Qtboe mxda ud bona subiectis proueniant de mori
The Perils of Foolish Governance
The author warns that honoring fools in positions of power disrupts the commonwealth and leads to ruin.
This is supported by the strategic examples of certain people. It's said, 'Just as one who throws a stone onto a pile of Mercury, so is one who gives honor to a fool.'✦ People interpret this in different ways. With the permission of the wise, I believe the 'pile of Mercury' refers to the place where the logic of calculation resides, because Mercury is the deity of those who engage in trade and diligently watch over their accounts. Therefore, to throw a stone onto the pile where the logic of calculation is governed is to disrupt the entire system of accounting; and to confer honor upon a fool is to subvert the life of the commonwealth. And it's impossible for someone to rule others usefully if he's subverted by his own error. For it says: 'Where there is no governor, the people will fall.'✦ And elsewhere: 'A foolish king will destroy his people, and cities will be inhabited according to the judgment of the prudent.'
The Vanity of Earthly Power
Earthly authority is fleeting and often oppressive, leading to the inevitable decay of both the ruler and the ruled.
All power is short-lived, and a lingering illness weighs heavily on the doctor. A doctor may cut away a brief illness, but a king is here today and gone tomorrow. For when a person dies, they will inherit snakes, beasts, and worms. Tell me, are the poor oppressed by injuries, worn down by taxes, stripped by constant robbery, and ordered to fight among themselves and shake the world, just so these people can succeed the powerful as heirs? For these people succeed everyone by their own right, and no formal will is required. They become heirs without a testament; whether you like it or not, they'll be your heirs. In secular literature, Plato is said to have remarked that it's the same when a magistrate oppresses his subjects as when the head of a body swells up, so that it can no longer be supported by the limbs—or at least not without great distress. It's impossible for this condition to be endured or cured without the most severe pain to the limbs. If, however, the suffering is incurable, it's more miserable to live like that than to die. But for the miserable, there's nothing more useful than to end their misery in any way possible. The same person is also read to have said: When power rages against those subject to it, it is the same as if a guardian were to persecute his ward, or were to kill him with his own sword—the very sword he received from the same source to defend him. For it is a well-known principle that the state should enjoy the rights of a ward, and that it only proceeds rightly when its head recognizes that it is useless unless it faithfully clings to its members. He said this, and quite elegantly and truly. But, as it seems to me, a faithful and firm coherence cannot exist where there's no tenacious union of wills and a kind of binding together of the souls themselves. If this is lacking, the works of men only fit together in a sinister way, when deceit proceeds toward destruction without any desire to improve. Hypocrites, says Job, and the cunning provoke the wrath of God, and they won't cry out when they're bound; their soul will die in the storm, and their life among the effeminate.
The Bond of Virtue and Mercy
True authority is maintained not by fear, but by the solid bond of faith, love, and acts of mercy.
