# CHAPTER VIII —_That he who would effect Changes in a Commonwealth, must

CHAPTER VIII.—_That he who would effect Changes in a Commonwealth, must
give heed to its Character and Condition_


I have said before that a bad citizen cannot work grave mischief in a
commonwealth which has not become corrupted. This opinion is not only
supported by the arguments already advanced, but is further confirmed
by the examples of Spurius Cassius and Manlius Capitolinus. For
Spurius, being ambitious, and desiring to obtain extraordinary
authority in Rome, and to win over the people by loading them with
benefits (as, for instance, by selling them those lands which the
Romans had taken from the Hernici,) his designs were seen through by
the senate, and laid him under such suspicion, that when in haranguing
the people he offered them the money realized by the sale of the grain
brought from Sicily at the public expense, they would have none of it,
believing that he offered it as the price of their freedom. Now, had
the people been corrupted, they would not have refused this bribe, but
would have opened rather than closed the way to the tyranny.

The example of Manlius is still more striking. For in his case we see
what excellent gifts both of mind and body, and what splendid services
to his country were afterwards cancelled by that shameful eagerness to
reign which we find bred in him by his jealousy of the honours paid
Camillus. For so darkened did his mind become, that without reflecting
what were the institutions to which Rome was accustomed, or testing the
material he had to work on, when he would have seen that it was still
unfit to be moulded to evil ends, he set himself to stir up tumults
against the senate and against the laws of his country.

And herein we recognize the excellence of this city of Rome, and of the
materials whereof it was composed. For although the nobles were wont to
stand up stoutly for one another, not one of them stirred to succour
Manlius, and not one of his kinsfolk made any effort on his behalf, so
that although it was customary, in the case of other accused persons,
for their friends to put on black and sordid raiment, with all the
other outward signs of grief, in order to excite pity for the accused,
none was seen to do any of these things for Manlius. Even the tribunes
of the people, though constantly ready to promote whatever courses
seemed to favour the popular cause, and the more vehemently the more
they seemed to make against the nobles, in this instance sided with the
nobles to put down the common enemy. Nay the very people themselves,
keenly alive to their own interests, and well disposed towards any
attempt to damage the nobles, though they showed Manlius many proofs of
their regard, nevertheless, when he was cited by the tribunes to appear
before them and submit his cause for their decision, assumed the part
of judges and not of defenders, and without scruple or hesitation
sentenced him to die. Wherefore, I think, that there is no example in
the whole Roman history which serves so well as this to demonstrate the
virtues of all ranks in that republic. For not a man in the whole city
bestirred himself to shield a citizen endowed with every great quality,
and who, both publicly and privately, had done so much that deserved
praise. But in all, the love of country outweighed every other thought,
and all looked less to his past deserts than to the dangers which his
present conduct threatened; from which to relieve themselves they put
him to death. “_Such_,” says Livius, “_was the fate of a man worthy our
admiration had he not been born in a free State_.”

And here two points should be noted. The first, that glory is to be
sought by different methods in a corrupt city, and in one which still
preserves its freedom. The second, which hardly differs from the first,
that in their actions, and especially in matters of moment, men must
have regard to times and circumstances and adapt themselves thereto.
For those persons who from an unwise choice, or from natural
inclination, run counter to the times will for the most part live
unhappily, and find all they undertake issue in failure; whereas those
who accommodate themselves to the times are fortunate and successful.
And from the passage cited we may plainly infer, that had Manlius lived
in the days of Marius and Sylla, when the body of the State had become
corrupted, so that he could have impressed it with the stamp of his
ambition, he might have had the same success as they had, and as those
others had who after them aspired to absolute power; and, conversely,
that if Sylla and Marius had lived in the days of Manlius, they must
have broken down at the very beginning of their attempts.

For one man, by mischievous arts and measures, may easily prepare the
ground for the universal corruption of a city; but no one man in his
lifetime can carry that corruption so far, as himself to reap the
harvest; or granting that one man’s life might be long enough for this
purpose, it would be impossible for him, having regard to the ordinary
habits of men, who grow impatient and cannot long forego the
gratification of their desires, to wait until the corruption was
complete. Moreover, men deceive themselves in respect of their own
affairs, and most of all in respect of those on which they are most
bent; so that either from impatience or from self-deception, they rush
upon undertakings for which the time is not ripe, and so come to an ill
end. Wherefore to obtain absolute authority in a commonwealth and to
destroy its liberties, you must find the body of the State already
corrupted, and corrupted by a gradual wasting continued from generation
to generation; which, indeed, takes place necessarily, unless, as has
been already explained, the State be often reinforced by good examples,
or brought back to its first beginnings by wise laws.

Manlius, therefore, would have been a rare and renowned man had he been
born in a corrupt city; and from his example we see that citizens
seeking to introduce changes in the form of their government, whether
in favour of liberty or despotism, ought to consider what materials
they have to deal with, and then judge of the difficulty of their task.
For it is no less arduous and dangerous to attempt to free a people
disposed to live in servitude, than to enslave a people who desire to
live free.

And because it has been said above, that in their actions men must take
into account the character of the times in which they live, and guide
themselves accordingly, I shall treat this point more fully in the
following Chapter.