Uberto Decembrio: Four Books on the Commonwealth; De Re Publica Libri IV (The Renaissance Society of America, 13) 9789004394957, 9789004409682, 9004394958

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Uberto Decembrio, Four Books on the Commonwealth—De re publica libri IV

The Renaissance Society of America texts and studies series

Editor-in-Chief David Marsh (Rutgers University)

Editorial Board Anne Coldiron (Florida State University) Paul Grendler, Emeritus (University of Toronto) James Hankins (Harvard University) Craig Kallendorf (Texas A&M University) Gerhild Scholz-Williams (Washington University in St. Louis) Lía Schwartz Lerner (CUNY Graduate Center)

volume 13

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/rsa

Uberto Decembrio, Four Books on the Commonwealth De re publica libri IV Edited and translated by

Paolo Ponzù Donato

LEIDEN | BOSTON

Cover illustration: The Effects of Good Government, 1338–1339 (detail), by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (ca. 1290–1348). Siena, Palazzo Pubblico, Sala dei Nove. Image in public domain. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2019040240

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. ISSN 2212-3091 ISBN 978-90-04-39495-7 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-40968-2 (e-book) Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Contents Acknowledgments vii Abbreviations viii Note on Indexes xv Introduction 1 1 The Person: Uberto Decembrio 1 2 The De re publica libri IV: Structure and Themes 4 2.1 Book 1: Justice 5 2.2 Book 2: Between Milan and Utopia 7 2.3 Book 3: Ethics, Marriage, and Education 10 2.4 Book 4: A Vision of an Ideal Commonwealth 13 3 Uberto Decembrio’s ‘Civic Humanism’ 18 3.1 From Petrarch to Plato 38 3.2 Beyond Plato: Uberto Decembrio’s Reappraisal of Aristotle 47 4 History of the Text 51 4.1 Date, Composition, and Circulation 51 4.2 Transmission of the Text: Ms. B 123 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan 54 5 Editorial Principles 58 5.1 The Latin Text 58 5.2 The Translation: Notes on Uberto Decembrio’s Style 63 De re publica libri IV / Four Books on the Commonwealth 67 Liber I / Book 1 68 Liber II / Book 2 118 Liber III / Book 3 166 Liber IV / Book 4 216 Bibliography 259 Glossarial Index 266 General Index 280

Acknowledgments As Uberto Decembrio’s De re publica libri IV makes its way to publication, almost exactly six centuries after it was written, I wish to express my gratitude to the staff of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana of Milan and to Carla Maria Monti and Marco Petoletti of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, who have provided me with generous research support and bibliographical advice. This book began its life as a sequel to my PhD dissertation at the University of Florence—the critical edition of Pier Candido Decembrio’s vernacular translation of Caesar, published by Firenze University Press in 2017—directed by Donatella Coppini and Mariangela Regoliosi, who supported me and shared their suggestions with me. Special thanks are due to Jennifer Ottman, for her incredible help, to Angelo Piacentini, for kindly allowing me to read the draft of his forthcoming critical edition of Uberto Decembrio’s letters, and, last but not least, to James Hankins, for encouraging me to bring this book to life. Moreover, I wish to thank Giovanni Guastella of the University of Siena, for teaching me the art of doubt. I am extremely grateful to the former and current general editors of the Renaissance Society of America Texts and Studies series, Ingrid De Smet and David Marsh, and to the series editor Colin Macdonald, as well as to Brill’s anonymous reviewers, for their valuable advice and corrections, which made this a better book. I sincerely thank Brill’s editors Ivo Romein, for his efficient support, and Arjan van Dijk, for being the first to believe in this book.

Abbreviations For abbreviations of ancient and patristic works, including the Vulgate, I follow the ones given in Glare, Oxford Latin Dictionary; Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary; and Liddell and Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon. For medieval and early modern works, I decided to use a similar system, citing them in abbreviated form along with book, chapter, and paragraph numbers (if applicable) or the page number of the edition used, according to the list given below.

Medieval and Early Modern Authors and Works Ambros., Off.

Ambrose, De officiis, ed. and trans. I.J. Davidson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 2 vols. Ang. Dec., Polit. Angelo Camillo Decembrio, De politia litteraria, ed. N. Witten (München–Leipzig: Saur, 2002). Ant. Loschi, Ep. ad duc. Med. Antonio Loschi, Epistola ad principem illustrem, ducem Mediolani, etc., in Sulla vita e sugli scritti di Antonio Loschi vicentino, ed. G. da Schio (Padova: Coi tipi del Seminario, 1858), 170–177. Aug., Bon. coniug. St. Augustine, De bono coniugali and De sancta virginitate, ed. P.G. Walsh (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001), 1–64. Aug., Civ. Dei Sancti Aurelii Augustini De civitate Dei, ed. B. Dombart and A. Kalb (Turnholti: Brepols, 1955), 2 vols. Aug., Conf. Augustine, Confessions, ed. J.J. O’Donnell (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), 3 vols. Aug., Lib. arb. [St. Augustine], De libero arbitrio, ed. and trans. D. Gentili, in Opere di Sant’Agostino: Nuova Biblioteca Agostiniana, vol. 3.2 (Roma: Città Nuova, 1976), 135–377. Aug., Perf. iust. [St. Augustine], De perfectione iustitiae hominis, ed. A. Trapè, trans. I. Volpi, in Opere di Sant’Agostino: Nuova Biblioteca Agostiniana, vol. 17.1 (Roma: Città Nuova, 1981), 489–563. Beda, In Cant. Venerabilis Bedae In Cantica Canticorum allegorica expositio, ed. J.P. Migne, PL 91 (Parisiis: [J.P. Migne], 1850), col. 1065–1236. Bemb., Div. Steph. Pietro Bembo, In divi Stephani laudem hymnus, in Lyric Poetry: Etna, trans. M.P. Chatfield (Cambridge, MA–London: Harvard University Press, 2005), 82–88. Benz., Chron. Bentii Alexandrini Chronicon, Liber XXIV: De moribus et vita philosophorum, ed. M. Petoletti, in Petoletti, Il “Chronicon” di Benzo

abbreviations

ix

d’Alessandria e i classici latini all’inizio del XIV secolo (Milano: Vita e Pensiero, 2000), 155–356. Benz., Med. Bentii Alexandrini De Mediolano florentissima civitate, ed. M. Petoletti, in Petoletti, Milano, 1–125. Bern. Cor., Stor. Mil. Bernardino Corio, Storia di Milano, ed. A. Morisi Guerra (Torino: Utet, 1978), 2 vols. Boeth., Consol. Anicii Manlii Severini Boethii Philosophiae consolatio, ed. L. Bieler, in Id., Opera, vol. 1 (Turnholti: Brepols, 1984). Bonv., Magn. Bonvesin da la Ripa, De magnalibus Mediolani, ed. P. Chiesa (Milano: Libri Scheiwiller, 1997). Buon. Mont., Nob. Buonaccorso da Montemagno, De nobilitate, ed. E. Garin, in Prosatori latini del Quattrocento (Milano–Napoli: Ricciardi, 1952), 141– 165. Calc., Comm. Calcidius, Commentarius, ed. J.H. Waszink, in Timaeus a Calcidio translatus commentarioque instructus (Londini–Leidae: In aedibus Instituti Warburgiani–Brill, 19752), 53–346. Col. Sal., Ep. Coluccio Salutati, Epistolario, ed. F. Novati (Roma: Forzani e C., 1891–1911), 5 vols. Dante, Conv. Dante Alighieri, Il Convivio, ed. G. Busnelli and G. Vandelli (Firenze: Le Monnier, 1964). Dante, De situ Dante Alighieri, De situ et forma aque et terre, ed. G. Padoan (Firenze: Le Monnier, 1968). Dante, Inf. Dante Alighieri, Inferno, in La Commedia secondo l’antica vulgata, ed. G. Petrocchi, vol. 2 (Firenze: Le Lettere, 19942). Dante, Par. Dante Alighieri, Paradiso, in La Commedia secondo l’antica vulgata, ed. G. Petrocchi, vol. 4 (Firenze: Le Lettere, 19942). Dante, Purg. Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, in La Commedia secondo l’antica vulgata, ed. G. Petrocchi, vol. 3 (Firenze: Le Lettere, 19942). Decr. sup. crim. Decretum super crimine laesae maiestatis, in Antiqua Ducum Mediolani decreta (Mediolani: Apud Malatestas, 1654), 254–257. Galv. Fiam., Chron. extrav. Galvanei Flammae Ordinis Praedicatorum Chronicon extravagans de antiquitatibus Mediolani, ed. A. Ceruti, in Miscellanea di storia italiana, vol. 7 (Torino: Stamperia Reale, 1869), 445– 505. Galv. Fiam., Man. Gualvanei Flammae Manipulus florum, in RIS1, vol. 11 (Mediolani: Ex Typographia Societatis Palatinae, 1727), 537–739. Gasp. Barz., Op. Gasparini Barzizii Bergomatis et Guiniforti Filii Opera, ed. G.A. Furietti (Romae: Salvioni, 1723), 2 vols. Giov. Balbi, Cathol. Giovanni Balbi, Catholicon (Mainz: [Johann Gutenberg?], 1460; anastatic rpt., Westmead, U.K.: Gregg International, 1971).

x

abbreviations

Gir. Squarc., Vita Petrarc. Girolamo Squarciafico, Vita Francisci Petrarchae, in Le Vite di Dante, Petrarca e Boccaccio scritte fino al secolo decimosesto, ed. A. Solerti (Milano: Vallardi, 1904), 347–355. Gualt. Ang., Fab. Gualteri Anglici Fabulae, ed. L. Hervieux, in Les fabulistes latins depuis le siècle d’Auguste jusqu’à la fin du moyen âge, vol. 2 (Paris: Firmin–Didot, 1894; anastatic rpt., Hildesheim–New York: Olms, 1970), 316–382. Guid. Col., Hist. Guido delle Colonne, Historia destructionis Troiae, ed. N.E. Griffin (Cambridge: Medieval Academy of America, 1936). I. Varag., Leg. aur. Iacopi a Voragine Legenda aurea, ed. Th. Graesse (Lipsiae: Impensis Librariae Arnoldianae, 1850). Ioh. Gal. Vic., Ep. ad Ant. de la Scala Iohannes Galeaz Vicecomes, Epistula diffidatoria domino Antonio de la Scala, data Papie XXI Aprilis [1387], in Bern. Cor., Stor. Mil. 887–889. Ioh. Salisb., Policrat. John of Salisbury, Policraticus, ed. and trans. C. Nederman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). Isid., Orig. Isidori Hispalensis episcopi Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W.M. Lindsay (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1911), 2 vols. Laud. Tic. Anonymi Ticinensis [i.e., Opicino de Canistris] Liber de laudibus civitatis Ticinensis, ed. R. Maiocchi and F. Quintavalle, in RIS2, vol. 11.1 (Città di Castello: Lapi, 1903). Leon. Brun., Ep. Leonardi Bruni Arretini Epistolarum libri VIII, ed. L. Mehus (Florentiae: Ex typographia B. Paperinii, 1741; anastatic rpt. with an introduction by J. Hankins, Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2007), 2 vols. Leon. Brun., Op. Leonardo Bruni, Opere letterarie e politiche, ed. P. Viti (Torino: Utet, 1996). Leon. Brun., Pr. Ar. Leonardo Bruni, Praemissio quaedam ad evidentiam novae translationis Politicorum Aristotelis, in Leonardo Bruni Aretino: Humanistisch–philosophische Schriften mit einer Chronologie seiner Werke und Briefe, ed. H. Baron (Leipzig–Berlin: Teubner, 1928; anastatic rpt., Wiesbaden: Sändig, 1969), 73–74. Lucius III, Decr. Lucius III, Intelleximus: De novi operis nunciatione, in Corpus iuris canonici, ed. E. Friedberg (Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1959), 2:843–848. Machiav., Disc. Liv. Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, trans. H.G. Mansfield and N. Tarcov (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). P.C. Dec., Paneg. Petri Candidi Decembrii De laudibus Mediolanensium urbis panegyricus, in Pier Candido Decembrio, Opuscula historica, ed. F. Fossati, A. Butti, and G. Petraglione, in RIS2, vol. 20.1 (Bologna: Zanichelli, 1925–1958), 1013–1025.

abbreviations

xi

P.C. Dec., Vita Phil. Mar. Pier Candido Decembrio, Vita Philippi Mariae tertii Ligurum ducis: Life of Filippo Maria Third Duke of Lombardy, tr. G. Ianziti, ed. M. Zaggia, in Lives of the Milanese Tyrants (Cambridge, MA– London: Harvard University Press, 2019), 1–149. Paul. Diac., Hist. Lang. Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum, ed. G. Waitz (Hannoverae: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1878; anastatic rpt., Hannover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 2003). Petrar., BC Francesco Petrarca, Bucolicum carmen, ed. L. Canali (San Cesario di Lecce: Manni, 2005). Petrar., Epyst. Francesco Petrarca, Epystole metrice, in Rime, Trionfi e poesie latine, ed. F. Neri, G. Martellotti, E. Bianchi, and N. Sapegno (Milano–Napoli: Ricciardi, 1951), 706–805. Petrar., Fam. Francesco Petrarca, Le ‘Familiari,’ ed. V. Rossi and U. Bosco (Firenze: Sansoni, 1933–1942), 4 vols. Petrar., Ign. Francesco Petrarca, De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia, ed. E. Fenzi (Milano: Mursia, 1999). Petrar., Inv. mal. Francesco Petrarca, Contra eum qui maledixit Italie, ed. M. Berté (Firenze: Le Lettere, 2005). Petrar., Inv. med. Francesco Petrarca, Invective contra medicum: Invectiva contra quendam magni status hominem sed nullius scientie aut virtutis, ed. F. Bausi (Firenze: Le Lettere, 2005). Petrar., Mem. Francesco Petrarca, Rerum memorandarum libri, ed. M. Petoletti (Firenze: Le Lettere, 2014). Petrar., Rem. Francesco Petrarca, Les remèdes aux deux fortunes: De remediis utriusque fortune, ed. C. Carraud (Grenoble: Millon, 2002), 2 vols. Petrar., Secr. Francesco Petrarca, Secretum, ed. U. Dotti (Milano: Rizzoli, 2000). Petrar., Sen. Francesco Petrarca, Res seniles, ed. S. Rizzo and M. Berté (Firenze: Le Lettere, 2006–2017), 4 vols. Petrar., TF Francesco Petrarca, Triumphus Fame, in Trionfi, Rime estravaganti, Codice degli abbozzi, ed. V. Pacca and L. Paolino (Milano: Mondadori, 1996), 353–470. Petrar., Vir. ill. Francesco Petrarca, De viris illustribus, ed. S. Ferrone (Firenze: Le Lettere, 2006). Pog., Ep. Poggii Epistolae, ed. T. Tonelli (Florentiae: Marchini, 1832–1861), 3 vols. Sit. Med. Anonymi Mediolanensis Libellus de situ civitatis Mediolani, ed. A. Colombo and G. Colombo, in RIS2, vol. 1.2 (Bologna: Zanichelli, 1952). Symb. Nic. Symbolum Nicaenum, or the Nicene Creed.

xii

abbreviations

Tho. Aq., In Phys.

S. Thomae Aquinatis In octo libros Physicorum Aristotelis expositio, ed. P.M. Mariani Maggiolo, O.P. (Taurini–Romae: Marietti, 1954). Tho. Aq., Sum. Theol. 1a2ae [86–89] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae: Volume 27, Effects of Sin, Stain and Guilt: 1a2ae: 86–89, ed. T.C. O’Brien (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974). Tho. Aq., Sum. Theol. 1a2ae [90–97] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae: Volume 28, Law and Political Theory: 1a2ae: 90–97, ed. R. Gilby, O.P. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966). Tho. Aq., Sum. Theol. 2a2ae [23–33] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae: Volume 34, Charity: 2a2ae: 23–33, ed. R.J. Batten, O.P. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975).

Bibliographical Abbreviations CCRH PL RCH RIS1

RIS2

The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, [various years]). Patrologia Latina, ed. J.P. Migne (Parisiis: [J.P. Migne], 1844–1865), 221 vols. Renaissance Civic Humanism: Reappraisals and Reflections, ed. J. Hankins (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). Rerum Italicarum Scriptores ab anno aerae christianae 500–1500, ed. L.A. Muratori (Mediolani: Ex Typographia Societatis Palatinae, 1723–1751), 25 vols. Rerum Italicarum Scriptores ab anno aerae christianae 500–1500, ed. L.A. Muratori, rev. G. Carducci and V. Fiorini (Città di Castello [later Bologna]: Zanichelli, 1900–1975), 34 vols.

Other Abbreviations abl. AD adj. adv. a.k.a. ap. ASFi b. BC

ablative Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord adjective adverb also known as apud, in the writings of Archivio di Stato di Firenze born before Christ

abbreviations bk., bks. ca. cf. col. d. ed., eds. e.g. esp. et al. fig. fl. fol., fols. fr. Gr. ibid. i.e. inc. inf. pass. in ras. It. Lat. M mg1 mg2 mm m. sec. corr. n., nn. no., nos. om. P p., pp. part. pass. inf. plur. pres. rev. rpt. S scil. spec.

xiii

book, books circa, approximately confer, compare column died edited (by), edition, editor(s) exempli gratia, for example especially et alii, and others figure (followed by a number) floruit, (he) flourished folio, folios fragment Greek ibidem, in the same place id est, that is incipit, it begins (with) infinitive passive in rasura, (written) over an erasure Italian Latin Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Ms. B 123 sup. manus prima in margine, marginal note by Modesto Decembrio manus secunda in margine, marginal note by Pier Candido Decembrio millimeters manus secunda correxit, correction made by Pier Candido Decembrio note, notes (to); footnote, footnotes (followed by a number) number, numbers omisit, omitted Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Library, Ms. Codex 693 page, pages participle passive infinitive plural present revised (by) reprint Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Ms. S 41 sup. scilicet, namely special

xiv St. tit. trans. vol., vols.

abbreviations Saint title, heading translated (by), translator (of) volume, volumes

Note on Indexes The reader will find two indexes at the end of this book: the glossarial index, which helps in understanding the proper names and their derivatives marked with asterisks in the Latin text; and the general index, which includes both names and subjects mentioned in the introduction and the translated text. For manuscripts and modern works cited, see the bibliography below, which includes the manuscripts cited, listed by their current locations, and the full bibliographical information for modern works cited. For expansions of the bibliographical and other abbreviations used in this book, see the list of abbreviations above, which contains the full bibliographical information for medieval and early modern authors and works cited in abbreviated form.

Introduction 1

The Person: Uberto Decembrio

Uberto Decembrio was born in Vigevano (about sixty kilometers southwest of Milan) sometime in the third quarter of the fourteenth century.1 No exact year of birth is known, and the dates that have been proposed—1350 or 1370—lack documentary evidence.2 There is no precise information on Decembrio’s family and early years, apart from the name of his father, Anselmo, and it is impossible to verify the claim, reported by Decembrio’s son, Pier Candido (1392 or 1399– 1477), that he met Petrarch in Pavia during the poet’s stay in Milan (1353–1361).3 It was in Pavia, however, that Decembrio completed his studies, frequenting, among others, the physician and astronomer Giovanni Dondi dell’Orologio (ca. 1330–1388), the painter Michelino da Besozzo (ca. 1370–ca. 1455), and the poet Giuseppe Brivio (1378–1457). He married Caterina Marazzi (d. 1430), the daughter of a renowned Pavian physician, who gave him four sons: Modesto (d. 1430), Pier Candido, Paolo Valerio (d. 1424), and Angelo Camillo (1415–d. after 1467). Around 1390, Uberto Decembrio took a position as secretary to Pietro Filargo of Candia (ca. 1339–1410), at the time bishop of Novara, after whom he named his second son, Pier Candido. He then moved with Filargo to Pavia at the end of 1391, accompanying him on various diplomatic missions on behalf of Gian Galeazzo Visconti (1351–1402). It was probably during this period that Decembrio befriended the humanist Antonio Loschi (ca. 1368–1441), who was also close to Filargo. During his first trip to Florence (September 1392), Decembrio met the humanist chancellor Coluccio Salutati (1332–1406), with whom he maintained a correspondence. In 1393, after a second mission to Florence, Decembrio was sent to Prague with Filargo to obtain the title of duke for Gian Galeazzo from Wenceslaus, king of the Romans (1361–1419). As a sign of gratitude, Gian Galeazzo persuaded Wenceslaus to appoint Decembrio count palatine, a title given to all persons who held an office or employment in the king’s

1 For Decembrio’s biography, see Viti, “Decembrio Uberto.” The history and culture of Lombardy from Decembrio’s time to the early eighteenth century are extensively discussed in Gamberini, A Companion. 2 These hypotheses have been advanced by Corbellini, “Appunti,” 112–114, and Borsa, “Un umanista,” 83, respectively. 3 For this anecdote, see Gir. Squarc., Vita Petrarc. 357.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004409682_002

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palace. In September 1399, in response to growing political tensions with Florence, Filargo and his secretary went to Siena, returning to Pavia the following November. In these years Uberto Decembrio, while remaining in Filargo’s service (in 1401 he was again on mission with him in Venice), studied with the Byzantine scholar Manuel Chrysoloras (ca. 1350–1415), who introduced both Decembrio and his son Pier Candido to the study of Greek, hitherto unknown to most humanists. In May 1402, following Filargo’s appointment as archbishop of Milan, Uberto Decembrio moved to that city. Duke Gian Galeazzo’s death, which occurred on September 3 of the same year, marked the beginning of a serious political crisis for the Visconti duchy. Decembrio, however, remained in Milan, shifting his employment in 1404 to the chancellery of the new duke Giovanni Maria Visconti (1388–1412), without accompanying Filargo on his subsequent legations or even when he was elected pope by the Council of Pisa (1409), taking the name of Alexander V. Trying to settle the disagreements between Duke Giovanni Maria and his brother Filippo Maria (1392–1447), Uberto Decembrio drew upon himself the hostility of Facino Cane (1360–1412), a mercenary captain who had taken advantage of the dispute to assume control of the duchy, and in January 1411 he was imprisoned by him in a tower near the Porta Romana in Milan. Decembrio spent almost a year and a half in prison, being released only after Facino’s death and Giovanni Maria’s assassination, both of which likely happened on May 16, 1412.4 In the same year, following Filippo Maria’s rise to power, Decembrio resumed working in the ducal chancellery. His situation, however, remained unsettled, as suggested by a letter he wrote to Chrysoloras on August 24, 1413, in which he complains about his poor health and his difficulties in regaining his possessions, seeking (in vain) to obtain employment for his sons Modesto and Pier Candido at the papal curia. Yet the humanist gradually strengthened his position at court—in 1418, he had the honor of reciting a solemn oration in the presence of Pope Martin V, who came to Milan to dedicate the new cathedral—until, in 1419, Filippo Maria named his son Pier Candido ducal secretary. In 1422, despite Decembrio’s desire to devote the rest of his life to study, the duke appointed him podestà (ducal administrator) of Treviglio, a position that was subsequently renewed until his death, which occurred in the same city on April 25, 1427.

4 See Bern. Cor., Stor. Mil. 2:1029.

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Uberto Decembrio is mainly known for having published the first Latin translation of Plato’s Republic, made with the aid of Manuel Chrysoloras between 1400 and 1402,5 while there is no evidence that he translated other Platonic dialogues or the orations of Lysias and Demosthenes.6 In the years following his imprisonment, Decembrio composed two short treatises entitled De modestia and De candore, dedicated to his sons Modesto and Pier Candido respectively, in which the humanist deals in a quite original way with the themes of modesty (in the sense of “moderation”) and candor, understood not only as virtues but also as physical and spiritual conditions.7 Around 1419 Decembrio started working on a political dialogue, the De re publica libri IV, completed in 1422 and dedicated to Duke Filippo Maria Visconti. During the same period, or shortly thereafter, Decembrio began writing the Moralis philosophie dyalogi, a philosophical dialogue that was intended as an exposition of Seneca’s Epistulae ad Lucilium (bks. 1–2) and Cicero’s ethical thought (bks. 3–4), interrupted after the second book. Decembrio also composed a Compendium Historiae Romanae, later reworked by his son Pier Candido, as well as various Latin poems and letters, which are a valuable source for the political and intellectual history of late medieval and early modern Milan.8 The De re publica libri IV is regarded as Uberto Decembrio’s most important original work, the first real encounter of Western culture with the Republic, as well as a courageous attempt to bring Plato’s utopia into Decembrio’s own age.

5 On the cultural significance of this translation, see Hankins, Plato, 1:105–110. 6 This claim was made for the first time by Filippo Argelati, who seems to have misinterpreted a passage of Angelo Decembrio’s Politia litteraria, which actually refers to other translations made in Florence around the same time: “Demosthenis et Lisiae Platonisque orationes … et epistolae Latinae factae sunt preter eius decem summi philosophi De re publica libros …, per Ubertum Decembrium translatos, huius Angeli nostri genitorem, qui primus Mediolanensium aetate nostra Graecas litteras dicitur ex praeceptore Chrysolora didicisse.” Ang. Dec., Polit. 1.8.8. 7 For the De candore, see McManus, “New Renaissance.” 8 Some of Decembrio’s poems are edited in Piacentini, “Viciavit,” 98–123, and Monti, “Codice,” 880–881; for his letters and other works, see section 4.2 below. A critical edition of Decembrio’s letters is currently in preparation by Angelo Piacentini.

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The De re publica libri IV: Structure and Themes

Uberto Decembrio’s De re publica libri IV is a dialogue divided into four days (one for each book) and sustained by five interlocutors: Uberto himself; his younger friends Leone and Simone Morigia; Manfredo della Croce, abbot of the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio; and Giacomo da Modone, provost of the same basilica. The first two days of discussions take place in the orti (gardens) of Sant’Ambrogio (explicitly linked to the villa of Cicero’s Tusculanae disputationes), the third in Giacomo da Modone’s gardens (where once Petrarch used to sit, Decembrio says), and the fourth in Giacomo’s dining room, in front of a window overlooking the snowy Alps.9 The De re publica shows clear similarities to Plato’s Republic, especially in its structure: it takes place around Easter time, somewhat like the Bendideia of the Republic, and Abbot Manfredo, who raises the dialogue’s main question (on justice), departs to attend to his religious duties, leaving the brothers Leone and Simone to carry on the discussion on his behalf (bk. 1), just as Plato’s Cephalus does with the brothers Glaucon and Adeimantus. It is no coincidence, moreover, that Decembrio introduces into his dialogue a character of Greek descent, Giacomo da Modone, who ironically observes that the sources of Greek wisdom have dried up at present (3.4). Although Decembrio’s dialogue is entitled De re publica, its main subject is not only the res publica, meaning the commonwealth or the state, but also justice, which is the subject of Plato’s Republic. Thus, Decembrio’s res publica must be understood in its deepest and most universal sense—a commonwealth founded on justice—and not simply as “public affairs.” In other words, the focus of this dialogue is not the best government or the prince (although, in many respects, the dialogue falls into the category of the speculum principis, the mirror of princes), but the human being as a social and rational animal, his ethics, his education, his talents, and of course, his duties. Apart from Plato, an essential model for Uberto Decembrio is therefore Cicero’s De officiis, rewritten and sometimes reinterpreted from the perspective of Decembrio’s own time, along with many other Latin authors (e.g., Valerius Maximus, Seneca, Livy, Virgil, Juvenal, Horace, Ovid, Lucan, and the Disticha Catonis), quoted with remarkable originality and critical autonomy and often related by the humanist to recent historical events and situations he witnessed firsthand. 9 This seems to be an allusion to one of Petrarch’s letters to Francesco Nelli (August 23, 1353), where the poet describes the landscape he viewed from the back of his house in Milan: “retro autem menia urbis et frondentes late agros atque Alpes prospicit nivosas estate iam exacta.” Petrar., Fam. 16.11.11.

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Apart from some minor digressions (most notably the analysis of the various forms of law at the beginning of book 3), the conversation adheres overall to the schedule set by Abbot Manfredo at the beginning of the second day, when, after the first day was entirely devoted to the question of justice, exactly as in the first book of Plato’s Republic—although Decembrio’s definition of justice is notably different from Plato’s (see section 2.1 below)—he tells Decembrio: One thing we ask of you, if I may speak on behalf of the others [i.e., Leone and Simone], that you go on to address the other offices of the commonwealth, of which we have no doubt that many remain. For we trust that you will speak about the city’s [i.e., Milan’s] location and the various types of rule, about its guardians, about military discipline [book 2] and about the citizens’ morals, about marriages and about the rearing of children [book 3], about the cultivation of justice and other virtues, about the teaching of sciences and arts and other things on the same subject [book 4]. 2.2

As already mentioned, the De re publica libri IV is dedicated to Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan. Decembrio, however, chooses to address to him not one dedicatory letter but four prologues, one for each book, which, as we will see below, reveal the humanist’s strong personality but also his eventful and troubled life. Given the number of topics discussed in the dialogue, it will be useful to summarize these prologues along with the contents of each book. 2.1 Book 1: Justice The first prologue opens with the classical and medieval topos of the variability of Fortune,10 linked by Decembrio to the opposition between the instability of human affairs and the eternity of nature (see section 3 below), which leads him to regret the loss of Milan’s splendor during classical antiquity, now vanished. In the face of the desolation of present times, the only hope is that twists of fate may bring a more propitious era. Encouraged by this, the humanist tells the duke that he has written “some moral lessons in the form of a dialogue” (1.prol.8), to serve as an example for those who seek to regain the lost virtues of antiquity.

10

See Patch, Goddess Fortuna, and Hunt, “Christianization of Fortune.”

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The statue of a pagan deity in the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio serves as a pretext for conversation between Decembrio and the Morigia brothers: contrary to the traditional interpretation that identifies the statue as Hercules, the humanist, based on the statue’s clothing, proves that it is Bacchus.11 To Simone, who wonders why Christians have allowed an image of a pagan god to be kept in a sacred place, Leone replies that no worse offense could be done to heathens than to show, through statues like this, the imposture of their gods. Decembrio, satisfied with this argument, seizes the opportunity to continue the discussion in the gardens outside the basilica, where Abbot Manfredo joins the three men, urging Decembrio to say something about the res publica and human laws and customs, because he comes “from Plato’s and Cicero’s workshop and from the school of many poets and moral philosophers” (1.16). Decembrio, while professing modesty, accepts the challenge, offering a first definition of res publica as “a legitimate and social collection of human beings of both sexes in one place, enjoying the same laws and customs” (1.22).12 There follows an account, clearly modeled on Republic 369b–374d, of the origin of the commonwealth, whose purpose, according to Decembrio, is to supply people’s needs through a division of labor based on each person’s skills and abilities. However, while applying the Platonic dichotomy between ‘healthy’ and ‘fevered’ commonwealths, Decembrio relates the former not to a simple city-state but to a modern regional entity—like early Quattrocento Milan— demanding a more complex economy and more elaborate political arrangements, such as a mercenary army and, indeed, a wise prince, who enforces law, morality, and religion, protects marriage, and provides education to children. To Leone, who objects that such a city should be regarded not as a commonwealth of men but as a community of animals, Decembrio replies that maybe Leone prefers a ‘fevered’ commonwealth, where the satisfaction of citizens’ basic needs has been replaced by an insatiable desire for lust and luxury, requiring more resources and a larger army, which always produces jealousy, ambition, and civil strife. The only way to avoid dissension is justice, which Decembrio defines as “the constant and and perpetual will of the soul to render to each one what is proper and his own” (1.53), a statement that seemingly mixes, quite awkwardly, the

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The statue, destroyed by the Jacobins in 1796, is attested in many sources, the earliest being the Historia Mediolanensis of Landulf of Saint Paul, completed around 1137. For further notices, see Petoletti, Milano, LIII–LXIII. The passage recalls Cicero’s definition of civitas (city-state) as “concilia coetusque hominum iure sociati” (Rep. 6.13.13); see Hankins, Plato, 1:110n10, and section 3 below.

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positions held by Socrates and Cephalus in the Republic13 but is more likely borrowed from Ulpian, who describes justice as “constans et perpetua voluntas suum unicuique tribuendi” (Dig. 1.1.10), using nearly the same words as Decembrio. After this definition has been given, Abbot Manfredo asks Decembrio to explain what sort of good justice is, exactly as Plato’s Glaucon does with Socrates (Rep. 357d). When the humanist tells him that it is a good valued for its own sake but also for its consequences, the abbot argues that people usually seek the reputation of justice, not justice itself, doing what is just only because they cannot harm others without punishment. Even a righteous man, if he happened to find the ring of Gyges or an agate gem,14 which would give him the power of being invisible whenever he wanted, would be no different from an unjust one. No man is righteous by his own will, but solely by constraint, meaning that justice is not valued for its own sake, but only for its effects. After the abbot leaves, Leone supports his objections by recounting the inefficiency of the judicial system in contemporary Milan, finally defying Decembrio to defend justice. Instead of following Plato, Decembrio replies with a highly rhetorical speech (constructed in Stoic-Ciceronian fashion), in which human reason is praised as man’s highest faculty, participating in divine reason, as well as the source of the four cardinal virtues: prudence (or wisdom), justice, temperance, and fortitude, given with their Greek equivalents (φρόνησις/σοφία, δικαιοσύνη, σωφροσύνη, and ἀνδρεία). Through the light of reason, the wise man can therefore recognize justice and behave accordingly, even running the risk of appearing unjust to others. Having earned the others’ approval, the humanist ends his argument about justice with the promise to come back the following day to the same gardens. 2.2 Book 2: Between Milan and Utopia The second book begins with a new prologue addressed to Filippo Maria Visconti, particularly significant for its eulogy of Aristotle. Decembrio, in fact, while confessing to having written the dialogue “as an exercise for [him]self,” claims to have imitated Plato only in those aspects that seemed “fitting and

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The apparent contradiction between Socrates’s view of justice as an internal disposition of the soul (Rep. 443d) and Cephalus’s definition as “rendering to everyone his due” (331e), actually a quotation from the poet Simonides, was first noted in Hankins, Plato, 1:111. For the story of the ring of Gyges, see Rep. 359d–360d. The story of the agate’s power originates in a misinterpretation (common among medieval authors) of the name of Achates, the ever-faithful friend of Aeneas (Verg., Aen. 1.174).

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probable” to him (2.prol.5) and praises Aristotle for his thought’s greater systematization and for his method, based not on the questionable and the uncertain, like many aspects of Pythagorean-Platonic metaphysics, but on the probable. The belief that Aristotle’s thought is orderly whereas Plato’s is disorderly and unsystematic was a topos in the Plato-Aristotle controversy (and already present in the Middle Ages).15 However, what is striking is that one of the features that makes Plato’s thought disorderly is the use of dialogue, which presents philosophy as a progressive questioning of appearances and an open, unresolved quest for truth, yet Decembrio uses the dialogue form. It is clear, nonetheless, that Decembrio’s use of the dialogue is purely formal, as the author himself suggests in the first prologue, defining his work as “some moral lessons in the form of a dialogue” (1.prol.8), and as will become evident in the fourth book, where there is almost no interaction between the interlocutors, and the dialogue form gives way to the plain exposition of the author’s thought. Far from being a Platonist,16 although he does not abjure Plato,17 Decembrio adamantly rejects all the aspects of Platonism he finds incompatible with his moral sensibility, such as the community of goods and women, along with the idea that women should live together with men in camp and fight with them on the battlefield. He also overtly rejects the idea, branding it as dementia, that poets and painters should be banned from the city, unless their arts could be a vehicle for immorality, as was the case with Archilochus and Ovid, poets who are “ministers of lust and vices” (2.prol.8). Decembrio’s understanding of Plato’s thought suggests that, despite having translated Plato’s Republic, he failed to move beyond the medieval reception of the Republic (both Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great knew of the doctrine of community of women, for instance)18 and continued to adopt an Aristotelian outlook and repeat the same topoi regarding the Republic. His rejection of Plato’s views on poets also indicates that he knew very little about Plato’s defense of poetry in other contexts (such as Apology 222a–c, Phaedrus 245a, Ion 533d–534e, and Laws 719c– d). As the second day of discussion begins, Decembrio opens by describing the advantages of the site of Milan at Abbot Manfredo’s request, delving into a long excursus (taken from Livy) on the city’s foundation by Celts. Uberto’s son, the humanist Pier Candido Decembrio, will quote extensively from this account, 15 16 17 18

For an exhaustive survey of this topos, see Hankins, “Antiplatonism.” See Hankins, Plato, 1:116. On this point, I disagree with Ferraù, “Esemplarità,” 443; see rather Garin, “Ricerche,” 346. Cf. Langholm, “Medieval Schoolmen,” esp. 447–448.

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along with other key passages of this second book, in his De laudibus Mediolanensium urbis panegyricus (Panegyric in praise of the city of the Milanese), written in 1436 (see section 3 below). Decembrio then returns to the Republic, distinguishing between the different classes of men (gold, silver, brass, and iron), scrutinizing the five types of regimes envisaged by Plato (aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny), and establishing the role and education of the philosopher-king, as well as the function of guardians. Nevertheless, the humanist does not slavishly echo Plato’s teachings, but adapts them to the ethical (and republican) program of Cicero’s De officiis, shaping his own ideal city and, consequently, his own ideal prince. Although there is a strong medieval element in his treatment of the mirror of princes topos, in line with the medieval reading of Cicero’s De officiis (see section 3.2 below), its development by Decembrio is sometimes unexpected. According to Decembrio, the prince should be “like written law, which is directed toward punishment not out of anger but rather out of equity” (2.57). This statement, which echoes a passage of the De officiis,19 is used by the humanist to introduce a highly rhetorical account of the prince’s virtues, again quoted from Cicero (Off. 2.9.32), which eventually presents the prince as a man “known to be wise or at least to strive for wisdom” (2.61), reprising to some extent Plato’s philosopher-king (Rep. 473d). It is a turning point in the dialogue, since Decembrio’s implicit inclination to timocracy serves as the basis for a social, cultural, and political design that has little to do with either Plato or Visconti Milan, but this will become clear only in book 4. For now, he maintains a ‘double vision’ that combines the Republic with the Roman conception of civic ethics, according to which the public good and private interests are intrinsically linked and have to be identified with each other. Thus, Decembrio’s understanding of the training of the prince and guardians, as well as of their moral virtues and duties, draws more from Cicero and Valerius Maximus than from Plato. However, while strongly rejecting the community of goods and wives, Decembrio justifies the Platonic claim on the grounds of an ethical and ‘social’ purpose (drawing on Rep. 463e– 464a): This is the reason that led Plato to this idea, that it would bind the citizens more tenaciously in love for one another, so that one people would be regarded as one common parent to all and one family, and thus he 19

“Illa [i.e., iracundia] vero omnibus in rebus repudianda est optandumque, ut ii, qui praesunt rei publicae, legum similes sint, quae ad puniendum non iracundia, sed aequitate ducuntur.” Cic., Off. 1.25.89.

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wanted their resources and wealth to be shared, to get rid of these two words, ‘mine’ and ‘yours,’ from which, he said, derive all divisions and strife among peoples. 2.106

Abbot Manfredo’s departure for Vespers causes Decembrio to postpone the discussion of the remaining subjects to the next day. At Decembrio’s suggestion, the four men will resume their conversation in the gardens of Giacomo da Modone. 2.3 Book 3: Ethics, Marriage, and Education The third prologue provides the reader with an exemplary model of kingship: Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti, father of Filippo Maria. Even if such praise falls into a well-documented encomiastic tradition, it should be noted that its treatment by Decembrio turns out to be rather atypical. The humanist, in fact, remembers that the deceased duke used to say that nothing could excite him to bravery and virtue more than recalling himself to be a human being. Among many possible qualities that a prince known for his bellicosity could have, Decembrio chooses to point out his rational consciousness, the condition on which he had insisted so steadfastly in book 1. The new day of discussion begins as the interlocutors are greeted by Giacomo da Modone, who guides them to his pleasant garden and joins the conversation. Before taking up the previously identified questions, Decembrio enters into a long digression about the object of justice, ius, that is, the law. He classifies the various forms of law (natural law, law of nations, civil or municipal law, canon law, and unwritten law), giving a definition of each and relying on the authority of Justinian and other ancient juridical sources to bolster his argumentation. However, quite unexpectedly, in Decembrio’s account there is no discussion of the link between the prince, defined earlier as “written law” (2.57), and the five forms of law (natural, of nations, civil, canon, and unwritten), as well as no mention of divine Justice and its link to human justice, which was a key theme of political philosophy from Plato to the Middle Ages.20 Rather than engaging with political philosophy, Decembrio adopts a ‘moralistic’ tone, quoting from Lucan, Seneca, Juvenal, and Valerius Maximus (whose works were

20

For example, the notion that human justice is the image of divine Justice is shared by Augustine (Perf. iust. 6.6–7.7) and Thomas Aquinas (e.g., Sum. Theol. 1a2ae.87.8.2), who unconsciously adopted a Platonic model of Justice.

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typical sources of medieval moral literature).21 In Decembrio’s view, absolute respect for law and for civic customs and traditions—even at the cost of life— strengthens the bonds between citizens and their ruler. Therefore, even the prince must be willing to sacrifice himself to safeguard his subjects, as was the case with Codrus, king of Athens, who chose to die in battle to prevent the defeat of his people. On the other hand, every citizen should be like Cato the Younger, the unyielding champion of the mos maiorum portrayed in Lucan’s Pharsalia, who committed suicide in order not to fall into Caesar’s hands. Decembrio’s quotation of Lucan’s poem leads the provost to observe that in the Republic Plato himself often drew on the authority of poets like Homer and Hesiod, while Leone recalls that in Cicero’s Tusculanae disputationes there are verses taken from Ennius, as well as from comedians and from tragedians like Sophocles. Once again, Decembrio marks his difference from Plato, reiterating his firm opposition to the idea that all poets should be exiled from the city. Some poets, he reflects, claim many false and fanciful things, but how could a man live without the high moral teachings and precepts of Lucan, Virgil, Juvenal, and Horace? Both epic and satirical poets call us to be good men and citizens. At this point, Decembrio can easily develop his thoughts on education. Using Plato’s distinction among gold, silver, brass, and iron natures, he considers instruction as a way to establish and maintain a fair, equitable, and harmonious society. In the ideal city-state Decembrio imagines, each person ought to follow his or her own natural disposition, because “it is a grave thing … to resist nature and to swim against the current, as they say, when someone can be far more happily carried along by the stream” (3.32). Since fathers often oblige their children to pursue their own professions, forcing their natural inclination, the prince will establish a sort of vocational school in which children can freely express themselves in order to be assigned to studies or crafts that are more congenial to their talents, and if the family does not have the means to provide for the child’s education, it will be the task of the state to ensure free instruction. This idea is far different from Plato’s Republic, where freedom of expression is banned in favor of obedience to the philosopher-king, who imposes his own vision of truth on the citizens (cf. Rep. 473c–d). Thus, when Abbot Manfredo argues that noble families would not easily accept their children entering humble professions, Decembrio replies, with disarming naturalness:

21

See Nederman and Bejczy, Princely Virtues, and Jennings, “Lucan.”

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Whom do you call noble? Do you not know that we all trace our origin to one beginning of things and one parent, and so we are all in this regard equally noble and well-born? It is virtue and vice that make men noble or degenerate. 3.41

Such a statement is to be regarded as a powerful rhetorical synthesis between Stoic-Ciceronian ethics and a deep Christian sensibility (see section 3 below) that emerges several times in the course of the dialogue and particularly at the end of the fourth book. Like education, marriage retains a political and social dimension and is essential to the preservation of the commonwealth, because rightful and sacred unions guarantee lasting concord among the citizens. Moreover, since future generations will need healthy and strong guardians, the prince himself ought to arrange their weddings. Decembrio then explains that marriage takes its origin from the natural impulse, common to all animals, to unite for the procreation of offspring (a clear allusion to Aristotle and Cicero, and to some extent to Plato’s Symposium),22 provoking an objection from Abbot Manfredo, who finds this not in line with the truth of faith.23 “I do not deny that this was the case,” Decembrio replies, “but I have followed the philosophical path” (3.61). There can be no doubt that the humanist is fond of his own critical autonomy, even faced with the Bible. Decembrio’s autonomous stance echoes the medieval debate between philosophers and theologians over whether some ideas can be expressed as true in philosophy even if they are not true from the point of view of theology or faith.24 However, even though Decembrio posits an opposition between philosophy and faith, his account is not really philosophical in that it does not demonstrate but rather describes his view of the origin of marriage, and this argument ends without resolution.

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According to Aristotle (Polit. 1252a), the union between male and female is due to the natural impulse, common to plants and animals, to leave behind something like themselves. Compare Cicero’s De officiis (1.4.11): “Commune item animantium omnium est coniunctionis appetitus procreandi causa et cura quaedam eorum, quae procreata sint.” Plato makes a similar point in Symposium 207a–b. “[F]rom man’s first creation, as we read in Moses [i.e., Genesis], God at once gave him a wife, from whom he begot children” (3.60). In 1277, Étienne Tempier, bishop of Paris, issued a formal condemnation of 219 doctrines held by ‘radical’ Aristotelians, who, he wrote, “say that things are true according to philosophy, but not according to the Catholic faith, as if there [could be] two contrary truths.” See Peters, Heresy, 223–229; the quotation is from p. 226.

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After giving examples of the qualities every woman should be endowed with, as well as enumerating all possible feminine vices (a passage openly modeled on Juvenal’s sixth Satire), Decembrio deals with the last question of the day, the rearing of children and their proper instruction. Decembrio’s educational program is partly indebted to the Republic (bks. 2– 4 and 6–7), while remaining faithful to the medieval tradition of the liberal arts (trivium and quadrivium). He insists on the study of Latin grammar—with the notable addition of Greek grammar, which was not included in the medieval curriculum—as well as dialectic and rhetoric and, following Plato’s model (Rep. 522c–e, 525b–526e), arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy/astrology,25 also recommending to everyone the practice of drawing, carefully distinguished from painting, which requires specific skills and inclinations. This was the case, for example, with Michelino da Besozzo, whom the humanist claims to have known when he was a child, “whom nature had formed for that art to such an extent that before he began to speak, he drew little birds and tiny animal shapes in such a detailed and accurate fashion that professional painters were amazed” (3.100). At Simone’s request, Decembrio specifies that girls also need to be raised with the same care as boys: it is up to their mothers to train them to be chaste, respectful, and obedient and to introduce them to religious rites and female activities, without neglecting the study of grammar. As sunset approaches, Abbot Manfredo suggests continuing the conversation the following day, obtaining everyone’s agreement. 2.4 Book 4: A Vision of an Ideal Commonwealth In the fourth prologue, Decembrio reviews his own life, from his service under Pietro Filargo, archbishop of Milan and later Pope Alexander V, through his imprisonment under the tyrant Facino Cane, to his subsequent rehabilitation by the current duke. While explaining the reasons that have determined his choice to remain in Milan, never yielding to the temptation to return to his native Vigevano, he presents himself “like a shipwrecked man who has escaped naked, having lost his fortune to the storm, and clings to the rock of a better fortune” (4.prol.5), a metaphor borrowed from Plato’s Republic (553b). Thus, and thanks also to Filippo Maria Visconti, who, by his own spontaneous will, has appointed Decembrio’s son Pier Candido ducal secretary, the humanist is finally able to devote himself to his literary studies, so long neglected.

25

During the Middle Ages, writers employed the terms “astrology” and “astronomy” interchangeably to describe the art of observing the celestial bodies and their movements.

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The final day of conversation again begins at Giacomo da Modone’s house. The provost exhorts Decembrio and the others to come upstairs, where there is a triclinium (dining room) enjoying a marvelous view over the Po valley to the Alps. After the five men take their seats, the view evokes in them the memory of Hannibal, who crossed these snow-capped peaks with his army. He was a great leader, Giacomo observes, who repeatedly defeated the Romans at the Ticino and Trebbia Rivers, at Lake Trasimene, and at Cannae in Apulia. Decembrio, recalling Livy’s portrayal of Hannibal, objects that his talents were equal to his vices, contrasting him to the man who ultimately defeated him, Scipio Africanus. If Hannibal, with his rashness, ended up destroying his homeland, Scipio saved it, relying on his talents as well as on the abnegation and discipline of the Roman army. The history of ancient Rome teaches that only collective values and shared efforts can preserve the commonwealth from ruin. In light of this, Decembrio can delve more deeply into his vision of res publica, explaining more fully what Abbot Manfredo in book 2 identified as “the offices of the commonwealth” (2.2). It is to be noted that Decembrio’s discourse takes up almost all of the book, and this represents a radical departure from the previous days. First, reasserting the Platonic analogy between the human body and the body of the state (Rep. 462c), Decembrio points out that, just as the bodily senses obey the rational soul, the different classes of men must be subject to a wise prince, who represents the state’s head in this analogy. Decembrio then goes on to describe his ideal government, examining the principles according to which a prince should rule. Beginning with God (i.e., religion), the prince must carefully uphold religious norms, divine worship, and sacred ceremonies, as well as all sacraments, and, more significantly, he should appoint with the utmost zeal popes, bishops, abbots, provosts, priests, deacons, and canons of whatever order and degree: this position clearly anticipates what will come to be called Erastianism, a doctrine named for the Swiss theologian Thomas Erastus (1524–1583), asserting the supremacy of the state over the church.26 Religion, like education and marriage, has fundamental political meaning, as was the case in ancient Rome. A fair system of laws is another essential factor for a happy and prosperous commonwealth. Decembrio repeats Justinian’s claim that “it is proper for the imperial majesty to be not only adorned with arms but also armed with laws, so that both times of war and those of peace may be rightly governed.”27 Consequently, the prince ought to take the same care in creating a strong and 26 27

On Erastianism, see Gunnoe, Thomas Erastus, esp. 385–418. “Imperatoriam etenim maiestatem non solum armis decoratam, sed etiam legibus oportet

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efficient army as in the management of current affairs. Thus, to avoid the danger of tyranny that raged in the Milanese duchy during the dark years following the death of Duke Gian Galeazzo, Decembrio suggests that the prince should be assisted by a senate, evidently modeled on the Roman one, although, he says, “our prince will perhaps be content with a smaller number while the commonwealth is smaller, and he could also expand that number if it grows” (4.17). This is far different from the already existing ducal privy council,28 which had no public functions whatsoever. It is clear that what the humanist has in mind is not an absolute monarchical system (which the Visconti state actually was) but a sort of limited monarchy, where the prince cooperates with a public senate in writing new laws and applying the existing ones and, not least, in the distribution of state offices. According to Decembrio, the perfect government is the result of a thorough reciprocity between the ruler and his subjects: in fact, if the different orders of the state must pay obedience to the prince, the prince must ensure a sound and balanced administration, without overburdening the population with excessive taxes. It is in this sense that Decembrio reads Virgil’s famous admonition to the Roman people, “spare [your] subjected and make war on the proud,”29 since, he says, “the opulence and poverty of the citizens is the power or impotence of the one who rules” (4.21), as proven by the wisdom of Giovanni Visconti (1290–1354), archbishop and lord of Milan. Once, when the ambassadors of the lord of Verona came to him, Giovanni told them that he never cared to replenish the state’s coffers but rather to have citizens willing to contribute to the good of the community; in the face of the ambassadors’ perplexity, he brought in some citizens whom he asked for a loan of several thousand ducats for public needs and who claimed that they would provide that sum not as a loan but as a gift, causing the archbishop to exclaim: Behold these nobles: they are my treasure chests, and I do not doubt that they are far better than those chests that enclose treasures in useless wood and in vile ground or in a closet. 4.24

The example of Giovanni Visconti—not dissimilar from what Valerius Maximus recounts about the Roman consul Manius Curius, who told the Samnites

28 29

esse armatam, ut utrumque tempus bellorum et pacis recte valeat gubernari.” Iust., Inst. prooem. 1. See Ferraù, “Esemplarità,” 460. “[P]arcere subiectis et debellare superbos.” Verg., Aen. 6.853.

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that he did not want to get gold from them but to rule those who owned it— leads Decembrio to recommend that both the prince and his subjects practice the virtue of moderation, recalling Cato’s precept that “the laws themselves also desire to be ruled by law.”30 It is therefore necessary to have an effective police system, where prefects appointed by the sovereign watch over the citizens’ safety and guarantee respect for the law. The prince must pay special attention to public education, as well as to the training of the guardians. Furthermore, to keep people in training during peacetime, it will be useful to organize tournaments and jousting on the model of the ancient Olympic Games, as already happens in Milan, Pavia, Genoa, Venice, Pisa, Rome, and Naples.31 Decembrio, like other humanists such as Vittorino da Feltre (1378–1446) and Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1405–1464), emphasizes the ‘civic’ aim of education, for “virtue’s entire praise consists in action” (4.30), a quotation from a famous passage of Cicero’s De officiis.32 For Decembrio, an enlightened cultural policy means promoting studies in every field of learning and establishing universities where all the best talents are free to work to improve the well-being of the community. Such was, for example, the policy of Galeazzo II Visconti (ca. 1320–1378), lord of Milan, who founded the University of Pavia in 1361 and spared no expense to have the most excellent scholars and professors of law and medicine from all over the state and even from abroad, as was the case with the jurist Baldo degli Ubaldi and the physician Maino de Maineri. The prince should take care of the health of his subjects, “since it is no slight matter when human life and death are under discussion” (4.64). Libraries, like universities, are crucial for the preservation and propagation of knowledge, and hopefully the present duke, after restoring the state following long years of war, will also restore the Pavian Library, built by his father Gian Galeazzo, who filled it with Greek and Latin volumes on every subject. The aim of education, in Decembrio’s words, is that “each man, acting according to what is proper to his own nature, may also become more clever by adding the mastery of an art to his nature” (4.49). That is to say, everyone is the master of his own field of knowledge. Even Plato, when asked by some visitors how to build an altar, advised them to go to Euclid (an anecdote again

30 31 32

“Ipsae etiam leges cupiunt, ut iure regantur.” Dist. Cat. 3.16.1. Only the reference to jousting in Naples is most likely taken from one of Petrarch’s letters to Cardinal Giovanni Colonna (December 1, 1343). Petrar., Fam. 5.6.4–6. “[V]irtutis enim laus omnis in actione consistit.” Cic., Off. 1.6.19. This passage is quoted, for example, in a letter by Vittorino da Feltre and in Piccolomini’s De liberis educandis; see Woodward, Vittorino Da Feltre, 82.

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taken from Valerius Maximus), and lawyers do the same in Milan when a dispute arises in municipal law, sending their clients to the Panigarola family of notaries. This remark allows Decembrio to warmly commend the study of philosophy as “the mother of justice and of all virtues, the investigator of the elements of heaven and earth; it is the one who shapes, moderates, and restrains the laws, customs, and institutions of men” (4.52), a characterization drawing on a famous passage of Cicero’s Tusculanae disputationes.33 Once again, following Cicero, the humanist presents philosophy as the core of the liberal arts, in accordance with the Aristotelian division of philosophy into natural, moral, and rational (see section 3.2 below), as well as an essential means to attain virtue. To be a good prince like Trajan or a good citizen like Cincinnatus requires especially temperance and justice, the highest civic qualities. Thus, while Petrarch, as well as other late medieval authors, believed that a commonwealth should be based on mutual love between king and people (see section 3.2 below), Decembrio imagines a community where both citizens and their ruler contribute to the common good on the grounds of shared values. The prince, continues Decembrio, must encourage the study of rhetoric and dialectic, in order to provide the state with the most eminent orators (as Demosthenes was in Athens and Cicero in Rome), whose art is useful and honorable both in legations and in the forum. The commonwealth also needs poets and painters, because, in spite of what Plato writes, “[t]o painters and poets / Has always been granted the power of daring whatever they please.”34 In fact, if poets express their talent in words, soliciting the soul, painters express it in pictures, soliciting the eye, but the endeavor of both is very similar, since both must have a clear understanding of everything, so that they can represent it with their respective techniques. The genius of painters like Giotto, Gentile da Fabriano, and Jean d’ Arbois is valuable to the community, Decembrio says, and is to be regarded with the highest respect by the prince, as was the case with Apelles, Zeuxis, and Parrhasius in ancient Greece.

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“O vitae philosophia dux, o virtutis indagatrix expultrixque vitiorum! quid non modo nos, sed omnino vita hominum sine te esse potuisset? Tu urbis peperisti, tu dissipatos homines in societatem vitae convocasti, tu eos inter se primo domiciliis, deinde coniugiis, tum litterarum et vocum communione iunxisti, tu inventrix legum, tu magistra morum et disciplinae fuisti.” Cic., Tusc. 5.2.5. A quotation from Horace’s Ars poetica 9–10: “pictoribus atque poetis / quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas.”

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Plato’s and Cicero’s model may suggest ending his speech with a discourse on the fate of the soul after death, in the fashion of either the Myth of Er or Scipio’s Dream, Decembrio argues, but there is no need of “those imaginings and demonstrations and images of feigned things” (4.97), because we, unlike the ancients, can rely on the heartening certainty of Christian faith. Finally, if many things have been said, there is no doubt that many more are missing, so ask more competent people about them. In any case, he concludes, “my opinion is that no commonwealth can be wholesomely governed unless justice and moderation are preserved in it by an inviolable rule” (4.98). This statement, not otherwise explained, suggests that Decembrio has in mind, although in a very embryonic form, the idea of a constitution as the “inviolable rule” (or norm) of the state, linked to Cicero’s De re publica (see section 3 below). After Decembrio’s words meet with everyone’s approval, as the sun is about to set, the conversation ends, and everyone heads toward home with a joyful soul.

3

Uberto Decembrio’s ‘Civic Humanism’

In his Commentariolum super pace Constantiae, Baldo degli Ubaldi provided a legal basis for the concept of ‘plenitude of power,’ arguing from the idea that “whatever the prince decrees has the force of law” (quidquid regi placet legis habet vigorem), while Signorolo degli Omodei defended both Luchino and Giovanni Visconti’s claim to absolute power, conceding them a quasiroyal status in overruling even fundamental laws and rights.35 Uberto Decembrio, in the fourth book of his De re publica, pays great respect to Baldo and Signorolo, mentioning the former among the best doctors of ‘both laws’ (in utroque iure, i.e., in civil and canon law) and the latter as an illustrious professor of civil law. However, his ideas are diametrically opposed to the two jurists’ views. First, it should be noted that the De re publica libri IV shows a considerable evolution of Decembrio’s thought from a position heavily indebted to Petrarch36 and unequivocally linked to the anti-Florentine propaganda of the 35 36

For the concept of ‘plenitude of power’ and its decisive contribution to the rise of the Visconti, see Black, Plenitude; for Baldo’s ideas, see 18–29. One of the most striking changes in Uberto’s thought is the one from his initial opposition to Aristotle and the study of the Greek language to his rediscovery and translation of Plato’s Republic and reappraisal of Aristotle (see sections 3.1 and 3.2 below).

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years of Gian Galeazzo Visconti37 to a more mature view, in which the rediscovery of Plato’s Republic, along with Cicero’s De officiis and other classical authorities, provides the conceptual basis for a radically new political theory. As Eugenio Garin points out, in the opening lines of the De re publica (1.prol.1–2) Decembrio distinguishes between the human res publica, which is unstable and changeable, and the unchanging order of the natural world. This contrast derives from the medieval reception of Plato’s Timaeus, partially translated (17a–53c) and provided with a commentary by Calcidius (fl. fourth century AD), in which Plato’s Republic (centered on human justice) was seen as the complement to the Timaeus (cosmic Justice).38 It must be noted that Calcidius’s translation of Plato’s Timaeus was the only Platonic work available in Latin during the Middle Ages. Moreover, in the prologue to his translation of Plato’s Republic, Decembrio claims to have followed “the example of Calcidius and others in ordering the words [of the translation of Plato’s Republic made by Chrysoloras] to make them resonant, not departing from Plato’s sense, but by taking away the inconcinnity of diction to sooth the reader’s soul with vocalic melody.”39 As a result, Decembrio explicitly presents himself as the continuator of Calcidius both in his translation of Plato’s Republic and in the De re publica libri IV. Decembrio’s De re publica aims to elaborate an organic theory of political order based on the social and economic conditions of the duchy of Milan, to which the dialogue often refers, as we saw in the previous section. Its author, in fact, strives to find concrete solutions to the problems of his time, trying to adapt the principles of Plato’s ideal city to all levels of community life by eliminating its most extreme aspects and, on the other hand, defending the values and institutions of the Roman republic according to Cicero’s teachings. In this sort of political realism, or pragmatic view of politics,40 Plato and 37 38 39

40

This is evident, for example, in Decembrio’s letter to Gian Galeazzo Visconti in praise of the victory of Casalecchio (1402), to which we will return later in this section. See Calc., Comm. 232–233. “Verum quia postmodum linguarum varietate verbum ex verbo redditum nimis incultum ac dissonum videbatur, ne ex hoc tanti viri [i.e., Chrysoloras] facundia Latinis incultior litteris redderetur, visum est pulchrius atque venustius, Calcidii et ceterorum exemplo ad consonantiam dictionibus collocatis, nec a Platonis mente discedere et lectoris animum sermonis inconcinnitate sublata, orationis qualicumque dulcedine consolari.” Cf. Garin, Studi, 6–7. Uberto Decembrio’s preface to the translation of Plato’s Republic, which is preserved in two versions, the shorter one ‘edited’ by Uberto’s son Pier Candido (and notably omitting the reference to Calcidius), is now in Hankins, Plato, 2:525–528. The translation is by James Hankins, Humanism, 2:57. See Pissavino, “Sistemi,” 473. Cf. Ferraù, “Esemplarità,” 455, who stresses the importance of

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Cicero are closely interrelated, as will also be the case in the works of later fifteenth-century humanists, such as Matteo Palmieri’s Vita civile (1435–1440). However, as noted by Quentin Skinner,41 already in Giovanni da Viterbo’s Liber de regimine civitatum (1253) and Brunetto Latini’s Livre du Trésor (1266) there are references to a famous passage of the De officiis (1.25.85) where Cicero, following Plato’s precepts,42 explains that the impartiality of the magistrates produces the “harmony of the orders” (concordia ordinum), overcoming partisan rivalries and blending the “utility” (utilitas) of the various ranks of society to achieve the common good: Those who propose to take charge of the affairs of government should not fail to remember two of Plato’s rules: first, to keep the good of the people so clearly in view that regardless of their own interests they will make their every action conform to that; second, to care for the welfare of the whole body politic and not in serving the interests of some one party to betray the rest.43 These rules are quoted verbatim by Decembrio (2.54), although in reverse order, and addressed directly to the duke, who, as ‘head’ of the state, should be the first to set a good example, avoiding dissension and party strife among his subjects. Therefore, the De re publica libri IV proves to be the heir of a long tradition of political theory that, through medieval thinkers, goes back to Cicero and Plato. If Augustine and Thomas Aquinas attempted to join Christian theology to Plato’s and Cicero’s political thought, Decembrio (albeit on a smaller scale) tries to give Plato’s Republic a Ciceronian reading, using Cicero’s De officiis to describe concretely what Plato does not explain in the Republic. Unlike Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great (who lamented his ignorance of Plato’s Republic),44 Decembrio read and translated the Republic, and he was one of the first Western scholars to do so in several centuries, yet he continued drawing on Cicero to build his ideal city. At the same time, mixing Plato’s philosopher-king with Cicero’s moral teaching, Decembrio moves away

41 42 43 44

the “experience of present things” in Decembrio’s political thought, borrowing this notion from Niccolò Machiavelli. Machiav. Disc. Liv. 1.pr.1. Skinner, “Machiavelli,” 130. For an overview of the medieval appreciation of Cicero, see Blythe, “Civic Humanism,” 70–73. Compare Plat., Rep. 420b, 342e, 465d–466c, and Leg. 4.715b. Miller, Cicero, 87. See Anzulewicz, “Platonische Tradition,” esp. 224n53.

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to some extent from the model of the speculum principis, where political reflection is reduced to a mere list of virtues. This does not imply that Decembrio refrains from prescribing the virtues that an excellent prince should cultivate, but that these qualities—notably moderation and justice—are connected to and consequences of Plato’s two rules. Like the magistrates of the Roman republic, the prince must commit himself to preserving equity, without giving the impression of favoring one party over another, as Antonio Loschi already urged in a letter to Filippo Maria Visconti dated June 22, 1412.45 Yet, unlike Loschi and other previous authors, Decembrio situates these ideas within a broader reflection on the commonwealth, strongly influenced by the direct reading of Plato’s Republic. There is no doubt that the translation of Plato’s dialogue in the years 1400– 1402 represents a first watershed in Decembrio’s thought, but the profound reason that moved him to write the De re publica is to be found in the events that followed the death of Gian Galeazzo Visconti (1402), which marked a second and more dramatic step. The dynastic quarrels between Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti and the tyranny of Facino Cane, which caused Milan and Decembrio himself to lose their freedom, can be regarded as a ‘crisis’ that the humanist tried to overcome, like Leonardo Bruni (1370–1444) in Florence,46 with a new idea of commonwealth and community. On a closer look, the parallel between Decembrio and Bruni is less unlikely than one might think, regardless of the objective differences between the regimes of Milan and Florence. It may seem surprising that the only living humanist mentioned in the De re publica is Leonardo Bruni. In the fourth book of his dialogue, in fact, Decembrio refers to Xenophon’s Oeconomicus (4.84), already translated into Latin by Cicero and now by the Florentine chancellor. And it does not matter that Decembrio is wrong, confusing Xenophon’s work with the Oeconomica of Aristotle—the only one to have been translated by Bruni—since this inaccurate view allows him to compare (albeit indirectly) Bruni to Cicero. But let us go back to the ‘crisis’ of Milan. In the De re publica, Uberto Decembrio describes Facino’s tyranny in these terms:

45

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“Et cum sis caput et princeps omnium, partem fovere, partem premere non velis, quo nil potest esse dementius; talemque te ostendas in novi ducatus principio, aeque videlicet subditis omnibus iustum ac liberalem, ut omnes intelligant te non partis, sed totius principem monarchiae esse futurum.” Ant. Loschi, Ep. ad duc. Med. 171. Among the vast bibliography on Leonardo Bruni’s political engagement, see the recent survey by Field, Intellectual Struggle, 127–186.

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We saw not only sackings and burnings but indeed wicked massacres of miserable peoples, shrines and sacred places plundered, virgins raped, children torn from their parents’ arms, men tortured and killed, mothers of families suffering what the victors pleased. 2.39

In the De militia, written approximately in the same period as Decembrio’s dialogue (1421), Bruni appeals to the virtues of the Roman knights to reform communal knighthood, suggesting that the safety of Florence depends on the establishment of a permanent caste of men devoted to military service, without which the city risks losing its freedom: How worthy the defense of the city is can be seen from the evils that follow after it has been defeated! Virgins are torn from their parents’ embrace, mothers of families are subjected to the lusts [of the victors], sacred and profane things are polluted together, everything is turned upside down by massacres and fires.47 It must be said that the model for both passages is Sallust’s De coniuratione Catilinae,48 but if in Bruni’s view tyranny is only a threat to be warded off at all costs, Decembrio describes what he and other Milanese citizens saw with their own eyes (vidimus). Again, in the De militia, Bruni accepts the idea, advanced by Plato in Republic 414b–415d, that citizens have different degrees of worth embodied in different natures, each one corresponding to a different class (gold: rulers; silver: guardians; bronze/iron: artisans, farmers, etc.). He also outlines the role of citizen-soldiers, following Republic 374a–e and explaining that they should be “strong in using weapons and vicious against enemies but pleasant and peaceful toward citizens.”49

47

48

49

“Quam digna plane res sit civitatis defensio ex malis que oppressam sequuntur licet intueri. Rapi virgines e complexu parentum, matres familias ad libidinem trahi, sacra profanaque simul pollui, cedibus et incendiis cuncta misceri.” Leon. Brun., Op. 662. The translation is mine. “Quae belli saevitia esset, quae victis acciderent, enumeravere: rapi virgines, pueros, divelli liberos a parentum complexu, matres familiarum pati, quae victoribus conlubuissent, fana atque domos spoliari, caedem, incendia fieri, postremo armis, cadaveribus, cruore atque luctu omnia conpleri.” Sall., Cat. 51.9. “Plato … in iis preclaris libris qui sunt ab eo de re publica scripti, cum et agricolas et ceteros necessarios usus in civitate constituisset, unum genus hominum longe ceteris anteposuit, quos custodes appellavit. Horum ille munus fore dixit arma tenere civesque alios

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While it is highly probable, as James Hankins suggests, that Bruni used Decembrio’s translation of the Republic here,50 it almost goes without saying that the De re publica shares the same perspective as the De militia both on class divisions and on the function of guardians (see 2.74–75). Moreover, both the De re publica and the De militia appeal to the civic virtues exemplified by the heroes of the Roman republic, revealing a similar rhetorical emphasis:51 the only difference is that where Bruni quotes Cicero, Livy, and Lucan, Decembrio refers mainly to Valerius Maximus.52 Indeed, Bruni and Decembrio follow in the footsteps of the De officiis, where Cicero, quoting Plato’s Ninth Letter (358a), says that “we are not born for ourselves alone, and our country claims a part of us, our friends another,”53 a passage quoted verbatim in the second book of the De re publica (2.79) and echoed in the De militia54 as well as in another key work of the Florentine chancellor, the Oratio in funere Iohannis Strozze (1428):

50 51

52

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ab hostibus tutari, quibus etiam mirifica quedam privilegia tribuit honoreque et dignitate multum admodum voluit antecellere. Hos illos duros in armis ferocesque adversus hostem fore dixit oportere, in cives autem benignos et mites.” Leon. Brun., Op. 660. Hankins, Plato, 1:40n21. “Dixi de re privata. Quid de re publica? An Metellus parum laudabiliter fecisse videtur, quod Cesari Tarpeiam diripienti se cum maximo sui periculo opposuit? Quid Scipio ille, qui Tiberium Graccum rem publicam labefactantem propria manu occidit? Quid C. Marius, qui Saturninum? Quid Servilius Hahala, qui Spurium Melium oppressit, quamquam videri possunt hec in bello gesta, vel saltem non in pace? At Valerium Publicolam quis negabit non militie modo verum etiam domi multa preclara gessisse? Quid Fabius Maximus, vir militaris et bellica insignis gloria, nonne perturbatam vacillantemque rem publicam domi stabilivit, divisa in tribus urbanas forensi turba, ex quo Maximi cognomentum sibi et posteris habere promeruit? Quid Camillus? Nonne in ea urbe quam receperat armis consistendi Romanis auctor fuit, cum illi stulto consilio migrare Veios statuissent? Quid Marcus Attilius Regulus, et ipse militaris vir, nonne captus ab hostibus cum Romam commutationis gratia captivorum missus esset, commutationem dissuasit, quia cum rei publice detrimento fieri intelligebat? Quam ob causam ab iisdem postea hostibus est supplicio affectus. Sed ille patrie consulere voluit, non sibi, et salutem publicam proprie antetulit” Leon. Brun., Op. 688–690. Compare this passage to Uberto’s De re publica (2.114–119). In particular, Bruni refers to Cicero’s Catilinariae (1.1–2), Livy (for the examples of Servilius Ahala, 4.14.1–7; Valerius Publicola, 2.16.1–7; Fabius Maximus, 9.46.14–15; and Furius Camillus, 5.49–54), and Lucan’s Pharsalia (3.114–140); the example of Attilius Regulus may be taken from Cicero’s De officiis (3.26.99), Valerius Maximus’s De dictis et factis memorabilibus (4.4.40), or Seneca’s first dialogue (3.4). Uberto, instead, quotes extensively from Valerius Maximus’s section on military discipline (2.8). “Sed quoniam, ut praeclare scriptum est a Platone, non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vindicat, partem amici, … ut ipsi inter se aliis alii prodesse possent, in hoc naturam debemus ducem sequi, communes utilitates in medium adferre, mutatione officiorum, dando accipiendo, tum artibus, tum opera, tum facultatibus devincire hominum inter homines societatem.” Cic., Off. 1.7.22. “Cum enim absque civitatibus hominum vita esse nequeat, pietas in patriam et mors pro

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Now it quickly became clear how great the difference is between the sense of honor in a foreign soldier and in a citizen. For the others, prizing nothing higher than their own salvation, gave way instantly; this man [i.e., Nanni Strozzi], however, holding the love for his patria [fatherland] higher than his own salvation, threw himself into the fray immediately, attempted to block the way of the enemies.55 Decembrio’s perspective is not any different from Bruni’s: Again, let us cultivate with the greatest love the fatherland in which we ourselves, our parents, our children, our spouses, our in-laws, and our friends reside, the fatherland for which no good man has ever feared to die, for the fatherland’s salvation embraces the salvation of all its inhabitants. 3.20

This passage is used by Decembrio to define his new civic ethic: Further, it should be a matter of concern to each citizen to live according to an equitable and equal right with his fellow citizens, neither bearing himself submissively and abjectly so as to be held in contempt nor exalting himself so as to appear to oppress others; to wish for the commonwealth those things that are tranquil and honorable; and finally to behave in such a way as to be reputed a good and equitable man by all the citizens. 3.22

Again, this is a direct quotation from Cicero’s De officiis (1.34.124), and it has been used as evidence that such a conception of civic morality was not exclu-

55

illius salute excepta mirificis laudibus in celum tolluntur … Hinc ex nostris Decii pater et filius, qui se pro salute civium suorum devovere. Hinc Oratius Cocles, qui pro tutela patrie adversus victorem congressus regem pone rescindi pontem iussit. Hinc Bruti, Publicole, Camilli, Scipiones celebrantur.” Leon. Brun., Op. 662. Note that some of these examples are also used by Uberto; see 3.20. “Hic quantum inter externi militis ac civis amorem intersit perfacile apparuit. Ceteri enim nihil magis quam salutem propriam existimantes e vestigio cesserunt; hic autem caritatem patrie saluti proprie anteferens obtulit sese statim pugne, corporeque suo viam claudere hostibus perrexit.” Leon. Brun., Op. 740. The translation is by Hans Baron, Crisis, 432.

