true pittifull honest and vertuous nor yet to be iust but that it is as well necessarie they bee obseruers of iustice For let them know that there is great difference between him that is iust and another that doth minister iustice for to the Prince that is good commeth honor to his person but from him that ministreth iustice commeth profite to the Common-wealth Peraduenture it is no wonder to see the Prince that will tell no lye and to see his Ministers not to speake one truth Peraduenture I do not thinke my selfe slaundered to see the Prince temperate in eating and to see all his seruants distempred both with eating and drinking peraduenture and it is no cause to muse vpon to see the Princes chast and honest and to see their seruants in flesh filthy and dissolute peraduenture it is no cause to maruell to see the Prince iust and to loue iustice and that very few of his ministers do minister it The end why all these thinges are spoken is to aduertise Princes that they be not so carefull to be chast sober true and iust but that they know whether their Gouernours and Iudges are corrupted couetous greedy vnshamefast lyers or bribers for if it toucheth vs much that our Princes be good so much more it toucheth vs that the Ministers be not euill One of the things wherein Princes ought to prouide with their Iudges and gouernours is that by no meanes they suffer their lawes and and ancient customes to be broken in their commō welth and that in their steads strange customs be not introduced for the Comminalty is so variable in that they say and so light in that they aske that they would dayly see a new king and hourely change a new law Plinie in an Epistle that he writeth to Escario sayeth Optime apud Persius capitalem per legem fuit prohibitum nouos aut perigrinos mores inducere As if hee spake more plainely Amongst the Persians it was a Law inuiolable that no man should bring into the Common-wealth any strange custome for such an offence they should pay none other ransome but the losse of their heads As men dayly doe diminish in vertue vnlesse by force they be withholden and augment in vanity so they would inuent new deuises and strange customes wherewith men should bee decayed and the Common wealth destroied for straunge meates doe alter mens stomackes When those of Creta were vngently vsed of the Rhodians they did not pray to their gods to send them pestilence warre famine or sedition among their enemies but that they would suffer som euil maners to be brought in amongst the people Let not those thinke that shall reade this that it was a small curse that those of Creta desired and that it was a small reuenge which God gaue them of their enemies if he gaue them that which they did require for from war famin and pestilence som may escape but with deuises we see all perish Of many things the historiās do reproue the Emperor Sergius Galba for one alone they praise him That he neuer cōsented that in Rome any new law shold be made nor any old custom broken And he commanded that those should be grieuously punished which brought in any new law he rewarded those which put him in mind of any olde custome the which bee commaunded to bee obserued It is a mockery yea better to say a slaunder to see that some young Iudges will doe that of the Common-wealth which a Taylour doeth of a gowne that is to say to turne him within and without before behind which they ought not to doe nor the people to consent therevnto For the Prince doeth not sende them to make lawes nor to bring in new orders but to the ende that they do only preserue the commonwealth in their good customes Princes ought also to take great care that vnto litle and great rich poor they minister equall iustice sith there is no diuine nor humaine law that giueth them power and aucthoritie to corrupt it For if a Prince cannot without reason d pose of his owne goods much lesse he can make lawes and sell Iustice Wee doe not denye a Prince but that hee is lorde of Beastes of Fysh of Byrds of Mynes of Mountains of seruants and of fields Finally that hee is lord of the sea and land but therefore we will not graunt him that he is lord of iustice For there is none other true Lorde of Iustice but GOD which is the selfe same Iustice When a Prince dyeth and maketh his will he sayeth I bequeath all my Realms and Seigniories to the Prince my sonne and legitimate heyre and doe leaue vnto my second sonne such an Estate and dowrey and to my daughter such Lands and to all I recommend Iustice to the end they do obserue it and cause it to be obserued euery one in his owne Countrey It is much to note that the Father doth not say that hee leaueth vnto his Sonne Iustice but that hee doeth recommend it vnto him so that the good Princes ought not to think that they haue inherited Iustice of theyr predecessors in form of a patrimony but that God gaue it vnto thē of trust Princes of all things may be called Lords saue onely of Iustice whereof they are but onely ministers Wee dare boldely say that the Prince or great Lord which iudgeth causes not according to the Diuine will but according to their owne affection wee will not call him a iust iudge but a rouing Theefe For the Prince is much worse which robbeth God of Iustice then the Theefe which stealeth the goods from men Suetonius Tranquillus reciteth much wickednes of Domitian and the greatest of al was the poore the Orphans and those which could doe little hee alwayes punished and the other that were rich and of authoritie he pardoned He compounded with some for money and with others hee dissembled for fauour Lampridius sayde of Alexander Seuerus the 25. Emperour of Rome that hee neuer kept in his Court any euill man or suffered any of his parents to be vicious And when he was demanded on a time why hee banished one of his cousines since he was young and a Childe Hee aunswered them which intreated for him and alleadged That though he was young and his Cousin yet Charior est mihi Respub as if more plainely he had saide I haue none other neerer of kinne to mee in my Pallace then the Commonwealth O high much more higher words worthy for a truth to be writtē in princes hearts whereby they ought to be aduertised that hee said not I take for my kinne one part of the Commonwealth For the Prince which feareth GOD and desireth to be found iust as he wil indifferently be obeyed of al so ought he equally to administer iustice to all If they wil not credit me nor my pen let them credit Plato in the books of his commonwealth who giueth libertie and
ΑΡΧΟÎΤΟΡΟΛΟΓΙΟΠOR THE DIALL OF PRINCES CONTAINING THE GOLDEN AND FAMOVS BOOKE OF MARCVS AVRELIVS Sometime Emperour of Rome DECLARING What Excellency consisteth in a Prince that is a good Christian And what euils attend on him that is a cruell Tirant WRITTEN By the Reuerend Father in God DON ANTONIO of Gueuara Lord Bishop of Guadix Preacher and Chronicler to the late mighty Emperour CHARLES the fift First translated out of French by THOMAS NORTH Sonne to Sir EDWARD NORTH Lord NORTH of Kirthling And lately reperused and corrected from many grosse imperfections With addition of a Fourth Booke stiled by the Name of The fauoured Courtier LONDON Imprinted by Bernard Alsop dwelling by Saint Annes Church neere Aldersgate 1619. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR HENRY MOVNTAGVE Knight Lord Chiefe Iustice of the Pleas Holden before his most Royall Maiestie c THe Emperour Traiane Right Honourable writing a Letter to the Senate of Rome concerning the weightie and carefull condition of Princes among many other matters vsed these wordes of himselfe I doe freely confesse vnto you that since I tasted the cares and trauels attending on this Imperiall dignitie I haue repented a thousand times that euer I did vndertake it because if it bee accounted Honour to enioy an Empire there consisteth farre greater paine and labour to order and gouerne it as it ought to be But beside what enuie doth hee expose himselfe to multitude of mislikes that hath the charge of gouerning others If hee be iust hee is branded with cruelry if mercifull hee is contemned if beautifull tearmed lauish and prodigall if hee hoorde vp money then basely couetous if inclined to peace then hee is a coward If full of courage proudly anbitious if discreetly graue surly and scornefull if affably courteous silly and simple if affecting solitude a dissembling hypocrite if addicted to mirth and pleasure then wantonly dissolute In the end of all te worthy Emperour thus concluded Although willingly I accepted this high office at the first yet sorrow hath since made mee shrinke vnder so brdensom a charge For the Sea and dignitie are thinges pleasing to looke â—n but very perillous to meddle withall I haue alledged his example worthie Lord because present vnto your gracious acceptance his ancient and famous Booke called The Diall of Princes wherein is at lige and amply set downe what care and respect awayteth on the liues of Prinâ—â—s and great persons for if they canot runne into the smallest errour but redoundeth to the hurt of many nor neglect their duty without other mens userie Then sayde the Philosopher well A Prince should not appropriate the Common-wealth to himselfe but shape himselfe wholy to the Common wealth And so much the rather because he standing accountable to no man in this Life ought to remember a farre stricter account before him that maketh no respect of Princes saue onely in this that they shall finde the Iudge the more seuere against them by how much they haue abused their place of eminencie as also their power and princely authority In the learned Discourses following set downe by that good Emperour Marcus Aurelius the honourable Argument of all this worke are three especiall duties and actions obserued necessarily required in an absolute and perfect Prince as namely In Ruling Iudging and Defending To rule by iust lawes and good Example To Iudge by Wisedome Prouidence and Iustice And Defend by valour care and vigilancy And this is that which the Spirit of God so often intimateth by the Prophet Ieremie â—ap 22. verse 3. To execute Iudgement and righteousnesse To deliuer the oppressed from the handes â—â— the oppressour Not to vexe the Stanger fatherlesse or Widdow Neyther to doe violence or shedde the innocent bloud Into infinite other famous presidents for Princes I could enter and set them downe expressely but that I know they are so frequent to your Honour both in reading and memorie that it were as lost labour as to hold a burning Taper in the bright Sunne at Noone-day and therefore these few shall suffice Nor doe I dedicate this vnto your graue and learned iudgement as a new labour of mine owne or as a worke neuer seene before because it hath already past diuers impressions albeit not in so exact a maner nor with the like paines as hath now bin bestowed vpon it from many absurde and grosse imperfections and yet not so cleanely purged as I could wish it were nor as it shall bee if euer it come to the Presse againe Wherefore I humbly entreate your Honour to accept it as it is and as an oblation of my loue vnfainedly to you which gladly would shew it selfe by any possible meanes as time hereafter may better enable me Til when I remain ready at your Honours seruice to the very vtmost of my best abilitie Your Honors in all duty A. M. A GENER ALL PROLOGVE VPON THE BOOKE ENTITVLED THE DYALL OF PRINCES WITH THE FAmous Booke of MARCVS AVRELIVS Compyled by the Reuerend Father in GOD the Lord ANTONY of GVEVARA Byshop of Guadix Confessor and Chronicler to Charles the fifth Emperour of Rome vnto whom and to all other Princes and Noble-personages this worke was directed APolonius Thianeus disputing with the schollers of Hiareas said that among all the affections of nature nothing is more naturall then the desire that all haue to preserue life Omitting the dispute of these great Phylosophers herein wee our selues hereof haue daily proofe that to liue men do trauell to liue byrds do flie fishes do swimme and to liue beasts do hide themselues for feare of death Finally I say there is no liuing creature so brutish that hath not a naturall desire to liue If many of the auncient Paynims so little regarde life that of their owne free willes they offered themselues death they did it not for that they despised life but because they thought that for their little regarding life wee would more highly esteem their fame For wee see men of hauty courages seeke rather to winne a long-during-Fame then to saue a short lasting-life How loth men are to die is easily seen by the great paines they take to liue For it is a naturall thing to all mortall men to leaue their liues with sorrowe and take their deaths with feare Admit that all doe taste this corporall death and that generally both good and euill doe die yet is there great difference between the death of the one and the death of the other If the good desire to liue it is onely for the greater desire they haue to do more good but if the euill desire to liue it is for that they would abuse the world longer For the children of vanity call no time good but onely that wherein they liue according to their owne desires I let you vnderstand that are at this present and you also that shall come heereafter that I direct my writings vnto those which embrace vertue and not vnto such as are borne away with vice GOD
