登陆注册
5214200000084

第84章

"Nay, Juno's self, whose wild alarms Set ocean, earth, and heaven in arms, Shall change for smiles her moody frown, And vie with me in zeal to crown Rome's sons, the nation of the gown.So stands my will.There comes a day, While Rome's great ages hold their way, When old Assaracus's sons Shall quit them on the myrmidons, O'er Phthia and Mycenae reign, And humble Argos to their chain."(4)Which things, indeed, Virgil makes Jupiter predict as future, whilst, in reality, he was only himself passing in review in his own mind, things which were already done, and which were beheld by him as present realities.But I have mentioned them with the intention of showing that, next to liberty, the Romans so highly esteemed domination, that it received a place among those things on which they bestowed the greatest praise.Hence also it is that that poet, preferring to the arts of other nations those arts which peculiarly belong to the Romans, namely, the arts of ruling and commanding, and of subjugating and vanquishing nations, says, "Others, belike, with happier grace, From bronze or stone shall call the face, Plead doubtful causes, map the skies, And tell when planets set or rise; But Roman thou, do thou control The nations far and wide; Be this thy genius, to impose The rule of peace on vanquished foes, Show pity to the humble soul, And crush the sons of pride."(5)These arts they exercised with the more skill the less they gave themselves up to pleasures, and to enervation of body and mind in coveting and amassing riches, and through these corrupting morals, by extorting them from the miserable citizens and lavishing them on base stage-players.Hence these men of base character, who abounded when Sallust wrote and Virgil sang these things, did not seek after honors and glory by these arts, but by treachery and deceit.Wherefore the same says, "But at first it was rather ambition than avarice that stirred the minds of men, which vice, however, is nearer to virtue.For glory, honor, and power are desired alike by the good man and by the ignoble; but the former," he says, "strives onward to them by the true way, whilst the other, knowing nothing of the good arts, seeks them by fraud and deceit."(1) And what is meant by seeking the attainment of glory, honor, and power by good arts, is to seek them by virtue, and not by deceitful intrigue; for the good and the ignoble man alike desire these things, but the good man strives to overtake them by the true way.The way is virtue, along which he presses as to the goal of possession--namely, to glory, honor, and power.Now that this was a sentiment engrained in the Roman mind, is indicated even by the temples of their gods; for they built in very close proximity the temples of Virtue and Honor, worshipping as gods the gifts of God.Hence we can understand what they who were good thought to be the end of virtue, and to what they ultimately referred it, namely, to honor;for, as to the bad, they had no virtue though they desired honor, and strove to possess it by fraud and deceit.Praise of a higher kind is bestowed upon Cato, for he says of him "The less he sought glory, the more it follOwed him."(2) We say praise of a higher kind; for the glory with the desire of which the Romans burned is the judgment of men thinking well of men.And therefore virtue is better, which is content with no human judgment save that of one's own conscience.Whence the apostle says, "For this is our glory, the testimony of our conscience."(3) And in another place he says, "But let every one prove his own work, and then he shall have glory in himself, and not in another."(4) That glory, honor, and power, therefore, which they desired for themselves, and to which the good sought to attain by good arts, should not be sought after by virtue, but virtue by them.For there is no true virtue except that which is directed towards that end in which is the highest and ultimate good of man.Wherefore even the honors which Cato sought he ought not to have sought, but the state ought to have conferred them on him unsolicited, on account of his virtues.

But, of the two great Romans of that time, Cato was he whose virtue was by far the nearest to the true idea of virtue.Where-fore, let us refer to the opinion of Cato himself, to discover what was the judgment he had formed concerning the condition of the state both then and in former times."I do not think," he says, "that it was by arms that our ancestors made the republic great from being small.Had that been the case, the republic of our day would have been by far more flourishing than that of their times, for the number of our allies and citizens is far greater; and, besides, we possess a far greater abundance of armor and of horses than they did.But it was other things than these that made them great, and we have none of them: industry at home, just government without, a mind free in deliberation, addicted neither to crime nor to lust.Instead of these, we have luxury and avarice, poverty in the state, opulence among citizens; we laud riches, we follow laziness; there is no difference made between the good and the bad; all the rewards of virtue are got possession of by intrigue.And no wonder, when every individual consults only for his own good, when ye are the slaves of pleasure at home, and, in public affairs, of money and favor, no wonder that an onslaught is made upon the unprotected republic."(5)He who hears these words of Cato or of Sallust probably thinks that such praise bestowed on the ancient Romans was applicable to all of them, or, at least, to very many of them.It is not so; otherwise the things which Cato himself writes, and which I have quoted in the second book of this work, would not be true.

