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IT was nat without a high and prudente consideration, that certayne lawes were made by the Romaynes, whyche were named the lawes of Ambition, whereby men were restrayned in the citie to obtayn offyces and dignities in the Publyke wele, eyther by gyuynge rewardes, or by other synyster laboure or meanes: And they, whyche by that lawe were condempned, were putte to deathe without any fauoure.
Uerily it was a noble lawe, and for all pla∣ces necessary, consyderinge what inconue∣nience hapneth by this vaine and superfiu∣ous appetite, wytnesses amonge the Ro∣mayns, Sylla, Marius, Carbo, Linna, Pō∣pei, and Cesar, by whose ambicion mo Ro∣mains were slayne, than in acquyrynge the empire of al the world. Sylla condemned, and caused to be slayne, foure score thou∣sande Romayns, beside many mo that were slayne in the battayles, betwene hym and the bothe Marius.
¶ Also Pompei, and Iulius Cesar, the one suffrynge no piere, the other no superiour, by theyr ambycion caused to be slayne be∣twene them, people innumerable, and sub∣uerted the beste and mooste noble publyke weale of the worlde, and fynally hauynge lyttel tyme of reioysing theyr vnlefull de∣sire, Pompeie shamefully fleinge, had his heed striken of, by the cōmandment of Pro lomee, king of Egipt, vnto whome as vnto his frende he fledde for succour. Cesar the vanquyssher, was murdred in the Senate with daggers, by them, whome he mooste specially fauoured.
¶ I could occupie a great volume with hi∣stories of them, whiche couetynge to moūt into excellent dignities, dyd therby bringe in to extreme perylles, bothe them selues
and their countreys. For as Tacitus saith, wonderfull elegantly, With them, whyche desyre soueraygnetie, there is noo meane place betwene the toppe & the step downe. To the whyche wordes agreynge Tullie sayth, Hygh auctorities shulde nat moche be desired, or rather nat to be taken at som¦tyme, and oftentymes to be lefte and for∣saken. So dyd Sylla, whome I late spake of. And Dioclesyan Emperour of Rome, who after he hadde gouerned the empyre XXV. yeree honourably (yf he hadde nat ben polluted with the blod of innumerable Christen men) wyllyngely abandoned the crowne and dignitie imperial, and lyued .ix. yeres on his priuate possessions. And on a tyme beinge desired of Herculius and Ga∣lerius, vnto whom he had resigned the em¦pire, to take efteso ones on him the gouer∣nance, abhorringe it as a pestilence, answe∣red in this wyse, I wolde ye dydde see the herbes, that I haue with myn owne hādes sowen and set at Salona, surely ye wold nat than in this wyse aduise me.
¶ Also Octauius Augustus, which in feli∣citie passed all emperours, deuised often ti∣mes with his frendes, to haue resygned his auctoritie. And if at that tyme the Se∣nate had ben as wel furnished with noble & wife {per}sonages, as it was before the Ciuile
warres, betwene Cesar and Pompeie, it is to be thought, that he wolde surely haue restored the publike weale to his pristinate glorie. But nowe lette vs see, what is the cause, that Ambytion is so pernicious to a publyke weale.
¶ In myn opinion it is for two causes prin cipally. Fyrste for as moche as they, why∣che be of that courage and appetite, whan they be in auctoritie, suppose al thing to be lefull that lyketh them. And also by reason of their preeminence, wolde soo be sepe∣rate from other, that no man shuld cōtrolle them, or warne them of their enormyties, and finally wolde do what they lyste with∣out contradiction. Wherof do ensewe dy∣uers iniuries and subuertion of iustyce.
And this, whiche I haue nowe sayd, Tulli affirmeth to be true, sayinge, Uerily it is a great difficultie, where thou woldest be a∣boue all men, to obserue equitie. Whiche is the thing most appropried to iustyce. And shortely after he sayth, The more hygher of corage that a mā is, & desirous of glory, the soner is he meued to do thīges ageinst ryght. Seing it was so, in the time of Tul∣li, whan almoste euery man, that was in au∣ctoritie, had de excellent lernyng (the Ro∣maines bryngyng vp their children in stu∣dye of morall philosophye (what shall we
suppose in our tyme, whan fewe men in au∣ctoritie do care for lernyng? Why shuld we thynke to be more iustyce nowe vsed in au∣ctoritie, than was in the tyme of Tulli? Is there nat nowe priuate affection, particu∣lar fauour, displeasure and hatrede, as was at that tyme? I wolde the reders hereof, shuld be iuges, examinyng these my wordis with daily experience.
¶ The second cause, that condēneth Am∣bicion, is couetyse of treasure, therwith to mainteyn their ostentation and vaynglory, whiche ambicious persons, doo call theyr honour, wherby they be procured to fynde vniuste meanes by their auctoritie, to pro∣uyde for suche substaunce, wherwith they may be nat onely satisfied (they beinge in∣saciable) but accordynge to their owne ap∣petite fully suffysed. Wherfore the philoso∣phers, called Stoici, vsed this sentēce, gret indigence or lacke cometh nat of pouertie, but of great plentie, for he that hath moch, shall nede moche.
¶ But certes suche ambycious persones, may well consider, that the magnificence & pompe, whiche they couete, is nat so moch wondred at, as auarice & collection of mo∣ney is vniuersally hated. Wherfore Darius, kyng of Persia, and father to Xerxes, whā he had cōmanded a subsidie to be leuyed of
his subiectes, demanded the chiefe men of the countreyes, whether they founde them¦selfe greued. They answerynge, that they were in a merely good case, he commaun∣ded the one halfe to be eftesones restored, leste he of any auarice shulde be suspected. By the whiche acte he stabysshed his dig∣nitie, and made it more perfecte.
¶ More ouer, Tulli saythe, To take any thynge from an other man, and one man to encrease his cōmoditie with an other mans detryment, is more repugnaunt to nature, than deathe, than pouertie, payne, or other thynge that mought happen, eyther to the body or other goodes worldly.
Ci. off. 1.
Sextus Aurelius.
Ambition why it is il
Conetyse.
Plutarch{us} in apoth.
Ci. off. iii.