powerful—because the moment you win the favor of one, you stir up the envy of others. For they consider anything given to others as something stolen from themselves. This attitude travels from the highest to the lowest, who, even if they are soothed by favors and refreshed by gifts, suspect that they are being wronged. Every great house is full of arrogant servants; and it is just as full of the greedy and the avaricious.
The Mask of Virtue
The author warns against those who use the appearance of piety and generosity to mask their own avarice and manipulative behavior.
Yet among all the court's triflers, those are the most destructive who use the pretense of honesty and generosity to color over their own wretchedness—those who walk about looking polished, who feast more sumptuously, who frequently force strangers to come to their own tables, appearing more refined at home and more kind abroad, more affable in speech, more free in their opinions, generous in the cultivation of their neighbors, and shining in the imitation of every virtue. For as the ethicist says: No injustice is more deadly than that of those who, while they are deceiving you the most, act in such a way that they appear to be good men. For them, the shadow of virtue provides a license; and where one should hardly have hoped for mercy, they attain glory. Those who cannot get by with little are able to extort a great deal with impunity; in fact, they disdain being content with anything less. It's a well-known and common proverb that he who doesn't know how to use little will be a servant forever. Yet so you don't think I'm waging an inexorable war against them, let court officials accept gifts freely, provided they don't extort them shamelessly. But shame is cast aside as soon as one arrives at the point of making demands. The word, he says, must be spoken with a humble and submissive voice: 'I ask'; and he who receives while he is asking hasn't obtained it for free. Anyone who asks buys twice; they sell their own self-respect to pay for the thing or the hope they seek. A gift offered out of genuine generosity, rather than extorted by the shamelessness of the one asking, carries no stain of blame. Still, you shouldn't accept gifts from the wicked, since it's wrong to encourage the favors of an ungrateful person, and as the Lord says, it's wrong to justify the wicked for the sake of bribes. To accept a favor is, in effect, to sell your freedom; it's shameful for those who ought to be in command of others to become their servants. Nevertheless, you must consider both the cause and the person involved so that what is accepted isn't taken from a shameful source or in a shameful way—a matter that requires broader inquiry regarding the place, time, and manner. For gifts often shine or grow sordid depending on the hand that gives them, the cause behind them, and sometimes the time, place, or manner of the giving. Yet the shamelessness of courtiers has become so well known that you'd be foolish to rely on the testimony of a clear conscience, the beauty of character, a reputation for goodness, the sincerity of a cause, or a torrent of eloquence, unless a bribe is offered. Even if you come accompanied by the Muses, Homer, if you bring nothing, you'll be sent away, Homer. Orpheus is said to have softened not only lions and tigers with his eloquence, but his voice was even sweeter when he pleaded before Dis himself. He persuaded the three-headed dog with a more favorable cause, so that he might be allowed to lead Eurydice back, once she had been admitted, against the custom of the underworld. But even if you were Orpheus or Arion, or that man said to have moved stones with the mere sound of his lyre, you'll accomplish nothing among court officials unless you soften their leaden hearts with the golden or silver hammer of vanity, or on the anvil of greed. Everyone dreads the cruelty of Cerberus, but I believe I've seen doorkeepers even harder than he is. Yet, even among the dead. Cerberus is one creature, but there are as many Cerberuses as there are nooks and crannies in the court. You'll also have to endure these Cerberus-like doorkeepers and an entire household that is always either biting or barking. Everyone has heard doctors say with one voice, 'While it hurts, take it'; they're even prepared, if they think it serves their own interests, to make sure that what is healthy hurts. Yet you'll be surprised to find them most pious in one respect: they willingly listen to complaints, support the cases of the lowly, and defend the afflicted—right up until they've emptied the purses of the wealthy. For no matter how a case proceeds, the goal is always to fill their purses, even though greed can never be satisfied. Whoever falls into the hands of these people, if they are found to be repentant, I believe these torments are enough to earn them forgiveness. There is nothing so grave that it cannot be atoned for here. For what is more miserable than to sit at the doorsteps of the proud, to endure the arrogance of those passing by, to suffer the indignity of being trampled by the contempt of people who are themselves contemptible, and to endure all sorts of unworthy treatment from unworthy people? When Alcibiades asked Socrates why he didn't throw his wife, Xanthippe—a woman who was extremely difficult, quarrelsome, and who swarmed with womanly troubles day and night—out of his house, he replied: 'When I endure such a person at home, I become accustomed and trained to bear the insolence and injustice of others more easily when I am out in the world.' It's a well-known old proverb that an empty hand makes for a reckless request; and indeed, he is an annoying petitioner who relies on words alone to get things that require payment. It holds true in both cases—among courtiers and doctors alike: 'For mere mountain-talk, we use mountain-herbs; for expensive things, we use expensive ointments and spices.' Among others, however, those who have the least power are the most kind, even though almost everyone is inclined to do harm, which is far easier for anyone to do than to do good. Let them carry on their business, then; let them drain the purses of others and stuff their own; let them possess as much as Pacuvius and pile up gold as high as mountains; let them neither love anyone nor be loved by anyone; let them be objects of admiration to strangers while being objects of hatred or contempt to those in their own household. You'll find something like this in the writings of the ancient Romans.
