# CHAPTER 29 — Fortune Blinds Men’s Minds When She Does Not Wish Them to Oppose Her Plans

If we consider carefully how human affairs proceed, we shall see that things frequently arise and incidents occur against which the heavens have not wished any provision to be made. And if what I am discussing happened in Rome (where there existed so much ability, so much religion, and such order), it is no surprise that it may happen even more often in a city or a province lacking in such elements. Since this instance is of considerable note in illustrating the power of heaven over human affairs, Livy explains it at length and in the most effective language, stating that since heaven for some reason wished the Romans to recognize its power, it first caused the Fabii who went as emissaries to the Gauls to make a mistake and through their actions to incite the Gauls to wage war on Rome. Then it ordained that nothing should be done in Rome worthy of the Roman people to stop this war, by having first arranged for Camillus, who might have been by himself the sole remedy for such a great ill, to have been sent in exile to Ardea. Then, when the Gauls marched toward Rome, those who had often created a dictator to deal with the assault of the Volscians and other neighbouring enemies did not do so when the Gauls came. Also, in drafting soldiers, they did so in an unsound way and without any special care, and they were so slow in taking up arms that they barely managed to engage the Gauls on the River Allia, ten miles from Rome. There the tribunes set up their camp without their usual care, neglecting first to inspect the place and to surround it with a moat and a stockade, employing no precautions human or divine. In drawing up the order of battle, they made the ranks thin and weak, so that neither the soldiers nor the commanders accomplished any deed worthy of Roman discipline. Then they fought without shedding any blood, for they fled before they were attacked, and the majority went to Veii, while the rest retreated to Rome where, without even returning to their homes, they went to the Capitol, so that, without thinking about Rome’s defence, the senate did not even shut Rome’s gates, and part of it fled while part went with the others to the Capitol. Still, in the defence of the Capitol the senate employed methods that were not chaotic; they did not make it overcrowded with useless people; they stocked within it all the grain possible in order to survive a siege; and the majority of the useless crowd of old people, women, and children fled to surrounding cities, while the rest remained inside Rome at the mercy of the Gauls. Thus, anyone who reads about the things accomplished by that people so many years before and then reads about these later times could not believe in any manner that this was the same people. Once Livy has described all the previously mentioned disorders, he concludes with these words: ‘Destiny blinds men’s eyes, when she is determined that her gathering might shall meet no check!’ * This conclusion could not be more true; hence men who normally live under great adversity or in great prosperity deserve less praise or blame. For in most cases it is clear that they have been led to a disastrous or a grandiose action by an unusual situation that the heavens have created, granting them the opportunity or depriving them of the capability of acting with great valour.

Fortune does this well: when she wants to accomplish great deeds, she selects a man with such spirit and such exceptional ability that he recognizes those occasions that she offers him. Thus, in like manner, when she wishes to bring about great calamities, she places men in charge who will contribute to that disaster. If there is anyone who might be able to oppose her, she either kills him or deprives him of all the means to achieve some good. We recognize very well from this passage that in order to make Rome more powerful and to bring the city to the level of greatness it achieved, fortune judged it necessary to strike it down (as we shall discuss at length in the beginning of the following book), although she did not wish to destroy the city completely. This can be seen in the fact that she had Camillus sent into exile but not killed; she had the city of Rome taken but not the Capitol; she ordained that the Romans would not think of any good way to protect Rome, but then did not overlook any good measure to protect the Capitol. To ensure that Rome might be taken, she caused most of the soldiers who were routed at the River Allia to go to Veii, and in this way she blocked every method of defending the city. And in organizing all this, she prepared everything for the regaining of the city, having taken an entire Roman army to Veii and Camillus to Ardea, so that it would be possible to create a large vanguard with a commander unsullied by the disgrace of defeat and with his reputation intact to reclaim his native city.

In confirmation of the matters discussed, some modern examples might be cited, but I shall omit them, judging them unnecessary, since this should be sufficient to satisfy anyone. Again, I want to affirm it as being very true, according to what can be seen in all the histories, that men can side with fortune but not oppose her; they can weave her warp but they cannot tear it apart. They must never give up, for without knowing her goals as she moves along paths both crossed and unknown, men always have to hope, and with hope, they should never give up, no matter what the situation or the difficulty in which they find themselves.