For what Reason Camillus was Driven Out of Rome
We have concluded above that proceeding1 as Valerius did is harmful to the country and to oneself, and proceeding as Manlius did is beneficial to the country, but sometimes harmful to oneself. This is very well proved by the example of Camillus, who in his proceedings2 resembled Manlius rather than Valerius. Whence T. Livius, speaking of him, says that He was hated by the soldiers, but was admired for his virtues3, what kept him admired was the solicitude4, the prudence5, the greatness of mind, that good organization he observed in the operation and the command of the armies. What made him admired was his being more severe in castigating6 them than liberal in rewarding them. And T. Livius cites these reasons for the hatred7: the first, that the money which was brought in from the goods of the Veienti which were sold, he applied8 to the public [treasury] and did not divide it with the plunder9: the other, that in the triumph he had his triumphal carriage drawn10 by four white horses, where they said that from pride he had wanted to rival the sun: the third, that he made a vow11 to give Apollo the tenth part of the plunder from the Veienti, and which (wanting to satisfy the vow) he had to take from the hands of the soldiers who had already appropriated it.
Here those things can surely and easily be noted12 which make a Prince odious13 to his people, the principal one of which is to deprive them of something useful to them: which thing is of the greatest importance, because when a man is deprived of those things which are useful in themselves, he never forgets it, and every least necessity makes him remember; and because necessities happen every day, they remind you of them every day. The other thing is to appear haughty14 and presumptuous15, which cannot be more odious to a people, and especially to a free people. And although this pomp and pride may not give rise to any inconvenience to them, none the less, it makes those who use them to be hated. From which a Prince ought to guard against as from a rock; for to draw hatred upon himself without profit to him, is entirely16 reckless and imprudent.
1 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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2 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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3 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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4 solicitude | |
n.焦虑 | |
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5 prudence | |
n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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6 castigating | |
v.严厉责骂、批评或惩罚(某人)( castigate的现在分词 ) | |
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7 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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8 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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9 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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10 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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11 vow | |
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓 | |
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12 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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13 odious | |
adj.可憎的,讨厌的 | |
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14 haughty | |
adj.傲慢的,高傲的 | |
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15 presumptuous | |
adj.胆大妄为的,放肆的,冒昧的,冒失的 | |
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16 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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