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君主论-the prince(英文版)-第16部分

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this there remained forSeverus; who wished to make himself master of the whole empire; twodifficulties; one in Asia; where Niger; head of the Asiatic army; hadcaused himself to be proclaimed emperor; the other in the west whereAlbinus was; who also aspired to the throne。 And as he considered itdangerous to declare himself hostile to both; he decided to attack Nigerand to deceive Albinus。 To the latter he wrote that; being electedemperor by the Senate; he was willing to share that dignity with him andsent him the title of Caesar; and; moreover; that the Senate had madeAlbinus his colleague; which things were accepted by Albinus as true。But after Severus had conquered and killed Niger; and settled orientalaffairs; he returned to Rome and plained to the Senate that Albinus;little recognizing the benefits that he had received from him; had bytreachery sought to murder him; and for this ingratitude he waspelled to punish him。 Afterwards he sought him out in France; andtook from him his government and life。 He who will; therefore; carefullyexamine the actions of this man will find him a most valiant lion and amost cunning fox; he will find him feared and respected by every one;and not hated by the army; and it need not be wondered at that he; thenew man; well; because his supreme renown always protected him from thathatred which the people might have conceived against him for hisviolence。But his son Antoninus was a most eminent man; and had very excellentqualities; which made him admirable in the sight of the people andacceptable to the soldiers; for he was a warlike man; most enduring offatigue; a despiser of all delicate food and other luxuries; whichcaused him to be beloved by the armies。 Nevertheless; his ferocity andcruelties were so great and so unheard of that; after endless singlemurders; he killed a large number of the people of Rome and all those ofAlexandria。 He became hated by the whole world; and also feared by thosehe had around him; to such an extent that he was murdered in the midstof his army by a centurion。 And here it must be noted that such…likedeaths; which are deliberately inflicted with a resolved and desperatecourage; cannot be avoided by princes; because any one who does not fearto die can inflict them; but a prince may fear them the less becausethey are very rare; he has only to be careful not to do any grave injuryto those whom he employs or has around him in the service of the state。Antoninus had not taken this care; but had contumeliously killed abrother of that centurion; whom also he daily threatened; yet retainedin his bodyguard; which; as it turned out; was a rash thing to do; andproved the emperor's ruin。But let us e to modus; to whom it should have been very easy tohold the empire; for; being the son of Marcus; he had inherited it; andhe had only to follow in the footsteps of his father to please hispeople and soldiers; but; being by nature cruel and brutal; he gavehimself up to amusing the soldiers and corrupting them; so that he mightindulge his rapacity upon the people; on the other hand; not maintaininghis dignity; often descending to the theatre to pete with gladiators;and doing other vile things; little worthy of the imperial majesty; hefell into contempt with the soldiers; and being hated by one party anddespised by the other; he was conspired against and killed。It remains to discuss the character of Maximinus。 He was a very warlikeman; and the armies; being disgusted with the effeminacy of Alexander;of whom I have already spoken; killed him and elected Maximinus to thethrone。 This he did not possess for long; for two things made him hatedand despised; the one; his having kept sheep in Thrace; which broughthim into contempt (it being well known to all; and considered a greatindignity by every one); and the other; his having at the accession tohis dominions deferred going to Rome and taking possession of theimperial seat; he had also gained a reputation for the utmost ferocityby having; through his prefects in Rome and elsewhere in the empire;practised many cruelties; so that the whole world was moved to anger atthe meanness of his birth and to fear at his barbarity。 First Africarebelled; then the Senate with all the people of Rome; and all Italyconspired against him; to which may be added his own army: this latter;besieging Aquileia and meeting with difficulties in taking it; weredisgusted with his cruelties; and fearing him less when they found somany against him; murdered him。I do not wish to discuss Heliogabalus; Macrinus; or Julian; who; beingthoroughly contemptible; were quickly wiped out; but I will bring thisdiscourse to a conclusion by saying that princes in our times have thisdifficulty of giving inordinate satisfaction to their soldiers in a farless degree; because; notwithstanding one has to give them someindulgence; that is soon done; none of these princes have armies thatare veterans in the governance and administration of provinces; as werethe armies of the Roman Empire; and whereas it was then more necessaryto give satisfaction to the soldiers than to the people; it is now morenecessary to all princes; except the Turk and the Soldan; to satisfy thepeople rather than the soldiers; because the people are the morepowerful。From the above I have excepted the Turk; who always keeps round himtwelve infantry and fifteen thousand cavalry on which depend thesecurity and strength of the kingdom; and it is necessary that; puttingaside every consideration for the people; he should keep them hisfriends。 The kingdom of the Soldan is similar; being entirely in thehands of soldiers; follows again that; without regard to the people; hemust keep them his friends。 But you must note that the state of theSoldan is unlike all other principalities; for the reason that it islike the Christian pontificate; which cannot be called either anhereditary or a newly formed principality; because the sons of the oldprince not the heirs; but he who is elected to that position by thosewho have authority; and the sons remain only noblemen。 And this being anancient custom; it cannot be called a new principality; because thereare none of those difficulties in it that are met with in new ones; foralthough the prince is new; the constitution of the state is old; and itis framed so as to receive him as if he were its hereditary lord。But returning to the subject of our discourse; I say that whoever willconsider it will acknowledge that either hatred or contempt has beenfatal to the above…named emperors; and it will be recognized also how ithappened that; a number of them acting in one way and a number inanother; only one in each way came to a happy end and the rest tounhappy ones。 Because it would have been useless and dangerous forPertinax and Alexander; being new princes; to imitate Marcus; who washeir to the principality; and likewise it would have been utterlydestructive to Caracalla; modus; and Maximinus to have imitatedSeverus; they not having sufficient valour to enable them to tread inhis footsteps。 Therefore a prince; new to the principality; cannotimitate the actions of Marcus; nor; again; is it necessary to followthose of Severus; but he ought to take from Severus those parts whichare necessary to found his state; and from Marcus those which are properand glorious to keep a state that may already be stable and firm。CHAPTER XXARE FORTRESSES; AND MANY OTHER THINGS TO WHICH PRINCES OFTEN RESORT;ADVANTAGEOUS OR HURTFUL?1。 SOME princes; so as to hold securely the state; have disarmed theirsubjects; others have kept their subject towns by factions; others havefostered enmities against themselves; others have laid themselves out togain over those whom they distrusted in the beginning of theirgovernments; some have built fortresses; some have overthrown anddestroyed them。 And although one cannot give a final judgment on all oneof these things unless one possesses the particulars of those states inwhich a decision has to be made; nevertheless I will speak asprehensively as the matter of itself will admit。2。 There never was a new prince who has disarmed his subjects; ratherwhen he has found them disarmed he has always armed them; because; byarming them; those arms bee yours; those men who were distrustedbee faithful; and those
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