# 25. He who proposes to change an Old-established Form of Government in a Free City should retain at least the Shadow of its Ancient Customs

He who desires or proposes to change the form of government in a state and wishes it to be acceptable and to be able to maintain it to everyone’s satisfaction, must needs retain at least the shadow of its ancient customs, so that institutions may not appear to its people to have been changed, though in point of fact the new institutions may be radically different from the old ones. This he must do because men in general are as much affected by what a thing appears to be as by what it is, indeed they are frequently influenced more by appearances than by the reality.

For this reason the Romans, on acquiring freedom, recognized the need of this from the start; and when in place of a king they appointed two consuls, they decided that the latter should not have more than twelve lictors, so as not to exceed the number which had ministered to the kings.

Furthermore, since when a commemorative sacrifice was offered it could only be offered by the king in person, and they did not wish the absence of the kings to arouse in the people a desire for anything pertaining to the past, they appointed a ‘master of ceremonies’ whom they called the ‘sacrificial king’ and put him under the high priest. It thus came about that the populace were content with this sacrifice, and had no occasion, for lack of a king, to desire that he should return.

This should be noted by all who contemplate abolishing an ancient form of constitution in a city and setting up a new and free form; because, since novelties cause men to change their minds, you should see to it that changes retain as much as possible of what is old, and that, if changes are made in the number, the authority and the period of office of the magistrates, they should retain the traditional names.

This, as I have said, should be observed by one who proposes to set up a political regime,a whether by way of a republic or by way of a monarchy. But he who proposes to set up a despotism,b or what writers call a ‘tyranny’,20 must renovate everything, as will be said in the next chapter.