when the party whom he thought he stood in need of, is corrupt, whether it be the people, the nobles, or the troops, he must at all events content them, and from that moment renounce doing good.
But let us speak of Alexander, whose clemency has been so much praised by historians, but who was nevertheless despised on account of his effeminacy, and because he suffered himself to be governed by his mother. The army conspired against this prince, who was so good and so humane, that in the course of a reign of fourteen years not one person was put to death without a tiral. He was however. sacrificod by his soldiers. On the other hand, Commodus, Severus, Caracalla, and Maximinus, having indulged themselves in all kinds of excess to satisfy the avarice and cruelty of the troops, had not a much happier fate; with the exception of Severus, who reigned peaceably, though to satisfy the cupidity of the troops he oppressed the people; but he was possessed of excellent qualities, which gained him at once the affection of the soldiers and the admiration of the people. Now, as he raised himself to empire from a private station, and may for that reason serve as a model for those who may hereafter be in the same situation, I think it necessary to say a few words on the subject of his assuming by turns the qualties of the two animals of which I have before spoken.