his diuine power And of the superstition of the false and faigned goddes chap 9. fol. 20. How there is but one true God and how happy those Realmes are which haue a good Christian to be their King How the Gentiles affirmed that good Princes after their death were changed into gods and the wicked into Deuils which the Authour proueth by sundry examples chap. 10. fol. 23. Of sundry gods which the Ancients worshipped Of the offices of those gods How they were reuenged of such as displeased them And of the twentie elected gods chap. 11. fol. 26. How Tiberius was chosen Gouernour of the Empire and afterward created Emperour onely for being a good Christian And how God depriued Iustinian the younger both of his Empire and senses because he was a perfidious heretique chap. 12. fol. 29 Of other more naturall and peculier gods which the ancient people had and adored chap. 13. fol. 32 What words the Empresse Sophia spake to Tiberius Constantinus then being Gouernour of the Empire reprouing him for lauishly consuming the Treasure of the Empire gotten by her chap. 14. fol. 36 The answere of Tiberius to the Empresse Sophia Augusta declaring that Noble Princes neede not hoord vp treasures And of the hidden treasure which this good Emperour foundeby reuelation in the Palace where he remayned chap. 15. fol. 38 How the Captayne Narsetes ouercame many Battailes onely by reposing his whole confidence in God And what hapned to him by the Empresse Sophia Augusta relating the vnthankfulnesse of Princes towards their seruants chap. 16. fol 41 Of a letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to the King of Scicille remembring the trauels they had endured together in their youth and reprooning him for his small reuerence to the Temples ch 17 fo 46 The Emperours prosecution in his Letter admonishing Princes to bee fearefull of their Gods And of the sentence which the Senate gaue vpon the King for pulling down the church ch 18 f. 49 How the Gentiles honoured those that were deuout in the seruice of their gods chap. 19 fol 52 Of fiue causes why Princes ought to be better christians then their subiects ch 20 fol. 55 What the Philosopher Bias was Of his constancy when hee had lost all his goods And of the ten lawes he gaue deseruing to be had in perpetuall memory chap 21 59 Questions demanded of the Philosopher Bias. fol. 61 The lawes which Bias gaue to the Prienenses 62 How God from the beginning punished men by his iustice and especially those Princes that despised his church how all wicked Christians are Parishioners of hel ch 22 63 Of twelue examples why Princes are sharply punished when they vsurpe boldly vpon churches and violate their temples ch 23 65 Why the children of Aaron were punished eodem The cause why the Azotes were punished eodem The cause why Prince Oza was punished 66. Why King Balthazar was punished 67 Why King Ahab was punished 69 Why King Manasses was punished cod Why Iulius Pompey Xerxes Cateline Germanicus Brennus were punished 70 How Valentine the Emp. because he was an euil Christian in one day lost both the Empire and his life ch 24 72 Of the Emp. Valentinian Gratian his son which raigned in the time of S. Ambrose and because they were good Christians were alwayes fortunate and how God giueth victory to Princes more by the teares of them that pray then thorow the weapons of thē that fight ch 25 76 Of the goodly Oration which the Em Gratian made to his Souldiers before hee gaue the battell ch 26 78 Of the Captaine Theodosius who was father to the great Emp. Theodosius died a good Christian Of the K. Hismarus and the Bishop Siluanus and the lawes which they made and established ch 27 60 What a happy thing it is to haue but one Prince to rule the publike weale for there is no greater enemy to the Common-weale then he which procureth many to commaund therein ch 28 84 That in a publike weale there is no greater destruction then where Princes dayly consent to new orders and make an alteration of ancient customs ch 29 f. 88 When Tirants began to raigne and vpon what occasion commaunding and obeying first began and how the authority which a Prince hath is by the ordināce of God chap. 30 91 Of the golden age in times past and worldly misery at this present ch 31 94 How K. Alexander the Great after hee had ouercome K. Darius in Asia went to conquer the great India and of that which hapned to him with the Garamantes and that purity of life hath more power then force of warre ch 32 96 Of an Oration which one of the Sages of Garamantia made vnto K. Alexander a good lesson for ambitious mē ch 33. 98 A continuation of the sage Garamants Oration and among other notable matters he maketh mention of seuen lawes which they obserued chap. 34 101 That Princes ought to consider for what cause they were made Princes What Thales the Philosopher was of 12 questions demāded of him his answer c. 35. 104 What Plutarch the Philosopher was Of the wise words he spake to the Emperour Traiane how a good Prince is the head of the publique-weale chap. 36. fo 108 As there are two Sences in the Head Smelling and Hearing So likewise a Prince who is the head of the Common-weale ought to heare the complaints of all his subiects and should know them all to recompence their seruices ch 37. fol. 111 Of the great Feast which the Romaines celebrated to the God Ianus the first day of Ianuary And of the bounty and liberality of the Emperour Marcus Aurelius the same day chap. 38 114 Of the answer which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius made to the Senatour Fuluius before all the Senate beeing reproued by him for the familiarity hee vsed to all men contrary to the maiesty and authority of the Romane Emperour wherein hee painteth enuious men ch 39 fol. 118 Of a Letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to his friend Pulio declaring the opinion of certaine Philosophers concerning the felicity of man chap. 40. 124 Of the Philosopher Epicurus fol. 129 Of the Philosopher Eschilus 131 Of the Philosopher Pindarus 132 Of the Philosopher Zeno 133 Of the Philosopher Anacharsis 134 Of the Sarmates 135 Of the Philosopher Chilo 137 Of the Philosophers Crates Stylphas Simonides Gorgias Architas Chrysippus Antistenes Sophocles Euripides Palemon Themistocles Aristides and Heraclius 138. 139 That Princes and great Lords ought not to esteeme themselues for being fayre and well proportioned chap. 41 140 Of a letter written by the Emperour Marcus Aurelius to his Nephew worthy to be noted of all young Gentlemen chap. 42 146 How Princes and great Lords in olde time were louers of men that were wise and learned chap. 43 153 How the Emperor Theodosius prouided wise men at the houre of his death for the education of his two noble sonnes Archadius and Honorius chap. 44 158
to bee borne afore him a burning brand and the Councel an Axe of Armes the Priests a Hatte in manner of a Coyse The Senatours a Crusible on their Armes the Iudges a little Balance the Tribunes Maces the Gouernours a Scepter the Bishoppes Hattes of flowers the Oratours a Booke the Cutler 's a Sword the Goldsmith a pot to melt gold and so forth of all other offices strangers excepted which went al marked after one sort in Rome For they would not agree that a stranger should be apparrelled and marked according to the children of Rome O my friend Pulio it was such a ioy then to behold the Discipline and prosperity of Rome as it is now at this present such a griefe to see the calamitie thereof that by the immortall Gods I sweare to thee and so the God Mars guide my hand in Wars that the man which now is best ordered is not worth so much as the most dissolute person was then For then amongst a thousand they could not find one man vicious in Rome and now amongst twenty thousand they cannot find one vertuous in all Italy I know not why the Gods are so cruell against me and fortune so contrary that this forty yeares I haue done nothing but weepe and lament to see the good men dye and immediately to be forgotten and on the other side to see wicked men liue and to be alwayes in prosperity Vniuersally the noble heart may endure all the troubles of mans life vnlesse it bee to see a good man decay and the wicked to prosper which my heart cannot abide nor yet my tongue dissemble And touching this matter my friend Pulio I will write vnto thee one thing which I found in the booke of the high Capitoll where hee treateth of the time of Marius and Silla which truely is worthy of memory and that is this There was at Rome a custome and a law inuiolable sith the time of Cinna that a Censour expresly commāded by the Senate should goe and visite the Prouinces which were subiect vnto it throughout all Italy and the cause of those visitations was for three things The first to see if any complained of Iustice The second to see in what case the Common-weale stood The third to the end that yearely they should render obedience to Rome O my friend Pulio how thinkest thou If they visited Italie at this present as at that time they suruaied Rome how ful of errours should they finde it And what decay should they see therin thinkest thou Truely as thou knowest they should see the common wealth destroyed Iustice not ministred and moreouer Rome not obeyed and not without iust cause For of right ought that common-wealth to be destroyed which once of all other hath beene the flower and most beautified with vertues and after becommeth most abhominable and defiled with vices The case was such that two years after the wars of Silla and Marius the Censour went yeerly to Nola which is a place in the Prouince of Campania to visite the same Country as the custome was And in those dayes the time and season being very hote and the Prouince quiet not disturbed with warres and perceyuing that none of the people came to him The Censour said to the Host which lodged him Friend I am a Iudge sent from the Senatours of Rome to visite this land Therefore goe thy wayes quickly and call the good men hither which be among the people for I haue to say vnto them from the sacred Senate This Host who peraduenture was wiser then the Romane Iudge although not so rich goeth to the graues of the dead which in that place were buried and spake vnto them with a loude voyce saying O yee good men come away with mee quickly for the Romane Censour calleth you The Iudge perceyuing they came not sent him againe to call them and the Host as he did at the first time so did he now at the second For when he was at the graues with a loud voice he sayd O yee good men come hither for the censour of Rome would talke with you And likewise they were called the third time with the selfe same words And the Censour seeing no body come was maruellous angry and sayde to the Host Sith these good men disdain to come at my commandement and shew their allegiance to the sacred Senate of Rome that were aliue and not those that are dead the Host made answere O thou Romane Iudge if thou wert wise thou wouldest not maruell at that that I haue done For I let thee vnderstand in this our City of Nola all the good men all I say are now dead and lye here buried in these graues Therefore thou hast no cause to maruell nor yet to bee displeased with my aunswere but I rather ought to bee offended with thy demaund willing me to enquire for good men and thou thy selfe dost offend with the euill dayly Wherefore I let thee know if thou bee ignorant thereof if thou wilt speake with any good man thou shalt not finde him in all the whole world vnlesse the dead bee reuiued or except the Goas will make a new creation The Consull Silla was fiue moneths our Captaine in this our City of Nola in Campania sowing the fruit which ye other Romaines gathered that is to say he left children without Fathers Fathers without children daughters without Mothers and Husbands without Wiues Wiues without Husbands Vncles without Nephewes Subiects without Lords Lords without Tenants Gods without Temples Temples without Priestes Mountaines without Heards and fieldes without fruites And the worst of all is that this wicked and cursed Silla dispeopled this our City of good and vertuous men and replenished it with wicked and vitious persons Ruine and decay neuer destroyed the Walles so much neyther the Mothes euer so many garments nor the Worme rotted so much fruit nor yet the Hayle beate downe so much corne as the disorder and vices of Sylla the Romane Consull did harme which hee brought vnto this land of Campania And although the mischiefe and euils that hee did heere to the men were manifold great yet much greater herein was that which he did to their Customes and Manners For in the end the good men which hee beheaded are now at rest with the dead but the vices which hee left vs in this Land there are none but proude and arrogant men that delight to commaund In this land there are none other but enuious men that know nought else but malice In this land there are idle men which doe nothing but loose their time In this land there are none but gluttons which doe nothing but eate In this land there are none but theeues which entend nought else but robberies In this land there are none but rebels that do nothing but stirre sedition And if thou and all the Romanes esteeme these men for good tarry a while I will goe to call them all to thee For if wee should
