# CHAPTER 21 — The First Praetor the Romans Sent Anywhere Was Sent to Capua, Four Hundred Years After They Had Begun to Wage War

How different the Romans’ mode of conduct in making conquests was from those who in the present day increase their territory has been amply discussed above, as well as how they allowed the cities they did not destroy to live under their own laws, even those which had surrendered to them not as allies but as subjects; in such cities they left no sign of Roman power but rather obliged them to observe certain terms, and if these were observed, they maintained those cites in their own condition and dignity. It is known that these methods were observed until the Romans went outside of Italy and began to turn kingdoms and states into their own provinces.

A clear example of this is the fact that the first praetor they sent to any location was sent to Capua, and they sent him not out of any ambition of theirs but rather because it was something sought by the Capuans, who, upon experiencing internal conflict, thought it necessary to have within the city a Roman citizen who would reorganize and reunite it. Inspired by this example and constrained by the same necessity, the people of Antium then requested a prefect for themselves, and about this incident and this new method of achieving dominance, Livy says: ‘and the power not only of Roman arms but of Roman law began to be widely felt.’ * It is evident, therefore, how much this method facilitated Roman expansion. Since cities, particularly those which are used to living free or normally govern themselves through their own citizens, are more content living in some tranquillity under a dominion they do not see, even if there is some harshness in it, than under one that they see every day and that seems every day to reproach them with their servitude. Another benefit, then, accrues to the ruling power, for since its own ministers do not have power over the judges and magistrates who render justice in the civil and criminal cases in these cities, no judicial sentence can ever be pronounced to the detriment or disgrace of the ruler, and in this way, such cities come to avoid many causes for false accusation and hatred toward the ruler. To show that this is true, besides the ancient examples that one might cite, there is a fresh example in Italy. As everybody knows, after Genoa had been occupied numerous times by the French, that king always, except in recent times, sent a French governor there to rule in his name. Only now, and not by the king’s choice but rather because necessity has required it, has the king left that city to rule itself and to do so with a Genoese governor. Without doubt, anyone who seeks to discover which of these two methods brings more security to the king in his possession of the city and more contentment to the people will without hesitation approve this latter method. Besides this, men are much more likely to throw themselves into your lap the less inclined you seem to take possession of them, and they fear you so much the less, with regard to their freedom, the more humane and kind you are with them. This kindliness and generosity made the Capuans run to ask the Romans for a praetor; yet, if the Romans had shown the least desire to send him there, the Capuans would have instantly grown suspicious and would have distanced themselves from Rome.

But why is it necessary to go to Capua and to Rome for examples when we have those of Florence and Tuscany? Everyone knows how long ago the city of Pistoia placed herself voluntarily under Florentine rule. Everyone also knows how much enmity has existed among Florentines, Pisans, Lucchese, and Sienese, and this difference of feeling has not arisen because the people of Pistoia do not value their liberty just like the others and do not judge themselves equal to the others, but rather because, with them the Florentines have always acted like brothers, while they have acted like enemies with the others. For this reason, the people of Pistoia have willingly come under their control; the others have made and still make every effort not to fall under it. Undoubtedly, if the Florentines, either by way of leagues or assistance, had domesticated and not exasperated their neighbours, at this hour they would no doubt be the lords of Tuscany. I do not, for this reason, think that one should not employ arms and force, but they must be reserved for the last resort, when and where other methods are not sufficient.