# CHAPTER XXI —_How it happened that Hannibal pursuing a course contrary

CHAPTER XXI.—_How it happened that Hannibal pursuing a course contrary
to that taken by Scipio, wrought the same results in Italy which the
other achieved in Spain._


Some, I suspect, may marvel to find a captain, taking a contrary
course, nevertheless arrive at the same ends as those who have pursued
the methods above spoken of; since it must seem as though success did
not depend on the causes I have named; nay, that if glory and fame are
to be won in other ways, these causes neither add to our strength nor
advance our fortunes. Wherefore, to make my meaning plain, and not to
part company with the men of whom I have been speaking, I say, that as,
on the one hand, we see Scipio enter Spain, and by his humane and
generous conduct at once secure the good-will of the province, and the
admiration and reverence of its inhabitants, so on the other hand, we
see Hannibal enter Italy, and by methods wholly opposite, to wit, by
violence and rapine, by cruelty and treachery of every kind, effect in
that country the very same results. For all the States of Italy
revolted in his favour, and all the Italian nations ranged themselves
on his side.

When we seek to know why this was, several reasons present themselves,
the first being that men so passionately love change, that, commonly
speaking, those who are well off are as eager for it as those who are
badly off: for as already has been said with truth, men are pampered by
prosperity, soured by adversity. This love of change, therefore, makes
them open the door to any one who puts himself at the head of new
movements in their country, and if he be a foreigner they adopt his
cause, if a fellow-countryman they gather round him and become his
partisans and supporters; so that whatever methods he may there use, he
will succeed in making great progress. Moreover, men being moved by two
chief passions, love and fear, he who makes himself feared commands
with no less authority than he who makes himself loved; nay, as a rule,
is followed and obeyed more implicitly than the other. It matters
little, however, which of these two ways a captain chooses to follow,
provided he be of transcendent valour, and has thereby won for himself
a great name For when, like Hannibal or Scipio, a man is very valiant,
this quality will cloak any error he may commit in seeking either to be
too much loved or too much feared. Yet from each of these two
tendencies, grave mischiefs, and such as lead to the ruin of a prince,
may arise. For he who would be greatly loved, if he swerve ever so
little from the right road, becomes contemptible; while he who would be
greatly feared, if he go a jot too far, incurs hatred. And since it is
impossible, our nature not allowing it, to adhere to the exact mean, it
is essential that any excess should be balanced by an exceeding valour,
as it was in Hannibal and Scipio. And yet we find that even they, while
they were exalted by the methods they followed, were also injured by
them. How they were exalted has been shown. The injury which Scipio
suffered was, that in Spain his soldiers, in concert with certain of
his allies, rose against him, for no other reason than that they stood
in no fear of him. For men are so restless, that if ever so small a
door be opened to their ambition, they forthwith forget all the love
they have borne their prince in return for his graciousness and
goodness, as did these soldiers and allies of Scipio; when, to correct
the mischief, he was forced to use something of a cruelty foreign to
his nature.

As to Hannibal, we cannot point to any particular instance wherein his
cruelty or want of faith are seen to have been directly hurtful to him;
but we may well believe that Naples and other towns which remained
loyal to the Roman people, did so by reason of the dread which his
character inspired. This, however, is abundantly clear, that his
inhumanity made him more detested by the Romans than any other enemy
they ever had; so that while to Pyrrhus, in Italy with his army, they
gave up the traitor who offered to poison him, Hannibal, even when
disarmed and a fugitive, they never forgave, until they had compassed
his death.

To Hannibal, therefore, from his being accounted impious, perfidious,
and cruel, these disadvantages resulted; but, on the other hand, there
accrued to him one great gain, noticed with admiration by all
historians, namely, that in his army, although made up of men of every
race and country, no dissensions ever broke out among the soldiers
themselves, nor any mutiny against their leader. This we can only
ascribe to the awe which his character inspired, which together with
the great name his valour had won for him, had the effect of keeping
his soldiers quiet and united. I repeat, therefore, that it is of
little moment which method a captain may follow if he be endowed with
such valour as will bear him out in the course which he adopts. For, as
I have said, there are disadvantages incident to both methods unless
corrected by extraordinary valour.

And now, since I have spoken of Scipio and Hannibal, the former of whom
by praiseworthy, the latter by odious qualities, effected the same
results, I must not, I think, omit to notice the characters of two
Roman citizens, who by different, yet both by honourable methods,
obtained a like glory.