[ 1165] Lex talionis.
MAxentius that cruel Tyrant,* 1.1 coming with an Army against Constantine the Great; To deceive him and his Army, he caused his Souldiers to make a great bridge over Tyber, where Constantine should passe, and cunningly laid planks on the Ships, that when the Army came upon the planks, the ships should sink, and so drown the Enemy; but Maxentius hearing of Constantine's sud∣dain approach, in a rage rushed out of the gates of Rome, and commanded his followers to attend him, and through fury forgetting his own work, led a few over his bridge; And the ships sinking, himself and his followers were all drowned: Thus it is that the mischiefs of wicked Men fall usually upon their own heads,* 1.2 their plots recoyl upon themselves, they do but (as it were) twist a cord to hang themselves, whilest they digg a pit for others, the Earth falling in beats out their own brains; This is that Lex talionis, that retaliation which Christ threatens,* 1.3 and that David asserteth. Nec enim lex justior ulla est, Most just it is, that he which breweth mischief, should have the first draught of it himself.