# CHAPTER 49 — If Those Cities Which Had Free Beginnings Like Rome Experience Difficulty in Finding Laws Which Maintain Them, Those Which Were Servile at the Outset Will Find It Almost Impossible to Do So

How difficult it is to foresee all those laws required to keep a republic free at the moment of its establishment is very well demonstrated by the development of the Roman republic, where, notwithstanding the fact that it was organized by many laws, first by Romulus, then by Numa, then by Tullus Hostilius and Servius, and finally by the ten citizens created for such a purpose, new needs were nevertheless always discovered in the course of governing that city, and it was necessary to create new institutions, as occurred when they created the censors, * with one of those measures that helped to keep Rome free during the period of time it lived in liberty. After the censors had become arbiters of Roman morality, they were a powerful reason why it took such a long time to corrupt the Romans. The Romans, however, made one mistake at the outset in the creation of such a magistracy, by creating it for a five-year term, but after a brief time this was corrected by the prudence of Mamercus, the dictator, * who with a new law reduced this office to a term of eighteen months; the censors who were then in office took it so badly that they deprived Mamercus of his place in the senate, an action that both the plebeians and the elders strongly censured. Since history does not show how Mamercus could have defended himself, either the historian was incomplete, * or in this instance Roman institutions were not good, because it is not beneficial for a republic to be organized in such a way that a citizen who promulgates a law suitable to a free way of life can be injured without any recourse.

But returning to the beginning of this discourse, I would say that with respect to the creation of this new magistracy, it is necessary to consider the fact that if those cities that have had a free beginning and have, like Rome, sustained this freedom on their own experience great difficulty in finding good laws to keep them free, it is no surprise that those cities that were servile at the outset experience not just difficulties but find it impossible to create institutions in such a way that they can live in a civil and peaceful fashion. This can be seen in what came about in the city of Florence, which by reason of being subject to Roman rule at its beginning, and having always lived under the government of others, stood for a time abject and heedless of its own condition; afterwards, when the occasion came for a breath of fresh air, it began to create its own institutions; these being mixed with the ancient ones, which were bad, could not be good; and Florence thus went on managing its affairs in this way for 200 years, of which there remain reliable records, without ever having had a government on account of which it could truly be called a republic. The difficulties that Florence experienced have always been experienced by all those cities with similar beginnings. Although free and public elections have many times bestowed ample authority on a few citizens in order to reform Florence, they have, none the less, never organized the city for the common good but always according to the needs of their own faction; this has not brought order but greater disorder to that city.

And to come to some specific examples, I must say that among the things that the founder of a republic has to consider is the task of examining carefully into whose hands he places the power of life and death over his citizens. This institution was well organized in Rome, because it was normally possible to make an appeal to the people, and if an important decision was made, the execution of which was dangerous to delay through such an appeal, the Romans had a refuge in their dictator who acted immediately; they never had recourse to this remedy except out of necessity. But Florence and other cities born in the same fashion, being servile, vested this authority in a foreigner, who fulfilled this office as a prince’s envoy. Later, when they became free, they maintained this authority vested in a foreigner, whom they called a captain: this was an extremely pernicious practice since he was easily corrupted by the powerful citizens. * But later, when this institution was modified by changes in the government, the Florentines appointed eight citizens to carry out the duties of this captain; this institution went from bad to worse for reasons that have been set forth on other occasions, because these few men were always the ministers of the few and the most powerful. The city of Venice has protected itself from this problem by selecting ten citizens * who have the power to punish any citizen without the right of appeal, and because these ten might not be sufficient to punish the powerful, even though they possess the authority to do so, they have constituted the Council of Forty. * Moreover, they wanted their Council of the Pregadi, * which is their Grand Council, to have the power of punishment; in this way, if an accuser is not lacking, there is no lack of a judge to keep powerful men in check. Thus, seeing that in Rome, which was organized by its own inhabitants and by many prudent men, there arose every day new reasons for creating new institutions in support of a free way of life, it is, therefore, not surprising that in other cities, which experienced more disorderly beginnings, there arose so many problems that they could never be reorganized aright.