The Peril of the Courtly Life
The author concludes that the court is inherently dangerous to the soul, comparing it to the fountain of Salmacis that strips men of their virtue.
When Publius Cineus Grecinus (or whatever other name he might go by) was criticized by his friends for divorcing a wife who was beautiful, chaste, and noble, he replied: "This shoe you see is new, elegant, and pleasing to everyone who looks at it, but no one knows where it pinches me except me." We read in the Book of Numbers that when Israel committed fornication with the Midianites and provoked the Lord's anger, God's wrath didn't rest until Phinehas ran his sword through Zimri, the son of Salu, along with the Midianite woman he had brought in. The word of the Lord therefore came to Moses, saying: "Take all the leaders of the people and hang them on gallows in the sun." The people had indeed sinned, and while the fornication of the leaders isn't explicitly mentioned, they were ordered to be seized and led to the gallows; through their punishment, peace was restored to the sinning people, because the excesses of subordinates very often arise from the negligence of those in charge. It's therefore the duty of such authorities to restrain malice and to provide for the public good, so that every opportunity for wrongdoing is removed. This was also provided for in ancient Roman law; otherwise, the authority will be seen as the author of the very crime he neglects to correct when it's his duty to do so. For the court is a place where the more prominent and powerful it is, the more full of these scourges of men and torturers of the innocent it becomes, and the more destructive it is. It's, in fact, common for a court to either receive or create vicious people, among whom the audacity to sin grows strong when the vices of the powerful are indulged through familiarity. Furthermore, it's pointless to make assumptions about anyone's past life, since it's hard to keep your innocence among courtiers. For who is there whose virtue isn't shaken by the nonsense of the court? Who is so great or so solid that they can't be corrupted? The best person is the one who resists the longest, the one who resists the most strongly, and the one who is corrupted the least. For if virtue is to remain unharmed, one must turn away from the life of the court. Whoever said this expressed the nature of the court wisely and well: 'Let him leave the court who wishes to be holy.' That is why the fountain of Salmacis, famous for its reputation for effeminacy, is elegantly compared to it. For as the story goes, the water is beautiful to look at, sweet to the taste, smooth to the touch, and most delightful to all the senses, but it drains the strength of those who enter it with such softness that it strips men of their nobler sex; and no one leaves it without being stunned and grieving that they have been changed into a woman. For the person who gives way entirely either degenerates into a worse state, or, with some trace of their former dignity remaining, they take on the form of a hermaphrodite—someone who, through a kind of mockery of nature, displays the image of both sexes in such a way that they retain the truth of neither. By this poetic cloud of fiction, the image of courtly trifles is represented, which soften men by stripping them of virtue, or corrupt them while keeping up appearances. Anyone who adopts the absurdities of the court while professing the role of a philosopher or a good man is a hermaphrodite; with a stern and bristling face, they defile womanly grace and pollute and defile the man with feminine things. A courtly philosopher is truly a monstrous thing; while they strive to be both, they are neither, because the court excludes philosophy, and a philosopher doesn't accept courtly absurdities at all. However, this comparison doesn't apply to every court, but only to one disordered by the whims of a fool. For the person who is wise drives away trifles, sets their house in order, and subjects everything to reason. For as Wisdom says: 'What fellowship has a holy man with a dog, or light with darkness? Every animal loves its like, and every person loves their neighbor.' Every living thing joins with its own kind, and every person will associate with those like themselves. If a wolf has ever shared a meal with a lamb, then a sinner has done the same with a righteous person.✦
Read the original Latin
plenda est, molitia reprimenda. Sed et in lateribus, his scilicet qui principibus debent assistere, haec naturae formula seruanda est. Constat enim quia a conuictu mores formantur. Qui tangit picem inquinatur ab ea; uuaque contacta liuorem ducit ab uua. Nec domi illorum iustitiam esse credas aut ueritatem aut pietatem, apud quos uides omnia esse uenalia. Christus ipse exclusus est et, si pulsat ad ostium, non aperitur ei; fugiunt et fugant gratiam qui omnia ad pretium et gratis faciunt nichil. Si preces porrigendae sunt, si eausa examinanda, si executioni mandanda sententia, si conficienda cautio, omnia nummus agit, ueritas ceca est, pietas manca, dum quantum quisque sua nummorum seruat in arca, tantum habet et fidei. Cont mpnere fuhnina pauper creditur atque deos, diis ignoscentibus ipsis.