For now, shame and sometimes fear are what motivate our actions. But the most solid bond is the one that comes from the richness of faith and love, resting solely on the foundation of virtue. Yet works, because they show character, produce grace, since nothing is more useful or effective for the status and progress of those in authority. Hence that saying of the emperor—or, if you prefer, the great poet—provided you don't doubt they meant the same thing: 'Be pious above all; for while we are surpassed in every gift, mercy alone makes us equal to the gods.' Don't act with suspicious doubt, don't be false to friends, and don't be greedy for rumors; whoever cares about such things will dread empty noise, anxious at every hour. Neither guards nor a surrounding wall protect as well as love does. You won't extort love; it's a gift of mutual faith and simple grace. While leading his army in winter, Alexander began to review the troops passing by as he sat by the fire; when he saw one man nearly dead from the cold, he ordered him to sit in his own place, saying: 'If you had been born in Persia, it would be a capital offense to sit in the royal chair, but for one born in Macedonia, it is permitted.' Another story is told about him: when a virgin of extraordinary beauty, who was betrothed to the prince of a neighboring people, was reported to be among the captives, he showed such great self-restraint that he did not even look at her; he soon sent her back to her fiancé, and through this act of kindness, he won over the hearts of that entire people to himself. In this way, he bound the hearts of strangers to himself through his humanity and justice. A similar story is told of Scipio Africanus in Spain: when a noble virgin, whose beauty drew the admiration of all, was brought to him, he returned her to her fiancé, Alicius, and even added the gold her parents had brought for her ransom, so it could serve as a dowry for the maiden or a wedding gift for her husband. And so, through this manifold generosity, an entire conquered nation, which perhaps would not have yielded otherwise, joined itself to the people of the Roman Empire. When Camillus was besieging the Falisci, a schoolmaster led their children out beyond the wall, as if for a walk, and handed them over, claiming that with these hostages, the city would necessarily do whatever was commanded. Camillus, however, not only rejected this treachery but had the master's hands tied behind his back and handed him over to the boys to be driven back to their parents with rods, winning a victory through this act of goodness that he hadn't wanted to win through fraud; for the Falisci, because of this justice, surrendered of their own accord. There exists another title of this same Camillus that is no less noble. For when, after conquering cities and earning distinguished triumphs, he was condemned and expelled from the city by the envy of the military, as if over a common prize that had been distributed unfairly, and when the Senonian Gauls were invading the city and the Romans had been defeated at the eleventh milestone near the river Allia, and nothing could be saved in the city itself except the Capitol, and gold was given so that the Gauls would withdraw, Camillus—even while feeling compassion for his ungrateful country—slaughtered them, took back the gold, and brought back the Roman eagles.
Exemplars of Roman Integrity
Historical anecdotes of Roman leaders demonstrate the virtues of detachment, self-restraint, and incorruptibility.
This is why, in the sixth book of the Aeneid, Aeneas recognizes Camillus among the other Aeneadae as he carries the standards. So, after being recalled from exile, he entered the city in his third triumph and was called the second Romulus, as if he were a second founder of the fatherland. Julius Hyginus reports this in the sixth book of his Life and Deeds of Illustrious Men, in the section that follows about Fabricius; for the precedents are found in Plutarch’s Institution of Trajan and in Julius Frontinus’s book of Stratagems. The Samnite envoys therefore came a second time to Gaius Fabricius, recounting the many great things he had done kindly and benevolently for the Samnites after peace was restored, and they offered him a large sum of money as a gift, begging him to accept and use it, since it was clear that a man of his stature lacked much that was necessary for his sustenance and the dignity of his household. Nothing was elegant or prepared in a way that matched the greatness of the man and the dignity of his virtue. Fabricius, however, moved his open hands from his ears to his eyes, then down to his nose, his throat, his mouth, and finally to his stomach and lower parts, and he replied to the envoys in these words: 'As long as I can resist and command all these parts of my body that I have touched, I will lack nothing at all. Therefore, keep this money for your own needs, and do not force it upon those who do not need it or find it pleasing; for Romans do not care to possess gold, but they wish to command those who do.' This is from Julius Hyginus. Frontinus, however, reports that the physician of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, came to the Roman leader Fabricius, promising that he would give poison to Pyrrhus if a reward were set for him that would be worth his effort. Fabricius didn't think it was right to win his victory through such a crime, so he exposed the doctor to the king; through this integrity, he earned the respect that compelled Pyrrhus to seek the friendship of the Romans. I'll let Valerius Maximus and Claudius Quadrigarius argue over the name and duties