# CHAPTER 20 — One Example of Humanity Towards the Inhabitants of Falerii Achieved More Than Any Use of Roman Power

When Camillus had drawn his army around the city of Falerii and had besieged it, a schoolmaster of the most noble children of that city, thinking he could ingratiate himself with Camillus and the Roman people, left the city with these children under the pretence of taking some exercise, and brought them all to the Roman camp before Camillus, and having presented them to him, he declared that through these children, the city would place itself in his hands. This gift was not only refused by Camillus, but after he had stripped the schoolmaster and bound his hands behind him and had placed a switch in the hands of each of these schoolchildren, he had them accompany the schoolmaster back to the city while giving him a good beating. When the citizens learned of this incident, they were so pleased by the humanity and integrity of Camillus that, without wishing to defend themselves further, they decided to give him the city. Thus, with this perfect example, it must be considered how much more can be accomplished on occasion in the hearts of men by a single humane act full of charity than an act which is ferocious and violent, and how on many occasions in those provinces or cities where weapons, instruments of war, and every other human power have been unable to open a breach, one example of humanity and mercy, of chastity or of generosity, has done so. Many other examples of this are found in the histories besides this one. It is evident that Roman arms could not drive Pyrrhus from Italy, but the generosity of Fabricius * drove him away when Fabricius showed Pyrrhus the offer that one of his confidants had made to the Romans to poison him. It is also evident that Scipio Africanus did not gain as much renown in Spain from the destruction of New Carthage as he earned from that example of chastity by which he restored the young and beautiful wife untouched to her husband; the fame of this act won him the friendship of all of Spain. * It is also evident how strongly people desire this quality in great men, and how it is praised by writers and by both those who describe the lives of princes and those who prescribe how princes ought to live. Among these, Xenophon takes great pains to demonstrate how many honours, victories, and distinctions Cyrus attained by being kind and humane and by giving no indication in his actions of pride, cruelty, lust, or any of the other vices that sully the lives of men. None the less, given that Hannibal won great fame and great victories with contrary methods, it seems to me that in the following chapter we should discuss how this comes about.