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sive to Florence56 and even that Decembrio’s position was influenced by Bruni’s Laudatio Florentine urbis (1403/4), which he might indeed have read.57 But the analogies between Decembrio’s De re publica and Bruni’s thought are not limited to ethical examples or references to Plato and Cicero: other fundamental points in common can be found in the framework of their broader political reflections, notably in their treatment of concepts such as civitas/res publica and justice. In the De militia, following Aristotle’s Politics, Bruni reflects that the “civitas [i.e., city-state] is the beginning and fulfillment of the whole of life and all human occupations,”58 and if its nature can be investigated from a philosophical or historical standpoint, philosophers suggest that “man is a creature too weak and feeble by himself, wherefore he is not able to suffice to himself at all”; consequently, men come together in cities “so that each one can receive from the associated multitude through mutual assistance what he lacks when living alone.”59 However, as Bruni specifies immediately, “not every association of men is a city, but only the one that has reached such a level of perfection from its parts that it has enough means to live well without the need for external help.”60 Decembrio, following Plato’s Republic (369b–374d), offers a similar account of the origin of the city, emphasizing the difference between a ‘healthy’ and a ‘fevered’ one: in the former, a just division of labor creates a self-sufficient and peaceful community, while in the latter, the need for external resources generates conflict and violence (1.45). As a result, Decembrio and Bruni give the same definition of the concepts of res publica and civitas respectively. In a letter to Niccolò Niccoli (Rimini, February 20, 1409), Bruni writes:

56 57 58

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See Hankins, “Baron Thesis,” 329. See Witt, Footsteps, 483n. “Civitas enim totius vite cunctorumque humanorum munerum princeps est et perfectrix.” Leon. Brun., Op. 656. The translation of this and the following passages of the De militia is mine. “Hominem esse ipsum per se imbecillum nimis atque infirmum, sibi denique ipsi nequaquam sufficere. Itaque societate et conventu opus esse hominibus, ut quod seorsum degentibus singulis deesset, id per mutuam opem de multitudine socia nanciscantur.” Leon. Brun., Op. 638. Compare this idea with the opposition between multiplicity and unity in Aristotle’s Politics (1261a). “Nec tamen omnis congregatio hominum civitas est, sed illa tantum que ex suis partibus eam perfectionem sit consecuta ut nulla externa quesita ope in se ipsa satis habeat ad bene vivendum.” Leon. Brun., Op. 638.

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A city is an association of men joined together by right and living under the same laws,61 while Decembrio avers: It seems to me that a commonwealth is nothing other than a legitimate and social collection of human beings of both sexes in one place, enjoying the same laws and customs. 1.22

Both humanists partly draw inspiration from Cicero’s definition of civitas as “the assembl[y] and compan[y] of men whose association is produced by law” (concilia coetusque hominum iure sociati),62 but what is striking is that they go beyond their model, using nearly the same vocabulary (“congregatio … hominum … iisdem legibus … fruentium” in Bruni, which corresponds to “collatio … hominum … eisdem legibus … viventium” in Decembrio). This implies that, for the two humanists, civitas and res publica have the same meaning of “city-state.” A similar argument can be made about the concept of justice. Writing to the mayor of Bruges (August 25, 1431), Bruni states: The task of justice must be to render to everyone his due: every sentence and judgment has to follow this rule.63

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62 63

Bruni gives this definition to emphasize the difference between the concepts of civitas (city-state) and urbs (city): “Illud insuper considerandum est, quod plerosque non satis eruditos interdum fallit, aliud urbem significare, aliud civitatem: urbs enim est solum aedificia et moenia ad orbe, quo locus cingitur appellata. Civitas autem est congregatio hominum iure sociatorum et eisdem legibus viventium; unde bonus vir, ut aiunt Stoici, ex urbe quidem pelli potest, ex civitate vero non potest”—note the veiled polemic against Plato’s banning of poets and painters from his ideal city (see section 3.1 below)—“ut licet urbs ipsa parva fuerit, civitas nichilominus maxima et amplissima fuisse potuerit. Neque enim multum refert, ut opinor, intra urbem cives habitent, vel extra, modo iisdem legibus, unoque statutis consilio vivant, eosdem magistratus vereantur muneraque et honores simul capiant.” Leon. Brun., Ep. 1:78. In the De re publica, Decembrio uses his statement of the definition to remark on the difference between the res publica of men and the communities of animals; see 1.22. Cic., Rep. 6.13.13. “Iustitie proprius munus esse debet ius suum unicuique tribuere: ad quam quidem regulam et sententie et iudicia omnia sunt dirigenda.” ASFi, Missive 34, fol. 26v. The translation is mine.

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This statement is echoed in a letter to the governor of Bologna (December 12, 1435), where the Florentine chancellor says that “justice is a sacred thing, because it renders to everyone his own, a thing welcomed by God and absolutely necessary to men.”64 In the De re publica, Decembrio offers this definition in response to a question by Simone Morigia: “justice is the constant and perpetual will of the soul to render to each one what is proper and his own,” by the strength of which virtue all the ranks of a city are preserved in a stable order, trust is inviolably upheld, and the love of all the citizens is maintained through friendly bonds.65 1.53

Again, both humanists are looking to the same model, a famous passage of Ulpian (Dig. 1.1.10) that says that “justice is the constant and perpetual will to render to each one his due” (iustitia est perpetua et constans voluntas ius suum unicuique tribuens). However, Decembrio provides this concept with a more profound ‘civic’ reading: The most basic foundation of a commonwealth, as all the most learned men have thought and as practical experience suggests, is justice, by the command of which individual offices are properly assigned, and all things are governed according to a steady and unchanging order. 1.28

Thus, since justice is the “foundation of the commonwealth,” it is evident that, in Decembrio’s view, it retains the same function that, in the De militia, Bruni gives to the civitas, which “distributes offices among citizens, provides what is necessary, keeps off what is hostile, and by the union of many people supplies the needs of individuals, so that those offices that, among men, have proceeded from its order and institution, must be considered fair.”66

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“Ideo sancta res est iustitia, quia unicuique tribuit quod suum est; res Deo quidem accepta et hominibus plurimum necessaria.” ASFi, Missive 34, fol. 110r–v. The translation is mine. This definition is recalled in 4.68. “Hec [i.e., civitas] enim officia inter cives distribuit, necessaria providet, aliena repellit, ac ex multorum cetu singulorum defectui supplementum inducit, ut illa demum sint recta hominum officia extimanda que ab illius ordine institutoque processerint.” Leon. Brun., Op. 656–658. The translation is mine.

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This common reading of the concept of justice as foundation of the commonwealth leads the two humanists to make a similar appeal to the “harmony of orders,” which ultimately derives from Plato (Rep. 462a–e and Laws 739c– d) but is also present in Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.67 Decembrio, using John of Salisbury’s Policraticus (5.2), likens the state to a human body, distinguishing between the prince (who is the ‘head’), the guardians and soldiers (who are the ‘heart’), the artisans, merchants, and farmers (who are the ‘hands’ and the ‘arms’), and, finally, the functionaries and officials (who are the ‘feet’ and the ‘legs’),68 while Bruni, in his Laudatio Florentine urbis, extols Florence and its perfect political equilibrium, where there are “distinct offices, distinct magistracies, distinct tribunals, distinct orders,”69 according to a model of distributive justice and redistributive taxation.70 These concepts are particularly dear to Decembrio, who sets out a ‘balanced’ political system, where the prince is assisted by a senate in drafting laws and decrees and in appointing state officials. This senate, as the author points out, must have the same function, if not the same number, as the Roman Senate, whose authority was not any different from the authority of the consuls (4.15–17). Indeed, Decembrio is looking more to the Roman republican senate than to the imperial one, suggesting that the powers of the prince should be more like those of the republican consuls than like those of the emperors. Such an ideal, so far from the ‘plenitude of power’ of the Visconti, appears between the lines of the De re publica, especially when the humanist proposes his vision of tax administration, according to which the prince must cooperate with the senate in establishing special officers to oversee public funds, without overtaxing citizens, since “the citizens are to be spared above all” (see 4.19–25). The same holds true for the judicial system envisaged by Decembrio, where the authority of praetors ensures fair justice to everyone and, with the help of an efficient police force, guarantees the safety of the city (4.26– 28).

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Cf. Aug., Civ. Dei 19.13 and Tho. Aq., Sum. Theol. 2a2ae.29.1. See 4.7–8. For the political meaning of this metaphor, see Gamberini, “I piedi e le tibie.” “Nihil est in ea [i.e., Florence] preposterum, nihil inconveniens, nihil absurdum, nihil vagum; suum queque locum tenent, non modo certum, sed etiam congruentem: distincta officia, distincti magistratus, distincta iudicia, distincti ordines.” Leon. Brun., Op. 634. “Sunt item alii magistratus, aut publicarum rationum gratia aut pietatis causa constituti; quorum in numero sunt magistri vectigalium et prefecti erario … Cum enim potentiores, suis opibus confisi, tenues ledere aspernarique viderentur, causas eorum qui minus poterant ipsa res publica suscepit, maiorique pena res illorum personasque munivit.” Leon. Brun., Op. 638–642. See also Garin, “Cité,” 20.

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In other words, Decembrio imagines a commonwealth where, as in the Roman republic (and Bruni’s Florence), power is distributed between different orders:71 a commonwealth whose ruler must be as wise as Plato’s philosopherking. This last idea, however, constitutes the real difference between Decembrio’s and Bruni’s thought, since for the latter, the city itself is like a “solicitous father,”72 so that there is no need for a king, even in a system of separation of powers (like the one advocated in the De re publica). Moreover, for Bruni justice is closely linked to liberty, the two being the core values of the civitas,73 whose government is “equally accessible to all,”74 while the term libertas almost never appears in Decembrio’s dialogue.75 However, this does not imply that the concept of liberty is excluded from his ideal city. To better understand this crucial point, it seems appropriate to briefly consider Decembrio’s other writings. In an important letter to Coluccio Salutati (undated, but written around 1392),76 the humanist peremptorily asserts: “I am his [i.e., Pietro Filargo’s] servant, and I am proud of this, believing, or better, knowing for sure, that thanks to this service, true freedom is to be achieved. Indeed, how many times, in the act of serving, I seem to have already achieved it! For if someone thinks that to live freely is nothing but to behave according to what pleases his will, I enjoy sufficiently full freedom, being glad to follow

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Compare the famous passage of Bruni’s Laudatio: “Parata semper iudicia, parati magistratus, patet curia, patet summum tribunal … Itaque ex diversis ordinibus facta est quedam equabilitas, cum maiores sua potentia, minores res publica, utrosque vero metus pene defendat.” Leon. Brun., Op. 642. See Bruni’s Laudatio: “Sub his igitur magistratibus ita diligens et preclara est huius urbis gubernatio ut nulla unquam domus sub frugi patre familias maiori disciplina fuerit instituta. Quamobrem nemo hic iniuriam pati potest nec quisquam rem suam, nisi volens, amittit. Parata semper iudicia, parati magistratus, patet curia, patet summum tribunal.” Leon. Brun., Op. 642. On this point, see Najemy, “Civic Humanism,” 100. See, for example, the famous formula of the Laudatio: “Primum igitur omni cura provisum est ut ius in civitate sanctissimum habeatur, sine quo nec civitas esse nec nominari ulla potest; deinde ut sit libertas, sine qua nunquam hic populus vivendum sibi existimavit. Ad hec duo simul coniuncta, quasi ad quoddam signum ac portum, omnia rei publice instituta provisaque contendunt.” Leon. Brun., Op. 634. As Bruni solemnly declares in the Oratio in funere Iohannis Strozze: “Hec est vera libertas, hec equitas civitatis, nullius vim, nullius iniuriam vereri, paritatem esse iuris inter se civibus, paritatem rei publice adeunde.” Leon. Brun., Op. 716. The term libertas occurs four times in the De re publica (2.30, twice; 3.67; and 3.70) but is never connected to a specific value. It is the first letter in Uberto’s epistolary collection, preserved in Ms. B 123 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan (M), fols. 216v–217v.

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the virtue of the one who directs me.”77 Such a claim must be read as a subtle rejection, for propaganda reasons, of the concept of Florentina libertas, of which Salutati himself was the strongest pillar. This position appears to be very far from what Decembrio avows in the De candore, where, writing to his son Pier Candido, he associates the color white with freedom (candor libertatis): I come now to the gift of the white liberty, which is brought forth solely from the candor of the spirit. What can be more valuable, ancient, effective, or, indeed, pleasant for man? It does not proceed from the accumulation of wealth or the desire for power, but arises rather from a natural and temperate inclination. Nor does it proceed from insatiable desire or any affliction of the mind, but from a mind which has been purged of all disease and putrefaction and is sated by the riches of nature. It raised the Roman state to a great height, and was the cause for which Cato the Younger was willing to lay down his life, so that his father and teacher of liberty would not be forced to serve Caesar’s power and see his city enslaved to a tyrant. It was the cause for which the Decii, Attilius Regulus, Paulus Aemilius and many others died. It calms, secures, bolsters, embraces and protects the mind with a robust citadel; to praise liberty would be an endless task. It is nourished, above all, by the roots of poverty and a natural and simple fare, which the age of the first men, who were generously provided with life’s necessities, enjoyed, of which the tragic poet [i.e., Seneca] rightly said: “our fathers saw the brilliant (candida) age, with crime banished afar.”78 77

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“Familiaris eius sum eique glorior famulari, credens, imo ex firmo tenens, meram adipisci ex tali servitio libertatem. Imo quam pluries adeptum iam fuisse videor serviendo! Quia si nil aliud alicui est libere vivere, nisi facere iuxta sue placitum voluntatis, satis plena fruor libertate, qui virtutem illius, qui me dirigit, libens sequor.” M, fol. 217v. “Venio nunc ad munus candide libertatis, que ex animi dumtaxat candore depromitur, qua quid preciosius, quid antiquius, quid efficacius, quid viro demum potest esse iocundius? Non hec ex divitiarum cumulo nec dominandi procedit affectu, sed ex naturali potius et frugali desiderio nascitur, non ex insatiabili cupiditate nec mentis egritudine, sed omni morbo omnique tabe purgate et nature divitiis satiate. Hec est illa que Romanum in tanta magnitudinem erexit imperium, pro qua Cato posterior Utice non dubitavit letum oppetere, ne libertatis pater ac magister Cesaris servire imperio cogeretur, non urbem suam tiramno conspiceret servientem, pro qua Decii, Attilius Regulus, Paulus Emilius et alii plurimi perierunt, que mentem tranquillat, securat, fortificat et arce validissima complectitur ac tuetur; dies deficeret libertatem laudibus prosequenti. Hec potissimum radicibus nititur paupertatis ac naturalis et simplicis nutrimenti, quo etas primorum hominum fruebatur, hinc recte tragicus: ‘candida nostri secula patres, / videre procul

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Uberto Decembrio’s praise of liberty could very well belong to Leonardo Bruni or Coluccio Salutati, and Pier Candido himself perhaps recalled it when, in 1447 or 1448, he commissioned Pisanello to cast a medal with the motto liber svm (I am free).79 Apparently, Uberto Decembrio changed his mind about liberty during his imprisonment, maybe developing this notion of libertas through the works of Salutati80 and finally adopting it as a solemn teaching to his son. This fact, however, does not explain why the concept of liberty does not appear so distinctly in the De re publica. If, on the one hand, it could be argued that Decembrio, writing to Filippo Maria Visconti, was cautious about being the spokesman of a principle so dear to the propaganda of Florence—with which, in 1424, the duke would again be at war—it must be noted on the other hand that, although the ideal of liberty is absent from the explicit statements of his dialogue, it is strongly present in the form of a figure who represents it by

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fraude remota,’ quibus liberrime vivere donabatur.” M, fol. 129r–v. The translation is by Stuart M. McManus, “New Renaissance,” 256–257. Although the medal was a gift from Leonello d’Este, marquis of Ferrara, to Decembrio, it is evident that its iconography was established by the latter. The motto, inscribed in an open book over a rocky mount pictured on the obverse, could also be a reference to Horace’s second Satire (7.92), where the slave Davus tells the author, “Come, say, ‘I am free, free!’” (‘liber, liber sum’ dic age). Note, however, that there is a play on the word liber, which in Latin means both “free” and “book,” so that one could read the motto as “I am the book.” On this medal, see Hill, Corpus, 1:11. Compare, for example, Uberto’s words in the De candore to a letter written by Salutati to the Elders of Genoa (January 28, 1394): “Nonne videtis de regimine populico precipitatam [scil., urbem Romam] fuisse in miseram servitutem? Quid enim fuerunt Cesaris vel Octavii dominatus, nisi principium perpetue servitutis? … Princeps ille populus, qui sine totius orbis ruina prostrari non poterat, in furore bellorum civilium sic evanuit quod nunquam in sue libertatis gloriam reascendit, nisi postquam adeo depressa est quod onus, non honos, visum sit Romano populo dominari.” ASFi, Missive 23, fol. 183v. In a letter to Cardinal Bartolomeo Oliari dated August 1, 1395, Salutati renews his condemnation of Caesar, “who was the first to invade the state” (Col. Sal., Ep. 3:80; qui primus invasit imperium), and writing to Francesco Bruni, he refers to Caesar as “the wicked one who invaded the republic” (Col. Sal., Ep. 1:197; qui nefas rempublicam invasit). However, in a letter to Francesco Pizolpasso dated around November 3, 1400, the Florentine chancellor, albeit blaming Caesar for his “immense ambition” (ingens ambitio), acknowledges his “admirable and supreme clemency” (mirabilis et summa clementia), stating that “fuit et in eodem etiam ab hostibus laudata sobrietas, fuit et in ipso etiam ab amicis reprehensa libido; unde fertur dixisse Cato nullum qui sobrius esset preter Cesarem aliquando rempublicam invasisse.” Col. Sal., Ep. 3:443. It must be remembered that Uberto knew Salutati’s epistles well, to the point of asking him for a revised copy; see M, fol. 217v. Yet in the De tyranno Salutati offers a more sympathetic depiction of Caesar, on which see Baron, From Petrarch, 232–263; Witt, “De Tyranno”; and Witt, Hercules, 368–378, 380–385.

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antonomasia, Cato the Younger, already evoked in the De candore and regarded by the humanist as an ideal model of citizen. Decembrio often referred to Cato’s portrayal in Lucan’s Pharsalia (2.380– 391), comparing both Salutati and (indirectly) the archbishop Giovanni II Visconti to this hero of the Roman republic,81 but in the De re publica the humanist quotes the passage in its entirety, identifying Lucan’s Cato as the champion of his res publica (2.24). Bruni, too, used the Pharsalia in the second part of his Dialogi ad Petrum Histrum to justify Dante’s depiction of Cato as an old man.82 Indeed, in the De re publica there is no condemnation of Caesar, who is instead mentioned for his insights in various fields of public life, such as his planned reorganization of Roman law (later implemented by Justinian) and his calendar reform (3.10 and 94). Nevertheless, the private pages of the De candore prove that Decembrio interpreted Cato’s fight against Caesar as a conflict between freedom and tyranny, exactly like the Florentine humanists. Can the definition of ‘civic humanism’—that is, a form of classical republicanism in which the citizen’s personal interests are identified with those of the public body—be applied to Uberto Decembrio? If we take into account the different political conditions in Milan and Florence, the evidence presented above indicates that the answer could be affirmative. Decembrio, in fact, seems to escape the limitations bound up with the notion of ‘courtier,’ claiming that his loyalty is not so much to the current duke83 81

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In a letter to Salutati, Uberto writes, “Te autem, si verax fama fuit, aliter mundo genitum intelligo, non ut cunctos, sed ut olim describitur de Catone, qui statuit ‘servare modum finemque tenere / naturamque sequi patrieque impendere vitam’ [Luc. 2.381–382] et reliqua que sequuntur de actibus viri illius gravissima. Quales, ut predicti, pauci extant.” M, fol. 217v. In a poem dedicated to Giovanni II Visconti (ca. 1409), the humanist writes, “dux in pace pios, armis frenabit iniquos / iusticie cultor, tandem cognoscet amicos” (lines 11– 12; see Piacentini, “Viciavit,” 99), where “iusticie cultor” is a quotation from Luc. 2.389. “M. Cato octavo et quadragesimo etatis anno iuvenis et etate integra defunctus est; Dantem vero illum barba cana et demissa fingit. Vanum est hoc crimen: non enim corpora ad inferos pergunt, sed defunctorum animi. Cur ergo crines affinxit? Quia mens ipsa Catonis, ‘rigidi servatoris honesti’ [Luc. 2.389] et tanta vite sanctimonia prediti, etiam in iuvenili corpore canissima erat. Non audiebamus paulo ante Colucium quam flocci penderet adolescentiam? Nec immerito: est enim sapientia cane etatis et integritas morum ac temperantia que honestatem efficiunt.” Leon. Brun., Op. 130–132; cf. Dante, Purg. 1.31–36. In the dialogue’s fiction, these words are said by Niccolò Niccoli, who, shortly after this passage, bolsters his defense of Dante by quoting Horace’s Ars poetica 9–10: “Pictoribus enim atque poetis / quidlibet audendi semper fuit equa potestas.” Coincidentally, the same verses are mentioned by Uberto in the De re publica in opposition to Plato’s banning of poets and painters (4.90). In the De re publica, for example, there is undoubtedly more praise of past dukes—Gian Galeazzo Visconti above all (3.prol.1–3)—than of Filippo Maria.

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as to what the duke represents, that is, the viper, the symbol of the Visconti family (and of Milan),84 as he declares in a poem dedicated to Antonio Loschi (ca. 1406): “I do not think so much of myself, although I would do anything / to prevent the viper from dying, under which holy justice / flourished and gave a fair law to all peoples.”85 This loyalty to the viper—for which, as we know, Decembrio would pay so dearly—did not hinder him from writing a letter to Gian Galeazzo Visconti in which the encomium of the duke’s triumph at the Battle of Casalecchio (1402) reveals his cruelty to the vanquished.86 There is another factor that makes Uberto Decembrio a civic humanist, namely his idea of nobility, about which, as we have already pointed out (see section 2.3 above), the humanist unambiguously asserts that “we all trace our origin to one beginning of things and one parent, and so we are all in this regard equally noble and well-born,” concluding that “it is virtue and vice that make men noble or degenerate” (3.41). This concept recalls Buonaccorso da Montemagno’s De nobilitate, a work contemporary to the De re publica (ca. 1425) and often attributed to Leonardo Bruni himself.87 In this dialogue, Buonaccorso reaches a conclusion almost identical with Decembrio’s, stating that “nobility must be placed with virtue, and virtue with nobility.”88 In fact, the model for both Uberto Decembrio and Buonaccorso da Montemagno (as well as for other ‘civic’ humanists) could be Dante’s Convivio, where nobility is presented as the source and cause of all human virtues, as well as the seed of happiness implanted by God in a well-primed soul, so that, if we assume that all men descend from Adam, then all men are either noble or ignoble, and this implies that any distinction between them is pointless.89 Dante’s position was echoed

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87 88 89

It is interesting to note that the first capital letter of the De re publica libri IV in the Ambrosiana manuscript (fol. 80r) is shaped like a viper entwined around a wooden stick. See figure 1. “Non ego me tantifaciam, licet omnia faxim / vipera ne pereat, sub qua iustitia sancta / floruit et populis legem dedit omnibus equam.” Piacentini, “Viciavit,” 119. Note the prosodic mistakes in iustītia and stātum. The translation is mine. “Quis enim digne satis sufficiat admirari, nedum narrare tam inopinate tamque felicis et divine rei eventum, ubi primum hostes oppressi, conflicti, trucidati, capti et prorsus deleti sunt, ut vix e cuntis quisque evaserit, qui calamitatem eorum huiusmodi posset oculis humentibus et cordis singultibus nunciare, ubi hostium ductores maximi, famosi et spectabiles, miserrime fuere captivi.” M, fol. 227v. See Baron, Crisis, 557n22. “Est quidem cum virtute nobilitas, et cum nobilitate virtus collocanda.” Buon. Mont., Nob. 162. “Dunque, se esso Adamo fu nobile, tutti siamo nobili, e se esso fu vile, tutti siamo vili … E se questo non è, [e] pur alcuna gente è da dire nobile e alcuna è da dir vile, di necessitade, da poi che la transmutazione di viltade in nobilitade è tolta via, conviene l’umana gener-

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by many Florentine humanists,90 giving birth to a new literary genre—see, for example, the De nobilitate of Poggio Bracciolini (ca. 1440) and the De vera nobilitate of Bartolomeo Sacchi (a.k.a. Platina) (1475)—and Leonardo Bruni made a similar remark (albeit in the secular world of the civitas) in his Laudatio Florentine Urbis, in which the humanist quotes a saying commonly used by people of low status against more powerful citizens: “I too am a citizen of Florence.”91 What does not match Bruni’s (and other fifteenth-century humanists’) thought is the idea, which significantly concludes the dialogue, that justice and moderation, as fundamental values of community life, must be safeguarded “by an inviolable rule” (regula inviolabili), without which it is impossible for a commonwealth to be preserved for a long time (4.98). In book 1 of the De re publica Decembrio writes that justice “dispos[es] all things by a constant and unchangeable rule” (1.99), but there is no doubt that in book 4 he intends something different, referring to the preservation of justice rather than to the way in which it is administered. Decembrio draws here on a fragment from the third book of Cicero’s De re publica, taken from Lactantius (Inst. 6.8.6–9) or Petrarch (Fam. 17.1.30–31), where Cicero states that “there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law [una lex et sempiterna et immutabilis] will be valid for all nations and all times.”92 The idea of an “eternal law,” also found in Cicero’s De legibus (2.4.8), was notably taken over (and Christianized) by Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.93 Nevertheless, Decembrio’s vague notion of an “inviolable rule” prefigures to some extent—as we have seen in section 2.4—the concept of a constitution, albeit in a very approximate way, and could be compared to

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azione da diversi principii essere discesa, cioè da uno nobile e da uno vile … E questo è falsissimo appo lo Filosofo, appo la nostra Fede che mentire non puote, appo la legge e credenza antica de li Gentili.” Dante, Conv. 4.15.5. See Grendler, Trattato, 59–73. “Ex quo [i.e., from the fact that the city defends humble citizens against the abuses of the powerful] nata est illa vox, quam adversus potentiores frequentissime iactari videmus; cum enim quid minantur, promptissime aiunt: ‘ego quoque Florentinus sum civis.’ Hac illi voce attestari videntur et palam admonere, ut nemo se propter imbecillitatem contemnat nec sibi iniuriam propter potentiam minari pergat; parem esse condicionem omnium, cum eos qui minus possunt, ipsa res publica polliceatur ulcisci.” Leon. Brun., Op. 642–644. “Nec erit alia lex Romae, alia Athenis, alia nunc, alia posthac, sed et omnes gentes et omni tempore una lex et sempiterna et immutabilis continebit.” Cic., Rep. 3.22.33. The translation is by Clinton W. Keyes, Cicero, 210–211. In the Summa Theologiae (1a2ae.91.1), Thomas Aquinas discusses “whether there is an eternal law” (utrum sit aliqua lex aeterna), using a passage from Augustine’s De libero arbitrio (1.6).

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Uberto Decembrio, De re publica libri IV (first page). Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Ms. B 123 sup., fol. 80r Photo © Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana

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Carl Schmitt’s definition of a constitution in the sense of “basic law” (Grundgesetz), namely “an absolutely unbreakable norm, which may be neither changed nor violated by conflicting norms.”94 This obviously does not mean that Decembrio was thinking of a constitution for Milan but that, like Leonardo Bruni, he was aware of the political instability caused by the arbitrariness of power and sought to provide an answer to the problems of his time, in the effort to prevent his city from plunging again into the nightmare of tyranny. Therefore, the De re publica is neither a propaganda product nor a laus civitatis in the strict sense, because its author, while extolling Milan’s geographical position and its inhabitants’ sincere devotion to the Catholic faith (2.8–11 and 46–50), does not neglect to recall how far it is from its ancient glory (1.prol.3–6) and what needs to be done to make it a true res publica founded on justice. For this reason, the humanist does not spare criticism of the crumbling judicial system of Milan, using the bitter irony of Leone Morigia (1.77) and recommending that the prince encourage legal studies (4.43–44). If, as is likely, Decembrio’s dialogue was presented to Filippo Maria Visconti (see section 4.2 below), we may ask how the duke received such a work. Clearly, there is no precise answer to this question, though on September 1, 1423— about a year after the humanist concluded the De re publica—Filippo Maria promulgated a “Decree on the Crime of Lèse-majesté” (Decretum super crimen laesae maiestatis) that sounds like a reply to Decembrio. In this decree, the duke established stiff penalties for anyone threatening his life, either directly or by means of plots—a real obsession for him, according to his most reliable biographer, Decembrio’s son Pier Candido95—stating that “since ancient times, human industry has shown and handed down to our days that, among the various regimes of the world, nothing better and more worthy has been devised than the government of a single ruler …, whose health, life, and safety are the foundation and pillar of the commonwealth as a whole …, and whose loss or injury … causes the whole machine of the commonwealth to be ruined, 94

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Schmitt, Constitutional Theory, 94. Schmitt found this definition in Oliver Cromwell’s Instrument of Government (1653), which he considers “the first example of a modern written constitution,” adding that “Cromwell himself expressed the purpose of this instrument. There must be a lasting, inviolable rule against the shifting majority decisions of parliament; in every government must reside something fundamental, something like a great charter, which is constant and unchanging. The ambiguous word ‘fundamental’ receives the sense of something absolutely unbreakable.” Ibid., 92. In Pier Candido Decembrio’s biography there is an entire chapter, chapter 66, entitled “De pavore nocturno et custodiarum ordine” (The fears that beset him during the night and the mounting of the guard); see P.C. Dec., Vita Phil. Mar. 132–135.

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destroyed, and annihilated, to the decadence and danger of cities, lands, castles, villages, and individuals, due to the subversion of themselves as well as of their whole kingdom and commonwealth.”96 In this decree, the identification of the res publica with the figure of the prince is evident, an idea that clearly exemplifies the Visconti’s ‘plenitude of power.’97 This explains why Pier Candido Decembrio, replying to Bruni’s Laudatio with his De laudibus Mediolanensium urbis panegyricus, quoted Uberto’s De re publica only for those aspects that he considered useful to his argumentation, such as Plato’s five types of regimes, the praise of Milan’s location, and the account of its foundation, as well as the reason why it was nicknamed “the Second Rome” (Secunda Roma), all taken from the dialogue’s book 2,98 avoiding any reference to his father’s political thought.99 James Hankins, noting that Pier Candido Decembrio’s Panegyric aimed to refute Leonardo Bruni’s Laudatio point for point, though sharing many of 96

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“A priscis aetatibus inter caeteras mundi politias humana docuit industria et ad nostra deduxit tempora nil melius, nil dignius repertum regimine unius principis …, cuius salubritas, vita et incolumitas fundamentum est et columna totius rei publicae status …, et cuius personae defectu, seu laesione … tota machina status sui ruit, decidit et annihilatur in dilapsum et perniciem civitatum, terrarum, castrorum, locorum et singolarium personarum eorundem totiusque suorum principatus et rei publicae subversione.” Decr. sup. crim. 254–255. The translation is mine. It must be noted that the word “politias” (acc. plur. of politia, -ae, “regime, polity”) suggests that the person who composed this decree may have been Pier Candido Decembrio, who often used this term, preferring it to “res publica” in his translation of Plato’s Republic (1440). This, if true, would reveal all the cynicism of the Visconti duke, who obliged Uberto’s son, as his secretary, to elaborate this manifesto of his absolutist politics. In any case, the term politia—actually a transliteration of the Greek πολιτεία—was common only among humanists, being employed, other than by Pier Candido and Uberto Decembrio, by Coluccio Salutati, Leonardo Bruni, and Pier Paolo Vergerio and, later, by Pier Candido’s correspondents Francesco Pizolpasso and Alonso de Burgos, as well as by Antonio da Rho. According to Angelo Decembrio, who entitled his most famous work Politia litteraria, the term derives from “polite writing” (polite scribere) rather than from πολιτεία; see Rabassini, “Leonardo Bruni,” 416–418n30. Compare this concept to Uberto’s De re publica: “the opulence and poverty of the citizens is the power or impotence of the one who rules” (4.21). Compare the De re publica, 2.3–9, 12–15, 17, and 23–25, to P.C. Dec., Paneg. 1018–1019, 1019, 1022–1023, and 1017 respectively (the last two references were identified by Witt, Footsteps, 484n92, and Hankins, Plato, 1:141). In M, the only surviving copy of Uberto’s dialogue, Pier Candido himself noted in the margin of the passage describing the site of Milan (fol. 87v), “Hic P. Candidus de Laudibus Mediolani” (This [passage was quoted by] P[ier] Candido in [his] Praise of Milan). It must be noted that, unlike his father, Pier Candido clearly states that, among Plato’s regimes, the best one is timocracy, “the rule of the honored,” to which he explicitly links the regime of Visconti Milan. In this respect, Pier Candido acts as an exegete of his father’s dialogue; see Ferraù, “Esemplarità,” 448–449n25.

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Bruni’s assumptions, suggested that “were we not still dazzled by the Baronian dichotomy between Florentine ‘civic liberty’ and Milanese ‘tyranny,’ we might be able to see that the text really belongs to the same world of ‘civic humanism’ as does Bruni’s oration.”100 The same, it seems, can also be said of the De re publica and its author, Uberto Decembrio. 3.1 From Petrarch to Plato In a letter dating from the early 1390s, addressed “to a certain Scholastic follower of Aristotle” (Cuidam scolastico et Aristotelica sectanti), Uberto Decembrio strongly expresses his preference for Cicero and Seneca over Aristotle, particularly regarding their moral teaching, concluding his argument with a quotation from a famous passage of Cicero’s Tusculanae disputationes (1.1.1): “ ‘it has always been my [i.e., Cicero’s] judgment that our countrymen either themselves devised everything more wisely than the Greeks or improved what they received from them, at least in such subjects as they deemed worthy of their efforts.’ And,” Decembrio adds, “this is also my judgment.”101 This letter, however, draws inspiration and ideas from Petrarch’s De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia and Contra eum qui maledixit Italie, from which the humanist takes the polemic against Scholastic Aristotelianism.102 Apart from the antiAristotelian argument, to which we will return later (see section 3.2 below), what is important to note here is the firm declaration of the superiority of the Latins over the Greeks Decembrio makes, following, albeit in a very superficial way, in Petrarch’s footsteps103 and revealing, along with many similar examples, how profound the latter’s influence on humanism in Lombardy was.104 100 101

102

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Hankins, “Civic Panegyrics,” 150–151. See also Hankins, “De republica.” “‘Meum … semper iudicium fuit omnia nostros aut invenisse per se sapientius quam Grecos aut, accepta ab illis, fecisse meliora que quidem digna statuissent in quibus elaborarent.’ Et hoc ergo meum quoque iudicium est.” M, fol. 218r–v. Compare Petrar., Ign. 4.141: “Equidem fateor me stilo viri illius, qualis est nobis, non admodum delectari, quamvis eum in sermone proprio et dulcem et copiosum et ornatum fuisse Grecis testibus et Tullio auctore, didicerim, antequam ignorantie sententia condamnarer. Sed interpretum ruditate vel invidia ad nos durus scaberque pervenit, ut nec ad plenum mulcere aures possit, nec herere memorie; quo fit ut interdum Aristotilis mentem non illius, sed suis verbis exprimere et audienti gratius et promptius sit loquenti.” Inv. mal. 268: “Et hoc igitur meum quoque iudicium est, non ideo minus verum quia Gallo forsitan non probetur: plus Aristotilem docere, plus Tullium animos movere, plus in illius moralibus libris acuminis, plus in huius efficacie inesse. Ille docet attentius quid est virtus; urget iste potentius ut colatur virtus. Quid sit utilius vite hominum, Gallus ipse diffiniat.” Petrarch was certainly not prejudiced against the Greeks, but rather lamented his ignorance of Greek and made several attempts to have Homer translated into Latin by Leontius Pilatus (d. 1366); see Pertusi, Leonzio Pilato. Petrarch’s profound impact on literature, music, and the visual arts in Lombardy was the

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The arrival of Manuel Chrysoloras in Milan to teach Greek (1400) undoubtedly represented a major event for Uberto Decembrio. In fact, the direct reading and translation of Plato’s Republic (and maybe of other Greek texts) evidently forced him to go beyond a simple contraposition between Greek and Latin culture. Decembrio, like Coluccio Salutati and Niccolò Niccoli in Florence, crossed over the cultural and ideological boundary between the two to unveil a new world, until then known only through often poor Latin translations, which Decembrio criticizes in his De re publica (2.72), adapting a passage from Cicero’s De officiis (1.31.111), for their use of French words, as was the case, for example, with William of Moerbeke’s translation of Aristotle’s Historia animalium.105 Hence, in Decembrio’s prologue to his version of Plato’s Republic the problem of interpretation emerges as a matter of style and principle, following the example of Calcidius, since the correct rendition of the original is seen not as a mere “word for word” translation (verbum ex verbo), but as a new text that, preserving the meaning of the Greek, retains the stylistic features of classical Latin.106 The humanist then adds some Latin verses explaining why he (and Chrysoloras) chose the Republic: “since we have no chance to see the books of politics written according to Cicero’s judgment, we look at Plato’s work, from which it is said that Cicero drank, rendered in Latin.”107 In other words, the translation of Plato’s Republic served as a way to compensate for the loss of Cicero’s De re publica, of which only the sixth book (the Somnium Scipionis) was known at the time. This idea, repeated by Uberto Decembrio in the De re publica libri IV, suggests that, thanks to Chrysoloras, he set aside the prejudice against Greek culture that arose from his superficial understanding of Petrarch, developing a more thoughtful and complex understanding. In this new understanding, the study of Greek is useful in itself, as Decembrio says in his De re publica, and not just for a good Latin translation, and it is warmly recommended to jurists and physicians (3.87–88). This last remark proves that

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subject of the conference “Petrarca e la Lombardia” (Milan, May 22–23, 2003), whose proceedings were published in Frasso, Velli, and Vitale, Petrarca. Apart from William of Moerbeke (d. ca. 1286), the practice of incorporating vernacular terms to translate or gloss Greek words is found in Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), Alan of Lille (ca. 1128–1202), and Albert the Great (ca. 1183–1280). See Beullens, “Formation,” esp. 108–110. On the question of the interpretation of Plato, particularly regarding the role played by Leonardo Bruni and his ‘revolutionary’ version of the Phaedo (1405), see Hankins, Plato, 1:40–48. “Postquam nulla libros concessa licentia nobis / cernere politicos Ciceronis lege notatos, / Platonis speculemur opus, quo forte bibisse / Tullius asseritur, Latino sermone relatum.” M, fol. 132v.

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Decembrio changed his mind not only about Greek culture but also about the Greek language, revealing a completely different view from the one expressed in the letter to the unknown Scholastic, where he expressed surprise that his interlocutor “amused himself with little and rude Greek words,” asking him ironically, “What does it matter if the Greeks, as you say, were the first to discover educational methods?”108 However, as we have said in section 2.2, Decembrio, despite his interpretative efforts, does not move much beyond the reception of Plato’s Republic in the Middle Ages (when the Republic was known indirectly through Calcidius and Augustine) and fails to fully grasp Plato’s thought. He does not really engage in detail with Plato and does not seem to have the intellectual preparation to be able to interpret the text without the medium of medieval interpreters of Aristotle’s Politics (Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas above all) and the Timaeus commentators of the Platonic school of Chartres, such as Thierry of Chartres (d. before 1155) and William of Conches (ca. 1090–d. after 1154), who, like Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas, knew the doctrine of the community of goods and wives, as well as the theory of the transmigration of souls. Decembrio’s translation of the Republic and his later De re publica libri IV do not add any significant insight into Plato’s thought. Nevertheless, Decembrio’s translation of the Republic had a significant influence on humanists like Coluccio Salutati and Pier Paolo Vergerio (1370–1444)109 and, as we saw in the previous section, even on Leonardo Bruni, while Antonio Loschi immediately understood the political meaning of Plato’s dialogue, recalling to the new duke Filippo Maria (1412) that “there are some ancient philosophers who wrote very elegant books on the commonwealth, on monarchy, and on the education of princes, full of healthy advice.”110 Other early readers of Decembrio’s version were Guarino Veronese (1374–1460) and Gasparino Barzizza (1360–1431), who extensively annotated their copies,111 and the archbishop of Milan Bartolomeo Capra (ca. 1365–1433) asked Decembrio to lend him his personal copy, a favor he declined to grant: “I fear the dangers of the roads at the idea of sending you this exemplar, which if by chance it went miss-

108 109 110

111

“Mirabar … te id sepius expertum sic Greculis et incultis nominibus delectari … Quid ad rem si Greci, ut asseris, primi metodorum fuerint inventores?” M, fol. 218r. In 1405, Salutati and Pier Paolo Vergerio exchanged two letters referring to Decembrio’s translation of the Republic. Col. Sal., Ep. 4:78–86 and 365–370. “Sunt clari quidam perantiqui philosophi, qui de re publica, de monarchica et principum disciplina elegantissimos libros salutaribus monitis refertos conscripserunt.” Ant. Loschi, Ep. ad duc. Med. 177. See Hankins, Humanism, 2:51–90, and Piscitelli, “Note,” respectively.

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ing, believe me, I would think to have lost half of my life.”112 In 1421, around the same time that Decembrio was working on the De re publica libri IV, the humanist Alberto Alfieri—a Genoese citizen but a native of Albano, near Vercelli, and perhaps a student of Decembrio—wrote the Ogdoas, a collection of eight Latin dialogues clearly inspired by Plato’s Republic and Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis, in which the author imagines that Gabriele Maria Visconti, after ascending to heaven after death, recounts to other deceased members of the Visconti family (his father Gian Galeazzo, his stepmother Caterina, and his granduncle Bernabò), as well as to his mother Agnese Mantegazza and to Antoniotto Adorno, former doge of Genoa, the events that occurred in Italy during the last few years, with particular regard to Genoa.113 These few facts alone indicate that Decembrio’s translation of Plato’s Republic was not an isolated moment in early fifteenth-century humanism but represented a kind of ‘cultural imprinting,’ which for Decembrio himself culminated in the bold theoretical construction of the De re publica libri IV, where Plato is no longer seen as a mere shortcut to Cicero’s political thought but as a way to imitate or even surpass Petrarch’s model. As Cristian Kaiser has pointed out,114 Uberto was likely aware of Petrarch’s theory of imitation—heavily indebted to Cicero (De oratore, Orator), Quintilian (Institutio oratoria), and Seneca—according to which one must imitate the bees, who produce wax and honey from flowers “through a wondrous blending” (mirifica quadam permixtione),115 and he applied it to Plato’s Republic and Petrarch’s own writings. Indeed, in Decembrio’s De re publica there are many references, both direct and indirect, to Petrarch’s oeuvre, and notably to his collections of letters, the Res familiares and the Res seniles (i.e., the “familiar” and “senile letters”): first, the setting of the third book of the dialogue in the gardens of Giacomo da Mod112

113 114 115

“Terrent me viarum pericula id exemplar mittere, quo casualiter amisso, michi crede, vitam ferme dimediam perdidisse crediderim.” Nevertheless, Uberto promises the prelate that he will send him a new manuscript of his translation of Plato, asking in return for a copy of “that oration of Demosthenes translated from Greek into Latin by Leonardo Bruni, a great and very learned man” (illam orationem Demostenis Leonardi, viri optimi atque doctissimi, opere e Greco in Latinum editam), the Latin version of the Pro Ctesiphonte made by Leonardo Bruni around 1406/7. This passage of Decembrio’s letter to Capra (dating from ca. 1416) is in M, fol. 232v. In 1417, Modesto Decembrio copied both Aeschines’s and Demosthenes’s Pro Ctesiphonte translated by Bruni—now Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Ms. II II 65—likely from the codex requested by his father from Capra. The dialogue is now available in Weinberg and Matter, Education. Kaiser, “Platons,” 206–208. Petrar., Fam. 1.8.2; the image is taken from Sen., Ep. 84.3–5. See McLaughlin, Imitation, 22– 49.

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one, a place where the poet loved to linger, Decembrio recalls (3.2),116 as well as the snowy Alps pictured at the beginning of the last book, evoking the landscape that Petrarch saw from his house in Milan (Fam. 16.11.11). Second, the figure of Giovanni Dondi Dell’Orologio, mentioned in the fourth prologue as Decembrio’s acquaintance, could also be interpreted as an allusion to Petrarch, since the latter addressed his Senile 12.1 to the Paduan physician. Furthermore, as in the best humanist tradition, Petrarch becomes either an intermediary between Decembrio and the classics, as in the references to Seneca in 3.27 and 4.65, quoted from Inv. mal. 123 and Fam. 5.19.4 (or Sen. 16.3.43) respectively, or a source himself, as in the definition of Milan as “mistress and mirror of all Liguria”117 and the reference to jousting taking place in the Piazza Carbonara in Naples (Fam. 5.6.4), or even a lexical repository, as in the rare adjective arthous, -a, -um (northern), undoubtedly drawn from Petrarch’s works.118 But the dialogue that Decembrio establishes with Petrarch in the De re publica is more complex than a mere list of references, as indicated by Ms. MA 611 (ex Λ I 20) of the Civica Biblioteca “A. Mai” in Bergamo. This manuscript, probably compiled in Treviglio in the first half of the fifteenth century, contains an anthology of texts, among which are three short prose works by Uberto Decembrio himself.119 It is reasonable to suppose, as suggested by Antonio Zanella, that this codex was copied by a friend of Decembrio—maybe the jurist Gio-

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118 119

It is known that, although Petrarch’s home in Milan did not have a garden, the poet frequented the gardens of Sant’Ambrogio, evoked, for example, in a Latin poem to Barbato da Sulmona: “Rus michi tranquillum media contingit in urbe, / rure vel urbs medio, sic prompta frequentia soli. / Promptus et in latebras reditus, dum tedia turbe / offendunt. Hos alternos urbs una regressus, / hos dedit una domus.” Epyst. 3.18.1–5. Petrarch was also a habitué of the gardens of Santa Valeria, where he met Giovanni Boccaccio, as stated in a note written by the former in Ms. Vat. lat. 2193; see Vattasso, “Note,” 233. “Mediolanum, urbem Ligurum caput ac metropolim, usque ad invidiam hactenus horum nesciam laborum et celi salubritate ac clementia et populi frequentia gloriantem.” Petrar., Sen. 3.1.69. In the only surviving copy of Uberto’s dialogue (see section 4.2 below) this correspondence to Petrarch’s epistle is signaled by a marginal note by his son Pier Candido: “Mediolanum Ligurie caput a Francisco Petrarca etiam appellata” (fol. 80r; see figure 1). Moreover, the same manuscript contains some of Petrarch’s Seniles, including the one quoted by Uberto, with a similar note by Pier Candido: “Mediolanum Ligurum caput” (fol. 22r). See 2.7. Petrarch uses the phrase arthoa plaga (the northern region) in Fam. 18.8.5, while the adjective arthous recurs in Fam. 9.13.32, 19.13.1, 20.8.16, and 21.7.3 and 14.2. Namely, an Epistula ad consolamen amici, dated Treviglio, November 27, 1422 (fol. 47r–v), a Sermo factus ad missam novi sacerdotis (fols. 47v–48r), and In questione proposita utrum maioris sit dignitatis an marchio an comes (fol. 48r–v), plus a copy of Uberto’s epitaph in Sant’Ambrogio, although in a different redaction (fol. 48v). For a description of this manuscript, see Zanella, “Uberto Decembrio,” 72–76.

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vanni Ferrando—from scattered papers brought by the humanist to Treviglio when he was appointed podestà in 1422.120 The Bergamo manuscript includes a short corpus of Petrarch’s Familiares, plus two uncollected (extravagantes) letters.121 It is interesting to note that most of these epistles were written by Petrarch during his years in Lombardy, but what is most striking is that some of their content has been taken up and developed by Decembrio in the De re publica. For example, in Fam. 12.2, addressed to Niccolò Acciaioli (1310–1365), grand seneschal of the Kingdom of Naples, Petrarch says: Let that regal tenet of Sallust never depart from your king’s mind: neither an army nor a treasure form a kingdom’s defense, but its friends, those whose obedience depends not upon arms or money but rather on kindness and trust. Furthermore, let him keep in mind what follows: he must live harmoniously with his subjects, for harmony causes little things to blossom, while discord causes the greatest things to dissolve.122 In the De re publica (1.25), Decembrio quotes Sallust’s maxim on harmony and discord (taken from Bellum Iugurthinum 10.6), and he later (4.21) takes up the idea that a commonwealth does not need immense treasures to flourish, but rather citizens eager to contribute to the public good, using another classic passage mentioned by Petrarch in this letter, Anchises’s famous recommendation to the Roman people in Virgil’s Aeneid (6.851–853): “Remember, Roman, to rule the nations by your power. / These will be your arts: to impose custom on peace, / To spare the subjected, and to make war on the proud.”123 However, Decembrio’s reading of these lines is quite original, since “spare the subjected” 120 121

122

123

See Zanella, “Uberto Decembrio,” 77. Petrarch’s letters in the Bergamo manuscript are, in order of appearance, Fam. 11.8, to Andrea Dandolo, doge of Venice; 12.2, to Niccolò Acciaioli; 17.3 and 5, both to Guido Sette; 13.12, to the abbot of Corvara; 10.1, to the emperor Charles IV, to which is added the emperor’s reply, not included in the canonical collection of Petrarch’s letters; and 20.4 and 3.12, both to Marco Genovese. The uncollected letters are addressed to Giovannolo da Mandello and Jacopo Bussolari respectively (the latter in the name of Bernabò Visconti). “Salustianum illud dogma regium nunquam exeat ex animo regis tui: non exercitus neque thesauros presidia regni esse sed amicos eosque nec armis cogi nec pecunia parari sed officio et fide, et que in eandem sententiam sequuntur: concorditer vivendum esse cum suis, concordia enim parvas crescere, discordia maximas res dilabi.” Petrar., Fam. 12.2.14. The translation is by Aldo S. Bernardo in Petrarch, Letters, 2:135. “Tu regere imperium populo, Romane, memento: / hae tibi erunt artes, pacique imponere morem, / parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.”

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is interpreted not only as an appeal to the prince to have pity on the conquered but also—more concretely—as an exhortation not to burden his subjects with excessive taxes.124 A similar case is that of Fam. 20.4, written by Petrarch to his friend Marco Genovese, who intended to complete legal studies. In this letter, Petrarch states that every profession is worthy to the extent that it conforms to the inclination of those who exercise it: One does not always select as a way of life what is nobler but rather what appears more suitable to the chooser. Otherwise all men would pursue the same profession since, as in everything else, there is always one superior to the others. Yet if all men were to focus on this one pursuit, what would become of the others? If everyone aspired to philosophy or poetry, what would happen to navigation, agriculture, and the others that provide assistance to mortal life? Imagine the world consisting only of Platos or Homers, Ciceros or Virgils: who will be the plowman, the merchant, the architect, the smith, the cobbler, the innkeeper, without whom great minds would go hungry and be distracted from the heights of their noble studies for lack of food and shelter? It was good for there to be such variety in human interests and endeavors since the greater ones offer adornment and support for the lesser ones, and the lesser for the greater.125 124

125

Already in a letter to Gian Galeazzo Visconti, written shortly after his resounding victory at Casalecchio in 1402 (see section 3 above), Uberto quoted these lines in a harsh reprimand of Florence: “Quid nunc ages, Florentia, imo tue urbis nequissimi possessores, qui veneno pestifero et seditionibus innumeris urbes Italicas inficere, seducere, subvertere, et blandis deceptationibus allicere summopere studuerunt, ut eorum more sub false titulo libertatis artem tirannicam, cruentam et immanissimam exercerent? Quorum mores non sunt ‘paci morem imponere, / parcere subiectis et debellare superbos,’ ut Virgilianus Anchises Augusto Cesari Romanoque populo suadebat, sed bella et scandala in dies auctius excitare, nedum extera sed civilia, eorumque optimates, cives et viros scientia et nobilitate conspicuos, patriis laribus abdicare, exterminare et pellere, ac finitimos populos, a quibus sepe beneficia maxima receperunt, gratitudinis et beneficentie vice palam et clandestine propulsare, violare, decipere et inexquisitis insidiarum ingeniis suffocare, que omnia durum esset exprimere et tediosum non minus audire quam scribere.” M, fol. 227v. Uberto’s words clearly reprise many points of the Visconti propaganda against Florentina libertas, revealing that, after the defeat of the Bolognese, the final clash against Florence seemed imminent. Gian Galeazzo’s sudden death a few months later eventually destroyed the Milanese dreams of conquest; see Hankins, Plato, 1:109–110. “Neque enim semper in eligendo vite genere pulcerrima rerum sed eligentibus aptissima preferuntur. Alioquin omnes homines unum studium haberent, quoniam in rebus omnibus unum excellere est necesse; quo si omnium mortalium pergat intentio, quid de aliis fiet? Siquidem ad philosophiam omnes aut ad poeticam aspirent, quid aget navi-

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This passage is clearly echoed in the De re publica: Nevertheless, let each one do according to what is proper to him by nature, lest neglecting his own to imitate strangers, he be immediately held to be ridiculous and mad … For if nature wishes you to be a doctor or a musician, it is foolish for you to choose painting or shoemaking, and if nature has made you an artisan or a carpenter, you will unhappily strive to pursue rhetoric or philosophy. Let each one be content with his lot, and he will be happy in it if he upholds his proper duty … it is almost a custom of parents to instruct their children in their own crafts, although their natures are often contrary to them. A doctor strives to make his son a doctor, a painter a painter, a rhetorician a rhetorician, when these arts are very often contrary to their nature, and meanwhile they spurn other professions that are appropriate for them. Certainly, when our Cicero sought to make his son Cicero a rhetorician, nature disposing otherwise, he set us up with more a drunkard than a rhetorician. 3.31–34

The authority of Petrarch, reinforced by the reference to Cicero’s son (drawn from Fam. 23.12),126 provides Decembrio with sufficient persuasive arguments to illustrate the ‘natural’ basis of his educational system, loosely modeled on

126

gatio, quid agricultura et relique quibus vite mortalis auxilium queritur? Da omnes Platonas aut Homeros, da Cicerones aut Virgilios: quis erit arator, quis mercator, architectus, faber, sutor, caupo, sine quibus magna ingenia esurient tectoque ciboque carentia ab ipsa nobilium studiorum altitudine distrahentur? Bene provisum est ut curarum atque actuum humanorum varietas tanta esset, quo non solum maiora minoribus, sed et minora maioribus ornamento presidioque sint.” Petrar., Fam. 20.4.4–6. The translation is by Aldo S. Bernardo in Petrarch, Letters, 3:132. “Tibi, mi Cicero, boni multum, glorie immensum, natus degener; vere tibi, ut ait Elius Spartianus, ‘melius fuerat liberos non habere.’ Habuisti enim qui contemptis officiis, que in eis quos dixi libris legerat, que, ut credi debet, sepius viva voce—et vere viva una ex omnibus, ut michi videtur et Senece visum est—viva, inquam, voce paterni oris audierat, non vivendi sed bibendi nobilitatus officio, duos vini congios uno impetu hauriret. Egregius tanti patris filius et preclarus vindex, qui interfectori eius Antonio non vitam non potentiam non opes, sed quod ille in libro quem de sui ipsius scripsit ebrietate conqueritur, bibendi gloriam et famam ebrietatis eripuerit. O portentum levo sidere editum, o nature varietatem incredibilem, talem tanta de luce caliginem! Heu, Marce Tulli, vir insignis sed infelix pater, quanto studio laborasti ut ex te alterum Marcum Tullium exprimeres! O quam sepe maximorum artificum falluntur ingenia! Marcum Bibulum expressisti.” Petrar., Fam. 23.12.34–35; compare also Sen. 15.3 and Ign. 5.197.

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Plato’s Republic, which assigns to each what is according to his nature but, unlike Decembrio’s dialogue, also seeks to impose from above a divine principle and order. The Platonic origin of Decembrio’s educational system, however, was misinterpreted by Hans Baron, according to whom Decembrio’s utopia “makes enforcement from above a necessary condition for the happiness of the individual citizen and for the security of the state, constitut[ing], as it were, the Milanese rejoinder to the conviction of the Florentine humanists that, where the honors of the commonwealth are accessible to all citizens in free competition, ‘men [says Bruni] take courage and raise themselves to a higher plane.’”127 In the De re publica, Decembrio rather avers that the prince must simply guarantee the correct functioning of the educational system, choosing the teachers who will direct the young people to pursue the occupations that are most congenial to them, without forcing anyone to follow a particular profession (see 3.35–36). These examples, along with many others,128 indicate that the corpus of Petrarch’s letters in the Bergamo manuscript served as a kind of preparatory material to the De re publica, carefully selected by Decembrio. However, Decembrio strives not only to combine Plato’s utopia with Petrarch’s teachings, emulating the latter’s style—albeit with results far from the original (see section 5.2 below)—but even to overturn Petrarch’s conception of the relationship between the sovereign and his subjects. In fact, if Petrarch emphasizes the Christian value of misericordia (mercy), identified with Caesar’s clementia (clemency), which “makes the king very similar to God,”129 as a

127 128

129

Baron, Crisis, 427. The quotation from Bruni is taken from the Oratio in funere Iohannis Strozze; see Leon. Brun., Op. 718. For example, in the same Fam. 20.4 there is an account of the practice of jurisprudence, another key theme of the De re publica. In 3.10–11, Uberto reprises a passage where Petrarch refers to the reform of the corpus of Roman laws planned by Caesar and implemented only centuries later by Justinian: “Quanti enim ingenii est non modo ius civile—infinitum olim, priusquam ad certum redigeretur modum, quod quidem Iulius Cesar instituit sed preventus morte non potuit multisque post seculis Iustinianus implevit.” Moreover, in another letter in the Bergamo manuscript (Fam. 17.3), addressed to the Genoese archdeacon Guido Sette, Petrarch approves his choice not to return to his homeland following the defeat of Genoa at the battle of Porto Conte (August 27, 1353): “quis improbet te, rebus ita se habentibus, optatum patrie perhorruisse conspectum, omnia potius eligentem quam publicas spectare miserias?” It is possible that Uberto had these lines in mind when composing the fourth prologue of De re publica, in which he explains his choice not to go back to his native Vigevano during the hard years following Gian Galeazzo’s death (4.prol.2– 3). “Regem misericordia simillimum Deo fieri.” Fam. 12.2.28. Petrarch’s idea of misericordia is clearly expressed in a famous letter to Francesco I da Carrara, lord of Padua (Sen. 14.1.15).

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virtue necessary for the sovereign to be loved by his subjects, Decembrio prefers to recall all the social orders, including the prince, to mutual respect, according to the supreme value of justice. 3.2 Beyond Plato: Uberto Decembrio’s Reappraisal of Aristotle In the previous section we discussed how Uberto Decembrio’s conception of the relationship between the Greek and Latin languages and between Greek and Latin culture underwent a profound evolution from an initial position of preference for the Latins, well exemplified by the letter to an unknown Scholastic follower of Aristotle, to the less prejudiced approach of the De re publica libri IV, where the utopia of Plato’s Republic is placed on the same level as the ethical teachings of Cicero’s De officiis. In the same epistle to the anonymous Scholastic, Decembrio explained that he preferred the moral works of Cicero, Seneca, and other Latin authors to those of Aristotle and other Greek philosophers “for the elegance of the speech and for the very valuable stylistic texture” (bene dicendi lepore verborumque contextibus ornatissimis), concluding: I will admit that Aristotle teaches more, while Cicero moves the spirit more; in the former’s books there is more acumen, in the latter’s more efficacy. The former teaches more carefully what virtue is, the latter urges more powerfully to cultivate it. Judge for yourself what is more useful to the life of men.130 Decembrio’s opposition between the philosophical style of Aristotle and Cicero, which is similar to the arguments used by sixteenth-century philosophers such as Peter Ramus (1515–1572) to contrast Aristotle and Plato,131 reflects, albeit in a very simplified way, Petrarch’s criticism of Scholastic Aristotelianism, which Decembrio finally set aside in the De re publica libri IV, where the encounter with Plato’s utopia leads him to a reappraisal of Aristotle. The prologue to the second book of Decembrio’s dialogue, with its eulogy of Aristotle, represents not only another piece of evidence for the evolution of Decembrio’s thought but also a vibrant reaction to some unacceptable aspects of Platonism, such as the community of goods and wives, the banning of poets and painters from the ideal city, and not least, the theory of the transmigration 130

131

“Concedam plus Aristotilem docere, plus Tullium animos movere; plus in illius libris acuminis, plus in huius esse efficacie. Ille docet attentius quid est virtus; ut colatur urget iste potentius. Quid sit vite hominum utilius, ipse diiudica.” M, fol. 218v. The translation is mine. See Ong, Ramus.

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of souls, exemplified by the Myth of Er (Rep. 616e), overtly rejected at the end of the De re publica (4.95). Aristotle, on the contrary, is praised for having reached a higher level of theoretical systematization and, above all, for having developed a new philosophical method based on the probable, with the consequent exclusion of all ‘ambiguous’ features of Platonic-Pythagorean thought,132 itself a topos in the Plato-Aristotle controversy (see section 2.2 above). As we have said in section 2.2 above, Decembrio’s use of the dialogue is purely formal. In his view, Aristotle’s philosophy is more substantial because it is not in the form of a dialogue, whereas Plato’s thought is vague and incoherent because he used the dialogue form. This explains why in the De re publica libri IV Decembrio draws more on Cicero’s De officiis (a treatise) than, for example, on the Tusculan Disputations. Moreover, in the first book of Decembrio’s dialogue there is a constant opposition between disputatio and conversation/dialogue. In 1.12–13 Decembrio alludes to the humanistic practice of expounding philosophy in dialogue form in contrast to the disputation of professional philosophers. Although Decembrio seems here to assume that the ancient philosophers also engaged in disputations, he nonetheless refers to medieval disputations as well and in general to ‘professional’ philosophy, to which he opposes the dialogue in typical humanistic fashion—even if his work is eminently philosophical (cf. 1.78). Thus, he chooses to proceed “by way of an informal conversation” (1.21), of which Plato was the master, and he even consciously or unconsciously adopts Socratic irony (e.g., 3.4). Decembrio’s attitude toward the Plato-Aristotle controversy in the De re publica recalls the comparison between the two philosophers made by Leonardo Bruni in his later Life of Aristotle (1429–1430):133 Plato was a truly exceptional and distinguished man, competent in many and varied fields of knowledge: his eloquence was so great that his speech seemed superior to human faculties. But sometimes his teachings tend to rely more on the approval of a willing intellect than on the force of a demonstration. In fact, he just presents, rather than demonstrates, many theories handed down about the nature of the soul as well as about its transmigration and descent into bodies. And, regarding the establishment of the best state of a city, he sometimes has ideas that are far different from our tradition and our habit of life. He believes that wives should 132

133

It is interesting to note that among the philosophers ‘opposed’ to Aristotle, Uberto lists Theophrastus, whose life—taken from Walter Burley’s De vita et moribus philosophorum—is copied in the Bergamo manuscript (fols. 36v–37v). For the significance of Bruni’s Life of Aristotle, see Ianziti, Writing History.

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be common to all—there cannot be imagined anything more despicable than this—and that the [paternity of] children should be so uncertain that no one could distinguish his children from those of others. He also abolished property rights and wanted everything to be shared by all. Aristotle, opposing these conceptions and others of this kind, and having probable evidence to challenge them, found followers even when Plato was still alive. Furthermore, Plato’s teaching is varied and uncertain. Socrates, who is introduced everywhere, roams, so to speak, from beginning to end without any order of arguments; he discusses at his leisure now this, now that, and in disputing he seems not so much to express his own thought as to repeat the ideas and words of others. Aristotle, on the contrary, was more cautious in his teaching—he does not undertake any argument that he cannot demonstrate—and more moderate in his opinions, so that he appears to be useful in what concerns the common conduct of life and not to think about inconsistent and inappropriate things and those that will never be useful.134 The same ideas were repeated by Bruni in the preface to his translation of Aristotle’s Politics (1435–1438),135 as well as in a letter to his Genoese friend Niccolò

134

135

“Fuit enim Plato vir singularis quidem ac perexcellens, multarum ac variarum rerum scientia preditus: eloquentia vero tanta ut supra hominem sese attollere illius eloquium videatur. Ceterum traditiones eius interdum tales sunt ut assensu potius bone mentis quam probationis necessitate nitantur. Nam de natura animi ipsiusque transmigratione discessioneque in corpora permulta traduntur ab illo prolata magis hominibus quam probata. Et in optimo civitatis statu constituendo ea nonnumquam sentit que ab hoc nostro usu consuetudineque vivendi plurimum abhorrent. Mulieres enim communes omnium esse censet, quo nihil despicabilius cogitari potest: filios vero ita incertos ut nemo neque suos neque alíenos queat agnoscere. Patrimoniorum autem iura sustulit atque omnia omnium communia esse voluit. Contra hec igitur et huiusmodi renitens Aristoteles cum probabilem adversandi materiam nactus esset, etiam vivo Platone sectatores reperiebat. Preterea doctrina Platonis varia est et incerta. Socrates enim ubique inductus nullo disciplinarum ordine quasi a carcere ad calcem discurrit; sed modo hoc modo illud pro arbitrio agit et in disputando non tam que ipse sentiat dicere videtur quam aliorum sententias dictaque refellere. Aristoteles vero et cautior in tradendo fuit, nihil enim aggreditur quod probare non possit, et moderatior in opinando, ut hec que in usu vitaque communi versantur adiuvare, non aliena et abhorrentia et nunquam profutura meditari illum appareat.” Leon. Brun., Op. 518–520. The translation is mine. “Et Plato decem illis praeclaris libris, qui sunt ab eo De re publica scripti, in hac parte ostendenda docendaque plurimum nixus est, et M. Cicero noster sex inclitis libris, quos De re publica scripsit, hanc ipsam est materiam prosecutus. Et Aristoteles in hoc volumine, quod nunc in Latinum convertimus, haec ipsa complexus est, tanto quidem nitore et copia et ornatu, ut vere mereatur flumen aureum vocitari.” Leon. Brun., Pr. Ar. 73. Note that Bruni

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Cebà (1441), who asked the Florentine chancellor to translate Plato’s Republic into Latin.136 As is well known, starting in 1404 Bruni translated most of Plato’s works available to him, namely the Phaedo, the Apology of Socrates and the Crito (both in two versions), the Gorgias, part of the Phaedrus, the Letters (with the exception of the Thirteenth and a passage from the Second), and, lastly, Alcibiades’s speech in the Symposium, addressed to Cosimo de’ Medici around 1435: as hypothesized by James Hankins, Bruni’s enthusiasm for Plato suffered a setback with the translation of the Gorgias, concluded in 1409,137 and certainly in 1441 Bruni was no longer interested in Cebà’s proposal. It is significant, however, that in the letter to Cebà Bruni refers to an “absolutely clumsy” (libros … ineptissime traductos) translation of the Republic to which the Genoese asked him to reply with his own interpretation: although Bruni does not specify the author of this translation, it seems that he is alluding not to Uberto Decembrio’s version but rather to Pier Candido Decembrio’s Celestis Politia, completed in 1440 and already at the center of heated controversies.138 There is an evident analogy between Uberto Decembrio’s and Leonardo Bruni’s rejection of the most ‘burning’ themes of Plato’s Republic and their consequent praise of Aristotelian thought and method, which induces Decembrio to apply to the De re publica a tripartition of philosophy into natural philosophy, ethics, and logic expressly taken from Aristotle (see 4.57). Thus, if on the one hand Decembrio accepts the educational model of Plato’s Republic, on the other, he looks to Aristotle when organizing the studies of his ideal city. The reappraisal of Aristotle in De re publica libri IV is another piece of evidence for a tendentially eclectic attitude by Uberto Decembrio, entailing an essentially instrumental approach to Platonism, as was the case for Leonardo Bruni.139

136

137 138 139

uses nearly the same vocabulary as Uberto’s second prologue to the De re publica libri IV (2.prol.5), where it is said that Plato, “in the books on the commonwealth that he eloquently and most subtly composed, … endeavored to discuss more than a few things that, even if they are judged to be possible, are still far from compatible with public morality.” “Quod autem me hortaris ad traductionem librorum Platonis De re publica et ais vidisse te eosdem libros a nescio quo interprete ineptissime traductos, atque ob id magis me hortaris ad id onus suscipiendum, respondeo tibi plane quod sentio: equidem libros illos iampridem Latinos facere aggressus essem, si mihi placerent; sed multa sunt in iis libris abhorrentia a moribus nostris, quae pro honore Platonis tacere satius est quam proferre.” Leon. Brun., Ep. 2:148. See Hankins, Plato, 1:53–58. On Pier Candido Decembrio’s translation of the Republic and the controversy it aroused, see Hankins, Plato, 1:117–154. See Rabassini, “Leonardo Bruni,” 413.