of a traitor in this case. I don't much care whether it was Timocares, as Valerius says, who was the father of the man serving wine at the king's banquet, or if it was Nicias the doctor, as Quadrigarius claims, as long as it's clear that the Roman consuls defeated Pyrrhus because they rejected such treachery. Quadrigarius reports that the letter from the consuls to Pyrrhus read as follows: 'The Roman consuls send greetings to King Pyrrhus.' We are moved by your injuries to want to fight you openly, but we do so with the duties of honor and good faith. Therefore, it seemed right to keep you safe, so that there would be someone we could defeat in battle; Nicias, your own familiar, came to us seeking a reward from us if he were to kill you secretly. We refused to do this and warned him not to expect any benefit from such a thing. At the same time, we thought it right to inform you so that if anything like this had happened, the cities wouldn't think it was done on our advice, for they know that we don't like to fight with promises, money, or deceit. Unless you're careful, you'll fall. Why should I mention that when Pyrrhus offered him half his kingdom to get him to accept peace on fair terms, he was treated with contempt? But he wouldn't even agree to accept half the kingdom in exchange for promising his friendship to the king. When Cineas, a truly outstanding man who had been sent to Rome, returned and was asked what Rome was like, he replied that he had seen a homeland of kings, because almost everyone there was the kind of man that Pyrrhus alone was in Epirus or the rest of Greece. After hearing of Fabricius's steadfastness, the king said, "This is truly that Fabricius who is harder to turn from his virtue than the sun is from its course." During the war in which he earned the title 'Germanicus' after defeating the enemy, Emperor Caesar Augustus Germanicus ordered payment to be made for the produce of the lands he enclosed within his ramparts while setting up his army's camps, and in this way, his reputation for justice secured everyone's trust. What should I say about his self-restraint and contempt for material things, given that I have already promised to share some of Plutarch's stratagems? It's said that Marcus Cato was content with the same wine as his rowers. Atilius Regulus, despite holding the highest offices, was so poor that he supported his wife, his children, and himself on a small farm worked by a single hired hand. When he heard the man had died, he wrote to the Senate asking them to appoint a successor, explaining that with his servant gone, he needed to be there himself to manage his affairs. Gnaeus Scipio died in extreme poverty after his successful campaigns in Spain, leaving behind not even enough money to provide dowries for his daughters; because of their need, the Senate provided them publicly. The Athenians did the same for the children of Aristides, who had died in extreme poverty after managing the highest affairs of state. Hannibal was accustomed to rising in the middle of the night and wouldn't rest until dawn; he only invited his associates to dinner at twilight, and no more than two couches were ever set for him. The same man, while serving under the command of Hasdrubal, would often sleep on the bare ground, covered only by his military cloak. It's said that Scipio Aemilianus would eat bread while walking on a journey with his friends. The same is also said of Alexander the Great. Augustus Caesar ate very little and preferred simple food. He mostly craved secondary bread, small fish, and hand-pressed, watery cheese, along with green, double-bearing figs; he would eat before dinner, whenever and wherever his stomach craved it. This is why he wrote in a certain letter: 'Not even a Jew, my dear Tiberius, keeps the Sabbath as diligently as I kept it today, when I ate two mouthfuls in the bath after the first hour of the night, before I began to be anointed.' He also let go of anger very quickly whenever he saw that the person who had offended him had changed his mind, and, as he himself used to say, 'faster than asparagus can be cooked'—for he used this phrase to express the speed of a hurried task. In conversation, he had indeed adopted this and certain other expressions in a noble way, as his own autograph letters show, in which, whenever he believed something would never happen, he would say it would happen 'at the Greek Kalends.' We read that Masinissa, while in his ninetieth year, was accustomed to eating his meals standing or walking in front of his tent at midday. When Gaius Curius defeated the Sabines and the Senate decreed that his land allotment be increased to match that of veteran soldiers, he was content with the share of a common soldier, calling anyone a bad citizen who wasn't satisfied with the same amount as the rest. The self-restraint of the entire army was also often remarkable, much like the army that earned distinguished glory under Marcus Scaurus. For Scaurus recorded this instance of military self-restraint: 'A fruit-bearing tree,' he said, 'which the rampart had enclosed at the foot of the camp, the army left unharmed on the final day, with the trumpeters sounding and us departing, leaving the fruit untouched.' Under the imperial auspices of Caesar Domitian Augustus, during the Germanic war that Julius Civilis had stirred up in Gaul, the very wealthy city of the Lingones—which had defected to Civilis—feared the coming devastation from Caesar's army. Because it had lost none of its property and remained unharmed beyond all expectation, it returned to obedience and surrendered seventy thousand armed men to me.