Qui corruptior moribus et corrumpentior muneribus apud istos beatior est. Si principum manus euaseris, grandis tibi restat uia arta et ardua; antequam tortores extremos effugias, sudandum est tibi. Ecce instrumenta tua conficit Cossus; si eum salutare Hcuerit, pro magno reputa. Si cedulam non attuleris, frustra accedes. Si autem attuleris, inutihs est nec adquiescet ut manus nobilis uitio membranae degeneret. Quid multa? Suam necesse est comparari, cum nec opera nec calamus aut sepiolae aut nigrae lolHginis succus tibi constet inemptus. Sed et ipsas sillabas et apices, nisi eum tibi propitium feceris, sic distorquebit, tot tibi uerborum ponet tendiculas, ut pro pace bella pro quiete ligitium amici instrumento uideatur inscribere.
Si cingulum forte tibi uenustius fuerit, si incisorium aptius, si quid in minuta suppellectili decentius, rebus eius connumera, nisi tibi perire uelis operam et impensam. Aut enim precibus extorquebitur aut eas i liberalitate praeuenies. Tandem pilleum, qualecumque sit, asportabit amicus in memoriam tui. lam a Cosso digrederis, sed tibi ignis purgatorius imminet, superest Vegento, quem multa sollicitabis instantia et magno artificio gestus precum et munerum ut te clauso labello respiciat. Tunc de singulis uerbis in consilium itur, deliberationi praescribit tempus, et apices singuli ponuntur in statera. Nisi eum praemulseris, occurret tibi non fideliter rei gestae concepta series aut stilus incultus oberit aut a publica forma notarii uel scriniarii diuertens benignitas aut negligentia iuris; et aliquis semper nodus pecunia uindice indigebit. Vt a uero minimum ledat, longa expectatione torqueberis, dum difFertur quod negari non potest. Experto crede, in manus eorum milies incidi, et (ut aliquid de fabulis mutuemur) portitor immitis Caron, qui nemini pepercit umquam, istis longe clementior est; stipe siquidem uel triente solet esse contentus.
At isti asses integros sibi multiplicari iubent. Sed quid est quod apud curiales omnia queror esse uenalia, cum ea etiam quae non sunt, rerum scilicet priuationes, uenalitio constet esse obnoxia Non opus, non sermo gratuitus est, non tacetur nisi ad pretium; silentium namque res uenalis est. Hoc forte a Demostene acceperunt, qui cum Aristodimum actorem fabularum interrogasset quantum mercedis uti ageret accepisset, et responderetur ei: Talentum; At ego, inquit Demostenes, plus accepi ut tacerem. Causidicorum siquidem est lingua dampnifica, nisi eam, ut dici solet, funibus argenteis uincias. Nec unum, nisi forte potentissimus sit, proficit illaqueare muneribus, quia in quo unius tibi conciliatur gratia, aliorum concitatur inuidia. Sibi namque praereptum arbitrantur quod aliis erogatur. Hoc autem a maximis pertransit ad minimos qui, uisi mulceantur obsequiis et reficiantur muneribus, sibi fieri iniuriam suspicantur. Maxima quaeque domus seruis est plena superbis; et eadem cupidis plena est et auaris.