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History of the Text

4.1 Date, Composition, and Circulation The De re publica libri IV was composed between 1419 and 1422, as evidenced by some allusions to events occurring during that period, the earliest being the consecration by Pope Martin V (1369–1431) of the high altar of Milan’s cathedral, then under construction (October 16, 1418), referenced by Uberto Decembrio in 2.50,140 and especially the appointment by Filippo Maria Visconti of Decembrio’s son Pier Candido as ducal secretary (1419), mentioned in 4.prol.5. However, as Decembrio points out, the dialogue was not written as a sign of gratitude to the duke, nor even at his request, but as a consequence of Decembrio’s own desire to return to study after the difficult years he had just gone through. The fourth book offers other important chronological evidence, such as the reference to Leonardo Bruni’s Latin version of the Oeconomica, then thought to have been written by Aristotle, made by the Florentine chancellor in 1420. Decembrio, however, mistakes this translation for a Latin version of Xenophon’s Oeconomicus, which Bruni never translated (see 4.84). This error, perhaps induced by a passage of Cicero’s De officiis mentioned shortly before,141 suggests that Uberto Decembrio knew Bruni’s translation only indirectly. The final piece of evidence, also in in book 4, is even more precise: For his part, eager to do likewise and following in his father’s footsteps, our prince, who up to now has had enough to do in repairing the ruin resulting from his father’s death and has not yet entirely restored it, would already have almost brought the University of Pavia back to its accustomed form, if the calamity of a pestilence had not prevented this. Now, however, since the atmosphere is once again wholesome, he has determined henceforward to have restored both that university and that most famous library, unequalled in this world. 4.48

140 141

On that occasion, Uberto pronounced a solemn oration, De adventu Martini V pontificis (M, fols. 235v–237r). Compare Cic., Off. 2.24.87: “Res autem familiaris quaeri debet iis rebus, a quibus abest turpitudo, conservari autem diligentia et parsimonia, eisdem etiam rebus augeri. Has res commodissime Xenophon Socraticus persecutus est in eo libro, qui Oeconomicus inscribitur, quem nos, ista fere aetate cum essemus, qua es tu nunc, e Graeco in Latinum convertimus.”

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In 1419, plague spread in Lombardy, affecting Pavia and Piacenza but not Milan (five years later the city would be struck by another major epidemic),142 and in 1422 Filippo Maria Visconti decided to postpone the reopening of the University of Pavia until the feast of Saint Martin of Tours (November 11) due to suspicion of plague. On November 5, 1422, the Savi di provvisione (i.e., “the wisest of the city council”) wrote to the duke assuring him that “this city is now devoid of any putrefaction due to contagion” (civitas ista omni nunc caret contagionis putredine).143 Decembrio’s statement echoes this episode, thus indicating that he completed his dialogue around this time. It is possible, as proposed by Giacomo Ferraù, that the dialogue was written in two distinct phases: the first book before 1419 and the rest of the work between 1420 and 1422.144 This is suggested not only by an interpolated passage in the text (1.40)145 but also by the eulogy of Aristotle in the second prologue, which marks a partial departure from Plato’s view on the community of wives and children and the banning of poets and painters from his ideal city. In other words, Uberto Decembrio may have started composing the De re publica in a moment of enthusiasm for the Republic, with the intention of producing a faithful adaptation of Plato’s thought, but eventually changed his mind and developed his ideas more personally. However, in the very first book of Decembrio’s dialogue there is a not-so-veiled polemic against the obscurity and prolixity of Plato’s Socrates (1.17), and, as we have discussed in section 3.2 above, Decembrio was aware of Plato’s positions well before writing his dialogue, having translated the Republic nearly twenty years earlier. His praise of Aristotle should be understood not as an abjuration of Plato but rather as a direct echo of the Plato-Aristotle controversy. Moreover, Decembrio’s propensity for merging elements from different theoretical positions is also manifest in the Moralis philosophie dyalogi, in which the humanist tries to reconcile Senecan and Ciceronian ethics. As we have already said, the De re publica libri IV is dedicated to Filippo Maria Visconti, even if it was not commissioned by him, and survives in a single codex, Ms. B 123 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana of Milan, copied by Uberto Decembrio’s son Modesto and later assembled by his other son Pier Candido

142 143 144 145

See Albini, Guerra, 25 and 58. See Robolini, Notizie, 52–53, and Majocchi, Codice diplomatico, 2.1:202. See Ferraù, “Esemplarità,” 440–441n12. This passage, according to Ferraù, ibid., abruptly interrupts the Platonic discourse on the transition from a ‘healthy’ to a ‘fevered’ condition of the commonwealth, suggesting that it was added afterward. I have not found further examples of possible later additions in the text of the dialogue.

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(see section 4.2 below). On this basis, it might be suspected that the work never circulated and was not even presented to its dedicatee. If it is true that in the first inventory of the Visconti Library, the Consignatio librorum, made in 1426,146 there is no record of Decembrio’s dialogue, on the other hand, two clues suggest that Decembrio, after delivering his work to Filippo Maria, intended to publish it. The first clue is given by Decembrio himself in the Moralis philosophie dyalogi, which he started writing shortly after the De re publica. At the beginning of his new dialogue, the humanist tells Andreolo Arese (an illustrious figure at the Visconti court and one of his interlocutors): I recently wrote a dialogue, entitled De re publica and divided into four days of discussion, in which I presented to some who talked with me informally the question of justice, as well as the condition and the ruling of the commonwealth. I dedicated this book to the illustrious prince Filippo Maria, duke of Liguria, and I desire you to review it a little.147 To which Andreolo replies: I have not seen your De re publica yet, and I wonder a great deal at this. In fact, to the person to whom you once did not fear to entrust secret things, you do not allow to see what is public. But please, let me see it. I will give you my sincere and friendly opinion, which is often prevented by excessive envy.148

146 147

148

The inventory is published in Pellegrin, Bibliothèque, 75–289. “Scripsi nuper dialogum De re publica, quem quidem quattuor disputationibus terminavi, in quo de iustitia et rei publicae statu atque regimine nonnullos introduxi, mecum familiariter colloquentes. Hunc librum ad illustrem principem Filippum Mariam, Liguriae ducem, inscripsi, quem paulisper etiam a te cupio revideri.” This is the text of two of the three known manuscripts of the Moralis philosophie dyalogi, Ms. B 123 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan (M, fol. 104v) and Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Library, Ms. Codex 693 (P, fol. 4r–v), while another copy, Ms. S 41 sup. of the Ambrosiana (S), reads disputantes instead of colloquentes and a te etiam instead of etiam a te (fol. 2v). “Opus autem tuum De re publica nundum vidi, de quo compellor non modicum admirari. Nam cui archana olim committere non horruisti, videre publica non permittis. Sed facito, queso, ut videam. Verum tibi et amicabile prestabo iuditium, quod plerumque livor improbus non permittit.” Again (see the previous note), this is the text attested by M (fol. 104v) and P (fol. 5r), while the text of S is slightly different, reading dubitasti instead of horruisti (fol. 3r).

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Beyond the fiction of the dialogue, we can therefore suppose that Decembrio, after initial reluctance, had the intention of putting his work into circulation, at least in the court milieu. A further circumstance suggesting that the De re publica was delivered to the duke is the coincidence between the most reasonable date for the conclusion of the dialogue and the Uberto Decembrio’s appointment as podestà of Treviglio (1422). It is logical to assume that Filippo Maria Visconti rewarded Decembrio for the dedication of his work with a relevant political office.149 However, due to the dialogue’s content, not exactly in line with the policy of the Milanese duke—who in 1423 promulgated a “Decree on the Crime of Lèsemajesté” that bears a clear absolutist imprint (see section 3 above)—we may suggest that Filippo Maria applied to Uberto Decembrio the Latin proverb “promoveatur ut amoveatur” (“let him be promoted so that he may be removed,” or more colloquially in English, “kick him upstairs”).150 Moreover, Decembrio’s son Pier Candido claims to have struggled to convince the duke to renew his father’s appointment,151 which is an unequivocal sign that Filippo Maria did not have a good opinion of him. 4.2

Transmission of the Text: Ms. B 123 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan The De re publica libri IV survives only in Ms. B 123 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. Given the importance of this codex for the transmission of Decembrio’s dialogue, as well as of his other works, it seems useful to provide here a brief description of its composition and contents, based on a direct examination of the manuscript: Paper; fifteenth century (ca. 1402–1459); folio (290 × 210 mm); II, 243 [recte 244] numbered fols. Modern vellum binding, endpapers renewed. The manuscript, previously owned by Francesco Ciceri (1521–1596),152 who bought it in 1577 (as 149

150

151 152

In Decembrio’s time, the city of Treviglio enjoyed the status of “separate land” (terra separata), which guaranteed it fiscal independence from Milan. Moreover, the podestà of Treviglio participated in the annual ceremony of the Holy Nail (September 14), and he had the honor of sitting next to the duke of Milan at the traditional banquet; see Rinaldi, “Calendario,” esp. 313, and Rinaldi, “Privilegi.” This principle fits perfectly with the ambiguous personality of Filippo Maria Visconti, as depicted in Pier Candido Decembrio’s biography: see especially chapter 43, “De dissimulatione ingenii sui” (His genius for dissimulating). P.C. Dec., Vita Phil. Mar. 72–77. “I myself remember how as a young man at court I was barely able to make sure that my father kept his office.” P.C. Dec., Vita Phil. Mar. 49. The translation is by Gary Ianziti. On Ciceri, who was a humanist and collector of Pier Candido Decembrio’s books, see Ricciardi, “Ciceri Francesco.”

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indicated by a note on fol. 244r: “30 sept. [15]77”), was recorded by Antonio Olgiati (ca. 1570–1647), prefect of the Ambrosiana, in 1603 (“Olgiatus vidit anno 1603”). Collation: 1–612, 76, 82, 9–1012, 1112, 1212, 132, 14–1912, 2010, 2112, 2216. Iv, IIv, 75r– 76r, 78r–v, 79v, 103v, 118r–119v, 126r, 130v, 131v–132r, 216r, and 237v–243v are blank. Fragments of fol. 244 are pasted on fol. 1r. Lines per page: variable; 47 lines (fol. 90r) in a single column (200 × 120 mm) for the De re publica libri IV. There are no running titles except for fols. 1r– 72r. Watermarks: 1) fols. 1–47, “bow with arrow without feather” (Monneret de Villard, “Filigrane,” nos. 19–20: Milan 1403–1404); 2) 48–71, “snake drawn in a double line” (Monneret de Villard, “Filigrane,” no. 87: Milan 1392–1422); 3) 73– 76, “basilisk” (Monneret de Villard, “Filigrane,” no. 57: Milan 1392–1422); 4) 78– 79, “sprig with two buckets” (Monneret de Villard, “Filigrane,” no. 440: Milan 1429–1432); 5) 80–130, “snake drawn in a single line” (Monneret de Villard, “Filigrane,” no. 326: Milan 1426); 6) 131–132 and 228–243, “three-petal flower” (Briquet, Filigranes, no. 6306: Naples 1438); 7) fols. 133–215, “running dog” (Monneret de Villard, “Filigrane,” no. 132: Milan 1396). Contents: Francesco Petrarca, Res Seniles, bks. 1–7 (fols. 1r–72r) and 17.1–2 (fols. 72v–74v); Anonymous, Latin epistle [inc.: Dominis et amicis ubicumque terrarum praecipue] (fol. 76v); M. Tullius Cicero, De provinciis consularibus 46– 47 (fol. 77r); list of Ciceronian orations, with incipit, explicit, and number of fascicles required for their transcription (fol. 77v); Uberto Decembrio, Epitaphium Uberti Decembrii viri optimi ducis Mediolani secretarii (fol. 79r); Uberto Decembrio, De re publica libri quatuor (fols. 80r–103r);153 Uberto Decembrio, Moralis philosophie dyalogi libri duo (fols. 104r–117v); Uberto Decembrio, Ad Modestum filium de modestia liber (fols. 120r–125v); Uberto Decembrio, Ad Candidum de candore liber (fols. 126v–130r); Pier Candido Decembrio, Notitiae obitus nonnullorum ex familia Decembrii Uberti et eorum sepulchri (fol. 131r); Plato, De re publica libri decem, in Latinum conversi ab Uberto Decembrio (fols. 132v–215v); Uberto Decembrio, Epistulae (fols. 216v–235r); Uberto Decembrio, Oratio ad cardinales (fol. 235r–v); Uberto Decembrio, Oratio de adventu Martini V pontificis (fols. 235v–237r); Pier Candido Decembrio, Eulogium in Rinucium avarum et maledicum [inc.: Nunc silet illa bonis perfida lingua viris] (fol. 244r); Pier Candido Decembrio, Epigramma Matthei Iohannis Secretarii [inc.: Strata Iohannis humi recumbent nunc ossa mathei] (ibid.); Pier Candido Decembrio, table of contents of the volume (ibid.).

153

The first page of the De re publica (fol. 80r) is reproduced in figure 1.

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Copyists: 1) Modesto Decembrio (fols. 1r–77v, 80r–125v); 2) Pier Candido Decembrio (fols. 79r, 126v–132v, 216v–237r,154 and 244r); 3) Uberto Decembrio (fols. 133r–215v). The Ambrosiana codex is miscellaneous and composite. In fact, the fascicles containing the Seniles and the translation of Plato’s Republic were originally two separate manuscripts: the former was copied by Modesto Decembrio at a very young age (ca. 1407),155 while the latter was transcribed by Uberto Decembrio around 1402.156 The De re publica libri IV, the Moralis philosophie dyalogi libri duo, and the De modestia formed three separate fascicles, copied by Modesto likely between his father’s death and his own (i.e., between 1427 and 1430), to which Pier Candido added his transcription of the De candore and his ‘revision’ of Uberto’s prologue to Plato’s Republic (fol. 131v). Many years later, possibly during his stay in Naples in 1459,157 Pier Candido himself assembled all these fascicles into a single manuscript, also including a short collection of his father’s letters and orations. Catchwords added by Pier Candido can be seen throughout the manuscript, plus some notes in the hands of Uberto and Modesto. Apart from the selection of Petrarch’s letters, the translation of Plato’s Republic (attested by seven other manuscripts),158 and the Moralis philosophie dyalogi (surviving in two other copies),159 the remaining works are known only through Ambrosiana Ms. B 123 sup. 154

155 156

157

158

159

It is possible that fols. 224v–237r were not copied by Pier Candido Decembrio but rather by an anonymous copyist who also transcribed Ms. D 112 inf. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana and Triv. 793 of the Biblioteca Trivulziana in Milan, both containing works of Pier Candido; see Bottoni, “I Decembrio,” 77n12. See Ferrari, “Littera,” 20. Uberto also copied Terence’s comedies in a manuscript—dated Pavia, February 1400— now in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Rawlinson G. 135; see Bottoni, “I Decembrio,” 79nn24– 25, and Watson, Catalogue, 1:113 (no. 684); 2: fig. 224 (fol. 14r). On July 20, 1417, he finished a codex of Virgil’s works, now in a private collection, formerly Christie’s, London, December 3, 1997, lot 224; for its description see the auction catalogue (Giannalisa Feltrinelli Library: Part II, 162–169). This is suggested by the watermark of these last fascicles, as well as by a notice written by Pier Candido on fol. 216v: “1459 XXIII Ian[uarii].” At that time, the humanist resided in Naples; see Borsa, “Pier Candido Decembri,” 388–396. These seven copies are Bern, Bürgerbibliothek, Ms. 194; Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Ms. Pl. 89 sup. 50; Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Ms. A 96 inf.; Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale “Vittorio Emanuele III,” Ms. VII G 51; Seville, Biblioteca Capitular y Colombina, Ms. 5–6–21 (ex Z-137-25); and Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Mss. Ottob. lat. 2050 and Reg. lat. 1131. See Bottoni, “I Decembrio,” 75. As already noted (see n. 147 above), the other copies of the Moralis philosophie dyalogi are

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Modesto’s transcription of the De re publica libri IV is generally accurate, although not without occasional errors and lapsus calami, which are registered in the critical apparatus of this edition. Moreover, although Modesto was a professional scribe, his reading of the Greek words in the dialogue displays notable uncertainties in spelling and accentuation, proving that that he could not fully understand Greek. Indeed, when he copied Cicero’s Tusculanae in 1426, he transliterated the Greek words in Latin characters, still with some mistakes.160 It is not clear, however, whether the Greek errors in the De re publica are attributable to Uberto himself or to Modesto, although the former’s only known autograph specimen in Greek—the colophon of his manuscript of Virgil’s works, copied in 1417—evidences several spelling and grammar mistakes.161 Since Modesto transcribed the text of the De re publica libri IV in the Ambrosiana manuscript (M) from his father’s personal copy (α), and considering that a dedication copy (x) was likely presented to Filippo Maria Visconti (see section 4.1 above), we can propose the following stemma: α

M

x

Obviously, the dotted line means that the existence of x is hypothetical. Examining Uberto Decembrio’s De modestia and Moralis philosophie dyalogi, both copied by Modesto in the Ambrosiana manuscript, Antonio Zanella observed that these transcriptions are not faithful to the original, showing signs of a formal revision—likely made by Pier Candido and Modesto himself— aimed at eliminating the roughest features of Uberto’s style.162 The same is true of Uberto’s translation of Plato’s Republic in the Ambrosiana manuscript, from which Pier Candido removed the original prologue, replacing it with his own ‘polished’ redaction (fol. 132v). Since no other copies of De re publica libri IV

160

161 162

Ms. S 41 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana and Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Library, Ms. Codex 693. This codex, made by Modesto between June and July of 1426 and containing Cicero’s De natura deorum, De divinatione, and De fato, as well as extracts from Suetonius’s De vita Caesarum, is now Ms. D 113 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. See Hankins, Humanism, 2:55n11 and 90 (plate). This is particularly evident when we compare the text of the Moralis philosophie dyalogi transcribed by Modesto and Ms. S 41 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, as suggested by Zanella, “Uberto Decembrio,” 3:63–64, but see also nn. 147 and 148 above.

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exist to make any comparison, it is impossible to ascertain whether the same revision was made to its text as well. However, the manuscript contains at least two corrections, likely by the hand of Pier Candido: Verbano (2.14), made over an erasure, and custodiet over the original instituet (4.9). If the former could be a mere formal emendation of a copyist’s lapsus, the latter seems more interesting, since it alters the meaning of Uberto’s text in a crucial passage of the dialogue. Furthermore, Uberto’s surname (in the genitive case) is corrected in the dialogue’s title to Decembrii, while in the explicit it is Decembris, which is the form regularly employed by the humanist in his translation of Plato.

5

Editorial Principles

5.1 The Latin Text The Latin text of the De re publica libri IV, published here for the first time, is provided with three sets of critical apparatus: the first contains all the rejected readings of the only surviving manuscript of the dialogue (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, B 123 sup.; see section 4.2 above); the second reports the numerous marginal notes in the hand of its copyist, Uberto’s son Modesto Decembrio, as well as those made by Pier Candido Decembrio; and the third is devoted to those explicit and implicit sources of the work that can be precisely identified. The dialogue’s transcription was completed by 1430—the year of Modesto’s death—and, therefore, no more than three years after Uberto Decembrio’s passing (1427). This would imply that the text of the De re publica in the Ambrosiana manuscript is very close to Uberto’s lost autograph. However, as usual in the case of works transmitted by non-autograph copies, it was necessary to make a comparison between Modesto’s orthography and Uberto’s autograph testimonies, like the translation of Plato’s Republic transcribed by the latter in the same codex (fols. 133–215v), which revealed a substantial convergence between the father’s and son’s writing habits—for example, they both render the Latin diphthongs ae and oe in the simplified form e—albeit with some minor inconsistencies, such as Uberto’s regular use of the medieval forms michi and nichil, while Modesto always employs the classical ones (mihi and nihil). In this case, I preferred to restore Uberto’s habitual orthography. In general, although paying respect to Uberto Decembrio’s orthographic habits, as well as those of his closest model, Petrarch, I decided to normalize the frequent orthographic oscillations to facilitate the understanding of the Latin text by a non-specialist reader, applying this criterion beginning with the very title, De re publica, often reported as De republica, which I have transcribed in the separated form, since in other cases it is always res publica, rei publice, etc.

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Moreover, I decided to restore the original form of Uberto’s surname, which appears only in the genitive case, preferring Decembris to Decembrii (see section 4.2 above). I list below the main orthographic phenomena observed in the De re publica, reporting my editorial interventions. The use of ‘y’ is rather irregular in Modesto’s transcription of the dialogue, in which we find phylosophia/phylosophye, hystoria/hystorie, perypathetici, eya, hyemi and hyemalibus, hyatum/hyatu, hylaritate/hylares/hylariter/hylarescunt, ymum (from the adj. imus, -a, -um), ymo and quinymo (medieval forms of the adv. immo and quin immo),163 hyrtam, hyrsutis, syrenum, and laycis. In these cases, since Uberto Decembrio’s orthography does not follow a precise rule, I decided to restore ‘i’ instead of ‘y.’ On the other hand, I have replaced ‘i’ with ‘y’ in mirto, mirra, and gimnastica/gimnastice. However, I did not intervene in words for which Uberto always maintains the same orthography, such as dyalogo/dyaletica, tyrannide, ydeis, and dyaconos (forms also attested in Petrarch),164 along with yconomica/yconomicam, since it is evident that Uberto perceived the Greek origin of these terms. I have normalized anomalous vocalic shifts, like clipsidram, infedilitate, and seperati/seperare/seperavit, as well as prumptitudine, giometricum (using the correct form geometria attested both in the De re publica and in Uberto Decembrio’s autograph of Plato’s Republic), flaminos, and merescalcos (in this last case, in the margin of the manuscript there is a small ‘a,’ perhaps to correct the word to marescalcos). I have also restored the correct orthography of mondus/mondi, although it is possible that Decembrio believed that the word derived from the verb moveo, as suggested, for example, in Giovanni Balbi’s Catholicon.165 However, I have preserved forms like arthoa,166 valitudo, benivolentia,167 and diffinitione/diffinitur/diffiniri, which are very common in medieval writers. Furthermore, I have regularized some vowel doublings and shortenings of the third-person-plural verbal ending (subrepuunt, consistuunt, and extingunt). I decided to keep some medieval forms also attested in Uberto Decembrio’s autograph, like phas, nephas, and phana instead of the classical fas, nefas, and

163 164 165 166 167

See Rossi, “Introduzione,” CLXVIII. See Rossi, “Introduzione,” CLXVII. “Mundus, -di dicitur a moveo, -es, quia semper est in motu et hinc mondanus, -a, -um.” Giov. Balbi, Cathol. fol. 238v. Compare Rossi, “Introduzione,” CLXVIII and n. 3. Rossi, “Introduzione,” CLXVIII.

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fana, which he never uses. On the other hand, I have rejected silicet,168 sintillula, capescendam/capescendas/capescendis, septris, sessu, intestum, indulxit, and thexauri. However, I did not intervene in other common medieval forms, like fleumaticus/fleumatico/fleumaticos and Methaurorum, not correcting the latter to Meteororum, since the form Met(h)aura is well attested during the Middle Ages, both in Latin and in the vernacular.169 Finally, I have regularized a number of anomalous orthographical readings, like autor/autorem/autore and autoritas/autoritatis/autoritate, articum/antarticum, contrictionem, pedisice/pedisece, and struprari, while I have maintained the alternation between secuntur/subsecuntur/prosecuntur and consequuntur, as the former were regularly used by medieval authors. It is interesting to note that the text of the De re publica adheres to Priscian’s rule according to which “before ‘c,’ ‘d,’ ‘t,’ ‘q,’ ‘f’ must not be written ‘m,’ but ‘n,’”170 so that there are forms like tanquam, unquam, quoscunque, tantundem, and utcunque, with the sole exception of one cumque (1.18). Nevertheless, there are many instances of these words in abbreviated form, where it is not clear whether Uberto intended to write ‘m’ or ‘n.’ To properly render these abbreviations, I turned to Uberto’s autograph of Plato’s Republic, which confirmed that Uberto always respected Priscian’s rule, with only one exception.171 I therefore chose to resolve the abbreviated forms according to Priscian’s rule, correcting the one cumque to cunque. The same also applies to the alternation between comunis and communis (and derivatives), for which, considering that in his autograph Uberto Decembrio uses the two solutions inconsistently,172 I preferred to standardize them to the geminated one, which is prevalent in the De re publica, although the form with one ‘m’ was very frequent in Decembrio’s time.173 168

169 170

171

172 173

It must be noted, however, that the form silicet (scilicet) is very common during the Middle Ages, and in Uberto’s copy of Plato’s Republic as well, due to the false etymology si + licet. See Rajna, “Introduzione,” CLXXXVII. See Marchesi, “La Metaura.” Dante, for example, calls Aristotle’s Meteorology the Metaura both in De situ 14 and 83 and in Conv. 2.13.21. “Ante c, d, t, q, f non est scribenda m sed n.” Prisc., Inst. 1.38. This rule, prescribed also by medieval authors like Giovanni Balbi, is applied, for example, by Petrarch; see Rossi, “Introduzione,” CLXVI. In the first five books of the Republic (M, fols. 133r–176r), for example, I found the following non-abbreviated forms: quecunque (fols. 148v, 172r, 173v, and 175v), quicunque (fol. 153r), cuiuscunque (fol. 154v), quodcunque (fols. 165r and 166v), qualescunque (fol. 173v), unquam (fol. 158r), tanquam (fols. 159r, 160r, 165r, 169r, 172r, 173v, and 175r), and nunquam (fol. 165r), against only one tamquam (fol. 155r). For example, we find comunia (fols. 160r and 167r) and communes (fol. 169r, three times). The form comunis is extensively used by Petrarch; see Rossi, “Introduzione,” CLXVIII and n. 7.

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I decided to normalize most of the anomalous consonant shortenings and doublings typical of both Modesto’s and Uberto’s orthography, to avoid annoying the reader with continuous oscillations. I have restored the double consonant in forms like vacinia, difusus, metalorum, recoligens, imbecilitate, vilis (from villus, -i), pusilius, cole, vacilantem, soliciti, solicitant/solicitudine, aluvione, mile, alegorice, ymolari/ymolationibus/imolandum, incomode, gramaticam, anunciet, opidum, and asuescent, while I did not intervene in quatuor, a variant of the classical quattuor attested in medieval Latin. I have also regularized the numerous geminated forms, such as occulos, seccessimus, fuccorum, paccatum/paccatissima, neccatum, iddem, quoddam, mollendinorum, tellas/tellis, colli (pass. inf. of colo), tollerantia/tollerantie/tollerantiam/tollerare, villi (from the adj. vilis, -e), prestollamur, tutella/tutelle, millia/millies, pellago, folliorum, cuculli (from cuculus, -i), molliuntur (from the verb molior), dentulli, kallendarum, gulle, stillum, dillabi, gallee/galleam, commitantur/commitari, summit, summant (from the verb sumo), assummere, innania, annulorum, lannis, quoppiam (abl. of quispiam, quaepiam, quodpiam), oppulentis, opportet/opportebit, appostolatus, appothecarios, rippa, verissimile, legitime, and legittimos. I have kept belluales, since Uberto uses always bellua. Regarding the use of ‘h,’ I have normalized forms like hedificium/hedificio/hedificiorum/hedificiis, hedificationi, hedificavit/hedificent/hedificandum, thori, oligarchicha, cloacham, hostia (from ostium, -ii), spurchus, cathenaret, trunchari, heremo, archus, archam, chooperante, and cohopertum. At the same time, I have restored the ‘h’ in melancolicus/melancolicos, colericus/colerico/ colericos, speris/spericum/sperico, gnatones (from gnatho, -onis), stomacus/ stomaco, aritmetica, ebetiores, astilusionum, and Metaphysicam. However, I did not intervene in cases such as ypocrita/ypocritis, pulcerrima, and pulcrificat, which are common not only in Uberto’s autograph but also in Petrarch.174 I have also maintained ortos and ortuli, forms theorized by medieval lexicographers like Uguccione da Pisa and Giovanni Balbi,175 as well as archano, methaforice, and scola/scolis.176 According to this criterion, I have corrected the forms rhetor/rhetorem to the medieval ones rethor/rethorem, which are consistent with Uberto Decembrio’s and Petrarch’s orthography, also applying this rule to the anomalous readings rhector and rhectorem. 174 175

176

See Rossi, “Introduzione,” CLXVII. “Ortus, -a, -um ab orior, -iris; ortus, -a, -um participium est et hic ortus, -us, idest nativitas, et hic ortus, -i secunde declinationis, quia semper ibi aliquid oriatur et nunquam sit sine fructu.” Giov. Balbi, Cathol. fol. 256v. See Rossi, “Introduzione,” CLXVII.

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On the interchange of ‘ti’ and ‘ci,’ I preferred to reduce all the irregular forms to the classical Latin spellings,177 in order to facilitate the understanding of the text. Finally, I decided to regularize as much as possible the spelling of proper names, according to the criteria used for other words (e.g., Anatarsis,178 Apeninum, Hanibal/Hanibale,179 de Horelogio,180 de Lascalla,181 Massilio de Sanctasophya,182 Motonensis,183 Murigie,184 Pirri/Pirrum,185 and Saluii186). Moreover, I have regularized Gallienus to Galienus, which is used by Petrarch,187 while preserving the form Sylla, to which I have adapted the degeminate form Syle. I decided to keep the form Zoto, without restoring the double ‘t,’ since it seems to correspond to the way Uberto Decembrio pronounced the name of Giotto. I did not intervene in Heretem, which is consistent with Decembrio’s rendering of the name of Er in Plato’s Republic, where it occurs twice in the genitive Heri (M, fols. 207v and 213v). I did not emend Carunda to Charonda, since the form C(h)arunda is well attested in the manuscript tradition of Valerius Maximus’s Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri, the source of the passage quoted by Decembrio.

177

178

179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187

Here is the complete list: sedicionibus, exercicii, ociosorum, iusticie, astuciis, blandiciis, concionalem, exercicium, iniusticia, amicicia, inimicicia, pudicicia, impudicicia, avaricia, malicia, leticia, nequicia, notitia, iniciabimus, nunciabit, pericia, denunciat, nequicie, spetie, multociens, precium, propicium, pertinatius, puericie, anunciet, planiciem, cecucientium, vicio, precio, spacio, propicio, dedicio, preciosissimus, preciosissimam, preciosa, efficatior, commertium, supersticione, viciosum, viciorum, maliciis, contumatie, audatior, veratius, and comicio. See fol. 108r, where the name “Anatharsis” is transcribed by Modesto and repeated in the margin in the hand of Pier Candido. However, in a passage of Plato’s Republic (M, fol. 209r), copied by Uberto, the name appears as “Anacarside scita” (also repeated as a marginal note). Both Apeninus and Hanibal are attested in Petrarch (e.g., Fam. 1.6.12 and 2.4.31, respectively). However, I chose to reject them, due to the lack of evidence in Uberto’s autograph. I decided to align the spelling Horelogio to the word horologium, which appears shortly thereafter (4.prol.1). I have corrected the form de Lascalla to de la Scala, which is the name of the lords of Verona (1262–1387). The correct spelling of this name is Marsilio de Sanctasophia. I have corrected Motonensis to Mothonensis: cf. the Greek Μεθώνη. See Uberto’s letters to Leone and Simone Morigia (M, fols. 234v–235r). Since Uberto alternates between the forms Pirrum and Pyrrum, I decided to adopt the latter, also due to its use by Petrarch in his letters and in the De viris illustribus. The form Saluii stands for Salluvii and is likely due to a mistake by Modesto. Petrar., Inv. med. 1.205.

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5.2 The Translation: Notes on Uberto Decembrio’s Style Uberto Decembrio’s De re publica libri IV is provided with an English translation on facing pages, whose purpose is to offer a faithful interpretation of the original and, at the same time, a text easily accessible to a non-specialist reader, especially when the author makes references to historical or mythical figures and to episodes of ancient or medieval history, which often lack documentary references apart from the De re publica itself. As a rule, I have therefore chosen to render the interlocutors’ names and those of the many figures contemporary to them in their Italian form. Moreover, I have decided to accompany the translation with a reasonable number of footnotes, containing various kinds of information: historical and literary clarifications, remarks on intertextual relations between the dialogue and its sources, and bibliographic references. This is intended, along with the translation itself, to help the reader in the study of Decembrio’s dialogue. The task of translation was made particularly difficult by the language and style of Decembrio’s writing, which is closer to medieval than to classical (and humanist) Latin. To better understand the interpretative effort behind this translation, it seems opportune to briefly note the distinctive features of Uberto Decembrio’s style. Decembrio’s prose is constructed—as often in medieval authors—according to a precise cursus (i.e., a rhythmical pattern of sentence endings), revealing his preference for the cursus velox (quick cursus) and, to a lesser degree, for the other forms of cursus (planus, tardus, and trispondaicus).188 Regarding Decembrio’s vocabulary, it must be noted that he frequently uses words attested only in medieval Latin, such as, for example, the adverbs presentialiter, omnimode, and totaliter, nouns like conservantia, technical terms like hastilusio,189 adjectives like scientificus, and verbs like machinor (which has the same meaning as the Italian macchinare), postergo (properly “to leave behind, neglect, despise”),190 and a(d)viso (apparently derived from the French aviser). 188

189 190

During the Middle Ages, the most common rhythmical patterns of clause and sentence endings—attained by alternating accented (–) and unaccented syllables (x)—were the cursus planus (– x x – x), velox (– x x x x – x), and tardus (– x x – x x), to which can be added the cursus trispondaicus (– x x x – x). In the De re publica, there are instances of all these forms: 1) planus: docénte cognóscunt (1.95); 2) velox: voléntibus reparáta (1.prol.3); 3) tardus: sermóne provérbio (1.48); 4) trispondaicus: homínibus solére (1.56). As noted, however, the velox appears to be the author’s favorite. See Du Cange’s dictionary, which records “hastilusor” and “hastiludium.” Du Cange, Glossarium, 4:174b. Du Cange, Glossarium, 6:432c.

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On the other hand, the author tends to employ rare words attested in classical Latin, such as gnathones (from gnatho, -onis)191 and cecutiens (pres. part. of c(a)ecutio, “to become blind, to see badly,” attested in Varro’s Saturae Menippeae 30), as well as archaisms like voster and antevortit, interjections like edepol, hercle, and pape, attested in Plautus and Terence, cuculus (properly “cuckoo,” but used by Decembrio in the meaning of “dupe,” following Plautus, Pseud. 96), and poetic forms like vemente (for vehemente). Decembrio, like Petrarch, often uses syncopated forms, such as extimationis,192 nosti, creasse, optassent, effecere, etc. This odd mixture of archaic Latin, classical Latin, and medieval Latin suggests that Decembrio, albeit aware, like other humanists, of the opposition between medieval Latin and classical Latin introduced by Petrarch,193 made a rather contrived attempt to use only ancient Latin (attested in classical authors such as Cicero and Seneca) to restore the style of the ancients but was unable to completely get rid of medieval Latin. Moreover, in Decembrio’s dialogue we find some words not expected in ecclesiastical Latin, such as delubrum and templum, which properly mean “shrine” and “temple,” instead of the more common basilica, or antistes (prelate), while presul is always used instead of episcopus. The use of non-Christian terms for Christian phenomena is a distinctive feature of humanist Latin, but Decembrio appears to be much less ‘radical’ than later humanists such as Pietro Bembo (1470–1547), who in his Hymn to Saint Stephen referred to God as Jupiter, the Virgin Mary as a “shining Nymph,” and Jesus as a “great-hearted Hero.”194 It is clear that Decembrio is not trying to paganize Christianity, but rather to conform his vocabulary to classical Latin. The De re publica often shares the vocabulary of Uberto Decembrio and Chrysoloras’s translation of Plato’s Republic. For example, Decembrio uses rationale, irascibile, and appetitivum for the three functions of the soul in Rep. 440e–441a (λογιστικὸν καὶ ἐπιθυμητικόν … τὸ θυμοειδές), which were previously translated by rationabile, irascibile, and appetibile,195 while the word 191

192 193

194 195

The term is derived from Gnatho, a parasite in Terence’s Eunuchus, whose name is used by Uberto as a synonym of “parasite,” following Cicero, who does the same in Phil. 2.15 and Lael. 94. For the form extimo in Petrarch, see Rossi, “Introduzione,” CLXVIII. For a brief survey of Petrarch’s revival of classical Latin, see Celenza, “Petrarch.” For the humanists’ attitude toward Latin and rhetoric, see Murphy, Renaissance Eloquence; Mack, “Humanist Rhetoric”; and Jensen, “Humanist Reform.” See Bemb., Div. Steph. lines 11 and 30–31. This practice was strongly rejected by Erasmus; see Scott, Controversies, 50. See Hankins, Humanism, 2:87n.

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suppositiones in 4.56 recalls the (inconsistent) rendering of ὑποθέσεις in Plato’s dialogue by suppositiones and rationes.196 The syntax of the De re publica reveals many medieval Latin constructions, most notably the use of declarative or causal quod with the indicative or subjunctive instead of the infinitive (e.g., 1.106 and 107). Decembrio frequently uses the verb existo in the sense of “to be,” rather than sum, following a welldocumented habit of medieval authors (e.g., 1.51). Similarly, in the dialogue there are many examples of fore, which has lost its classical meaning as the future infinitive of sum and is intended as the present infinitive of the same verb, that is, esse (e.g., 1.57). Where the dialogue’s rhetorical texture is concerned, Decembrio’s inclination to organize his speech either in triadic sequences—particularly of adjectives but also of verbs, adverbs, and nouns—or in paired units is evident: this means that the most frequent rhetorical figures are anaphora, homeoteleuton, enumeration, asyndeton, and polyptoton.197 Furthermore, Decembrio has a great sensitivity to Greek and Latin etymology, displaying a profound knowledge of medieval glossaries, such as Papias’s Elementarium doctrinae, Uguccione da Pisa’s Magnae derivationes, and Giovanni Balbi’s Catholicon. As a matter of fact, the De re publica libri IV is an extremely refined work, whose author incorporated much of his knowledge and stylistic skills. Consequently, the translation aims to preserve as much as possible of this unique lexical and rhetorical texture, although recognizing that many of the original’s features will inevitably be lost. 196

197

See Hankins, Humanism, 2:87n. Moreover, according to Hankins, Plato, 1:116n, in this passage of the De re publica Decembrio “seems … to interpret Platonic dialectic as an art which brings certainty by ‘removing (mere?) suppositions,’ which is surely not what Plato meant by ‘hypothetical method.’” A similar point could be made with regard to Decembrio’s reading of Platonic arithmetic as a discipline that “renders even those duller by nature more clever in grasping other disciplines” (4.91), while Plato says (Rep. 526c) that this study “must be used in the training of the best endowed natures” (οἱ ἄριστοι τὰς φύσεις παιδευτέοι ἐν αὐτῷ). I cite here a few examples among many: “deos videlicet ebrietatis et temulentie, deos furoris et insanie” (1.6); “atqui verisimiliter non debet similis suo simili displicere” (1.120); “aeris temperati salubritas, glebe pinguioris ubertas, frugum fructuumve fertilitas, pratorum amenitas, fontium fluviorumque irriguitas, nemorum opportunitas, pascuorum viriditas iumentorumque et pecorum fecunditas” (2.10); “ad hec etiam nichil effeminate, nichil enerve, nichil molliter molliendum esse meminerat” (3.prol.3); “animus sermone, concentu, persuasione, sono” (3.92); “varietatem vero et irritamenta voluptatis vituperat vehementer” (3.102); “virtutemque arti et artem virtuti rursus immiscuit” (4.33).

De re publica libri IV Four Books on the Commonwealth

∵

Liber I UBERTI DECEMBRIS AD ILLUSTRISSIMUM DOMINUM FILIPPUM MARIAM DUCEM MEDIOLANI TOTIUSQUE LIGURIE DE RE PUBLICA LIBER PRIMUS. PROLOGUS PRIMI LIBRI.

5

10

15

20

25

(1) Ingens profecto varietas, dux clarissime, omnibus in rebus est temporum; evidentior tamen ea que in hominum aut urbium moribus cernitur. Nam si animalium reliquorum natura constitutionemque considerem, arborum pariter et herbarum plurimarumque rerum, quas eadem natura constituit, una ferme vivendi lege et inviolabili ordine cuncta perspicimus. Quid enim aliud in his omnibus, que nostris mundus offert aspectibus intuemur, nisi quod ab eterno fuisse in futurumque fieri debere verisimiliter opinaremur? (2) Hominum vero longe est diversa conditio, ut morum alternatio urbiumque ac locorum mutationes docent. Hinc etenim earumdem excidia constructionesque religionum, linguarum, vestimentorum, consuetudinum novarum in dies ac studiorum omnium multiplices instabilitates cernimus; nova etenim semper moliri et vetera tanquam fastidita diruere mos est. (3) Maiorum nostrorum temporibus et etate nostra hec urbs *Mediolani, *Ligurie totius dominatrix et speculum, cui urbes finitime prisca consuetudine famulantur, multis turbinibus popularibusque seditionibus sepenumero concussa est, principatuumque plurimorum iugo supposita, ut nunc regum, nunc ducum, aliquando imperatorum, nonnunquam populari fuerit subiecta regimini, sepe diruta et eversa et totiens postmodum fatis volentibus reparata. (4) Quot mutationes, quot novi mores annuatim emerserint, quis sufficeret numerare? Fuit olim in hac urbe liberalium artium et *philosophie totiusque divine ac humane *sapientie studium celeberrimum, si antique fidem damus historie, in quo magni rethores, philosophi et poete famosissimi floruerunt: *Virgilius maxime *Mantuanus, *Catullus *Veronensis et *Pelignus *Naso, *Ambrosiique temporibus *Aurelius Augustinus. (5) Nunc autem hac etate quantum ingenii studiorumque vigeat 1 Decembris] Decembrii M 16 Urbs Mediolani mg1 16–17 Mediolanum ligurie caput a francisco petrarca etiam appellata mg2 23–24 Studium mg1 26 De Nasone dubito mg2 4–15 Ingens—mos est] Calc., Comm. 232–233 16–17 hec urbs—speculum] Petrar., Sen. 3.1.69 22–25 Fuit—floruerunt] Galv. Fiam., Chron. extrav. 489 23 philosophie—sapientie] Cic., Off. 1.43.153 25 Virgilius—Mantuanus] Benz., Med. 164; Galv. Fiam., Chron. extrav. 486 26–27 Aurelius Augustinus] Benz., Med. 164; Galv. Fiam., Chron. extrav. 486

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Book 1 THE FIRST BOOK OF UBERTO DECEMBRIO’S DIALOGUE ON THE COMMONWEALTH, TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS LORD FILIPPO MARIA VISCONTI, DUKE OF MILAN AND OF ALL LIGURIA. PROLOGUE TO BOOK 1. (1) The variety in all things over time, most renowned duke, is truly vast; nonetheless, the most striking is what is observed in the customs of men or cities. For if I consider the nature and constitution of the other animals, as well as of trees, plants, and the numerous things that the same nature has disposed,1 then we perceive them all under almost the same law of life and inviolable order. For what else do we see in all those things the world offers to our gaze but that we should plausibly think that they must have existed from eternity and will exist in the future? (2) But man’s condition is far different, as is shown by the alternation of customs and the changes in cities and places. As a result, we indeed daily witness their destruction and the construction of new religions, languages, clothes, and customs, as well as multiple fluctuations in all studies; indeed, it is customary to constantly contrive new things and to destroy the old as tiresome. (3) In the time of our ancestors and today, this city of Milan, mistress and mirror of all Liguria, to which neighboring cities are bound according to an ancient custom, has often been shaken by many upheavals and popular seditions and has been subjected to the yoke of numerous principalities, so that it was at various moments under the rule of kings or of dukes, at times of emperors and not rarely of the people, frequently destroyed and laid to waste and just as often rebuilt afterward, as Fate decreed. (4) Who would be able to count how many changes, how many new customs have emerged year by year? Once, if we give credence to ancient history, this city had a very famous school of the liberal arts, philosophy, and the whole of divine and human wisdom, in which great orators, philosophers, and very famous poets flourished: above all Virgil of Mantua, Catullus of Verona, Pelignian Ovid,2 and in the time of Ambrose, Aurelius Augustinus. (5) In this day and age, however, we suffer

1 Decembrio evidently treats nature more as a semi-personified force than as a modern scientific abstraction, following Aristotle (e.g., Pol. 1256b). 2 The Paeligni were an early Italic tribe who lived in the present-day Abruzzo, and their capital was Sulmona, the birthplace of Ovid (43BC–17/18 AD).

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dolentes agnoscimus; nam illis iam dudum prorsus eiectis et velut in exilium relegatis, artibus dumtaxat fabrilibus et sordidis, que solum corpus, non ingenium agitant, opera ceu rebus maximis adhibetur, tantaque cecitas mentis inest, ut ad vere lucis indaginem oculos attollere non permittat. (6) Unum in tantis malis potest esse solacio, dum urbis huius mutabilitates mecum volvo, ut instar nubilosi etheris et sereni, cuius crebra varietas alternis successibus immutatur, possint prisca tempora *deo aliquo propitio rursus emergere, et hec inveterata vitia iam tandem virtute succedente fatiscere, quibus longa malorum assuetudo habitum dedit, ut iam multis appareat non errare. (7) Olim in ea ora *Italie que nunc *Calabria, tunc *Magna Grecia vocabatur, celebre viguit studium litterarum, in quo *Pythagoras ceterique *pythagorei philosophi floruerunt, inter quos maximus ille *Archytas *Platonis temporibus ingens nomen obtinuit. Nunc adeo est illa mutata condicio, ut nichil minus ibidem quam *philosophia queratur. Fuere item aliis regionibus studia, que prorsus nostris temporibus defecerunt, alibique nunc vigent ubi priscis temporibus viluerunt: sic rerum humanarum est fortuna versatilis, ut desperandi locus nobis etiam nec reliquis mortalibus esse queat, dum animus corporeis mersus illecebris ad viam se erigat rationis. (8) His motus, ut nonnullis forsitan sim exemplo, scribendum aliquid, licet minus apte, proposui de moribus maxime civitatum, in quibus quedam moralia sub dyalogo comprehendi, que quia brevia sunt et ad vite cultum necessaria, non ambigo, a virtutum cultoribus admittentur. Mea etenim parvi refert, quod exercitii mei et bonorum causa constitui, si vulgo vere extimationis erroneo aut invidis ingravescat. Sed ad instituta pergamus.

10 Calabria mg1

16 Fortuna mg2

2 artibus—sordidis] Cic., Off. 1.42.150 9–11 Olim—litterarum] Aug., Civ. Dei 8.2. Cf. Benz., Chron. 24.81–84 11–12 Pythagoras—floruerunt] Cic., Tusc. 4.1.2–3; Fin. 5.29.87. Cf. Petrar., Mem. 1.25.7; Fam. 9.13.13, 13.12.2 12–13 Archytas—obtinuit] Cic., Tusc. 5.23.64; Val. Max. 4.1.ext.1, 8.7.3

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when we assess the [small] extent to which intellect and learning have developed, for these have long been cast out and as if sent into exile, while attention is paid precisely to sordid, artisanal crafts, as if they were great things, when they only exercise the body and not the intellect, and there is so much blindness of mind that it does not allow us to raise our eyes to search for the true light. (6) Among such great evils, only one thing can offer solace in my musings on this city’s changeable fortune, that just as a cloudy or clear sky changes back and forth with frequent variation, the days of old may reappear—by the grace of some god—and that when virtue finally takes their place, these deepseated vices may crumble, vices that long familiarity with evil has rendered so common that many no longer see error in them. (7) Once, in that part of Italy now called Calabria, then Magna Graecia, there thrived a famous philosophical school where Pythagoras and other Pythagorean philosophers flourished, among whom the great Archytas obtained a vast reputation in Plato’s time. Now things have changed so greatly that in that place, nothing is sought less than philosophy. In other regions also, there were schools that at present have completely disappeared, and schools now flourish in other places where in the earliest days they were held in contempt: so changeable is human fortune that it can be a source of despair—for us no less than for any other mortals—so long as our souls, immersed in corporeal allurements, are still raising themselves up toward the path of reason. (8) Moved by all this, in order perhaps to set an example to some, I decided to write something, even if not so fittingly, on the customs of cities in particular, and to include some moral lessons in the form of a dialogue. Because they are brief and necessary for living a cultured life, I am sure that those who cultivate virtue will accept them. Indeed, it is of little importance to me if what I have decided to do for my own exercise and that of good people proves burdensome for the common people (which errs in true judgment) or the envious. But let us proceed to what we have set out to do.

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(1) Diebus forte *Pascalibus *Leo et *Simon ambo Morigie egoque gestationis causa cuiusdam, ut assolet, *delubra Ambrosii almi, huius urbis patroni, visitaveramus et, ut moris otiosorum est, oculis queque lustrantes, inter cetera post verendam patroni illius ymaginem in ecclesie fastigio collocatam, *statuam quandam inspeximus seminudi hominis parieti insertam. De cuius nota cum quererem, *Leo inquit: Leo: (2) “*Herculem ymago ista demonstrat eamque ob rem in adventu novorum *Cesarum pro corona hec *statua prisco more pedibus imperialibus subditur, ut, sicut *Hercules grandi inexhaustaque laborum serie orbis monstra perdomuit *Gadesque imposuit terre terminos ultra quos potis non est cuiquam mortalium preterire, sic imperator *Romanus, mundi dominus, ut se plura quam *Hercules posse significet, hoc signum talaribus subicere consuevit.” Ubertus: (3) Tunc inquam: “Si huius cultum ymaginis considerem, alia profecto opinione detineor. *Bacchi enim, non *Herculis hec censeri verisimilius potest. Nam caprina, ut cernitis, pelle contegitur; audistis enim sepenumero *Bacchum ideo caprum sibi immolandum iussisse, quia vitem morsu trivisse, cuius ille *deus dicitur, sepius compertus est, eaque pelle libenter ornari, cuius fuerat vindicta letatus. (4) *Hercules vero *Nemei leonis tegmine, cuius victoria gloriam assecutus fuerat, libentius fruebatur. Quodque ita credatur, oculos hic seorsum flectite, et ipsius *Bacchi orgia concernetis. Ecce iuvenum lascivorum effigiem videtis cum tirsis frondeis, racemis et uvis onustis, mulieres ebrias capillis effusis rapere, illas vero funalia gestantes ululantesque fugere, sacra trietherica noctis tempore celebrantes.” (5) Et dum alia ad hec pertinentia rursus exponerem, *Simon subiecit:

24 trietherica] triatherica M 4 verendam—collocatam] Petrar., Fam. 16.11.12 21–24 Ecce—celebrantes] Ov., Met. 6.587– 600. Cf. Verg., Aen. 4.302–303; Ov., Rem. Am. 593; Luc. 5.74

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(1) During the Easter season, Leone and Simone Morigia3 and I happened to go for a ride, as people do, and visited the shrine of Ambrose,4 this city’s nourishing patron. Casting our eyes over everything, as is the custom of the idle, we noticed among other things, behind the patron’s venerable image on the church’s baldachin, a statue of a half-naked man, built into the wall. When I asked about its distinguishing features, Leone said: Leone: (2) “This image shows Hercules and therefore, according to ancient tradition, on the arrival of new emperors for their coronation, this statue is put under the emperors’ feet, so that just as Hercules by a great and uninterrupted series of labors subdued monsters and fixed the borders of the earth at Cadiz, beyond which no mortal has the power to pass, so the Roman emperor, the world’s master, to show that he is more powerful than Hercules, was accustomed to put this image under his heels.” Uberto: (3) Then I said, “If I consider this image’s attire, I surely am compelled to hold a different opinion. An image of Bacchus, not Hercules, is what it can more plausibly be judged to be. He is wrapped in goatskin, as you see; furthermore, you have often heard that Bacchus ordered a goat to be sacrificed to him because it had chewed on a vine, of which he is said and has been more frequently found to be the god, and that he gladly wore the skin of that animal on which he had rejoiced to be avenged. (4) Hercules, instead, preferred to use the pelt of the Nemean lion, by victory over which he had obtained glory. And that this may be believed, turn your eyes this way, and you will see the orgies of Bacchus himself. Behold, you see the depiction of lecherous youths with leafy thyrsi, heavy with bunches of grapes, who seize drunken women with unbound hair as they flee, wailing and carrying torches for a nighttime celebration of the sacred triennial festival.” (5) And while I was explaining other things on the same topic, Simone intervened:

3 Both Leone and Simone Morigia appear in contemporary documents: the former earned a doctorate in law from the University of Pavia in 1385 (see Majocchi, Codice diplomatico, 1:105 and 373), while the latter was a student of Gasparino Barzizza, who praises him in two letters (see Gasp. Barz., Op. 1:201–203). In Ms. 23 sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana of Milan—the same codex that contains the De re publica libri IV and other works by Decembrio—there are two letters by Decembrio to Simone and Leone respectively (fols. 234v–235v), showing some similarities with the themes of the dialogue; see Ferraù, “Esemplarità,” 432n2. 4 Note that Decembrio could have said “basilica” and “saint” (sanctus), rather than “shrine” (delubrum) and “nourishing” (almus). As we have already mentioned (see the introduction, section 5.2), this implies that he is deliberately using a classical, pre-Christian vocabulary as a statement about his broader classicizing aims. The translation reflects this distinctive feature of Decembrio’s style.

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Simon: “Miror etenim, cum ita videatur, *christianos permisisse *paganorum *deorum effigies hic templorum parietibus immisceri, quas decuisset potius ut *Romani *Minervam latrinis immergere aut in cloacam aliquam cenosam et sordidam dedecoris causa conicere.” Le.: (6) “Et quod maius dedecus,” inquit *Leo, “*paganis inferri potest, quam huiuscemodi signa his locis intexere, ut possent subinde *christicole luculentius agnoscere ludibria *paganorum, *deos videlicet ebrietatis et temulentie, *deos furoris et insanie magnifecisse, et tanquam conditorem rerum omnium adorasse?” Ub.: (7) “Sic,” inquam, “optime provisum reor. Sed quoniam hic locus pomariis floridis est refertus, cur non imus visere, postquam hiemalibus prolapsis temporibus parietibus dumtaxat ut carceribus inclusi stetimus? Ego potissimum, qui pedum vexatus articulis immotum me inter domesticos parietes multis diebus aliquando contineo.” (8) Ex quo id gratum omnibus visum est. Secessimus in *ortos Ambrosianos, illos, videlicet, quos olim *Iohannes, archiepiscopus celeberrimus et clarissimus *Ligurie dominus, ab aliis ortis maioribus pulcerrima statione secreverat, ibique, dum per longas porticus ambulantes virorem amenissimum vitiumque multarum ordines spectaremus, inquit *Simon: Si.: (9) “En apricum spectaculum et iocundum, iocundiusque multo, si quis solito more philosophico cum aliquibus discendi cupidis de virtute dissereret. Locus enim hic maxime adhortatur, nec puto priscos secus commotos fuisse philosophos, nec, etiam si disputationes inspicimus *Ciceronis, quas in *Tusculano suo nunc ad clepsidram nunc ad alia amena loca fingebat, aliud possumus concipere, quam huiuscemodi amenitatibus irritatos. (10) Itaque si tu, qui plura legisti nosque sepe veterum exempla docuisti, aliqua nunc confabulari cuperes, nescio quo ameniori loco id facere nunc possemus: avium preterea concentus et aeris serenitas invitant ut id fiat.”

23–24 si disputationes—suo] Cic., Tusc. 3.3.6

24 ad clepsidram] Cic., Tusc. 2.27.67

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Simone: “I am amazed, if things are so, that Christians allowed the images of pagan gods to be included here on temple walls, images that it would have been more fitting to throw into the privy or into some muddy, dirty sewer for their dishonor, as the Romans did with Minerva.” Le.: (6) “And what greater dishonor,” said Leone, “could be inflicted on pagans than that of interweaving such images in a place like this, so that worshippers of Christ could then more clearly recognize the pagans’ ridiculousness, namely to have glorified gods of drunkenness and intoxication, gods of furor and folly, and to have adored them as creators of all things?” Ub.: (7) “So it was brilliantly arranged, I think,” I said. “But since there is a place here full of orchards in bloom, why not go to have a look at them, after we have been shut in behind walls during the winter that has gone by just as if we were in prison?5 This is particularly true of me, since I suffer from swollen feet and sometimes have to stay immobile within the walls of my house for many days.” (8) Since that seemed pleasing to all, we retired to the Ambrosian gardens— that is, the ones that Giovanni, a most famous archbishop and a most renowned lord of Liguria,6 once separated off from the other, larger gardens by building a most beautiful residence—and there, while we were walking along the long arcades and contemplating the very pleasant vegetation and the rows of many vines, Simone said: Si.: (9) “Here is a sunny, cheerful sight, even more cheerful if somebody was discussing virtue, in the usual fashion of philosophers, with some eager disciples. This place is highly stimulating, and I do not think that ancient philosophers were inspired otherwise than under the incitement of such delightful places, nor can we conceive of anything different, particularly if we consider Cicero’s disputations, which he depicted as taking place in his villa in Tusculum, at times beside the water clock, at times in other delightful places.7 (10) Therefore, if you, who have read more and have often taught us examples of the ancients, now would like to converse with us about something, I do not know a more delightful place where we could do that: even the birds’ singing and the sky’s clarity are inviting this to happen.” 5 Given Decembrio’s real imprisonment under Facino Cane (see the introduction, section 1), this remark sounds auto-ironic. 6 Decembrio refers to Giovanni Visconti (ca. 1290–1354), archbishop of Milan, co-ruler of Milan with his brother Luchino from 1339 and, after the latter’s death (1349), lord of Milan until his own death. 7 Decembrio alludes here to the locations of others of Cicero’s dialogues, for example, his estates in Tusculum (De oratore, De divinatione) and Cumae (De finibus), his house on the Palatine (Brutus), and Hortensius’s villa at Bauli (Academica).

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Le.: (11) Tum *Leo: “Prevenit me,” inquit, *Simon, “et quod dicturus fueram antevortit: credo edepol quod ante me hodie, ut vulgo dici solet, e strato surrexerit. Itaque boni iam aliquid ordiamur, postquam locus ipse nos admonet et aves canore aerisque serenitas blandiuntur.” Ub.: (12) “Optime,” inquam, “perlocutus est et vere *Simon, cum fabulandum et colloquendum dixit. Verebar enim ne disputationem aliquam efferri iuberet: ea enim philosophorum et doctorum hominum propria, *Grecorum maxime, qui consimilia profitebatur, ut de *Pythagora et *Gorgia aliisque plurimis legimus. (13) Confabulatio vero et sermonis proprietas, iuxta *Catonianum illud, omnibus etiam indoctis traditur. Itaque si uti inter minus eruditos solet, confabulandum est: placet meque offero votis vestris. Proponite et eligite quicquid vobis est gratius, aut unus ex vobis, vel ambo aut ego, vel omnes pariter conferemus, eo usque nos vesper ad cene tempora convitabit.” (14) Dumque hec ad invicem loqueremur, supervenit vir insignis et prestantis *sapientie ac religionis vir, *Manfredus de la Cruce, huius *delubri Ambrosii abbas venerabilis, nonnullis stipatus monacis, qui, visis nobis hilariterque susceptis, inquit: Abbas: (15) “Quis mollis zephirus vos ad hec loca convexit, quos iam diu vidisse non memini? Cupio namque, licet indoctus, scolasticos audire sermones, de quibus, ni fallor, vos colloqui reor. Nam, si vos novi, non ambigo aliquas laudabiles huc attulisse sententias, quas quidem nosse michi solaminis non modici interea dum vacat officium fuerit.”

7 ea—maxime] Cic., Tusc. 1.4.7

9 Catonianum illud] Dist. Cat. 1.10

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Le.: (11) Then Leone said: “Simone has forestalled me and anticipated what I was going to say. By Pollux, I think that, as the common people are accustomed to say, he got up earlier than I did today. So let us start with something good, considering that the place itself is encouraging us, and melodious birds and the sky’s clarity are coaxing us.” Ub.: (12) “Simone,” I said, “spoke very well and truly when he said that we should talk and converse. Indeed, I feared that he would exhort us to start some kind of disputation, something that is the task of philosophers and learned men, particularly Greek ones, who made a practice of such things, as we read about Pythagoras, Gorgias, and many others. (13) Conversation and propriety of speech, on the other hand, according to Cato’s precept, pertain to everyone, even to the unlearned.8 Therefore, if it is a matter of conversation, as is customary among less erudite people, I agree, and I offer myself to your desires. Suggest and choose whatever is more pleasing to you, whether one of you or both or myself or all of us equally should speak, until the evening invites us to have dinner.” (14) And while we were exchanging these observations, a distinguished man, outstanding for his wisdom and devotion, Manfredo della Croce, the venerable abbot of this shrine of Ambrose,9 came upon us accompanied by quite a few monks. After seeing and welcoming us joyfully, he said: Abbot: (15) “What gentle zephyr has led you to these places? I do not remember having seen you for a long time. Indeed, for all my lack of learning, I like to listen to a scholarly conversation,10 which is, if I am not wrong, what I believe you are having. For, knowing you, I have no doubt you were quoting some praiseworthy sayings, the knowledge of which would be no small comfort to me while I am at leisure from my office.”

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10

Note that Decembrio is distinguishing between philosophical disputation, which he claims to be unqualified for, and a humanist or aristocratic ideal of cultured conversation. Manfredo della Croce was an important figure in early fifteenth-century Milan. He was appointed commendatory abbot of Sant’Ambrogio in 1405 by Duke Giovanni Maria Visconti and spoke on behalf of the latter’s brother, Filippo Maria, at the Council of Constance (1415), dying in August 1425. See Petrucci, “Della Croce Manfredo,” 98–99. The Latin adjective scolasticus could also describe a school, university, or Scholastic conversation. This would suggest that Manfredo is mistaking the conversation for a Scholastic disputation, but see immediately below (1.16), where the same character says that Decembrio comes “from Plato’s and Cicero’s workshop and from the school [scola] of many poets and moral philosophers.” It is clear that the words scola and scolasticus must not be understood in a literal sense.

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Ub.: (16) Cui inquam: “Hoc idem nobis multo magis debet esse gratissimum, a te presertim, viro doctissimo et huc felici sorte devecto, urbis parente iuvenes edoceri his moribus quos te longa experientia et maiorum doctrina perdocuit.” Abb.: “Imo,” inquit, “tu *Uberte, qui a *Platonis *Ciceronisque officina poetarumque et moralium plurimorum scola proficisceris, aliquid in medium profer, quo hi iuvenes et ego pariter oblectemur.” (17) Dum ad ista cogitabundus obsisterem, inquit *Simon: Si.: “Quid tempus verbo terimus? Iam pridem mente concepi de re publica hominumque legibus ac moribus, in quibus potissime versatur vita mortalium, aliquid a te clarius breviusque quam a *Socrate penes *Platonem philosophum soleat disputari audire. Quod equidem a te lingue *Grece ac *Latine instructo quique *Platonis *Rem publicam e *Greco in *Latinum transtulisti, commodius explicandum arbitror quam ab alio quopiam urbis huius. (18) Illud etiam mente coniecto his omnibus esse gratissimum, quos *iustitie amor ceterarumque virtutum fulgor illustrat.” Cunque omnes idem uno ore subicerent, inquit *Manfredus: Abb.: “Non potes, etiam si velis, effugere. Quin aliquid de ea re hoc loco et his tibi amicantibus et faventibus dicere moliaris?” (19) Omnesque ad me pariter ora convertunt. Tum vero mente considerans quantum oneris michi incumberet de hac re disserere, instare rogareque magnopere omnes cepi ut alios doctiores exquirerent, qui de re tanta et tam gravi expertius multo et facundius agerent ipsosque et me docerent ignaros quibus moribus quibusque legibus res publica tractaretur. (20) At illi pertinacius instare violentoque potius quam sociali et domestico more agendum putavere. Ub.: “Itaque,” inquam, “vis hec est, quam profecto, ex quo sic arcte me premitis, ruditate ac tedio vindicabo, et sic tandem coactus ad sermonis domestici exordium trepide sum progressus. (21) Postquam de re publica *Simon noster disserendum instituit, de qua apud *Platonem subtilis et admodum prolixa disputatio est apudque eloquentissimum *Ciceronem, cuius libri ultima parte excepta *Somnii Scipionis nusquam hac etate cernuntur, non disputationis loco

27 Incipit tractatus mg1 25 vis—est] Suet., Caes. 82.1

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Ub.: (16) I answered him, “By the same token, we are the ones who should be far more pleased that the young men be taught by you, a most learned man and a father of the city, who was led here by a happy chance, in the customs that you have learned from long experience and the teaching of your elders.” Abb.: “On the contrary,” he said, “you, Uberto, who come from Plato’s and Cicero’s workshop and from the school of many poets and moral philosophers, say something that will be entertaining for both these young people and me.” (17) While I was thinking over his words, Simone said: Si.: “Why are we wasting time chatting? For a long time I have had the idea of hearing you say something about the commonwealth and human laws and customs, in which mortal life mainly consists, more clearly and concisely than one is accustomed to hearing them discussed by Socrates in the works of the philosopher Plato. Since you are instructed in the Greek and Latin languages and have translated Plato’s Republic from Greek into Latin, I judge that you can explain this more conveniently than anyone else in this city; (18) I also conjecture that this will be most pleasing to all who are illuminated by the love of justice and the splendor of the other virtues.” And since all of them agreed with one voice, Manfredo said: Abb.: “You cannot run away, even if you would like to. Why not try to say something about the topic here, to these people who are your friends and are favorably inclined toward you?” (19) They all turned to me with one accord. Then, while I was thinking over the great responsibility such a discussion implied, I started to insistently ask and press them all to seek out other, more learned men who would treat so great and serious a topic with far greater expertise and eloquence and would teach them and me, equally ignorant, by what customs and laws a commonwealth should be governed. (20) But they insisted more stubbornly, supposing that they had to use a forceful attitude rather than a friendly and informal one. Ub.: “This,” I said, “is a use of violence I will surely avenge with my lack of cultivation and tiresomeness, because you are pressing me so much, and so, being finally put under compulsion, I have arrived (not without hesitation) at the start of an informal address. (21) As our Simone has decided on the commonwealth as the subject of discussion, the object of subtle and quite lengthy disputation in Plato’s works and in those of the most eloquent Cicero, whose books—except for the last part, Scipio’s Dream—are nowhere to be seen in our day,11 I will not proceed according to the rules of disputation or order or doc-

11

The remaining books of Cicero’s De re publica would be discovered only in 1819 by the Italian philologist Angelo Mai.