The Magnificence of the Roman Spirit
The Roman empire's success is attributed to its cultivation of liberty, justice, and unwavering resolve.
Lucilius Mommius, who after the capture of Corinth adorned not only Italy but also the province with paintings and statues, turned so little of the immense spoils to his own use that the Senate had to provide a dowry for his destitute daughter from the public treasury. Steadfastness, as shown by many stratagems, also shines most brightly in the virtue of the Romans. In fact, if you review the histories of all nations, nothing shines more clearly than their magnificence and virtue. The splendor of their vast empire declares this, for human memory can recall no other that was less significant at its beginning, nor one that expanded through such continuous growth and greater progress. For by their cultivation of quiet liberty and justice, their reverence for the law, their friendships with neighboring nations, and the maturity of their councils and the gravity of their words and deeds, they succeeded in bringing the world under their authority. But since we've begun to speak of their steadfastness, let one example from the Stratagems of Julius Frontinus serve as a representative of many. When Hannibal was besieging the city walls, they sent reinforcements to the armies they held in Spain through a different gate, for the sake of demonstrating their confidence. That same people, when the owner of the land where Hannibal’s camp was located happened to die, bid the land up to the same price at which it had been sold before the war. While they were being besieged by Hannibal and were themselves besieging Capua, they decided that the army wouldn't be recalled until the city was taken.
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bus prindpum; quod et aliquorum strategemmaticis roboratur exemplis. Quasi, inquit, qui mittit lapidem in aceruum Mercurii, sic qui dat insipienti honorem. Hoc a diuersis diuerso modo exponitur. Ego sapientiorum uenia impetrata a€eruum credo Mercurii, in quo consistit ratio calculandi, quia Mercurius numen eorum est qui negotiationem exercent et ratiociniis suis diligenter inuigilant. Mittere ergo lapidem in aceruum quo regitur ratio calculandi est totam turbare calculi rationem; et honorem conferre insipienti est rei publicae subuertere uitam. Et impossibile est ut alios utiliter regat, quem proprius subuertit error. Ait enim: Vbi non est gubemator, populus corruet. Et alibi: Rex insipiens perdet populum suum, et ciuitates inhabitabuntur super sensum prudentium.
Omnis potentatus breuis uita, languor prolixior grauat medicum. Breuem languorem praecidet medicus; sic et rex hodie est et cras morietur. Cum enim morietur homo, hereditabit serpentes et bestias et uermes. Numquid quaeso pauperes opprimuntur iniuriis, i attenuantur exactionibus, rapinis multiplicibus spoliantur, iubentur in se concurrere populi et orbem concutere, ut potentibus isti succedant heredes? Isti namque succedunt omnibus iure suo; nec desideratur soUempnitas testamenti,. ab intestato emergunt; uelis nolis, hos habebis heredes. In secularibus litteris fertur dixisse Plato: Perinde est cum subditos opprimit magistratus, ac si caput corporis intumescat, ut a membris aut omnino aut sine molestia ferri non possit. Hanc autera passionem sine grauissimo dolore membrorum tolerari uel curari impossibile est.
Si uero incurabilis fuerit passio, sic uiuere quam mori miserius est. Miseris autem nichil utilius est quam utcumque finire miseriam. Idem quoque dixisse legitur: Cum in subiectos potestas saeuit, idem est ac si tutor pupillum persequatur, uel eum suo mucrone iugules, ob cuius defensionem ab eodem traditum tibi gladium accepisti. Rem namque publicam frui iure pupilli percelebre est, et eam tunc demum recte procedere, cum caput eius se inutile esse cognoscit, nisi fideliter membris cohereat. Haec ille, et quidem eleganter et uere. Sed, ut michi uidetur, coherentia fidelis et firma esse non potest, ubi non est tenax unio a uoluntatum et quasi ipsarum animarum conglutinatio. Quae si defuerit, hominum fnistra sibi congruunt opera, cimi dolus in pemiciem pergat sine afiectu proficiendi. Simulatores, inquit lob, et callidi prouocant iram Dei, neque clamabimt cum uincti fuerint; morietur in tempestate anima eorum, et uita eorum inter efieminatos.
