CHAP. VIII.
Of those who by Crimes have arrived at Sovereignty.
As sovereignty may be attained in two ways without being indebted either to fortune or to merit and skill, it is proper that I should here detail them. The examination of one of those modes, however, would more appropriately be placed under the article republics. The first is pursued by those usurpers who arrive at sovereignty by acts of villany, and the second is when a private individual. is raised by his fellow citizens.to the dignity of prince of his country.
I will cite two examples of the former method, the one ancient, the other modern: and without analysing or appreciating them any otherwise; they will suffice to those who are under the necesşity of doing the like. Agathocles, a Sicilian, an individual of the lowest class, raised himself to the throne of Syracuse. He was the son of a potter, and imprinted with crimes every gradation of his fortune; but he conducted himself with infinite ability, and so much courage as well as strength of mind and body, that, having devoted all his attention to arms, he rose step by step in the army, till he arrived at the post of Prætor of Syracusé. Once raised to this rank, he resolved to keep it; to make himself sovereign, and retain by violence, and without depending on any person whatever, what had willingly been granted to him by the publie voice. Having well weighed his purpose, he held a communication with Hamilcar, who commanded the Carthaginian army in Sicily.
Agathocles one morning assembled the people and the senate of Syracuse, under the pretext of deliberating on public affairs. At a given signal, he caused all the senators and the richest of the inhabitants to be massacred by the soldiery: these being dead, he assumed the sovereignty, and enjoyed it without any opposition on the part of the people. Twice defeated by the Carthaginians, and at length besieged by them in Syracuse, he not only defended himself in the city, but leaving a part of his troops to sustain the siege, he with the remainder passed over into Africa, where he pressed the Carthaginians so closely that they soon raised the seige, and, reduced to extremities, were compelled to content themselves .with Africa, and abandon Sicily to him.
If we examine the conduct of Agathocles, we shall find scarcely any thing that can be attributed to fortune. It was not by favour, but by advancing step by step through all the ranks of military service, that amidst a thousand obstacles and a thousand dangers he arrived at the sovereignty; in which he maintained himself by resorting to measures as daring as they were dangerous. Yet there is no virtue in massacreing ones fellow citizens and sacrificing ones friends; in being without faith, pity, or religion. These qualities may lead to sovereignty, but not to glory.
Considering the intrepidity of Agathocles in braving dangers, his skill in extricating himself from them, his firmness of soul in supporting or surmounting adversity, we do not see how he can be deemed inferior to the greatest warriors: nevertheless, his inhumanity, his ferocious cruelty, and the infinity of crimes which he committed, have prevented his being ranked amongst celebrated men; we cannot therefore attribute to his fortune or his virtue what he succeeded in acquiring without either of them.
In our days under Pope Alexander VI. Oliverotto da Fermo, having in his infancy lost both his parents, was educated by his maternal uncle John Fogliani, and while yet very young, he was placed under Paul Vitelli to learn the art of war, and arrive at some distinguished rank. After the death of Paul he served under his brother Vitellozzo, and in a very short time afterwards, on account of his courage and ability, he became the first warrior of his day; but finding it beneath him to serve, he resolved, with the aid of a few citizens, who preferred slavery to the liberty of their country, and the assistance of Vitellozzo, to possess himself of Fermo, his native country. He wrote to John Fogliani, that having long been absent from home, he was resolved to return, see his country, and own his patrimony. That as he had laboured so hard to acquire a reputation, he hoped his fellow citizens would afford him some personal testimonies that his time had not been mispent, and consequently he intended to present himself before them in a distinguished manner, accompanied by an hundred horse of his friends and servants; and he prayed him to intreat the inhabitants of Fermo to receive him honourably, which would be equally grateful to himself and honourable to his uncle, who had superintended his education.
John Fogliani did not fail to fulfil his nephew's intentions; he caused him to be received in a distinguished manner by the inhabitants of Fermo, and lodged him in his own house. There Oliverotto employed several days to prepare every thing that could contribute to the success of his guilty designs: he gave a grand entertainment, to which he invited John Fogliani and the first people of the city. After dinner, and in the midst of the hilarity naturally attendant on such an occasion, Oliverotto suddenly changed the conversation to a serious subject: he spoke of the power of Pope Alexander, and of his son Borgia, and their several enterprises—Giovanni and the others gave each their opinion in turn, when he instantly arose, saying that it was a matter to be treated of in a more secret place. He retired into a chamber into which his uncle and the others followed him. Scarcely were they seated, when the armed soldiers, who were till then concealed, rushed out and massacred Giovanni and the whole party. After which, Oliverotto mounted his horse, traversed the city, besieged the palace of the chief magistrate, forced him to swear obedience, and to establish a government of which he (Oliverotto) was to be the prince. He put to death all the discontented who had the power to injure him; he established new laws, both civil and military; and in the space of one year he had so effectually consolidated his power, that he was not only firmly established in the sovereignty of Fermo, but had rendered himself formidable to all his neighbours. His expulsion would have been as difficult as that of Agathocles, if he had not suffered himself to be deceived by Borgia, who, as we have already shewn, entrapped him at Signigalia with the Orsini and Vitelli, a year after the parricide of his uncle; he was there strangled, with Vitellozzo his master in the art.of war and wickedness.
It is matter of astonishment that Agothocles and others like him, having to defend themselves against external enemies, should have been able to live a length of time peaceably in their own country, without any of their fellow citizens having: conspired against them, while other new princes, by reason of their cruelties, have not been able, even, in time of peace, to secure themselves in their usurpations, much less in time of war. I am of opinion it greatly depends on the good or bad use they make of their cruelty. It may be said to be well employed (if we may call good that which is evil) when it is only once exercised; when it is dictated by the absolute necesșity of securing their power, and that they never afterwards have recourse to it, but for the public welfare: they who employ it ill, are those who are sparing of it in the commencement, but instead of diminishing increase it. Those who employ it only at first, as Agathocles did, may hope for pardon from God and mankind. Those who use it otherwise cannot maintain their sovereignty.
It is therefore necessary that the usurper of a state should once only commit all the cruelties which his safety renders necessary, that he may never have cause to repeat them: it is by not renewing them, that he acquires the loyalty of his new subjects, and by favours he rivets their attachment. If from bad counsel or timidity he acts otherwise, he will find it necessary to have a poniard always in his hand; it will then become impossible for him to rely on his subjects, whose confidence in him has been destroyed by recent and repeated attacks; for I repeat it, these offences should all be committed at one time, because, having less time for resenting them, the wound is not so deep; but benefits should be conferred in small portions, and one by one, that the receivers may the better relish them. It is above all necessary that a prince should live on such terms with his subjects, that no accident, good or bad, should oblige him to vary his conduct towards them. For when necessity presses, it is not a proper time to avenge himself; and the good which he does will avail him nothing, because they will not give him credit for a change which they conceive to be forced.