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aut ordinis vel doctrine, ut illi summi viri, sed domestici sermonis collocutione et soluta oratione progrediar, nonnulla illinc maxime decerpta recolligens summatimque describens, ut inter familiares maxime fieri solet, vestro semper fretus auxilio. (22) Et quia a diffinitione omnis rei institutio, ut sapientibus visum est, sumit exordium, quid sit res publica primum censeo finiendum. Res publica itaque nichil aliud michi visa est quam hominum sexus utriusque unum in locum legitima socialisque collectio iisdem legibus et moribus fruentium. Non enim ferarum aut aliorum irrationabilium animalium rem publicam appellamus. Et si plerumque nonnulla similitudo ut in apum examinibus rei publice cernitur, ut in earum congregatione, regum sequella et ipsorum tuitione ac dimicatione conspicitur, mellis preterea et cellarum artificiosa fabrica et mirabili ac pene divino ingenio, ut *Maro noster carmine dulcisono prosequitur, a rationabili tamen et humana re publica longe distat. (23) Virorum itaque huiuscemodi debet esse collatio, nec virorum tantum, sed mulierum etiam, ut mutuo sexus utriusque consortio ea res publica perpetuo aut saltem diutius conservetur. Nota est *Romanorum veterum historia, regnante *Romulo, primis urbis ipsius initiis: dum timeret idem *Romulus ne mulierum defectu sua res publica deperiret, *Consualibus ludis simulatis, quas prius orando habere nequiverat cautis delusit astutiis, ex qua re ingentia subinde cum finitimis bella gesta sunt, que tandem ipsarum interventu mulierum atque blanditiis sunt sopita. (24) Locus est preterea commodus et saluber ab urbium fundatoribus eligendus, stabilis et nature benignitate dotatus, de quo suo loco latius disseretur. Parum etiam loci fortuna prestaret, nisi socialis sit incolentium et amicabilis connexio eisdem legibus et moribus stabilita, ut neque discordie aut seditionis fomenta virescant; sed ad idem velle ac nolle pariter pia et prona intentione festinent. (25) Secus autem, sepe licet ex minima iniuriarum scintillula, seditionis ingens flamma surrexit, ex qua urbes plurime corruerunt. Scitum enim est illud iam tritum sermone proverbium: ‘concordia res parve crescunt, discordia maxime dilabuntur.’ (26) Leges et mores eque constat ab

4 Diffinitio rei publice mg1

17 Romulus mg1

28–29 Salustii mg2

12–13 Maro—prosequitur] Verg., Geor. 4.1–281 16–21 Nota—sopita] Liv. 1.9–13 28 iam— proverbium] Cic., Off. 1.10.33 28–29 concordia—dilabuntur] Sall., Iug. 10.6; Sen. 94.46; Petrar., Fam. 12.2.14; Mem. 3.41.1

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trine, as those towering men did, but by way of an informal conversation in ordinary prose, bringing together more than a few things mainly drawn from those texts and describing them briefly, in the way that is customary especially among friends, and always relying on your help. (22) And since, according to the wise, the teaching of every subject takes its start from a definition, I judge it appropriate to first establish what a commonwealth is. It seems to me that a commonwealth is nothing other than a legitimate and social collection of human beings of both sexes in one place, enjoying the same laws and customs. Let us not call commonwealths the gatherings of beasts or other animals devoid of reason. Even if no small similarity with the commonwealth can generally be noticed, as in swarms of bees, as we can observe in their assembling together, following their kings,12 and protecting and fighting for them, in their skillful production of honey and honeycombs and their wonderful and almost divine intelligence, as our Virgil describes it in his sweet-sounding poem,13 yet it is far distant from the rational, human commonwealth. (23) This kind of gathering should be one of men, therefore, and not just of men but also of women, so that, by the mutual association of both sexes, the commonwealth can be preserved perpetually or at least for a longer period. The story of the ancient Romans during Romulus’s reign, at that city’s first beginnings, is well known: as Romulus himself feared that, due to the shortage of women, his commonwealth could die out, he used the pretext of the Consualia to deceive with a cunning stratagem the women whom he had previously been unable to obtain by asking, from which great wars with the neighboring populations immediately broke out and were finally brought to an end only thanks to the intervention and the flattery of those very women.14 (24) The founders of a city must also choose an advantageous, healthy, and stable place in a favorable natural setting, as will be discussed more extensively in due course. A fortunate place will also be of little benefit if its inhabitants’ union is not a social and friendly one, made stable by the same laws and customs, so that the seeds of discord or sedition may not grow, but instead they all equally hasten to desire and reject the same things with a ready and pious intention. (25) Otherwise, the huge fire of sedition, which has caused the ruin of many towns, has often flared up from even the tiniest spark of injustice. In fact, it is a well-known proverb, already a cliché, that ‘concord makes small things grow, while discord dissolves the largest ones.’ 12 13

14

What we know as queen bees were assumed well into the early modern period to be kings. This is a clear reference to the fourth book of Virgil’s Georgics, dealing with the life and habits of bees, regarded as a model for human society, although bees’ lack of individuality and sexual instinct makes them far inferior to humans. Decembrio refers to Livy’s account of the rape of the Sabine women.

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omnibus uniformiter observari debere. Cernimus ex *Romanis annalibus quot et quam varias pestes tribunicie exciverint potestates, dum contra *ius publicum et antiquas *leges XII tabularum aliasque in conservantiam rei publice a prudentissimis iurisconsultis editas, modo *legem agrariam, modo *frumentariam, nunc *matrimonialem, nunc antiquarum abrogatorias statuebant, dum popularem favorem acquirerent et patricios ac consulares ex urbe depellerent. (27) Hinc bella civilia, socialia, servilia et demum bonorum cunctorum et urbis florentissime et invicte excidia successerunt, quibus nulla unquam arte usque in hec tempora potuit refragari. (28) Preposita itaque diffinitione rei publice, de ipsius origine aliqua dicere aggrediar, si prius pauca que eius sint fundamenta premisero. Fundamentum potissimum rei publice, ut omnibus viris doctissimis visum est et usus agendarum rerum insinuat, est *iustitia, cuius imperio singula rite distribuuntur officia constantique et fixo ordine universa reguntur. (29) Et quanquam sit etiam necessarium simul alias adesse virtutes, *prudentiam videlicet, magnanimitatem atque *modestiam, tamen, quia in hac re publica gubernanda signanter *iustitia exquiritur, de ipsa pre ceteris est mentio. (30) Quemadmodum enim in corporibus nostris licet quatuor complexiones sicut elementa quedam simul insint, quorum temperie incolumitas conservatur, tamen multiplicatione eorumdem alterna sanguineus unus, alter fleumaticus, cholericus reliquus vel melancholicus nominatur; eo modo et de *iustitia dici potest, quanquam et virtutes cetere, sicut suo loco pleniori sermone docebitur, eidem nexu sociabili coherescant. (31) Urbium autem initia propter hominum necessitates originem traxisse compertum est. Nam cum officio unusquisque egeret alterius, nutrimenti videlicet aut habitaculi aut vestimentorum cultus ceterarumque rerum quas hominum vita desiderat in unum locum quam plurimi convenerunt; non enim sibi habitaculum seu vestem parare poterat agricola, nec calceamenta quidem, nisi architectorem, fabrum, textorem, sartorem et cerdonem consocios habuisset, neque illi e converso artibus suis intenti sumere poterant nutrimenta, nisi eisdem suppeditasset agricola. Eadem illa necessitas ceteris gradatim artificiis locum dedit. (32) Difficillimum enim fuisset urbem eo loco statuere ubi sine aliarum nationum aut urbium suffragio sibi ipsa sufficeret, cum locorum nativa condicio diversa rerum genera diversis mundi partibus administret. Hinc est quod alibi ferramenta et metallorum species, alibi grani et vini aut olee copia, alibi aromatum, hic equorum et iumentorum, illic marmorum usus exuberet, adeo ut queque

10–11 De origine rei publice et primo de eius fondamento mg1

22–23 Ortus rei publice mg1

4–5 legem—frumentariam] Liv., Per. 60 5 nunc matrimonialem—abrogatorias] Liv. 4.1.2 11–84.22 Fundamentum—intenderent] Plat., Rep. 369c–371c

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(26) It is equally common knowledge that the laws and customs should be uniformly observed by all. From the annals of Rome we learn how many and how varied calamities were caused by the power of the tribunes, as soon as they— against the public law, the ancient laws of the Twelve Tables, and other laws promulgated by very prudent legal experts to preserve the commonwealth— decreed first the Agrarian Law, then the Corn Law, later the Marriage Law, and afterward laws repealing ancient ones, in order to gain the favor of the people and drive the patricians and men of consular rank out of the city. (27) From this civil, social, and servile wars followed, and finally the destruction of all goods and of that most flourishing and unconquered city, wars and destruction that no art has ever been able to counter even up to our own day. (28) After having set out a definition of the commonwealth, I will say something about its origin, although I will first preface this with a few things concerning its foundations. The most basic foundation of a commonwealth, as all the most learned men have thought and as practical experience suggests, is justice, by the command of which individual offices are properly assigned, and all things are governed according to a steady and unchanging order; (29) and although the simultaneous presence of other virtues is also necessary, namely prudence, greatness of soul, and modesty, nevertheless, since justice in particular is required to govern this commonwealth, it is given special mention. (30) Indeed, even though the four humors or elements, the balance of which keeps us in good health, are simultaneously present in our bodies, it is nevertheless the case that due to their different increase in each individual, one man is called sanguine, another phlegmatic, another choleric or melancholic. The same thing can also be said about justice, even though the other virtues also coexist within the same social bond, as will be shown at greater length in due course. (31) It is well established that the origins of cities stem from human needs. For since each individual had a need for another’s occupation, that is, for the provision of nourishment or a dwelling or garments and the other things desirable for human life, as many of them as possible came together in one place; the farmer could not provide a dwelling or a garment for himself, and certainly not shoes, unless he had a builder, a carpenter, a weaver, a tailor, and a cobbler as fellows, and conversely, neither could they obtain nourishment while being intent on their crafts unless the farmer supplied them. The same necessity gradually carved out a place for other artisans. (32) It would be extremely difficult to establish a city in a location where it would be sufficient to itself without the support of other nations or cities, since the natural conditions of each location provide the different parts of the world with different kinds of things. This is the reason that in one place iron tools and the different kinds of metals abound, in another grain and wine or oil, in another spices, here the use of horses and beasts of bur-

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regio suis dotibus polleat. (33) Opus itaque fuerat mercium conductorum, quos vulgo dicimus mercatores, quorum adminiculo unius urbis supervacua ad reliquas conduceretur, a quibus subinde necessaria civium usibus referentur. Et quia sepenumero maritimo itinere id fieri contingebat, necesse fuit navigium preparari, ad quod agendum carpentariis fabrisque, lignariis et ferrariis indigebant ceterisque fabrorum artibus quas navalia exigunt ornamenta, post hec nautis siderum et terrarum instructis pro navigio gubernando, ne artis inscitia procellis ac fluctibus ventorum turbine mergerentur. (34) Opus preterea fuerat adminiculo iumentorum si terrestri mers ulla adigebatur viatico, per quos redas, currus, bigas, opiliones, agasones, aurigas et huiusmodi animalium domitores instructoresque necessarios esse duxerunt. Porro autem frustra mercimonia conducerent mercatores nisi ipsorum emptores et venditores apparerent, ex quibus pecuniarum usus et forum emersisse verisimiliter opinamus. Rursum etiam pauperes humilesque viri sepe inedia premerentur, nisi minutatim aliqui dispensarent quod tenui licet pecunia queri posset, ex quo revenditoris successit vocabulum. (35) Sunt preterea nonnulli crassi rudisque ingenii, sed virium corporis solidi oneribusque vehendis aptissimi, quos mercenarios vulgus appellat quorumque usus multis efficitur opportunus. (36) Ad hec quia finitimorum pectoribus invidie vel rapine plerumque insurgit aviditas, ne hic populus pacis emulus lederetur nec ab exteris contingeret violari, necessarium fuerat eorumdem aliquos habiliores eligere, qui pro tutela rei publice militantes ceterorum custodie vigilanter intenderent. (37) Verum, quia huiusmodi milites sine armorum suffragio ad tutandam salutem corporum non valerent, fuit expediens armorum magistros et machinarum, balistarum multipliciumque tormentorum artifices adhibere, equorum insuper validorum domitores, marescalcos, frenarios, sellarios, stratarios ferrariosque parare, quorum artibus opportuna singula earum rerum indigis preberentur. (38) Post hec quia pugnando nonnunquam milites vulnerantur ceterique etiam inhermes labore improbo, aut casu fortuito aliquo sauciantur aut alia corporis egritudine detinentur, opus fuit artificio *medicine, cuius ope curata vulnera sanarentur et ab noxiis egritudinibus singuli levarentur salutique pristine redderentur; itaque apothecarios, unguentarios et huiusmodi opifices, qui herbarum et pulverum aquarumque salubria medicamenta conficerent, exinde habere oportuit. (39) Super omnia autem, ne panis humane vite usui necessarius deesset, molendi-

26 marescalcos] merescalcos M 30 Medicina chirogica mg2

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den, there the use of marble, to the point that each region can boast of its gifts. (33) There was thus a need for carriers of merchandise, whom we commonly call merchants, by whose assistance the surplus goods of one city would be carried to others from which those things necessary for the use of the citizens [of the first city] would then be brought back. And since it often happened that this involved a maritime journey, it was necessary for a ship to be prepared, for which carpenters and smiths were needed, workers in wood and iron and practitioners of the other artisan crafts required for naval fittings, and then sailors knowledgeable about the stars and the lands to govern the ship, lest their ignorance drown them amid winds and waves, in the howling of the storm. (34) There was also a need for the assistance of beasts of burden if any merchandise was to travel by land, from which arose a need for carts, carriages, teams of horses, herdsmen, grooms, drivers, and tamers and trainers of these animals. Then, on the other hand, it would be in vain for merchants to transport merchandise unless buyers and sellers of that merchandise appeared, from which we plausibly suppose that marketplaces and the use of money emerged. Again, poor and humble men would often suffer scarcity unless there were some who dispensed in small quantities what could be sought for a small sum, so that they came to be known as retailers. (35) There are also not a few men of dull and coarse intellect, but strong in bodily force and very well fitted to carry burdens, whom the common people call porters and whose use comes as a help to many. (36) Moreover, since envy and the greed for plunder often arise in the breasts of neighboring peoples, it was necessary, lest a people desirous of peace be harmed or abused by outsiders, to choose some of the more skillful among them to act vigilantly as guardians of the rest, serving as soldiers for the protection of the commonwealth. (37) Again, since such soldiers would not have the power to provide bodily protection without the assistance of arms, it was expedient to bring in masters of arms and of armaments, makers of crossbows and of the varieties of military engines, as well as to obtain tamers of mighty horses, masters of horse, makers of bits and bridles, saddlemakers, makers of saddle blankets, and smiths, by whose crafts the appropriate items could be provided to those in need of them. (38) After this, since soldiers were not rarely wounded in the fight, and others also were too weak for heavy labor, whether they were injured by some accident or suffered some other physical illness, there arises the need for medicine, by which tended wounds would be healed and individuals raised up from noxious illnesses and restored to their former health, and hence it was also fitting to have apothecaries, makers of ointments, and artisans of this kind who would make wholesome medicines from herbs and powders and liquids. (39) Above all, however, lest the bread that is necessary for human life be lacking, the equipment of mills, bakehouses, and ovens was invented,

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norum, pistrinorum ac furnorum instrumenta comperta sunt, quorum opera fruges mollite hominum sufficerent nutrimento. Talem fuisse originem arbitror civitatum, talique frugali convictu, custodibusque diligentibus adhibitis, sollicitudine alicuius philosophice gubernantis facili crederem argumento consurgere ac felicitari statum huiusmodi civitatis. (40) Nam, post hec, princeps idem tam erga templorum cerimonias cultumque divinum, cuius illi erit cura precipua quam legum et morum utilium observantiam, tum etiam matrimoniorum sacra vincula et puerorum nutrimenta, quorum processibus civitas ipsa succrescat, taliter se haberet, quod omnis rei publice status, quadam regendi temperie salubrique ordine stabilitus quasi divino nutu, semper pro felici cedere videretur.” (41) Inter hec *Leo subridens: Le.: “Non civitatis,” inquit, “sed ville cuiusdam aut oppidi nobis mores videris explicasse.” Ub.: “Quonam,” inquam, “modo?” Le.: “Quia,” inquit, “nichil decorum aut venustum quo civitas fulgeat ponis, sed rustica ferme omnia et inculta tanquam ferarum, non hominum huiusmodi collectio censeatur.” Ub.: (42) “Intelligo te,” inquam, “turgidam voluptuariamque urbem desideras: tuo te desiderio satiabo. Vera tamen et ea salubris michi videbatur, quam nuper exposui, naturalibus scilicet et propriis ornata deliciis, non iis supervacaneis et blandis voluptatibus, que corporis et animi vigorem miserabiliter extinguunt statumque rerum publicarum evertunt. Quod equidem ut agnoscas, proponam nunc tibi quot et quantis artificiis et laboribus ad explendas inexhaustas libidines opus sit. (43) In hac enim urbe, quam formosam et decoram exigis, tori aderunt atque mense, pocula auro gemmisque conspicua, vasa et signa *Corinthia *Asiaticaque suppellex et *Gallica fercula varia exquisiteque delicie, unguenta, odores et aromatum species innumere, eboris, auri argentique talenta, concubine et pueri in deliciis aliaque innumera, que insatiabilis mortalium appetitus longis erroribus anfractibusque et periculis exquisivit. (44) Aderunt picturate vestes et auro intexte, corone, monilia, picture mirabiles, statue ac signa et huiusmodi cetere inexplicabiles sensuum humanorum illecebre, que omnia in urbe reliqua supervacua videbantur. Itaque in ista quam decoram vocas longe pluribus artificibus opus erit, venatoribus videlicet, pictoribus, marmorariis, argentariis, cellatoribus, pincernis, coquis, farctoribus, pigmentariis, cantoribus et musicis, organorum instrumentorumque omnium artificibus et magistris, comedis insuper, tragicis et figmentorum poetis, barbi13–14 Non—explicasse] Plat., Rep. 372d 20–21 Vera—exposui] Plat., Rep. 373d hac—firmamentum] Plat., Rep. 372d–373d

25–88.13 In

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whereby milled grain is made sufficient for human nourishment. Such, I judge, was the origin of cities, and I would easily be led to believe that it was by such frugal association and with the provision of diligent guardians that such a city arose and prospered under the care of some philosophically minded governor. (40) For after this, the same prince would so bear himself both with regard to the temple ceremonies and the divine cult, which will be his chief care, and with regard to the observance of the laws and useful customs, as well as the sacred bonds of marriage and the nourishment of children, by which the city itself is increased, that the whole state of the commonwealth would seem set for happiness forever, made stable by a certain moderation in ruling and by wholesome order, as if by divine favor.” (41) Leone interrupted with a smile: Le.: “It is not a city,” he said, “but some village or town whose customs you seem to have explained to us.” Ub.: “How is that?” I said. Le.: “Because,” he said, “you mention none of the fitting adornments and beauties with which cities shine, but almost all rustic and uncultured things, as if this was to be supposed a gathering of beasts and not of men.” Ub.: (42) “I understand you,” I said, “you want a city of excesses and pleasures: I will satisfy your desire. Nevertheless, the one I have just discussed also seemed to me a true and wholesome city, namely one adorned by natural and proper delights, not those superfluous and alluring pleasures that miserably extinguish the vigor of body and soul and turn the state of the commonwealth upside down. To make you recognize this, I will now set out for you how many crafts and labors are needed to quench inexhaustible lusts. (43) In this city that you demand to see beautiful and fittingly adorned, there will be beds and tables, goblets shining with gold and gems, Corinthian vessels and seals, Asian furnishings, and various French dishes, exquisite delicacies, unguents, and scents, and innumerable kinds of perfumes, weights of ivory, gold, and silver, concubines and kept boys, and innumerable other things that the insatiable appetite of mortals has sought out through long wanderings and perplexities and dangers. (44) There will be figured garments and garments woven with gold, circlets, necklaces, wonderful pictures, statues, and images, and other such inexplicable snares for human senses, all of which seemed superfluous in the other city. Therefore in this one that you call fittingly adorned there will be need for far more craftsmen, namely for hunters, painters, workers of marble, silversmiths, cellarers, tavernkeepers, cooks, fullers, dyers, singers and musicians, and makers and masters of organs and of all instruments, as well as comic and tragic poets and those who make up their own topics, barbers, bards, actors, contrac

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tonsoribus, rapsodis, hypocritis, ergolabis, medicis etiam multo pluribus. (45) Quo fit ut terra illa que tunc multis nutriendis abunde sufficere putabatur, nunc angusta sit et exigua. Cogentur itaque hi cives crebro ex vicinorum parte detrahere ut eorum satient voluptates, quibus ex rebus bellorum discordiarumque semina pullulabunt, pluribusque militibus maiorique opus erit exercitu dum ad se ipsos externas opes rapere molientur. Que cum ita sint, utrum harum urbium stabilior salubriorque videatur ipse diiudica. (46) Aliud etiam nunc tecum versa, quod nunquam inter eos amicabilis potest esse contextus qui ad voluptatum capturam pariter gradiuntur. Hinc enim ambitiones seditionesque mortifere emergunt, quibus facillime rei publice status evertitur. Nichil enim perniciosius in observantia *iustitie quam cum emolumenti sui gratia alter alterum studeat violare, aut vafris fraudibus vel insidiis capere et involvere, que quidem, ut predixi, est solum rei publice firmamentum.” Si.: (47) “Credo equidem,” inquit *Simon, “ita esse ut dicis. Sed quia *iustitiam rerum publicarum facimus fundamentum, quero a te quid ipsa sit. Nam ferme ab omnibus diffinitur eam esse fidem alteri datam servare et cuilibet quod suum est reddere, cuius contrarium sepe comperio: veluti si penes me sane mentis quispiam gladium deposuerit, deinde insaniens repetat, iniquissimum videretur in ea re servare *iustitiam et sibi rem suam reddere, ex qua mente raptus se ipsum forte perimeret, quinimo longe equius arbitrarer tali *iustitie contraire. (48) Ad hec etiam, quia sepe ex rigore *iustitie reperitur iniquitas, ius pretorium est inductum, quo circumventis aut lesis pia providet equitate; quo fit ut summum ius summa iniuria nominetur trito sermone proverbio.” Ub.: (49)Dum ad hec aliquid dicere me pararem, subiecit *Leo: Le.: “Debitum reddere cuilibet nemo potest, o *Simon, nisi debite reddat et commode. Itaque si ille gladii depositor insaniens repetat, non dando potius videris servare *iustitiam, quia incommode et inepte eo tempore cum insaniret proculdubio redderetur, et per consequens nec debite, quo verisimiliter

7–9 Nota mg1 16–17 fidem—reddere] Ulp., Dig. 1.1.10 17–21 veluti—contraire] Plat., Rep. 331c; Cic., Off. 3.25.95 22–23 ius pretorium—equitate] Papin., Dig. 1.1.7 23–24 summum—proverbio] Cic., Off. 1.10.33 26–90.1 Debitum—posset] Plat., Rep. 331c; Cic., Off. 3.25.95

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tors, and also many more doctors. (45) Hence the land that once was supposed sufficient for the abundant nourishment of many is now narrow and scant. These citizens are therefore forced repeatedly to take away from their neighbors’ share in order to satisfy their desires, as a result of which the seeds of wars and discords will sprout, and there will be need of more soldiers and a larger army when they set out to plunder foreign wealth for themselves. Since this is the case, judge for yourself which of these cities seems more stable and more wholesome. (46) Consider also something else, that there can never be friendly relations among those who set out together to seize pleasure. From this arise ambitions and deadly seditions, by which the state of the commonwealth is very easily turned upside down. There is nothing more pernicious for the observance of justice, which (as I have said) is the commonwealth’s sole foundation, than when one strives to abuse another for the sake of personal gain or to trap and entangle him in sly frauds or snares.” Si.: (47) “I do believe,” Simone said, “that it is as you say. But since we are making justice the foundation of commonwealths, I ask you what it is. It is defined by almost everyone as upholding a pledge made to another and rendering to each his own, the contrary of which I often find to be the case: for example, if someone deposits a sword with me while he is in his right mind and then asks for it back while he is insane, it would seem extremely iniquitous to uphold justice in this matter and render to him his own, with which he would perhaps destroy himself, being out of his mind. Rather, I would judge it much more equitable to oppose justice of that kind. (48) Moreover, since iniquity is often found to result from the rigor of justice, the praetor’s discretion was introduced to provide in pious equity for those defrauded or harmed, giving rise to the clichéd proverb that maximum justice is maximum injury [summum ius summa iniuria].”15 Ub.: (49) While I was preparing myself to say something in response to this, Leone replied: Le.: “No one can render what is owed to anyone, Simone, unless he renders it in the way in which it is owed and conveniently. So if that man who deposited a sword asks for it back when he is insane, you rather seem to be upholding justice by not giving it to him, since undoubtedly, a sword by which he could plausibly be harmed as a consequence of his insanity would be inconveniently and inappropriately rendered to him at that time when he was insane, and con

15

The proverb “summum ius, summa iniuria” is quoted from Cicero’s De officiis (1.10.33) but is attested in a slightly different form in Terence: “ius summum saepe summa est militia.” Heaut. 4.5.

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sua insania ope gladii ledi posset. (50) Nec unquam in sede *iustitie iniquitas non plusquam in bonitate malitia et in albedine nigredo conspicitur. Sed ita vulgo plerumque asseritur, quia lex *iustitie generaliter promulgatur, cui quandoque si equitas videatur opponi, non tamen a *iustitie propterea limite deviabit, cuius est constans et perpetua voluntas neminem ledere et ius suum unicuique tribuere.” Ub.: (51) “Verum,” inquam, “ais, *Leo, quod ut lucidius innotescat ex hoc licet intelligere: non est profecto viri iusti quempiam ledere; nam ex lesione peiores iniustioresve homines redderentur. Cum itaque *iustitia humana virtus existat, iustos non crudeles aut impios ex ea fieri necesse est. Sicut enim *medicina medicos et *musica musicos facit, sic et *iustitia iustos et sanctos efficiat necesse est. (52) Caloris enim non est effectum frigefacere nec siccitatis humetare, imo contrarii, nec bonitatis utique malignare. *Iustitia autem est bona, non ergo eius officium fuerit amicum seu malivolum ledere, sed potius efficere iustiorem. (53) Ut autem de ipsa *iustitia rogationi *Simonis satisfaciam, sic eam censeo diffiniri: ‘*iustitia est constans et perpetua animi voluntas, cuique quod proprium et suum est tribuens,’ cuius virtutis robore omnia civitatis officia stabili ordine conservantur, fides inviolabiliter custoditur et amor cunctorum civium amoris nexibus continetur.” Hoc loco *Manfredus, abbas venerabilis, qui hucusque tacitus sermonem nostrum admiserat, hac *iustitie diffinitione veluti expergefactus fari cepit, ut solet, molliter ac facunde. Abb.: (54) “Laus hec,” inquit, “*Uberte, quam *iustitie asseris tribuendam, non modicum me facit ambiguum; utque dubietatis mee causas lucide pernoscas, non sit grave tibi meum etiam sermonem accipere. Quero enim ex te, cum tria genera bonorum esse dicantur, unum animi, quod est summum, corporis alterum, quod est medium, bonorum alterum externorum, que in fortune esse dicimus potestate, quo in genere hanc *iustitiam vis locari. (55) Vel, si accuratius fortasse me loqui desideras, cum in animo etiam ipso tria bonorum genera collocentur, unum quod per se ipsum sine optione sequentium diligitur et optatur, ut est letari et innocuis voluptatibus frui; aliud, quod sui causa et propter illa que ab eo secuntur exposcimus, sicut videre, sapere et corporea perfrui sanitate; tertium, quod quidem sui causa minime cuperemus, quippe cum anxium et laboriosum existat, sed propter commoda que ab eodem postmo 19 amoris] amoreis M 16 Diffinitio Iusticie mg1 12–15 non est—iustiorem] Plat., Rep. 335d 23–92.32 Laus—observat] Plat., Rep. 357a–359c

16–17 iustitia—tribuens] Ulp., Dig. 1.1.10

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sequently it would not be rendered to him in the way in which it is owed. (50) Nor is iniquity ever to be seen in the seat of justice, any more than malice is to be seen in goodness or black in white. But this is often asserted by the common people, because the law of justice is promulgated in general terms, and if sometimes equity seems to be opposed to it, it nevertheless does not stray from the bounds of justice, which is the constant and perpetual will to harm no one and to render to each his right.” Ub.: (51) “You speak truly, Leone,” I said, “and to make that even more evident, let this be understood: it really does not pertain to a just man to harm anyone, for by suffering harm human beings are rendered worse or more unjust. Since human justice is a virtue, therefore, it is necessary that the just not become cruel or impious as a consequence of it. Just as medicine makes men doctors [medicos], and music makes them musicians, so also justice necessarily makes them just and holy. (52) Heat does not have the effect of making things cold, nor dryness that of making them moist, but rather the contrary, and neither, certainly, does goodness have the effect of making them malign. Justice is good, however; therefore it will not be its office to harm friend or foe, but rather to make them more just. (53) In order to satisfy Simone’s question about justice, however, I hold that it is to be defined this way: ‘justice is the constant and perpetual will of the soul to render to each one what is proper and his own,’ by the strength of which virtue all the ranks of a city are preserved in a stable order, trust is inviolably upheld, and the love of all the citizens is maintained through friendly bonds.” At this point, as if roused by this definition of justice, Manfredo, the venerable abbot, who up to now had been silently listening to our conversation, began to speak, mildly and eloquently, as was his custom. Abb.: (54) “This praise, Uberto,” he said, “which you assert to be due to justice, is more than a little unclear to me; in order that you may clearly perceive the reasons for my doubt, let it not be a hardship to you to hear my words also. I ask you, since there are said to be three kinds of goods—one pertaining to the soul, which is the highest; another to the body, which is intermediate; and another to external goods, which we say are in Fortune’s power—among which of these you mean to locate justice. (55) Or if you perhaps would like me to speak more precisely, since three kinds of goods are also assigned to the soul itself—one that is loved and chosen for its own sake without thought for what follows, like joy and the enjoyment of innocent pleasures; another that we espouse for its own sake and on account of those things that follow from it, like sight, wisdom, and the enjoyment of bodily health; and a third that we indeed scarcely desire for its own sake, since it is accompanied by anxiety and labor, but that we embrace on account of the benefits that later ensue from it, like

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dum subsecuntur amplectimus, sicut maris navigatio, pecuniarum acquisitio, ulcerum sectio medicatiove et exercitium aliquod, ex quo premia forte opulenta sequantur. Quo in genere ut predixi hanc *iustitiam collocares?” Ub.: (56) “In optimo,” inquam, “quod propter ipsum et eiusdem sequentia coleremus.” Abb.: “Forte,” inquit, “ipse deciperis, nec tua talis opinio a pluribus servaretur, qui verisimilius extimarent ex laboriosa boni specie oriri *iustitiam, nec propter bonum proprium, verum propter ea commoda que oriuntur ab ea coli ac diligi ab hominibus solere.” Ub.: “Scio,” inquam, “illud idem a pluribus iudicari, sed sum fortassis crassioris ingenii, qui a communi mente dissentio.” Abb.: (57) “Ego quidem,” inquit abbas, “minime tecum opinione discordo, sed tot et tanta circumstrepentia ac repugnantia ex adverso considerans, hesitare interdum cogor; etenim que contra afferantur a plurimis si vacat intellige. Primo enim hinc sapientes astruunt originem sumpsisse *iustitiam, qui iniuriari quidem impune licere bonum fore arbitrati sunt quidam: iniuriam vero pati malum putavere, maiori autem malo iniuriam pati excedere quam bono iniuriari. (58) Itaque cum hec ad invicem homines agerent paterenturve et ambo bonitatis ac malitie vires experirentur, visum est opere pretium ad invicem convenire, non iniuriari videlicet neque pati, et hinc legum statuta cepisse, quarum mandata aut consulta *iustitiam vocavere, et hanc tanquam obstaculum medium inter agentes patientesque iniurias posuere, ne a potentiore videlicet quis indebite premeretur, cum naturam sciamus potentioris existere si impune liceret libenter offendere. (59) Quinimo si speraret idem semper sibi impune licere neque a quopiam ledi, nequaquam sese legum aut *iustitie nexibus illigaret nec ad ipsarum observantiam conveniret. Et hec est, *Uberte mi, natura *iustitie pariter et origo; ipsam autem exercentes commendantesque non amore *iustitie, sed iniuriandi impotentia conducuntur, quod quidem invite agerent, si iniuriandi hererent dumtaxat potestatem. Quodque ita sit, multis exemplorum ymaginibus possumus demonstrare. (60) Primum enim, quis ad iniuriandum potens existens manus continet et *iustitie munus observat? Notum est illud *Anacharsis, philosophi probatissimi, qui aranearum telas legum vinculis comparabat: sicut enim ille muscarum et vermium minutissimorum retinaculis apte sunt, fucorum autem et scabronum incursionibus prorsus inutiles, sic iste leges humiles et miserabiles alligantes potentiorum 32 Anacharsis] Anatarsis M 32 Anatarsis mg1 32–94.1 Notum—lacerantur] Val. Max. 7.2.ext.14

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sailing the seas, acquiring money, the surgical or medical treatment of ulcers, and some activity from which rich rewards might follow—in which category, as I said, would you place this justice?” Ub.: (56) “In the best one,” I said, “that which we cultivate for its own sake and for what follows from it.” Abb.: “Perhaps,” he said, “you are deceived, and neither is an opinion like yours held by many, who would judge it more plausible to place justice among the laborious kind of goods and would say that it is not customarily cultivated and loved by men on account of its own good, but on account of the benefits that arise from it.” Ub.: “I know,” I said, “that many judge it to be so, but I am perhaps duller of mind, and I dissent from the common opinion.” Abb.: (57) “I indeed,” the abbot said, “scarcely disagree with you, but considering how much noise and revulsion come from the other side, I am yet forced to hesitate; so hear, if there is time, the arguments advanced by many on the other side. First, the wise ascribe the origin of justice to the fact that some held it good to be permitted to inflict injuries with impunity but supposed it an evil to suffer injury, and that suffering injury was a greater evil than inflicting injury was a good. (58) Therefore, since men inflicted these things on one another or suffered them, and they experienced the force of both good and evil, it seemed worthwhile to make an agreement with one another, namely neither to inflict injuries nor to suffer them, and from this the establishment of laws began, the commands or counsels of which they called justice, and this they set up as an obstacle between the doers and sufferers of injury, namely lest someone be improperly oppressed by one more powerful, since we know that it is the nature of the more powerful gladly to offend if he may do so with impunity. (59) Rather, if he hoped that he would always be permitted to do the same with impunity and not be harmed by anyone, he would never bind himself by the bonds of law or justice nor agree to observe them. And this, my dear Uberto, is both the nature and the origin of justice. But those who practice and commend it are moved not by love of justice but by inability to inflict injury, doing what they would indeed do unwillingly if they yearned all the same for the power to inflict injury. That this is the case can be demonstrated by looking at many examples. (60) First, who being able to inflict injury holds back his hand and observes the offices of justice? It is well known that Anacharsis, a most highly regarded philosopher, compared the bonds of law to spiderwebs: just as the latter are suitable nets for flies and the tiniest of worms but are simply useless against the incursions of bees and beetles, so the laws, binding the humble and miserable, are shredded by the impetus of the more

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impetibus lacerantur. (61) Quis est preterea tam sanctus aut innocens, ut si phas sit eidem impune vel occulte aliquid de alieno surripere, aut iniuriandi ad libitum prestetur occasio, non illud agat, quinimo etiam cupide moveatur? Quo fit ut non amore *iustitie, sed commodi solius causa potius homines adducantur. (62) Si enim *achates ille lapis pretiosissimus, quo fretum *Troianum *Eneam nonnulli referunt sepe multas invisibilem lustrasse provincias, in potestatem iusti hominis perveniret, aut anulus ille *Gygis, quem *Plato fabulatur eundem hiatu terre facto in equo eneo repperisse ac de manibus cuiusdam magni et vetusti cadaveris detraxisse, ex eoque invisibilem redditum visibilemque prout extra vel intra manus volam gemmam ipsius anuli convertebat, cuius postea adiutus beneficio, rege *Lydie ope etiam regine extincto, regnum occupavit, quid ipsum ab iniusto viro differre arbitrareris? (63) Nullum profecto eorum cerneres in *iustitia permanere, cum utrique pecunias ex publico rapere impune liceret et coire cum qua cuperet muliere interficereque et solvere quosque vellet equalemque *deo inter homines uterque ageret potestatem; atque hoc signum vehemens existeret quod nullus sponte sed coactus est iustus, tanquam hoc bono *iustitie per se ipsum nullo existente, sed utilitatum que ab ea secuntur, cum iniuriari potens ab iniuriis, dum id impune vel occulte valeat, non desistit, multo magis iniustitiam prodesse concipiens. (64) Quinimo, si quis huiuscemodi rapiendi commodam haberet facultatem, nec raperet aut anuli beneficio uti contemneret, stolidissimus atque insulsus ab hoc scientibus putaretur. Non itaque ipsa *iustitia, sed ipsius existimatio vel opinio commendatur, veluti si quis interrogaretur a quopiam an iustus existens potius eligeret per omnem vitam scelestus et impius reputari quam iniustus et crudelis ab omnibus ceu iustissimus commendari, non ambigo omnes ferme opinioni potius quam essentie partem eligere apparereque potius quam veram et occultam virtutem *iustitie possidere, quod equidem de videndi audiendique potentia non sentirent. (65) Nam si quis rursus rogaretur utrum cecus esse

5 Achates lapis mg2

7 Giges mg2

5–6 achates—provincias] Verg., Aen. 1.174; Serv., Ad Aen. 1.174; Fulg., Verg. Cont. 92.19. Cf. Guid. Col., Hist. 26 7–12 anulus—occupavit] Plat., Rep. 359d–360b; Cic., Off. 3.9.38. Cf. Ambros., Off. 3.5.30; Petrar., Mem. 4.24 12–22 Nullum—putaretur] Plat., Rep. 360b–d

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powerful. (61) Who, further, is so holy or innocent that if he is permitted to pilfer something from another with impunity or in secret, or if he is given an opportunity to inflict injury as he pleases, he would refrain from doing it and not rather seek it eagerly? Hence men are moved not so much by love of justice as by reason of gain alone. (62) For if that most precious agate by which many say that Trojan Aeneas often invisibly traversed many provinces16 came into the power of a just man, or that ring of Gyges that in Plato’s tale he found in a bronze horse, after a cleft had opened in the earth, and took from the hands of a great and ancient corpse, that rendered him invisible and visible according to whether he turned the ring’s jewel into or away from his palm, and by the aid of which, when the king of Lydia was dead with the queen’s help, he subsequently occupied the kingdom: in what would he differ from an unjust man, in your judgment? (63) You would find that neither one remained just at all, since it would be possible for each to plunder money from the public treasury with impunity and to sleep with any woman he desired and to kill and to release from bonds whomever he wished; each would act among men with a power equal to that of God, and this would be a strong sign that no one is just spontaneously but by coercion, as if there were no good in justice in itself but only in the useful things that follow from it, since someone who is able to inflict injury does not refrain from doing so while he has the power to do so with impunity or in secret, but considers injustice much more profitable. (64) Rather, if someone had this kind of easy opportunity to plunder and did not plunder or disdained to make use of the ring’s benefit, he would be considered extraordinarily stupid and a fool by those who knew about it. It is not justice itself, therefore, but the reputation or opinion of justice that is commended. For example, if someone were asked whether he would rather choose to be reputed wicked and impious for his whole life while being just, or to be unjust and cruel while being commended by all as extremely just, I have no doubt that almost all would choose the reputation rather than the essence and the appearance rather than the possession of the true and hidden virtue of justice, which is not how they would feel about the power of sight and hearing. (65) For if someone were again asked 16

This confusion between the name of Achates, the inseparable friend of Aeneas in Virgil’s epic poem, and the magic virtues of the agate gem (Lat. achates), described in Pliny the Elder’s Historia naturalis (37.5.139–142) and Isidore’s Etymologiae or Origines (16.11.1), was not rare among medieval authors, as is evident in a passage of Guido delle Colonne’s Historia destructionis Troiae: “Hunc lapidem sapientes achatem appellant, in insula Sicilie primo repertum. Et hunc Heneam scripsit Virgilius gestavisse cum primum invisibiliter Cartaginis pervenit ad ⟨h⟩oras, de quo sic dixit: ‘Graditur fido comitatus Achate’ [Verg., Aen. 1.312].”Hist. 26. This legend clearly led Decembrio to associate the agate with the story of the ring of Gyges in Plato’s Republic.

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mallet et cunctis acute inspicere videretur, vel potius limpidis extare clarisque luminibus cecus cunctis apparens, non dubito virtutis contrarium comprobari eligive, quodque longe potius sana lumina ceterosque sensus corporeos mallet: opinarentur homines quicquid vellent. (66) Quo fit, ut paulo ante dicebam, *iustitiam hanc virtutesve alias ex eo genere bonorum esse quod laboriosum est, quodque propter sequentia commoda solum appetitur, non autem propter se ipsum, sicut experientia manifestat. Iusti vero et iniusti differentiam quoad vitam si volemus faciliter poterimus iudicare, si neque ab iniusto nequitie neque a iusto quicquam *iustitie minuemus, sed utrumque perfectum ad suum exercitium statuerimus. (67) Iniustus quidem primum ad instar boni aget artificis, vel ut summus gubernator aut medicus quique in eorum artibus possibilia et impossibilia cognoscentes, impossibilia pretermittunt, et, si in aliquo fortassis errarent, sufficerent emendare; sic et iniustus iniurians, ne iniustus videatur, simulat atque latet. (68) Nulla enim capitalior iniustitia iudicatur, quam cum sub boni viri specie malitia aut insidie conteguntur. Itaque perfectissimam iniustitiam iniusto censeo tribuendam, qui ut verus hypocrita opinionem pro se ferens *iustitie, nequitie virus spargit; sique errat in aliquo corrigit, facundus audaxque persuadere credentibus, si quid forte de suis publicetur iniurus violareque si eidem opportunitas prebeatur, ad quod agendum amicorum sociorumque suorum subsidia non deerunt. (69) Ex adverso iustum statuamus virum generosum ac simplicem non videri, sed bonum esse cupientem et per consequens ignotum, pauperem et inhabilem et ferme omnibus in contemptum habitum, plusque verisimiliter infamie quam fame habiturum, licet idem ex prava opinione minime crucietur. Quero ex te quis horum tandem exibit e vita felicior, an hic malignus et nequam iustus apparens, an hic verus *iustitie cultor habitus infamis et negligens? (70) Qui fortassis tali opinione captata quod iniustus infamisve credatur, verberabitur aut torquebitur, cunctaque malorum genera perpessus calamitose et infeliciter morietur, ad ultimumque cognoscet non oportere iustum esse hominem, sed putari. (71) Illud etiam accipe quid potest opinio, apparentem etenim iustum sepe facit in civitatibus principari uxorarique magnifice altiusque filias si quas habuerit collocare, negotiari insuper inter hominesque fidelius contrahere versarique et utilitatem pre aliis occupare iniuriandi sibi prebita facultate, ad honorum certamina gradientem privatim et publice vincere, adversariis plus habere ex omnibusque conquirere et ad se rapere. Quo fit ut habilior fiat amicis prodesse et inimicos

11–12 ut summus—cognoscentes] Plat., Rep. 360e 17–19 sique—prebeatur] Plat., Rep. 361b 26–29 Qui—putari] Plat., Rep. 361e–362a 29–98.4 Illud—predicarent] Plat., Rep. 362b–c

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whether he would prefer to be blind and seem to everyone else to have excellent sight, or would rather have clear and sharp eyes while appearing blind to everyone else, I do not doubt that he would approve or choose the contrary of virtue and that he would far prefer to have his eyes and his other bodily senses healthy, and let men think what they will. (66) Hence, as I said a little while ago, this justice and other virtues are in that category of goods that are laborious and are desired only on account of the benefits that follow, not for their own sake, as experience shows. We can indeed, if we wish, easily judge the difference between the just and the unjust man as far as their lives are concerned, if we lessen neither the unjust man’s iniquity nor the just man’s justice, but suppose that each one is perfect in the exercise of his virtue or vice. (67) The unjust man will first act like the good one by artifice, or like the best of governors or doctors and those who since they know what is possible and impossible in their crafts, set aside the impossible and, if they perhaps err in anything, suffice to remedy their own mistakes; likewise the unjust man who inflicts injury will dissimulate and hide his actions lest he appear unjust. (68) Nothing is judged to be a more capital injustice than when malice or deceit are cloaked under the appearance of a good man, and so I hold that the most perfect injustice is to be ascribed to the unjust man who, as a true hypocrite, spreads the virus of iniquity while having the reputation of justice for himself, and if he errs in anything, he corrects himself, eloquent and bold to persuade those who believe him that he is the injured one if perhaps some deed of his becomes public, and to commit abuse if given the opportunity, for which he will not lack the aid of his friends and associates. (69) Conversely, let us establish that a just man is a generous and simple man who desires not to seem good but to be so, and who is consequently unknown, poor and unfit and held in contempt by almost all, and likely to see more infamy than fame, even if he is scarcely tormented by evil opinion. I ask you, which of these will ultimately leave his life the happier man, the malignant and iniquitous one who appears just, or the true cultivator of justice who is held to be infamous and negligent? (70) One will perhaps be beaten or tortured, if an opinion that believes him unjust or infamous takes hold, and having been struck by evils of every kind, will die in disastrous and unhappy circumstances and in the end will acknowledge that it is necessary not for a man to be just but to be supposed so. (71) Consider also what opinion can do, which often causes one who appears just to rule in cities and make a magnificent marriage and settle his daughters, if he has them, in high places, and also to do business and to make contracts and deal more faithfully among men and invest his profits better than others by virtue of his capacity to inflict injury, to be privately and publicly victorious when entering into contention for honors, to have more from his adversaries and gather more together from

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offendere, ad hec etiam *deo posse hostias et sacras cerimonias facere multo uberius quam iustum et sic amicabiliorem *deo fieri; quibus ex causis quoad deum et homines potiorem iniusti quam iusti vitam omnes merito predicarent. (72) Preterea vero an putas quos ad iuris et *iustitie studia a patribus mitti vides, amore intuituque *iustitie an emolumenti potius cuiusdamque lucrose mercature transmitti? Notum est illud vulgatumque carmen: Dat *Galienus opes et sanctio *Iustiniana: ex aliis paleas, ex istis collige grana.

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(73) Non profecto *iustitia, sed illius opinio ex qua opes queri possint expetitur. Contractibus itaque et iudiciis ac obligationibus, testamentis et legatis, fideicommissis ceterisque actionibus que in hominum litigiis sepius obversantur, multo ardentius et acutius insistitur quam iuris origini philosophorumque doctrine ac prudentissimorum iurisconsultorum rationibus et motivis, qui iuris illius sacratissima fundamenta ad salutem et communionem tutandam humani generis invenerunt. (74) Ex quo certissimum redditur *iustitiam non per se ipsam appeti, sed propter commoda potius que secuntur. Possem ad hec etiam plura subicere, sed vespertinum me vocat officium, ad quod campanarum sonitus me impellit, quamobrem sermonis mei hos iuvenes successores instituo.” Et his dictis se ad delubra divertit. Ub.: (75) Tunc, ad hos conversus, inquam: “Quid vos disputationis huius dicitis successores? An abbatis nostri sermo vos satiat, vel aliud quicquam seorsum forsitan cogitatis?” Le.: “Enimvero,” inquit *Leo, “michi vera esse profecto videntur que abbas idem de opinione *iustitie eiusdemque opinionis commodis facunde disseruit, et ut me secum convenire cognoscas, audi, queso, que michi dum his proximis annis in hac urbe litigio contigerunt. (76) Nosti hanc iudicum turbam in foro obversantem, quam collegium nominamus: horum nonnullis causam quandam commiseram, que licet clara et aperta michi ⟨et⟩ etiam rudioribus videretur, eam tamen tot cavillationibus et involucris turbavere, ut ex re minima

27 litigio] litigo M

29 ⟨et⟩ etiam] etiam M

28 Collegium Mediolani mg2

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all and plunder more for himself. Hence he becomes more capable of benefiting his friends and offending his enemies, and moreover able to offer God sacrifices and sacred ceremonies far more abundantly than the just man and so make himself more worthy of God’s friendship, for which reasons all would deservedly preach that the unjust man’s life is preferable before God and men to the just man’s. (72) Further, do you truly suppose that those whom you see sent by their fathers to study law and justice are moved by love and admiration for justice, or rather by love for gain and a certain lucrative line of business? It is a well-known and popular song that says, Galen gives wealth, and so does Justinian’s sanction: gather chaff from the others, grain from these.17 (73) It is not really justice that is desired, but a reputation for justice by which wealth can be sought. Therefore contracts and judgments and obligations, wills and legacies, trusts and other actions that come up more often in litigation among men are far more ardently and acutely studied than the origin of law and the teaching of the philosophers and the arguments and motives of the most prudent legal specialists, who invented the most sacred foundations of that law to watch over the welfare and communion of mankind. (74) From this it most certainly follows that justice is desired not in itself but rather on account of the benefits that follow from it. I could also add more, but I am summoned by the vesper office, to which the sound of the bells is calling me, and so I designate these young men as the heirs of my words.” And having said this, he went off to the shrine. Ub.: (75) At that point, turning to them, I said, “What do you say as heirs of this disputation? Has our abbot’s speech satisfied you, or do you perhaps have a different opinion?” Le.: “Indeed,” Leone said, “those things really seem true to me that the abbot eloquently set out concerning the reputation for justice and the benefits of that reputation, and so that you may acknowledge that I agree with him, please hear what has happened to me in litigation in this city in recent years. (76) You know that crowd of judges who appear in the forum, whom we call the college: I committed to no few of them a certain case that, although it seemed clear and obvious to me and even to those less learned, they nevertheless clouded with so many cavils and intricacies that within a short time, it had gone from a trivial

17

This proverb, also quoted by Poggio Bracciolini in a letter to Francesco, bishop of Acqui (Pog., Ep. 1:132), dates to the twelfth century; see Kuttner, “Dat Galienus.”

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et clarissima, anceps et dubia, lapsu pauci temporis, redderetur. Mores enim hi iudices quorumdam retinent medicorum, qui sepe divitum student vulnera improbo medicamine dilatare, quo longa curatione et graviori morbo premia ampliora suscipiant. (77) Itaque, ut ad causidicos meos redeam, quod una hebdomada commode poterat meo iudicio declarari, in biennium produxerunt, nec adhuc finis ultimus datus est. Eadem hec in causis plurimorum etiam sepe percepi. Que quidem satis conspicua signa sunt non *iustitie aut alicuius virtutis, sed profectus et commodi ratione homines promoveri. (78) Ad opes cuncti ferme prona intentione festinant, ad *sapientiam pauci; virtutem solum laudant et verbis extollunt, facto vero et opere auri et argenti reliquias prosecuntur. Iacet igitur *philosophia, cunctarum scientiarum mater, quia opes illa non queritat, sed expellit, et animi solius vigorem excitat ad virtutesque perducit; *iuris civilis *medicineque scolis insistitur non propter scire, sed quia corporeis voluptatibus pabulum uberius administrant. (79) Vulgaris etiam non parum opinio confert, que solos divites predicat esse felices a *deoque et hominibus honorari ac diligi, prodesse etiam posse quamplurimis, quod pauperibus non contingit; templa preterea et sanctorum domicilia ab his alta et decora constitui, aras strui, hostias immolari, elemosinas impendi, ad que omnia paupertas etiam iustos et misericordes facit inhabiles. Ad hec insuper, si quid impii crudeliter administrent, opibus suis freti deum placant eisdemque propitium immolationibus reddunt. (80) Quo fit ut inquirant fortunam divitibus secundam pauperibus semper adversam, longeque plura bona opulentis impiis licet et iniustis quam pauperibus innocuis *deo volente contingere. Sortilegi etiam atque vates ostia divitum frequentant, quos solos potentes et celebres censent, tenues vero esse infelices et miseros. (81) Cum hec itaque, *Uberte, tot et tanta de malitia recitantur, quam *deus et homines magni pendant, quid iuvenum animos opinamur acturos, eorum maxime qui ingenio acutiores sunt? Nonne dicent ad se ipsos *Pindaricus illud carmen: ‘*Iustitie ne ardua scandam menia, an tortuose fallacie me ipsus circummuniens facilem vitam agam?’ (82) Iusto enim existenti si non apparet nullam utilitatem adesse concerno, labores

4–5 hebdomada] ebdemoda M 8 ad opes mg2

28 pindarus mg1

23–24 Sortilegi—frequentant] Plat., Rep. 364b 25–104.12 Cum hec—potestas] Plat., Rep. 365a–367d 28–29 Iustitie—agam?] Pind., ap. Plat., Rep. 365b. Cf. Cic., Att. 13.38.2

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and very clear matter to an ambiguous and doubtful one. These judges keep up the custom of certain doctors, who often strive to extend the wounds of the rich by dishonest medicine, so that they receive more ample rewards from a lengthy cure and a more serious infection. (77) In this way, getting back to my pettifoggers, they dragged out for two years what in my judgment could comfortably have been declared in a week, and it still has not reached a final end. I have also often observed the same in many people’s cases. These are sufficiently clear signs that men are moved not by justice or any virtue but by profit and benefit. (78) Almost all strive for wealth, few for wisdom; they merely praise virtue and extoll it in words, but in fact and in deed they follow the trail of gold and silver. Philosophy, the mother of all branches of knowledge, therefore lies prostrate, because it does not seek after wealth, but expels it and excites the vigor of the soul alone and leads it to virtue; the schools of civil law and medicine are filled not for the sake of knowledge but because they supply more abundant fodder for bodily pleasures. (79) No small contribution is also made by the common opinion that preaches that only the rich are happy and honored and beloved by God and men, and that they are also able to benefit the greatest number of people, which is not the case of the poor, and to raise up and fittingly adorn the temples and the houses of the saints, to build altars, offer sacrifices, and give alms, all of which poverty prevents even the just and the merciful from accomplishing. Moreover, if the impious handle some affair with cruelty, they rely on their wealth to placate God and render him propitious to them by offerings. (80) Hence they seek after Fortune, favorable to the rich and always contrary to the poor, and it is permitted, God willing, that far more good things come to the impious and unjust wealthy than to the harmless poor. Fortunetellers and soothsayers also frequent the gates of the rich, whom alone they consider powerful and prominent, while they consider the weak unhappy and miserable. (81) So, Uberto, since so many and such things are reported about malice, pondered by God and great men, what do we suppose will move the souls of young men, especially the cleverer ones? Will they not recite to themselves those lines by Pindar, ‘Rather than scale the arduous ramparts of justice, will I not lead an easy life by surrounding myself with a wall of twisted fallacy?’18 (82) Someone who is just gets no profit from it, as I see it, if he does not appear just, but rather

18

This quotation is taken from the second book of Plato’s Republic (365b): πότερον δίκᾳ τεῖχος ὕψιον ἢ σκολιαῖς ἀπάταις ἀναβὰς καὶ ἐμαυτὸν οὕτω περιφράξας διαβιῶ; However, Pindar’s lines (fr. 231 Snell–Maehler), also reported by Cicero (Ep. 13.38.2), end with ἀπάταις, while the rest is said by Adeimantus; cf. Shorey, Plato, 1:135–137: “ ‘Is it by justice or by crooked deceit that I the higher tower shall scale’ and so live my life out in fenced and guarded security?”

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potius et dispendia manifesta, iniusto vero opinione habita probitatis beata vita ac divina peragitur. Cum itaque opinari, ut sapientes asserunt, virtutem violet et felicitati imperet, ad hanc est protinus divertendum. Opinione enim virtutis indutus vulpem astutam et variam vafro pectore conservabo. (83) ‘At non facile’, dicet quispiam, ‘pravitas latet’: respondebitur multa sunt latendi diverticula coniurationesque et conspirationes extant. Sunt et persuasionum magistri, quos vocitant oratores, contionalem iudicialemque rationem tradentes, quibus partim persuadendo, partim violando nulla iniuriarum supplicia patiar. (84) ‘At deum’, inquies, ‘non latebis;’ sed aut ipsi *deo nulla humanorum cura consistit, ut nonnullis placet, et sic nichil pene supererit, aut si humana negotia procurabit, ut prudentes inquiunt, *deus ipse sacrificiis hostiisque vel piis supplicationibus mollietur et placabitur. Quapropter iniuriandum fuerit et cerimoniis quicquid commissum impie fuerit expiandum, iusta enim agentes illesi a *deo evadent, sed lucra iniuriarum perdent, quod iniuste agentibus non continget. (85) ‘At infernis suppliciis iniusti post funera torquebuntur:’ varia sunt sapientum iudicia. Sunt qui animam cum corpore pariter extingui asserunt; sunt qui post defunctum corpus illam vivere etiam arbitrantur. Primi supplicium neque premium prestolantur, ceteri astruunt deum esse placabilem et benignum. (86) Quibus omnibus collatis, quis modus erit honorare *iustitiam? Cui acquirendarum rerum habilitas insit faventisque fortune prosperitas et non potius deridendum putet quoscunque ipsam noverit commendare? Quinimo si quis etiam posset falsa que dixerim demonstrare, magnam tamen erranti in his veniam exhiberet, noscens quod nisi quis natura pene divina egre iniurietur aut propter *sapientiam fortassis abstineat, nemo sponte fit iustus, sed aut imbecillitate defectus aut senio vel impotentia iniuriandi innocuus, iniustitiam reprehendit; sed si iniuriandi facultas prebeatur, a malignitate non abstinet. (87) Quibus ex omnibus nulla causa commendationis *iustitie relinquitur, nisi propter opiniones divitiarum et munerum honorumque et commodorum reliquorum que ab eadem emergere iudicantur; nec sufficienter satis a quoque

23 quod] que M

25 defectus] defetus M

4 vulpem—conservabo] Archil., ap. Plat., Rep. 365d. Cf. Pers. 5.117 Cic., Tusc. 1.9.18

16–17 Sunt—arbitrantur]

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gets labors and visible costs, while an unjust man with a reputation for probity has a blessed and divine life as his lot. So since reputation, as the wise assert, abuses virtue and commands happiness, it is this to which one’s efforts should be continuously directed. Garbed in a reputation for virtue, I will be able to hold a sly and changeable fox to my cunning breast. (83) ‘But it is not easy for depravity to hide,’ someone will say: there are many byways to hide in, will be the reply, and plots and conspiracies exist, and there are also the masters of persuasion, called orators, who teach disputatious and judicial arguments and whom I will not see punished for their injuries as they go about partly persuading, partly abusing. (84) ‘But,’ you will say, ‘you will not hide from God’: but either God takes no care for human affairs, as more than a few think, and so this will scarcely make a difference, or else if he does take an interest in human matters, as the prudent say, he will be appeased and placated by sacrifices and offerings or pious supplications. Consequently, it will be appropriate to inflict injury and to expiate by ritual anything done impiously, for those who act justly do get away unharmed by God, but they lose the profits gained by injury, which is not the case for those who act unjustly.19 (85) ‘But the unjust will be tortured after burial by infernal punishments’: there are various opinions about this among the wise. Some affirm that the soul is extinguished together with the body, some that it lives even after the body’s demise. The former expect neither punishment nor reward; the others suppose that God is benign and easily placated. (86) Considering all these things, how will justice be honored? What man who has the ability to acquire things and the prosperity of Fortune’s favor will not rather suppose worthy of mockery those whom he knows to commend it? Rather, even if anyone could demonstrate the falsity of what I have said, he would nevertheless easily pardon the error, recognizing that unless someone is bitterly injured by an act of nature (which is almost divine) or perhaps abstains on account of wisdom, no one becomes just spontaneously, but reprehends injustice when either weakened by feebleness or rendered harmless by age or inability to inflict injury; if the opportunity to inflict injury arises, however, he will not abstain from doing evil. (87) After all this, no reason to commend justice remains, unless on account of the supposed riches and offices and honors and other benefits that are held to come from it, and neither could it ever be sufficiently shown by anyone what justice and the other virtues are capable of

19

Decembrio seems to be alluding here to the book of Job (see esp. 22:23–25 and 36:26–33). It should be noted that the humanist quoted from the book of Job in a letter to his friend Antonio da Vimercate (undated, but written after March 4, 1420). For the letter’s text, see M, fols. 224v–225r.

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unquam potuit edoceri quantum per se ipsa *iustitia cetereque virtutes possent. Quod quidem si factum fuisset, non ambigo easdem virtutes hominibus plus venerationis afferre, multoque avidius a singulis cuperentur iniustique caverent alteri manus inferre, iniuriandi etiam prebita potestate. (88) Hec et multa alia contra *iustitiam predicantur, que prolixitas ne sim tedio fari vetat. Propterea cum fatearis et velis de summo bonorum genere esse *iustitiam, illo videlicet quod propter se et sequentia ab eo commoda coli debet, quale est videre, audire, valere et sapere et quecunque alia naturalia non opinabilia bona sunt, tuum nunc erit officium contra predicta disserere, nosque in tua opinione firmatos a vulgi erroribus separare, *iustitiam in suo robore conservando iniustitiamque damnando opinionibus vulgarium protinus ablegatis, sive lateat sive cunctis appareat *iustitie iniustitieque potestas.” Ub.: (89) Cum hec audivissem, licet ad idem longe plura consimilia crebro audisse meminerim, mente versans quam ceca opinione contra veritatis lucem vulgaris passio traheretur, licet insufficiens, motus fui aliqua respondere. Itaque inquam: “Mirum quidem vehementer michi visum est, o *Leo, quod, tot iaculis undique repercussus a vera opinione *iustitie non aliquando deflexeris. (90) Nam, tot rationibus accuratissime per te dictis, possem facilem capere coniecturam te ex vulgari opinione consistere, nisi mores tui michi iamdudum noti in contrarium adducerent. Vita enim tua iniuriarum abhorrens et semper moderata et honesta vulgaribus longe ab erroribus te iudicat discrepare. Ex quo tibi soli et huic *Simoni supervacuum putarem suadere quantum *iustitia cetereque virtutes illius comites polleant. (91) Sed ut ceteris illud etiam constare queat, fideliter nec minus simpliciter attemptabo nonnulla contra communes afferre sermones, que quidem amicabiliora esse non sum nescius veritati. Ergo itaque ut cunctis esse queat mea clarior explicatio, opere pretium credidi paulo altius verba repetere et tanquam veritatis prenuntia nonnulla premittere. (92) Enimvero, si rerum naturarum omnium contemplamur, cernimus evidenter quantum humana species ceteris animalibus antecellat: ea enim muta et irrationabilia prona cervice terram veluti altricem parentemque propriam intuentur, in eaque versantur nutriunturque solis appetitibus innitendo. (93) Homo autem, qui divine rationis est particeps, elata fronte celum unde ortum ducit ac sidera speculatur, prorsus suapte natura terrena despiciens, nisi quantum corporis sufficiant nutrimento. Ex quo dote rationis rationabile animal nuncupatur. Ad hec corporis forma a ceteris animalibus longe distat. Nam

23–26 Iusticie defensio mg2 18–20 Nam—adducerent] Plat., Rep. 368a 1.47 29–33 ea enim—speculatur] Ov., Met. 1.84–86

28–29 si rerum—antecellat] Cic., N. D.

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in themselves. If this were done, indeed, I do not doubt that these same virtues would bring men more veneration and would be much more eagerly desired by individuals, and the unjust would beware of raising their hands against others, even when they had the power to inflict injury. (88) These and many other things, which my fear of growing tedious prevents me from mentioning, are preached against justice. Therefore, since you declare and claim that justice is a good of the highest kind, namely one that should be cultivated for its own sake and for the sake of the benefits that follow from it, like sight, hearing, strength, wisdom, and other undisputed natural goods, it will now be your duty to argue against what has been said and, having convinced us of your opinion, free us from the errors of the common people, preserving justice in its vigor and condemning injustice once the common people’s opinions have been set aside, whether the power of justice and injustice is hidden or is apparent to all.” Ub.: (89) When I heard these things, although I remembered having repeatedly heard far more in the same vein on the same topic, turning over in my mind how the passion of the common people is drawn by blind opinion against the light of truth, I was moved to present some arguments in reply, even if an insufficient one. So I said, “It has indeed seemed an amazing wonder to me, Leone, that being struck by so many darts from all sides, you do not sometimes deviate from the true opinion of justice. (90) From all the arguments you have most accurately set out, I could easily derive the conjecture that you held the common opinion, were it not that your conduct, long known to me, indicated the contrary. Your life, holding injuries in abhorrence and always modest and honorable, shows you to be far from the errors of the common people. Hence I would suppose it superfluous to persuade just you and Simone here how powerful justice and the other virtues that are its companions are. (91) But to make this clear to others, I will attempt, faithfully and no less simply, to put forward some considerations against the common way of speaking, considerations that I know to be on closer terms with the truth. Therefore, to make sure my explanation is clearer to all, I believe it worthwhile to take up the subject on a slightly higher plane and preface it with some matters that may serve as heralds coming before the truth. (92) Indeed, if we contemplate the nature of all things, we evidently see how superior mankind is to the other animals: mute and without reason, they gaze with bent necks on the earth as on their nurse and proper parent, and they wander about on it and are nourished by relying on their appetites alone. (93) Man, on the other hand, who shares in divine reason, meditates with lofty brow on the heavens from which he takes his origin and on the stars, wholly despising earthly things by his own nature, except to the extent that those things are necessary as nourishment for the body. From this gift of reason, he is called a rational animal. Moreover, his bodily form is far

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illa productis ferme capitibus et silvestri ritu edita, ore sparso atque lato, villis hirsutis tecta vel plumis aut squamis cernimus. (94) Hominem autem proceriori forma, capite spherico et rotundo, ore exiguo ad loquendi usum potius quam edendi disposito (cuius locutionis illa sunt expertia), candido nitidoque corpore bipedem intuemus, risibilem lacrimabilemque prout eundem letitia vel meror impulerit, ratione autem intellectuque divino super omnia paulo minus ab angelis se extollit. (95) Nam animalia que diximus reliqua natura instruente perdocta, ex quo statim orta sint, constitutionem suam norunt ad eamque singula nature ipsius fabrica conferuntur. Quid timeant aut sequantur, quid fugiant appetantque, quomodo vitam agant, quo aere ciboque fruantur, quibus occultentur latibulis aut nidis insideant, quibus artibus vitam querant, quibus se protegant armamentis natura docente cognoscunt. Homo autem ab initio rudissimus nature eiusdem opificio procreatus, divino fretus ingenio cuncta prosequitur et lapsu exigui temporis recognoscit, ut qui paulo ante rudis, mutus, ignarus rerum omnium videbatur, eloquens illico, ingeniosus et artifex mirandus in omnibus que agere ratione instituit comprobatur. (96) Hac rationis potentia vir iste cunctis animalibus principatur, partimque tanquam adminiculo adiumentoque sui utitur, que iumenta ideo censuit nominanda, partim vescitur suoque fruitur nutrimento; nonnulla vero aliorum venatibus vel aucupiis aut custodie causa domesticat, adeo ut ferme nulla eorum portio ab hominum famulatu et imperio libera censeatur, ut omnia propter hominem creasse naturam possit quisque percipere. (97) Hac, inquam, ratione bona a malis, a virtutibus vitia, honesta a turpibus separavit, quid utile, quid inutile experiendo discendove cognovit. Inter cetera se ipsum suique fabricam didi-

20 aucupiis] ancupiis M

23 separavit] seperauit M

5 bipedem] Boeth., Consol. 5.pr.4.108 7–16 Nam—comprobatur] Tho. Aq., In Phys. 3.5.15. Cf. Ioh. Gal. Vic., Ep. ad Ant. de la Scala 887–888 22–108.5 Hac—perquirit] Tho. Aq., Sum. Theol. 1a2ae.91.2, 94.2

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distant from that of the other animals. We observe that they have rather elongated heads and are brought forth after the manner of the forest, with freckled and broad faces and covered with thick fur or feathers or scales. (94) Human beings, on the other hand, we see to be more upright in form, with a round and spherical head, a small mouth more suited for speaking than for eating (which speech other animals lack), and a pale and elegant body, standing on two feet, capable of laughter and of tears as they are moved by joy or sorrow, but by reason and divine intellect exalted above all things to little less than the angels. (95) The other animals whom we have mentioned, taught things by nature as their instructor, know their constitution as soon as they are born and apply nature’s various products to it. What they fear or follow, what they flee and desire, how they live, what airs and foods they enjoy, in what dens they hide or on what nests they roost, by what arts they seek their livelihood, by what armaments they protect themselves: it is by nature’s teaching that they know these things. Man, on the other hand, initially procreated in the rudest of states by that nature’s Maker, relies on divine intelligence to obtain all things and come to know them within a brief period of time, so that one who a little while ago seemed rude, mute, and ignorant of everything now proves to be eloquent, ingenious, and a marvelous craftsman in all things he has chosen to do by reason.20 (96) It is by virtue of reason that man rules over all the animals, either using as an aid or help [adiumentum] to himself those that he for this reason named beasts of burden [iumenta]21 or eating them and enjoying them as their nourishment; others he domesticates for hunting or fowling or standing guard, to the point that almost none of them can be considered free from human control and command, so that anyone can see that nature has created all things for man’s sake. (97) By reason, I say, man has separated good things from evil ones, vices from virtues, honorable things from shameful ones; by experience or instruction, he has recognized what is useful and what is not. Among other

20

21

This idea clearly echoes Thomas Aquinas’s commentary on Aristotle’s Physics (3.5.15), but Decembrio could have combined it with a letter written by Gian Galeazzo Visconti to Antonio della Scala, lord of Verona, on April 21, 1387, which opens with a similar statement: “Natura … tela ipsis mutis animalibus diversaque pugnandi genera paraverit. Unde quosdam cornibus arietare docuit, quosdam colaphis cedere, quosdam morsibus et dentibus oppugnare, et quosdam frontatis invadere spiculisque, quosdam missilibus offendere, quosdam ungulis lacerare, et ut cetera taceamus armis ingenita quosdam munivit. Quod fit ut et aciem struere et multitudinem congregare atque disponere ipsa instruente natura didicerint, hominem siquidem tanto prolatius prodidit quanto ratione et iudicio contra iniuriantes pre ceteris instruxit.” Ioh. Gal. Vic., Ep. ad Ant. de la Scala 887–888. Decembrio alludes to the supposed etymology of iumentum (draft animal, beast of burden) from adiumentum (help, assistance). Cf. Giov. Balbi, Cathol. fol. 205r.