on heapes it would both haue couered their carkases and also haue drowned the liuing Yet hee not contented with that I haue spoken off set in the Temple of the Lord an olde Idoll that stood in the wood for the punishment of which fact God suffered his seruants to kill his eldest sonne And afterward God would not suffer these such sundry mischiefes of mans malice but of his diuine iustice caused these words to bee proclaimed in Hierusalem Sith the King Manasses hath beene so bolde to contemne mee and himselfe alone to commit the offences of all I will chastice him alone with the same correction that hee hath shewed vnto others By these words let Princes note here how the diuine vengeance extendeth no further then our offences deserue so that if our fault bee litle the punishment which hee giueth vs is very temperate but if the Prince bee stubborne and obstinate in his wickednesse let him be sure that the punishment shall be extreame Why Iulius Pompeius Xerxes Catilina Germanicus and Brennus were punished WHen Pompeius the Great passed into the Orient with all the Host of the Romaine people and after he had subdued all Siria Mesopotamia Damasco and Arabia hee passed into the Realme of Palestine which otherwise was called Iudea where he committed diuers and sundry euils so that many of the Romanes and Hebrues dyed there Finally by force of Armes hee tooke the puissant City of Hierusalem which as Plinie sayeth was the best of all Asia And Strabo sayeth of the situation of the World that Rome was the chiefe of all Italy and of Affricke the principall was Carthage of Spaine Numantia of Germany Argentine of Caldea Babylon of Egypt Thebes of Greece Athens of Phenice Tira of Cappadocea Cesare of Thrace Constantinople and of Palestine Hierusalem Pompeius therefore not contented to kill all the Auncients of that warre to imprison the youth to behead the elders to force the mothers to defile the virgins to teare in peeces the children to beat down buildings and to rob the Treasure◠but encreasing euill vpon euill and putting all al the people to destruction he made of the Temple a Stable for his horses which before God was abominable that where alwayes heretofore he had beene a Conquerour and triumphed ouer twenty two Kinges euer after he was vnluckie and ouercome in battell The famous rebell Catilina as Salust affirmeth had neuer beene ouercome as if it had not beene for the robbing and destroying of the Temples which were consecrated to the Gods The noble Marcuus Marcellus to whome no Romaine is to bee compared in vertues the same day hee caused the Temple of the Goddesse Februa to be burnt was himselfe slaine in battell The noble Romaine Captaine Drusius Germanicus that was so well willed and beloued because hee gaue a calfe meate to eate which was the God of the Chaldeans being prohibited and forbidden within a moneth after dyed whose death was greatly lamented in Rome Suetonius sayeth that after Iulius Caesar had robbed the Temple of the Gawles the Gods alwayes made him afrayde in the night And Xerxes which was the Sonne of King Darius when he passed into Italy to wage battell before all other things hee sent foure thousand Horsemen to Delphos where the Temple of God Apollo was to beate it downe for the pride of Xerxes was so great that hee would not only subdue men but also conquer the Gods It chanced that euen as they approached neere the Temple to beate it downe a sodaine tempest fell vpon them so that with stones and thunderbolts they were all killed in the fields and so dyed Brennus was one of the renowned Captaines of the Gothes who sith hee had conquered and subdued the Greekes determined also to robbe the Treasures of the Temples saying that Gods should giue vnto men not men vnto Gods and that it was great honour to the Gods that with their goods men should bee made rich But as they beganne to robbe the Temple there fell a multitude of arrowes from heauen that the Captaine Brennus dyed there and all his men with him not one left aliue After that Sextus Pompeius was vanquished in the battell by sea neare vnto Sicilie by Octauus Augustus hee retired himselfe into the Arkes Lacinii where there was an auncient Temple consecrated to the Goddesse Iuno endowed with maruellous Treasures And it chaunced one day that his Souldiers asking him money and he being then without he commaunded them to beate down the Temple of the Goddesse Iuno and to pay themselus with the spoyle of her treasure Vhe Historiographers say that within a while after it chanced Sextus Pompeius to be taken of the knights of Marcus Antonius and when hee was brought before Titus Generall of the Army he spake vnto him these words I will you know Sextus Pompeius I doe not condemne thee to dye for the offences thou hast committed against my Lord Marcus Antonius But because thou hast robbed and beaten downe the Temple of the Goddesse Iuno For thou knowest that the good Captaines ought to forget the offences against men and to reuenge the iniuries done the Gods CHAP. XXIIII How Valente the Emperour because hee was an euill Christian lost in one day both the Empire and his life and was burned aliue in a sheepecote WHen Iulian the Apostate was Emperour of Rome hee sent to conquer Hungary of no iust title hee had to it more then of ambition to vnite it to the Romane Empire For tirannous Princes vse all their force to vsurpe other realms by crueltie and little regard whether they may doe it by iustice And because the Romane Empire was of great force this ambitious Emperour Iulian had in that warres a mighty and puissant Armie which did wonderfull much harme through all the coūtries they came For the fruites of warres is to bereaue the enemies of life and to spoyle the men of theyr goods It chaunced one day as fiue knights went out of the Campe to make a rode they found a youngman that carried a halter in his hand and as they would haue taken it away from him to haue tyed theyr horses to let them feede hee was so hardy and so stout that hee defended himselfe from them all so that he had more strength alone then they fiue altogether The Romane Knights amazed to see this young man defend himselfe from them all so stoutely very instantly desired him to goe to the Romane Campe with them and they promised him hee should haue great entertainement for the Romanes were so diligent that they should omit no good thing for want of money so that it were for the publike weale This young man was called Gracian and was borne and brought vp in the Country of Pannonia in a City they called Cibata His lynage was not of the lowest sort of people nor yet of the most esteemed Cittizens but were men that liued by the sweate of their browes and in loue
noble courages Of Antisthenes the Philosopher ANtisthenes the Philosopher put al his felicity in renowne after his death For sayeth hee there is no losse but of life that flitteth without fame For the Wise man needeth not feare to die so he leaue a memory of his vertuous life behinde him Of Sophocles the Philosopher SOphocles had al his ioy in hauing children which should possesse the inheritance of their Father saying that the graft of him that hath no children surmounteth aboue all other sorrowes for the greatest felicity in this life is to haue honour riches and afterwardes to leaue children which shall inherite them Of Euripides the Philosopher Euripides the Philosopher had all his ioy in keeping a fayre woman saying his tongue with wordes could not expresse the griefe which the hart endureth that is accombred with a foule woman therefore of of truth hee which hapneth of a good vertuous woman ought of right in his life to desire no more pleasure Of Palemon the Philosopher PAlemon put the felicity of men in eloquenee saying and swearing that the man that cannot reason of all things is not so like a reasonable man as he is a brute beast for according to the opinions of many there is no greater felicity in this wretched world then to be a man of a pleasant tongue and of an honest life Of Themistocles the Philosopher THemistocles put all his felicity in discending from a Noble lynage saying that the man which is come of a meane stocke is not bound to make of a renowmed fame for truly the vertues and prowesses of them that are past are not but an example to moue them to take great enterprises which are present Of Aristides the Philosopher ARistides the Philosopher put all his felicity in keeping temporal goods saying that the man which hath not wherwith to eate nor to sustaine his life it were better coūsell for him of his free will to goe into the graue then to do any other thing For he onely shall bee called happy in this world who hath no neede to enter into an other mans house Of Heraclitus the Philosopher HEraclitus put al his felicity in heaping vp treasure saying that the prodigall man the more begetteth the more he spendeth but he hath the respect of a wise man who can keep a secret treasure for the necessitie to come Thou hast now sufficiently vnderstood my friend Pulio that 7. moneths since I haue been taken with the feuer quartaine and I sweare vnto thee by the immortall Gods that at this present instant writing vnto thee my hand shaketh which is an euident token that the colde doth take mee wherefore I am constrained to conclude this matter which thou demaundest mee although not according to my desire For amongst true friendes though the workes doe cease wherewith they serue yet therefore the inward parts ought not to quaile wherwith they loue If thou doest aske mee my friend Pulio what I thinke of all that is aboue spoken and to which of those I doe sticke I answere thee That in this World I doe not graunt any to bee happy and if there be any the gods haue them with them because on the one side chosing the plaine and drye way without clay and on the other side all stony and myerie wee may rather call this life the precipitation of the euill then the safegard of the good I will speake but one word onely but marke well what thereby I meane which is that amongst the mishaps of fortune wee dare say that there is no felicitie in the World And hee onely is happy from whom wisdome hath plucked enuious aduersity and that afterwards is brought by wisedome to the highest felicitie And though I would I cannot endure any longer but that the immortall Gods haue thee in their custody and that they preserue vs from euill fortune Sith thou art retired now vnto Bethinie I know well thou wouldest I should write thee some newes from Rome and at this present there are none but that the Carpentines and Lusitaines are in great strife dissention in Spaine I receiued letters how that the barbarous were quiet though the Host that was in Ilium were in good case yet notwithstanding the Army is somwhat fearefull and timorous For in all the coast and borders there hath beene a great plague Pardon me my friend Pulio for that I am so sickly that yet I am not come to my selfe for the feuer quartane is so cruel a disease that he which hath it contenteth himselfe with nothing neyther taketh pleasure in any thing I send thee two of the best horses that can be found in al Spaine and also I send thee two cups of gold of the richest that can bee found in Alexandria And by the law of a good man I sweare vnto thee that I desire to send thee two or three howers of those which trouble mee in my feuer quartane My wife Faustine saluteth thee and of her part and mine also to Cassia thy olde mother and noble Widdow we haue commended Marcus the Romane Emperour with his own hand writeth this and againe commendeth him vnto his deere friend Pulio CHAP. XLI That Princes and great Lords ought not to esteeme themselues for being fayre and well proportioned IN the time that Ioshua triumphed amongst the Hebrewes and that Dardanus passed from great Greece to Samotratia and when the sons of Egenor were seeking their sister Europe and in the time that Siculus raigned in Scicil in great Asia in the realme of Egypt was builded a great City called Thebes the which K. Busiris built of whom Diodorus Siculus at large mentioneth Plinie in the 36. Chapter of his naturall history and Homer in the second of his Iliades Statius in al the booke of his Thebiade doe declare great maruels of this City of Thebes which thing ought greatly to bee esteemed for a man ought not to thinke that fayned which so excellent authours haue written For a truth they say that Thebes was in circuit forty miles and that the walles were thirty stades hie and in bredth sixe They say also that the City had a hundred gates very sumptuous and strong and in euery gate two hundred Horsemen watched Through the midst of Thebes passed a great riuer the which by milles and fish did greately profite the City When Thebes was in his prosperity they say that there was two hundred thousand fires and besides all this all the Kings of Egypt were buried in that place As Strabo sayeth De situ orbis when Thebes was destroyed with enemies they found therein seuenty seuen Tombes of Kings which had bin buried there And here is to bee noted that all those tombes were of vertuous kings for among the Aegyptians it was a law inuiolable that the King which had beene wicked in his life should not bee buried after his death Before the noble and worthy Numantia
