Qualiter ad regem pertinet instituere civitates vel castra ad gloriam consequendam, et quod eligere debet ad hoc loca temperata; et postea subiungit quae ex hoc commoda regna consequantur, et quae incommoda de contrario
The King's Glory in Founding Cities
A king's duty to found cities brings lasting glory, and he must first choose a temperate region, which grants health and long life to its inhabitants.
First and foremost, then, it's necessary to set out the king's duty in founding a city or a kingdom. For, as Vegetius says, the most powerful nations and renowned rulers have achieved no greater glory than either founding new cities or refounding ones built by others, extending them under their own name — and this is confirmed by the testimony of sacred Scripture.1 For the wise man says in Ecclesiasticus that the building of a city will make a name enduring. Today, for instance, the name of Romulus would be unknown if he had not founded Rome. In founding a city or a kingdom, then, if there's a choice, the first thing is for the king to select a region — and it needs to be a temperate one. For from the temperate character of a region, its inhabitants gain many advantages. First of all, then, people gain from a region's temperate climate soundness of body and length of life.
How Climate Shapes Body and Courage
A temperate climate preserves health by balancing humors, while extreme heat or cold shortens life and affects military readiness differently.
Since health consists in a certain balance of humors, it will be preserved in a temperate place: for like is preserved by its like. But if there is excessive heat or cold, the body's quality necessarily changes according to the quality of the air: hence by a certain natural instinct animals move to warm places in cold times, and return again to cool places in hot times, so that from the opposite condition of place they may attain a temperate balance.2 Again: since an animal lives through warmth and moisture, if the heat is intense, its natural moisture quickly dries up and life fails; just as a lamp is extinguished if the oil within it is quickly consumed by the force of the fire.3 Hence in certain very hot regions of Ethiopia people are said not to live beyond thirteen years. In cold regions, on the other hand, in extreme cold the natural moisture easily freezes and the natural warmth is extinguished. Then too, for the purposes of warfare — by which human society is kept safe — the temperateness of a region is of great importance. For, as Vegetius reports, all nations that are near the sun, parched by excessive heat, are said to be more clever but to have less blood, and for that reason they lack the steadiness and confidence to fight at close quarters, because they fear wounds, knowing that they have little blood.4 On the other hand, northern peoples, far removed from the sun's heat, are indeed less prudent, yet with an abundance of blood they are most ready for war.
The Temperate Region and Political Life
A temperate region fosters both courage and prudence, making it best suited for political life, freedom, and just rule over others.
For those who dwell in more temperate regions, an abundance of blood is available for contempt of wounds and death, and prudence does not fail — the prudence that preserves moderation in camp — and it is no small advantage to employ good judgment in battle. Finally, a temperate region is well suited for political life. For as Aristotle says in his Politics: the peoples who live in cold places are indeed full of courage, but more deficient in intellect and skill, which is why they persist in freedom more. They do not, however, live politically, and because of their imprudence they cannot rule over their neighbors. Those who live in hot regions, on the other hand, are indeed intellectual and skillful in matters of the soul, but lack courage, which is why they are subject to others and remain subject. Those who live in the middle regions, however, share in both; which is why they remain free, are best able to live politically, and know how to rule over others. A temperate region must therefore be chosen for the founding of a city or kingdom.
Read the original Latin
Primum igitur praecipue oportet exponere regis officium ab institutione civitatis aut regni. Nam, sicut Vegetius dicit, potentissimae nationes et principes nominati nullam maiorem potuerunt gloriam assequi, quam aut fundare novas civitates, aut ab aliis conditas in nomen suum sub quadam amplificatione transferre: quod quidem documentis sacrae Scripturae concordat. Dicit enim sapiens in Eccli. , quod aedificatio civitatis confirmabit nomen. Hodie namque nomen Romuli nesciretur, nisi quia condidit Romam. In institutione autem civitatis aut regni, si copia detur, primo quidem est regio per regem eligenda, quam temperatam esse oportet. Ex regionis enim temperie habitatores multa commoda consequuntur. Primo namque consequuntur homines ex temperie regionis incolumitatem corporis et longitudinem vitae.
Cum enim sanitas in quadam temperie humorum consistat, in loco temperato conservabitur sanitas: simile namque suo simili conservatur. Si autem fuerit excessus caloris, vel frigoris, necesse est quod secundum qualitatem aeris corporis qualitas immutetur: unde quadam naturali industria animalia quaedam tempore frigido ad calida loca se transferunt, rursum tempore calido loca frigida repetentes, ut ex contraria dispositione loci temporis temperiem consequantur. Rursus: cum animal vivat per calidum et humidum, si fuerit calor intensus, cito naturale humidum exsiccatur et deficit vita; sicut lucerna extinguitur, si humor infusus cito per ignis magnitudinem consumatur. Unde in quibusdam calidissimis Aethiopum regionibus homines ultra tredecim annos non vivere perhibentur. In regionibus vero frigidis in excessu, naturale humidum de facili congelatur et calor naturalis extinguitur. Deinde ad opportunitates bellorum, quibus tuta redditur humana societas, regionis temperies plurimum valet. Nam, sicut Vegetius refert, omnes nationes quae vicinae sunt soli, nimio calore siccatae, amplius quidem sapere sed minus de sanguine habere dicuntur, ac propterea constantiam atque fiduciam de propinquo pugnandi non habent, quia metuunt vulnera qui modicum sanguinem se habere noverunt. E contra Septentrionales populi remoti a solis ardoribus inconsultiores quidem, sed tamen largo sanguine redundantes, sunt ad bella promptissimi.
His, qui temperatioribus habitant plagis, et copia sanguinis suppetit ad vulnerum mortisque contemptum, nec prudentia deficit, quae modestiam servet in castris, et non parum prodest uti in dimicatione consiliis. Demum temperata regio ad politicam vitam valet. Ut enim Aristoteles dicit in sua politica: quae in frigidis locis habitant gentes, sunt quidem plenae animositate, intellectu autem et arte magis deficientes, propter quod libere perseverant magis. Non vivunt autem politice, et vicinis propter imprudentiam principari non possunt. Quae autem in calidis sunt, intellectivae quidem sunt et artificiosae secundum animam, sine animositate autem, propter quod subiectae quidem sunt, et subiectae perseverant. Quae autem in mediis locis habitant, utroque participant: propter quod et liberi perseverant, et maxime politice vivere possunt, et sciunt aliis principari. Est igitur eligenda regio temperata ad institutionem civitatis vel regni.
Notes
- 1 ↩The gloss attributes the sentiment to Vegetius; the reference to sacred Scripture is appended as a general confirmation rather than a specific citation.
- 2 ↩'naturali industria' rendered 'natural instinct' — the Latin conveys an innate, God-given capacity in animals, not mere mechanical impulse.
- 3 ↩The lamp-oil analogy illustrates how excessive heat consumes the vital moisture on which life depends; the analogy is drawn from natural philosophy, not Scripture.
- 4 ↩The humoral claim 'minus de sanguine habere' is rendered 'have less blood' — the Latin refers to the humoral theory in which blood is one of the four humors and its abundance correlates with courage; not a modern medical claim.
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