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cit contemplari, ad quod videlicet natus sit, quid animus, quid mens, quid memoria, quid ratio, quid intellectus existat, quid divine sortis assumpserit, quantum ceteris animalibus presit, quid illis, quid sibi conveniat, in quo orbe consistat, quisque illi imperet et quibus regatur ordinibus inquieta sollicitaque mente perquirit. (98) Quid preterea natura iubeat aut vetet, quid supervacaneum ducat explorat, utrum animus defuncto corpori supersit an pariter extinguatur ubique vivendo permaneat nosse non desinit. Nichil enim divine est invium rationi: hac enim cuncta meditando prosequitur, vera a falsis, seria a fictis, honesta a turpibus, dura a mollibus, utilia ab inutilibus, lucida a fuscis, bona a malis exterminat. (99) Hinc virtutum omnium origo primaria que a viri vocabulo nomen ducunt. *Prudentia primum, que in rerum cognitione consistit, quam *φρόνησιν *Greci vocant, vel *sapientia, quam *σοφίαν appellant, cuius virtutis quidem est proprium divinorum humanorumque veritatem nosse, ut nichil dubium eidem obscurum vel ambiguum relinquatur. Deinde *iustitia, *δικαιοσύνη *Greco vocabulo nominata, que singulis quod proprium et suum est tribuit, omnia constanti regula inflexibilique disponens parique officio universa ministrans. Tertio loco *modestia, quam *Latini plerumque *temperantiam, *Greci *σωφροσύνην vocavere, que modum certosque terminos rebus imponit, ut abiectis extremis media teneantur. Hominum hec mores regulat, verecundiam servat, vitam ordinat, incessus, gestus, cultus, incolatus et demum omnes animi corporisque processus certa vivendi formula moderatur. Quarto magnanimitas, quam nos *fortitudinem, *Greci *ἀνδρείαν appellant, que maxime concernitur in adversis dolorumque et tormentorum cruciatuumque omnium tolerantia opumque et rerum externarum despicientia que fortune imperio gubernantur. (100) His etenim virtutibus vir ornatus, vere vir rationaleque ac divinum animal dici potest. Secus autem necesse in vitam ac mores transeat belluarum, que solum ad explendas corporis voluptates appetitusque reliquos bestiales intendunt. Hinc virtutum loco vitia surrepunt, quorum morbo animi corporisque interitus subit. (101) Quid enim, per deum, turpius ignorantie cecitate? Quid abiectius qua humana mens, tenebrosis erroribus implicita tetra veluti fucata caligine veritatis desinit lumen agnoscere? Quid verecundius quam falli et decipi? Quid abominabilius quam nescire bene aut male quid faciat, quid animo aut corpori expediat ignorare, quidve pro-

12 φρόνησιν] φρονεσην M ‖ σοφίαν] σοφυαν M σωφροσϊνην M 22 ἀνδρείαν] Ανδείαν M

15 δικαιοσύνη] Δϊκαιοσινη M

18 σωφροσύνην]

5–7 Quid—desinit] Cic., Tusc. 1.16.36 8–10 vera—exterminat] Cic., Tusc. 5.39.114 10–25 Hinc—gubernantur] Plat., Rep. 427d–434c; Cic., Off. 1.43.153 23–25 que maxime—gubernantur] Cic., Off. 1.20.66 29–110.14 Quid enim—refragatur] Cic., Leg. 1.19.51

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things, he has learned to contemplate himself and his making, namely for what purpose he was born, what soul he has, what mind, what memory, what reason, what intellect, what share of divine fortune he has received, how much he is superior to the other animals, what is appropriate to them and to himself, and in what world he lives, and he inquires with an unquiet and solicitous mind who commands it and by what orders it is ruled. (98) Further, he explores what nature commands or forbids and what it reckons superfluous, and he does not cease to investigate whether the soul survives the body’s demise or is extinguished along with it, and where it remains if living. Nothing is impenetrable to divine reason; by it man pursues all things in meditation, distinguishing the true from the false, the serious from the feigned, the honorable from the foul, the hard from the soft, the useful from the useless, the light from the dark, the good from the evil. (99) This is the first origin of all virtues, which take their name from the word for ‘male’ [vir]. First is prudence, which consists in the knowledge of things, which the Greeks call φρόνησις, or wisdom, which they call σοφία, and to which it pertains to know the truth of divine and human things, so that nothing may be left obscure or doubtful. Next is justice, δικαιοσύνη in Greek, which renders to each what is proper and his own, disposing all things by a constant and unchangeable rule and administering all things by an equal duty. In the third place is modesty, which the Latins often call temperance and the Greeks σωφροσύνη, which imposes measure and definite limits on things so that the extremes are rejected and the moderate middle can be upheld. This virtue regulates human behavior, preserves a sense of shame, orders life, and moderates gait, gesture, worship, residence, and all other processes of the soul and the body with a certain rule of life. Fourth is greatness of soul, which we call fortitude and the Greeks ἀνδρεία, which is chiefly found in adverse circumstances and the tolerance of sorrows and anguish and all torments and in despising wealth and external things that are governed by Fortune’s command. (100) A man [vir] adorned with these virtues can truly be called a man [vir] and a rational and divine animal. Otherwise, let him necessarily shift to the life and conduct of the beasts, who aim only to satisfy the body’s pleasures and other bestial appetites. In place of virtues, they follow vices, by which infection death comes to body and soul. (101) What, by God, is more foul than the blindness of ignorance? What is more abject than that a human mind entangled in shadowy errors, noisome, and as if lacquered in darkness, ceases to recognize the light of truth? What is more shameful than being mistaken and deceived? What is more abominable than not knowing what one does either well or ill, being ignorant of what is expedient for soul or body, or what is profitable or

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ficiat vel offendat, vera an inania vel devia prosequatur, quod quidem *prudentia manifestat? (102) Quid porro immanius nequitia nocendi iniuriandique cupidine? Quid fraude scelestius, rapina violentius, ambitione miserius, *tyrannide truculentius, cupiditate alienorum avarius, discordia indignius, infidelitate odiosius excogitari potest? Horum omnium scelera virtus *iustitie detestatur et ab animo rationabili prorsus eliminat. (103) Preterea autem, quid bestialius dici potest sequella appetituum plurimorum? Quid ciborum repletione, quid crapula et ebrietate sordidius, voluptate damnosius, gulositate vilius, luxuria fedius, temeritate furiosius, excessu omni reprehensibilius noscitur, que omnia *temperantie decus pulcrificat et venustat? (104) Demum autem, si magnanimitatis excellentiam cogitas, quid timore ignavius, gemitu tristius, fletu deformius, tergiversatione contemptius, clamore dementius, subiectione pusillius, opum custodie paventius, quibus omnibus animus magnificus imperiose admodum refragatur? (105) Que cum ita sint, quis erit ille vir, doctrina aliqua preditus, qui virtutum fulgorem opum et divitiarum tenebris non preponat, qui honesti decus pre turpitudine non honoret, quis, nisi demens et stolidus, vir non mallit esse quam bellua? Quid enim, oro vos, inter hominem differt et bestiam, luce rationis extincta? (106) *Circeam fabulam non ambigo vos audisse, qua venefica formosaque mulier infecto herbis tabificis aut carminibus poculo homines vertebat in belluas. Poculum enimvero illud, si verum fabelle significatum inspicimus, insanam amoris libidinem explicat, qua ceci iuvenes involuti veris pecudibus similantur. Hinc et illud promulgato vulgi colloquio evenit, quod rabientem canibus, voracem lupis, rapacem tigribus et leonibus, sordidum suibus, levem et instabilem avibus, pigrum asinis, simplicem columbis agnisque, vafrum vulpibus methaforice comparamus. (107) Cuperem nunc ut *Manfredus abbas hic esset, ut suam in his sententiam quereremus. Profecto non dubito quod vulgi opinionibus non hereret, quanquam mecum tamen fateretur concordiam se habere sed multorum plerumque clamoribus distrahi; non enim me probaturum spectaret ulterius in summo bonorum genere sitam esse *iustitiam ceterasque virtutes, cum ex premissis ita esse evidenter agnosceret.”

4–5 infidelitate] infedilitate M

13 custodie] custode M

18 Circes mg1 18–22 Circeam—similantur] Verg., Aen. 7.10–14; Serv., Ad Aen. 7.10–14; Verg., Aen. 8.70; Cic., Div. in Caecil. 17.57. Cf. Aug., Civ. Dei 18.17–18

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offensive, what true or foolish or deviant things are pursued, which prudence reveals? (102) What, indeed, is a more enormous iniquity than the desire to harm and injure? What can be thought of that is more wicked than fraud, more violent than plunder, more miserable than ambition, more truculent than tyranny, more greedy than desire for others’ goods, more unworthy than discord, more hateful than infidelity? The virtue of justice detests all these wicked deeds and entirely eliminates them from the rational soul. (103) Further, however, what can be mentioned as more bestial than the consequences of many appetites? What is known that is more sordid than being stuffed with food and than hangovers and drunkenness, what more damnable than pleasure, more vile than gluttony, more foul than lust, more insane than temerity, more reprehensible than every excess, all of which things the decorousness of temperance makes beautiful and attractive? (104) Again, if you consider the excellence of greatness of soul, what is more cowardly than fear, sadder than moaning, more unattractive than weeping, more contemptible than wavering, more demented than crying out, more puny than subjection, more frightened than the custody of wealth, to all of which the great soul is commandingly and utterly opposed? (105) Since this is the case, who is that man who, provided with some instruction, will not prefer the light of virtue to the darkness of wealth and riches, who will not honor fitting decorousness before foulness, who—unless he is demented and stupid—will not prefer to be a man rather than a beast? What, I ask you, is the difference between a human being and a beast, once the light of reason is extinguished? (106) I am sure that you have heard the story of Circe—how this beautiful enchantress turned men into beasts with a goblet infected by poisonous herbs or by songs. That goblet, if we examine the fable’s true meaning, signifies the mad longing of love, by which blind youths entangled in it are made like true cattle. This is also why it is that, in a manner of speech widespread among the common people, we metaphorically compare the raving to dogs, the voracious to wolves, the rapacious to lions and tigers, the sordid to pigs, the flighty and unstable to birds, the stubborn to donkeys, the simple to doves and lambs, and the cunning to foxes. (107) I wish that Abbot Manfredo were here now, so that we could ask him for his view on this. Indeed, I have no doubt that he would not cling to the opinions of the common people; he would confess that he was in agreement with me but was distracted by the clamor of many and of the majority; he would not expect me to prove further that justice and the other virtues belong in the highest category of goods, since he would evidently recognize this to be the case from what has been said.”

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Le.: (108) Ad hec *Leo: “Sic equidem esse confido. Nullum enim reor tam imbecillis ingenii qui id neget, rationibus his adductis. Sed vulgaris opinio, in contrarium stabilita, sapientum quorumdam adiuta testimonio nonnunquam adigit dubitare.” Ub.: “Sic est,” inquam. “Sapientes tamen non sunt putandi qui vulgi opinionibus inherescunt, cuius mos est contraria et incerta longe plus quam certa et stabilia commendare. Quo fit ut scite admodum dicatur a sapientibus: ‘Vitate que vulgo placent, que casus attribuit.’ Procellosis enim ac volubilibus semper anfractibus vulgus fluctuat, turbidi maris instar, quod ventorum sepe rabies horribiliter agitat et impellit. (109) Sapientis autem mens stabili nititur fundamento placidaque et quieta tranquillitate letatur, unum semper volens quod honestum, quod bonum decorumque sit abhorrens contraria turpitudinemque devitans. Quamobrem sepe compellor hominum dementiam admirari, ut, cum sciant animo, sese corporeque constare, corpusque nichil esse nisi vaginam animi, cui instar servi temporanei famulatur, cur tantopere solius corporis curam agant illiusque appetant voluptates, animi vero nobilioris curam negligant, cuius vigore animal et rationale dicitur. (110) Si enim audire aut oculis intueri corporeis prelegeret quam opinionem contrariam ceterorum et idem de reliqua incolumitate membrorum, quanto magis animi lumina salubria velle pre singulorum erroribus optandum existeret! Lumina etenim animi, quid aliud quam virtutes expositas iudicamus? Que sana esse multo plus quam corporea cupere quisque debet qui sane mentis extiterit, existiment opinenturve homines quicquid velint. Si ergo *iustitia animi lumen est, ut patet, eligeret quisque sapiens potius illam inviolatam incolumemque servare, sive aliis notum vel ignotum sit aut iniustus etiam reputetur, quam iniustitiam fovens falso iustus ab omnibus iudicari. (111) ‘At,’ inquis, ‘verberabitur, torquebitur, ligabitur infamabiturque.’ In his enim omnibus sapientis et iusti animus non plus offendetur quam solis claritas, si quando interiectis nubibus obscura nostris reddatur aspectibus: impassibilis enim est animi prudentis conditio. (112) ‘At,’ inquies, ‘infamis protinus morietur.’ Respondeo quod illi tantundem infamia fuerit quantum fama, dummodo mentis tranquillitas ei constet, quam quidem ceu rem pretiosissimam atque pulcerrimam illesam inviolabilemque servabit. Illud multo magis erroneum deputo existimare, vitam iniusti potiorem esse quam iusti pluraque infortunia iustis *deo etiam 18 prelegeret] preeligeret M M 1–4 Nota mg1

21 expositas] expoitas M

24 incolumemque] incolumenque

31 Conscientia mg2

7–8 Vitate—attribuit] Sen., Ep. 1.8.3

14–15 corpusque—animi] Plin., H. N. 7.52.174

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Le.: (108) Leone replied, “I likewise trust that this is so, for I suppose that no one is so feeble-minded that he would deny it, having heard these arguments. But the common opinion, which firmly asserts the contrary with the assistance of the testimony of some wise men, is more than a passing cause of doubt.” Ub.: “That is so,” I said. “Nevertheless, they are not to be considered wise who adhere to the opinions of the common people, whose practice it is to commend contrary and uncertain things far more than certain and established ones. As a consequence, it is indeed knowledgeably said by the wise, ‘Avoid those things that please the common people, those things that Chance brings forth.’ The common people are ever tossed about by tempestuous and changeable variations, after the manner of the swollen sea, which is often horribly agitated and driven by the raging of the winds. (109) The mind of the wise, however, rests on a stable foundation and rejoices in quiet tranquility, always willing one thing, whatever is honorable, whatever is good and fitting, abhorring the contrary and turning aside from foulness. For this reason, I am often compelled to wonder at men’s madness, why it is that—although they know that they are composed of souls and bodies and that the body is nothing but the sheath of the soul, which it serves after the manner of a temporary servant—they take so much care for the body alone and seek bodily pleasures, while neglecting the care of the nobler soul, by virtue of which they are called both animal and rational. (110) If someone would prefer hearing or seeing with his bodily eyes over a contrary opinion by others, and the same for the integrity of his other limbs, how much more should one choose to will the healthful eyes of the soul rather than the errors of individuals! For what else do we judge the eyes of the soul to be but the virtues expounded above? Anyone in his right mind should far more desire these eyes to be healthy than his bodily ones, and let men judge or think what they will. Therefore, if justice is the eye of the soul, as is evident, any wise man would rather choose to preserve it inviolate and untouched, whether this was known or unknown to others or even if he was reputed unjust, than while promoting injustice to be falsely judged just by all. (111) ‘But,’ you say, ‘he will be beaten, tortured, bound, and defamed.’ In all these things, the soul of the wise and the just man is no more offended than the sun’s clarity is when it is occasionally rendered dark to our eyes by intervening clouds, for the soul of the prudent man is impervious to suffering. (112) ‘But,’ you will say, ‘he will go on to die in infamy.’ I reply that infamy will be the same to him as fame, so long as he is certain of his tranquility of mind, which he will indeed preserve unharmed and inviolable, as a most precious and most beautiful thing. That view is far more erroneous, it seems to me, according to which the life of the unjust man is preferable to that of the just, and more misfortunes happen to the just even

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volente contingere. (113) Quod quidem quam verum aut verisimile existat intellige. Tria bonorum genera esse concessimus: unum animi, corporis aliud, tertium vero rerum externarum, que commoditate nonnulla corporis possidentur. Quanquam *Stoici sola animi bona censeant nominanda, que quidem fortune nequeunt esse subiecta, illud etiam *Peripatetici sed reliqua esse commoda censuerint. (114) Ex his tribus generibus potiora fore illa animi nullus ambigit utique neque negat. Si ergo illa vir sapiens possidebit, licet ceteris careat, eundem ne infeliciorem pecuniarum possessoribus iudicabis? Quanto enim corporis salubritas divitiis bonisque reliquis externis preponitur, tanto animi bona corporeis preferuntur. (115) Quomodo ergo iniusti vita, que ut prediximus bellue potius quam viri esse putatur, lumine mentis tenebrosa et fusca laudabilis dici poterit vel putari? Vite enim laus corporisque salubritas non ex opimis ferculis aut variis, sed frugalitate potius, parsimonia et moderatione consurgit. Ample, secure et faciles opes sunt quas nobis lex nature indulsit, quibus si lete frui assuescimus, quid est cur maris et terre discrimina subeamus? Ad supervacua etenim fatigamur, naturalia exiguo admodum labore conquerimus. (116) Non est auri aut pecuniarum acervus necessarius sapienti, in quo multo plus sollicitudinis quam quietis iacet, nec ad sitim extinguendam aurea pocula requiruntur potius quam tenui atque vili materia fabricata; pauca hiemi vestis sufficit, pauciorque calori commodiusque culmo quam ebore vel auro vir tegitur. Omnia quidem frivola incertaque sunt que fortune versantur imperio. (117) Nichil preterea tam abiecti animi quam optare divitias, que si sapienti fortassis obtigerint, larga manu potius dispensanda eliget quam servanda, nec templorum edificio aut holocausti oblatione letabitur, cuius sedes animi sui pacatissima templum est, contritionem cuius et humilitatem *deus plusquam victimam acceptabit. (118) Sola igitur animi bona sunt que favore

10–12 Nota mg1 2–3 Tria—possidentur] Cic., Fin. 3.13.43 4 Quanquam—nominanda] Cic., Fin. 5.7.20 16–17 Ad supervacua—conquerimus] Sen., Ep. 1.4.11 24–26 nec templorum—acceptabit] Vulg., Psa. 50.19

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by God’s will. (113) Hear how true or plausible this is: we have conceded that there are three kinds of good things, one pertaining to the soul, another to the body, and the third to external things that it is convenient to the body to possess. Although the Stoics judged that only the goods pertaining to the soul were to be so called, since they cannot be subject to Fortune, the Peripatetics judged both them and the others to be beneficial. (114) Assuredly, no one doubts or denies that the goods pertaining to the soul are preeminent among these three categories. If a wise man possesses them, therefore, even if he lacks the others, will you judge him less happy than the possessors of money? As much as bodily health is preferred to riches and other external goods, so much the goods pertaining to the soul are preferred to bodily ones. (115) How therefore can the unjust man’s life, which (as we have said) is rather considered to be that of a beast than of a man, be said or supposed to be praiseworthy, being shadowy and dark to the eye of the mind? A praiseworthy life and bodily health arise not from rich or varied dishes but rather from frugality, parsimony, and moderation. Ample, safe, and easy is the wealth that nature’s law conceded to us, and if we hasten with rejoicing to enjoy it, why should we subject ourselves to the hazards of sea and land? We fatigue ourselves for the sake of superfluous things, while we acquire natural ones with little labor. (116) The wise man has no need of a heap of gold or money, in which far more worry than quiet is found, and neither are golden goblets more necessary for quenching thirst than those made of a humble and lowly material; a small amount of clothing is sufficient for winter, and even less for hot weather; and a man is more conveniently roofed by thatch than by ivory or gold. All things are frivolous and uncertain that are swayed by Fortune’s command. (117) Further, nothing is more spiritually abject than to wish for riches; if they perhaps fall to the lot of a wise man, he will choose rather to dispense them with a generous hand than to preserve them, and neither will he rejoice in the building of temples or the offering of sacrifices, since his temple is his soul’s most peaceful seat, the contrition and humility of which will be more acceptable to God than a sacrificial victim.22 (118) Therefore only the goods pertaining to the soul are those that

22

This allusion to paganism could be compared to Decembrio’s letter to Leone Morigia, in which the humanist criticizes the paganization of Christmas: “Dicet aliquis: delubra et phana solemniter frequentantur non ad divinum, sed ad humanum officium. Respondebo: vadunt iuvenes sexus utriusque, ut videantur et videant, multoque magis Veneri, quam divino numini famulantur; vadit populus, cuius iam dudum animus in patinis est, licet illic preces afferre sacris altaribus videatur; vadit ypocrita, ut aliter signetur exterius, quam mente contineat. Paucissimi admodum sunt, quorum animus purus et devotus exstat.” M, fol. 235r.

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propitio viro accidunt sapienti. In bonis enim esse que fortune sunt, minime sapientes censent. Quomodo enim bona dicenda sunt que habentibus sepenumero nocuerunt? Ad hec etiam licet iustis adversa plerumque contingant vel contingere videantur, non ut malignentur, sed virtutem experiantur hoc accidit. (119) Paterno etenim more *deus ipse quos diligit experitur; aliter enim pater, aliter mater filium diligere se ostendit: laboribus pater assiduis, mater e contra amenis et dulcibus illos fovet amplexibus. Cum vero pretexta deposita in virile robur evaserint, tunc intelligere occipiunt multo vehementius patrem eosdem dilexisse laboribus vexationibusque continuis quam blanditiis genitricem. Arduis enim operibus ad virtutem excitari, e contra voluptatibus ad vitia promoveri certum est. (120) Aurum enim, ut aiunt, ignis flagrantia comprobat. Notum est etiam cuicunque similia similibus sociari. Quis *deo similior potest esse quam sapiens atque iustus? Atqui verisimiliter non debet similis suo simili displicere immeritumque afferre supplicium. Sed e contra non ergo deo iustus quispiam displicebit, sed sibi dissimili, sicut impius et iniustus. Possem ad hec multa connectere, sed hec pauca michi sufficiant pro responso, nisi vobis addi aliud videatur.” Si.: (121) “Imo,” inquit *Simon, “clarissime actum est a te, ut virtus *iustitie lacessita clarescat cetereque virtutes in solito splendore permaneant. Sed iam advesperascit, et cene tempus approperat. Quocirca, si placet ut pro hoc etiam *Leone loquar, que restant in crastinum censeo differenda.” Le.: “Idem michi videtur,” inquit *Leo, “sed ante deliberandum est de loco, utrum hic aut alibi posthac debuerimus convenire.” Ub.: “Bene ais,” inquam. “Michi, si non gravamini, gratum fuerit una vobiscum iterum in hac sede amenissima ressidere, ad quam etiam abbas noster forte conveniet, ni gravis eidem, quod non arbitror, nostra fuerit comitiva.” Postquam id placitum est omnibus, inde discessimus. Finit. EXPLICIT LIBER PRIMUS DE RE PUBLICA FELICITER. INCIPIT SECUNDUS.

11 flagrantia] fragrantia M 5–10 Paterno—genitricem] Sen., Prov. 2.5–6 Notum—sociari] Cic., Sen. 3.7; Amm. 28.1.53

11 Aurum—comprobat] Sen., Prov. 5.9

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come to the wise man with good omen. In those goods that pertain to Fortune the wise place scant stock. For how can those things be said to be good that often harm those who have them? Moreover, even if adversities often happen or seem to happen to the just, this is not so that they may become malign, but so that their virtue may be tested. (119) It is in the manner of a father that God tests those whom he loves, for a father and a mother show in different ways that they love their son: a father tends his children with assiduous labors, but a mother does so, on the other hand, with gentle and sweet embraces. When they have put aside childish things and come to manly vigor, however, they begin to understand that their father loved them far more fiercely with his labors and continual vexations than their mother did with her blandishments, for it is certain that arduous works excite one to virtue, and pleasures, on the other hand, promote vices. (120) Gold, as they say, is proved by the flames of fire. It is also known to all that like associates with like. Who can be more like God than the wise and the just man? But it is plausible that like should not displease like or apply undeserved punishment, and conversely, any just man will not therefore displease God, but rather one unlike himself, such as the impious and the unjust. I could add much to this, but let these few things suffice for my reply, unless you see something else to add.” Si.: (121) “Rather,” Simone said, “you have most excellently made the impugned virtue of justice shine forth and caused the other virtues to remain in their accustomed splendor. But dusk has already fallen, and it is time for dinner. Consequently, if you would like me also to speak on behalf of Leone, I judge that what remains should be put off until tomorrow.” Le.: “I think the same,” Leone said, “but we should first deliberate about the place, whether we should come together again here or elsewhere.” Ub.: “You speak well,” I said. “For my part, if it is no bother to you, I would be glad to sit down again with you in this most pleasant place, where our abbot might perhaps also join us, unless our company was a burden to him, which I do not judge to be the case.” After everyone had agreed to this, we departed. The end. THE FIRST BOOK ON THE COMMONWEALTH ENDS HAPPILY. THE SECOND BEGINS.

Liber II PROLOGUS SECUNDI LIBRI.

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(1) Inter ceteros gravissime auctoritatis philosophos, dux eximie, *Aristotiles, excellentissimi vir ingenii, gratior eo potissimum michi visus est, quod ea, que probabili quivit ratione colligere, disserenda proposuit divinoque est ingenio prosecutus. Illa autem, que vaticinii cuiusdam loco nonnullis verisimilia videbantur, ceu opinabilia ac prorsus ambigua pretermisit. (2) Notum est quot et quanta de ydeis, de celestibus aereisque spiritibus, de demonibus, de immortalitate animorum *Plato et ante eum *Pythagoras disputavit, multique multa que opinione magis quam veritate perciperent, crebrisque horum disceptationibus actum est ut, dubietatibus hinc inde emersis, secte quamplurime discrepantesque sententie promulgentur. (3) Quo fit ut illud *Publii verum efficiatur, ut nimium altercando nonnunquam veritas amittatur, verissimumque quod doctissimus *Varro scribit: “nulla esse egrorum insomnia tam dissona tamque varia, que aliquorum philosophorum sententie non existant,” ex quo latum est quot homines totidem extare sententias. (4) *Aristotiles vero, cuius ingenium omnes pariter admirantur, qui vulgo philosophus nominatur, rectiori, ut michi videtur, via notitiam veritatis edocuit, cuncta probabiliter complectendo. Enimvero *Pythagoras suique discipuli, *Gorgias item *Leontinus, *Socrates, *Theophrastus, *Democritus ceterique sequaces pleraque uti possibilia sed probatione ambigua reliquerunt. (5) Ego autem in his de re publica libris, quos duxi alicuius exercitii mei causa his temporibus conscribendos, non censui *Platonem, nisi quantum decorum probabileque visum fuerit, imitari: libris enim suis quos de re publica subtilissime facundeque composuit, nonnulla disserere nixus est, que, licet possibilia iudicentur, a publicis tamen moribus longe distant. (6) Mulieres enim resque omnes suorum civium in communione constituit, ut inter eosdem amorem iugis concordia conservaret, mulieresque ipsas simul cum viris hostes invadere, eodemque vallo castrorumque muni-

25–26 Non ita dixit plato sed de custodibus tantum mg2 6–8 Notum—Plato] App., Dogm. Plat. 1.8.198–199. Cf. Petrar., Mem. 1.25.14 8 Pythagoras] Petrar., Mem. 1.24 11–12 illud—amittatur] Pub. Syr. 538, ap. Gell. 17.14; Macr., Sat. 2.7.11. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 1.7.3; Mem. 3.91.6 13 doctissimus Varro] Aug., Civ. Dei 6.2; Petrar., Inv. mal. 281; Mem. 1.14.2 13–14 nulla—existant] Varr., Sat. fr. 122, ap. Non. 56M 15 quot—sententias] Ter., Phorm. 454; Cic., Fin. 1.5.15

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Book 2 PROLOGUE TO BOOK 2. (1) Distinguished duke, among all the other philosophers whose authority is of greatest weight, I have above all looked more favorably on Aristotle, a man of most excellent intellect, because he set out to discuss those things that he was able to gather by probable argument and pursued that discussion with a divine intelligence. Those things that seemed plausible to more than a few as if on the basis of some prophecy, on the other hand, he set aside as matters of opinion and thoroughly uncertain. (2) It is well known that Plato and before him Pythagoras debated many great things about the Ideas, about heavenly and airy spirits, about demons, and about the immortality of the soul; that many debated many things that they perceived more by opinion than by truth; and that it has come to pass through their frequent disputes that, as doubts are raised up on all sides, myriad sects and incompatible opinions are put forward. (3) Hence what Publilius said is shown to be true, that truth not infrequently gets lost in an excess of disputing, and even more true what the most learned Varro wrote, “The sick have no nightmares that are so dissonant and varied that they cannot be found among the opinions of the philosophers,” from which it follows that there are as many opinions as there are men. (4) Aristotle, however, whose intellect is equally admired by all and who is commonly called ‘the Philosopher,’1 taught knowledge of the truth by a more correct path, as it seems to me, embracing a probable understanding of all things. To be sure, Pythagoras and his disciples and Gorgias of Leontini, Socrates, Theophrastus, Democritus, and the others who followed them left a great many doctrines that are possible but of uncertain proof. (5) In these books on the commonwealth that I lately took up the task of writing as an exercise for myself, however, I chose to imitate Plato only as far as seemed fitting and probable, since in the books on the commonwealth that he eloquently and most subtly composed, he endeavored to discuss more than a few things that, even if they are judged to be possible, are still far from compatible with public morality. (6) For he established that women and all things belonging to his citizens were to be held in common, so that perpetual concord would preserve love among them, and the women themselves would assault the enemy together with the men and

1 Notably, Thomas Aquinas referred to Aristotle simply as “the Philosopher” (philosophus), while Dante called him “the master of all who know” (Inf. 4.131; maestro di color che sanno).

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mine contineri; ad hec etiam ab urbe sua poetas omnes censuit ablegandos, ne malis moribus rem publicam inquinarent. (7) Satius michi igitur visum est honestis decorisque consuetudinibus inherere, ut singuli suas consortes gnatosque cognoscerent, pro hisque alendis unusquisque necessaria sine aliena querat iniuria; quodque viri fortes robustique tutele urbis invigilent, quos quidem eorum princeps duxerit eligendos, mulieres autem domus custodie ac familie sancte ac pudice curam agitent. (8) Poetas attamen libidinis vitiorumque ministros, quorum delinimentis iuvenes faciliter capi possent, abdicandos opere pretium arbitrarer. Rerum autem gestarum divinos celeberrimosque vates, a quibus electorum vocabulorum et florentis eloquii fluenta manarunt, que dementia a rebus publicis abrogare! (9) Pace igitur tanti viri dixerim, si a statutis sue rei publice in aliquibus forsitan aberravero, illud profecto non agam ut plus intelligere me ostentem—nephas enim foret tanti philosophi damnare sententiam—sed ut consuetudini moribusque urbium diutissime conservatis sanctarumque legum regula stabilitis temerario quodam modo non videar contra ire. Eia igitur ad propositum revertamur.

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be quartered within the same fortification and military ramparts. Along with this, he also judged that all poets were to be banished from his city, lest they harm the commonwealth by evil morals. (7) I therefore thought it more advantageous to adhere to honorable and decorous customs, such that each man should acknowledge his own spouse and offspring and seek what he needs to provide for them without offense to another, and strong and robust men, indeed chosen as their prince determined, should keep watch over the city’s defense, while women concern themselves piously and modestly with the care of their house and family. (8) Those poets, nonetheless, who are ministers of lust and vices, by whose nonsense the young might easily be taken in, I would find it worthwhile to renounce. What madness it would be, on the other hand, to exclude from the commonwealth the divine and most celebrated bards who recount great deeds, from whom flow streams of well-chosen words and flourishing eloquence! (9) With all due respect to so great a man, therefore, if I perhaps stray in some things from the statutes of his commonwealth, I would say that I do so not indeed in order to display my greater understanding—for it would be a wicked thing to condemn the opinion of so great a philosopher— but rather in order that I not seem by some kind of rashness to oppose the customs and morals long preserved among cities and upheld by the pattern of holy laws. Well then, let us return to the matter at hand.

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(1) Die postera, cum ad loca conventa *Manfredus abbas *Leoque cum *Simone et ego pariter venissemus, inquit abbas: Abb.: “Licet externa die te non audierim respondentem ad ea que contra *iustitiam vulgari opinione iactantur, ab istis tamen iuvenibus paulo ante hunc nostrum adventum quicquid dictum assertumque per te fuerit diligenter accepi tuumque merito iudicium comprobavi; quo factum est ut in re ipsa multo validior quam antea sim effectus ad opinionem vulgarium improbandam. (2) Unum illud te quesumus, ut pro his loquar, quod cetera rei publice munera prosequaris, que non ambigimus multa restare. De situ enim civitatis et variis principatuum generibus, de custodibus, de disciplina militari, de civium moribus, de coniugiis, de puerorum nutrimentis, de *iustitie cultu et virtutum reliquarum, de scientiarum artiumque doctrinis aliisque consimilibus dicturum te esse confidimus. Quocirca tuum in his ordinem solitumque eloquium prestolamur.” Ub.: (3) Tunc ego: “Recte,” inquam, “dicenda commemoras, dummodo ad ea sim explicanda sufficiens. Verumtamen, omnium fretus adminiculo, audacius initiata prosequar, eo maxime postquam vobis fore accepta illa iam video. Primo ergo loco se offert de situ urbis nostre disserere, quod equidem paucis verbis, ne sim vobis tedio, conabor exprimere, si prius de communis orbis dispositione atque natura nonnulla tanquam necessaria premisero. (4) Enimvero sapientum virorum, astrologorum potissime, dimensionibus constat omnem terre ambitum quinque zonarum celestium portionibus esse subiectum, ut una earum sit media, que solis uredine, cuius vicino fervore succenditur, torrida nuncupetur; due extreme propter solis distantiam ventorumque potentiam frigidissime glaciorum et perpetuarum nivium rigore concrete semper existunt, quas omnes partim calore nimio, partim frigoribus inhabitabiles vocavere. (5) Inter has vero duas medias caloris et frigoris dicimus temperatas: una est quam incolimus, septentrionalem plagam polumque arcticum spectans, aliam vero ultra zonam torridam in alio terre latere versus polum antarcticum collocatam verisimiliter opinamur, eque habitabilem plagarum situ et natura etheris sicut nostram, quanquam nullum a nobis cum eisdem neque e contra possit esse commercium, quippe cum solis flagrantia iungi vetet. (6) Sed ut ad hanc nostram terre portionem quam incolimus revertamur, licet temperata a calore et frigore comprobetur, non una tamen celi conditione aut natura consistit. Nam partes ille que zone medie viciniores existunt, quam torridam diximus, velut *India, *Assyria, *Armenia, Egyptus, Ethiopia, 18 De situ Civitatis mg1

33 Hic p. Candidus de Laudibus Mediolani mg2

20–124.7 Enimvero—caloris] Macr., Somn. Scip. 2.7.1–21. Cf. Mela 1.14; Cic., Tusc. 1.28.68–69; Ov., Met. 2.131–132 35–124.5 Nam partes—rigent] Sit. Med. 11

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(1) On the following day, when Abbot Manfredo and Leone and Simone and I had all arrived at the agreed meeting place, the abbot said: Abb.: “Although I did not hear your reply yesterday to those things put forward by common opinion against justice, I diligently informed myself from these young men, not long before our arrival here, about all that you said and asserted, and I approved of your judgment with good reason, with the result that I have become much more capable of disproving the common opinion in this matter than I was before. (2) One thing we ask of you, if I may speak on behalf of the others, that you go on to address the other offices of the commonwealth, of which we have no doubt that many remain. For we trust that you will speak about the city’s location and the various types of rule, about its guardians, about military discipline and about the citizens’ morals, about marriages and about the rearing of children, about the cultivation of justice and other virtues, about the teaching of sciences and arts and other things on the same subject. We therefore await your view on these topics and your accustomed eloquence.” Ub.: (3) Then I said, “You rightly recount the things to be spoken of, which I hope to be able to explain. Nevertheless, relying on the help of all, I will proceed more boldly with what I have begun, especially after having seen that you agree with what I set out at the beginning. First, therefore, something must be said about our city’s location, which I will indeed try to set out in few words, lest I bore you, even if I will preface it with more than a few necessary remarks about the general disposition and nature of the globe. (4) To be sure, it is certain from the measurements made by wise men, especially astrologers, that the whole circuit of the earth is divided into five parts that correspond to the regions of the heavens: one is in the middle, called the torrid zone because it is blasted by the sun, which burns it by the nearness of its flames, and the two outer ones, which are extremely cold due to the sun’s distance and to the power of the winds, are always frozen solid beneath ice and perpetual snows. All these are called uninhabitable, because they are either too hot or too cold. (5) Between these, however, are two regions intermediate in heat and cold that we call temperate. One is the one that we inhabit, facing the northern region and the Arctic pole. The other we plausibly suppose to be located beyond the torrid zone, on the other side of the earth toward the Antarctic pole, just as habitable in the location of its regions and the nature of its atmosphere as ours is, even if there can be no traffic from us to them nor vice versa, since the sun’s blazing forbids a connection. (6) But to return to the portion of the earth that we inhabit, although it is found to be temperate with respect to heat and cold, it is nonetheless not uniform in its nature or in the condition of its skies. For those parts that are closer to the middle zone that we have called torrid, such as India, Assyria, Armenia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Mauritania, Arabia, and

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*Libya, *Mauritania, *Arabia *Africave, finitimo semper fervore calescunt. (7) Ille etiam que arthoe et boreali plage propiores sunt, ut *Hibernia, *Alvernia, *Scythia, *Bituringia, *Anglia, *Gallia, *Germania, *Bohemia, *Ruthenia eaque gens que *Meotides paludes, *Tanaim, *Histrum et *Thraciam colit, vicinis frigorum torporibus rigent. (8) Alie vero intermedie regiones tanquam ab utraque extremitate distantes temperatiores fiunt immunesque nimii frigoris vel caloris; inter has quidem *Italiam maxime et *Liguriam diceremus. Verum quia omnes mundi incole nequirent propter nimiam multitudinem una in regione consistere, variis mundi partibus prout fortuna affuit dispergi et distribui sunt coacti. (9) Alii maritimis littoribus aut insulis, alii penes flumina, alii in montibus, nonnulli in convallibus sedes habitabiles elegerunt. Sunt qui in mari ipso sedem optaverint, ut hac etate nostra mari *Illyrico seu *Adriatico urbem cernimus *Venetorum. (10) Et licet natale solum unicuique gratum et dulce videatur, congratulari tamen plurimum *deo possunt quibus sedem salubrem et placidam loci fortuna contribuit. Situm etenim urbis felicitat aeris temperati salubritas, glebe pinguioris ubertas, frugum fructuumve fertilitas, pratorum amenitas, fontium fluviorumque irriguitas, nemorum opportunitas, pascuorum viriditas iumentorumque et pecorum fecunditas, que omnia incolarum facili benignoque sufficiunt nutrimento. (11) Si itaque situm nostre urbis inspicimus, nisi ingrati simus, magnopere eiusdem fundatoribus obligamur, qui *deo volente propitio faustis et felicibus auspiciis in hanc patriam de extremis mundi partibus forte convenerant. (12) Si enim vetuste fidem prebemus historie, *Tito Livio auctore, *Ambigatus, *Celtarum rex celeberrimus, que pars *Gallie tertia nuncupatur, dum nimia gentium regni sui multitudine premeretur, natu iam grandior exonerare se cupiens, *Bellovesum ac *Segovesum, sororis filios, nova loca novasque sedes exquirere patrio hortamine persuasit, assumptis regni sui gentibus quas optassent, ne qua gens extera advenientes illos finibus arcere posset. (13) Suberant enim regi nationes plurime, *Bituriges scilicet et *Alverni, *Senones, *Edui, *Ambraci, *Carmites et *Aulerci, ex quibus collectis tam equitum quam peditum gentibus numerosis, altricem

25 Bellovesum] Belonesum M 2 arthoe—plage] Petrar., Fam. 18.8.5 4 Meotides paludes] Luc. 2.641 5–7 Alie—diceremus] Sit. Med. 11–12; Benz., Med. 92 15–19 Situm—nutrimento] Bonv., Magn. 4.1–19; Benz., Med. 93– 100 23–126.6 historie—placuit] Liv. 5.34. Cf. Benz., Med. 23–32

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Africa, are always warmed by the adjacent heat, (7) and those that are nearer to the northern and boreal regions, such as Ireland, Auvergne, Scythia, Berry,2 England, Gaul, Germany, Bohemia, Ruthenia, and the people who dwell in the Maeotian marshes, Tanais, Istria, and Thrace, are chilled by the numbing cold nearby. (8) The other, intermediate regions, however, being distant from both extremes, are more temperate and immune from excessive heat or cold, and among these we would indeed especially list Italy and Liguria. True, since all the world’s inhabitants cannot live in a single region, on account of their number, they have been forced to scatter and distribute themselves among the various parts of the world as Fortune has seen fit. (9) Some selected dwelling places along the seashore or on islands, others along rivers, others among mountains, and not a few in valleys. Some chose to establish themselves in the sea itself, as in our own day we observe the city of the Venetians in the Illyrian or Adriatic Sea. (10) And even if everyone finds his native soil pleasing and sweet, those to whom the Fortune of place has assigned a wholesome and peaceful site may give great thanks to God for this, for a city’s location is made happy by the wholesomeness of a temperate air, the abundance of a fruitful soil, the fertility of grain and fruit, the pleasantness of meadows, the refreshingness of springs and rivers, the usefulness of forests, the greenness of pastures, and the fecundity of cattle and beasts of burden, all of which suffice for the inhabitants’ easy and generous nourishment. (11) So if we inspect our city’s site, unless we are ungrateful, we are deeply obliged to its founders, who perhaps came together in this fatherland from the furthest parts of the world, as a propitious God willed and under fortunate and happy auspices. (12) For if we put our trust in an old story told by Livy, Ambigatus, a most renowned king of the Celts (who inhabit what is called the third part of Gaul), desiring to decrease his burdens when pressed by the excessive multitude of people in his kingdom and already getting on in years, persuaded Bellovesus and Segovesus, his sister’s sons, with a fatherly exhortation to seek out new places and new sites, taking with them those of the people of his kingdom whom they chose, lest some foreign people might close their borders on their arrival. (13) Many nations were subject to that king, namely the Bituriges, the Alverni, the Senones, the Aedui, the Ambraci, the Carmites,3 and the Aulerci, and having collected numerous people from among them, both horsemen and foot, they left behind their nourishing father2 Lat. Bituringia. The Bituriges were a tribe of Celtic Gaul with their capital at Bourges (Avaricum), whose territory corresponds to the former province of Berry. 3 The text of Livy established by modern editors reads Arvernos, Ambarros, and Carnutes (cf. Foster, Livy, 118). The forms Alverni, Ambraci, and Carmites in Decembrio’s dialogue are due to variants in the manuscript tradition of Livy’s Historiae.

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patriam regio hortamine reliquerunt. *Segovesus in *Herycinios saltus sorte devectus est, *Bellovesus autem feliciore sorte conductus per *Taurinos saltus *Alpis Iulie in *Italiam transmeavit, fusisque in acie prope *Ticinum *Etruscis, tunc forte *Ligurie dominis, cum audissent agrum quo insederant *Insubrium nominari, fausto moti augurio eius oppidi *Eduorum, quod eodem cognomine vocabatur, urbem condidere hanc nostram, quam *Mediolanum vocari placuit, quia inter duo flumina sita erat, quasi in medio duorum amnium collocata. (14) Alii tamen asserunt *Milanum ab eisdem fundatoribus nominatam ut fortunam felicitatemque urbis numeri et temporis plenitudine designarent: perfectissimus enim numerus mille est annusque temporis denotat complementum. Utcunque tamen cognominata fuerit, dispositionem urbis optimam comprobavi, que a duobus famosis antiquisque fluminibus, *Ticino atque *Addua, amplexu gremii gratissimo continetur. (15) Nam a suprema parte, que *Martesana a belligeris est vocata, *Cumano ab lacu demissa *Addue fluenta decurrunt, ab inferiori vero *Ticinus *Insubrium, quod nunc *Sebrium corrupto vulgi vocabulo nuncupatur, aquarum nitentium agmine facit irriguum, qui fluvius ab alio *Maiori lacu, *Verbano quondam dicto, ducit originem, amboque *Padum fluviorum regem ad maris littora comitantur. (16) Est preterea urbs hec aere saluberrimo temperata fontibusque dulcissimis, quod incolarum numerositas probat, cereris vinique ubertate conspicua, glebe pinguedine, pratorum amenitate ac nemorum opportunitate dotata. (17) Ad hec, etiam urbibus finitimis et opimis undique vallata, que huic tanquam pediseque famulantur, neque a mari plurimum distat, ad quod etiam facillimo itinere opportunitate fluminum pervenitur, quo fit ut mercimoniis maritimis et terrestribus apta sit. Non fuit ergo mirum hanc urbem *Secunde Rome meruisse cognomen, pre ceterisque *Italie urbibus floruisse, officium item per se et antiquas cerimonias observare coronamque *Cesarum custodire.”

1 Segovesus] Sigonesus M 14 Verbano m. sec. corr. in ras. M 6 Mediolanum mg2

22 pediseque] pedisice M

17 lacus verbanus mg2

7 quia—collocata] Sit. Med. 13; Bonv., Magn. 1.1.13–14; Benz., Med. 87 17–18 Padum—regem] Verg., Geor. 1.482 25 hanc—cognomen] Sit. Med. 7; Bonv., Magn. 8.10.204–205; Benz., Med. 124; Galv. Fiam., Chron. extrav. 474–475

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land at the royal exhortation. Segovesus was sent by lot to the Hercynian Forest, but Bellovesus, led by a more fortunate fate, crossed the Julian Alps into Italy, by way of the Taurine passes.4 After having routed the Etruscans, who were perhaps the lords of Liguria at that time, in battle near the Ticino, they heard that the land they occupied was named Insubrium, and moved by the fortunate omen that a town of the Aedui was called by the same name, they founded this city of ours, which since it was located between two rivers, they decided to call Mediolanum, as if to say ‘amid two streams’ [in medio duorum amnium]. (14) Nevertheless, others assert that it was named Milan by these same founders in order to indicate the city’s good fortune and happiness by reference to a plenitude of number and time, since ‘one thousand’ [mille] is the most perfect number, and a ‘year’ [annus] denotes a complete unit of time. In any case, however the city was named, I have confirmed the excellence of its position, nestled in the most pleasant embrace of two famous and ancient rivers, the Ticino and the Adda. (15) From the highlands, which were called Martesana by the belligerents, passing through Lake Como, the streams of the Adda flow down, while in the lowlands the Ticino irrigates Insubrium, now called Seprio in the common people’s corrupted usage, with the rush of its shining waters. This river arises in another lake, Lake Maggiore, formerly called Verbano, and both join the Po, the king of rivers, on its way to the sea. (16) Further, this city is made temperate by most wholesome air and most sweet fountains, as the number of its inhabitants proves, and is conspicuous for the abundance of its cereals and vines, being endowed with fertile soil, pleasant meadows, and suitable forests. (17) In addition, it is fortified on all sides by neighboring cities and towns, which serve it like faithful attendants, and it is not very distant from the sea, which can be reached by a very easy journey thanks to the convenience of the rivers, making it fit for maritime and terrestrial trade. It was therefore no wonder that this city merited the name of ‘Second Rome,’5 flourishing above the other cities of Italy, or that it observes its own liturgical rite and ancient ceremonies and has in its keeping an imperial crown.”

4 Modern editors of Livy render this passage in a different way: “Ipsi per Taurinos saltus ⟨saltum⟩que Duriae Alpes transcenderunt.” Cf. Foster, Livy, 119: “They themselves crossed the Alps through the Taurine passes and the pass of the Duria.” 5 For the idea of the “Second Rome,” see Hammer, “New or Second Rome,” and Beneš, Urban Legends, 13, 27, and 46. A reference to Milan as the “Second Rome” is found in the anonymous Chronica fratrum Humiliatorum (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Ms. G 301 inf., fol. 13v, reproduced in figure 2), which is contemporary to Decembrio’s De re publica.

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Abb.: (18) Tum abbas: “Quia nonnunquam,” inquit, “tempore dubitavi utrum ne ante *Romam conditam seu postea urbs hec ceperit *Mediolani cognomine nominari, nonnullis cronicis prorsus me ambiguum facientibus, queso etiam me declares.” Ub.: (19) Cui inquam: “Quid fallacibus opus est cronicis? Quintus etenim prime decadis *Livii te opipare declarabit. Nam *Tarquini Prisci, quinti *Romanorum regis, temporibus, ducentesimo anno ante captam *Romam a *Gallis, *Bellovesus, de quo supra memini, in *Italiam transcendit, post quem *Germanorum manus, *Eritonio duce, eodem saltu transgressa adminiculo *Bellovesi eas partes *Cenomanorum, ubi nunc *Brixia *Veronaque consistunt, insedit. (20) Post hos *Salluvii, *Peni, *Boi *Lingonesque transgressi, cum iam inter *Padum et *Alpes omnia possiderent, *Pado traiecto non *Etruscos modo, sed etiam *Umbros suis finibus pepulerunt, intra *Appenninum tamen sese continuere. Demum *Senones recentissimi advenarum, duce *Brenno, *Clausium *Etruscorum caput, deinde *Romam cepere, quam incendio, Capitolio vix defensato, totaliter posuerunt. (21) Non abnego quin ante *Romam conditam gens *Mediolanensis has partes incoleret, quas nunquam inhabitatas relictas, attenta regione amena atque frugifera, nullus verisimiliter cogitaret, sed subinde mutata cognomina sunt locorum.” Si.: (22) “Ita faciliter crederem,” inquit *Simon. “Sed postquam de urbis situ satis dictum est, quid posthac disseremus?” Ub.: “Si videtur,” inquam, “vobis, de principatibus ipsorumque moribus variisque rerum publicarum regiminibus dicere initiabimus.” Le.: “Optime,” inquit *Leo. “Nam a capite convenientius est quam a fine vel medio disceptare. Princeps etenim caput urbis rei publiceque censetur.” Ub.: (23) “Quatuor,” inquam, “principatuum species esse cognovi: unam *honorabilem, quam *Plato *τιμοκρατικήν vocat, aliam *paucorum regentium, que *Greco vocabulo *ὀλιγαρχική dicitur, tertiam *popularem, quam *δημο-

11 Salluvii] Saluii M 27 τιμοκρατικήν] Τϊμοκρατικαν M 28–130.1 δημοκρατικήν] Δϊμοκρατϊκαν M

28 ὀλιγαρχική] ολϊγαρκϊκα M

26 De principatuum generibus mg1 5–15 Quintus—caput] Liv. 5.34–35. Cf. Benz., Med. 22, 33–37 5.36–49

15–16 deinde—posuerunt] Liv.

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Abb.: (18) Then the abbot said, “Since I have not infrequently wondered whether this city began to be called Mediolanum before or after the foundation of Rome, no few chronicles having left me entirely uncertain about the matter,6 I ask you to enlighten me on this also.” Ub.: (19) I replied, “What need is there for fallacious chronicles? The fifth book of Livy’s first decade will enlighten you splendidly, for in the time of Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of the Romans, in the two hundredth year before Rome was captured by the Gauls, Bellovesus, whom I mentioned above, crossed into Italy, after which a band of Germans led by Eritonius,7 having crossed by the same pass with Bellovesus’s help, settled in the region of the Cenomani, where Brescia and Verona are now. (20) After them, once the Salluvii, Peni,8 Boii, and Lingones had crossed, since they already possessed everything between the Po and the Alps, they crossed the Po and drove not only the Etruscans but even the Umbrians from their borders, while yet remaining on this side of the Apennines. Finally the Senones, the most recent of the settlers, led by Brennus, took Clusium, the Etruscan capital, and then Rome, which they set entirely on fire, while the Capitoline Hill alone was defended. (21) I do not deny that before the founding of Rome, the Milanese people inhabited these regions, which no one can plausibly suppose to have ever been abandoned, once inhabited, in view of their pleasantness and fruitfulness, but the names of the places have since changed.” Si.: (22) “So I would easily believe,” Simone said. “But now that plenty has been said about the city’s location, what will we discuss after that?” Ub.: “If you agree,” I said, “we will begin to speak about principalities and their customs and the various regimes of commonwealths.” Le.: “Excellent,” Leone said. “It is more suitable to begin with the head than with the end or the middle, and the prince is judged to be the head of a city and a commonwealth.” Ub.: (23) I said, “I have come to know that there are four kinds of principalities: one is honorable, which Plato calls τιμοκρατική; another is where few rule, the Greek word for which is ὀλιγαρχική; the third is popular, which the Greeks

6 This is an allusion to medieval chronicles such as Galvano Fiamma’s Manipulus florum, which places the foundation of Milan 932 years before that of Rome, in 1972BC; cf. Galv. Fiam., Man. 539–542. 7 In modern editions of Livy, the name is Etitovius, and he is the war leader of the Cenomani, not of the Germani (cf. Foster, Livy, 118–120). These inconsistencies are due to the manuscript Decembrio used. 8 The supposed demonym Peni is likely due to a corruption of Livy’s text, which reads Poenino (scil., monte), that is, the Pennine Pass.

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κρατικήν *Greci vocant, quartam quam nos una cum *Grecis *tyrannidem nominamus. (24) Quintam his omnibus *Plato preponit ceterarum optimam, *ἀριστοκρατίαν appellatam, quam ideo non appono quia phenicis more anno quingentesimo semel fortasse aut nunquam conspicietur: ea enim est quam ab homine divino potius quam humano, qui *Stoicorum iudicio perfectissimus in omnibus comprobetur, qui ore vel calamo, non autem visu vel opere demonstretur, fore iudicat gubernandam. Illam ergo ipsi *Platoni intactam statui relinquendam, nosque pinguiori, ut aiunt, *Minerva contenti quatuor alias complectemur. (25) Prima igitur itaque, quam *honorabilem diximus et victoriarum cupidam, ea est quam apud *Cretenses et *Laconas ait *Plato consistere, cum vir aliquis honoris victorieque cupidus appetit principari, non ut ad se rapiat aut quenquam violet, sed ut belligerando aut rem publicam diligenter et salubriter gubernando laudem et famam queritet, sicut de *L. Bruto regis ultimi depulsore *Romana narrat historia, qui et *Valerius subinde Publicola non tam opum acquisitione solliciti quam honoris et fame, consulari dignitate decorati, *Romanum imperium gubernarunt. (26) Nam proprios gnatos *Brutus etiam perimere sustinuit, dum de reductione *Superbi regis expulsi conscios esse percepit. *Valerius autem, ne imperiosus nimium populo videretur, edium suarum vestigia suppressit in imoque edificavit, maluitque cum plebe reliqua humiliter habitare quam populi invidiam incurrere, ex quo *Publicole cognomen sumpsit legemque tulit qua liceret ad populum a iudiciis consulum appellare. (27) Secunda, que *oligarchica dicitur, est quando a paucis divitioribus res publica gubernatur, cum interea non sit phas pauperibus principari. Hanc etiam in *Romana urbe viguisse legimus, cum a pecuniarum opulentis nobilibusque patriciis iura pauperum premerentur, quod equidem tribunis creandi originem prebuit, ut defensores pauperum fierent et humilium personarum. (28) Verum quia ut vitiorum omnium mos est semper in declivia peioraque deflecti, appetitu pecuniarum aucto et virtutum pariter imminuto, boni utique postergantur, crebescentibus dietim ex invidia damnosis iniuriis tertia principandi species ortum duxit, que *dimocratica a potestate populi nominatur. (29) Cum enim pauperes a divitibus varie et multipliciter lederen3 ἀριστοκρατίαν] Αρϊστοκρατϊαν M 13 L. Brutus mg1

14 Valerius publicola mg1

2–3 Quintam—appellatam] Plat., Rep. 544c–d 3–4 phenicis—conspicietur] Ov., Met. 16.392; Sen., Ep. 5.42.1 8 pinguiori—Minerva] Cic., Am. 5.19. Cf. Petrar., Inv. med. 2.315 9–10 Prima—consistere] Plat., Rep. 544c 13–16 sicut—gubernarunt] Liv. 1.56–60, 2.1–7 16–18 Nam—percepit] Liv. 2.5.5–8; Val. Max. 5.8.1. Cf. Aug., Civ. Dei 5.18.1 18–22 Valerius—appellare] Liv. 3.7.6–8.1; Val. Max. 4.1.1 22–23 Secunda—principari] Plat., Rep. 350c–351c 24–27 Hanc—personarum] Liv. 2.33.1

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call δημοκρατική; and the fourth we and the Greeks both call tyranny. (24) Plato ranked ahead of all of these a fifth kind, the best of them, called ἀριστοκρατία, which I do not include on my list because, like a phoenix, it appears perhaps once every five hundred years or never, since it is the one that he judges fit to be governed by a man more divine than human, one who is found by the Stoics’ judgment to be most perfect in all things and who can be described in speech or with the pen but not shown to exist either by sight or in his works. I have therefore determined to leave that one to Plato, without touching on it, while we, content with a duller Minerva,9 as they say, hold fast to the other four. (25) The first one, therefore, which we define as thriving on honor and [military] victory, is the one that Plato says existed among the Cretans and Laconians, when a man eager for honor and victory desires to rule not in order to gain plunder for himself or to abuse anyone, but in order to seek praise and fame by making war or by diligently and wholesomely governing the commonwealth, as Roman history recounts of Lucius Brutus, who overthrew the last king and who subsequently along with Valerius Publicola governed the Roman state, the two of them being adorned with the consular dignity and concerned not so much with the acquisition of wealth as with that of honor and fame. (26) Brutus even endured the deaths of his own sons when he realized that they had conspired for the return of Superbus, the banished king. Valerius for his part, lest he seem to the people too imperious, removed the foundations of his house and built on low-lying ground, preferring to dwell humbly with the rest of the plebeians rather than to incur the people’s envy, for which he was given the name of Publicola. He also brought in a law that permitted the people to appeal the consuls’ judgments. (27) The second type, which is called oligarchy, is when the commonwealth is governed by a small number of the more wealthy, whereas the poor are not allowed to rule. We read that this form of government also flourished in the city of Rome when the rights of the poor were oppressed by men of great wealth and the patrician nobility, something that indeed paved the way for the origin of the election of tribunes to serve as defenders of the poor and the humble. (28) True, since all vices are accustomed to deteriorate always toward the worse, the good are everywhere pressed to the margins as the appetite for money increases and that for virtue correspondingly diminishes and as ruinous injuries caused by envy become more frequent day by day, giving rise to the third type of rule, called ‘democracy’ from the power of the people. (29) For since the poor were variously and multiply harmed by the rich, and not

9 Pingui (or crassa) Minerva is a topos in ancient and medieval literature, denoting that one is using one’s own limited gifts. See, for example, Cicero, Am. 5.19, and Horace, Sat. 2.2.3.

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tur, quibus nec tribunicia potestas sufficiens plerumque fuerat obviare, furore conciti, impulsu etiam tribunorum regnantes divites invaserunt, partemque eorum trucidarunt, partemque exilio mulctavere, imperandique populariter in se ipsos verterant potestatem. (30) Post hec, quia negligenter et incaute, effusa nimium libertate, plebs ipsa, ut satis est verisimile, gubernabat, orta in nonnullos tum invidia, tum rapiendi cupiditas, *tyrannidi viam dedit. Popularis enim aliquis facundus sub boni viri specie emersit, qui popularium regentium rapinas detestans exprobansque, effusamque nimium libertatem plurimam sumpsisse licentiam malignandi seque acturum aliter si facultas prebita esset, credulos facile induxit ipsum sequi ipsique fore adminiculo quandocunque gubernaculum accipere moliretur; eoque tandem suscepto, sancte primum et honeste omnia agere occipiens, iniquitatem occultans, quousque solidam in se ipsum senserit potestatem, iustus plurimum et equus apparuit, ut de *Spurio Melio, quem *Ahala Servilius iussu *L.Q. Cincinnati dictatoris in foro interemit audivimus. (31) Post quem *Gracchi ambo, *Apuleius Saturninus, *Livius Drusus et *Servilius Cepio multa facinora ausi sunt tyrannice perficere et sub tribunicia potestate *Metello et *Rutilio, viris optimis, exilio perpetuo condemnatis. (32) Qui omnes sub boni speciem dominium tyrannicum sunt adepti, ut mos est omnium tyrannorum, ut quod sapienter admodum asserit poeta *Lucanus: nec iura fidemque respectumque deum veteris speraveris aule; nil pudet assuetos sceptris: mitissima sors est regnorum sub rege novo.

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(33) Subinde vero occasione impune iniuriandi violandique captata, gradatim iura cuncta pervertere moliuntur, interficere, torquere, vinculis cohercere exilioque mulctare quoscunque potentiores intelligunt, ad se omnia item rapere, per phas et nephas adulterare, violare sacra et phana spoliare, domos atque urbem incendere, et demum quocunque eosdem sceleratus appetitus impelleret promoveri, sub hominis ymagine immanem belluam et feram pestiferam

14 Ahala] hala M 6–13 Popularis—potestatem] Plat., Rep. 565a–566e 13–15 de Spurio—audivimus] Liv. 4.13–14 15–18 Gracchi—condemnatis] Flor. 2.1–5 21–24 nec iura—novo] Luc. 8.450–454

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even the tribunes’ power was generally sufficient to prevent it, they attacked the ruling rich, driven by anger and by the tribunes’ encouragement as well, and massacred some of them, punished others with exile, and took the power of command into their own hands, in the name of the people. (30) Subsequently, since the plebeians governed negligently and incautiously, as is likely enough, with an excess of widespread freedom, they opened the way for tyranny, once both envy and the desire for plunder had grown up among more than a few men. For an eloquent member of the people emerged under the appearance of a good man, denouncing and condemning the extortions of those ruling in the people’s name, and claiming that this excessively widespread freedom was taken by many as a license to do evil and that he would do differently if given the opportunity, by which he easily induced the credulous to follow him and to assist him whenever he would maneuver to take the helm. After having eventually taken hold of it, he at first appeared mostly just and equitable, initially acting piously and honorably in all things and hiding his iniquity until he felt that he had consolidated his power, as in the case of Spurius Maelius, whom Servilius Ahala killed in the forum on the orders of the dictator Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus. (31) After him, the two Gracchi, Apuleius Saturninus, Livius Drusus, and Servilius Caepio fearlessly performed many wicked deeds in a tyrannical manner and using the tribunician power, while Metellus and Rutilius, excellent men, were condemned to perpetual exile. (32) All these obtained tyrannical lordship under cover of a good appearance, as all tyrants are accustomed to do, as the poet Lucan quite wisely asserts: You will hope for neither law nor faith Nor respect for God from an aged court:10 Those accustomed to scepters blush at nothing; the mildest lot Belongs to the kingdoms under a new king. (33) Subsequently, taking the opportunity to inflict injury and abuse with impunity, they gradually maneuver to pervert all laws, to kill, torture, put in chains, and punish with exile whomever they understand to be among the more powerful, as well as to plunder everything for themselves, commit adultery by fair means and foul, violate the sacred places and despoil the shrines, burn down houses and the city, and finally pursue whatever wicked appetite drives them to do, revealing a monstrous wild animal and a pestilential beast

10

The Latin text has “veteris … aule,” a common variant in the manuscript tradition of Lucan’s Pharsalia. Modern editors prefer “veteri … aula”; cf. Duff, Lucan, 470.

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retinentes, ex quibus necesse est ut omnibus demum invisi efficiantur. (34) Quod equidem mente versantes, metu cruente mortis solliciti, tum veneni, tum gladii, tum furoris popularis die noctuque insidias subesse proponunt, potentiores igitur semper extinguere moliuntur, illosque precipue qui eosdem ad *tyrannidem promoverunt, dum concipiunt ab illis faciliter posse deponi qui sibi regnandi contulerint potestatem. (35) Vidistis etate nostra quas strages, que scelera, quos cruciatus et carceres, quot suspendia, que machinata facinora *Canis Facinus adversus amiciores ducalis egerit principatus, dum spurcus homo et nequam de stercore ad *tyrannidem evectus se adepturum speraret gubernaculum urbis huius. (36) Gubernatorem etenim *Iohannis Marie tunc ducis clarissimi se ipsum instituit, ut eundem posset facilius vita et dominio spoliare; decreverat insuper huius urbis vicariatum ab imperatore percipere, ut subinde rationabili causa ducem ipsum videretur opprimere. Sed *deus non est passus tantum obprobrium diutius superesse. Quot fraudes posthac et invidiosa retia huic nostro principi tetenderit norunt omnes, nedum ipse; nam malignorum temporum fretus audacia, non metuebat palam etiam quos oderat violare. (37) Quot ex adverso pestes, pernicies, cedes et rapinas *Otho de Tertiis popularibus seditionibus adiutus effecerit, quis sufficeret numerare? Factionum etenim furore seviente, dum *Ghibellini alterum, *Guelfi reliquum funestis auxiliis foverent, civile bellum inexhausti instar incendii undique perfusum vidimus, nec oppida solum et castra, sed veteres et famosas *Ligurie civitates hostili clade perculsas, prostratas et haste subiectas agnovimus. (38) Piget reminisci quam brevis temporis lapsu hec nostra res publica, quam serenissimus olim dux *Iohannes Galeaz, huius clarissimi nostri ducis genitor, florentissimam potentissimamque reliquerat, acerba lacrimabilique sorte corruerit. (39) Vidimus non solum predas et rerum incendia, verum infaustas strages miserabilium populorum, phana et sacra spoliari, virgines stuprari, pueros a parentum amplexibus divelli, viros torqueri et occidi, matresfamilias pati que victoribus collibuissent. Vidimus *tyrannidem undique sevientem, quam nundum ad imum extinctam cernimus, licet, *deo nostro principi suffragante, non ambigimus iam iam celeriter defecturam. (40) Hec tot tantaque calamitosa facinora tyrannorum exercuit principatus, dum ducalem urbis sedem evertere

27 stuprari] struprari M 8 Facinus canis mg1

17–18 Otho de terciis mg1

26–29 predas—collibuissent] Sall., Cat. 51.9

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beneath the image of a man, with the consequence that they necessarily end up becoming hated by all. (34) Indeed, turning this fact over in their minds and stimulated by the fear of a violent death, whether by poison or by the sword or by popular fury, they suppose themselves to be at risk of plots day and night and therefore always maneuver to crush the more powerful and especially those who promoted their ascent to the tyrant’s office, since they have the idea that they might easily be deposed by those who conferred on them the power to reign. (35) You have seen in our day what ravages, what wicked deeds, what tortures and prisons, what hangings, what evil plots Facino Cane11 enacted against those more friendly to ducal rule, when that base and worthless man, risen from filth to a tyrant’s state, hoped to obtain the helm of this city. (36) He appointed himself regent for Giovanni Maria, then the most renowned duke, in order more easily to be able to despoil him of life and lordship, and he also determined to receive the vicariate of this city from the emperor, so that he might then appear to oppress the duke himself on reasonable grounds. But God did not suffer such opprobrium to persist for long. How many frauds and wicked snares he subsequently set for our present prince is known to all, not only to him, for stimulated by the boldness of the evil times, he was unafraid even to abuse publicly those whom he hated. (37) On the other hand, who could give the exact number of pestilent and pernicious acts, slaughters, and rapines Otto de’ Terzi committed, assisted by popular seditions? For factional fury was raging, as the Ghibellines supported one and the Guelfs the other with fatal assistance, we saw civil war spread on all sides like an inexhaustible blaze, and we recognized that not only towns and castles but also ancient and famous cities of Liguria were struck down by hostile blades, prostrated, and subject to the spear. (38) It is painful to remember in how short a time this commonwealth of ours, which the most serene former duke Gian Galeazzo, the father of our present most renowned duke, had left in a most flourishing and most powerful state, fell victim to a bitter and lamentable fate. (39) We saw not only sackings and burnings but indeed wicked massacres of miserable peoples, shrines and sacred places plundered, virgins raped, children torn from their parents’ arms, men tortured and killed, mothers of families suffering what the victors pleased. We saw raging everywhere a tyranny that we do not yet see entirely uprooted, although if God comes to our prince’s aid, we do not doubt that it is on the brink of being quickly dismantled. (40) So many and such calamitous wickednesses were put into practice by the rule of tyrants, while he had his hands

11

Decembrio here makes a pun, impossible to translate, on the word facinus, -oris (villainy, crime) and the name of Facino Cane.