Operibus namque causam praestat nunc pudor, timor interdum. Sed iunctura illa solidissima est quae ex adipe fidei et dilectionis procedit et in solo uirtutis fundamento subsistit. Opera tamen, quia morum argiunenta sunt, gratiam pariunt, quia nichil utilius, nichil efficacius est ad statum magistratuum et processum. Inde est illud imperatoris aut (si mauis) uersificatoris egregii, dum tamen idem eos sensisse non ambigas: Sis pius in primis; nam, oum uincamur in omni munere, sola deos aequat clementia nobis. Neu dubie suspectus agas neu falsus amicis rumorumue auidus; qui talia curat, inanes horrebit strepitus, nulla non anxius hora. Non sic excubiae nec circumstantia pila quam tutatur amor. Non extorquebis amari; hoc altema fides, hoc simplex gratia donat. Alexander, cum hieme ducens exercitiun resideret ad ignem, recognoscere praetereuntes copias coepit, cimique conspexisset quendam prope exanimatum frigore, iussit eum sedere in loco suo, dicens: Si in Persis natus esses, in regia sella resedisse capitale foret, sed in Macedonia nato conceditur.
Fertur et aliud de eodem; quod, cum uirgo eximiae pulchritudinis, finitimae gentis principi desponsata, inter captiuas adesse nuntiaretur, ei abstinentia summa pepercit, ut ne illam quidem aspexerit; qua mox ad sponsum remissa, uniuersae gentis per hoc beneficium sibi mentes reconciliauit. Sic humanitate suorum alienorum animos sibi iustitia deuinxit. Simile est quod Scipio Affricanus in Hispania gessisse legitur, cui cum uirgo nobilis, omnium in se decoris admiratione conuertens oculos, adducta esset, eam sponso nomine Alicio reddidit, adiciens et aurum quod parentes in redemptionem captiuae attulerant, ut esset uirgini in dotem aut marito in munus nuptiale. Itaque multiplici magnificentia uniuersa gens uicta, quae forte alias cessura non fuerat, Romani imperii populo accessit. Camillo Faliscos obsidenti magister ludi hberos Faliscorum tamquam ambulandi causa extra murum eductos tradidit, dicens retentis obsidibus ciuitatem necessario facturam imperata. Camillus uero non solum spreuit perfidiam sed restrictis manibus post terga magistrum uirgis agendum ad parentes pueris tradidit, adeptus beneficio uictoriam quam fraude non concupierat; nam Falisci ob hanc iustitiam sponte se dediderunt. Extat quoque eiusdem Camilli non ignobilior titulus. Cum enim post subactas ciuitates et triumphos insignes, militaris manus inuidia concitata, dampnatus et expulsus est ciuitate, quasi a praeda communi iniquius distributa, irruentibus Senonibus Gallis in urbem et Romanis undecimo miliario uictis apud flumen Alliam nec in ipsa urbe quicquam praeter Capitolium seruari posset et hoc auro dato ut Galli recederent, Camillus, etiam ingratae compatiens patriae, eosdem cecidit, aurum abstulit, Romanorum aquilas reportauit.
