# CHAPTER 26 — How a State Is Ruined Because of Women

Riots arose in the city of Ardea between the patricians and plebeians over a marriage; a rich woman of this city, who was to be married, was asked for by both a plebeian and a nobleman, and since she had no father, her guardians wished to join her to the plebeian, while her mother preferred the nobleman. * This gave rise to such an uproar that they came to the point of taking up arms; all the nobility took up arms on behalf of the nobleman and all the plebeians on behalf of the plebeians. Then, having been defeated, the plebeians left Ardea and sent to the Volscians for assistance, while the nobles sent to Rome. The Volscians were first, and upon their arrival they encamped around Ardea. The Romans came next and hemmed in the Volscians between the city and themselves, so that they compelled them, overwhelmed with hunger, to surrender themselves to the Romans’ discretion. After the Romans marched into Ardea and executed the leaders of the uprising, they settled the affairs of that city.

There are many things in this text to note. First, it is evident that women have been the cause of many downfalls, have done great damage to those who govern a city, and have caused many divisions; as we have seen in this history of ours, the abuse committed against Lucretia took the state from the Tarquins, and the one committed against Virginia deprived the Ten of their authority. Among the principal causes Aristotle gives for the downfall of tyrants is the one of having injured others through women by raping them, violating them, or breaking up marriages, as we discussed at great length in the chapter we wrote about conspiracies. Let me say, therefore, that absolute rulers and the governors of republics must not take this matter lightly; rather, they must consider the disorders that through such an unforeseen event can arise and remedy them in time, so that the remedy does not bring with it damage and disgrace to their state or their republic; this happened to the inhabitants of Ardea, who allowed this rivalry among their citizens to grow and came to experience divisions among themselves, and when they wished to reunite, they had to send for outside assistance, which is a principal starting-point for imminent servitude. But let us come to another issue of note, the method of reuniting cities, about which we shall speak in the following chapter.