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satagebat. Que cum perniciosissima detestandaque sint, magnopere laborandum cavendumque fuerit ne accidant culpa aut negligentia populorum. (41) Optimum ergo pre cunctis extiterit a prudentissimo principe gubernari, cuius cautione atque consilio *iustitia inviolata permaneat, concordia amorque perpetuus in populo vigeant rectoque et moderato ordine universa gerantur. (42) Principi etenim pre ceteris convenit virtutum omnium continuum officium exercere, ut sit prudens, ne erret aut fallatur, neque quempiam falli sinat, eligat profutura, ex adverso cuncta nocitura prevideat, iustumque esse oportet, ne quispiam violetur aut violet, ut singuli proprio deputentur officio, ut equalitas in omnibus comprobetur. (43) Sit etiam moderatus, ut morum decus et virtutum honestas rerumque omnium *modestia conservetur. Sit demum magnificus, ut fortiter adversa et secunda moderate sui exemplo ferre doceat. In primis autem princeps se ipsum regulet et disponat ut sit virtutis speculum universis: nulla enim principis vite pars versari in occulto potest, omnia eius dicta aut facta in luce luminosa consistunt; ad illum populi ora convertunt, illum tanquam vite totius speculum intuentur. (44) Sit benignus et clemens: nichil enim magis fulget in principe benignitate atque clementia, nil est venustius, nil est quod magis deceat civiumque amorem ad se magis alliceat. Sit fortis et bellicus in adversos et sue rei publice repugnantes. Subditorum pacem semper appetat et quietem, quibus parcat quantum queat, nec eos nisi necesse fuerit odiosis gravet oneribus. In viribus enim regis numeratur opulentia subditorum. (45) Sit religiosus et dei cultor assiduus, ut ad eius normam populus potissime dirigatur. Nulla enim res publica sine religionis cultu et veneratione potis est diutius conservari. ‘Omnia,’ inquit *Valerius, ‘post religionem ponenda semper nostra civitas duxit, etiam in quibus summe maiestatis conspici decus voluit. Quapropter non dubitaverunt sacris imperia servire, ita se humanarum rerum habitura regimen existimantia si divine potentie bene atque constanter fuissent famulata.’ (46) Locus iste me admonet ut de huius nostre civitatis innata religione pauca subiciam. Nulla enim re profecto magis arbitror hanc urbis felicitatem prostratam totiens surrexisse, quam quid religionis divinique cultus iugis et indefessa semper extitit observatrix. (47) Notum etenim vobis esse non ambigo urbem hanc *Italice religionis fuisse principium, ut abiectis cerimoniis erroneis *paganorum *christiane fidei lumen acciperet, cuius rei

3 De principibus mg1

6 Quid maxime principi conueniat mg1

16–18 Sit benignus—alliceat] Cic., Off. 2.9.32

16–18 Nota mg1

24–28 Omnia—famulata] Val. Max. 1.1.9

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full overthrowing the ducal seat of this city. Most pernicious and detestable as they are, it will be a matter for great effort and care to see to it that they do not happen by the fault or negligence of the people. (41) It will therefore be best, above all other options, to be governed by a most prudent prince, by whose caution and counsel justice may remain inviolate, concord and perpetual love may flourish among the people, and all things may be done in due and moderate order, (42) for it is suitable for a prince above others to practice all virtues as a continual duty. Let him be prudent, lest he err or be deceived, and let him not permit anyone to be deceived; let him choose profitable things and conversely be provident about all harmful ones. He should also be just, in order that no one may be abused or abuse, that each may be assigned his proper office, and that equality may be seen in all things. (43) Let him also be moderate, so that fitting customs and honorable virtues and modesty in all things may be preserved. Let him finally be great of soul, so that he may teach by his example to bear adversities with firmness and good fortune with moderation. First of all, however, let the prince so rule and dispose himself that he may be a mirror of virtue to all, for no part of a prince’s life can take place in hiding, and all his words and deeds are set out in bright light; the people’s faces turn to him and gaze upon him as upon a mirror containing the whole of life. (44) Let him be kind and clement, for nothing shines more brightly in a prince than kindness and clemency; nothing is more handsome, nothing is more fitting for him and draws the citizens’ love more toward him. Let him be strong and warlike toward his opponents and those hostile to his commonwealth. Let him always desire the peace and quiet of his subjects; let him spare them as much as he can and not lay odious burdens on them unless necessary, for the opulence of a king’s subjects is counted among his strengths. (45) Let him be religious and an assiduous worshiper of God, so that the people may be chiefly led by the standard he sets, since no commonwealth can be long preserved without the cultivation and veneration of religion. ‘Our city has always determined that all things are to be subordinate to religion,’ Valerius Maximus says, ‘even those that it has wished to consider fitting for the supreme majesty. So holders of state power never hesitated to minister to holy things, because they believed they would obtain the governance of human affairs only if they gave good and faithful service to the power of the gods.’ (46) This passage invites me to add a few things about this our city’s innate religion, for indeed, nothing in my judgment has contributed more to the repeated resurrection of this city’s prostrate happiness than its perpetual and always indefatigable observance of religion and divine worship. (47) You know, I have no doubt, that this city was the origin of Italic religion when, having cast aside the erroneous ceremonies of the pagans, it accepted the light of the Christian faith, an evident sign of which is that Barn-

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evidens signum est quod *Barnabas, *Christi discipulus, inter quem et *Matthiam apostolatus sors inita est, primus hic fuit antistes, cunque septem urbis porte forent septem planetarum statuis insignite unde nomina deducebant, primevo fidei fundamento eedem statue illico fuere delete, earumque loco, ut nunc cerni potest, sacrarum crucium insignia stabilita. (48) Nunquam preterea hic populus passus est ut infideles aut divine legis dubii hanc urbem incolerent, ne ex eorum superstitione vanisque prestigiis erronea in populo semina spargerentur. *Ambrosius etenim, huius urbis presul doctorque sancte legis eximius, *Arianos, *Donatistas, *Iovinianos hereticos, *Patarinos et *Iudeos ab hac sede quam primum censuit expellendos, nec unquam posthac eorum aliqui sunt admissi, licet *Iudei multotiens, sicuti in aliis *christianorum civitatibus fieri audistis, recipi admittique temptaverint. (49) Quanta devotione atque frequentia populus iste delubra quotidie soleat visitare vobis omnibus innotescit. Quanta dulcedine, quo caritatis ardore, quanto letitie iubilo *alme Virginis templum presentialiter erigatur, quibus sumptibus, quam solemnibus oblationibus, devotis et triumphalibus illud fiat, *deus bone, quis sufficeret enarrare? (50) Meministis insuper quanta populi multitudine *Romanus pontifex *Martinus, dum nuper a *Constantiensi concilio ad *Romanam urbem transitum hac ageret, altare maius templi huius mirabilis consecrarit indulgentiisque dotaverit: plusquam centum milium personarum numerus est creditus affuisse.” Abb.: (51) “Nunquam tot simul capita,” inquit abbas, “esse conspexi, non etiam in *Constantiensi concilio, ubi tot peregrine convenerant nationes.” Ub.: “Ita,” inquam, “etiam ab aliis intellexi, quo equidem summum pontificem et consocios cardinales vehementer admiratos accepi. (52) Sed ad officium nostri principis revertamur, quem nedum ad suos, sed etiam ad consocios et externos pro sue honore rei publice gratum, liberalem atque munificum esse conveniet. Avaritia enim, etsi omni hominum ordini vilis et abiecta sit, principi tamen pre ceteris solet esse miserrima, a quo paupertas opumque defectus longe abest. (53) Quid etiam in gubernante sordidius potest esse luxuria? Non enim, ut ait *Naso, maiestas cum amoris socordia convenienter annectitur. Pre-

4 primevo] primeueo M 1–2 Barnabas—inita est] Vulg., Act. 1.23; Sit. Med. 15; Bonv., Magn. 4.21.311–316; Galv. Fiam., Chron. extrav. 485 8–9 Ambrosius—Arianos] Bonv., Magn. 4.21.320–325 30–31 Non—annectitur] Ov., Met. 2.846–847

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abas,12 a disciple of Christ, between whom and Matthias the lot was cast for the apostleship, was the first prelate of this city, and since the city’s seven gates were adorned with statues of the seven planets from which they took their names, those statues were removed from there at the first foundation of the faith, and images of sacred crosses were set up in their place, as can be seen today. (48) Further, this people has never suffered unbelievers or those doubtful in the divine law to dwell in this city, lest erroneous seeds spread among the people as a result of their superstition and vain illusions, for Ambrose, this city’s prelate and an outstanding doctor of the holy law, judged that Arian, Donatist, and Jovinian heretics, Patarenes and Jews were to be expelled from this place at once,13 and none of them has ever been admitted since, even though Jews have often attempted to be received and admitted, as you have heard is done in other Christian cities. (49) You all know with how much devotion and frequency this people is daily accustomed to visit the shrines. Who would be able, good God, to recount with how much sweetness, with what ardor of charity, with how much joyous rejoicing the temple of the nourishing Virgin is being erected at present, and with what expense, with how solemn, devout, and triumphal offerings this is being done? (50) You also remember how great the multitude of people was when the Roman pontiff Martin, recently passing through on his way from the Council of Constance to the city of Rome, consecrated the high altar of this marvelous temple and endowed it with indulgences; more than a hundred thousand people are believed to have attended.” Abb.: (51) “I never saw so many persons together,” the abbot said, “not even at the Council of Constance, where so many foreign nations gathered.” Ub.: “I have also understood the same from others,” I said, “and I have indeed heard that the supreme pontiff and the cardinals who accompanied him were in absolute awe at it. (52) But let us return to the duties of our prince, who should be pleasant, generous, and munificent not only to his own but also to his associates and to outsiders, for the honor of his commonwealth, since avarice, even if it is vile and abject in every order of men, is nevertheless customarily most miserable, more than in others, in a prince, who is far from being poor or lacking in wealth. (53) What also can be more sordid in a governor than lust? For as Ovid says, majesty is not conveniently conjoined with the weakness of

12

13

This is a reference to Acts of the Apostles 1:23, referring to Joseph Barsabbas. The form “Barnabas” instead of Barsabbas is a variant of the Vulgate’s tradition. For the legend of Barnabas’s preaching in Milan, see Tomea, Tradizione. For Ambrose’s struggle with schismatic heretics and Jews, see Williams, Politics of Heresy. However, Decembrio’s reference to Patarenes is anachronistic, as this reforming movement arose only in the eleventh century, while Ambrose died in 397.

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terea maxime est illi intemperantia fugienda, ad cuius exemplar vivendi regula omnis exigitur. Omnia denique vitia oportet gubernantis fulgore torpescere, quem virtutum decore esse volumus radiantem. (54) Duo preterea *Platonis monita omnino expedit principem observare. Unum ne, dum totum corpus curare debeat equanimitate servata, plus favoris uni parti quam alteri videatur impendere. Aliud, ut utilitatem civium sic tueatur ut quicquid aget ad eam referat, sui commodi prorsus oblitus. (55) Nam ex defectu primo discordiarum fomenta seditioque pestifera nasceretur, ex qua rei publice status faciliter verti posset. Ex secundo vero civibus non modicum officeret, quibus potius debebit diligenter gubernando prodesse: ut enim tutela, sic rei publice gubernatio ad eorum ⟨utilitatem⟩ qui commissi sunt, non quibus commissa est debet principaliter esse proficua. (56) Omnis preterea castigatio ac malorum punitio iusta esse debet et equa contumeliaque vacare, neque enim ad eius qui punit utile, sed ad commune proficuum atque bonum est potius reducenda. Cavendum est illud etiam, ne maius quam culpa sit supplicium inferatur, neque ut hisdem de causis unus plectatur, alter ne appelletur quidem, sed illesus evadat. (57) Ad hec etiam ira quam maxime principi arcenda est, que rectum non sinit esse iudicium animumque disturbat, ut ebrii instar verum a falso internoscere non queat. Quinimo princeps scriptarum legum debet esse consimilis, que ad puniendum non ira, sed potius equitate ducuntur. (58) Superbia etiam magnopere sordescit in principe, benignitati contraria atque clementie. Quocirca ab eodem est omnino declinanda, ut enim res adversas sic secundas immoderate gerere levitatis esse censebitur. Equabilitate enim non solum vultus et frontis, sed dictorum et factorum in omni vita nichil clarius et venustius dici potest. Sicut de *Socrate philosopho frequenter accepimus, quanto enim quisque excellentior est graduque superior, tanto submissius se habere decebit.

11 eorum ⟨utilitatem⟩] eorum M 3–4 duo platonis monita mg1

12 proficua] proficuum M 17 Ira mg1

20 Superbia mg1

3–12 Duo—proficua] Plat., Rep. 342c, 420b; Cic., Off. 1.25.85 Off. 1.25.88–89 25–26 Sicut—decebit] Cic., Off. 1.26.90

25 Socrates mg1 12–20 Omnis—ducuntur] Cic.,

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love. Further, that man should especially flee temperance by whose example every rule of life is regulated. Finally, all vices should be rendered inactive by the blaze of the governor’s splendor, the splendor of him whom we wish to see shining with the decorousness of virtue. (54) Further, it is entirely profitable for the prince to observe two of Plato’s warnings. The first is that, since he ought to care for the entire body while maintaining equanimity, he should not appear to favor one part more than the other. The second is that he should protect what is useful for citizens in such a way that he refers everything he does to that end and totally leaves aside his own convenience. (55) For from the first defect a seedbed of discords and a pestilential sedition would be born, as a consequence of which the commonwealth’s state could easily be turned upside down. By the second, on the other hand, he would place no small obstacle before the citizens, whom he ought rather to profit by his diligent governance, for like the commonwealth’s protection, so its governance should principally be directed to the utility of those committed to it, not of those to whom it is committed.14 (56) Moreover, every chastisement and punishment of the wicked should be just and equitable and free of outrage; it should not be useful to the punisher, but rather brought back to the common profit and the common good. Care should also be taken that the punishment should not be greater than the crime, and that one is not punished for a cause for which another is not even brought to court but escapes untouched. (57) Beyond this, the prince must above all keep away from anger, which makes right judgment impossible and disturbs the soul, so that, as if drunk, it cannot distinguish true from false. The prince should instead be like written law, which is directed toward punishment not out of anger but rather out of equity. (58) Pride also greatly corrupts a prince, since it is contrary to kindness and clemency. Therefore he should turn entirely away from it, so that it will be judged fickleness to bear adverse events, like fortunate ones, without moderation. For nothing can be said to be more renowned and handsome than even-temperedness, manifested not only in looks and facial expressions but in words and deeds, in every season of life. As we have often learned from the philosopher Socrates, the more excellent someone is, and the higher in rank, the more submissively it will be fitting for him to behave.

14

I have supplied utilitatem (translated as “utility”) after ad eorum (which is grammatically inadmissible on its own), as this passage is taken from Cicero’s De officiis (1.25.85): “Omnino qui rei publicae praefuturi sunt duo Platonis praecepta teneant: unum, ut utilitatem civium sic tueantur, ut quaecumque agunt, ad eam referant obliti commodorum suorum, alterum, ut totum corpus rei publicae curent, ne, dum partem aliquam tuentur, reliquas deserant. Ut enim tutela, sic procuratio rei publicae ad eorum utilitatem, qui commissi sunt, non ad eorum, quibus commissa est, gerenda est.”

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(59) Demum cavendum est principi multo magis quam ceteris ne assentatorum blandimentis aures credulas patefaciat. Nulla enim pestis efficacior ad nocendum quam cum verba interne sunt dissona voluntati. Hi sunt gnathones detestabiles perniciosissimique, qui non quod sentiunt verum esse, sed suis principibus placitum falso testimonio comprobant atque laudant, quorum artibus nichil odiosius excogitari potest. (60) *Sirenum enim canentium more subrepunt et incautos sepe decipiunt: tales enim plerumque sese homines arbitrantur, ut iure et veridice collaudentur, ‘ex quo,’ inquit *Cicero, ‘innumerabilia nascuntur peccata, cum homines inflati falsis opinionibus turpiter irridentur et in maximis versantur erroribus.’ Non enim debet quispiam plus alterius quam suo fidem exhibere iudicio, qui se ipsum quotidie, nisi fuerit nimium negligens, perscrutatur. (61) Propter hec eas res publicas *Plato iudicat esse felices, quarum principes constat esse sapientes, aut saltem studere *sapientie, cuius ductu atque consilio, dicto aut facto nequeat aberrare. Secus autem nullius regimen diutius stare posse commemorat inexperientia atque inscitia gubernantis. (62) Status enim rei publice nostri corporis ymagini parentatur, in quo anime triplex divisio reperitur, rationalis videlicet, quam *Plato censet in arce capitis collocatam, irascibilis, quam in pectore esse diiudicat, appetibilis tertia, cuius sedem subter precordia collocavit. Eodem enim ordine res publica quemadmodum corporis humani recta dispositio regulatur. (63) Sicut equidem rationabilis anima, divinitatis particeps, ceteris partibus minoris essentie dominatur, sic in rei publice regimine indoctioribus sapientes merito preferuntur. Indignum enim foret et nature contrarium si partes anime viliores dignori preesse conciperent, non aliter quam si in domo patrisfamilias servi dominis aut dominabus pediseque legem imponeretur. (64) Rationabili etenim anime gubernantis principis officium similatur, militum vero et custodum dispositio irascibili, quod *Plato inter rationale et appetitivum tanquam temperans medium collocavit; at populi plebisque numerositas visceribus parentatur. Sicut ergo corporis colligatio debet animo rationabili tanquam domino famulari eiusque parere mandato, sic subditorum populorum congeries numerosa debet suo duci ac domino ceu dignori obsequium fidele prestare, nec ab

12 plato mg1 2–3 Nulla—voluntati] Gualt. Angl., Fab. 3.3 8–10 ex quo—erroribus] Cic., Off. 1.26.91 12–14 Propter—aberrare] Plat., Rep. 473d–478e. Cf. Cic., ad Q. fr. 1.1.29; Boeth., Consol. 1.pr.4.19–21; Benz., Chron. 24.357–359 14–16 Secus—gubernantis] Plat., Rep. 347c. Cf. Boeth., Consol. 1.pr.4.21–25 17–19 anime—collocavit] Cic., Tusc. 1.10.20 27–28 quod Plato—collocavit] Plat., Rep. 430c– 432b

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(59) Finally, the prince is to beware far more than others lest he lend a credulous ear to the blandishments of flatterers, for no pestilence is more effective in doing harm than when someone’s words are in internal disagreement with his will. These are the detestable and most pernicious parasites who demonstrate and praise by false testimony not what they think to be true but what they think will please their princes; nothing more hateful than their arts can be thought of. (60) They creep up like the Sirens with their songs and often deceive the unwary, for men commonly judge themselves to be such as are rightly and truly praised, ‘from which,’ Cicero says, ‘countless sins arise, when men inflated by false opinions are foully mocked and fall into the greatest errors,’ since no one who examines himself daily, unless he is excessively negligent, should put more faith in another’s judgment than in his own. (61) For these reasons, Plato judges that commonwealths are happy when their princes are known to be wise or at least to strive for wisdom, under whose direction and counsel it is impossible to err in word or deed. Otherwise, he says, no regime can long stand when its governor is inexperienced and ignorant, (62) for the states of the commonwealth are compared to the image of our body, in which a triple division of the soul is found, namely the rational soul, which Plato judges to be located in the highest part of the head, the irascible, which he considers to be in the chest, and the desiring, the seat of which he places beneath the diaphragm. By the same order the commonwealth is regulated, after the manner of the human body’s proper disposition. (63) For just as the rational soul, which shares in divinity, rules the other, less essential parts, so in the commonwealth’s governance the wise are deservedly preferred to the unlearned, since it would be undignified and contrary to nature if the inferior parts of the soul began to feel worthy of holding higher rank, not otherwise than if in the household of the father of a family this were imposed as a law on the masters of servants or the mistresses of maids. (64) For the governing prince’s office is likened to the rational soul, and the disposition of soldiers and guardians to the irascible soul, which Plato placed between the rational and the desiring as a tempering middle,15 while the multitude of the people and plebeians are compared to the viscera. Therefore, just as the collective of the body should serve the rational soul as its lord and obey its commands, so the numerous crowd of subject people should render faithful obedience to its leader and lord, as to one of greater worth, and

15

In the passage Decembrio refers to here (Rep. 430c–432b), Plato says that moderation—to be understood as “self-controlled behavior”—is produced by the agreement of all classes, including the guardians, about who should rule and be ruled.

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eiusdem quoquo modo voluntate discedere. (65) Hec sunt que de principantis officiis duxi sub compendio recitanda. Superest ut de nostre rei publice deinceps custodibus ordiamur, nisi vobis fortassis aliter videretur.” Abb.: “Imo, sic nobis omnibus,” inquit abbas, “ut pro his etiam loquar, reor esse gratissimum.” Ub.: (66) “Postquam ergo,” inquam, “de principe gubernante tanquam de rei publice capite dictum est, de membris reliquis prosequemur, et primum se offert explicare de custodibus civitatis, de quibus dicere aggrediar, si prius de hominum naturis propriis atque communibus nonnulla pauca premisero. (67) Duplices in his personas a natura tributas scitis, quarum est una communis, ex qua omnes sumus participes rationis, qua ridemus et flemus, qua loquimur omnique prestantia qua ceteris bestiis videmur antecellere, ex qua honestum decorumque nascitur virtutumque omnium disponuntur officia; altera autem, que proprie singulis est hominibus attributa, ut enim ingentes in corporibus varietates existunt. (68) Nam alios velocissimos, alios e contrario pigerrimos et somnolentos cernimus, audaces alios atque naturaliter bellatores, alios meticulosos videmus et ignavos. Item in formis aliis inesse dignitatem, aliis pulcritudinem, aliis venustatem. (69) Sic in animis existunt maiores etiam varietates: alios enim rigidos et severos, e contra multos hilares et iocundos, quosdam cantores festivique sermonis, nonnullos rudis eloquii et incompti, quosdam insidiosos atque versutos, quosdam e contrario simplices et apertos, alios artifices voce atque gestu quosque voluerint similandi, ut unus plurimos representet, alios in his valde dissimiles videmus. (70) *Bartholomeum Falchionem, doctorem et militem, quem meminisse potestis, physicum etiam quendam *Papiensem nomine *Bernardinum Magnanum adeo habiles artifices novi, quorumque proprios sermones effingere, ac si inde originem deduxissent. (71) Hec et consimilia multa sunt, que natura varie singulis hominibus confert, morumque sunt varietates innumere, quo fit ut bene ac diligenter singula administrentur officia, si unusquisque nature sue proprium tueatur, dummodo vitiosum aut turpe non sit. Repugnare etenim nature nemo feliciter potest; quinimo more *Gigantum pugnare cum *diis asseritur. (72) Stultum etenim est id optare quod assequi nequeas. Nichil enim, ut aiunt, decet invita *Minerva, hoc est obstante ac repugnante natura, ut enim eo sermone uti debemus qui notus est nobis, ne ut quidam *Gallica verba inculcantes iure optimo irrideri possimus, sic in omnem vitam actiones immotas et stabiles minimeque a nostro ingenio discre-

8 De custodibus rei publice mg1 10–23 Duplices—videmus] Cic., Off. 1.30.107 28–29 bene—tueatur] Plat., Rep. 433a–d 30–31 Repugnare—asseritur] Cic., Sen. 2.5 32–33 Nichil—debemus] Cic., Off. 1.31.110–111

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not deviate in any way from his will. (65) This is what I have determined to recite briefly about the duties of a ruler. It remains for us next to discuss our commonwealth’s guardians, unless you perhaps think otherwise.” Abb.: “On the contrary,” the abbot said, “I suppose that this would be most pleasing to all of us, if I may speak for the others as well.” Ub.: (66) I said, “After having spoken of the governing prince as the commonwealth’s head, therefore, we will continue with the other limbs, where the first subject to come up is that of the city’s guardians, about whom let me begin to speak, although I will first preface this subject with a few things, not many, about men’s particular and common natures. (67) You know that a twofold personality is granted to men by nature, one of which is common, by which we all share in reason, by which we laugh and weep, by which we speak and have all those excellent qualities by which we appear to surpass the other beasts, from which what is honorable and decorous is born, and by which the offices of all virtues are ordained. The other is properly assigned to individual men, such that they vary massively in body, (68) for we observe that some are extremely quick, others on the contrary extremely lazy and somnolent; we see that some are bold and naturally warlike, others are hesitant and cowardly. Again, we see that some are dignified in form, others beautiful, others handsome. (69) Likewise, they vary even more greatly in soul, for we see some who are rigid and severe, and conversely many who are cheerful and agreeable, some who are singers and merry in their speech, more than a few who are rude and rough of tongue, some who are treacherous and sly, others on the contrary who are simple and open, others who have the craft of mimicking in voice and gesture whomever they wish, so that one can represent many, and others who are greatly unlike in these things. (70) I have known Bartolomeo Falcone, a doctor and a soldier, whom you may remember, and also a certain physician from Pavia, named Bernardino Magnani, who were so skillful at this that they counterfeited anyone’s own words as if they originated from themselves. (71) These things and many similar ones are variously conferred by nature on individual men, and there are countless varieties of customs, by which it comes about that individual offices are well and diligently carried out if each one fosters what is proper to his own nature, so long as it is not vicious or foul. For no one can happily resist nature; rather, it would be like the giants fighting the gods, as the saying goes, (72) since it is foolish to wish for what you are unable to obtain. ‘For nothing, as they say, is fitting when Minerva is unwilling, that is, in opposition or resistance to nature, since just as we should use that speech that is known to us, lest mixing in French words, as some do, we might be most justly laughed at, so we should maintain our actions unmoved and stable in all spheres of life, deviating as little as possible from our own

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pantes servare debemus. (73) Cum itaque tanta sit differentia naturarum, curabit sapiens nostre rei publice gubernator prudentes et nature sue aptissimos custodes eligere, sub quorum tutela vigilique custodia secure et placide suus populus requiescat, nec ledi aut violari ab hostibus reformidet. (74) Tales viros *Plato noster in sua *Re publica generosis canibus comparavit. Natura enim talium canum est pro ovium domusque commissa custodia fideliter et diligentissime vigilare. Sic custodes hi fideles vigilesque tuendis populis se prebebunt; utque illi corpore leves, viribus fortes, detentione feroces, sic hos custodie prepositos leves in prosequendis, fortes in debellandis, in retinendique cohercendis hostibus feroces esse conveniet. (75) Preterea, ut illi notis domestici atque mites sunt extraneisque irascibiles ac rapaces, sic custodes civibus suis mites et innocui, extraneis vero et hostibus offensibiles et superbi. Extraneum enim et pestiferum pastori videretur, si canes, quos pecudum custodie deputasset, fame aut consuetudine prava adactos sevire in armenta cognosceret, et quos custodie cura greges admiserant lupino potius more consumerent. (76) Idem et de custodibus dici potest, si prede voragine quos custodiendos assumpserant devorarent, quod hodie in multis equidem dici potest.” Le.: “Verissimum hoc,” inquit *Leo. “Nostri enim temporis milies longe maiora discrimina domesticis quam hostibus inferre iudicantur.” Si.: “Sic est,” inquit *Simon, “hocque plus quam vellem sepissime sum expertus.” Ub.: (77) “Erit igitur,” inquam, “expediens principi nostro custodes eligere virtuosos, prudentes scilicet, ne perperam notos violent pro ignotis, utque notos ab ignotis signanter agnoscant, ut cauti agendorum sint atque utiles provisores, ne insidiis hostium fallantur intercipianturve, ut castra atque valla tuto in loco constituant, ne discrimen bellorum subeant, nisi evidens utilitas rei publice

5 plato mg1 mg1

10–12 Similitudo notabilis mg1

4–5 Tales—comparavit] Plat., Rep. 450d

18–19 Idem nostri fecerunt mg2

23 prudentia

12–17 Extraneum—devorarent] Plat., Rep. 416a–b

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temperament.’16 (73) So since there is so great a difference among natures, our commonwealth’s wise governor will take care to choose as guardians those who are prudent and naturally most fitted for this task, under whose protection and vigilant watch his people may rest securely and peacefully, without fear of being harmed or abused by enemies. (74) Our Plato compared such men in his Republic to well-bred dogs, for it is the nature of such dogs faithfully and most diligently to watch over the sheep and the house under their guardianship. In the same way, these faithful and vigilant guardians will offer themselves for the people’s protection. Just as those dogs are swift in body, strong in power, and fierce in holding, so it will be suitable for these men appointed as guardians to be swift in pursuing the enemy, strong in fighting them, and fierce in detaining and coercing them. (75) Further, just as those dogs are tame and mild with those they know and irascible and rapacious with strangers, so the guardians should be mild and harmless to their fellow citizens but ready to attack and crush when dealing with strangers and enemies. For it would seem out of character and calamitous to a shepherd if he saw the dogs to whom he had committed the guardianship of his livestock attack the herds, driven by hunger or an unnatural tendency, and those whom the flocks had welcomed for the sake of guardianship instead consumed them after the manner of a wolf. (76) The same can be said of human guardians if they devour in a whirlwind of plunder those whose guardianship they have undertaken, as can indeed be said of many today.” Le.: “That is most true,” Leone said, “for those of our day are judged to be a thousand times more dangerous to their own people than to the enemy.” Si.: (77) “Indeed,” Simone said, “and I have very often experienced more of it than I would wish.” Ub.: “Therefore,” I said, “it will be expedient for our prince to choose virtuous guardians, namely prudent ones, so that they may not wrongly abuse those they know instead of those they do not know; so that they may clearly distinguish the known from the unknown; so that they may be cautious in acting and usefully foresighted, lest they be deceived or ensnared by the enemy’s plots; so that they may establish their camps and fortifications in a safe place, lest they be subject to the hazards of war, unless the commonwealth’s evident utility or necessity compels otherwise; so that they may protect their associates and 16

Decembrio again quotes Cicero’s De officiis, combining, with some freedom, two nearly consecutive passages (1.31.110 and 111). It is interesting to note that Decembrio has replaced the Graeca verba (Greek words) of the original with Gallica verba (French words), likely an allusion to medieval word-for-word translations of Greek texts that incorporate French terms to translate or gloss Greek words (see section 3.1 of the introduction).

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aut necessitudo compulerit, ut socios protegant et amicos, ut a principis imperio non discedant, postremo ut omnem militie noverint disciplinam pariter et observent taliterque se habeant ut post factum dicere illud nequeant ‘non putaram.’ (78) Iustos preterea pariter esse conveniet, ut neminem iniuste violent neque permittant indebite violari. Nam qui iniuriatum si potest non defendit, tam in vitio est quam si parentes aut patriam deserat vel amicos. (79) Et quia *iustitie primum munus est, ne cui quis noceat, nisi lacessitus iniuria, communibus communiter, privatis autem ut propriis coutantur—nam si ultra appeterent humane societatis iura violarent—; quia etiam, ut sapienter *Plato inquit, non solum nobis orti sumus, sed partim patrie, partim sociis et amicis, studeat unusquisque eorum servire quam plurimis, natureque benignitatem sequendo communes utilitates in medium afferant, dandoque et accipiendo humanam societatem amicitiamque conservent; fidem preterea *iustitie fundamentum non obmittant custodes pre ceteris observare, que etiam hostibus est servanda, his maxime cum quibus iusta bella geruntur, quibus ius sociale proponitur. (80) Fugienda est etiam appetibilis honorum ambitio pecuniarumque cupiditas: harum enim illecebris sepenumero emersit iniuria; imperiorum maxime nitentur affectus, in quorum adeptione nulla fides nullaque societas conservatur. Nam omnis potestas, ut ait *Lucanus, ‘impatiens consortis erit.’ (81) Et quia incidunt sepe tempora ut que iusta primitus videbantur iniusta postea efficiantur, ut est de furioso gladium repetentem qui sana mente deposuerat, agendum erit illud quod *iustitie commoditas suadebit, neminem scilicet ledere, et sic eo casu non servare promissa, que lapsu temporis commutantur. Non igitur custodes nostri illa promissa servabunt, que ab eisdem servata inutilia aut nocua videbuntur, nec etiam si plus his qui promiserint quam quibus promissum est officere videantur. Illa etiam promissa quis non servanda arbitretur, que dolo aut metu vel vi promissa esse constabit? (82) Preterea quod versutia aut nimio rigore *iustitie actum sit, ut in illius equi venditore, qui omnibus illum vitiis immunem aiebat, excepto quod arborum ascensu semper abstinuit, cum de pontibus ligneis intelligeret, emptor autem de nemorum arboribus autumaret, aut de illo qui cum diebus viginti cum hoste firmasset indutias, populabatur

7 Iusticia mg1 3–4 taliterque—putaram] Cic., Off. 1.23.81 4–6 ut neminem—amicos] Cic., Off. 1.7.23 7–9 iustitie—violarent] Cic., Off. 1.7.20–21 9–13 ut sapienter—conservent] Cic., Off. 1.7.22 13–14 fidem—observare] Cic., Off. 1.7.23 14–15 que etiam—geruntur] Cic., Off. 1.11.36 19 omnis— erit] Luc. 1.92–93 19–27 Et quia—constabit?] Cic., Off. 1.10.31–32 21 de furioso—deposuerat] Plat., Rep. 331c 31–150.1 aut de—pactionem] Cic., Off. 1.10.33

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friends; so that they may not deviate from the prince’s command; and finally, so that they may equally know and observe every military discipline and may behave in such a way that they are afterward unable to say, ‘I had not thought about it.’ (78) Further, it will be equally suitable for them to be just, so that they may abuse no one unjustly and permit no one to be improperly abused, for a man who does not defend someone who has suffered injury, if he can, is as vicious as someone who deserts his parents or fatherland or friends. (79) And since the first office of justice is to do no harm to anyone unless provoked by injury, making use of common things as common and of private things as one’s own—for if they desired more than their share, they would violate the laws of human society—and also since, as Plato wisely says, we are born not only for ourselves but in part for our fatherland, in part for our associates and friends, let each one of them strive to serve as many as possible, and let them, in the image of nature’s kindness, make common utility their focus and by giving and receiving preserve human society and friendship. Further, let the guardians more than others not neglect to maintain faith, justice’s foundation, which is to be kept even with regard to enemies, especially those against whom just wars are waged, by which the law of society is promoted. (80) The ambition that desires honors and the longing for money are also to be fled, for injury frequently originates from their allurements. These affections will strive especially after commands, in the acquisition of which no faith and no fellowship is maintained. For every power, as Lucan says, ‘will be impatient of a consort.’ (81) And since occasions often arise in which what originally appeared just later becomes unjust, as in the case of the raving man seeking the return of the sword that he left in deposit when in his right mind,17 what is to be done will be that which the convenience of justice suggests, namely to harm no one, and so in that case not to keep promises that cannot be upheld with the passing of time. Our guardians therefore will not keep those promises that will appear to them to be useless or harmful to keep, or promises that appear to cause more trouble for those who promised than for those who received the promise. Who will think that promises that were clearly made as a result of fraud or fear or force should be kept? (82) There is also what might be done by some stratagem or by an excessive rigor of justice, as in the case of someone selling a horse who said that the horse was free from all defects except that it always refused to climb trees, by which he understood wooden bridges but the buyer understood the trees of a forest; or someone who after having made a twenty-day truce with the enemy laid waste to him at night, asserting that the agreement was about

17

For this example, see 1.47–49 above.

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noctibus, asserens dierum, non noctium fuisse pactionem. (83) Et quia ob eam causam suscipienda sunt bella ut sine iniuria in pace vivatur, maior cura nostris custodibus esse debebit paci quam bello operam adhibere, ut finis calamitatis bellice pax existat. Paci namque nisi subsint, fortassis insidie semper fuerit consulendum. (84) Fraus vero vulpecule et vis leonis a quolibet viro iusto et bono aliena probabitur, cum omnis *iustitie nulla detestabilior pestis vigeat, quam illorum qui sub specie viri boni et opinione *iustitie insidiosa scelera machinantur. (85) Improbum est etiam ab alio rapere quod alteri largiantur, ut liberales populo videantur, in qua re maxime delinquunt qui cupidi sunt honoris et glorie, quod custodes nostri ne accidat potissime precavebunt. Nec ea etiam liberalitas est putanda, que ut laudem querat largiendo proprias exhauriat facultates, se ipsos enim et suos spoliant, quibus fuerat equius benefacere quam in alienos sua transfundere. Ad hec etiam cum sua inconsulte stolideque consumpserint, aliena subinde rapere moliuntur, quod equidem *iustitia detestatur. (86) Gratos etiam beneficii accepti existere *iustitie munus erit, ut singulorum amor alliciatur et amicitie vinculum tenacius conservetur, quanquam iuxta beneficiorum ordines plurimi gratitudinum gradus existant, ut plus suis quam alienis, amicis quam ignotis, civibus quam externis, dignis quam indignis, pauperibus quam divitibus, calamitosis quam prospere agentibus prebeatur. (87) Fortes quoque et magnanimos nostros oportebit esse custodes, in quo maxime rerum gestarum gerendarumque gloria comprobatur. Hec tamen *fortitudo a *iustitie limitibus non discedat. Nemo enim potest *fortitudinis gloriam adipisci, qui malitiis vel insidiis illam queritet. (88) Preclare itaque *Plato: non solum, inquit, scientia que a *iustitia remota est calliditas potius quam scientia est appellanda, verum etiam animus ad perniciem paratus, si sua cupiditate potius quam communi utilitate impellitur, temeritatis potius nomen habeat quam *fortitudinis necesse est, ex quo viros fortes et magnanimos bonos et simplices veritatis cultores esse iubet. (89) Erit tamen custodibus nostris cavendum ne ex hac animorum excellentia principatus vel imperii oriatur aviditas, ut apud *Platonem *Lacedemonii potissime refelluntur. Difficile enim videtur omnibus prestare volentibus servare equitatem, que *iustitie maxime propria est. (90) Fortes igitur et magnanimi sunt habendi non qui 28 simplices] simplicis M 22 fortitudo mg1

24 plato mg1

1–5 Et quia—consulendum] Cic., Off. 1.10.34 5–8 Fraus—machinantur] Cic., Off. 1.13.41 8–15 Improbum—detestatur] Cic., Off. 1.14.43 15–20 Gratos—prebeatur] Cic., Off. 1.14.47 23–28 Preclare—iubet] Cic., Off. 1.19.63 28–32 Erit—propria est] Plat., Rep. 545a; Cic., Off. 1.19.64 32–152.5 Fortes—tolerantia] Cic., Off. 1.19.65–20.66

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days, not nights. (83) And since wars are to be undertaken in order to live in peace without injury, our guardians should take greater care to work for peace than for war, so that peace may be the end of war’s calamity, since unless they are concealed under a cover of peace, deceitful stratagems will perhaps always be advisable. (84) On the other hand, the fox’s fraud and the lion’s force will be shown to be alien to any just and good man, since no more detestable pestilence can flourish, attacking every justice, than the pestilence of those who plot wicked deceits under the appearance of being a good man and having the reputation of being just. (85) Also wrong is to seize from another what others have bestowed, in order to appear generous to the people, something that those who are eager for honor and glory are especially guilty of and that our guardians will take the greatest care to prevent. Nor is that to be supposed to be generosity that exhausts its own capabilities in giving things away in the search for praise, for they despoil themselves and their own people, whom it would have been more equitable to protect than to transfer their property to strangers. In addition, when they have ill-advisedly and foolishly used up their own property, they consequently strive to seize that of others, which justice indeed detests. (86) Gratitude for benefits received will also be an office of justice, so that each man’s love may be aroused and the bond of friendship more tenaciously preserved, even if there are multiple degrees of gratitude according to the order of benefits received, by which more is given to one’s own people than to outsiders, to friends than to strangers, to fellow citizens than to foreigners, to the worthy than to the unworthy, to the poor than to the rich, to those suffering disaster than to those prospering. (87) Our guardians should also be strong and brave; it is in those virtues that the glory of deeds done and to be done is especially found. Nevertheless, this fortitude should not exceed the boundaries set by justice. For no one can attain the glory of fortitude who seeks it with malice or treachery. (88) Plato therefore says most excellently that not only is knowledge that is removed from justice rather to be called cunning than knowledge, but also a soul ready for destruction, if driven more by its own desires than by common utility, is better described as characterized by rashness than by fortitude; consequently, he instructs strong and brave men to be good and simple cultivators of the truth. (89) Our guardians will nevertheless have to beware lest from this excellence of soul there arise a longing for rule or command, something that according to Plato the Lacedaemonians were especially concerned to prevent, since maintaining equity, which is especially characteristic of justice, seems difficult to all those who wish to excel. (90) Therefore it

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faciunt, sed propulsant iniuriam, nec ex hoc laudem queritant, nec ex errore et opinione imperite multitudinis pendent, sed conscientie sue testimonio sunt contenti. Fortis autem animus duabus ex rebus maxime cernitur, in rerum scilicet externarum despicientia ac dolorum et laborum vel cruciatuum tolerantia. (91) Nam ea que eximia pluribus videntur vilipendere et parvifacere vel contemnere magni animi est, et ea item que dira et acerba videntur ita ferre ut nichil a statu nature, nichil a dignitate virili discedas, robusti animi est magneque constantie. (92) Erit postremo expediens custodes et milites nostros eligere temperatos: in hac enim virtute *modestia dictorum factorumque decorum omne consistit. ‘Ut enim corporis pulcritudo et venustas,’ ut ait *Cicero, ‘apta compositione membrorum movet oculos atque delectat hoc ipso, quod inter se omnes partes quodam cum lepore consentiunt, sic decorum quod elucet in vita, movet adprobationem eorum, quibuscum vivitur, ordine, constantia et moderatione dictorum omnium atque factorum.’ (93) Hoc maxime servari poterit, si cura erit ut appetitus obtemperet rationi, sique homo sepenumero recordetur quantum natura rationabilis ceteris animantibus antecedat. Illa enim solas appetunt voluptates, ad quas omni impetu et cura festinant. Hominis autem mens discendo, contemplando et nova semper inveniendo nutritur vigetque quidque rationis velit officium tanquam constitutionem propriam recognoscit; ingenioque multo magis quam corporis viribus se prebebit, in quibus multis animalibus minor esset. (94) Robur enim et corporis levitatem ceterosque sensus corporeos longe habiliores quibusdam animantibus quam hominibus natura contribuit, quo fiet ut a virtutum officio nunquam ille discedat. Secus autem quomodo alios diligenter custodiret qui se ipsum negligeret et belluales potius eligeret voluptates sordidasque libidines et infames? (95) Cibo etenim stomachus vinoque repletus somnium et quietem longe magis appetet quam vigiliam vel laborem. Erit ergo nostris custodibus non voluptas, sed frugalitas conservanda: si avaritiam preterea et habendi cupidinem sequerentur, rapere potius violare quam tueri et aliena custodire proponerent; sique luxuria vel invidia tabescerent, non liberi custodes, sed servi infames et sordidi putarentur. (96) Quibus ex omnibus cura erit potissima principanti tales

9 Temperantia mg1

11 Cicero mg1

5–8 Nam—constantie] Cic., Off. 1.20.67 10–14 Ut enim—factorum] Cic., Off. 1.28.98 18–19 Hominis—vigetque] Cic., Off. 1.29.105 26–27 Cibo—laborem] Hor., Sat. 2.2 31–154.5 Quibus—probaverit] Plat., Rep. 412b–417b

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is not those who inflict injury who are to be considered strong and brave, but those who repel injury, not seeking praise for this or esteeming the error and opinion of the ignorant multitude but content with the testimony of their conscience. Strength of soul is especially seen in two things, however, namely in despising external things and in enduring pains and labors or torments. (91) For it pertains to a great soul to denigrate and think little of or disdain those things that seem outstanding to many, and likewise, it pertains to a robust soul and to great constancy to bear those things that seem dire and bitter in such a way that you fall short in nothing from the state of nature and from manly dignity. (92) Finally, it will be expedient to choose temperate men as our guardians and soldiers, for modesty of speech and every propriety of action consist in this virtue. ‘Just as the beauty and handsomeness of the body,’ as Cicero says, ‘by an apt composition of the limbs move the eyes and give pleasure by the very fact that all the parts agree with one another in a certain charm, so this propriety, which shines forth in life, wins the approbation of those with whom we live by the order, perseverance, and temperance of all our words and deeds.’ (93) It will be particularly possible to uphold this if care is taken that appetite submit to reason and if men are frequently reminded how much a rational nature excels other animate beings, since the latter only desire pleasures, toward which they hasten with every impetus and care. The human mind, on the other hand, is nourished and flourishes by learning and contemplating and always discovering new things, and it recognizes whatever the office of reason wills as its proper constitution. It will show itself much more in intelligence than in bodily force, of which it has less than many animals, (94) since nature assigned robustness and bodily fleetness and other bodily senses of far greater keenness to some animate beings than to men. Hence it is that man never ceases from the office of virtue. Otherwise, how would that man diligently guard others who neglected himself and instead chose bestial pleasures and sordid and infamous lusts? (95) A stomach full of food and wine desires sleep and rest far more than wakefulness or labor.18 Our guardians must therefore uphold frugality rather than pleasure. If they were to pursue avarice and the desire for possessions, they would aim rather to plunder and abuse than to protect and guard others’ possessions, and if they were to be consumed by lust or envy, they would be considered not free guardians but infamous and sordid servants. (96) Hence it 18

This remark echoes the second satire of Horace’s second book of Satires, containing a famous encomium of moderation in matters of food. A similar point was made by Decembrio in his letter to Leone Morigia against the habit of having a lavish dinner on Christmas Day: “Nam opimo farto et epulis pinguissimis repleri non Christi operatio, sed Bachi, Iovis et Veneris sacrificium dici potest.” M, fol. 235r.

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rei publice custodes eligere quos a prime etatis initio ad huiuscemodi ministerium inclinatos natura ipsa disponente cognoverit, quos leves, robustos et validos corporis compositione comperit, quos ingeniosos armorum militarisque discipline doctos experiendo didicerit, quos pauco contentos et frugales viderit, postremo quos virtutibus ornatos vitiorumque labe exutos probaverit. Talium etenim virorum suffragio solertique vigilia, quis non credet rem publicam fauste diutineque servari?” Si.: (97) Tum *Simon: “Magni refert inter hos et nostri temporis milites, quibus omnis est cura contrarium eius quod diligentes habere custodes asseris operari.” Ub.: “Propterea,” inquam, “custodiarum suarum cernis effectus, qui domesticis atque notis, ut dudum *Leo aiebat, multo plus quam hostibus officiunt. Pro his enim quas enumeravimus virtutes perniciosa vitia possidentes, ex prudentibus ignari, ex iustis scelerati et impii, ex temperatis bestiales, ex magnanimis timidi ignavissimique cernuntur.” Le.: (98) “Cum his tamen vitiis hostes sepe fudimus,” inquit *Leo. Ub.: “Vero,” inquam, “sed illud in causa est quod nostri custodes cum sibi similibus et sepe etiam vilioribus preliantur. Sed si cum illis quos supra descripsimus rem haberent, profecto cerneres quantum virtutes a vitiis discreparent.” Abb.: (99) Tunc abbas: “Ita est,” inquit. “Sed custodes, de quibus actum est, a consortio eximis uxorio? An vel ipsos princeps noster exiget maritari?” Ub.: “Imo,” inquam, “ne consimilium custodum cura deficiat princeps noster magnopere procurabit, ut summa diligentia ea fiant. (100) Totidem enim generosas et optime indolis virgines mulieres mature etatis virili consortio nature custodum simillimas eliget, apto quasque tempore eisdem custodibus sacro connubii vinculo coniungendas, non ut communes eorumdem existant, sicuti *Platoni in suo *De re publica libro visum est, sed ut unusquisque suam sociam gnatosque proprios recognoscat, sicuti sani et publici moris extat. (101) Nec ex hoc ad invicem discordes fieri reor esse custodes aut invidos, sed multo magis si illa mulierum communis licentia preberetur, unde facilis materia, facibus accensis cupidinis, posset verisimilius esse litigii. Itaque in hac re a *Platone meo dissentio. (102) Illud autem sequens laudo, propter quod a principe mulie-

28 Nec] Ne M 27 plato mg1 26–27 non ut—visum est] Plat., Rep. 457c–d

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will be a matter of greatest care for the ruler to choose as the commonwealth’s guardians such men as he recognizes to have been inclined to this kind of occupation from their earliest years, disposed for it by nature itself; whom he finds to be fleet, robust, and strong in bodily constitution; whom he has learned by experience to be skilled in arms and learned in military matters; whom he has seen to be frugal and content with little; and finally, whom he has found to be adorned with virtue and free from the stain of vice. For with the aid and careful watch of such men, who will not believe that the commonwealth will be long and fortunately preserved?” Si.: (97) Then Simone said, “There is a great difference between these soldiers and those of our day, whose every concern is to do the opposite of what you assert pertains to diligent guardians.” Ub.: “For this reason,” I said, “you observe the effect of their guardianship, troubling their own people and those known to them, as Leone was just saying, far more than their enemies, for they are seen to possess pernicious vices in place of the virtues we have enumerated, to be ignorant instead of prudent, wicked and impious instead of just, bestial instead of temperate, and timid and extremely cowardly instead of brave.” Le.: (98) “Nevertheless, with these vices we have often routed our enemies,” Leone said. Ub.: “True,” I said, “but this is because our guardians fight with those like them and often also with those more vile. But if they had to do with those whom we have described earlier, you would really see how much virtue differs from vice.” Abb.: (99) Then the abbot said, “So it is. But do you exempt the guardians who have been our subject from the company of a wife? Or will our prince demand that they marry?” Ub.: “Indeed,” I said, “lest the care of similar guardians be lacking, our prince will greatly endeavor that this be done most diligently, (100) for he will choose an equal number of wellborn virgin women of excellent disposition, of an age ripe for male company, and most similar in nature to the guardians, to be united to those same guardians at an appropriate time by the sacred bond of marriage, not to be held in common among them, as Plato thought in his book on the commonwealth, but so that each one will acknowledge his own companion and his own children, as a healthy and public morality requires. (101) Nor do I suppose that the guardians will disagree with one another or become envious of one another on this account; rather, this would be far more the case if that common license were granted with regard to women, from which an easy subject for dispute could more plausibly arise when the flames of desire are lighted. Therefore I dissent from my Plato in this. (102) What follows, however,

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res maxime censeat eligendas, ut electior proles, aptior industriorque in posterum successivis temporibus oriatur. Nam, ut idem inquit *Plato, mos esse solet eorum quibus generosorum canum aut aliorum animalium habendorum solers cura consistit prestantiora semper et electiora coniungere, ut ex perfectiori stirpe soboles prestantior nunquam desit. Itidem in talium virorum connubiis servandum censet ut ex ipsis, quod verisimilius est, queant parentibus suis fetus consimiles procreari. (103) Ut enim herbarum et seminum reliquorum natura suis queque locis aptissime collocavit, ibidemque longe felicius quam alio translata virescunt, sic in naturis animantium singulorum cernimus, ut queque felicius proprie origini coherescant quam si in alienas transeant regiones. (104) In ea etiam re a *Platone dissentio, quod mulieres istas ad prelia subeunda simul cum pueris iudicat profecturas, ut duplicato robore decertetur et communes nati rebus bellicis instruantur. Multo magis equidem michi placet quod antiquis modernisque temporibus semper extitit observatum, ut viri bella agitent et domus cure infirmeque etatis familie nutrimento ac ceteris muliebribus officiis intendant pudicis moribus mulieres.” Le.: (105) Hic *Leo inquit: “Tuam hercle opinione probo. Cum satirico etenim convenio, qui mulierum arma et pugnas satis procaciter detestatur.” Si.: “Et quid de communitate,” inquit *Simon, “asseris earundem? Nonne illud turpius?” Abb.: “Imo,” inquit abbas, “turpissimum brutorum morem agere indiscreteque coire.” Ub.: (106) “Hec,” inquam, “ratio *Platonem adduxit ut amorem inter se civium tenacius catenaret, si unus populus tanquam unus communis omnium parens unaque familia censeretur, et ex hoc eorum facultates et fortunas volebat esse communes, ut hec duo verba, meum et tuum, de medio tollerentur, ex quibus aiebat seditiones omnes in populis et discordias generari.” Abb.: (107) “Ego quidem,” inquit abbas, “contrarium extimarem, sicut enim in ceteris animalibus intuemur ferales discordias ex communi amore progre-

2–7 Idem—procreari] Plat., Rep. 459a–460a 11–13 In ea—instruantur] Plat., Rep. 455d–457b 17–18 Cum—detestatur] Iuv. 6.245–267 23–27 Hec—generari] Plat., Rep. 463e–464a

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I praise, the reason why he judged that women were especially to be selected by the prince, so that more select offspring, more apt and more industrious, might arise over the course of time. For as Plato likewise says, it is customarily the practice of those who are skillfully concerned to have well-bred dogs or other animals that they always mate the more outstanding and select ones, so that a more outstanding race from a more perfect lineage is never lacking. He judges that the same practice is to be upheld in the marriages of such men, so that from them, as is quite plausible, similar offspring may be begotten by their parents, (103) for just as the nature of green plants and other seeds has most aptly placed each one in its own place, and they flourish far more happily there than when transplanted elsewhere, so we observe in the natures of different animate beings that each one more happily clings to its own origin than if it passes into foreign regions. (104) I also disagree with Plato when he judges that these women should go out to battle together with their children, so that the fight might be waged with double strength and the common children be instructed in military matters.19 Indeed, I much prefer what has always been done in ancient and modern times, that men make war and women attend with modesty to the care of the house and look after family members of feeble age and other womanly duties.” Le.: (105) Here Leone said, “By Hercules, I approve your opinion, for I agree with the satirist, who execrates women’s weapons and battles shamelessly enough.”20 Si.: “And what do you say about having women in common?” Simone said. “Is that not more shameful?” Abb.: “Indeed,” the abbot said, “it is most foul to act in the manner of the beasts and have intercourse without discretion.” Ub.: (106) I said, “This is the reason that led Plato to this idea, that it would bind the citizens more tenaciously in love for one another, so that one people would be regarded as one common parent to all and one family, and thus he wanted their resources and wealth to be shared, to get rid of these two words, ‘mine’ and ‘yours,’ from which, he said, derive all divisions and strife among peoples.” Abb.: (107) “For my part,” the abbot said, “I would think the opposite, for just as we see savage discords arising from common love among the other ani19 20

Plato (Rep. 455d–457b) does not prescribe that the guardians’ children should fight in battle, but rather that they should attend military field-days with their parents. Leone alludes here to Juvenal’s sixth Satire, containing a famous misogynistic invective, and especially to lines 245–267, where the poet describes with a contemptuous tone female gladiators and their paraphernalia.

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dientes, dum plures rivales eandem belluam consequuntur, nec communes etiam facultates concordie fomentum maius esse arbitror, ex quibus inter fratres innumeras agnoscimus sepenumero vigere discordias, donec fuerint ab invicem separati et sua quilibet recognoscat.” Ub.: (108) “Sic,” inquam, “arbitror. Sed quantum constat disciplinam militarem nostris custodibus maxime fore necessariam, de ea etiam summatim nonnulla censeo memoranda. Ea enim est que rerum publicarum robur et stabile asseritur firmamentum. Hec enim multo magis in *Romana re publica quam *Atheniensium aut *Grecarum aliqua viguisse legitur. (109) Hec est de qua *Valerius, post exempla plurima prelibata, inquit: ‘Disciplina militaris acriter retenta principatum *Italie *Romano imperio peperit, multarum urbium, magnorum regum, validissimarum gentium regimen largita est, fauces *Pontici sinus patefecit, *Alpium *Taurique montis convulsa claustra tradidit, ortumque e parvula *Romuli casa totius terrarum orbem fecit columen.’ (110) *Romana etenim res publica hac potissime disciplina surrexit effecitque ut totius orbis nationibus spatio exigui temporis imperaret. Notum etenim est vobis ex *Romanis annalibus quid gemini egerint *Scipiones qui *Africani cognominati sunt. (111) Quorum *Emilianus in *Hispaniam transmissus, eodem ferme temporis momento quo castra subiit, duo scortorum milia ingentemque institorum et lixarum numerum expellere procuravit. Qua peste voluptatis vacuefactus exercitus, qui paulo ante metu mortis deformi se federe maculaverat, erecta virtute superbam illam *Numantiam superavit transfugasque *Romanorum in spectaculis feris bestiis lacerandos obiecit. (112) Alter, devicta *Karthagine, quos transfugas agnoverat *Romanorum longe severius quam *Latinorum mulctandos duxit: *Romanos enim crucibus affigi, illos vero securi feriri iussit. (113) *Metellus quoque in prelio *Iugurtino, Emiliani secutus exemplum, lixas omnes de exercitu statuit submovendos cibumque coctum venalem proponi vetuit, neminemque uti voluit servitio iumentorum, sed ut sua ipsimet impedimenta deferretur. Qua continentia restituta, exercitus antea ignavus et debilis multa trophea crebrasque victorias obtinuit. (114) Nemo etiam *Romanorum ducum sanguini suo creditur pepercisse, quominus disciplina militaris acrius servaretur. Quid *P. Rutilius in *Sicilia consul contra eius generum

5–6 De disciplina militari mg1 lius mg1

17–18 Sipiones Affricani mg1

26 Metellus mg1

32 P. Ruti-

10–14 Disciplina—columen] Val. Max. 2.8.pr. 18–23 Quorum—obiecit] Val. Max. 2.7.1, 7.13; Liv., Per. 57 23–26 Alter—iussit] Val. Max. 2.7.12 26–30 Metellus—obtinuit] Val. Max. 2.7.2 32–160.1 P. Rutilius—Fabium] Val. Max. 2.7.3

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mals, when several rival beasts pursue the same female, I also do not judge that common faculties are any more productive of concord, when we recognize that countless discords frequently flourish among brothers on this account, until they separate and each one acknowledges what is his own.” Ub.: (108) “I agree,” I said. “But it is clear how much military discipline will be necessary to our guardians, and I judge that more than a few things concerning it should be briefly called to mind. For it is this that is said to be the strength and the stable foundation of commonwealths, since we read that it flourished far more in the Roman commonwealth than in any commonwealth of the Athenians or the Greeks. (109) It is this about which Valerius Maximus says, after recounting many examples, ‘Military discipline ruthlessly upheld brought forth the leadership of Italy for the Roman empire, bestowed on it rule over many cities, great kings, and mighty nations, opened to it the jaws of the Pontic Gulf, handed over to it the shattered barriers of the Alps and of Mount Taurus, and led it from its origin in Romulus’s little hut to the summit of the entire globe.’ (110) By this discipline above all, the Roman commonwealth was raised up and made such that within a brief span of time it came to command the nations of the whole world. You know from the Roman annals what the two Scipios called Africani did. (111) One of them, Aemilianus, sent to Hispania, at almost the same moment that he arrived in the camp, sought to expel two thousand prostitutes and a vast number of peddlers and camp-followers. Cleansed of this pestilence of pleasure, the army that had not long before, out of the fear of death, stained itself with a disgraceful treaty, now with aroused virtue overcame that proud Numantia and sent the Roman deserters into the arena to be torn to pieces by wild beasts. (112) The other, after the conquest of Carthage, recognizing that Roman deserters were to be punished far more severely than Latin ones, commanded that the Romans be crucified, the others struck down with an axe. (113) Metellus also, during the Jugurthine War, following Aemilianus’s example, ordered all the peddlers removed from the army and prohibited cooked food from being offered for sale, and he wished no one to use beasts of burden, but that each should carry his own gear. Once self-control had been reestablished, the army that had previously been cowardly and weak obtained many trophies and repeated victories. (114) Also, no Roman leader is believed to have spared his own blood, lest military discipline be less ruthlessly upheld. Have you had a chance to hear and read what the consul Publius Rutilius21 did in Sicily with his son-in-law Quintus Fabius, what

21

The form Rutilius instead of Rupilius is a common variant in Valerius Maximus’s manuscript tradition.

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*Q. Fabium, quid *C. Cotta adversus filium *Aurelium in eadem provincia militantem, quid *Fulvius Flaccus censor contra fratrem *Fulvium egerit et senatorem audire et legere potuistis? Hi enim omnes ex tenui negligentia gravissime fuere mulctati. (115) Quid *L. Postumius et ante eum *L. Brutus, et postea *Manlius Torquatus adversus filios egerint notum est. Nam *Brutus, quia filii eius de reducendo *Tarquinio in regnum tractaverant, virgis cesos securi plectendos proximo litori tradidit. Duo reliqui vero, quia contra eorum iussa progressi in aciem hostes fuderant, securi post fustigationes et verbera feriri iusserunt. (116) *L. autem Quintius Cincinnatus dictator *L. Minucium a consulatu deposuit, quia castra eius obsideri ab hostibus comperit, quod equidem indignum valde consulari imperio fuisse arbitrabatur. (117) *Fabium vero Rutilianum magistrum equitum *Papirius dictator, quia suo iniussu bellum commiserat, adeo persecutus est ut neque ad exercitus nec tribunorum nec *senatus supplicationem flecti posset, qui contumacie illius penas exigeret, tandem vix populi totius interventu ad quem appellaverat pacatus restitit. (118) Quid *Calpurnius Piso in *Sicilia contra *Titium, prefectum equitum, cum fugitivorum multitudine circumventus arma illis tradidisset? Nonne ignominie multiplicis nota affecit, equisque ablatis et equitandi usu ipsum inermem statuit in pedestri agmine funditorum? (119) Quid *Q. Messius apud *Trebiam collocatas quodam in colle a se cohortes vique hostium inde depulsas? Eam stationem repetere coegit edixitque ut si quis ex ipsis fugiens castra petisset, pro hoste interficeretur. Qua necessitate indicta, pulsis hostibus, stationem pristinam recuperarunt. (120) Quid *Fabius Maximus in eadem provincia, qui profugis brachia truncari et ante pectus gestari iusserat, quo ceteris metum defectionis incuterent?

6 Tarquinio] Tarquino M

10 comperit] comp(er)p(er)it M

1 C. Cotta mg1 2 F. Flaccus mg1 4 postumius mg1 ‖ Brutus mg1 4–5 M. Torquatus mg1 9 Q. Cincinatus mg1 11 Q. Rutilianus mg1 12 papirius mg1 15 Calphurnius mg1 19 Q. Messius mg1 23 F. Maximus mg1 1–2 C. Cotta—militantem] Val. Max. 2.7.4 2–3 Fulvius—senatorem] Val. Max. 2.7.5 5–7 Nam Brutus—tradidit] Liv. 2.5.5–8; Val. Max. 5.8.1. Cf. Aug., Civ. Dei 5.18.1 7–8 Duo—iusserunt] Val. Max. 2.7.6; Aug., Civ. Dei 5.18.2 9–11 L. autem—arbitrabatur] Val. Max. 2.7.7 11–15 Fabium—restitit] Val. Max. 2.7.8 15–19 Calpurnius—funditorum] Val. Max. 2.7.9 19–22 Q. Messius—recuperarunt] Val. Max. 2.7.10 23–24 Fabius—incuterent] Val. Max. 2.7.11 L.

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Gaius Cotta, fighting in the same province, did with his son Aurelius,22 what the censor Fulvius Flaccus did to his brother, the senator Fulvius? All these were most severely punished for slight negligence. (115) What Lucius Postumius23 and before him Lucius Brutus and later on Manlius Torquatus did with their sons is well known. When his sons plotted the return of Tarquin to the throne, Brutus handed them over already beaten with rods to the next lictor for punishment with the axe. The other two ordered their sons struck down with the axe after blows from the rod and the whip, because they had put the enemy to flight by advancing into their ranks against their orders. (116) For his part, the dictator Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus deposed Lucius Minucius from the consulship because he learned that his camp had been besieged by enemies, something that was indeed judged quite unworthy of a consular command. (117) The master of the cavalry Fabius Rutilianus24 was so persecuted by the dictator Papirius for having made war without orders that Papirius could be swayed by the supplications of neither the army nor the tribunes nor the Senate, but demanded punishment for Fabius’s arrogance; in the end, he barely escaped punishment by the intervention of the entire people, to whom he had appealed. (118) What did Calpurnius Piso do in Sicily to Titius, the prefect of the cavalry, when, surrounded by a multitude of fugitives, he handed over his weapons to them? Did he not treat him with marks of multiple ignominy and assign him unarmed to service among the infantry armed with sling-shots, taking away his horses and his ability to ride? (119) What did Quintus Messius do at Trebia when the cohorts he had stationed on a certain hill were driven from it by the enemy’s strength?25 He compelled them to seek the same position and ordered that if any of them fled to the camp, he would be killed as an enemy. Driven by this necessity, they threw back the enemy and recovered their original position. (120) What did Fabius Maximus do in the same province, who ordered that fugitives have their arms cut off and carried in front of their chests, in order

22

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Decembrio could have taken the reference to Gaius Cotta from Julius Paris’s epitome of Valerius Maximus, as the latter’s text is lacunose here (2.7.4). However, Aurelius was not Gaius’s son but rather his relative, and his full name was Publius Aurelius Pecuniola. This has led Valerius Maximus’s editors to expunge the word filium (son) from this passage; cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 1:180. Postumius’s praenomen is Aulus, not Lucius. The error is likely due to the manuscript of Valerius Maximus Decembrio used. The name Rutilianus is likely due to a variant, attested in Valerius Maximus’s manuscripts, of the correct Rullianus; cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 1:186. Again, the corresponding passage in Valerius Maximus contains minor variants rejected by modern editors, namely Messius and Trebiam instead of Metellus and Contrebiam; cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 1:188.

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*L. etiam Paulus, per se rege devicto, eiusdem sortis culpabiles elephantis pretereundos substravit. (121) Innumerabilia sunt exempla *Romane discipline, non solum que singuli, sed etiam que universus *senatus exercuit. Nam illos qui *Cannensi clade rem publicam deseruerant, perpetuo decrevit exilio relegandos, *Marcoque Marcello de *Sicilia rescribente nonnullis illarum gentium cohortibus sibi opus esse ad *Syracusas expugnandas, respondit indignos esse qui in castra denuo reciperentur, aut si tantum expedire rei publice cognoscebat, ipsos dumtaxat ibidem admitteret, sed quod in *Italiam eos venire non sineret. Sic enerves animos odisse virtus solet. (122) Stipendium etiam dari renuit legioni que *Q. Petilium contra *Ligures dimicantem occidi ab hostibus passa est nec se morti pro eius salute obiecerat; redimi etiam vetuerat sex milia iuvenum *Romanorum, quos intra castra *Hannibal capta servabat pretio admodum tenui, asserens turpiter illos et ignave fuisse detentos, quos honeste mori potius decuisset. (123) Hec et similia discipline militaris exempla calliditatesque illas et *astutias, quas *Greci *στρατηγήματα appellant, necesse fuerit nostros custodes tenaciter conservare, ut subinde nostra res publica huiuscemodi firmata suffragio diligentissime perpetueque valeat custodiri. (124) Restat nunc de civium moribus deque coniugiis et puerorum nutrimento disserere.” Abb.: Tunc abbas: “Ad vesperum eo,” inquit. “Nam solitum me vocat officium. Si id tibi et ceteris iuvenibus gratum est, in crastinum differamus.” Le., Si.: *Leo et *Simon: “Illud idem,” inquiunt, “affirmamus. Sed quia de crastino loco nundum quicquam deliberatum sensimus, illud nunc premonere opere pretium arbitramur.” Ub.: (125) “Si vobis id est gratum,” inquam, “die crastina prepositi venerabilis huius almi patroni *Iacobi videlicet Mothonensis ortulos adeamus.”

1–2 pretereundos] preterendos M 1 L. paulus mg1

15 στρατηγήματα] στραταγεματα M

9 virtus mg2

1–2 etiam—substravit] Val. Max. 2.7.14 3–14 Nam illos—decuisset] Val. Max. 2.7.15 Hec—appellant] Val. Max. 7.4.pr.; Front., Strat. 1.pr. Cf. Col. Sal., Ep. 2:292

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to instill the fear of desertion in others? Lucius Paulus also, having defeated a king,26 laid out those guilty of the same fault to be trampled by elephants. (121) The examples of Roman discipline, exercised not only by individuals but also by the whole Senate, are beyond counting, for the Senate decreed that those who deserted the commonwealth at the battle of Cannae were to be sent into perpetual exile,27 and when Marcus Marcellus wrote from Sicily that he had need of no few cohorts of those nations to capture Syracuse, the Senate replied that they were unworthy to be received into the ranks again, or else if he knew that this would be so profitable to the commonwealth, he might admit them there only but not permit them to come to Italy. Thus virtue is accustomed to spurn enervated souls. (122) The Senate also refused to pay the legion that permitted Quintus Petilius to be killed by the enemy and did not offer itself up to death for his salvation when he was fighting the Ligurians. They also forbade the ransoming of six thousand Roman youths serving as captives in Hannibal’s camp, even at a low price, asserting that they had been captured in foul and cowardly fashion and that it would have been more fitting for them to have died honorably. (123) These and similar examples of military discipline and those artifices and tricks that the Greeks call στρατηγήματα [stratagems] will need to be tenaciously maintained by our guardians, so that subsequently our commonwealth, strengthened by this kind of assistance, may be most diligently and perpetually guarded. (124) Now it remains to discuss the citizens’ morals and marriages and the rearing of children.” Abb.: Then the abbot said, “I am going to vespers, for my accustomed office calls me. If it pleases you and the other young men, let us put this off until tomorrow.” Le., Si.: Leone and Simone said, “We agree. But since we have not yet heard anything determined about tomorrow’s place, we judge it worthwhile to consider that now beforehand.” Ub.: (125) “If it pleases you,” I said, “let us go tomorrow to the gardens of this nourishing patronal church’s venerable provost, namely Giacomo da Modone.”28 26 27

28

The Latin text of Decembrio’s dialogue has only rege, but the reference, taken from Valerius Maximus (2.7.14), is clearly to Perseus, king of Macedon. This is different from what is said in Valerius Maximus (2.7.15), the source of this passage: “cum eos … ultra conditionem mortuorum relegasset.” Cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 1:195: “having relegated them to a condition beyond the grave.” The name Giacomo de Motono appears in records dating between 1418 and 1423; see Motta, “Lettere,” 165, and Moretti, Archivio, 168 and 172. Methoni (It. Modone), now a small village in Messenia in the Peloponnese, was at the time an important Venetian stronghold. The “patronal church” is obviously the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio.

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Abb.: “Optime,” inquit abbas. “Locus est ipse gratissimus, nosque ad aliqua dicere idem prepositus adiuvabit.” Et post hec inde discessimus. Finit.

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Abb.: “Excellent,” the abbot said. “The place is a most pleasant one, and the provost himself will contribute to our discussion.” And after this we departed from there. The end.

figure 2

Anonymous, The City of Milan, from the Chronica fratrum Humiliatorum, ca. 1421. Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Ms. G 301 inf., fol. 13v Photo © Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana

Liber III PROLOGUS.