thee I shall not follow my selfe and beeing thine I shall cease to bee mine Thou art come to haue the name of the Great Alexander for conquering the world and I haue attained to come to renowme of a good Phylosopher in flying the world And if thou dost imagine that thou hast gotten and wonne I thinke I haue not erred nor lost And since thou wilt be no lesse in authoritie then a King doe not thinke that I will lose the estimation of a Phylosopher For in the world there is no greater losse vnto a man then when hee looseth his proper libertie When he had spoken these words Alexander saide vnto them that were about him with a lowde voyce By the immortall Gods I sweare and as god Mars rule my hands in Battell if I were not Alexander the Great I would bee Diogenes the Phylosopher And hee saide further In mine opinion there is no other Felicitie vpon the earth then to bee King Alexander who commaundeth all or to bee Diogenes to commaund Great Alexander who commaundeth all As king Alexander was more familiar with some Philosophers then with others so hee esteemed some bookes more then others And they say he read oftentimes in the Iliades of Homer which is a booke where the story of the destruction of Troy is and that when he slept he layd vnder his head vpon a bolster his sword and also his booke When the great King Alexander was borne his father Philip king of Macedonia did two notable things The first was that hee sent many and very rich gifts into the I le of Delphos where the Oracle of Apollo was to the ende to present them with him and to pray him that it would please him for to preserue his sonne The other thing that hee did was that immediately hee wrote a letter to the great Philosopher Aristotle wherin he sayd these words The letter of King Philip to Aristotle the Phylosopher PHilip King of Macedonia wishes health and peace to the philosopher Aristotle which readeth in the Vniuersitie of Greece I let the vnderstand that Olympias my wife is brought to bedde of a goodly man childe whereof both she and I and all Macedonia do reioyce For kings and Realms ought to haue great ioy when that there is borne a sonne sueccssour of the natural prince of the prouince I render thankes vnto the immortall gods and haue sent many great gifts to the Temples and it was not so much for that I haue a son as for that they haue giuenhim vnto me in the time of so great and excellent Philosopher I hope that thou wilt bring him vp teach him in such sort that by heritage hee shall be Lord of my patrimony of Macedonia and by desert he shall be Lord of Asia to that they should call him my sonne and thee his father Vale foelix iterumque vale Ptolomeus father in law who was the eight king of the Aegyptians did greatly loue the Sages as well of Caldea as of Greece and this thing was esteemed for a great vertue in king Ptolome For there was as much enuy betweene the phylosophers of Greece and the Sages of Egypt as betweene the Captaines of Rome and the Captaines of Carthage This Ptolome was very wise and did desire greatly to bee accompanied with Phylosophers and after this hee learned the letters of the Latines Caldes and Hebrues for the which cause though the kings named Ptolomei were eleuen in number and all warrelike men yet they put this for the Chiefe and Captaine of all not for battels which hee wanne but for the sentences which he learned This king Ptolomeus had for his familiar a Philosopher called Estilpho Magarense who was so entirely beloued of this Prince that laying aside gentlenesse and benefits which hee shewed him hee did not onely eate with the king at his table but oftentimes the king made him drink of his owne cup. And as the sauours which Princes shew to their seruants are but as a watch to proue the malitious it chanced that when this king gaue the philosopher to drinke that which remayned in his cuppe an Egyptian knight moued with enuy sayde vnto King Ptolome I thinke Lord how thou art neuer satisfied with drinking to leaue that which remaineth in the cuppe for the Philosopher to drinke after thee To whom the king answered Thou sayst well that the Phylosopher Estilpho is neuer filled with that which I doe giue him For that which remaineth in my cup doth not profite him so much to drinke as the Phylosophy which remaineth in him should profite thee if thou wouldst take it The king Antigonus was one of the most renowmed seruants that king Alexander the great euer had who after his death enherired a great part of his Empire for how much happy the king Alexander was in his life so much hee was vnhappy at the time of his death because he had no children which might enherite his goods and that hee had such seruants as spoyled him of his renowme This king Antigonus was an vnthrist and excessiue in all vices But for all hee loued greatly the phylosophers which thing remained vnto him from king Alexander whose pallace was a schoole of al the good phylosophers of the world Of this ensample they may see what great profite ensueth of bringing vp of them that bee yong for there is none that euer was so wicked or inclined vnto euill but that in long continuance may profite somwehat in his youth This king Antigonus loued two philosophers greatly the which florished in that time that is to say Amenedius and Abio of which two Abio was wel learned and very poore For in that time no phylosopher durst openly reade philosophy as if hee were worth any thing in temporall goods As Laertius sayth and as Pulio declares it better in the book of the rulers and noble men of the Greekes The Schooles of the Vuiuersitie were so correct that the philosopher which knew most had least goods so that they did not glorifie of any thing eise but to haue pouertie and to know much of philosophy The case was such that the phylosopher Abio was sicke and with that sickenes he was so vexed that they might almost see the bones of his weake bodie The king Antigonus sent to visite him by his owne sonne by whom hee sent him much money to helpe him withall For hee liued in extreame pouertie as it behoued the professors of phylosophy Abio was sore sicke being aged and crooked and though he had made himselfe so leane with sicknesse yet notwithstanding he burned alwayes vpon the weeke of good life I meane that he had no lesse courage to despise those gifts then the king Antigonus had nobles to send them This Phylosopher not contented to haue despised those gifts in such sort sayd vnto the sonne of Antigonus who brought them Tell king Antigonus that I giue him great thankes for the good entertainement hee gaue me alwayes
be aduertised that since in not nourishing their children they shew themselues cruel yet at the least in prouiding for thē good Nurses they shold shew themselues pittifull for the children oft times follow more the condition of the milke which they sucke then the condition of their mothers which brought them forth or of their fathers which begot them Therefore they ought to vse much circumspection herein for in them consisteth the fame of the wiues the honour of the husband and the wealth of their children CHAP. XXII Of the Disputations before Alexander the great concerning the time of the sucking of Babes OVintus Curtins saith that after the great Alexander which which was the last King of the Macedonians and first Emperour of the Greekes had ouercome King Darius and that he saw himselfe onely Lord of all Asia he went to rest in Babylon for among men of warre there was a custome that after they had beene long in the warres euery one should retire to his owne house King Philip which was father of King Alexander alwayes counselled his sonne that he should leade with him to the warres valiant Captaines to conquere the World and that out of his Realmes and Dominions hee should take and chuse the wisest men and best experimented to gouerne the Empire Hee had reason in such wise to counsell his sonne for by the counsell of Sages that is kept and maintained which by the strength of valiant men is gotten and wonne Alexander the great therefore being in Babylon after hee had conquered all the Countrey since all the Citie was vicious and his Armie so long without warres some of his owne men began to robbe one another others to play their own some to force women and others to make banquets and feasts when some wee drunk others raysed quarrels strifes and discentions so that a man could not tell whether was greater the rust in their Armours or the corruptions in their customes For the propertie of mans malice is that when the gate is open to idlenesse infinite vices enter into the house Alexander the great seeing the dissolution which was in his Armie and the losse which might ensue heereof vnto his great Empire commanded straightly that they should make a shew and iust thorow Babylon to the end that the men of warre should exercise their forces thereby And as Aristotle saith in the book of the Questions of Babylon the Turney was so much vsed amongst them that sometimes they carryed away more dead and wounded men then of a bloudie battaile of the enemie Speaking according to the lawe of the Gentiles which looked not glory for their vertues nor feared hell to dye at the Turney the commandement of Alexander was very iust for that doing as he did to the Armie he defaced the vice which did waste it and for himselfe he got perpetuall memory and also it was cause of much suertie in the Common-weale This good Prince not contented to exercise his army so but ordayned that daily in his presence the Philosophers should dispute and the question wherein they should dispute Alexander himselfe would propound whereof followed that the great Alexander was made certaine of that wherein hee doubted and so by his wisedome all men exercised their crafts and wits For in this time of idlenesse the bookes were no lesse marred with dust because they were not opened then the weapons were with rust which were not occupyed There is a booke of Aristotle intituled The Questions of Babilon where he sayd that Alexander propounded the Philosophers disputed the Principalles of Persia replyed and Aristotle determined and so continued in disputations as long as Alexander did eate for at the Table of Alexan der one day the Captaines reasoned of matters of warre and another day the Philosophers disputed of their Philosophie Blundus saieth in the booke intituled Italia Illustrata that among the Princes of Persia there was a custome that none could sit downe at the Table vnlesse hee were a King that had ouercome another King in battaile and none could speake at their table but a Philosopher And truely the custome was very notable and worthy to be noted for there is no greater folly then for any man to desire that a Prince should reward him vnlesse hee know that by his works hee had deserued the same King Alexander did eate but one meale in the day and therefore the first question that he propounded vnto them was That the man which did not eate but once in the day at what houre it was best to eate for the health of his person and whether it should be in the morning noone dayes or night This question was debated among the Philosophers whereof euery one to defend his opinion alleadged many foundations For no lesse care haue the Sages in their mindes to issue out of them disputations victorious then the valiant Captaines haue in aduenturing their persons to vanquish their enemies It was determined as Aristotle maketh mention in his Probleames that the man which eateth but once in the day should eate a little before night for it auayleth greatly to the health of the body that when the digestion beginneth in the stomacke a man taketh his first sleepe The second question that Alexander propounded was What age the childe should haue when hee should be weyned from the dugge And the occasion of this question was for that he had begotten a young daughter of a Queene of the Amazous the which at that time did sucke and for to know whether it were time or not to weyne her there was great dispurations for the childe was now great to sucke and weake to weyne I haue declared this History for no other purpose but to shew how in Babylon this question was disputed before King Alexander that is to say how many yeeres the childe ought to haue before it were weyned from the teate for at that time they are so ignorant that they cannot demand that that is good nor complaine of that that is naught In that case a man ought to know as the times are variable and the regions and prouince diuers so likewise haue they sundry wayes of bringing vp and nourishing their children for there is as much difference betweene the Countreys of one from the Countries of others in dying and burying the dead bodies as there hath beene varieties in the world by way of nourishing bringing vp of children CHAP. XXIII Of sundry kindes of Sorceries Charmes and Witchcrafts which they in olde time vsed in giuing their children sucke the which Christians ought to eschew IT is not much from our purpose if I declare here some old examples of those which are past Strabo in his booke De situ Orbis saith that after the Assirians which were the first that raigned in the world the Siconians had signorie which long time after were called Arcades which were great and famous wrastlers and Schoolemasters at the Fence from whom came the
