A discourse to an unlearned prince (4-5)

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg116.perseus-eng4:4-5

Refs	`{'start': {'reference': '4', 'human_reference': 'Section 4'}, 'end': {'reference': '5', 'human_reference': 'Section 5'}}`
Ancestors	`[]`
Children	`[]`

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Anaxarchus endeavoring to comfort Alexander, who was very much afflicted for the murder he had committed on the person of Clitus, told him, that justice and right sat as assistants by the throne of Jupiter, so that whatsoever was done by a king might be accounted lawful and just; but by this means he indiscreetly prevented his repentance, and encouraged him to attempt the committing the like crimes again. But if we may be permitted to guess at these matters, Jupiter hath not Justice for an assessor or counsellor, but is himself Justice and Right, and the original and perfection of all laws. Therefore the ancients devised and taught these things, that they might thereby show that even Jupiter himself could not rule well without Justice; for she is (according to Hesiod) a pure and undefiled virgin, and the companion of Modesty, Reverence, Chastity, and Simplicity; hence kings are called reverent, for they ought to be most reverent who fear least.

But a prince ought to be more afraid of doing than of suffering ill; for the former is the cause of the other; and this is a noble and generous sort of fear, well becoming a prince, to be solicitous lest any harm should befall his subjects unawares:

As faithful dogs, surprised with sudden fear,

When once they see the savage beasts appear,

Not of themselves, but of their flocks take care.
[*]

Epaminondas, when on a certain festival day the Thebans gave themselves up wholly to drinking and carousing, went about alone and viewed the arsenal and the walls of the city, saying, that he was sober and vigilant that others might have liberty to be drunk and to sleep. And Cato at Utica, when he had called together by proclamation all his soldiers that had escaped the slaughter to the seaside, caused them to embark in ships; and having prayed for their prosperous voyage, returned home and killed himself, leaving an example to princes, whom they ought to fear and what they ought to contemn. On the other hand, Clearchus, king of Pontus, creeping into a chest, slept therein like a snake. And Aristodemus lay with his concubine in a bed placed in an upper room over a trap-door, her mother removing the ladder as soon as they were got up, and bringing it again in the morning. How then, think you, did he fear to be seen in the theatre, in the judgment-hall, in the court, or at a feast, who had turned his bed-chamber into a prison? For indeed good princes are possessed with fear for their subjects, but tyrants with fear of them; insomuch that their timorousness increaseth with their power, since the more people they have under their dominion, so much the more objects they see of dread and terror.

Neither is it probable or convenient (as some philosophers affirm) that God should be mingled together with

matter that is altogether passive, and with things obnoxious to innumerable necessities, chances, and mutations; but to us he seems to be placed somewhere above with the eternal nature that always operates after the same manner; and proceeding (as Plato saith) on sacred foundations, according to nature, he brings his works to perfection. And as he hath placed the sun in the firmament, as a clear image of his most sacred and glorious essence, in which, as in a mirror, he exhibits himself to the contemplation of wise men; so in like manner, the splendor of justice that appears in some cities is a kind of representation of the divine wisdom, which happy and prudent persons describe by the help of philosophy, conforming themselves to those things which are of a most sublime and excellent nature. It is certain that this disposition of mind cannot be attained but by the doctrine of philosophy; otherwise we shall lie under the same circumstances as Alexander, who seeing Diogenes at Corinth, and being astonished at his ingenuity and majestic gravity, let fall this expression: If I were not Alexander, I would choose to be Diogenes. For being almost oppressed with the weight of his own grandeur and power, which are the impediments of virtue and ease, he seemed to envy the happiness of a threadbare cloak and pouch, with which the Cynic rendered himself as invincible as he could be with all his armor, horses, and pikes. However, he had an opportunity to philosophize and to become Diogenes in his mind, though he remained Alexander in his outward state and condition, and he might more easily be Diogenes, because he was Alexander; forasmuch as to keep the vessel of his prosperous fortune steady, which was tossed with the winds and waves, he stood in need of a good quantity of ballast and of a skilful pilot.

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he	95	w	3345
seemed	1	w	3351
to	36	w	3353
envy	1	w	3357
the	73	w	3360
happiness	1	w	3369
of	26	w	3371
a	249	w	3372
threadbare	1	w	3382
cloak	1	w	3387
and	38	w	3390
pouch	1	w	3395
with	11	w	3400
which	5	w	3405
the	74	w	3408
Cynic	1	w	3413
rendered	1	w	3421
himself	5	w	3428
as	25	w	3430
invincible	1	w	3440
as	26	w	3442
he	98	w	3444
could	2	w	3449
be	23	w	3451
with	12	w	3455
all	10	w	3458
his	14	w	3461
armor	1	w	3466
horses	1	w	3473
and	39	w	3477
pikes	1	w	3482
However	1	w	3490
he	99	w	3493
had	5	w	3496
an	58	w	3498
opportunity	1	w	3509
to	37	w	3511
philosophize	1	w	3523
and	40	w	3526
to	38	w	3528
become	1	w	3534
Diogenes	3	w	3542
in	77	w	3544
his	15	w	3547
mind	2	w	3551
though	1	w	3558
he	100	w	3560
remained	1	w	3568
Alexander	4	w	3577
in	80	w	3579
his	16	w	3582
outward	1	w	3589
state	1	w	3594
and	42	w	3597
condition	1	w	3606
and	43	w	3610
he	101	w	3612
might	4	w	3617
more	4	w	3621
easily	1	w	3627
be	25	w	3629
Diogenes	4	w	3637
because	1	w	3645
he	102	w	3647
was	4	w	3650
Alexander	5	w	3659
forasmuch	1	w	3669
as	30	w	3671
to	39	w	3673
keep	1	w	3677
the	75	w	3680
vessel	1	w	3686
of	27	w	3688
his	17	w	3691
prosperous	2	w	3701
fortune	1	w	3708
steady	1	w	3714
which	6	w	3720
was	5	w	3723
tossed	1	w	3729
with	13	w	3733
the	76	w	3736
winds	1	w	3741
and	45	w	3744
waves	1	w	3749
he	105	w	3752
stood	1	w	3757
in	82	w	3759
need	1	w	3763
of	28	w	3765
a	278	w	3766
good	2	w	3770
quantity	1	w	3778
of	29	w	3780
ballast	1	w	3787
and	46	w	3790
of	30	w	3792
a	283	w	3793
skilful	1	w	3800
pilot	1	w	3805