Illi tamen perniciosius nocent inter omnes curiae nugatores, qui sub praetextu honestatis et liberalitatis miseriae suae solent ineptias colorare, qui nitidiores incedunt, qui splendidius J5 epulantur, qui propriam ad mensam saepius extraneos compellunt accedere, humaniores domi, foris benigniores, affabihores in sermone, liberiores in sententiis, in proximorum cultu munifici et omnium uirtutum imitatione praeclari. Vt enim ait ethicus: Totius iniustitiae nuUa est capitalior quam eorum qui, cum maxime decipiunt, id agunt ut boni uiri esse uideantur. His utique uirtutis umbra licentiam facit; et unde uix oportuerat sperari I ueniam, gloriam assequuntur. Possunt impune plurima extorquere qui paruo non possunt, immo dedignantur esse contenti. Notum quidem est et generale prouerbium quia seruiet etemum qui paruo nesciet uti. Ne tamen cum his me bellum inexorabile gerere putes, munera curiales licenter accipiant, dum non extorqueant impudenter. Pudor autem abicitur simul ac ad exactiones uentum est. Verbum, inquit, uerecundum supplici ac submissa uoce dicendum Rogo; nec gratis tulit qui cum rogaret accepit.
Bis enim emit qui rogat; ad rei namqiie uel spei pretium uerecundiam uendidit. Munus uero iustae reprehensionis non habet notam quod deuotio liberalitatis obtulit, non improbitas deprecantis extorsit; ita tamen ut iniquorum munera non acceptet, cum ingrati hominis a sit uotis non fouere beneficium et impium pro muneribus iustificare dicente Domino sit iniquum. Vtique beneficium accipere est uendere libertatem; et dedecens est seruos esse qui debent aliis imperare. Verumtamen et causae ratio habenda est et personae, ut nec a turpi nec turpiter accipiatur quod ex loco et tempore et modo latius oportet inquiri. Nam plerumque a manu, plerumque a causa, a tempore interdum, interdum a loco uel modo splendent munera uel sordescunt. At improbitas curialium eo usque innotuit ut de testimonio conscientiae, de uenustate morum, de odore opinionis, de sinceritate causae, de torrente eloquentiae, nisi pretio interueniente quis frustra confidat. Ipse licet uenias Musis comitatus, Omere, si nichil attuleris, ibis Omere foras. Non modo leones et tigrides eloquentiae beneficio lenisse dictus est Orpheus sed apud ipsum Ditem uox dulcior perorauit canemque tricipitem exorauit causa fauorabilior ut admissam semel Euridicen contra morem inferorum liceret educere.
Tu uero, licet Orpheus sis aut Arion uel ille qui solo testudinis sono saxa, ut dicitur, emoUiuit, nichil apud curiales efficies, nisi plumbea eorum corda aureo uel argenteo malleo uanitatis uel cupiditatis incude emollias. Inclementiam Cerberi omnes abhorrent; ego me credo uidisse hostiarios Cerbero duriores. Apud inferos tamen. Cerberus unus est; quot sunt diuerticula curialium, tot Cerberi sunt. Atrienses quoque Cerbereos sustinebis totamque familiam quae semper aut mordet aut latrat. Omnes uero, quotquot sunt, in uno medieos audierunt dicentes: Dum dolet, accipe; facturi etiam, si sibi expedire crediderint, ut doleat quod sanum est. In uno tamen piissimos esse miraberis, quod querelas libenter audiunt, fouent humiliorum causas et eo usque patrocinantur afflictis, dum exhauriant loculos pleniorum. Nam quocumque modo causa procedat, hoc semper agitur ut loculi impleantur, etsi auaritia nequeat satiari.
Quisquis in istorum manus inciderit, si penitens inuenitur, opinor haec tormenta ei sufficere posse ad ueniam. Nichil adeo graue est quod hic expiari non possit. Quid enim miserius est quam superbis assidere liminibus, praetergredientium tolerare fastum et contemptibilium calcari contemptu perferre molestias excussonmi et ab indignis quaeuis indigna perf erre Socrates, cum eum Alcipiades interrogaret quare Xantippem, uxorem admodum morosam iurgiosam et quae diu noctuque muliebribus scatebat molestiis, domo non abigeret, inquit: Cum talem domi perpetior, insuesco et exerceor ut ceterorum quoque foris petulantiam et iniuriam facilius feram. Veteri celebratur prouerbio quia uacuae manus temeraria petitio est; et profecto importunus precator est qui dandas res ad uerba confidit. Vtrobique enim scilicet apud curiales et medicos obtinet: Pro solis uerbis montanis utimur herbis; pro caris rebus pigmentis et speciebus. a Inter alios tamen benigniores sunt qui minimum possunt, licet fere omnes proni sint ad noeendum quod cuiuis longe facilius est quam prodesse. Exerceant ergo nundinas suas, loculos alienos exhauriant, farciant suos, possideant quantum Paccuuius, montibus aurum exaequent, nec ament aliquem nec amentur ab uUo, sint admirationi ignotis dum domesticis sint odio uel contemptui. Tale aliquid in ueterum Romanorum scriptis inuenies.