made a great ship and bestowed vj. or vij thousand ducates if hee be wise hee will first prouide a man that may gouerne her before hee will seeke Marchandise for to fraight her For in perillous Tempests the greatnes of the shippe little auaileth if the Pylote be not expert The Housholder that hath manie Cowes and sheepe and likewise hath faire fieldes and pleasant pastures for his cattell doth not only seeke Heardmen to keepe the cattell but also dogs to feare the wolues and cabbaines to lodge the Heardsmen For the cabbaine of the Shepheards and the baying of the dogge is but as a salueguard of the sheepe from the rauening of the wolfe The mightie and valiaunt Princes which in the Frontieres of their enemies keepe strong fortresses seeke alwayes stout and hardy captains to defend their walls for otherwise it were better the Fort should be battered to the ground then it should come into the power of the enemyes By the comparisons aboue-named there is no discreat man but doth vnderstand to what end my penne doth write them that is to know to keepe and proue how that men which loue their Children well adding this vnto it haue great neede of good maisters and gouernours to teach and bring them vp For whilest the Palme tree is but little a frost doth easily destroy it I meane whiles the childe is young if he haue no tutour he is easily deceiued with the world If the Lorde be wise and of vnderstanding there is no Fortresse so esteemed neither ship so faire nor Heard so profitable nor Vine so fruitfull but that hee better esteemeth to haue a good sonne then all these things together or anie other thing in this world For the Father ought to loue his children as his owne proper and all residue as gifts of fortune If it be so as it is indeede since that for to keepe and watch the Heard they seeke a good Shephearde If for the Vyne they seeke a good Labourer If for to gouerne the shippe they seeke a good Pylot and for to defend a Forte they seeke a good captaine why then will not the wise Fathers seeke for good maisters to teache and to bring vp theyr Children Oh Princes and great Lords I haue tolde you and againe doe say That if you trauell one yeare to leaue your children goods you ought to sweate 50. yeares to leaue them well brought vp For it auaileth little to carry much corne to the Mill if the mill be out of frame I meane that in vaine Riches and treasures are gathered when the childe that shall inherite them hath no witte to vse them It is no small matter to knowe how to choose good gouernours For the Prince is sage that findeth such a one and much more happie is hee that of him shall be taught For in my opion it is no small charge for one man to bring vp a Prince that shall gouerne manie As Seneca saith The wise man ought to conferre all things with his Friende But first hee ought to know who is he that is his Friend I meane that the wise Father ought for his Children to seeke one good maister and to him he should recommend them all but first he ought to know what hee is For that man is very simple which wil buy a Horse before he see and proue him whether he be whole or lame Hee ought to haue many good conditions and qualityes that should bring vp the children of Princes and great Lords for by one way they nourish the tender trees in the Orchard and after another sort they plant the wilde trees in the mountaines Therefore the case shal be this that weewill declare here what conditions and behauiours the Maisters and gouernors of Noblemens sonnes ought to haue which may bring them to honour and theyr disciples to bee well taught and brought vp For the glorie of the disciple alwayes redoundeth to the honour and praise of his maister The first condition is that he which ought to bee a Tutor to Noble mens children should bee no lesse then 40. yeares of age no more then 60. because the maister that is yong is ashamed to commaund and if he be aged he is not able to correct The second it is necessary that Tutors be very honest and that not onely in purenes of conscience but also in the outward appearance and cleanenes of life For it is vnpossible the childe bee honest if the Master be dissolute The third it is necessarie that Tutors and gouernours of Princes and great Lords be true men not onely in their wordes but also in then Couenauntes For to say the trueth that mouth which is alwayes full of lyes ought not by reason to be a teacher of the truth The fourth condition it is necessarie that the gouernors of Princes and great Lorde of their owne nature be liberall For oft times the great couetousnes of Masters maketh the hearts of Princes to be greedy and couetous The fifth it is necessarie that the masters and gouernours of Princes and great Lordes be moderate in wordes and very resolute in sentences so that they ought to teach the Children to speake little and to harken much For it is the chiefest vertue in a Prince to heare with patience and to speake with wisedome The sixt condition is it is necessarie that the maisters tutors of Princes c. be wise men and temperate so that the grauitie of the Maister may restrain the lightnes of the Schollers For there is no greater plagues in Realms then for Princes to be young and their teachers to be light The seuenth it is necessary that the masters and tutors of Princes great Lords be well learned in diuinitie and humanity in such sort that that which they teach the Princes by word they may shew it by writing to the ende that other Princes may execute and put the same in vre For mens harts are sooner moued by the examples of those which are past then by the words of them that are present The eight condition it is necessary that the Maisters and tutors of Princes bee not giuen to the vice of the flesh For as they are young and naturally giuē to the flesh so they haue no strength to abide chaste neither wisedome to beware of the snares Therefore it is necessarie that their maisters be pure and honest for the disciples shall neuer be chaste if the maister be vicious The ninth it is necessarie that the maisters and tutours of Princes and great Lordes haue good conditions because the children of Noble-men beeing daintily brought vp alwayes learne euil conditions the which their Maisters ought to reforme more by good conuersation then by sharpe correction For oft times it chaunceth that whereas the Master is cruell the scholler is not mercifull The tenth it is necessarie that the maisters and tutours of Princes and great Lords haue not onely seene and read many things but also that they haue proued changeable
weight and measure plentifull and chiefly if there be good doctrine for the young and little couetousnesse in the old Affro the Historiographer declareth this in the tenth booke De rebus Atheniensium Truly in my opinion the words of this philosopher were few but the sentences were many And for none other cause I did bring in this history but to profite mee of the last word wherein for aunswere hee sayeth that all the profite of the Common wealth consisteth in that there be princes that restraine the auarice of the aged and that there bee Masters to teach the youthfull We see by experience that if the brute beasts were not tyed and the corne and seedes compassed with hedges or ditches a man shold neuer gather the fruit when they are ripe I meane the strife and debate will rise continually among the people if the yong men haue not good fathers to correct them and wise masters to teach them Wee cannot deny but though the knife be made of fine steele yet sometimes it hath neede to bee whet and so in like manner the young man during the time of his youth though he doe not deserue it yet from time to time hee ought to bee corrected O Princes and great Lords I know not of whom you take counsell when your sonne is borne to prouide him of a Master and gouernour whom you chuse not as the most vertuous but as the most richest not as the most sagest but as the most vile and euill taught Finally you doe not trust him with your children that best deserueth it but that most procureth it Againe I say O princes and great Lords why doe you not withdraw your children from their hands which haue their eyes more to their owne profite then their hearts vnto your seruice For such to enrich themselus doe bring vp princes viciously Let not Princes thinke that it is a trifle to know how to finde and chuse a good Master and the Lord which herein doth not employ his diligence is worthy of great rebuke And because they shall not pretend ignorance let them beware of that man whose life is suspitious and extreame couetous In my opinion in the pallace of princes the office of Tutorshippe ought not to be giuen as other common offices that is to say by requests or money by priuities or importunities eyther else for recompence of seruices for it followeth not though a man hath beene Ambassadour in strange Realms or captaine of great Armies in warre or that hee hath possessed in the royall pallace Offices of honour or of estimation that therefore he should bee able to teach or bring vp their children For to bee a good Captaine sufficeth onely to be hardy and fortunate but for to bee a Tutour and gouernour of Princes hee ought to be both sage and vertuous CHAP. XXXV Of the two children of Marcus Aurelius the Emperour of the which the best beloued dyed And of the Masters he prouided for the other named Comodus MArcus Aurelius the 17. Emperour of Rome in the time that hee was married with Faustine onely daughter of the Emperour Antonius Pius had onely two sonnes whereof the eldest was named Comodus and the second Verissimus Of these two children the heyre was Comodus who was so wicked in the 13. yeares he gouerned the Empire that hee seemed rather the Disciple of Nero the cruell then to discend by the mothers side from Antonius the mercifull or sonne of Marcus Aurelius This wicked child Comodus was so light in speech so dishonest in person and so cruell with his people that oft-times hee being aliue they layed wagers that there was no vertue in him to bee found nor any one vice in him that wanted On the contrary part the second sonne named Verissimus was comely of gesture proper of person and in witte very temperate and the most of all was that by his good conuersation of all hee was beloued For the fayre and vertuous Princes by their beauty draweth vnto them mens eyes and by their good conuersation they winne their hearts The child Verissimus was the hope of the common people and the glory of his aged Father so that the Emperor determined that this child Verissimus should bee heyre of the Empire and that the Prince Commodus should bee dishenherited Wherat no man ought to maruell for it is but iust since the childe dooth not amend his life that the father doe dishenherite him When good will doth want and vicious pleasures abound the children oft times by peruerse fortune come to nought So this Marcus Aurelius being 52. yeares old by chance this childe Verissimus which was the glory of Rome and the hope of the Father at the gate of Hostia of a sodaine sicknesse dyed The death of whom was as vniuersally lamented as his life of all men was desired It was a pittifull thing to see how wofully the Father tooke the death of his entirely beloued son and no lesse lamentable to beholde how the Senate tooke the death of their Prince being the heyre for the aged Father for sorrow did not go to the Senate and the Senate for a few dayes enclosed themselues in the hie Capitoll And let no man maruell though the death of this young Prince was so taken through Rome for if men knew what they lose when they lose a vertuous Prince they would neuer cease to bewayle and lament his death When a Knight a Gentleman a Squire an Officer or when any of the people dyeth there dyeth but one but when a Prince dyeth which was good for all and that he liued to the profite of all then they ought to make account that all do dye they ought all greatly to lament it for oft times it chanceth that after 2. or 3. good Princes a foule flocke of Tyrants succeede Therfore Marcus Aurelius the Emperor as a man of great vnderstanding and of a princely person though the inward sorrow from the rootes of the heart could not bee plucked yet hee determined to dissemble outwardly to bury his grieues inwardly For to say the truth none ought for any thing to shewe extreame sorrow vnlesse it be that hee hath lost his honour or that his conscience is burdened The good Prince as one that hath his vineyarde frozen wherein was all his hope contented with himselfe with that which remaineth his so deerly beloued sonne being dead and commaunded the Prince Comodus to be brought into his pallace being his onely heire Iulius Capitolinus which was one of those that wrote of the time of Marcus Aurelius saide vpon this matter that when the Father saw the disordinate frailenesse and lightnes and also the little shame which the prince Comodus his Sonne brought with him the aged man beganne to weepe and shed teares from his eyes And it was because the simplenesse and vertues of his deere beloued Sonne Verissimus came into his minde Although this Noble Emperour Marcus Aurelius for the death of