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(1) Audivi sepenumero, clarissime princeps, a viro utique famoso sancteque memorie *Alexandro quinto summo pontifice, cum quo annis fui plurimis obversatus, illustrissimum principem tuumque sanctissimum genitorem, qui ducatus huius splendidam dignitatem in hanc urbem primus invexit, crebro dicere solere nulla re ad virtutem humanitatemque vehementius excitari quam quod se virum esse sepius meminisset. (2) Magnifica quidem vox et tanto digna principe, qua sese prestare animalibus ceteris rationis expertibus sentiebat, quibus est proprium corporeas dumtaxat prosequi voluptates ad easdemque omni impetu ferri; is autem divine particeps rationis, ad virtutes capessendas imitandasque eiusdem ductu imperioque deduci. (3) Humanitatem preterea ex homine derivari atque clementiam in principe maxime conspicuas eadem memoria repetebat, quibus immunes belluas feras ideo vocitamus; ad hec etiam nichil effeminate, nichil enerve, nichil molliter molliendum esse meminerat: quibus ex rebus ad virtutem erigi nedum ipse clarissimi vir ingenii, verum etiam ceteri rudiores possent. (4) Que enim res a *sapientie cultu alieniores reddit, quam quod se ipsos negligunt homines, quid sit animus, quid ratio, ad quid nati sint nosse desierint, et si norunt, desinunt meditari? “In hoc enim fallimur,” inquit *Seneca, “quod mortem non prespicimus.” Idem et de ratione dici potest, de qua nullus unquam cogitat nisi aliquo coactus exemplo, aut humanis impulsus casibus excitetur: adeo enim blande sunt voluptatum illecebre, adeo molles, ut illis animus ceu volutabro quodam obrutus ad meliora consurgere desuescat, sed in his suis instar sordidi volutetur. (5) Si vero honestum a turpi, a virtute vitium, lumen a tenebris separaret sepeque memoria repeteret quid inter *prudentiam et ignorantiam, impietatem et *iustitiam, *temperantiam et crapulam, magnanimitatem et ignaviam distat, eaque rationis indagine scrutaretur, non ambigo quod egritudinem animi sui noscet, nec

18–19 In hoc—prespicimus] Sen., Ep. 1.1.2. Cf. Petrar., Secr. 1.30 Tusc. 4.3.6 23–24 honestum—separaret] Cic., Tusc. 5.39.114

21–22 blande—illecebre] Cic.,

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004409682_005

Book 3 PROLOGUE. (1) Most renowned prince, I heard many times from the widely famed Pope Alexander V of sacred memory, in whose service I spent many years, that your most holy father, the most illustrious prince who first invested this city with the splendid dignity of this ducal state, was in the habit of saying often that there was nothing that more forcefully stimulated him to virtue and humanity than the frequent remembrance of the fact that he was a man. (2) A magnificent saying indeed, and one worthy of so great a prince, by which he expressed his superiority over all the other animals that lack reason, to whom it belongs merely to pursue bodily pleasures and to be wholly impelled toward them! He, on the other hand, a sharer in divine reason, was led by the same power and command to strive for and imitate virtue. (3) Further, he recalled by the same act of memory that humanity is derived from the human, as well as clemency, two virtues especially conspicuous in princes, and that for this reason we call those who lack them wild beasts. Moreover, he also remembered that nothing was to be softened effeminately, nothing weakly, nothing daintily. By these sayings not only this man of most renowned intellect, but also even other, ruder men might be raised to virtue. (4) For what renders men more alien to the cultivation of wisdom than self-neglect, so that they fail to know what the soul is, what reason is, and for what they were born, or if they know these things, they cease to meditate on them? “In this we are deceived,” Seneca says, “that we do not look ahead to death.”1 The same can also be said about reason, about which no one ever thinks unless he is driven to do so by some example or by the pressure of human events, for the allurements of pleasure are so enticing, so soft, that the soul, as if sunk in a pigsty, becomes unaccustomed to rising up from them to better things, but instead wallows in this filth of its own. (5) On the other hand, if someone separated the honest from the foul, vice from virtue, light from darkness, and often called to mind the difference between prudence and ignorance, impiety and justice, temperance and gluttony, greatness of soul and cowardice, and scrutinized these things with the power of reason, I have no doubt that he would recognize his soul’s sickness and would

1 This quotation from Seneca the Younger’s first epistle (1.2) reflects the text of the manuscript Decembrio used, as modern editors prefer “mortem prospicimus” (we look forward to death). Cf. Gummere, Seneca, 3.

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in ea sorde pateretur diutius inherere, lucemque potius eligeret quam tenebras imitari. (6) Nunc autem longa consuetudine vitiorum torpentes suimet homines sueque originis desinunt recordari, bonisque animi postergatis, que sola bona dici *Stoicis placet, corporeis voluptatibus et pecuniarum cupidini summis etiam periculis inherescunt. Sed iam cetera incoati operis prosequamur.

1–2 lucemque—imitari] Vulg., Joan. 3.19 que—placet] Cic., Off. 3.3.11

2 longa—vitiorum] Beda, In Cant. 1076c

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not suffer himself to remain in that debased state any longer, but would choose to imitate light rather than darkness. (6) Now, however, made sluggish by being long accustomed to vice, men no longer remember themselves and their origin, and neglecting the goods of the soul, which the Stoics like to call the only goods, they cling to bodily pleasures and the desire for money even amid the greatest dangers. But now let us continue with the other matters pertaining to the work we have begun.

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(1) Cum autem prepositi ortulos vidissemus idemque, ut solet, vultu nos gratissimo suscepisset, abbas inquit ipse subridens: Abb.: “Ne forte prepositi huius viri iocundissimi vafris decipiamus astutiis, ut herboso et virenti potius gramine consulo sedeamus quam his decoris sedilibus, unde plumbeis nonnunquam canalibus furtim tenuis unda sublabitur, que incautos sepe delusit.” Ub.: “Rem,” inquam, “nosco, sed ne nostro fortassis letetur ridiculo, hoc virenti trifolio in ortuli umbraculo considamus.” Prepositus: (2) “Et quis *deus tam michi propitius,” inquit prepositus, “vos adegit has pauperes ediculas visitare?” Ub.: “Tua,” inquam, “humanitas locique iocunditas, ubi olim *Petrarcham Franciscum poetam laureatum dum in hanc urbem incoleret quinquennio et moram traxisse comperio. (3) Biduo etenim transacto penes abbatem hunc de re publica sermonem egimus, in quo etiam hercle tuam presentiam optavimus. Plura tamen supersunt iterum disserenda, que te presente, nisi graveris, explicare poterimus, qui *Grecam trahis originem, unde *sapientie omnisque *philosophie fontes manarunt, ut aliquid etiam et tu nostris ruditatibus auxilii conferas.” Pre.: (4) “Pape!,” inquit prepositus. “Nunc fontem ipsum *sapientie repperistis, etenim *Greci, iam dudum *Elicone *Aganippisque relictis omnibusque etiam prisce *philosophie fontibus, aruerunt, inter quos unum me esse profiteor. Sed quicquid disserendum sit reliquum, profecto michi fuerit audire dulcissimum.” Ub.: (5) “Tum vero audistis,” inquam, “superiori libro de principibus custodibusque rei publice, quales illos esse conveniat. Nunc de civium moribus deque coniugiis et puerorum nutrimento hodie, nisi vos tedeat, disseremus, que tria diligenter servata rerum publicarum multum conferunt firmamento. (6) Sed antequam dicere incipiam aliquanto altius verba repetenda sunt. *Iustitia enim illa, quam rei publice esse diximus fundamentum, in plures partes constat esse divisam, quarum una est *ius naturale primevum, quod quidem

19–21 yronica locutio mg1

30 Ius naturale primeuum mg2

12 dum—quinquennio] Petrar., Fam. 19.16.15

28–172.9 Iustitia—nominetur] Ulp., Dig. 1.1.1

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(1) When we had seen the provost’s gardens and when he himself, as usual, had received us with a most pleasant countenance, the abbot said with a smile: Abb.: “Lest the provost, a most high-spirited man, perhaps deceive us with his sly tricks, I advise that we sit on the grassy and verdant lawn rather than on these decorous seats, where a thin stream that has often deluded the incautious not infrequently glides furtively down from leaden channels.” Ub.: “I am familiar with the matter,” I said, “but lest he perhaps rejoice in ridiculing us, let us sit on this verdant clover in the garden’s shade.” Provost: (2) “And what god has so favored me,” the provost said, “as to bring you to visit this humble home?” Ub.: “Your humanitas,” I said, “and the cheerfulness of the place, where I have found that Francesco Petrarca, the poet laureate, also spent time when he spent half a decade in this city.2 (3) For we have been speaking in the abbot’s presence for the last two days about the commonwealth, and by Hercules, we have wished for your presence also. Nevertheless, many things still remain to be discussed that we will be able to set forth in your presence, unless it would be a burden to you who trace your origin to Greece, whence the fountains of wisdom and of all philosophy have flowed, so that you might also lend some assistance to our lack of humanitas.”3 Prov.: (4) “Wonderful!” the provost said. “You have now found the very fount of wisdom, and the Greeks, among whom I confess myself to be included, have long thirsted, having abandoned Helicon’s Aganippe and all the fountains of pristine philosophy as well. But whatever may remain to be discussed, it will indeed be most sweet to me to hear.” Ub.: (5) “You heard in the previous book about princes and guardians,” I said, “what kind of men they should be. Now, if this is agreeable to you, we will discuss today the citizens’ morals and marriages and the rearing of children, three things that, if diligently upheld, contribute greatly to the strengthening of commonwealths. (6) But before I begin to speak, the subject should be taken up on a slightly higher plane, for that justice that we said to be the foundation of the commonwealth is known to be divided into multiple parts.4 One is the primitive natural law that is common to men and to every other kind of animal, such

2 Petrarch lived in Milan for eight years (1353–1361). The inconsistency is due to the fact that Decembrio is basing himself on one of Petrarch’s letters to Guido Sette, Fam. 19.16.15, written in 1358. 3 Note the opposition between humanitas and ruditas (translated as “lack of humanitas”). Note also the link between humanitas, a key to humanism, and Petrarch. 4 Decembrio’s account of the various kinds of law follows a long tradition of juridical studies based on Ulpian’s definition in the first book of Justinian’s Digest.

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hominibus et ceteris animalibus cuiuscunque speciei commune est, ut videlicet cura se tuendi, edes aut latibula vel nidos fabricandi, procreandi, se ipsos, parentes ac liberos nutriendi, que omnia in cunctis animalibus communia esse cognoscimus. (7) Alia pars est *ius gentium, quod omnium hominum dumtaxat est commune, veluti matrimoniorum vincula, communes hominum societates et rerum omnium usus que terra marique reperiuntur, quo iure liberi omnes nascuntur, legati etiam et nuntii tuti permeant. (8) Tertia vero pars *ius civile dicitur, quod a civitatibus a quibus instituitur nomen trahit, licet apud nos *Romanum civile nominetur, nostrum autem ceterarumque urbium municipale dicitur. Hoc autem *ius civile *Romanorum ab *Atheniensibus ortum duxit, quod a prudentissimo *Solone, uno ex *septem *Grecie sapientibus conditum fuit. (9) Nam *Romani, dum cuperent suam rem publicam legibus fundare salubribus, audita *Solonis fama, decem viros electos *Athenas pro illis habendis legibus transmiserunt, qui inde decem tabulas retulerunt, et quia due postea illis interpretatione sapientum iurisconsultorum sunt addite, *ius XII tabularum vocatum est. (10) Post hec populus *Romanus leges alias casibus novis emergentibus condidit: alias vero plebs, que plebiscita dicta sunt; deinde iurisconsulti varii varia dedere responsa super dubietatibus requisitis, ex quibus tempore succedente multa iuris volumina edita fuere, adeo ut pene confusio cunctis maxima videretur. Qua ex re *Iulius Cesar motus fuerat confusionem illam tot voluminum ad unum compendium revocare, fecissetque, ut plurimorum fama est, nisi fuisset morte preventus. (11) Sed tandem *Iustinianus, princeps omni gloria dignus, illud egit. Iurisconsultorum enim omnium volumina in quinquaginta libros digestorum et imperatorum edicta in duodecim codicis libros compendiose contraxit, eaque omnia *Πανδέκται *Greco vocabulo, quasi omnia demonstrativa et continentia, nominavit. Hic ille est *christianissimus imperator qui *Ἁγίας Σοφίας templum toto orbe celeberrimum in *Constantini urbe constituit. (12) Hoc etenim *civili iure *iuri gentium fuit in plurimis derogatum, nam cum omnia illo iure communia essent, bellorum calamitate aut occupatione vel usucapione aut hostili victoria propria

25 Πανδέκται] Πανōεκτα M 4 Ius gentium mg2

27 Ἁγίας Σοφίας] Αγϊασ σωφϊασ M

7–8 Ius ciuile mg2

9–10 Municipale mg2

22–23 Iustinianus mg2

10–12 Hoc autem—fuit] Ulp., Dig. 1.1.9 12–16 Nam—vocatum est] Liv. 3.31–34, 3.57 20–22 Iulius—preventus] Suet., Caes. 44.2; Isid., Orig. 5.1.5. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 20.4.12 28–174.1 Hoc— ceperunt] Cic., Off. 3.17.69

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as the concern to protect oneself, to build homes or dens or nests, to reproduce, and to feed oneself, one’s parents, and one’s children, all of which we recognize to be common to all animals. (7) Another part is the law of nations, which is common to all men at least, such as the bonds of marriage, the common society of men, and the use of all those things found on land and in the sea, by which law all are born free and legates and ambassadors are kept safe. (8) The third part is called civil law and takes its name from the citizens by whom it is instituted, although we call Roman law ‘civil’ and our law and that of other cities ‘municipal.’ The Romans’ civil law, however, takes its origin from the Athenians, having been created by the most prudent Solon, one of the seven sages of Greece. (9) Since the Romans desired to found their commonwealth on salutary laws, having heard of Solon’s fame, they sent ten chosen men to Athens to obtain those laws, which they then recorded on ten panels; since two panels were subsequently added with the interpretation of wise legal specialists, this was called the law of the Twelve Tables. (10) Afterward, the Roman people created other laws as new cases came up, and the plebeians created others that were called plebiscitary. Then legal specialists gave different answers concerning doubts that were raised, as a consequence of which many volumes of law were published over time, to the point that the confusion seemed to all to be nearly as great as it was possible to be. Consequently, Julius Caesar decided to reduce the confusion caused by the existence of so many volumes and collect them into one single compendium, and as many suppose, he would have done so if death had not prevented him. (11) But finally Justinian did so, a prince worthy of all glory. For he boiled down all the volumes of the legal specialists into the fifty books of the Digest and the edicts of the emperors into the twelve books of the Code, calling them all the Πανδέκται in Greek, which means ‘showing and containing everything.’5 This is the most Christian emperor who built in the city of Constantinople the church of Ἁγία Σοφία [Hagia Sophia], which is most renowned throughout the globe. (12) This civil law repealed the law of nations in many things, indeed, for although all things were common according to that law, they began to be private property as a result of war’s calamity or occupation or usurpation or enemy victory. Moreover, by law, pact, condition, and fate, and even though all were born free by the law of nations, slaves then first came into existence as a consequence of captivity and enemy raids; nevertheless, the seas and rivers remained common in the accustomed way,

5 Decembrio refers to the etymology of πανδέκτης from πᾶς (everything) and δέχομαι (to receive), as well as δείκνυμι (to show). It must be noted that the noun is masculine, while in the Ambrosiana manuscript it is reported as neuter plural (Πανōεκτα [sic]).

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esse ceperunt. (13) Lege preterea, pactione, conditione et sorte, cunque omnes *iure gentium liberi nascerentur, servi ex captivitatibus et predis hostilibus tum primum esse ceperunt; mare tamen et flumina solito more, veluti sol et aer communia permanserunt aliaque pleraque que hominum societas publica reservavit. Sed hoc tale ius non tamen in omnibus civitatibus observatur; nam municipalia statuta ubique ferme sunt edita, in quibus leges proprie eius urbis ubi sunt edita continentur. (14) Sunt et alia sacerdotum *iura que canonica dicimus, in quibus decreta summorum pontificum continentur, que etiam a laicis in plurimis observantur. Scriptum etenim est quod ‘non dedignantur leges sacros canones imitari.’ (15) Postremo est *ius non scriptum, quod consuetudine et hominum moribus continetur. Quod equidem ius tam varium est quam varie sunt undique nationes; nam queque gens suas consuetudines moresque suos continet, et hec tanta varietas maxime in religionum sectis, cerimoniis et funeralibus consistit, quorum omnium apud varias nationes varia fit morum conditio. (16) Diversus est etiam apud multos corporis cultus, ciborum et potionum usus, edificiorum positio, armorum tractatio, venatio, coniugatio et huiusmodi plurima tam varia enim sunt ut pene innumera iudicentur. (17) Predictas ergo leges nostra res publica conservabit, mores vero et consuetudines, ut cuique patrie et nationi existunt, expediet observari. Multa enim hic laude digna et honesta fore dicerentur, que apud alios infamia notarentur, e conversoque apud alios decora que nobis turpia redderentur. (18) Alii etenim corpora defuncta comburunt, alii condiunt, alii canibus offerunt lanianda, nonnulli in mare proiciunt, que quidem honestius nos sepelienda putamus. Sunt qui plures uxores ducunt, sunt qui in ortu filiorum gemunt, in obitu granditer hilarescunt, sunt qui bellica morte gaudent, morbosa autem vel naturali maxime contristantur, apud nos autem hec et similia ludibria dicerentur. (19) Multa sunt huiuscemodi, sed civibus nostris maiorum suorum mores servandi sunt, dummodo ab honesta et laudabili consuetudine non abhorrent. In primis autem dei cultus sacrarumque cerimoniarum religio nostris mentibus inherescat, nichilque protinus nobis fauste feliciterque posse contingere sine divini auxilio numinis arbitremur, omniaque eius ope felicissime successura. (20) Aliud est ut patriam in qua nos ipsi, parentes, liberi nostri, coniuges, affines et amici degunt, potissima caritate colamus, pro qua nullus bonus unquam mori 10 Ius non scriptum mg2

29 Dei cultus mg2

1–3 Lege—ceperunt] Cic., Off. 1.7.21 3–5 mare—reservavit] Just., Inst. 2.1.1–6 9–10 non dedignantur—imitari] Lucius III, Decr. 5.32.1 10–13 Postremo—continet] Ulp., Dig. 1.1.6 21–23 Alii etenim—putamus] Cic., Tusc. 1.45.108 24 qui plures—ducunt] Sall., Iug. 80 24–25 in ortu—hilarescunt] Val. Max. 2.6.12. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 3.10.6; Sen. 1.5.68 25–26 bellica— contristantur] Amm. 23.6.44

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like sun and air, and many other things that the public society of men kept in reserve. (13) But this law is nevertheless not observed in all cities, since municipal statutes have been issued almost everywhere, which contain the particular laws of the cities where they are issued. (14) There is also another law of the priests, which we call canon law, containing the supreme pontiffs’ decrees, which are also observed by the laity in many matters, for it is written that ‘the laws do not disdain to imitate the sacred canons.’6 (15) Finally, there is unwritten law, which is contained in custom and men’s morals. This law, indeed, is as varied as the variety of nations everywhere, since each people has its practices and customs, varying especially in religious sects, ceremonies, and funeral rites, the practice of all of which varies from nation to nation. (16) Many also differ in the cultivation of the body, the use of food and drink, the location of buildings, the handling of arms, hunting, marriage, and many more things of this kind, so various that they might be considered almost infinite. (17) Our commonwealth will therefore preserve the laws mentioned above, while on the other hand, it will be expedient to uphold the morals and customs that exist in each fatherland and nation, since many things said here to be praiseworthy and honorable might be considered shameful elsewhere, and conversely others might view as fitting things that we would consider foul. (18) For some burn the bodies of the dead, others embalm them, others offer them to dogs to devour, and more than a few cast them into the sea, while we consider it more honorable to bury them. There are those who have many wives, who lament when their children are born and are very cheerful at their deaths, who rejoice in death in battle but are greatly saddened by death from disease or from natural causes, while among us these and similar beliefs would be considered grounds for mockery. (19) There are many things of this sort, but our citizens are to uphold the customs of their ancestors, so long as they do not deviate from honorable and praiseworthy practice. First of all, let the worship of God and the religion of sacred ceremonies be firmly implanted in our minds, and let us judge that nothing lastingly fortunate or happy for us can come about without the aid of God’s will, while all things will come about most happily through his power. (20) Again, let us cultivate with the greatest love the fatherland in which we ourselves, our parents, our children, our spouses, our in-laws, and our friends reside, the fatherland for which no good man has ever feared to die, for

6 Decembrio here quotes Pope Lucius III’s 1181 decretal De novi operis nunciatione.

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timuit. Salus enim patrie incolarum omnium salutem amplectitur. Notum est quanto fervore et patrie caritate *Q. Curtius in terre hiatum sese armatum iniecerit, quanto subinde *Decii pater et filius spontaneam mortem subierint, dum patrie caritatem eorum vite duxerint preponendam, quod idem *Codrus *Atheniensis rex fecisse memoratur. (21) Ex hoc necesse est ut illius gubernatorem et principem, quem ipsius patrie patrem dicimus, amore benignissimo prosequamur, sub cuius regimine placida quietaque pace subiecti populi gubernantur; custodes etiam illos et milites, quibus tutela urbis cura principis est commissa, plurimum diligere coartamur: illorum etenim vigilia exactaque custodia universus populus requiescit, bonisque suis fruitur hostili protinus calamitate depulsa. (22) Unicuique preterea civi cure esse debet equo et pari iure cum civibus reliquis vivere, neque submissum et abiectum se gerere ut habeatur contemptui, neque se efferentem ut alios videatur opprimere; tum in re publica illa velle que tranquilla et honesta sunt, postremo taliter se habere ut bonus vir et equus civis ab omnibus reputetur. (23) Cultor sit virtutum omnium, potissime *iustitie et moderationis, quibus duabus vir bonus maxime comprobatur; leges, mores et consuetudines rei publice diligenter observet, nec ab eis declinet, etiam si *Socrati vel *Platoni aut alteri philosopho fortassis aliter videretur, iuxta illud satirici: respice quid moneant leges, quid *curia mandet, premia quanta bonos maneant et cetera; neminem violet neque permittat, si auxilio esse poterit, violare, ut communis hominum societas conservetur. (24) Talem virum fuisse *Catonem ultimum *Lucanus insinuat, quoniam dicit:

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hi mores, hec duri immota *Catonis secta fuit, servare modum finemque tenere naturamque sequi patrieque impendere vitam,

23 Cato mg1

24 Lucanus mg1

1–3 Notum—iniecerit] Val. Max. 5.6.2 3–4 quanto subinde—preponendam] Val. Max. 5.6.6 4–5 quod idem—memoratur] Val. Max. 5.6.ext.1 11–15 Unicuique—reputetur] Cic., Off. 1.34.124 20 respice—maneant] Iuv. 8.91–92 25–178.8 hi mores—voluptas] Luc. 2.380–392

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the fatherland’s salvation embraces the salvation of all its inhabitants. It is well known with how much fervor and how much love of his fatherland Quintus Curtius7 threw himself armed into a cleft in the earth, and with how much the Decii, father and son, willingly suffered death, judging that love of the fatherland was to be set above their own lives, as Codrus, king of Athens, is also said to have done. (21) Consequently, it is necessary that we follow with most kindly love our fatherland’s governor and prince, whom we call that fatherland’s father and under whose rule his subject peoples are governed in calm and quiet peace, and also that we be bound to love greatly those guardians and soldiers to whom the prince’s care has committed the city’s protection, for it is by their watchfulness and exacting guardianship that the entire people is granted rest and enjoys its goods, while the enemy’s calamity is held continually at bay. (22) Further, it should be a matter of concern to each citizen to live according to an equitable and equal right with his fellow citizens, neither bearing himself submissively and abjectly so as to be held in contempt nor exalting himself so as to appear to oppress others; to wish for the commonwealth those things that are tranquil and honorable; and finally to behave in such a way as to be reputed a good and equitable man by all the citizens. (23) Let him be a cultivator of all virtues, especially justice and moderation, by which a man is especially found to be good. Let him diligently uphold the commonwealth’s laws, morals, and customs, and let him not deviate from them, even if Socrates or Plato or another philosopher might perhaps think otherwise,8 according to that saying of Juvenal the satirist: Have regard to what the laws ordain, what the Senate enjoins, What rewards await the good and so on; let him abuse no one nor, if he may be of assistance, permit anyone to be abused, so that men’s common society may be preserved. (24) Lucan suggests that Cato the Younger was such a man, since he says: Such was the character, such the unswerving creed of austere Cato: To observe moderation and hold fast to the limit, To follow nature, to devote his life to his country,

7 It must be noted that in Valerius Maximus, the source of this passage, Curtius does not have a praenomen and that his correct name was not Quintus but Marcus (Marcus Curius). It is possible that the error is due to the manuscript Decembrio used, but also to confusion with the historian Quintus Curtius Rufus. 8 This seems to be an allusion to Plato’s controversial theory of the community of wives, challenged by Decembrio in the prologue to the second book of this dialogue.

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non sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo. Huic epule vicisse famem, (…) pretiosaque vestis hirtam membra super *Romani more *Quiritis induxisse togam, Veneris huic maximus usus, progenies; *Urbi pater, *Urbique maritus, *iustitie cultor, rigidi servator honesti, in commune bonus; nullos *Catonis in actus surrexit partemque tulit sibi nata voluptas. Tales, inquam, viros nostra res publica postularet.” Pre.: (25) Tunc prepositus: “Dulce est,” inquit, “michi talia plerumque audire poetica, quibus etiam sepe usum *Platonem accepi. Ille enim in *Re publica sua aliquando *Homeri vel *Hesiodi aut alterius poete versus interserit.” Le.: “Quinimo,” inquit *Leo, “et princeps eloquentie *Cicero in suis *Tusculanis aliisque operibus que vidi idem facit, *Ennium aut alterum ex comicis, nonnunquam *Sophoclem tragedum in medium affert.” Ub.: (26) “Ita est,” inquam. “Enimvero poete licet multa ficta et fabulosa asserant, propter que illos *Plato a sua re publica ablegandos censuit, gravia tamen plurima et plena auctoritatis ac suci afferunt. (27) Quid enim ad frugalitatem gravius potest allegari, quam quod idem *Lucanus patruo suo simillimum explicat: O prodiga rerum luxuries nunquam parvo contenta paratu et quesitorum terra pelagoque ciborum ambitiosa fames et laute gloria mense, discite quam parvo liceat producere vitam et quantum natura petat. Non erigit egros nobilis ignoto diffusus consule *Bacchus,

19 Lucanus mg1 17 propter—censuit] Plat., Rep. 398a. Cf. Aug., Civ. Dei 2.14.69 Luc. 4.373–381

21–180.2 O prodiga—Ceresque]

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To believe that he was born not for himself but for the whole world. To him it was a feast to conquer hunger, […]9 and it was a precious robe To draw over his limbs the rough toga in the manner of the Romans of old. To him the greatest purpose of love was offspring; For Rome he was father, for Rome he was husband. Keeper of justice, guardian of rigorous morality, His kindness was for the whole people; in no act of Cato’s Did the inclination toward his own pleasure rise up and take a share. Such men, I say, our commonwealth would require.” Prov.: (25) Then the provost said, “It is generally sweet to me to hear such poetry, which I understand Plato also often used, for in his Republic, he sometimes inserted verses from Homer or Hesiod or another poet.” Le.: “Indeed,” Leone said, “the prince of eloquence, Cicero, also does the same in his Tusculan Disputations and in other works that I have seen, bringing in Ennius or another of the comedians, and not infrequently the tragedian Sophocles.” Ub.: (26) “I agree,” I said. “Truly, although the poets assert many fictitious and fabulous things, for which reason Plato judged that they were to be banished from his commonwealth, they nevertheless contribute much that is serious and full of authority and inspiration. (27) For what more serious can be adduced in favor of frugality than what Lucan explained very similarly to his uncle,10 when Seneca said that bread and water were sufficient to human nature? O luxury, extravagant of resources, Never content with what costs little, And ostentatious hunger for foods sought By land and sea, and pride in a lavish table: Learn how little it takes to prolong life And how little nature demands. Ailing men Are not revived by noble Bacchus’s wine, bottled under an unknown consul;

9

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In this quotation, taken from Lucan’s Pharsalia, part of lines 384–385 is omitted, “magnique Penates / summovisse hiemem tecto,” perhaps due to the mention of the Penates, regarded by Decembrio as paganizing. Decembrio obviously alludes to Lucius Annaeus Seneca, brother of Marcus Annaeus Mela, father of the poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus.

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non auro myrrhaque bibunt, sed gurgite puro vita redit. Satis est populis fluviusque *Ceresque,

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cum *Seneca panem et aquam dixisset humane nature sufficere? (28) Quid ad constantiam patientiamque solidius, quam quod apud *Maronem sepenumero legitur? Ut illud: tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito, et illud: quo fata trahunt retrahuntque, sequamur; quicquid erit, superanda omnis fortuna ferendo est,

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et item: nunc animis opus est, *Enea, nunc pectore forti et audentes fortuna iuvat aliaque pleraque similia, ut illud etiam eiusdem poete:

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multa dies variusque labor mutabilis evi retulit in melius, multos alterna revisans lusit et in solido rursus fortuna locavit. (29) Quid ad paupertatis tolerantiam gratius, quam illud eiusdem:

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aude, hospes, contemnere opes et te quoque dignum finge *deo, rebusque veni non asper egenis? 16 revisans] revisens M 3 virgilius mg1 3 Seneca—sufficere] Sen., Ep. 3.25.4. Cf. Petrar., Inv. mal. 123 6 tu ne—ito] Verg., Aen. 6.95 8–9 quo fata—ferendo est] Verg., Aen. 5.709–710 11 nunc animis—forti] Verg., Aen. 6.261 13 audentes—iuvat] Verg., Aen. 10.284 15–17 multa—locavit] Verg., Aen. 11.425–427 19–20 aude—egenis] Verg., Aen. 8.364–365

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They drink out of neither gold nor murrhine, but life returns With pure water. River water and Ceres’s grain are enough for mankind. (28) What is more solid in favor of constancy and patience than what we frequently read in Virgil? Such as this: You should not yield to evils, but proceed more boldly against them, and this: Let us follow wherever the Fates, in their ebb and flow, draw us; Whatever happens, every fortune must be overcome by bearing it, and likewise: Now you need your courage, Aeneas, now your stout heart,11 and: Fortune helps the daring, and many similar ones, like this from the same poet: The passage of days and the changeable toil of inconstant time Have returned many things to a better state; many men Fortune, in alternate visits, Has mocked and again placed on firm ground.12 (29) What is more pleasing in favor of the endurance of poverty than these lines of his? Dare, guest, to disdain wealth, and fashion yourself also worthy To be a god, and come not scornful of our poverty.

11 12

Note that the Latin text has “forti” instead of “firmo,” which is a common variant in Virgil’s manuscript tradition. Decembrio quotes these lines in his mentioned letter to Antonio da Vimercate (ca. 1420) dealing with the virtue of patience (patientia), seen as the only way to endure fortune’s whims, as was the case with Job in the Old Testament.

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Quot et quanta tragici, satirici et comici ad virtutis cultum multipliciter reliquerunt nota sunt vobis, cuncta gravibus sententiis exemplisque pulcerrimis sunt referta. (30) Ut autem ad nostrorum civium mores revertamur, studebunt omnes, ut dictum est, virtutes colere, decus maxime constantie conservare. Nichil enim est turpius pueriliusque quam animum gerere vacillantem et instabilem, insanie potius quam sanitati conformem, eorum videlicet qui quotidie vivere incipiunt, tunc etiam maxime premente senio, cum desinendum fuerit; imo nec unquam fortassis incipiant, sed instar avium huc et illuc pervolant evum per inane deducere satagentes. (31) Agat tamen unusquisque quod sibi proprium natura indulserit, ne sua ut aliena imitetur, obmittens, ridiculosus et delirus protinus habeatur. Est enim precipuum *iustitie munus, quam sepe recolimus, ut unusquisque proprium suum agat, nec ad impropria se divertat, si forent etiam meliora. (32) Grave est enim, ut sepe dixi, nature repugnare, et contra aquarum, ut aiunt, impetum enatare, cum secundo fluxu longe felicius vehi queat. Stultum est enim si natura medicum esse te velit aut musicum, picturam eligas vel sutrinam, vel si te cerdonem aut fabrum lignarium effecerit, *rethoricam aut *philosophiam infeliciter assequi velle contendas. (33) Sorte sua contentus unusquisque sit, et in ea feliciter se habebit, si munus proprium conservabit. In hoc equidem princeps rei publice diligentissime vigilabit, ne parentum iniuria, ut sepe fit, vel negligentia aut ineuntis etatis inexperientia talis nature proprietas permittetur aut violetur. (34) Mos enim parentum est ferme ut eorum artibus natos instruant, quorum nature sunt sepe contrarii. Medicus medicum, pictor pictorem, rethor rethorem natum conatur efficere, cum artes he sepissime sunt eorum nature contrarie et interim alias eorum proprias aspernentur. *Cicero enim noster, dum filium *Ciceronem rethorem efficere molietur, natura aliter disponente, bibulum nobis potius quam rethorem preparavit. (35) Propterea ne id in nostra re publica possit accidere, eliget

6–8 eorum—fuerit] Sen., Ep. 3.23.9–11. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 23.4.1 9–15 Agat—queat] Plat., Rep. 433a–d; Cic., Off. 1.31.110; Sen., Ep. 1.1.1. Cf. Col. Sal., Ep. 1:65 15–17 Stultum—contendas] Sen., Dial. 9.6.2 25–27 Cicero—preparavit] Petrar., Fam. 12.8.6, 23.12.33–36

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You know how many great and various things in favor of the cultivation of virtue the tragedians, satirists, and comedians have left us in many ways, all recounted with serious doctrines and most beautiful examples. (30) To return to the customs of our citizens, however, all of them will strive, as has been said, to cultivate virtues and especially to uphold the decorousness of constancy, for nothing is more shameful and more childish than a vacillating and unstable soul, more in conformity with insanity than with health: the soul of those who live every day as if it were the first, especially when age presses on them, which would be the time to cease. In fact, it is as if they had never started their life, but instead fly back and forth like birds, being fully occupied spinning out their time in emptiness. (31) Nevertheless, let each one do according to what is proper to him by nature, lest neglecting his own to imitate strangers, he be immediately held to be ridiculous and mad. For it is a foremost office of justice, as we have often recalled, for each individual to do what pertains to him and not be diverted to what does not, even if the latter is better; (32) it is a grave thing, as I have often said, to resist nature and to swim against the current, as they say, when someone can be far more happily carried along by the stream.13 For if nature wishes you to be a doctor or a musician, it is foolish for you to choose painting or shoemaking, and if nature has made you an artisan or a carpenter, you will unhappily strive to pursue rhetoric or philosophy. (33) Let each one be content with his lot, and he will be happy in it if he upholds his proper duty. Indeed, the commonwealth’s prince will keep most diligent watch in this regard lest this natural propriety be cast aside or abused by the parents’ fault, as often happens, or by negligence or by the inexperience of the young, (34) since it is almost a custom of parents to instruct their children in their own crafts, although their natures are often contrary to them. A doctor strives to make his son a doctor, a painter a painter, a rhetorician a rhetorician, when these arts are very often contrary to their nature, and meanwhile they spurn other professions that are appropriate for them. Certainly, when our Cicero sought to make his son Cicero a rhetorician, nature disposing otherwise, he set us up with more a drunkard than a rhetorician. (35) For this reason, to prevent this from 13

Decembrio uses a similar metaphor in his letter to Leone Morigia, albeit in a different context (how difficult it is to reject the errors of the common people): “Durum est enim a vulgi erroribus ex toto divelli et, ut aiunt, contra torrentis impetum enatare, sed agendum est pro viribus, ut animo serviamus rationique pareamus, cui servire regnare est. Quod quidem nullo potiori adminiculo quam solitudine fieri potest, dum hi vulgares strepitus conquiescent studioque vitam virtutis exquirere exquisitamque prosequi vehementer. Alioquin enim nobis fortasse accideret quod aquam torrentissimam transeuntibus evenit ut, nisi ab aqua oculos quisque divertant ad ripasque prospiciant, capitis vertigine raperentur.” M, fol. 235r.

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princeps ad omnia circumspectus aliquot graves expertosque viros, ad quos in electo aliquo urbis loco ab ineuntis etatis primordio pueruli a suis patribus deducantur, ut singulorum naturas queant diligenter inspicere, ad quas potissimum sunt proclives. (36) Quo facto, notent singulos et describant quibus aptissimi videantur officiis, edicantque parentibus ut illos ad ea ministeria exerceant ad que fuerint designati, pena gravi transgressoribus imposita, nisi secus fortasse placuerit principanti. (37) Hoc etenim ordine priscos *Athenienses *Laconasque suas res publicas sentio stabilisse. Etenim cernitis hac etate quia confusim inconsulteque hec et similia peraguntur, quis et qualis officiorum et artium existat effectus: aptus etenim religioni miles efficitur armisque induitur ignavus et timidus, eremo potius quam castris habilior; ad sutrinam vel pistrinam ingenio fretus transmittitur, ad *philosophiam cerdo natus aut artes aliquas liberales, *medicine accommodus carpentariam agit, pictor aratro incubat et glebis aptior nititur discipline, eloquio ineptus et rudis *rethoricam queritat aut *musicam. (38) Cum interea ad hec habiliores ineptis artibus aut vilibus fatigentur, et sic rerum omnium pervertuntur officia, ad hec etiam deteriora ex his plurima subsecuntur. Nam si nobile electumque ingenium vili ministerio nutrietur, non in proficuum sed in malignum et reprobum effectum potius commutabitur, ut enim in electis generosisque seminibus accidit si in alienum et difforme eisdem solum transferuntur, a priori natura degenerant deterioraque nascuntur. (39) Sic talium ingenia, preter naturam translata, nonnunquam proditiones acutissimas, coniurationes pestiferas et alia exquisita scelera meditantur, ad que natura rudiores aspirare nequirent: rude etenim ingenium, ut ad bonum tardum inspicitur, sic ad perniciem obtusum redditur et ignavum.” Pre.: (40) “Ordo hic,” inquit prepositus, “rationi natureque conveniet. Sed si patres instruendorum filiorum expense forent fortassis inhabiles, nequirent agere quod intendis.” Ub.: “Ex publico,” inquam, “non obmittet princeps talium inhabilitati facere provideri.” Abb.: “Ita,” inquit abbas, “ex facili, ut asseris, principis *sapientia providebit. Sed illud difficilius michi apparet, quomodo nobilis aut generosi hominis filius ad vile aliquando artificium et e contra rustici vel cerdonis ad elegans officium transmittetur. Nobiles etenim parentes egre ferent filios vilibus ministeriis exercere.”

3–4 ut singulorum—proclives] Plat., Rep. 370b–c 147

10–11 aptus—habilior] Dante, Par. 8.145–

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happening in our commonwealth, a prince who is circumspect in all matters will choose a number of serious and experienced men to whom young boys will be brought by their fathers from a very early age, in some chosen place in the city, so that they will be able to diligently inspect each one’s nature and to what they are most inclined, (36) after which they will record each of them and write down to what offices they appear most apt, instructing the parents to exercise them in those occupations for which they have been designated, with a severe penalty imposed on transgressors, unless it may perhaps please the ruler to do otherwise. (37) For I understand that the early Athenians and Laconians made their commonwealths firm by following this order. Even more, you can see today the effect on the offices and arts of the confused and ill-advised way in which things are done. A man who is fitted for religion is made a soldier, and a cowardly and timid man, more suitable for solitary life than for a military camp, is given arms; a man who relies on his intellect is put to shoemaking or baking, and a born artisan is set to philosophy or some of the liberal arts; a man suited for medicine does carpentry, a painter follows the plow, and a man more apt for the soil strives to teach; a man inept and rude in speech pursues rhetoric or music. (38) Since meanwhile those who are more suited for these things grow weary in unfitting or vile crafts, and the offices of all things are thus perverted, many worse things also additionally follow. For if a noble and chosen intellect is brought up to a vile occupation, it will likely be altered not in a profitable direction but in a malignant and evil one, just as if chosen seeds from a good lineage are transplanted to a strange soil that does not conform to their nature, they degenerate from their earlier nature and are born as inferior crops. (39) In the same way, such intellects, transplanted in contexts that are contrary to their nature, not infrequently meditate most clever treacheries, pestilential conspiracies, and other elaborate misdeeds, to which ruder natures are unable to attain, since a rude intellect, just as it is seen to be slow to act well, is also rendered dull and cowardly for acting perniciously.” Prov.: (40) “The way you have considered this,” the provost said, “is appropriate to reason and to nature. But if fathers are perhaps unable to bear the expense of instructing their sons, they will be unable to do what you intend.” Ub.: I said, “The prince will take care to compensate for their inability to pay by drawing on public funds.” Abb.: “This, as you say, the prince’s wisdom will easily see to,” the abbot said. “But what appears more difficult to me is how the son of a noble or well-born man might sometimes be put to a vile trade, and conversely the son of a peasant or an artisan to an elegant office, since noble parents would take it ill for their sons to engage in humble occupations.”

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Ub.: (41) “Quos nobiles,” inquam, “vocas? An ignoras quod ab uno rerum primordio unoque parente omnes ortum ducimus, eque ad hoc nobiles et generosi sumus? Virtus est et vitium que nobiles et degeneres efficit. Itaque princeps noster ex omni hominum sorte custodes urbis aut philosophos aut medicos aut fabros eliget, nobiles vero et degeneres nulla alia ratione distinguet quam nature uniuscuiusque, bonitate atque malitia. (42) Sicut enim in seculi nostri varietate confingitur primum fuisse aureum, secundum argenteum, tertium eneum et quartum ferreum, ab incolentium bonitate atque malitia, sic in nostris continget hominibus ut aureos vel argenteos aut deterioris sortis princeps existimet, quos ad varia urbis ministeria decreverit ordinare, ut status sue rei publice utili stabilique regula gubernetur. Isto etenim ordine naturam suam singuli conservabunt et faciliter agenda conficient, nec minora res publica commoda consequetur, que multo utiliores incolas nanciscetur aptioresque. (43) Et quoniam vite officia non eadem disparibus tribuuntur etatibus, aliquid etiam hic dicendum arbitror. Nam adolescens maiores natu revereri eisque obsequi debet, quorum consiliis et auctoritate nitatur, sed maxime hec etas a libidinibus est arcenda, et in laboris tolerantia animi et corporis exercenda. (44) Senibus vero labores corporis minuentur, animi non itidem; hi studebunt iuvenes inexpertos, remque publicam, amicos et socios consiliis, *prudentia, auctoritate protegere; desidiam magnopere devitabunt; luxuria autem, omni etati turpis, ipsis fedissima omnino vitanda erit, quos ceteris exemplo esse conveniet. (45) Sed cum in virtutibus reliquis *modestia plus niteat, summa cura agi oportebit ut vite moderatio in omnibus observetur, in victu videlicet corporisque cultu, ut frugalitati abstinentieque se dedat, ex quibus salubritas corporis nedum animi conservatur. (46) Preterea omnis viro indignus ornatus protinus abdicetur, vestis etiam non splendeat, nec sordeat quidem, sed dignitatis decorem teneat sitque conformis officiis et dignitatibus singulorum: alius enim cultus iurisconsulto vel philosopho, alius artifici, alius rustico aut vilioris sortis conveniet. (47) Sit etiam moderatio in aliis corporis actionibus, veluti gestu motuque corporis, locutione, risu, fletu, gressu, ioco ceterisque

1–3 Nota mg1 7–8 primum—malitia] Plat., Rep. 414a–d 14–22 Et quoniam—conveniet] Cic., Off. 1.34.122– 123 22–25 Sed—conservatur] Cic., Off. 1.30.106, 2.24.86 29–188.1 Sit etiam—observemus] Cic., De Or. 1.18

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Ub.: (41) “Whom do you call noble?” I said. “Do you not know that we all trace our origin to one beginning of things14 and one parent, and so we are all in this regard equally noble and well-born? It is virtue and vice that make men noble or degenerate. Therefore our prince will choose the city’s guardians or philosophers or doctors or artisans among men of all conditions and will distinguish the nobles and the degenerate for no other reason than the goodness or wickedness of each one’s nature, (42) for just as one imagines with regard to the various stages of Time that the first age was golden, the second silver, the third bronze, and the fourth iron, according to the goodness or wickedness of each age’s people, so it will happen among the men of our day that the prince will judge them to be golden or silver or of a lesser type and will decree that they be assigned to the city’s various occupations, so that his commonwealth’s state may be governed by a useful and stable rule. For by this order each one will uphold his own nature and will accomplish what he can easily do, and this will be to the benefit of the commonwealth, as it will acquire inhabitants who are much more useful and skilled. (43) And since the duties of life are not the same at different ages, I judge that something should also be said about this here. For an adolescent should revere and obey his elders, by whose counsel and authority he is supported, but above all, this age is to be kept from lusts and exercised in the endurance of labor of both soul and body. (44) For the old, on the other hand, the labors of the body are decreased, but not those of the soul. They will strive to protect the inexperienced young, the commonwealth, and their friends and associates with counsel, prudence, and authority; they will greatly flee idleness; and they will entirely avoid lust, which is foul at every age but particularly shameful in the old, who should be an example for others. (45) But since modesty shines more than other virtues, they will take the greatest care to observe moderation in all spheres of life, namely in food and in the cultivation of the body, dedicating themselves to frugality and abstinence, by which the health of the body no less than of the soul is maintained. (46) Further, let every ornament unworthy of a man be immediately set aside; let their attire be neither too luxurious nor too humble, but upholding the decorousness of dignity and in conformity with each one’s office and rank, for one dress code is suitable for a legal specialist or philosopher, another for a craftsman, another for a rustic or one of a more vile sort. (47) Let there also be moderation in their other bodily actions, such as their gestures and movements of the body, speech, laughter, weeping, walking, joking, and other things of this sort, so as

14

The Latin primordium rerum (literally “beginning of things”) is to be understood as “elementary principle,” that is, God.

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huiusmodi, ut constantiam quandam et decorem iugiter observemus. Edificationi insuper modus adsit, ut iuxta viri dignitatem et familie numerositatem fiat, in qua re plurimi sepe delinquunt, dum principum vel potentiorum nituntur vestigia perperam imitari, nec fortunas suas suorumque conspiciunt. (48) Omnis preterea animi perturbatio fugienda est motusque nimii rationi non obtemperantes, quales ire, superbie, petulantie aut cupiditatis existunt, curandumque maxime ut humiliter, benigne reverenterque apud quoslibet non geramus, potissime ut multos nobis in amorem et sodalitatem aggregemus, quod equidem iuxta *Hecatonis preceptum assequemur faciliter si volemus: ‘Si vis amari,’ inquit, ‘ipse ama.’ (49) Veritas est etiam pre ceteris veneranda falsumque mendacium detestandum, sicut prudentissime inquit satiricus: ambigue si quando citabere testis incerteque rei, *Phalaris licet imperet ut sis falsus et admoto dictet periuria tauro, summum crede nephas animam preferre pudori et propter vitam, vivendi perdere causas. (50) Constanter itaque *Q. augur Scevola, depulsis enim prostratisque inimicorum partibus *Sylla, occupata *Urbe, *senatum armatus impulerat ut *C. Marius quam celerrime hostis iudicaretur. Cuius voluntati nullo obviam ire audente, solus *Scevola, interrogatus de hac re, sententiam dicere noluit. Quin etiam truculentius sibi minitanti *Sylle, ‘Licet,’ inquit, ‘michi agmina militum quibus *curiam circumsedisti ostentes, licet mortem identidem miniteris, nunquam tamen efficies, ut propter exiguum senilemque sanguinem meum *Marium, a quo urbs hec et *Italia conservata est, hostem iudicem.’ Hec *Valerius de augure. Nos etiam reliquos in exemplo consimili comprobemus. Servilis enim est animi et nimis exigui, qui mortis metu aut cruciatuum cultum virtutis relinquendum putat. (51) Temporum etiam opportunitas nostris civibus maxime servanda est, quam *Greci *εὐκαιρίαν, nos *occasionem dicimus, illa autem in qua modus inest et ordinis conservatio *εὐταξία dicitur, quam nos *modestiam nominamus. Talis enim ordo actionum omnium est habendus ut sicut in oratione constanti sic in vita omnia conveniant. (52) Nam in re severa

28 εὐκαιρίαν] ευκαὶρϊαν M

29 εὐταξία] ευταξια M

30 actionum] nationum M

3–4 principum—imitari] Phaedr. 1.24.1 9–10 Hecatonis—ama] Sen., Ep. 1.9.6 12–16 ambigue—causas] Iuv. 8.80–84 17–24 Constanter—iudicem] Val. Max. 3.8.5 27–30 Temporum—nominamus] Cic., Off. 1.40.142 30–190.9 Talis—cantibus] Cic., Off. 1.40.144–145

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to display a certain constancy and decorousness at all times. Beyond this, let there be measure in building, so that it is done in accordance with a man’s dignity and the size of his family, a matter in which many are often guilty, wrongly striving to imitate the constructions of princes or the more powerful and not considering their fortunes and those of their families. (48) Further, every perturbation of soul is to be avoided, along with excessive and irrational emotions, such as anger, pride, petulance, and desire, and we must take the greatest care to bear ourselves humbly, kindly, and reverently with all, especially in order to bind many to us in love and fellowship, something that we will indeed easily achieve if we wish, according to that precept of Hecato’s, ‘If you wish to be loved, love.’ (49) The truth is also to be venerated above all else, and false lies detested, as Juvenal very wisely says: If summoned as a witness in a dubious and uncertain thing, Though Phalaris should command to you to be false and should dictate Perjuries with the bull brought to you, believe it the highest impiety To prefer life to honor and, for the sake of life, To lose the reasons for living. (50) So the augur Quintus Scaevola bore himself with constancy when Sulla, having driven back and crushed the factions of his opponents and occupied the city of Rome, came armed to press the Senate to immediately declare Gaius Marius an enemy. When no one dared to stand in the way of his will, Scaevola alone, being questioned about the matter, refused to express his opinion. Rather, he said to Sulla as he threatened him more aggressively, ‘Although you show me the ranks of soldiers with which you have surrounded the Senate, although you repeatedly threaten death, you will never bring it about that on account of my feeble old blood I judge Marius, by whom this city and Italy have been preserved, to be an enemy.’ Valerius Maximus says this about the augur. Let us also approve the other men about whom similar stories are told, for that man is servile and excessively feeble of soul who supposes that the cultivation of virtue is to be abandoned out of fear of death or torture. (51) That timeliness is also to be especially upheld by our citizens that the Greeks call εὐκαιρία and we call ‘occasion,’ while that timeliness that has to do with moderation and the preservation of order is called εὐταξία, which we call ‘modesty,’ for such order is to be maintained in all actions that just as in composed speech, so in life all things may be suitable. (52) For it is not fitting to make

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et auctoritatis digna iocosum non decet afferre sermonem, nec e contrario convenit in iocosis gravibus locutionibus uti, eadem vis loci est que temporis. Nam in via aut ambulatione secum aliquid meditari minime reprehendetur, in convivio vero idem agere absonum inhumanumque locorum sorte putabitur. (53) Erit ergo temporum locorumque opportunitas maxime retinenda corrigendaque, si que in actione aliqua vel gestu corporis extiterint vitiosa, etiam si exigua videbuntur. Ut in fidium instrumentis quamvis paululum discrepent, tamen a sciente perpenditur, vivendum etenim taliter erit ne quid discrepet vel vacillet, multo magis quam in sonis vel cantibus, ‘quo maior et melior actionum quam sonorum concentus est,’ ut ait *Cicero. (54) Opere pretium erit etiam consiliis prudentiorum uti et quid talibus expertis videatur exquirere, ut enim poete pictoresque a vulgo sua opera conspici volunt, ut si quid forte reprehensibile inciderit castigetur corrigaturque, sic aliorum iudicio per multa nobis facienda corrigendaque fuerint. (55) Eos etiam maxime venerari et colere debebimus, quorum opera in re publica conservanda augendave plura acta esse constiterit, condignisque preconiis extollere. Tribuere etiam debemus plurimum senectuti, cedere magistratibus dignioribusque, habere delectum civis et advene, legati et privati, consocii et extranei, amici et hostis. (56) Communis tamen hominum societas quantum fieri poterit conservanda est, et quia hominum consortio et benivolentia utilitates plurime hominibus conferuntur, e contrario illorum inimicitia atque odio damna et dispendia etiam quamplura contingunt, optimum fuerit eorum benivolentiam colligare, quod equidem, ut prediximus, beneficiis, liberalitate, gratitudine et clementia obsequiove fieri poterit opportune. (57) Superest autem nunc de coniugiis aliqua dicere, nisi aliud quid in predictis addendum vobis forsitan videatur.” Abb.: “Multa et multa,” inquit abbas, “in materia virtutum dici possent, sed hec nobis satis necessaria visa sunt. Quocirca ad alia divertamus.” Ub.: (58) “A *iure,” inquam, “gentium matrimonia legitime sunt contracta, nam *iure naturali primevo, quod cum animalibus reliquis diximus esse commune, non matrimonia sed coniunctiones verisimilius appellari possent. Illa enim nature instinctu gignendi temporibus sui generis animalia sexus feminei indiscrete secuntur, homo autem, sacro vinculo colligatus, illam fovet et retinet quam sibi *deus vel fortuna contribuit, ex illaque gnatos naturales et legitimos procreat, quos successionis sue sperat heredes, illosque nutrit, vestit

24 De coniugiis mg1 9–10 quo maior—concentus est] Cic., Off. 1.40.145 55–56 14–19 Eos etiam—conservanda est] Cic., Off. 1.41.149 29–192.5 nam iure—angustiis] Cic., Off. 1.4.11

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a joke about a serious matter and one worthy of authoritative treatment, and conversely, it is unsuitable to use serious expressions about matters that can be joked about. The same applies to place, for it is hardly reprehensible to be absorbed in one’s own thoughts on the road or while walking, but to do the same at a banquet will be considered ill-advised and discourteous. (53) The suitability of time and place will therefore be especially to be observed and corrected in cases where an action or a bodily gesture displays vice, even if it seems slight. Just as even a tiny lack of harmony in stringed instruments is nevertheless perceived by one knowledgeable in such matters, so one should live in such a way that nothing is discordant or vacillating, far more than in sounds or songs, ‘to the same degree that harmony of actions is greater and better than that of sounds,’ as Cicero says. (54) It will also be worthwhile to make use of the advice of those more prudent and to examine the opinions of such experts, for just as poets and painters wish their works to be seen by the common people, so that if something reprehensible is perhaps found, it may be castigated and corrected, so a great many things should be done and corrected by us according to the judgment of others. (55) We should also especially venerate and cultivate those whose works have greatly contributed to the preservation or increase of the commonwealth and exalt them with fitting proclamation. We should also pay great respect to old age, give way to magistrates and those of greater dignity, and take delight in citizens and visitors, legates and private men, associates and strangers, friends and enemies. (56) Nevertheless, the common society of men is to be preserved as much as possible, and since association and good will among men confer many benefits on them, while conversely enmity and hate lead to so many harms and costs, it will be best to ensure their good will, which can indeed be suitably done, as we have previously said, by benefits, generosity, gratitude, and clemency or obedience. (57) It now remains, however, to say something about marriage, unless perhaps you wish to add something to my words.” Abb.: “Many, many things,” the abbot said, “could be said on the subject of virtue, but these seem sufficient to us. Therefore let us move on to other matters.” Ub.: (58) “In conformity with the law of nations,” I said, “marriages are legitimately contracted, since under the primitive natural law, which we have said is shared with the other animals, they could more plausibly be called not marriages but conjoinings, since the animals, moved by natural instinct, pursue females of their kind without distinction at mating season. Man on the other hand, bound by a sacred tie, cherishes and retains the woman whom God or Fortune has assigned to him and on whom he begets natural and legitimate offspring, whom he hopes will succeed him as heirs and whom he nourishes,

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et instruit, omnique amoris et benivolentie dulcedine caritative prosequitur, non ad tempus, ut bestie, sed ad ultimum vite exitum usque non deserit, quinimo post mortem adeo diligit ut fortunarum suarum etiam eligat successores, multaque, ut cernimus, discrimina subit ancipitesque labores ut illos suis ditescat angustiis. (59) Coniunctionem igitur maris et femine primum ipsa natura constituit, que cuncta in suo genere appetit conservari. Videmus etenim non solum in animalibus sensitivis, verum etiam arboribus et herbis sensu vacuis natura instruente fructus et seminaria procreare, que equidem alere foliorumque umbraculo ad maturitatem usque perducere nunquam cessant, ut ex earum seminariis alia successivis temporibus consimilia germinentur, et sic natura, eternitatis provida, quod caducum effecit alternis successibus dedit esse perpetuum.” Abb.: (60) Hic abbas: “Vereor,” ait, “in matrimoniorum initiis ne fallaris. Nam ex quo homo primus est editus, uxorem illi *deus, ut in *Moyse legimus, statim dedit, ex qua filios procreavit.” Ub.: (61) “Me equidem,” inquam, “opinio non fefellit. Arbitrabar enim te aut hunc prepositum predicta dicturum. Quod ita fuisse ego etiam non abnuo, sed viam philosophicam sum secutus. Nunc ad coniugia revertamur. Que equidem non procreationis solius liberorum, sed famulatus hominis et concordie, quam in hominum eorundem congregationibus sepe ex huiusmodi consortio et affinitate vidimus stabilitam, initam esse non dubito. Et hac occasione non inter consanguineos affinesque contrahitur, sed extraneos potius et sanguinis alienos, ut inter concives tenaciora amoris et concordie vincula connectantur. (62) Sacra ergo coniugia summa *prudentia post hec exactoque consilio conficienda erunt, eo maxime quia ea sors nequit semel placita revocari hominisque vita leta vel tristis huiscemodi vinculo redditur. Quod ut utiliter valeat evenire deum vel fortunam uxorandus rogabis. Interea autem quoad potestas fuerit vigilabis, parentesque suos benivolos amicosque consilio advocabis ne fallaris. (63) Virginis etenim mores laudabiles et honesti primitus sunt spectandi, patres deinde a quibus ducit originem quorumque moribus diutius fuerit enutrita, mater precipue, que si impudice se gesserit, filiam se meliorem edepol non efficiet: semini enim suo universa, si diligenter culta fuerint, conformia

6 Horatius mg1 6–12 Videmus—perpetuum] Tho. Aq., In Phys. 2.13.5 13–15 Nam—procreavit] Vulg., Gen. 1.27, 2.18, 2.24 18–19 Que equidem—concordie] Aug., Bon. coniug. 3

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clothes, instructs, and lovingly looks after with every sweetness of love and goodwill, not for a time, as the beasts do, but continuously until the end of his life. In fact, even after death he loves them so greatly that he also chooses them as the successors to his fortune, and as we observe, he undergoes many difficulties and hazardous labors in order to enrich them by his hardships. (59) Therefore nature itself, who desires to preserve all things in their kind, first established the conjoining of male and female. For we see that not only the animals provided with sense perception but even the trees and green plants that lack perception produce fruits and seeds at nature’s instruction and never cease to nourish them and bring them to maturity beneath the shade of their leaves, so that from their seeds other, similar ones may be germinated in times to come, and so nature, providing for eternity, has granted perpetual being through alternate succession to what it made perishable.” Abb.: (60) Here the abbot said, “I fear that you are deceived concerning the origins of marriage, for from man’s first creation, as we read in Moses,15 God at once gave him a wife, from whom he begot children.” Ub.: (61) I said, “This did not escape me either, for I supposed that you or the provost would make this point. I do not deny that this was the case, but I have followed the philosophical path. Now let us return to the subject of marriage. I indeed have no doubt that it began not only for the procreation of children but also for men’s service and concord, which we often see established among groups of men as a consequence of this kind of association and affinity. And it is on this account that it is not contracted between those already related by blood or marriage but rather with outsiders and those of different blood, so that more tenacious bonds of love and concord may be woven among fellow citizens. (62) Sacred marriages must therefore be arranged with the greatest prudence and with precise counsel, especially since the lot once cast cannot be revoked, and joy and sadness depend on this bond. And when you are to take a wife, you will ask God and Fortune for a happy outcome. Meanwhile, however, you will take the greatest possible care and will seek counsel from her well-meaning parents and friends to avoid making errors of judgment. (63) For the praiseworthy and honorable customs of a virgin are to be considered first of all, then the parents from whom she is born and in whose customs she has long been raised, especially her mother, who if she behaves immodestly will not make her daughter better than herself, by Pollux, since all things, if diligently cultivated, will be

15

Manfredo refers to the book of Genesis, which is part of the Pentateuch (also named Torah), or the first five books of the Bible, said to be written by Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).

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renascuntur. (64) Forme etiam proceritatem corporisque salubritatem spectare non desinet; nam si morbida debilisve fuerit, nec liberis nec viris erit apta servitiis, deformem etiam vel luscam aut a natura signatam evitabis. Vix enim huiusmodi speciei consortio homo poterit oblectari. (65) Ultima dotis cura consistat, que ad tutandam pudicitiam potius quam ad ditandos viros impenditur. Hinc enim iurisconsulti vetant mulierem indotatam nubere viroque suo dotem elargiri, ne eiusdem illecebris spolietur, et si vir forsitan migret e vita, habeat quo alteri coniungatur, si ad secundas nuptias transire voluerit; mulierem ergo dos ista consequitur, cuius opulentia vir caveat fatue colligari *Catonianumque illud diligentius secum volvat: uxorem cave ne ducas sub nomine dotis.

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(66) Nostri autem cives, heu dolor, in hac moderna re publica, ut videatis quam consulte se habeant! Primo formam exquirunt, deinde dotem: de astutioribus nunc loquor, nam rudiores solam dotem utcunque uxor fuerit, impudica vel debilis, clauda vel lusca seniove confecta sollicitant; de parentum moribus et vita virginisque ultima fit questio. (67) His igitur talibusque coniugiis cernitis quam rem publicam habeamus quibusque moribus exornatam. Fatue etenim mulieres, maritorum dementium libertatibus abutentes, id solum curant ut crinibus alienis exquisitisque coloribus caput etiam natura sordidum edificent, frontem elevent, supercilia acu coloribusque deducant, et constrictis uberibus adeo corpus alvumque arceant ut fetus enecent, caudamque pavonum in morem per cenum pulveremque attrahant, ut his delinimentis insanos iuvenes alliciant, ad que agenda liberius viri earundem cuculi opes patrimoniaque contribuunt. Crines ornant, vestes rugant, unguenta et colores emunt, sartores opificesque sollicitant ut decora monilia et caudas fabricent longiores, quo alienis gratiores reddantur hominibus et ad ultimum consumptis luxu opibus viros suos rideant et illudant. (68) Sed si priscis et laudabilioribus moribus ute-

11 uxorem—dotis] Dist. Cat. 3.12.1

21–22 caudamque—attrahant] Hor., Sat. 2.3.52–53

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reborn in accordance to their seeds. (64) You should also always observe her physical height and bodily health, since if she is sickly or weak, she will be fitted for the service of neither children nor men. In addition, you will avoid one who is deformed or one-eyed or marked by nature, for a man will scarcely be able to be attracted by a union of this kind. (65) Let the last area for concern be the dowry, which is given more to protect modesty than to make men rich. For it is for this reason that legal specialists forbid a woman from marrying without a dowry and from lavishing her dowry on her husband, lest it be wasted by his dissipation, and so that if her husband happens to die, she will have a dowry with which to marry another, if she wishes to enter a second marriage. The dowry therefore follows the woman, and let a man beware lest he be foolishly ensnared by a dowry’s opulence, but instead more diligently ponder that saying of Cato’s: Beware lest you take a wife under the name of a dowry. (66) See how advisedly, alas, our citizens behave in this modern commonwealth! First they inquire into the wife’s physical appearance, then into the dowry—I am speaking about the more astute ones now, since the less cunning ones ask only about the dowry, whatever the wife is like, immodest or weak, limping or one-eyed or aged—and the last question is about the parents’ customs and the young lady’s life. (67) With these and similar marriages, therefore, you see what kind of a commonwealth we have and by what morals it is adorned! Abusing the freedoms granted by their insane husbands, foolish women concern themselves only with building up even a naturally shabby head with exotic tresses and elaborate dyes, elevating their foreheads, shaping their eyebrows with needles and colors, constricting their breasts and squeezing their bodies and bellies to such an extent that they kill their fetuses, and dragging their trains through mud and dust like peacocks,16 in order to allure the mad young with their charms, while their cuckoo husbands contribute wealth and patrimony to allow them to do so more freely. They adorn their tresses, add ruffles to their dresses, buy unguents and colors, seek out tailors and jewelers to make them graceful necklaces and longer trains, by which they are rendered more pleasing to strangers, and finally, their wealth having been consumed in luxury, they laugh at and deceive their husbands. (68) But if they followed earlier and more praiseworthy customs, life would be conducted with

16

The phrase caudam trahere, meaning “to have a tail stuck on in mockery, to be made a fool of,” is used, for example, in Hor., Sat. 2.3.53, and Vell., 2.83.3.

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rentur, longe honestius et prudentius viveretur: consortes etenim quisque suos sincero amore coniugii et pudicis moribus coleret et ille fervore consimili a mariti non divellerentur amplexibus, eosdem longe potius quam ceteros libidinis insania prosequentes, sicut et de multis tam *Romanis quam externis historiis annotatur. (69) Notum etenim est vobis, si *Valerium perlegistis, quantum *T. Gracchus, *C. et M. Plancii uxores dilexerint, quarum obitu mori etiam non tardaverint; quantum *Iulia, *Cesaris filia, que conspecta veste *Pompei mariti sui cruore respersa mortuum auspicata decessit; quantum *Porcia, *Catonis filia et *Bruti uxor, que intellecta viri morte, quia ferro non dabatur, ardentibus carbonibus spiritum evomuit; quantum porro *Arthemisia, regina *Carie, que post ingentia sepulcra usque ad *septem miracula viro suo *Mausolo fabricata sepulcrum eius demum esse sustinuit, cineribusque viri potioni quotidiane usque ad ultimum superfusis; quantum *Hypsicratea, regina *Ponti, que *Mithridatem regem virumque suum *Romanis ab armis profugum virili cultu comitata est, quo suis facilius laboribus et periculis interesset; quantum postremo *Minie mulieres, que ne mariti sui in *Lacedemonum carceribus necarentur, noctis tempore carcerem ingresse, permutatis habitibus viros recedere passe sunt, eorumque loco ibidem moriture permanserunt. Longum foret exequi singula exempla consimilia vetustatis, que bonis ex moribus verisque coniugiis oriuntur. (70) Nam *Medee, *Helene, *Cleopatre, *Phedre, *Ippie, *Laufelle, *Clytemestre, *Messaline, *Agrippineque consimiles malis ex moribus surrexerunt fatuisque libertatibus maritorum. Non abnego quin sexus malitia et innata protervia plurime etiam a iugo calcitrent et repagula laxent habenasque fugiant domitoris, sed profecto ingens culpa est vecordium maritorum. (71) Prudentes enim viri huiuscemodi belluas, si potestas dabitur, castigabunt, et si id nequi-

4 externis] hesternis M

20 Phedre] Phedere M ‖ Laufelle] Lanfelle M

5–18 Notum—permanserunt] Val. Max. 4.6

10 spiritum evomuit] Val. Max. 9.3.8

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far more honesty and prudence, for each man would cherish his spouse with sincere conjugal love and modest manners, and they with similar fervor would not be diverted from the embraces of their husbands, seeking them far more than others pursued out of madness and lust, as is also recorded of many in histories about both the Romans and foreign nations. (69) You know, if you have carefully read Valerius Maximus, how much Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius and Marcus Plancius loved their wives, upon whose deaths they also did not delay to die; how much Julia, Caesar’s daughter, who passed away upon seeing her husband Pompey’s blood-stained garment, taking it as an augury of death; how much Portia, Cato’s daughter and Brutus’s wife, who upon learning of her husband’s death, since she was not given a sword, used burning coals to expire; how much Artemisia, queen of Caria, who after having built such massive tombs for her husband Mausolus that they ranked among the seven wonders, made herself at length his tomb, sprinkling her husband’s ashes over her daily drink until the last; how much Hypsicratea, queen of Pontus, who accompanied her husband King Mithridates in his flight from Roman arms in a man’s guise, by which she more easily shared his labors and dangers; finally, how much the Minyan women, who to prevent their husbands from being slain in the Lacedaemonians’ prisons, entered the prison at night, exchanged their clothes with their husbands, and let them depart, remaining to die in their place.17 (70) It would take a long time to go through individual examples of similar antiquity, arising from good customs and true marriages, for those like Medea, Helen, Cleopatra, Phaedra, Ippia, Laufella, Clytemnestra, Messalina, and Agrippina18 originated in evil customs and foolish freedoms granted by their husbands. I do not deny that the malice and innate wickedness of their sex also led many to kick against the yoke and release the bolts and flee the reins of their masters, but the greater blame truly falls to the folly of their husbands, (71) for prudent men will punish such wild beasts, if they are granted power to do so, and if they are unable to do so, being overcome by their malice, they determine either to endure it or

17

18

Decembrio draws here on Valerius Maximus’s chapter 4.6, “De amore coniugali” (On conjugal love). It must also be noted that the text established by modern editors reads “Gaius and Marcus Plautius” (C. Plautius and M. Plautius; cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 1:404), rather than “Gaius and Marcus Plancus,” a reading likely due to the manuscript Decembrio used. These are women known for their malice or lasciviousness, drawn from both myth (Medea, Helen, Phaedra, and Clytemnestra) and history (Cleopatra, Messalina, and Agrippina), while Ippia and Laufella are mentioned in Juvenal’s Satires (6.104 and 9.117 respectively), although modern editors prefer Eppia and Saufeia (cf. Ramsay, Juvenal, 90 and 188), regarding Yppia (or Hippia) and Laufella as erroneous variants. For Laufella/Saufeia, see also Mart. 3.72.

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bunt superante malitia aut statuent tolerare aut exequi que illis forsitan divinus angelus nuntiabit. Quando autem vir elegerit consortem moribus, ut prediximus, eruditam, studebit eam suis legibus conformare, ut una vivendi lege duo unum corpus efficiant. (72) Vir utique semper imperet et disponat, velut ratio appetitibus, mulier non repugnet, sed imperata prudenter celeriterque perficiat, nec ab eius unquam voluntate discedat, iratum mitiget, pacatum veneretur et diligat, domus tutele rerumque custodie et familie diligenter intendat, pudicitiam servet, amicos viri et benivolos benigne admittat, natos natasque diligenter admoneat. (73) Ante omnia cultum divinum religiosissime veneretur; sit benigna, dulcis et mitis, sit affabilis atque grata, sit lux domus, familie speculum, viri decus et postremo suorum omnium ornamentum: probitas, fides, mores, pudor placeant marito: sola hec perpetuo manent (…); florem decoris singuli carpunt dies,

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inquit tragicus, et alius: forma bonum fragile, quantumque accedit ad annos fit minor, et spatio carpitur ipsa suo.