Cum Publius Cineus Grecinus (aut si alio potius dicitur nomine) argueretur ab amicis quod uxorem formosam castam et nobilem repudiaret, respondit: Et hic soccus, quem cernitis, nouus elegans et inspectoribus omnibus placens est, sed nemo scit praeter me solum ubi me premat. Legitur in libro Numerorum quod cum Madianitis fornicans Israel indignationem Domini prouocauerit, donec Finees Zambri filium Salu cum succuba Madianitide educto ense transuerberauit et in occasu nocentum quieuit ira Dei. Factus est ergo sermo Domini ad Moysen dicens: ToUe cunctos principes populi et suspende eos contra solem in patibulis. Peccauerat quidem populus et fornicatio principum non exprimitur, rapi agi tamen praecipiuntur principes ad patibulum et in pena eorum quies delinquenti populo reparatur, eo quod ex negligentia praesidentium saepissime prouenit excessus subditorum. Refert itaque potestatis istorum cohibere malitiam et eisdem de publico prouidere ut omnis grassandi a occasio subtrahatur. Quod et in iure Romano antiquitus cautum est, alioquin auctor uidebitur maleficii quod praetermisso officio emendare contempnit. His enim flagellis hominum, innocentumque tortoribus, quo praeclarior et potentior, eo plenior et pemiciosior curia est. Frequens etenim est ut curia recipiat uel faciat uitiosos, apud quos inualescit audacia delinquendi cum ex famiKaritate potentum uitiis indulgetur.
Sed et de anteacta uita cuiuscumque frustra praesumitur, cum inter curiales uix possit innocentia retineri. Quis est enim cui uirtutem non excutiant curialium nugae? Quis est tantus, quis tam Bolidus ut corrumpi non possit? Optimus est qui resistit diutius, qui ualidius, qui corrumpitur minus. Nam, ut sit uirtus incolumis, a curialium uita diuertendum est. Prouide quisquis hoc dixerit et prudenter curiae naturam expressit: Exeat aula qui uult esse pius. Vnde eleganter fons Salmacis infamia moUitiei insignis eidem comparatur. Vt enim in fabulis est, unda illius aspectu decora est, gustu dulcis, suauis tactu et omnium sensuum usu gratissima, sed tanta mollitie ingredientes eneruat ut uiris effeminatis nobiliorem adimat sexum; nec ante quisquam egreditur quam stupeat et doleat se mutatum esse in feminam.
Aut enim cedens omnino sexus in deteriorem degenerat aut ueteris dignitatis aliquo manente uestigio hermafroditum induit, qui quodam delinquentis a naturae ludibrio sic utriusque sexus ostentat imaginem ut neutrius retineat ueritatem. Hac autem poetici nube figmenti nugarum curialium repraesentatur imago, quae uiros abiecta uirtute emolliunt aut imagine retenta peruertunt. Qui curialium ineptias induit et philosophi uel boni uiri officium polKcetur, hermafroditus est, qui duro uultu et hispido muhebrem deturpat uenustatem et uirum muliebribus polluit et incestat. Res siquidem monstruosa est philosophus curialis; et, dum utrumque esse affectat, neutrum est, eo quod euria philosophiam excludit et ineptias curiales philosophus usquequaque non recipit. Non tamen ad omnem curiam comparatio transit sed ad illam dumtaxat quae insipientis distemperatur arbitrio. Qui enim sapiens est nugas abigit, componit domum et uniuersa illius subicit rationi. Vt enim ait Sapientia: Quae communicatio sancto homini ad canem aut luci ad tenebras Omne animal diligit simile sibi et omnis homo proximum suum. Omnis caro ad similem sibi coniungitur et omnis homo sociabitur simili sibi.
Si lupus agno aliquando communicauit, sic peccator iusto.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.11.6 — The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; the calf, the fattened steer, and the lion shall be together, and a little child shall lead them.
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