vndefamed Diadumius the Hystoriographer in the life of Seuerus the xxj Emperour declareth that Apuleius Rufinus who had beene Consull twice and at that time was also Tribune of the people a man who was very aged and likewise of great authoritie throughout Rome came one day to the Emperour Seuerus and saide vnto him in this sort Most inuict Prince alwayes Augustus knowe that I had two children the which I committed to a Maister to bring vp and by chaunce the oldest increasing in yeares and diminishing in vertues fell in loue with a Romaine Ladie the which loue came too late to my knowledge For to such vnfortunate men as I am the disease is alwayes past remedie before the daunger thereof commeth to our knowledge The greatest griefe that herein I feele is that his Maister knewe and concealed the euill and was not onely not a meanes to remedie it but also was the chiefe worker of Adultery betweene them to be committed And my Sonne made him an obligation wherein he bound himselfe if he brought him that Romaine Ladie hee would giue him after my death the house and Heritages which I haue in the gate Salaria and yet heerewith not contented but he and my Sonne together robbed me of much money For loue is costly to him that maintaineth it and alwayes the loues of the Children are chargeable to the Fathers Iudge you now therefore Noble Prince this so haynous and slaunderous cause For it is too much presumption of the subiect to reuenge any iniurie knowing that the Lorde himselfe will reuenge all wrongs When the Emperour Seuerus had vnderstood this so heynous a case as one that was both in name and deede seuere commaunded good inquisition of the matter to be had and that before his presence they should cause to appeare the Father the Sonne and the Maister to the ende eache one should alledge for his own right For in Rome none could bee condemned for any offence vnlesse the plaintife had first declared the fault before his presence and that the accused should haue no time to make his excuse The truth and certaintie vpon due examination then knowne and the Offenders confessing the offences the Emperor Seuerus gaue iudgmēt thus I commaund that this Maister be cast aliue among the beastes of the parke Palatine For it is but meete that Beastes deuoure him which teacheth others to liue like beasts Also I do command that the Sonne be vtterly disinherited of all the goods of his Father and banished the Countrey into the Isles of Baleares and Maiorques For the Childe which from his youth is vicious ought iustly to be banished the Countrey and be disinherited of his Fathers goods This therefore of the Maister and the Sonne was done by the complainte of Apuleius Rufynus O how vnconstant fortune is and how oft not thinking of it the thred of life doth breake I say it because if this Master had not beene couetous the Father had not been depriued of his sonne the childe had not beene banished the mother had not beene defamed the common weale had not beene slaundered the master of wilde beasts had not been deuoured neyther the Emperour had been so cruell against them nor yet theyr names in Histories to their infamies had alwayes continued I doe not speake this without a cause to declare by writing that which the euill doe in the World for wisemen ought more to feare the infamy of the little pen then the slander of the babling tongue For in the end the wicked tongue cannot defame but the liuing but the little penne doth defame them that are that were and that shall be To conclude this my minde is that the Master should endeuour himselfe that his Scholler should bee vertuous and that hee doe not despayre though immediately for his paines hee bee not rewarded For though hee bee not of the creature let him bee assured that hee shall be of the Creator For God is so mercifull that hee often times taking pitty of the swette of those that bee good chasteneth the vnthankefull and taketh vpon him to require their seruices CHAP. XXXVIII Of the determination of the Emperour when he committed his childe to the Tutors which hee had prouided for his education CInna the Historian in the first booke of the times of Comodus declareth that Marcus Aurelius the Emperour chose foureteene Masters learned and wise men to teach his son Comodus of the which he refused fiue not for that they were not wise but for that they were not honest And so hee kept these nine onely which were both learned in the Sciences and also expert in bringing vp the children of the Senators though indeed they were very vnluckie in the bringing vp of the Prince Comodus for this cursed Prince had nine Masters which instructed him but hee had aboue nine thousand vices wich vndid him The Emperour Marcus Aurelius made fiue books of declamations and in the third booke the 6. Chapter vnder the title Adsapientes Pedagogos hee brought in these nine Masters and perswaded them greatly that they should bee diligent and attentiue to teach his sonne Comodus And in this matter hee spake vnto them many and graue sentences the words whereof do follow The matter is manifest in Rome and no lesse published thorow out all Italy what paines I tooke to search out so many Sages to instruct my sonne Comodus the which all being examined I kept onely the wisest and the best and though in very deed I haue done much yet I haue not done so much as I am bound For Princes in doubtfull matters ought not onely to demaund counsell of all the good that be aliue but also to take paine to talke with those which are dead That is to reade the deedes of the good in their writings You were foureteene masters chosen whereof I haue put out fiue so that presently you are but nine if indeede you bee Wise men you shall not bee offended with that I haue done for the griefe of euill things proceedeth of wisdome but the admiration of good things commeth of small experience I doe not deny but the wise men doe feele in them passions as men but in the end there is no arte nor science that doth excuse vs from the miseries of men But that whereat I maruell is how it is possible that a wise man should maruell at any thing in this world For if the wise man should be astonied at euery thing of the world it appeareth that there is little constancy or vertue in him at all Returning therefore to our particular talke I haue taken you to bee masters of my sonne and you see of many I chose a few to the end that with few my sonne should be taught For as it is the Fathers duty to search out good masters so it is the masters duty to be diligent about his Scholler The Nurse of my sonne Comodus gaue him sucke two yeares with her teates at the gate
fought together for as Nafica sayde the pleasures that Rome had to see many victories were not so great as the displeasure was which she tooke to see her selfe once ouercome The good Vlpius Traianus gaue battell to king Cebalus wherein Cebalus was not onely ouercome but also taken and afterwardes brought before the Emperor Traianus which sayde vnto him these words Speake Cebalus Why diddest thou rebell against the Romaines since thou knowest that the Romanes are inuincible King Cebalus answered him If the Romans could not bee ouercome how then did I ouercome the Emperour Domitian Traian the Emperour sayde vnto him againe Thou art greatly deceyued King Cebalus to thinke that when thou ouercamest the Emperor thou hadst ouercome the Romanes For when that Romulus founded Rome the Gods ordained that though their Emperour dyed in any battell yet notwithstanding it is not to bee thought that the Empire is ouercome The Historiographers made a great matter of the words that this Vlpius Traianus spake for therin he shewed that the Rom Empire was invincible After that this King Cebalus was dead and that for his deserts hee was depriued as the Emperour Traian was a mercifull Prince so hee prouided that a little child that Cebalus had should bee brought vp in his Palace with intention that if the Child became good they would giue him the Realme which his Father through treason had lost For in Rome there was an auncient Law that all which the Father lost by reason the sonne should recouer by his faithfull acts It chaunced that the good Traian taking his pleasure in the garden of Vulcan saw the sonne of King Cebalus and many other young children of Rome stealing fruit foorth of an Orchard and it is no wonder for the Locustes did not so much harme to the corne as the children do to the fruites when they enter into the Orchards When the Emperour afterwardes demaunded him from whence hee came hee answered from his study hearing Rethorike but indeed hee came from stealing of fruit The Emperour Traian was so angry and displeased that the child was a lyer that he commanded he should vtterly be depriued and made voide of all hope to recouer the Realme of his Father The Emperour Traian was greatly importuned as wel of strange Ambassadours as of his owne countrimen that he would change that cruell sentence For Princes in a fury doe commaund that which when they are patient they doe vndo The Emperour Traian answered them if the Father of this child which was King Cebalus had been a true Prince he had not lost his life neyther his Realme nor had not put mee and the Empire so many times in daunger but since the Father was a lyer and the sonne is not true it were too vniust a thing to render him the Realme For to me it should be great reproach and to our mother Rome as much dishonour that shee being the mother of truth should giue Realmes to children beeing lyers This was it that Vlpius Traian spake vnto the sonne of King Cebalus Marcus Aurelius the 17. Emperour of Rome had two sonnes as before we haue rehearsed the eldest of the which was called Comodus and his father procured greatly to dishen herite him of the Empire for hee would that the second sonne named Verissimus should haue enherited it and hee did not onely determine it but also spake it oft times openly For that thing is with great difficulty dissembled that excessiuely is beloued By chance an olde Senator and friend of Marcus Aurelius the Emperour one day both going out of the Senate house sayde vnto him I maruell at thee most Excellent Prince Why thou doest dishenherite thy sonne which is eldest to make thine Heyre the youngest knowing that they are both thy sonnes and that the gods haue giuen thee no other but them For the good Fathers are bound to chasten their children but they haue not licence to dishenherite them The Emperour Marcus Aurelius answered him If thou wert a Greeke Philosopher as thou ort a Romane Citizen and if thou knowest tke fathers loue towards the child thou wouldest not take pitty on my sonne which vndoeth the Empire but thou shouldest haue compassion on me his Father which doth dishenherite him For the child scarcely knoweth what hee looseth but I that am his Father doe bewayle the dammage which I doe vnto him For in the end there is not in the world so cruell a Father but if his sonne should bee hurt with the pomell of the sword in the hand the Father would feele incontinently the dent of his blade at his heart In this case I sweare vnto thee by the immortall Gods that I do that which I would not doe and I take that from him which I would not take For Anthonius my Lord and Father in law gaue mee the Empire for no other cause but because hee neuer found in mee any lye and for this occasion I doe depriue my sonne from it for that I neuer found in him any truth For it is not meete that the Empire beeing giuen vnto me for that I was true should bee left in heritage to him that is a lyer For in the ende it is better that the sonne doe loose the heritage then the father should loose his renowne By these two examples those which are the tutors and masters of Princes and great Lordes may see how to bee diligent to keepe them from lyes whilest they are yong and it ought to be in such sort that neyther in pastime neyther in earnest answering they should bee suffered to tell a lye For those that for their pleasures were accustomed to lye in their youth will not fayle for their profite to lye in their age Secondarily the Tutours and Masters ought to keepe their Disciples that they bee no gamesters that they doe not accustome themselues in their youth to bee vnthrifts for it is a great token of the decay of the Empire when the Prince in his youth is affectionated to play Experience sheweth vs that to play is a vice as Seneca saieth which hath the property of a raging dogge with whom if a man bee once bitten vnlesse hee hath present remedie forthwith he runneth mad and the disease also continueth with him vncurable vntill the houre of his death Players not without a cause are compared to madde dogges for al those that vse it hurt their conscience loose their honour and consume their substance It chaunceth oft that in that wherein Masters should bee most circumspect they for the most part are most negligent that is to say that vnder the colour of some honest recreation they agree to their Schollers to vse some pastime which if therein bee contained no commendable exercise the children ought not to vse it nor yet the tutors to suffer it for vice is of such a propertie that if a childe in his youth dare play a point it is to bee feared when he commeth to yeares hee
