# 57. The Plebs United is Strong, but in Itself it is Weak

In consequence of the ruin wrought in their country by the incursions of the Gauls there were many Romans who went to live in Veii, despite the decree and the orders of the senate. To remedy this disorder the senate by public edicts required everyone within a specified time and under specified penalties to return to Rome and to reside there. Those against whom these edicts were proclaimed, at first made fun of them, but, when it came to the point, all of them obeyed. Whereupon Titus Livy makes this remark: ‘As a crowd they were a fierce lot, but, as individuals each was so afraid that he obeyed.’

It would, indeed, scarce be possible to describe better the natural behaviour of a crowd in such circumstances than it is described in this passage. For, in criticizing the decisions of their ruler the masses are often bold; but when they see before their eyes the penalty attached, each mistrusts the other, and they hasten to obey. This shows beyond a doubt that scant attention should be paid to what the people says about their own good or evil dispositions, provided your regime be such that you can hold it if it be well disposed, and, if ill disposed, can see to it that it does you no harm. By ‘ill disposed’ I mean here a disposition that arises from some cause other than that of having lost its freedom, or having lost a prince who was beloved and is still alive; because ill dispositions which arise from such causes are more formidable than anything else whatsoever, and to hold them in check great precautions are required; whereas its other ill dispositions are easy to handle when there are no leaders to whom the populace can appeal. Because, though in one sense there is nothing more formidable than the massesa disorganized and without a head, in another sense there is nothing more weak. For it should be easy to restore order, even though they have arms in their hands, provided you have some stronghold in which to seek refuge from their first onslaught, since, when their ardour cools off a little, and each sees the other turning back to go home, they begin to lose confidence and to look to their own safety either by taking fight or by coming to terms.

If, then, an excited crowd wants to avoid these dangers, it should at once make one of its members a leader so that he may correct this defect, keep the populace united, and look to its defence; as did the Roman plebs, when, after the death of Virginia they quitted Rome and for safety’s sake appointed twenty of their members as tribunes. If this be not done, what Titus Livy says in the passage quoted above, always comes about, i.e., when together all are strong, but when each begins to consider the danger he is in, they become cowardly and weak.