同类推荐
  • 三界图

    三界图

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 埋忧续集

    埋忧续集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • English Stories Germany

    English Stories Germany

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Okewood of the Secret Service

    Okewood of the Secret Service

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 全齐文

    全齐文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 躁郁

    躁郁

    黑与白,光明与黑暗,这是个矛盾的共同体。
  • 谪仙是只千年妖

    谪仙是只千年妖

    妖之初,性本善。她本是一团懵懂顽劣的小妖精,却垂涎冰清玉洁的上神。一次不成功,下次接着惦记。总有一天她会把上神娶回家。
  • 重生弃后:贵女不可欺

    重生弃后:贵女不可欺

    相俯千金,一朝封后,世人皆羡。不想确被奸人陷害,惨死在朝堂上。意外重生,她苦恼了。别人重生,即使前世如白莲花般的女子,也会变成腹黑狠毒的邪恶女。斗奸人,铲小人,忙的不亦乐乎!可是她就是窝囊废!论手段,她不如前世那位王夫狠辣!论心机,她更差了十万八千里!论无情,她没有翻脸不认人的本事!这样的她,怎么去伸张正义,为前世的自已报仇恨!罢了,罢了,惹不起,自已还是躲得起。只要这世家人平安,她过上快意江湖的日子就好。奈何你想逍遥自在,总有那么一些人不给你机会。你想平平淡淡,他却对你纠纠缠缠!那姑奶奶就不客气的给自已杀出一条血路来。欺我辱我,百倍还之!你若找茬,我必睚眦必报!从此后,她要掌控自己的命运!
  • 武道凌云

    武道凌云

    我心武道,壮志凌云!饱受欺凌的圣武院弟子萧凌,在一次意外觉醒逆天‘血炎’武魂,修《八门遁甲》,从此踏上了轰杀天才妖孽的逆袭之路。只问,这苍茫大地,谁敢与我一战?
  • 荧河踏浪

    荧河踏浪

    本书收录了作者21篇新闻作品。其中1-8篇是作者在黄石人民广播电台实习期间采写的部分新闻稿件,除了在电台播发外,还被《黄石日报》刊发。9-21篇是我到湖北电视台工作后留存的部分稿件。
  • The Arabian Nights

    The Arabian Nights

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 当代学者视野中的马克思主义哲学:西方学者卷(中卷)

    当代学者视野中的马克思主义哲学:西方学者卷(中卷)

    本书汇集了当代学者对马克思主义哲学的种种解说和阐释,使马克思主义哲学研究的当代境遇凸显出来,使马克思主义哲学与时代课题的联系多方面地显示出来。这套丛书所选材料中的立场、观点和方法并不一致,它们之间的差别有时非常大甚至可能是对立的,但也正因为如此,这些研究材料的作用和意义就会是多重的,其中所包含的一致、差别和对立能够为马克思主义哲学中国化提供不同的参考维度,提供较大的思考空间。
  • 哈利波特之我是传奇

    哈利波特之我是传奇

    霍法来到了哈利波特的世界,满心欢喜的他以为可以一睹传奇巫师真容。然而他却发现自己来到了1938年!成为了伏地魔的同学,邓布利多的学生。我的赫敏呢?我的铁三角呢?不存在的.......不仅如此,他还要在义务教育系统的威逼下,强制完成七年的魔法培训。当霍法终于幡然醒悟之际,他才发现,自己不是来目睹传奇的,他是来成为传奇的。
  • 蚀骨甜妻:仙尊太撩人

    蚀骨甜妻:仙尊太撩人

    白萧重新回七岁,一切悲惨还没有发生,她决定阻止一切,保护师尊,远离渣男。人称谪仙寒冰小仙尊的安钰,长生宗第一强者,无数少年少女心中的冰莲花,不解风情没有感情,自从遇到小徒儿后立马变了。“阿萧,为师告诉你多少遍了,打架一定不能亲自动手,打不过喊为师。”“师尊,宗门戒律有友好爱护同门,不能打架。”某无良师尊带偏小徒儿,无限宠溺,直到渣男来“滚,本宝宝心中已有人,师尊快来救徒儿,这里有人要抢你家徒儿。”
  • 天降神命

    天降神命

    一个古老的民族灭亡后剩下的唯一一人孤军奋战于世界各处,亲情不断的让他选择取舍,他得到了别人得不到的可贵家庭,承受了普通人无法承受的任务。对,他们一家人就是天降神命,神也无法完成的任务他们一家人默默承受。