of counsel they themselues imagine and other flattrers telleth that thogh they haue much in respect of other princes yet they can doe little Also they say vnto them that if their substaunce bee great their Fame ought to bee greater Further they tell them that the good Prince ought little to esteeme that hee hath inherited of his predecessors in respect of the great deale more hee ought to leaue to his successours Also they tell them that neuer prince left of him any great memory but inuenting some cruell Warre against his enemie Also they tell them that the houre that one is chosen Emperour of Rome hee may boldely conquer the whole earth These vaine reasons being heard of the princes afterwardes as their Fortune is base and their mindes high immediately they defie their enemies they open their Treasures they assemble great armies and in the end of all the Gods suffer that they thinking to tkae an other mans goods they waste and lose their owne Oh Princes I knowe not who doth deceyue yee that you which by peace may be rich and by war wil be poore Oh Princes I know not who doth deceiue you that you which may be loued doe seeke occasions to be hated Oh princes I knowe not who doth beguyle yee that yee which may enioy a sure life doe aduenture your selues to the mutabilitie of Fortune Oh princes I knowe not who doeth deceyue you that you so little esteeme and weigh your owne aboundance and so greatly set by the wants of others Oh princes I know not who doth deceiue you that all hauing need of you you should haue neede of others I let thee to knowe my Cornelius though a prince bee more quicke and carefull then all other his predecessors haue bin in Rome yet it is vnpossible that all things touching warre should succeede vnto him prosperously For in the greatest neede of warres eyther he wanteth money or his subiects do not succour him or time is contrarie vnto him or he findeth perilous pasges hee lacketh Artillerie or the captaines rebell or else succour commeth to his aduersaryes so that hee seeth himselfe so miserable that thoughtes doe more oppresse his heart then the enemies do harme his land Though a prince had no warre but for to suffer men of warre yet he ought to take vpon him no warre I aske thee now my Cornelius what trauell so great to his person or what greater damage to his Realme can his Enemies do then that which his own men of warre doe c The Enemies to doe the worst they can will but robbe our Frontiers but our men of War do robbe the whole countrey The Enemies we dare and may resist but to ours we cannot nor dare not speake The Enemyes the worst they can do is once in a moneth to robbe and runne their wayes but ours daily do robbe and remaine still The Enemyes feare their enemies only but ours doe feare their enemyes and haue no pitie on their friends The enemies the further they goe on the more they diminish but ours the further they goe the more they encrease I know no greater warre that Princes can haue then to haue men of warre in their realmes For as experience doth shew vs before the Gods they are culpable to Princes importunate and to the people troublesome so that they liue to the damage of all and to the profit of none By the God Mars I swear vnto thee my friend Cornelius as hee may direct my hands in the war that I haue more complaints in the Senate of the thefts which my Captaines did in Illyria then of all the enemies of the Romane people Both for that I say and for that I kept secret I am more afraid to create an Ensigne of two hundred men of warre then to giue a cruell battell to thirty thousand men For that battell fortune good or euill forthwith dispacheth but with these I can bee sure no time of all my life Thou wilt say vnto me Cornelius that since I am Emperour of Rome I should remedy this since I know it For that Prince which dissembleth with the fault of another by reason hee will condemne him as if it were his owne To this I answere that I am not mighty enough to remedy it except by my remedy there should spring a greater inconuenience And since thou hast not beene a Prince thou couldest not fall into that I haue nor yet vnderstand that which I say For Princes by their wisdom know many things the which to remedy they haue no power So it hath beene so it is so it shall be so I found it so I keepe it so will I leaue it them so I haue reade it in bookes so haue I seen it with my eyes so haue I heard it of my predecessors And finally I say our Fathers haue inuented it and so will wee their children sustaine it and for this euill wee will leaue it to our heyres I will tell thee one thing and imagine that I erre not therein which is considering the great dammage and little profite which men of warre do bring to our Common wealth I thinke to doe it and to sustaine it eyther it is the folly of men or a scourge giuen of the Gods For there can be nothing more iust then for the Gods to permit that wee feele that in our owne houses which wee cause others in strange houses to lament All those thinges I haue written vnto thee not for that it skileth greatly that I know them but that my heart is at ease for to vtter them For as Alcibiades sayde the chests and the hearts ought alwayes to be open to their friends Panutius my Secretary goeth in my behalfe to visite that Land and I gaue him this Letter to giue thee with two Horses wherewith I doe thinke thou wilt be contented for they are Genets The Weapons and riches which I tooke of the Parthians I haue now diuided notwithstanding I do send thee two Chariots laden with them My wife Faustine greeteth thee and shee sendeth a rich glasse for thy Daughter and a iewell with stones for thy sister No more but I doe beseech the gods to giue thee a good life and me a good death CHAP. XVII An Admonition of the Author to Princes and great Lordes to the entent that the more they grow in yeares the more they are bound to refrayne from vices AVlus Gelius in his booke De noctibus Atticis sayeth that there was an auncient custome among the Romanes to honour and haue in great reuerence aged men And this was so inuiolate a Law amongst them that there was none so noble of bloud and linage neyther so puissant in riches neyther so fortunate in battels that should go before the aged men which were loden with white hayres so that they honoured them as they did the Gods Amongst other the aged men had these preheminences that is to say that in feasts they sate highest in the
Princes ought to take the dammages of their persons light and the dammages of the commonwealth for the most grieuous O Panutius let therefore this be the last word which I will say vnto thee that is to say that the greatest good that the gods may giue to the man that is not couetous but vertuous is to giue him good renowme in life and afterwardes a good heire at our death Finally I say that if I haue any thing to do with the gods I require and beseech them that if they should be offended Rome slandered my renowme defamed and my house diminished for that my sonne be of an euill life that they will take from him life before they giue me death CHAP. LIIII Of the words which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius spake vnto his sonne Commodus at the houre of death necessary for all young gentlemen to vnderstand SInce the disease of Marcus Aurelius was so extreme that euery houre of his life he was assaulted with death after he had talked a long time with Panutius his Secretarie he commanded his sonne Commodus to be wakened who as a yong man slept soundly in his bed And being come before his presence all those which were there were moued immediatly with compassion to see the eyes of the father all swollen with weeping and the eyes of the childe closed with ouermuch sleepe They could not waken the childe he was so carelesse and they could not cause the good father sleepe he tooke so great thought All those which were there seeing how the father desired the good life of the sonne and how little the sonne wayed the death of his father had compassion of the olde person and bare hate to the wicked childe Then the good Emperour casting his eyes on high and directing his words to his sonne sayde When thou wert a childe I tolde thy masters how they ought to bring thee vp and after that thou diddest waxe greater I tolde thy Gouernors how they should counsell thee And now I will tell thee how thou with them which are few and they with thee beeing one ought to gouerne and maintaine the Common-wealth If thou esteeme much that which I will say vnto thee my sonne Know thou that I will esteeme much more then thou wilt beleeue me for more easily doe wee olde men suffer your iniuries then yee other young men doe receyue our counsels Wisdome wanteth to you for to beleeue vs yet wee want not boldnesse to dishonour you And that which is worst the aged in Rome were wont to haue a chayre of wisdome sagenesse but now a dayes the young men count it a shame and folly The world at this day is so changed from that it was wont to bee in times past that all haue the audacity to giue counsell and few haue the wisedome to receyue it so that they are a thousand which tell counsels and there is not one that buyeth wisedome I beleeue well my sonne that according to my fatall Destenies and thy euill manners little shall that auayle which I shall tell thee for since thou wouldest not credit these words which I spake vnto thee in my life I am sure that thou wilt little regard them after my death But I doe this more to satisfie my desire and to accomplish that which I owe vnto the Common-wealth then for that I hope for any amendment of thy life For there is no griefe that doth so much hurt a person as when hee himselfe is cause of his owne paine If any man doth mee an iniurie if I lay my hands vpon him or speake iniurious words vnto him my heart is forthwith satisfied but if I doe iniurie to my selfe I am he which wrongeth and am wronged for that I haue none on whom I may reuenge my wrong and I vexe and chase with my selfe If thou my sonne bee euill after that thou hast enherited the Empire my mother Rome wil complaine of the gods which haue giuen thee so many euill inclinations Shee will complaine of Faustine thy mother which hath brought thee vp so wantonly she will complaine of thee which hast no will to resist vice but shee shall haue no cause to complaine of the olde man thy Father who hath not giuen thee good counsels For if thou hadst beleeued that which I tolde thee mē would reioyce to haue thee for theyr Lord and the Gods to vse thee as their Minister I cannot tell my sonne if I bee deceyued but I see thee so depriued of vnderstanding so vncertaine in thy words so dissolute in thy manners so vniust in iustice in that thou desirest so hardy and in thy duty so negligent that if thou change and alter not thy manners men will hate thee and the Gods will forsake thee O if thou knewest my sonne what a thing it is to haue men for their enemies and to be forsaken of the gods by the faith of a good man I sweare vnto thee that thou wouldest not onely hate the Seigniorie of Rome but with thy handes also thou wouldest destroy thy selfe For men which haue not the Gods mercifull and the men friendly doe eate the bread of griefe and drinke the teares of sorrow I am sure thy sorrow is not so great to see the night doth end my life as is that pleasure which thou hast to see that in short space thou shalt bee Emperour of Rome And I do not maruell hereat for where sensuality raigneth reason is banished and constrained to flye Many loue diuers things because of truth they know them not the which if they did know without doubt they would hate them Thogh men loue in mockerie the Gods and men hate vs in earnest In all things wee are so doubtfull and in all our works so disordred that at some time our vnderstanding is dull and loseth the edge and another time it is more sharpe then it is necessary Thereby I meane that the good we will not heare and much lesse wee will learne it but of the euill wee know more then behoueth vs or necessitie requireth I will counsell thee my sonne by words that which in sixtie two years I haue learned by science and experience And since thou art as yet so young it is reason that thou beleeue him which is aged For since wee Princes are the mirrour of all euery man doth behold vs and wee other doe not behold our selues This day or to morrow thou shalt enherite the Romane Empire and thinke that inheriting the same thou shalt bee Lord of the world Yet if thou knewest how many cares and perils commaunding bringeth with it I sweare vnto thee that thou wouldest rather choose to obey all then to command one Thou thinkest my sonne that I leaue thee a great Lord for to leaue thee the Empire which is not so for all they haue neede but of thee and thou alone hast neede of all Thou thinkest I leaue thee much treasure leauing thee the great reuenues of the Empire that which also is
