# CHAPTER XXVI —_How Women are a cause of the ruin of States._

CHAPTER XXVI.—_How Women are a cause of the ruin of States._


A feud broke out in Ardea touching the marriage of an heiress, whose
hand was sought at the same time by two suitors, the one of plebeian,
the other of noble birth. For her father being dead, her guardian
wished her to wed the plebeian, her mother the noble. And so hot grew
the dispute that resort was had to arms, the whole nobility siding with
their fellow-noble, and all the plebeians with the plebeian. The latter
faction being worsted, left the town, and sent to the Volscians for
help; whereupon, the nobles sought help from Rome. The Volscians were
first in the field, and on their arrival encamped round Ardea. The
Romans, coming up later, shut in the Volscians between themselves and
the town, and, reducing them by famine, forced them to surrender at
discretion. They then entered Ardea, and putting all the ringleaders in
this dispute to the sword, composed the disorders of the city.

In connection with this affair there are several points to be noted.
And in the first place we see how women have been the occasion of many
divisions and calamities in States, and have wrought great harm to
rulers; as when, according to our historian, the violence done to
Lucretia drove the Tarquins from their kingdom, and that done to
Virginia broke the power of the decemvirs. And among the chief causes
which Aristotle assigns for the downfall of tyrants are the wrongs done
by them to their subjects in respect of their women, whether by
adultery, rape, or other like injury to their honour, as has been
sufficiently noticed in the Chapter wherein we treated “_of
Conspiracies_”

I say, then, that neither absolute princes nor the rulers of free
States should underrate the importance of matter, but take heed to the
disorders which it may breed and provide against them while remedies
can still be used without discredit to themselves or to their
governments And this should have been done by the rulers of Ardea who
by suffering the rivalry between their citizens to come to a head,
promoted their divisions, and when they sought to reunite them had to
summon foreign help, than which nothing sooner leads to servitude.

But now let us turn to another subject which merits attention, namely,
the means whereby divided cities may be reunited; and of this I propose
to speak in the following Chapter.