Vnde in sexto Virgilii inter ceteros Eneadas praediscit Eneas referentem signa Camillum. Itaque, ab exilio reuocatus, tertio triumphans urbem ingressus est et appellatus secundus Romulus, quasi alter patriae conditor. lulius Iginus in libro sexto de Vita Rebusque Illustrium Virorum quod de Fabricio sequitur, refert; nam praeceidentia Plutarchi in Institutione Traiani, et lulii Frontini in libro Strategemmatum sunt. Venerunt ergo secundo legati Samnitum ad Gaium Fabricium, multas et magnas res memorantes, quae bene ac beniuole post redditam pacem Samnitibus fecerat, offerentes dono grandem pecuniam et orantes ut eam acciperet et uteretur, eo quod multa ad necessitatem uictus et splendorem domus tanto uiro deesse constaret. Nichil enim lautum paratumque erat pro amplitudine hominis et dignitate uirtutis. Fabricius uero planas manus ab auribus ad oculos et infra et deinceps ad nares et ad gulam et ad os et deinde ad uentrem et ima deduxit, et legatis in haec uerba respondit: Dum omnibus his membris, quae attigi, resistere atque imperare potero, michi nichil omnino deerit, ideoque uobis reseruate pecuniam necessariam usibus uestris, nec eam quibus necessaria aut grata non est ingeratis; Romani siquidem non curant habere aurum, sed imperare uolunt habentibus aurum. Hoc lulius Iginus. Frontinus uero refert quod ad Fabricium ducem Romanorum medicus Pirri Epirotarum regis peruenit, pollicitus se uenenum daturum Pirro, dum merces sibi, in qua operae pretium foret, constitueretur.
Quo facinore Fabricius egere uictoriam suam non arbitratus regi medicum detexit atque ea fide meruit ut ad amicitiam Romanorum appetendam compeUeret Pirrum. Pace mea decertent in casu isto Valerius Maximus et Claudius Quadrigarius, contendentes de nomine et officio proditoris. An Timocares fuerit iuxta Valerium pater illius qui in regis conuiuio pocula ministrabat, an secundum Quadrigarium Nicias medicus, non multum curo, dummodo constet consules Romanorum eo subegisse Pirrum, quod perfidiam fuerant aspernati. Epistolam uero consulum ad Pirrum hanc fuisse Quadrigarius refert: Consules Romani salutem dicunt Pirro regi. Nos pro tuis iniuriis continuo animo commoti inimiciter tecum bellare studemus, sed cum muniis exempli et fidei. Ergo uisum est ut te saluum ueliraus, quo sit quem armis possimus uincere, Ad nos uenit Nicias familiaris tuus, qui sibi a nobis praemium peteret, si te clam interfecisset. Id nos negamus uelle, a neue ob eam rem quicquam commodi expectaret, denuntiauimus. Simul etiam uisum est ut te certiorem faceremus, ne quid eiusmodi, si accidisset, nostro consilio factum putarent ciuitates, sciturae quod nobis non placet promissis aut pretio aut dolis pugnare.
Tu, nisi caues, iacebis. Quid referam quod, cum ei regni medietatem Pirrus obtulisset, ut pacem conditionibus aequis admitteret, contemptus est? Sed nec regni medietatem adquieuit accipere ut amicitiam promitteret regi. Cum uero Cineas uir praestantissimus, qui Romam missus fuerat, reuersus interrogaretur qualis Roma esset, respondit se regum uidisse patriam, eo quod fere omnes tales essent illic qualis esset solus Pirrus in Epiro uel reliqua Grecia. Audita ergo constantia Fabricii, inquit rex: Hic est utique ille Fabricius qui difficilius a uirtute quam sol a cursu suo auerti potest. Imperator Cesar Augustus Germanicus eo bello quo uictis hostibus Germanici cognomen meruit, cum in finibus copiarum castella poneret, pro fructibus locorum, quae uallo comprehendebat, pretium solui iussit, atque ita iustitiae fama omnium fidem astrinxit. Quid de continentia dicam rerumque contemptu, quandoquidem Plutarchi strategemmatica nonnulla promisi? Marcum Catonem eodem uino quo remiges contentum fuisse traditur.
Atthilius Regulus, cum summis rebus praefuisset, adeo pauper fuit ut se coniugem liberosque toleraret agello qui colebatur per unum uilKcum; cuius audita morte, scripsit senatui de successore sibi creando et, destitutis rebus obitu serui, necessariam esse praesentiam suam. Gneius Scipio post res prospere in Hispania gestas in summa paupertate decessit, ne ea quidem relicta pecimia quae sufficeret in dotem feminarum; quas ob inopiam publice dotauit senatus. Idem praestiterunt Athenienses filiis Aristidis post amplissimarum rerum administrationem in summa paupertate defuncti. Hannibal de nocte surgere soKtus non requiescebat ante noct m, crepusculo demum socios ad cenam uocabat, neque amplius quam duobus lectis discumbebatur apud eum. Idem, cum sub Hasdribale militaret imperatore, plerumque super nudam humum sagulo tectus sompnos capiebat. Emilianum Scipionem traditur in itinere cum amicis ambulantem accepto pane nesci solitum. Item et de Alexandro Macedone dicitur. Augustus Caesar minimi cibi erat atque uulgaris.