offer therin the sacrifice accustomed For wee doe not this honour to the substance wherewith the Temples are made but to the gods to whome they are consecrated I commend vnto thee the veneration of Priests I pray thee though they be couetous auaritious dissolute vnpatient negligent and vitious yet that they bee not dishonoured for to vs others it appertaineth not to iudge of the life they lead as men but wee must consider that they are mediators between the gods and vs. Behold my sonne that to serue the Gods honour the Temples and reuerence the Priests it is not a thing voluntary but verie necessarie for Princes For so long endured the glorie of the Greekes as they were worshippers of their goods and carefull of their temples The vnhappy realm of Carthage was nothing more cowardly nor lesse rich then that of the Romanes but in the ende of the Romaines they were ouercome because they were great louers of their treasures and little worshippers of their Temples I commend vnto thee my sonne Helia thy stepmother and remember though she be not thy mother yet shee hath beene my wife That which to thy mother Faustine thou oughtest for bringing thee into the world the selfe same thou oughtest to Helia for the good entertainement she hath shewed thee And indeed oftentimes I beeing offended with thee shee maintained thee and caused me to forget so that shee by her good wordes did winne againe that which thou by thy euill workes didst lose Thou shalt haue my curse if thou vsest her euill and thou shalt fall into the ire of the Gods if thou agreest that other doe not vse her well For all the damage which shee shall feele shall not bee but for the inconuenience of my death and iniury of thy person For her Dowrie I leaue her the tributes of Hestia and the Orchards of Vulcanus which I haue made to bee planted for her recreation Be thou not so hardy to take them from her for in taking them from her thou shalt shew thy wickednes and in leauing them her thy obedience and in giuing her more thy bounty and liberality Remember my sonne that shee is a Romane woman young and a widdow and of the house of Traiane my Lord that shee is thy mother adoptatiue and my naturall wife and aboue all for that I leaue her recommended vnto thee I commend vnto thee my sons in law whom I will thou vse as parents and friends And beware that thou be not of those which are brethren in words and cousins in workes Bee thou assured that I haue willed so much good to my daughters that the best which were in all the Countries I haue chosen for their persons And they haue beene so good that if in giuing them my daughters they were my sonnes in law in loue I loued them as children I commend vnto thee my sisters and daughters whom I leaue thee all married not with strange Kings but with naturall Senators So that all dwell in Rome where they may doe thee seruices and thou mayest giue them rewards and gifts Thy sisters haue greatly inherited the beauty of thy mother Faustine and haue taken little nature of their Father Marke But I sweare vnto thee that I haue giuen them such husbands and to their husbands such and so profitable counsailes that they would rather lose their life then agree to any thing touching their dishonour Vse thy sisters in such fort that they be not out of fauour for that their aged Father is dead and that they become not proud for to see their brother Emperour Women are of a very tender condition for of small occasion they doe complaine and of lesse they waxe proud Thou shalt keepe them and preserue them after my death as I did in my life For otherwise their conuersation to the people shall bee very noysome and to thee very importunate I commende vnto thee Lipula thy youngest sister which is inclosed within the Virgine Vestals who was daughter of thy mother Faustine whom so dearely I haue loued in life and whose death I haue bewailed vntill my death Euery yeere I gaue to thy sister sixe thousand sexterces for her necessities and indeeed I had married her also if shee had not fallen into the fire and burnt her face For though she were my last I loued her with all my heart All haue esteemed her fall into the fire for euill lucke but I doe count that euill lucke for good fortune For her face was not so burned with coales as her rerenowne suffered perill among euill tongues I sweare vnto thee my sonne that for the seruice of the gods and for the renowne of men she is more sure in the temple with the Vestall Virgins then thou art in the Senate with thy Senators I suppose now that at the end of the iourney shee shall find her selfe better to be enclosed then thou at liberty I leaue vnto her in the prouince of Lucania euery yeare sixe thousand sexterces trauell to augment them for her and not to diminish them I commend vnto thee Drusia the Roman widdow who hath a processe in the Senate For in the times of the commotions past her husband was banished and proclaymed Traytor I haue great pitty of so noble and worthy a widdow for it is now three monethes since shee hath put vp her complaint for the great warres I could not shew her iustice Thou shalt finde my sonne that in 35. yeares I haue gouerned in Rome I neuer agreed that any widow should haue any sute before me aboue eight dayes Be carefull to fauour and dispatch the orphans and widdows for the needy widdow in what place soeuer they be do incur into great danger Not without cause I aduertise thee that thou trauell to dispatch thē so soone as thou mayest and to administer iustice vnto them for throgh the prolonging of beautifull womens suites their honour and credite is diminished so that their businesse being prolonged they shall not recouer so much of their goods as they shall lose of their renowme I commend vnto thee my sonne my olde seruants which with my yong yeeres and my cruell wars with my great necessities with the cumbrance of my body and my long disease haue had great trouble and as faithful seruants oftentimes to ease me haue annoyed themselues It is conuenient since I haue profited of their life that they should not lose by my death Of one thing I assure thee that though my body remaine with the worms in the graue yet before the gods I will remember them And herein thou shalt shew thy selfe to be a good child whē thou shalt recompence those which haue serued thy Father well All Princes which shall do iustice shall get enemies in the execution thereof And sith it is done by the hands of those which are neere him the more familiar they are with the Prince the more are they hated of the people all in generall doe loue
fortune For since Noble mens sonnes by the gifte of GOD haue great Estates they ought therfore to prouide to speak to manie to answer to manie and to entreat with manie it is very profitable for them to be conuersant with expert men for in the end the approued man in counsell hath preheminence I was willing to bring in these rules in my writing to the end that fathers may keepe them in their memory when they doe seeke Masters to teach their children for in my opinion the father is more in fault to seeke an euil master then the Master is to make an euill Scholer For if I choose euill Taylers to cut my gowne it is my fault that the cloth is lost and my gowne marred Albeit the Romans were in all their doings circumspect yet for this one thing I must enuy the good doctrine which they gaue to noble mens children for without doubt it is vnpossible that in any City there bee a good Common-welth vnlesse they are very circumspect to bring vp young children Sabellicus in his rapsodies sayeth that in the 425. yeares of the foundation of Rome Quintus Seruilius and Lucius Germinus then Consuls being in the warre against the Volces the stout aduenturous Captaine Camillus there rose a great strife and contention in Rome amongst the people and the Knights and that contention was vpon the prouision of offices for in great Common-Wealthes it hath beene an auncient quarrell that in Knights and Gentlemen there surmounteth pride in commaunding and among the people there wanteth patience in obeying The Kinghtes and Gentlemen would they should choose a Tribune Militare in the Senate to speake in the name of all the Knights that were absent and present for they sayde that since they were alwayes at the warre the whole Common wealth remayned in the power of the people The Commons on the other part importuned and desired that a new Officer should be created the which should haue the charge to examine and take account how the youth of Rome were brought vp because the common people did accuse the Knightes and Gentlemen that the longer they remained in the warres the more sensually their children liued in Rome It was decreede then that a Tribune Militare should bee erected the which in authority and dignitie should be equall with the Senators and that hee should represent the state of Warlike Knightes but the office continued no longer then 4. yeares in Rome that is to say til the time that Camillus returned from the warres for things that are grounded of no reason of themselues they come to nought All the Knightes and Gentlemen sought to the vttermost of their power to maintain their preheminence and on the other side all the Comminalty of Rome were against it In the end the good Captaine Camillus called all the Knightes and Gentlemen together and sayde vnto them these words I am greatly ashamed to see that the stoutenesse should be so litle of the Roman knights that they shold condiscend to the will of the Plebeians for indeed the mighty do not get so much honor to ouercome the little as the little doe to striue with the great I say that the strife and debate amongst you in Rome doth displease me much therefore you knights if you will not lose your honours you must eyther kill them or ouercome them You cannot ouercome them because they are many and kill them you ought not for in the end they are yours and therefore there is no better remedie then to dissemble with them For things which suffer no force nor obserue not iustice ought alwaies vntill conuenient time to bee dissembled The immortall Gods did not create Romaine knights to gouern people but to conquer Realmes And I say further that they did not create vs to teach lawes to ours but to giue lawes to strangers And if we be the children of our fathers and imitators of the ancient Romaines we will not content our selues to commaund in Rome but to commaund those which do command in Rome For the heart of a true Romaine doth little esteeme to see himselfe Lord of this world if he know that there is another to conquer You others did create this Tribune Militare we being in the warre whereof now there is no necessity since wee are in peace And the cause why I was willing there shoulde bee none in the Common wealth was for that there was not riches in Rome sufficient to acquite the deserts of the Romane chiualrie And if you esteeme an honourable office to be a Tribune Militare since you cannot all haue it mee thinketh you should all want it For among the Noble men and Plebeians it is not meete that one alone should enioy that which many haue deserued This History Sabellicus declareth and alleadgeth Pulio for his authour and reciteth that for this good worke that Camillus did in Rome that is to say to set the great and the small at one He was as well beloued of the Romaines as hee was feared of the enemies And not without a iust cause for in my opinion it is a greater vertue to pacifie his owne then to robbe strangers As touching the office of this Tribune wherupon this great contention rose in Rome I cannot tell which was greater the foolish rashnesse of the Knightes to procure it or the wisedome of Camillus to abolish it For to say the truth the art of Chiualry was inuented more to defend the common wealth then to bide at home and haue the charge of iustice For to the good Knight it seemeth better to bee loaden with weapons to resist enemies then to be enuironed with bookes to determine causes Returning therefore to that which the people sayde against the Souldiers It was ordained by consent of all that in Rome an office shoulde be erected and that he which should haue it should haue the charge to goe thorow Rome to see what they were in Rome that did not instruct their children in good doctrine and if perchance he found any neighbors child that was euill taught he chastised and banished the Father And truly the punishment was very iust for the father deserueth more punishment for that he doth therunto consent then the child deserueth more the offences which he doth commit When Rome was Rome and that of all the world the Common wealth thereof was commended they chose for an officer therein the most auncient and vertuous Romane who was called the Generall visiter of the children of Rome and it seemeth to bee true for so much as hee which had this office one yeare hoped to bee Consul Dictator or Censor the next as it appeared by Marcus Porcio who desired to bee corrector of the children and afterwards succeeded to bee Censor of the Romane people for the Romanes did not offer the office of iustice to any man vnlesse hee had experience of all Offices Patricius Seuensis in the booke of the Common-wealth sayth that before