Fere secundariimi panem et pisciculos minutos et caseum bibulum manu pressum et ficus biferas uirides maxime appetebat, uescebaturque ante cenam, quocumque tempore et loco stomacus desiderasset; unde ipse in quadam epistola: Ne ludeus quidem, mi Tiberi, tam diligenter sabbatum seruat quam ego hodie seruaui qui in bahieo post horam primam noctis duas buccatas manducaui priusquam ungi inciperem. Iram quoque citissime remittebat, dum iniuriantis animum uideret immutatum, et, sicut ipse dicebat, celerius quam asparagi coquantur; hoc enim uerbo rei festinatae uelocitatem solebat exprimere. a In sermone siquidem et hoc et quaedam alia nobiliter usurpauerat, quod litterae eius antigraphae ostendunt, • in quibus, cum aliquid numquam futurum credebat, illud fore dicebat ad Kalendas Grecas. Masinissam nonagesimum etatis annum agentem meridie ante tabemaculum stantem uel ambulantem capere solitum cibos legimus. Gaius Curius, cum uictis ab eo Sabinis ex senatus consulto ampliaretur ei modus agri quem consummati milites accipiebant, gregalium portione contentus fuit, malum ciuem dicens cui non esset idem quod ceteris satis. Vniuersi quoque exercitus saepe notabilis fuit continentia, sicut eius qui sub Marco Scauro insignem gloriam meruit. Nam memoriae tradidit Scaurus continentiam militarem: Pomiferam, inquit, arborem, quam in pede castrorum fuerat complexa mentatio, postremo die, concinentibus eneatoribus et abeuntibus nobis, intactis fructibus exercitus reliquit indempnem. Auspiciis ergo imperatoriis Cesaris Domitiani Augusti, Germanico bello quod lulius Ciuilis in Gallia j mouerat, Lingonum opulentissima ciuitas, quae ad Ciuilem desciuerat, cum aduenientem ab exercitu Cesaris populationem timeret, quod praeter spem inuiolata nichil ex rebua suis amiserat, ad obsequium redacta septuaginta milia 25' armatorum tradidit michi.
Lucilius Mommius, qui Corintho capta non Italiam solum sed etiam prouinciam tabulis statuisque exornauit, adeo nichil ex manubiis tantis in suum conuertit usum, ut filiam eius inopem senatus ex publico dotauerit. Constantia quoque, cum ex pluribus strategemmatibus pateat, in uirtute Romanorum maxime claret. Eorum siquidem magnificentia et uirtiite, si omnium gentium historiae reuoluantur, nichil clarius lucet. Declarat hoc amplissimi splendor imperii, quo nullum minus ab exordio neque maioribus inerementis processu continuo dilatatum humana potest memoria recordari. Nam et quietae libertatis, iustitiae cultu, reuerentia legum, finitimanmique gentium amicitiis, maturitate consiliorum et grauitate uerborum et operum obtinuerunt ut orbem suae subicerent ditioni. Sed, quia de constantia eorum coepimus, unum de Strategemmatibus lulii Frontini pro multis ponatur in medio. Cum itaque urbis menibus Hannibal assideret, ostentandae fiduciae gratia, supplementum exercitibus, quos in Hispania habebant, diuersa porta miserunt. Idem agrum in quo castra Hannibalis erant, defuncto forte domino, uenalem ad id pretii licendo perduxerunt, quo is ager ante bellum uenierat.
Hi, dum ab Hannibale obsiderentur et ipsi obsiderent Capuam, decreuerunt ne nisi ea capta reuocaretur inde exercitus.
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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