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Et hec de coniugiis sufficiat enarrasse. (74) Post hec, de nutrimento puerorum dicere accingar, ut hodierne confabulationis finem, uti prediximus, faciamus. Nutrimenta igitur puerorum non modice sunt curanda; potentissima enim rerum aiunt esse principia, que si diligenter procurata fuerint, velut rota feliciter revoluta consequentes motus efficiet leviores. Nam si boni mores annis puerilibus annectuntur, processu etiam temporis inherescunt. (75) Hec prop-

9 Naso mg1

15 Seneca mg1

18–19 Nota mg1

12–14 probitas—dies] Sen., Octav. 547–550 16–17 forma—suo] Ov., Ars 2.113–114 Hec—applicetur] Aug., Conf. 1.13.22–14.23; Civ. Dei 1.3. Cf. Petrar., Inv. med. 678–680

23–200.3

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to carry out what a divine angel will perhaps announce to them.19 But when a man chooses a spouse brought up with the customs that we have already described, he will strive to make her conform to his laws, so that the two are made one body by a single law of life. (72) Let the man certainly always command and dispose, as reason does with respect to the appetites, and let the woman not be hostile but rather prudently and speedily obey his commands, and never let her deviate from his will, but appease him when angered, venerate and love him when appeased, see diligently to the protection of the household and the guardianship of property and family members, uphold modesty, welcome with kindness her husband’s friends and well-wishers, and diligently admonish her sons and daughters. (73) Before all things, let her most religiously venerate divine worship; let her be kind, sweet, and mild, affable and pleasant, the light of the house, the mirror of the family, the adornment of her husband, and finally the ornament of all her kin: Let her probity, faith, morals, and modesty Please her husband. Only these things remain in perpetuity […];20 Each passing day despoils beauty’s flower, says Seneca the tragedian, and Ovid: Beauty is a fragile good,21 and as much as it increases in years, It diminishes, and it is plucked by its own age. And let this suffice about marriage. (74) Now I am ready to speak about the rearing of children, so that we may put an end to today’s conversation, as we said earlier. Great care should be taken in the rearing of children, therefore, for the beginnings of things are said to be most powerful, and if diligent care is taken concerning them, they are like a fortunately turned wheel that makes the subsequent motions easier, since if good customs are applied to childhood years, they will cling with the passage of time. (75) On this account Augustine said

19 20

21

Decembrio is obviously alluding to the Annunciation by the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. This quotation from Seneca’s Octavia, lines 547–550, omits one line (“subiecta nulli mentis atque animi bona,” 549), while the first two lines are slightly different (“Probitas fidesque coniugis, mores pudor / placeant marito: sola perpetuo manent,” 547–548). This suggests that Decembrio was quoting from memory. Modern editors of Ovid’s Ars amatoria prefer “fragile est” instead of “fragile” (cf. Mozley, Ovid, 74), which is a minor variant in the manuscript tradition.

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ter *Aurelius inquit Augustinus *Maronem ideo Virgilium pueris ediscendum preberi, ut poeta optimus atque doctissimus teneris annis ebibitus memorie tenacius applicetur. Nam

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quo semel est imbuta recens, servabit odorem testa diu, *Flaccus ait. (76) Aderit ergo nostris principibus cura non modica patribusque natorum primo ex quo fuerint editi materno lacte, non alterius nutricis, nisi id egritudo vetuerit aut impedimentum aliud, nutriantur. Magni enim refert utrum illius sanguinis alimonia qua in materno alvo primitus fuerant educati, etiam dum inde exierint educentur, an mulieris alterius, cuius forte erit difformis et aliena complexio. (77) Quemadmodum enim in plantarum translationibus nedum soli conformitas sed etiam aeris et plagarum situs ab agricola diligenter inspicitur, ut arboris truncus felicius exurgat, illud etiam puerorum multo magis debet effici nutrimento, quanto hominis quam terre delicatior est natura. Sicut enim agrorum est diversa conditio, ut hic vites, illic segetes felicius surgant, itidem in natura hominis multo magis: hinc etenim sanguineos alios dicimus, alios fleumaticos vel cholericos aut melancholicos nominamus. Si ergo in alvo sanguinee mulieris conceptus puer ibidemque depastus, lacte subinde fleumatico aut cholerico nutriatur, cernitis quam dissone sit nature. Quinimo si matris impedimento, ut prediximus, vetaretur, censerem aliam nutricem simillime complexionis exquirere. (78) Sed postea quam lactis cura cessaverit et occipient dentuli pullulare, minor alendi cura succedet: nam iam aeri assuefactus proprio, duriora paulatim sufficiet tolerare, quod equidem ante non poterat, quemadmodum in vite concernimus: cum primum teneris palmitibus turgent gemme, ferro parcit agricola, nec luxuriem eorundem nisi tenui ungue castigat, at quando hinc inde capitum propagines difluunt, falce vitem prosequi non formidat. (79) Idem multo magis in puero agi convenit: etate enim tenerrima, qua nundum stabili lumine suffert aerem intueri, nephas foret eorum corpuscula duris manibus attrectare; omnia tunc molliter sunt agenda, ne tactu forte duriori aut aeris acerbitate fatisceret; a vento enim tunc maxime et fumo tetrisque odoribus custoditur. Sed postquam virtus fortior est effecta, fortioribus quotidie assuescere doceantur, ut enim

4–5 quo—diu] Hor., Ep. 1.2.69–70 8–11 Magni—complexio] Vulg., Matt. 19.6 24–27 cum primum—formidat] Verg., Geor. 2.362–370 32–202.2 ut enim—cecinit] Verg., Aen. 9.603–604

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that children should be made to learn Virgil, so that the best and most learned poet, drunk in during their tender years, would be more tenaciously fixed in their memory. For The jar will long keep the fragrance with which it was once imbued When new, says Horace. (76) Thus, our princes and the fathers of children will first of all take great care, from the time of birth, that children be nourished by their mothers’ milk, not by that of other nurses, unless illness or another impediment prevents this, for it makes a great difference whether they are raised after emerging from the maternal womb on the nourishment of the same blood by which they were fed there, or on that of another woman whose constitution will perhaps be contrary and alien to the child’s nature. (77) Just as when plants are transplanted, the farmer diligently inspects not only the conformity of the soil but also that of the air and of the fields’ location, so that the tree trunk may rise up more fortunately, it is even more the case that this should be done for the nourishment of children, to the same degree that human nature is more delicate than that of the earth, since just as fields differ in condition, so that vines grow more happily in one place and grain in another, this is much more true of human nature; it is on this account that we call some sanguine and describe others as phlegmatic or choleric or melancholic. Therefore, if a child conceived and fed in the womb of a sanguine woman is subsequently nourished by phlegmatic or choleric milk, you see how contrary these natures clearly are. Nevertheless, if some impediment in the mother prevents her from breastfeeding, as we have already mentioned, I would judge that another nurse of a very similar constitution should be sought. (78) But after breastfeeding has come to an end and the child has begun to grow teeth, nourishment will be less of a concern, for being already accustomed to his native air, the child will gradually be able to tolerate harsher things that he indeed could not earlier, just as we see in vines. When the buds first swell with tender shoots, the farmer spares the blade and chastises their luxuriance with no more than a light hand, but when the canes are sprouting out on all sides, he does not fear to take his pruninghook to the vine. (79) It is even more appropriate to do so with a child, for at the most tender age, when he cannot yet endure to look upon the air with a lasting gaze, it would be wrong to lay harsh hands on young bodies. Everything is to be done gently then, lest he perhaps be weakened by a harsh touch or by the air’s roughness. For this reason, he is then especially kept away from wind and smoke and unpleasant smells. But once he gains some strength, let him be daily taught to become accustomed to harsher elements, as you read in Virgil, who

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apud *Virgilium legitis, dum priscum *Latinorum morem exprimit, natos ad flumina deferri sevoque gelu et fluminibus durari cecinit. (80) Eo tamen tempore illud fieri intelligendum est cum patiens natus extiterit frigoris et caloris, secus autem tribueretur insanie; in hisque duris et asperis maxime custodum filii et militum fatigentur, quibus erit opus laboribus assiduis et periculis exerceri. Nam cum primum eisdem membrorum vigor affuerit, arcus in manibus aut iaculum vel funda locabitur. Natare etiam et flumina traicere docebuntur, quietiora primum, deinde etiam impetuosa, ne vi fluminis, dum eis bellandi facultas affuerit, in posterum retardarentur. (81) Interea tamen nosse litteras non omittent. Nam prima lucis parte qua animus ieiuno stomacho vigilantior reputatur litteris, post meridiem autem corporis exercitio vel gymnastice operam dabunt. (82) Nati etiam ipsi custodum, vel hi qui ad custodis vel militis officium eligentur, patres eorum ad bella vadentes vel alios in armis exercitos prosequentur et ipsis inter prelia tanquam clientuli ministrabunt hostilibusque terroribus assuescent, arma ceteraque impedimenta ferre condiscent, equis insultare, invadere hostem, ferire, se protegere, cavere et defendere. Prima etate experti, cum adoleverint, eque ipsi diligenter et caute rei publice custodie vigilabunt. (83) Hac etenim etate *Emilius Lepidus, ut legimus, progressus in aciem hostem interemit civemque servavit, cuius tam memorabilis operis inditio statua bullata puerilique pretexta induta extitit, in *Capitolio collocata. Iniquum enim putavere *Romani illum honori nundum tempestivum videri, qui iam virtuti censeretur esse maturus. Amplum est enim pueritie rudimentum, arma infesta, districtos gladios, hostilium equitatuum discursus, telorum clamorumque fragorem et concurrentium exercituum impetus tenera et prima etate condiscere. (84) Hac etiam etate *P. Cornelius Scipio, apud *Ticinum fluvium eiusdemque nominis urbem, *P. Scipionem eiusdem genitorem tunc consulem cum *Hannibale minus faustis auspiciis dimicantem forte saucium de manibus violenti hostis eripuit, dignus iam eo tempore *Africani cognomine sempiterno. (85) Hac demum etate *M. etiam Cato, cum salutandi gratia pretextatus ad *L. Syllam forte venisset proscriptorumque civium *Romanorum capita in atrio tabo fluentia vidisset, atrocitate rei concitus, pedagogum eius interrogavit quapropter inveniretur nemo qui tam crudelem nephariumque tyrannum occideret, et cum is non voluntatem hominibus, sed facultatem deesse respondisset, ut ferrum daretur oravit, affirmando se perfacile id facturum cum in eius

18 Emilius Lepidus mg1

25 Cornelius Sipio mg1

12–18 Nati—vigilabunt] Plat., Rep. 466d–468e 18–25 Hac etenim—condiscere] Val. Max. 3.1.1 25–29 Hac etiam—sempiterno] Liv. 21.46.7; Val. Max. 5.4.2. Cf. Petrar., Sen. 2.1.153 29–204.2 Hac demum—tardasset] Val. Max. 3.1.2 31 tabo fluentia] Sen., Herc. Oet. 520

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says when recounting the Latins’ earliest customs that they took their children to the rivers and hardened them by contact with bitter frost and water. (80) Nevertheless, it is to be understood that this is to be done when the boy is able to endure cold and heat, as otherwise it would be considered madness. Also, let the sons of the guardians and soldiers, who will need to be exercised in pressing labors and dangers, be especially exercised in these harsh and rough things, for as soon as they start to gain physical strength, a bow or a spear or a sling will be placed in their hands. They will also be taught to swim and to cross rivers, first quieter ones and then impetuous ones as well, lest they be later held back by a river’s force when they have learned the art of making war. (81) Meanwhile, nevertheless, they will not omit the knowledge of letters. For they will dedicate the first part of the day to letters, when a fasting stomach is reputed to make the soul more alert, and the afternoon to physical or gymnastic exercise. (82) The guardians’ sons, or those who are chosen for the office of guardian or soldier, will also follow their fathers or others practiced in arms when they go to war and will minister to them as their personal dependents amid the battles, becoming accustomed to the enemy’s scare tactics and learning to carry arms and other gear, to leap onto horses, to attack the enemy, to wound, to protect themselves, to be on guard, and to defend. Having acquired experience from childhood, they will keep watch over the commonwealth’s protection with equal diligence and caution once they have reached adolescence. (83) For at this age, as we read, Aemilius Lepidus, advancing through the host, killed an enemy and saved a citizen, in commemoration of which memorable deed a statue was erected on the Capitoline Hill, bearing a child’s amulet around its neck and dressed in the toga of a freeborn boy, since the Romans supposed it iniquitous to consider someone not yet ripe for honor who was judged already mature in virtue. Certainly, it is an important basic training for boys to gain experience from a tender and early age of offensive weapons, busy swords, the movements of enemy cavalry, the noise of clashing weapons and war-cries, and the momentum of charging armies. (84) At this age also Publius Cornelius Scipio, worthy even then of his eternal name of Africanus, rescued his severely wounded father, Publius Scipio, consul at the time, from the violent enemy’s hands when he was battling Hannibal under less than favorable omens at the Ticino River and the city of the same name. (85) At this age, too, when Marcus Cato had perhaps gone to see Lucius Sulla on the pretext of greeting him and had seen the heads of proscribed Roman citizens rotting in the atrium, he was shocked by the atrocity of the matter and asked his tutor why there was no one to be found who would kill such a cruel and nefarious tyrant, and when the tutor replied that it was not the will but the opportunity that men lacked, he begged to be given a blade, affirming that he would do the deed very eas-

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lecto consideret, ut solebat. Et ni pedagogus illud agere vetuisset, facinus forte pulcerrimum *Cato perficere non tardasset. Optima queque dies miseris mortalibus evi prima fugit; subeunt morbi tristisque senectus, 5

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inquit *Maro noster. (86) Saluberrimum etiam fuerit futuris custodibus nedum disciplinam militarem et presentium custodum arma condiscere, sed etiam antiquas historias, in quibus fortia facta, *stratagemata, ingens armorum peritia et exemplorum omnium pulcerrimorum varietas omniumque bellorum sunt ingenia machinamentaque descripta, ut nova veteribus immiscentes peritiores efficiantur. (87) Ceteri vero, qui ad artes liberales et ad *sapientie studium eligentur, grammaticam tam *Grecam quam *Latinam primevo etatis tempore celebrabunt. Ipsa enim artium ceterarum non solum fundamentum, verum etiam necessarium instrumentum esse dignoscitur, ut exinde habilius ceteris artibus capessendis insistere queant temporibus successivis. (88) Futurus enim iurista vel medicus post hec multo facilius utriusque scientie doctrinam exhauriet; secus autem vix intelliget utrum doctor eius *Grece pronuntiet vel *Latine, longoque temporis cursu difficulter agnoscet que brevissimo admittere facillime potuisset. Quemadmodum enim edificium valido subnixum fundamento in altum sine trepidatione extollitur, eque omne studium liberale, si grammatice nititur firmamento, in sublime faciliter efferetur. (89) Opus est etiam pueris maxime *dyaletica, que verum a falso cognoscere plene docet, sine qua nulla prorsus scientia dici potest. Quid enim aliud est scientia quam cognitio veritatis, ad quod hec est potissimum et necessarium instrumentum? (90) Tertio loco sapientes *rethoricam posuere, quam puero etiam veluti necessariam censeo ministrandam. Enimvero, si loquella hominibus solis est tradita, nulla alia, ut censeo, ratione, quam ut valeat mentis cogitamina et affectus interiores pandere, quid utilius, quid etiam necessarius quam illa clare, polite, breviterque proferre? Quid porro venustius, quid viro dignius dici potest, quam quod subtiliter animo conceperit diserto facundoque explicare sermone, ex quo summa gloria in populo benivolentiaque conquiritur? (91) *Arithmetica vero, ut ait *Plato, etiam natura hebetiores ad omnes disciplinas capessendas acutiores reddit, quocirca, cum alias seorsum utilita-

5 M. Cato mg1 ‖ Virgilius mg1 31 Aritmetica mg1 ‖ plato mg1

11 Grammatica mg1

21 Dyaletica mg1

24 Rhetorica mg1

3–4 Optima—senectus] Verg., Geor. 3.66–67. Cf. Sen., Ep. 108.24–29; Petrar., Fam. 23.2.11 Arithmetica—reddit] Plat., Rep. 526c

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ily when he sat with him on his couch, as he was accustomed to do. And if his tutor had not forbidden him, perhaps Cato would have promptly performed that most honorable deed. For wretched mortals all the best days of life are the first to flee; Diseases come along, and sad old age, says our Virgil. (86) It will also be greatly beneficial for the future guardians to learn not only military discipline and the current guardians’ fighting techniques, but also ancient histories, in which are described brave deeds, stratagems, great feats of arms, a variety of most beautiful examples of all things, and the contrivances and machines of all wars, so that they may gain greater expertise from mixing new things with old. (87) Others, for their part, who will be selected for the liberal arts and for the pursuit of wisdom, will be practiced in both Greek and Latin grammar from their earliest youth, for grammar is recognized as not only the foundation for the other arts but also their necessary instrument, by which these boys will be able with greater skill to gain knowledge of the other arts later on, (88) since the future jurist or doctor will afterward much more easily drink in the doctrine of his respective discipline. Otherwise, he will scarcely understand whether his teacher is speaking in Greek or in Latin, and he will come to know with difficulty and over a long span of time what he could have acquired very quickly and easily. For just as a building established on a strong foundation is raised on high without difficulty, so likewise every liberal discipline is easily elevated to sublime heights if it rests on the prop of grammar. (89) Dialectic also is especially necessary for boys, since it fully teaches how to distinguish true from false, without which no branch of knowledge can be called such at all. For what else is knowledge but the understanding of truth, of which it is the necessary and most potent instrument? (90) In the third place the wise have listed rhetoric, which I also consider a discipline that a boy should necessarily have. Surely, if speech is granted to men alone, for no other reason, as I judge, than to enable them to reveal the thoughts of their minds and their interior inclinations, what is more useful, what is also more necessary than to state them clearly, briefly, and in a polished way? Further, what can be said to be more handsome, what more worthy of a man than to explain in expressive and eloquent speech what he has subtly conceived in his soul, by which speech supreme glory and good will are sought among the people? (91) Arithmetic for its part, as Plato says, renders even those duller by nature more clever in grasping other disciplines, for which reason, since it is

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tes plurimas secum afferat, non erit nostris iuvenibus negligenda. *Geometrie scientia ad res bellicas, ut idem *Plato indicat, maxime utilis comprobatur. Nam ad castra captanda locorumque occupationes contractionesque et extensiones exercitus quocunque acies duxerint instruendas, in ipsisque pugnis et itineribus perutilis et necessaria reperitur. Quocirca futuris custodibus percipienda erit omnimode ac mente memori continenda. (92) Nec equidem *musicam obmittemus, quam idem *Plato una cum gymnastica necessariam probat esse iuvenibus, unam ad animi, reliqua ad corporis documentum, cum altera in verbo, altera in opere comprobetur. Etenim *musica quecunque noster animus sermone, concentu, persuasione, sono, grata affabilitate mollitur profert in medium, adeoque priscorum virorum inhesit pectoribus ut apud *Grecos sine *musice disciplina nemo sapiens putaretur utique neque doctus. (93) *Astrologia vero, que non solum de celestibus, sed de temporibus anni mensiumque diiudicat, non agriculture aut navigatorie dumtaxat est utilis, sed rei militari etiam multo magis, que celestes motus auspiciaque considerat diligenter. Quid *Solis ortus, quid occasus, quid *Mars sevus, quid *Luna pronuntiet, *Saturnus an *Iupiter celo regnent, quid *Venus *Mercuriusque designent, quid demum fulgura, quid comete, nonne hec omnia maxime a militibus observantur? (94) Erit ergo hec etiam ultima a futuris custodibus retinenda. Nostis qua peritia *Romanorum proceres, inter reliquos *Iulius Cesar extiterit, imperator invictus imperialisque principium dignitatis, quis bissextum aureumque numerum et computum kalendarum dicitur invenisse. (95) Has itaque omnes artes, quas pueriles *Seneca vocat, vulgo autem dicimus liberales, pueros nostros ediscere conveniet, si aliarum de cetero graviorum effici cupient possessores, hi maxime qui ad cultum virtutum *philosophieque, omnium artium scientiarumque matris, optaverint pervenire in eaque diutissime commorari. (96) Qui vero artibus mediocribus aut fabrilibus deputantur, a grammatica non discedant. Eius etenim cognitio cuilibet arti nedum utilis, sed et necessaria est, ut eiusdem adminiculo labili memorie suffragentur absentesque quandoque archano valeant avisare consulereque sermone. Sed ne in ea consulo diutius commorentur, quinimo ad artes illas quibus unusquisque natura aptus extiterit annis a teneris assuescant, ut etate et ingenio invalescentibus acutiores subti-

1 Geometria mg1

6 Musica mg1

12–13 Astrologia mg1

1–5 Geometrie—reperitur] Plat., Rep. 526d 6–8 Nec—iuvenibus] Plat., Rep. 398c–400e, 403c, 410a–412b 11–12 apud—doctus] Cic., Tusc. 1.2.4 12–15 Astrologia—diligenter] Plat., Rep. 527d 20–22 Iulius—invenisse] Suet., Caes. 40 22–23 artes—vocat] Sen., Ep. 13.88.21–23

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additionally useful in many other ways, it is not to be neglected by our youth. The science of geometry, as Plato also notes, is found to be especially useful in military matters, since it is found to be most useful and necessary for capturing castles and planning the occupation of places and the army’s contractions and extensions, however the lines of battle are drawn up, and in battles and marches themselves. Therefore it will be something to be fully grasped and committed to memory by the future guardians. (92) We should not omit, either, music, which Plato likewise proves to be necessary to youth,22 nor gymnastics, the former as a pattern for the soul and the latter as a pattern for the body, since the one consists in words and the other in action. Whenever music is produced, our soul is made gentle by word, harmony, persuasion, sound, and pleasant affability, and it was so close to the hearts of the earliest men that among the Greeks no one was thought to be at all wise or learned without musical education. (93) Astrology, in turn, which is concerned not only with heavenly bodies but also with the times of the years and the months, is useful not only for agriculture or navigation but also (and even more so) for military science, which diligently considers heavenly motions and omens. What the sun’s rising indicates, what its setting, what fierce Mars, what the moon; whether Saturn or Jupiter reigns in the heavens; what Venus and Mercury designate, and then what lightning bolts designate, what comets: are not all these things especially observed by soldiers? (94) These last things will therefore also need to be known to the future guardians. You know the expertise the leaders of the Romans had, Julius Caesar among them, the invincible commander and the first to hold imperial power, who is said to have invented leap year and the golden number and the computation of the calends. (95) It will be appropriate, therefore, for our children to learn all these arts, which Seneca calls ‘related to the education of young boys’ [pueriles] but which we commonly call liberal, if they wish to learn other, admittedly more serious arts, and especially those who wish to master the cultivation of virtues and philosophy, the mother of all arts and disciplines, and to remain long in its company. (96) Those who are assigned to the middling or artisanal crafts, on the other hand, will not go beyond grammar. Knowledge of grammar is indeed not only useful but also necessary to any art, to help and support memory when it slips and to advise and counsel from time to time by supplying the forgetful with an uncommon word. But I advise that they not linger long in grammatical study, but instead become accustomed from tender years to the crafts for which each one is naturally apt, so that when they grow

22

It is interesting that, unlike Plato, Decembrio does not distinguish between guardians’ and philosophers’ training.

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lioresque reddantur. (97) Omnibus tamen his designamento tam animalium quam rerum omnium quas varie natura constituit opus erit.” Le.: “Et quomodo?” inquit *Leo. “An necesse fuerit omnes artifices esse pictores?” Ub.: “Non pictores,” inquam. “Ea enim ars uni generi spectat artificum. Non enim interest rei publice ut artificia confundantur, nec id princeps noster fieri sinet, sed ut unusquisque agat quod proprium sui erit, *iustitia illud idem monente precipiet. Sed si diligenter artificum ingenia volumus intueri, cernimus nullum esse peritum, nisi ad designamenti munus accedat. (98) Noscet etenim verbi gratia faber lignarius carpentum, rotam, arcam, cathedram, lectos, tripodas aliaque eius artis innumera fabricare, sed nisi designamento etiam doctus extiterit nequibit figuras aliquas herbarum aut animalium effingere, ut in choris et instrumentis diligenter elaboratis inspicimus, itidem et de murario dici potest, cui pulcros muros educere parum foret, nisi hederas aliquas, animalia seu flores pulcris operibus immisceret. (99) Possem similia de omnibus nunc proferre, sed ne sim tedio his qui presertim intelligunt, finem dabo. Constat igitur artifices designamento primitus informari, si perfectionem sui operis affectabunt, ex quo etiam planum est pictores, quos ad opus illud natura formavit, artificum aliorum industriores existere, quos ad eorum ingenium ars queque deducit. (100) *Michaelem Papiensem nostri temporis pictorem eximium puerulum novi, quem ad artem illam adeo natura formaverat ut priusquam loqui inciperet aviculas et minutas animalium formas ita subtiliter et proprie designabat, ut illius artis periti artifices mirarentur; qualis nunc magister excreverit opus docet, nullum reor sibi esse consimilem. (101) Inter cetera autem omnia nostri pueri consuescant animi multo magis quam corporis viribus inherere. Ille enim parve glorie minimeque laudis existunt, maioresque in multis animalibus quam in homine concernentur. (102) Corpori tantum quantum postulat necessitas tribuatur, et, ut inquit *Plato, usque ad salubritatem et

20 Michael papiensis mg1 5–8 Non enim—precipiet] Plat., Rep. 433a–d

28–210.1 ut inquit—sufficit] Plat., Rep. 559a–b

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older and wiser they may become more skilled and precise in their art. (97) All these, nonetheless, will require the ability to draw both animals and everything that nature has variously established.” Le.: “How so?” Leone said. “Will it be necessary for all craftsmen to be painters?” Ub.: “Not painters,” I said, “for that art pertains to one kind of craftsman, since it is not in the commonwealth’s interest for the crafts to be mixed up, and our prince will not permit that to happen but rather will order that each one do what is proper to him, as justice also commands. But if we wish to diligently observe the craftsmen’s talents, we will see that none of them is an expert in his field unless he masters the art of drawing.23 (98) For example, a carpenter will know how to make carriages, wheels, chests, chairs, beds, stools, and countless other things pertaining to his art, but unless he also knows how to draw, he will be unable to fashion figures of plants and animals, as we see them in choir stalls and skillfully crafted furnishings, and the same can be said of a mason, who will have little ability to produce beautiful walls unless he mixes some vines, animals, or plants into his beautiful works. (99) I could now speak similarly about all, but lest I bore those of excellent understanding, I will put an end to the subject. It is certain, therefore, that craftsmen are to be formed early on in the art of drawing, if they want their work to be perfect, from which it is also clear that painters naturally formed for that work by nature are better disposed than those who have been brought to drawing by the necessity of another art. (100) I knew Michele of Pavia, an outstanding painter of our time,24 as a small boy, whom nature had formed for that art to such an extent that before he began to speak, he drew little birds and tiny animal shapes in such a detailed and accurate fashion that professional painters were amazed. What kind of master he has now grown to be, his work teaches, and I think that there is none like him. (101) Amid all other things, however, let our boys be accustomed to set far more store by the powers of the soul than by those of the body, for the latter are of little glory and scant praise, and they are observed to be greater in many animals than in man. (102) Let the body be given only as much as necessity demands, and as Plato says, one should eat up to the point of

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This statement echoes Petrarch’s definition of drawing (which he calls graphis) as “the source of the arts [i.e., painting and sculpture]” (artium fons) in Rem. 1.41.4, although Decembrio, unlike Petrarch, recommends this practice to everyone. Also known as Michelino Molinari da Besozzo (ca. 1370–ca. 1455). He was one of the most celebrated painters of the Lombard school and illuminated a copy of the eulogy for Gian Galeazzo Visconti written by the Augustinian monk Pietro da Castelletto (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Ms. Lat. 5888; see figure 3).

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bonam valitudinem est edendum, quia sine cibo nobis vita non sufficit; ferculi etiam condimentum quantum ad valitudinem confert laudat, varietatem vero et irritamenta voluptatis vituperat vehementer, que vitiorum omnium sunt fomenta, moderationis inimica frugalitatisque, quibus duabus nichil in iuvenili corpore potest esse splendidius; idem et de venereis aliisque voluptatibus est dicendum. (103) Id agendum est ut cibus famem, potus sitim extinguat, vestis frigus arceat et edificium adversi temporis tempestates: continentia observata nedum animo, sed et corpori prodest. Ex ea enim animus viget et corporis salubritas stabilitur, exercitium vero et labor membra consolidant solidioraque reddunt, que equidem versa vice otio et ignavia conteruntur. (104) A pravorum et comitiva malisque moribus puer bone indolis abducatur, bonisque et exemplaribus inherescat, ut illorum ymagine velut radiantis speculi aspectu placido dirigatur in diesque melior probatiorque consurgat. Non dici potest quantum mali conferat, etiam si nichil senseris, consortium malignorum. (105) Quemadmodum enim in alluvione contingit, que latenti aquarum cremento iuri sepe derogat alieno, sic latenter vitia surrepunt, que, licet caveris, exiguo tamen lapsu temporis vires carpunt et, instar maligni graminis, per meatus subterraneos et latentes paulatim inficiunt et corrumpunt. Hec sunt que de natorum nutrimento disserere michi presentialiter occurrerunt, nisi quid aliud iudicetis.” Si.: (106) “De natarum,” inquit *Simon, “nichil asseris nutrimento?” Ub.: “Bene edepol admones,” inquam. “Nam et ipse etiam non modico indigent nutrimento, eo maxime quo sexu fragiliore consistunt. Quecunque igitur supra de maribus exposui, quo ad vitam moresque attinet, idem et de mulieribus dictum puta. Natas etenim a primevo etatis initio, ex quo boni mores aut mali faciliter teneris mentibus imprimuntur, assidue moneantur, et si in aliquo aberraverint castigentur, ut, si verbo forte nequiverint, tremore verberum bene agere nunquam cessent; matres precipue, sub quarum cura succrescunt, illas verecundas, reverentes et obedientes efficiant. (107) In primis divinum cultum colere et religiose venerari assuescant, deinde ut religionem rite colere et

14–16 Quemadmodum—alieno] Just., Inst. 2.1.20 16–18 sic latenter—corrumpunt] Plat., Rep. 401b–c 23–25 eo maxime—puta] Plat., Rep. 451d–452a 27–28 si verbo—cessent] Tho. Aq., Sum. Theol. 1a2ae.95.3.1

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satiety and good health, since we cannot live without food. He also praises the use of sauces and seasonings to the extent that this contributes to health, but he vehemently condemns variety and stimulants of pleasure, which are seedbeds of all vices and enemies of moderation and frugality, two virtues that are particularly praiseworthy in a young boy. The same is also to be said about venereal and other pleasures. (103) One should act so that food extinguishes hunger and drink thirst, garments ward off cold, and buildings ward off the storms of bad weather; the observance of self-control profits not only the soul but also the body. As a consequence of this, the soul flourishes and the body’s health is maintained, while exercise and labor knit the limbs together and make them more solid, and idleness and sloth conversely wear them away. (104) Let a boy of good disposition be kept away from wicked company and evil customs, and let him cleave to the good and exemplary, so that he may be directed by their image as by the tranquil aspect of a shining mirror and with time may grow up better and more proven. It cannot be said how much evil comes from association with the wicked, even if you do not feel it, (105) for just as happens in a floodplain, where the waters’ hidden rise often infringes on another’s rights, so vices sneak secretly in, and even though you are on your guard, they soon gain strength and, like weeds, gradually infect and corrupt everything through subterranean and hidden channels. This is what it has occurred to me to say about the rearing of sons at the moment, unless you judge otherwise.” Si.: (106) “And do you assert nothing about the rearing of daughters?” said Simone. Ub.: “By Pollux, you make a good point,” I said, “for they also need great care, especially given that they are of the weaker sex. Whatever I have said about males above, therefore, where life and morals are concerned, consider to have also been said about women.25 Indeed, let daughters be assiduously instructed from earliest childhood, since good and evil customs are easily imprinted in tender minds, and if they stray in anything, let them be punished, so that if they are perhaps unable to act well under the influence of words, they never cease to do so under the lashes of the whip. Let their mothers especially, under whose care they grow up, make them modest, reverent, and obedient. (107) First of all, let them be accustomed to cultivate and religiously venerate divine worship, then also to be able to rightly cultivate religion, observe its ceremonies, 25

This remark must not be confused with Plato’s idea that women should receive the same education given to men, since for Plato women have the same duties as men (Rep. 451e), while for Decembrio women should be excluded from anything beyond grammar. Moreover, in the Republic the education of women is limited to the guardians, while Decembrio does not make any distinction between classes.

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cerimonias observare, divina etiam ministeria intelligere valeant, sicut decet. (108) Opus erit illas grammaticam edoceri, qua assumpta non ad scientias alias, sed ad mores dumtaxat et labores muliebres exerceri conveniet. A voluptatibus maxime sunt arcende: quid vinum sapiat, quid sensibus delectabile fuerit aut asperum prorsus nosse deficiant; ieiuniis, frugalitate ac parsimonia cibi et potus assidue nutriantur. (109) Loqui etiam discant polite, tamen verecunde, comiter et benigne; nulla cordis elatio adsit, sed mites, benigne, liberales, grate, pie et misericordes dictis et gestibus iudicentur. Vera etiam loqui discant: nichil enim est turpius vanitate. Gule et ebrietatis vitia omnimode subtrahantur, ex quibus omnis vecordia omnisque inde nascitur turpitudo. Non sint invide, iracunde vel malivole, nec etiam otiose: ex otio enim et accidia flamma cupidinis generatur. (110) Forma etiam naturali contente, aliena exquisitaque non desiderent ornamenta: ex his enim insania et impudicitia denotantur. Sint demum in omnibus dictis et factis virtutibus redimite, animique potius dotibus quam corporis faveant. Forma enim bonum est fragile adeoque caducum, ut florum instar dum loquimur arefiat, mores perpetuo manent nullique fortune subiacent vel ruine. Quam cito (me miserum!) crispatur corpora rugis, et perit in nitido qui fuit ante color,

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inquit *Naso.” Le.: (111) “Optime,” inquit *Leo, “plures etenim vidi pulcerrimas, que paulo post tenui vel febricula sunt deiecte.” Ub.: “Audi,” inquam, “quid nobis satiricus luculenter annuntiet: festinat enim decurrere velox flosculus, anguste misereque brevissima vite portio; dum bibimus, dum serta, unguenta, puellas poscimus, obrepit non intellecta senectus et *Virgilius tuus:

13 insania] infamia M 20 Naso mg1

23 Satiricus Iuuenal mg1

28 Virgilius mg1

3–5 A voluptatibus—deficiant] Val. Max. 2.1.5 12–17 Forma—ruine] Ov., Ars 2.113–120 18–19 Quam—color] Ov., Ars 3.73–74 24–27 festinat—senectus] Iuv. 9.126–129. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 23.2.12

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and understand the divine service, as is proper. (108) It will be necessary to teach them grammar, which once acquired will be applied not to the other disciplines but only for morals and for women’s work. They are especially to be kept from pleasures. Let them simply fail to know what wine tastes like, what is enjoyable or unpleasant to the senses; let them be assiduously brought up with fasts, frugality, and moderation in food and drink. (109) Let them also learn to speak with polish, but modestly, politely, and kindly; let there be no exaltation of heart, but rather let them be judged in words and gestures to be mild, kind, generous, pleasing, pious, and merciful. Let them also learn to speak the truth, for nothing is more foul than vanity. Let the vices of gluttony and drunkenness, from which every folly and every foulness originate, be entirely kept away from them. Let them not be envious, wrathful, or malevolent, and neither let them be idle, for from idleness and sloth the flame of desire is generated. (110) Let them also be content with their physical appearance and not desire exotic and elaborate ornaments, for these denote madness and immodesty. Let them finally be crowned with virtues in all they say and do, favoring the gifts of the soul more than those of the body, for beauty is a fragile and transitory gift that withers even as we speak, like a flower, but morals remain perpetually and are subject to no fortune and no ruin. How quickly (ah, me!) the body is furrowed by wrinkles And loses its once radiant color,26 says Ovid.” Le.: (111) “Excellent,” Leone said, “for I have seen many most beautiful girls who were quickly crushed by some little thing or by a slight fever.” Ub.: “Hear,” I said, “what Juvenal the satirist brilliantly announces to us: The short span of our cramped and wretched life Is hurrying swiftly on to its close, like a short-lived flower: While we drink, while we demand garlands, unguents, and girls, Old age creeps up unawares. and your Virgil:

26

Note that crispatur and ante are less frequently reported variants of laxantur and ore, which are preferred by modern editors of Ovid’s Ars amatoria; cf. Mozley, Ovid, 122.

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o formose puer, nimium ne crede colori; alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur.”

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Abb.: “Multa sunt huiusmodi,” inquit abbas, “quodque ita sit doleo. Nam paulo ante iuvenis et validus, vix nunc pedibus me contineo. (112) Sed vereor ne in longum nimis protrahatur oratio. Umbra hec arborum denuntiat occasui solem iam esse finitimum. Alia igitur, si placet, in crastinum differamus.” Annuerunt ceteri, et sic inde discessimus. Finit.

1–2 o formose—leguntur] Verg., Ecl. 2.17–18

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O lovely boy, do not trust too much to your complexion: White privets fall, dark hyacinths are gathered.” Abb.: “There are many things of this kind,” the abbot said, “and it pains me that it is so, for not long ago, I was young and strong, and now I scarcely manage to keep on my feet. (112) But I fear that this speech may have gone on for too long. The trees’ shadows announce that sunset is coming. Let us put off other subjects until tomorrow, therefore, if it pleases you.” The others agreed, and so we departed from there. The end.

figure 3

Michelino Molinari da Besozzo, Eulogy for Gian Galeazzo Visconti, 1402–1403 (detail). Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Ms. Lat. 5888, fol. 1r Photo courtesy of Gallica Digital Library.

Liber IV ⟨PROLOGUS⟩.

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(1) *Iohannes de Horologio *Patavinus, astrologus sue etatis acutissimus, cui *horologium illud, princeps invictissime, quod in tua celeberrima *bibliotheca situm est cognomen imposuit, dum olim servitiis tui sanctissimi genitoris insisteret, dicere aliquando solebat infortunium hominibus esse non modicum, si loco vili aut minus celebri nascerentur, sed longe maius si hoc processu temporis intellecto, loci natalis dulcedine ibidem et non alio faustiori loco eligerent immorari. Primum enim fortune, non hominis culpa, at reliquum hominum prorsus ignavia imperitiaque accidere predicabat. (2) Quamobrem hac monitus sententia, nec minus gravissimo seditionum turbine, quo ducalis status post obitum infelicissimum ducis memorati flagellatus undique fuerat et prostratus, paternam sedem protinus transferre decrevi, ea mente ut nec michi aut posteris ulterius preberetur occasio, illuc unde discesseram revertendi. (3) Et quia illa potissimum tempestate civitates huic urbi *Mediolani finitimas, tum tyrannicis pressuris, tum popularibus factionibus prede et subhastationi subditas noveram, solamque hanc, licet idem malignorum improbitas sepe temptaverit, hostili prede subreptam, statui in hac me re publica potius stabilire sedemque eligere permansuram. (4) Verum me existente ducali secretario et inter ceteros urbis fremitus quiescente prope iam felix evaseram (si brevis huius ac fragilis evi felicitas dici potest) nisi in sevam et nimis efferatam *Facini Canis *tyrannidem incidissem, quo quidem imperante carcere teterrimo longo tempore cruciatus, nulla alia ratione quam quod domino meo duci tibique nimis obsequi visus sum, fortunis arreptis omnibus filiolisque depulsis, pestiferas egritudines sum perpessus, quibus iam diu exhaustus deperissem, nisi mors equa eiusdem sevitie providisset. (5) Sed ne querellis istis inheream, maxime postquam propitior me fortuna suscepit; illis omissis ad presentia me divertam. Letor etenim naufragi instar, qui fortunis tempestate deperditis nudus evaserit scopuloque fortune melioris inheserit. Ex quo enim tua benignitas statuit mei inopis misereri, *Candidumque meum natum sua michi virtute carissimum motu proprio in ducalem secretarium eligere. (6) Quid amplius doleam aut querar? Locum iam certum mee quietis aspicio, nec hactenus etiam fortuna 1 om. M 20 Facinus canis mg1 27–28 Letor—inheserit] Plat., Rep. 553b. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 9.2.1 61.1; Act. 7.49

31 Locum—quietis] Vulg., Isa.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004409682_006

Book 4 PROLOGUE. (1) Most invincible prince, when Giovanni dell’Orologio of Padua, the most clever astrologer of his time, who acquired his surname from the clock [horologium] found in your most celebrated library, was in former times in the service of your most holy father, he was accustomed to say on occasion that it was no small misfortune for a man to be born in a lowly or less celebrated place, but a far greater one if, having come over time to understand this, he chose to dwell there, drawn by the sweetness of his native place, and not in some other, more fortunate location, since in his view the first was the fault of Fortune, not of the man himself, but the other was the result of human laziness and ignorance. (2) Therefore, warned by this theory as well as by that most serious whirlwind of sedition that everywhere assailed and crushed the ducal state after the most unhappy death of this memorable duke, I determined at once to transfer my paternal seat, thinking that neither I nor my posterity would have further occasion to return to the place I had left. (3) And knowing that precisely in consequence of that storm the cities bordering this city of Milan were subject now to tyrannical pressures, now to plunder and expropriation by popular factions, and only this one, although often tested by the same wickedness of evil hands, had avoided being sacked by the enemy, I decided that it was preferable to establish myself in this commonwealth and choose a seat that would last. (4) It is true that, being a ducal secretary and enjoying quietness amid the city’s many clamors, I would probably have escaped happily (if the happiness of this brief and fragile age can be so called), if I had not encountered the savage and excessively wild tyrant Facino Cane, at whose command I was long tormented by the most noisome imprisonment, for no other reason than that I appeared to be too obedient to my lord the duke and to you. My fortune was seized and all my small children sent into exile, and I was struck by pestilential diseases, from which I would have perished, being already long exhausted by them, if equitable death had not seen to his savagery. (5) But I do not wish to keep on complaining, especially after a more propitious fortune has raised me up; let me leave the past behind and turn to the present. For I rejoice like a shipwrecked man who has escaped naked, having lost his fortune to the storm, and clings to the rock of a better fortune, for since your kindness determined to have mercy on my poverty and on your own initiative to choose my son Candido, most dear to me on account of his virtue, as ducal secretary, (6) why should I grieve and complain further? I have a sure place in which to rest already in view, and even

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mecum taliter seviente meroribus me dedere cogitavi, sed lectioni studioque eorum voluminum, quibus annis iuvenilibus oblectabar, aut eorum scriptionibus, quibus durante officio curialibusque impedimentis insistere non valebam. Crebro etiam, iuvenibus virtutem optantibus stipatus, eorum consortio et familiari colloquio sum letatus. Sed ad sequentia stilum potius divertamus.

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before now, when Fortune was raging so cruelly against me, I did not think it appropriate to dedicate myself to mourning, but rather to reading and studying those volumes with which I whiled away my youthful years, or to those writings that I was not able to pursue while I was in office and occupied with matters of the court. In addition, surrounded by young men striving after virtue, I have frequently rejoiced in their company and familiar conversation. But let us rather turn our pen to what follows.

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(1) Postera die, cum ad edes prepositi venissemus, idem vultu, ut solet, gratissimo ac placido, inquit: Pre.: “Si forte letifico sereni aeris intuitu voster animus caperetur, en locus aptissimus hic sursum est, quo phas erit ad *Alpes usque per omnem interiectam planitiem speculari.” Ub.: (2) “Eamus,” inquam, “si ceteris forte sit gratum plagas ethereas intueri. Locorum namque varietas amplius nos fortassis alliciet aliquidque dicere suadebit.” “Eamus,” inquiunt ceteri. Ascendimus itaque triclinium et ad fenestram quandam gratissimam venimus, unde nivosas illas *Alpes, quas quondam *Hannibal *Romam properans aceto limite sibi facto transiverat videre commode poteramus. Itaque sedilibus ibidem collocatis consedimus, dumque illius laboriosum transitu recenserem, inquit prepositus: Pre.: (3) “Dux profecto maximus fuit hic *Hannibal, interque paucissimos numerandus. Strages enim acerbas et plurimas intulit *Romanis, ut legimus, quatuor maxime lacrimosas, apud *Ticinum apudque *Trebiam in *Liguria, apud *Trasimenum *Perusie lacum in *Tuscia, et apud *Cannarum oppidum in *Apulia, ubi tot anulorum modii e digitis cadaverum sunt extracti *Karthaginemque gaudiose transmissi.” Ub.: (4) “Dux,” inquam, “multarum virtutum totidemque, ut ait *Livius, vitiorum adeoque *Romanorum pertinax hostis, ut nimium dimicando inconsulteque potius quam sapienter bella gerendo ad extremum suam rem publicam prorsus everterit. *Romani vero, tolerantia sedulisque artibus statum sue rei publice protegentes, ad ultimum fuere victores, duceque *P. Cornelio Scipione, qui *Africanus postea dictus est, de libera servam *Karthaginem effecere. Unus ergo homo statum sue civitatis evertit, alius reparavit. (5) Itaque, ut supra etiam dicebamus, eadem est hominis ferme conditio et rei publice gubernatio: homo etenim caput sphericum gestat, in quo capacitas, intellectus atque memoria, que sunt animi, visus, auditus, odoratus et gustus, que sunt corporis sensus, inhabitant. (6) Hoc etenim membro precipuo, membra, ut cernitis, reliqua gubernatur, illaque capiti parent veluti domino et principi legitime gubernanti; in pectore etiam, in quo vitalia consistunt, pars maxima rationis inhabitat: cetera membra ceu ad capitis et pectoris famulatum a natura edita verisimiliter

15 Hanibal mg1

24 Romani mg1

28 Homo et res publica mg1

4–5 ad Alpes—speculari] Petrar., Fam. 16.11.11 12 aceto—transiverat] Liv. 21.37; Iuv. 10.153. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 4.1.18 19–20 ubi tot—transmissi] Flor. 1.22.18 21–22 Dux—vitiorum] Liv. 21.4.9

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(1) The next day, when we arrived at the provost’s residence, he said, with his usual calm and most pleasant countenance: Prov.: “If your souls happen to be attracted by the joyful sight of pure air, behold, there is a most suitable place up above here, from which it will be possible to see as far as the Alps, across the whole plain that lies in between.” Ub.: (2) “Let us go there,” I said, “in the hope that it might please the others to gaze on lofty regions, for the change of place will perhaps also stimulate us further and persuade us to say something.” “Let us go,” the others said. We therefore went up to the dining room and came to a window with particularly pleasant views, where we could comfortably see the snowy Alps that Hannibal once crossed, hastening toward Rome on a path he made for himself with vinegar.1 And so we sat down on the seats placed there, and as I was recalling his laborious crossing, the provost said: Prov.: (3) “This Hannibal was truly the greatest of leaders, one among very few, for he inflicted many bitter slaughters on the Romans, as we read, and four that were especially lamentable, at the Ticino and Trebbia Rivers in Liguria, at Lake Trasimene near Perugia in Tuscia,2 and at the town of Cannae in Apulia, where so many bushels of rings were taken from the fingers of the corpses and joyfully sent to Carthage.” Ub.: (4) “A leader,” I said, “of many virtues and just as many vices, as Livy says, and such a stubborn enemy of the Romans that in the end he utterly destroyed his commonwealth by excessive fighting and by waging war more ill-advisedly than wisely. The Romans, on the other hand, protecting the state of their commonwealth by endurance and by assiduous craft, were ultimately victorious, and under the leadership of Publius Cornelius Scipio, subsequently called Africanus, they enslaved free Carthage. One man therefore destroyed the state of his city; the other restored it. (5) Thus, as we were also saying earlier, the condition of a man and the government of a commonwealth are almost identical. For man bears a spherical head containing skill, intellect, and memory, which are the soul’s faculties, and sight, hearing, smell, and taste, which are the body’s, (6) while the other parts of the body, as you can see, are governed by this chief part, and they obey the head as their legitimately governing lord and prince. In the chest as well, where the vital organs are located, the largest part of reason dwells; the other parts are plausibly supposed to have been brought 1 According to ancient sources, including Livy (21.37), in 218 BC Hannibal made his way through the Alps by heating the rocks with bonfires and pouring vinegar onto the hot stones. 2 Tuscia is a historical region corresponding to Tuscany, a great part of Umbria, and northern Lazio today.

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iudicantur. (7) Si hec omnia in corpore rei publice contemplamur instar magni cuiusdam corporis, nostram effigiem intuemur. Gubernator enim et princeps, in quo omnis viget *sapientia chorusque virtutum, rei publice caput extat; is enim est qui rei cuiusque, licet obscure, licet ambigue longe vel perplexe, capax iudicatur; qui omnia recte facillimeque comprehendit, memoriter servat, videt, audit, odorat et gustat, adeo ut nichil ei invium, nichil occultum esse valeat vel secretum. *Argus est quem poete centum gestare oculos confinxerunt. (8) At vero custodes militesque, quibus rei publice est commissa custodia, pectus urbis, si dixeris, non errabis. Manus et lacerti, quibus opportuna singula corpori ministramus, artifices, mercatores et agricole vocabuntur, quorum opere et industria necessaria rei publice comparantur. Pedes vero et tibias presides officialesque dicemus, quibus status rei publice nititur et iugiter sustentatur. (9) Post predicta igitur, que superioribus diebus enarravimus, restat dicere qualiter quibusque modis sapientissimus gubernator rem publicam, sic ut prediximus dispositam, gubernabit. Primo namque, a *deo incipiens, religionis ordinem divinumque cultum sacrasque cerimonias et omnia ecclesiastica sacramenta diligenter instituet, summos pontifices, antistites, abbates, prepositos, sacerdotes, dyaconos et canonicos cuiuscunque gradus et ordinis religiosissime disponendo. (10) Etenim si *Romani quondam suam rem publicam tanta religionis observantia gubernarunt, ut maiores prudentioresque illius urbis cives summos semper pontifices, salios aut flamines instituerent, ut nunc *Fabium Maximum, nunc *M. Scaurum, nunc *Catonem, nunc *Nasicam Scipionem, nunc *Iulium Cesarem eligerent, quorum mores veluti paganicos vanissimos reputamus, quorumque dii ebrietatis vel temulentie aut libidinis vel furoris et iracundie vim obtinere putabantur, quanto magis nos *christiani idem facere inducimur et debemus, qui verum lumen de ipso vero lumine exortum colimus, cuius vera luce iamdudum ipse paganice vanitates demonumque tenebre sunt detecte expulseque, per quod quidem omnia sunt creata. (11) Summopere itaque ad cultum tam celebrem tamque devotum debitumque curabit optimus gubernator eligere eligique facere viros prestantissimos et devotos, castos, pios omnique ex parte perfectos, natura, ut sepe diximus, ad cultum huiusmodi

17 instituet] instituet m. sec. corr. in custodiet M

21 flamines] flaminos M

15–16 Religionis cultus mg1 1–12 Si hec—sustentatur] Ioh. Salisb., Policrat. 5.2 7 Argus—confinxerunt] Ov., Ars 3.4–9; Serv., In Aen. 8.790; Petrar., BC 2; TF 2.160–161 20–21 maiores—instituerent] Flor. 1.2.2, 7.11 21–22 Fabium Maximum] Liv. 13.31.9 22 M. Scaurum] Val. Max. 6.5.5 ‖ Nasicam Scipionem] Cic., Sen. 14.50 23 Iulium Cesarem] Suet., Caes. 1.1 26 verum—lumine] Ov., Ars 3.93; Symb. Nic. 27 vera luce] Vulg., Joan. 1.9

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forth by nature as if for the service of the head and chest. (7) If we consider all these things in the body of the commonwealth, as if it were some large sort of body, it is our image we gaze upon. For the governor and prince, in whom all wisdom and the choir of virtues flourish, is the commonwealth’s head, since he is the one who is judged capable of dealing with all matters, even the ambiguous ones, even the greatly doubtful or perplexing, the one who understands all things correctly and very easily, keeps them in memory, sees, hears, smells, and tastes, to the point that nothing can escape him, nothing can be hidden or secret; he is the Argus whom the poets fashioned with a hundred eyes. (8) Then again, if you call the guardians and soldiers, who are responsible for the commonwealth’s protection, the city’s chest, you will not be wrong. The craftsmen, merchants, and farmers, by whose labor and industry what is necessary to the commonwealth is made available, will be called the hands and arms, whereby we provide our bodies with various useful things. The feet and the legs we will call the magistrates and officials, by whom the commonwealth’s state is supported and perpetually upheld. (9) After what has already been said over the course of the previous days, therefore, it remains to say how and in what ways the wisest governor will govern a commonwealth arranged in the way we have previously indicated. First of all, beginning with God, he will diligently establish the order of religion and divine worship and sacred ceremonies and all ecclesiastical sacraments and will arrange with the greatest piety for supreme pontiffs, prelates, abbots, provosts, priests, deacons, and canons of every grade and order. (10) For if the Romans formerly governed their commonwealth with such great observance of religion that they always appointed that city’s greater and more prudent citizens as supreme pontiffs, Salii, and flamens, choosing now Fabius Maximus, now Marcus Scaurus, now Cato,3 now Scipio Nasica,4 now Julius Caesar, whose morals, being pagan, we consider to have been most vain, and whose gods were supposed to possess the force of drunkenness or intoxication or lust or rage and wrath, how even more fitting it is that we Christians should be encouraged to do the same, we who worship the true light arisen from True Light itself, the true light whereby those pagan vanities and that demonic darkness have long been revealed and banished, and through which indeed all things were created! (11) Above all, therefore, the best governor will take care to choose and have chosen for such renowned and such devout and due worship the most outstanding men, devout, chaste, pious, and 3 Apparently, there is no record of a Cato as Roman pontifex; perhaps the name arises either from an incorrect source or from manuscript corruption. 4 Decembrio clearly refers to Publius Cornelius Nasica. Cicero’s De senectute is set a few days after Nasica’s election as pontifex maximus; cf. Cic. Sen. 14.50.

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dedicatos, ut eorum sacris officiis devotisque cerimoniis et precibus divinum semper auxilium nostre rei publice propitium sentiamus. (12) Nichil enim a *deo petendum est, ut *Socrates sapientissime predicabat, quam ut nobis bona contribuat, cuius dicti rationem non minus sapienter edocuit: ‘Etenim,’ inquit, ‘ipse optime *deus novit quid unicuique sit utile.’ (13) Nos vero plerumque id votis exposcimus, quod non impetrasse prestaret: honores alii concupiscunt, qui multos sepe pessundederunt; divitias appetimus, que multis exitio fuerunt; regna et principatus invadimus, quorum exitus sepenumero miserabiles concernuntur; splendida coniugia concupiscimus, que ut aliquando illustrant, ita nonnunquam funditus domos evertunt. Desine igitur huiusmodi nocua poscere, sed te totum celesti arbitrio permitte, qui tribuere bona ex facili potest pariter et eligere. (14) Ideo satiricus sapienter: orandum est—inquit—ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. Fortem posce animum, mortis terrore carentem, qui spatium vite extremum inter munera ponat nature, qui ferre queat quoscunque labores, nesciat irasci, cupiat nichil et potiores *Herculis erumnas credat sevosque labores et *Venere, et cenis, et pluma *Sardanapali. (15) Post hec autem princeps noster salubre rei publice consilium ordinabit, viros enim senes, multarum rerum experientia doctos, qui urbes plurimas mariaque lustraverint, qui falli nequeant neque fallant, qui longe plus honorem et gloriam quam munera ac divitias appetant, eligat consultores. Tales enim olim *Romani senatores a senio, *Greci pretores nominaverunt, quorum recto iudicio atque consilio corpus totius nostre rei publice diligentissime gubernetur. (16) Centum etenim apud *Romanos hi fuerant, quos quandoque patricios, quasi urbis parentes, nonnunquam patres conscriptos vocavere: horum erat officium leges condere decretaque statuere, legationibus respondere, exercitus transmittere eorumque duces eligere, postremo super omnibus rei publice incumbentibus providere, a quorum etiam decretis maior potestas consulum minime discrepabat: tanta hominum eorumdem auctoritas putabatur. (17) Apud nos vero noster princeps minori forte numero contentabitur, minore ente

3 Socrates mg1

12 Iuuenalis mg1

20 Consilium mg1

2–12 Nichil—eligere] Val. Max. 7.2.ext.1 13–19 orandum—Sardanapali] Iuv. 10.356–362 21–22 qui urbes—lustraverint] Petrar., Fam. 9.13.24 26–27 Centum—vocavere] Liv. 1.8.7, 2.1.11

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perfect in all ways, dedicated by nature, as we have often said, to this kind of worship, so that by their sacred offices and devout ceremonies and prayers we may feel that divine aid is always propitious to our commonwealth. (12) For nothing is to be asked from God, as Socrates most wisely preached, except that he give to us good things, a saying that its author no less wisely explained: ‘Certainly,’ he said, ‘God himself knows best what is useful for each.’ (13) Yet we commonly implore by vows what it would be better not to have pleaded for; others long for honors, which have often crushed many; we desire riches, which have been the ruin of many; we invade kingdoms and principalities, which often results in countless miseries; we long for splendid marriages, which if they sometimes bring luster to established houses, equally often bring destruction upon them. Refrain therefore from asking for these kinds of harmful things, and instead commit yourself entirely to heaven’s judgment, which can easily grant good things and likewise choose them. (14) So Juvenal the satirist wisely says: You should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body. Ask for a stout heart that has no fear of death, That deems length of life the least of Nature’s gifts, That can endure any kind of toil, that knows neither wrath Nor desire, and thinks that the woes and hard labors of Hercules Are better than the loves and the banquets And the feather cushions of Sardanapalus.5 (15) Next, however, our prince will set in order a wholesome council for the commonwealth, choosing as advisors elderly men, experienced in many things, who have traversed many cities and seas, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, who desire honor and glory far more than offices and riches. Such men the Romans indeed once called senators from senio, ‘old age,’ and the Greeks called praetors; their right judgment and counsel will allow the body of our whole commonwealth to be governed most diligently. (16) There were one hundred of these among the Romans, sometimes called ‘patricians,’ as if to say ‘parents of the city,’ and not rarely called ‘enrolled fathers.’ It was their duty to create laws and establish decrees, to reply to embassies, to send forth armies and to choose their leaders, and finally to oversee all things related to the commonwealth. From their decrees the greater power of the consuls also scarcely diverged, so great was the authority of these men considered to be. (17) Among us, on the other hand, our prince will perhaps be content with a

5 Sardanapalus, king of Assyria, was notorious for his decadence and gluttony.

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re publica, qui ea crescente posset etiam ampliari. Cum hoc etenim consilio princeps noster leges salutares instituet aut antiquas eliget observari, decreta constituet, officia ordinate decernet et queque opportuna nec minus salubria procurabit. ‘Imperatoriam etenim maiestatem non solum armis decoratam,’ inquit *Iustinianus, ‘sed etiam legibus oportet esse armatam, ut utrumque tempus bellorum et pacis recte valeat gubernari.’ (18) Cum hoc etiam consilio suo quoque tempore custodes statuet potiores, quos rei publice disciplina armorumque peritia doctos expertosque cognoverit exercitusque suos per legiones, centuriones et decanos distribuet, imperatoresque eliget et legatos tribunosque militum quos opportuniores agnoverit. (19) Alia post hec officia ordinate preficiet, questores videlicet apud *Romanos erarii publici custodes nominatos, quos hodie magistros dicimus intratarum, quorum erit officium erarium publicum conservare, introitus fideliter nec minus diligenter exigere nichilque ex publico detrahere, nisi quemadmodum princeps aut consilium vice principis ordinabit. (20) Horum maximum erit opus introitus expensasque conspicere, ut expensis erarium non deficiet opportunis et plerumque maxime necessariis, introitus vero hostium preda aut malorum civium pena aut rei publice usufructus vectigaliave prestabunt. (21) Civibus enim potissime parcendum est; hinc bene *Virgilius, ad *Romanum loquens populum: tu regere imperium populo, *Romane, memento: he tibi erunt artes, pacique imponere morem, parcere subiectis et debellare superbos, et satiricus *Iuvenalis:

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expectata diu tandem provincia cum te rectorem accipiet, pone ire frena modumque, pone et avaritie, miserere inopum sociorum, et paulo infra: curandum in primis ne magna iniuria fiat fortibus et miseris. Tollas licet omne quod usquam est

5 Iustinianus mg1

19 Virgilius mg1

4–6 Imperatoriam—gubernari] Just., Inst. prooem. 1 20–22 tu regere—superbos] Verg., Aen. 6.851–853. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 12.2.32 24–26 expectata—sociorum] Iuv. 8.87–89 28–228.2 curandum—supersunt] Iuv. 8.121–124

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smaller number while the commonwealth is smaller, and he could also expand that number if it grows. With this council our prince will establish wholesome laws or decide that the ancient ones are to be observed, will issue decrees, will assign offices in an orderly way, and will pursue whatever is convenient and no less wholesome. ‘For it is proper for the imperial majesty to be not only adorned with arms,’ Justinian says, ‘but also armed with laws, so that both times of war and those of peace may be rightly governed.’ (18) With this council he will also at the proper time appoint more powerful guardians, whom he knows to be learned and expert in the commonwealth’s discipline and the skills of arms, and he will arrange his armies in legions, centuries, and decades and will choose as commanders and legates and tribunes of the soldiers those whom he has recognized as more fitted for these offices. (19) He will then appoint in an orderly way other officers, namely those called quaestors among the Romans, guardians of the public treasury, whom we today call masters of the receipts, whose duty it will be to preserve the public treasury, demanding its income faithfully and diligently and taking nothing away from the public purse except as the prince or the council in the prince’s place will determine. (20) Their special task will be to monitor income and expenditures, so that the treasury does not fail in making appropriate expenditures and generally those that are most necessary, and so that the spoiling of enemies or the punishment of evil citizens or the rents and tolls of the commonwealth will provide income, (21) since the citizens are to be spared above all; hence Virgil properly says, speaking to the Roman people: Remember, Roman, to rule the nations by your power. These will be your arts: to impose custom on peace, To spare the subjected, and to make war on the proud, and Juvenal the satirist: When you finally enter your long-awaited province As its governor, set a curb and a limit to your anger And to your greed too; have compassion on the impoverished provincials; and just below: Above all, beware lest great injury be done to men who are Brave and wretched. You may take away all the gold

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auri atque argenti, scutum gladiumque relinques et iaculum et galeam; spoliatis arma supersunt.

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Opulentia namque et egestas civium potentia vel impotentia principantis est. (22) Audivi sepenumero quod dum legati dominii *Veronensis, quod ea tempestate per *nobiles de la Scala satis ample et magnifice regebatur, ad presentiam *Iohannis, urbis huius famosissimi presulis et domini convenissent pecuniosorumque principum sermones inter eos forsitan incidissent, clarissimus presul inquit nunquam hanc suppellectilem penes se habere curasse, sed illud maxime ut sui cives eandem copiosissime possiderent; nam sic agendo nunquam sibi neque civibus deesse illam arbitrabatur. (23) Quo dicto, ut facto clarius rem illam ostenderet, aliquot iussit ex civibus evocari, a quibus plura milia ducatorum necessitate nonnulla impellente preposita mutuo postulavit. Qui omnes legatis presentibus antedictis longeque mirantibus responderunt non mutuo, sed dono libero multo plura milia se daturos. (24) Tum presul celeberrimus: ‘Ecce,’ inquit, ‘hi nobiles: arce thesauri mei sunt, quas longe potiores illis esse non dubito in quibus thesauri ligno inutili terraque vili aut armario conteguntur.’ Hinc apud *Romanos *Curius dum apud focum sederet et scabello cenaret, fertur *Samnitibus respondisse eosdem aurum non appetere, sed illud habentibus imperare. (25) Curabit itaque noster prudentissimus gubernator aliunde quam a civibus pecunias quas in erarium congerat obtinere, ex quibus suis primum necessitatibus custodumque et officialium ceterisque rei publice impensis possit stato tempore subveniri. (26) Curabit insuper exacta cura pretoriam instituere potestatem, tam in urbe quam ubicunque illam noverit opportunam, ut per eandem ius cunctis equabile ministretur. Nam iuxta *Catonianum illud: ipse etiam leges cupiunt, ut iure regantur, ut in foro iurisconsulti electi et iustissimi collocentur, qui si quid dubietatis in decretis, statutis aut legibus oriatur, enodent et clarum faciant, dubietate explosa, que sit sententia veritatis. (27) Tales viros esse conveniet, qui mune-

4 dominii] domini M 25 Cato mg1 17–19 Hinc—imperare] Val. Max. 4.3.5

26 ipse—regantur] Dist. Cat. 3.16.2

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And silver they have; you will still leave them shield, sword, Javelin, and helmet; plundered people still have their arms. For the opulence and poverty of the citizens is the power or impotence of the one who rules. (22) I have often heard the story of the legates of the lordship of Verona, which at that time was quite eminently and magnificently ruled by the della Scala noblemen. When they came to visit Giovanni, this city’s very famous prelate and lord,6 as they happened to discuss the topic of princes in need of money, the most renowned prelate said that he had never been concerned with possessing excessive riches himself but rather above all that his citizens had them most abundantly, since he judged that by acting in that way, neither he nor the citizens would ever lack them. (23) Upon saying this, to demonstrate his words by deeds, he had several citizens summoned and requested them to provide an advance of multiple thousands of ducats as a loan, on the grounds of some pressing necessity. They all replied, in the presence and to the great astonishment of the aforementioned legates, that they would give many more thousands and that they would provide these not as a loan but as a free gift. (24) Then the most renowned prelate said, ‘Behold these nobles: they are my treasure chests, and I do not doubt that they are far better than those chests that enclose treasures in useless wood and in vile ground or in a closet.’ Hence among the Romans, when Curius sat by the hearth and dined on a stool, he is said to have replied to the Samnites that they should not desire gold, but rather to command those who have it. (25) Our most prudent governor will therefore take care to obtain from other sources than from the citizens the money that he collects in the treasury, from which he may at the appropriate time provide for his own needs, first of all, those of the guardians and officials, and the other expenses of the commonwealth. (26) He will also be extremely careful to establish the praetorian power, both in the city and wherever he knows it to be appropriate, and use it to provide equitable law to all. For in accordance with that saying of Cato’s, The laws themselves also desire to be ruled by law, let chosen and utterly fair legal specialists be gathered in the forum, ones who, if anything doubtful comes up in the decrees, statutes, or laws, can resolve the doubt by disentangling and showing what the true interpretation is. (27) It will

6 Decembrio refers to Giovanni Visconti, archbishop and lord of Milan, already mentioned in 1.8.

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ribus aut pretio vel precibus in sensum reprobum non trahantur quique non divitias, ut prediximus, sed honorem affectent et virtutis observantiam multo magis. (28) Prefectos etiam instituet ad curam vigilem civitatis, quorum pars interdiu, pars noctu agat officium discurrendo, ne quid violentie aut furti aut insidiarum incendiique paretur, ne quis cum telo incedat aliove instrumento, cuius delatione vis aut cedes aliqua inferri cuipiam possit. (29) Ceterum ut cultus virtutum omnium *sapientieque vehementius vigeat et latius diffundatur magnopere nostro principi agendum erit, ut omnium scientiarum artificiorumque magistri publice certis in locis statuantur, ad quos rudiores iuvenes accedentes ad virtutum scientiarumque apices erigantur, virique huiusmodi sic electi tam vite morumque quam verborum et doctrine etiam sint magistri. (30) Virtutum etenim laus omnis in actione consistit. Turpe enim et maxime indecus fit magistro, cum quod idem vituperat operatur; exemplo enim maxime discipuli commoventur. Laudat quis turpiter paupertatem, cum ditari maxime concupiscat cunque luxuriosus existat, et luxu perditus predicat castitatem, extollit *temperantiam magnificatque *modestiam, quod docenti potissime turpe est. (31) Omne animi vitium—inquit satiricus—tanto conspectius in se crimen habet, quanto maior qui peccat habetur.

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Cura erit ergo quam maxima gubernanti huiuscemodi magistros virtuosos et moratos assumere, qui non minus vite munus quam scientie colant quique quod verbo asserunt, opere etiam et facto probent. (32) Magistros etiam necesse fuerit aptos et probatos parvulis adhibere custodibus armigerisque futuris. Non enim semper bella gerentur, ad que rudes pueri, ut prediximus, cum patribus mitti queant: si hoc esset ut *Cicero de *Romanis asseruit, quos semper bella gerere et gessisse commemorat, aliis non esset opus magistris quam patribus aut aliis cum quibus sepissime militarent. (33) Sed pacis tempore hoc agi conveniet, ne puerilis virtus otio languefiat. Hastilusionum, iaculationum sint dimicationum magistri ceterarumque artium bellicarum, penes quos prime etatis iuvenculi doceantur. Armorum tractandorum meditatio apud *Romanos a *P. Rutilio consule *C. Manlii collega militibus est tradita. Is enim, ut recitat *Valerius, nullius ante se imperatoris exemplum secutus, ex ludo *Gaii Aurelii Scauri doctioribus gladiatorum accersitis, vitandi atque

12 Virtutum—consistit] Cic., Off. 1.6.19 12–14 Turpe—commoventur] Sen., Ep. 108.36 18–19 Omne—habetur] Iuv. 8.140–141 25–26 Cicero—commemorat] Cic., Off. 2.13.45 30–232.3 Armorum—fieret] Val. Max. 2.3.2

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be fitting to choose men who are not led astray by gifts or payment or pleas and who are eager not for riches, as we have already said, but for honor and far more for the observance of virtue. (28) He will also establish prefects to keep vigilant watch over the city, some of whom will carry out their office by day and some by night, patrolling to prevent the occurrence of any incident of violence or theft or ambush or fire and to prevent anyone from striking with a weapon or another instrument a blow by which harm or bloodshed might be inflicted on anyone. (29) For the rest, our prince will work hard to see to it that the cultivation of all virtues and of wisdom flourishes more vigorously and is spread more widely and that teachers of all branches of knowledge and crafts are publicly established in certain places, where less educated youths may come and be raised up to the summits of virtue and knowledge and where these men, chosen in this way, may be masters of life and morals as well as of words and learning, (30) since virtue’s entire praise consists in action. For it is shameful and utterly unfitting for a teacher to do what he himself execrates, since it is by example that students are moved above all. That man foully praises poverty who longs above all to grow rich and who while living luxuriously and lost in lust, preaches chastity, extolls temperance, and sings the praises of modesty, all of which are particularly shameful in an instructor. Juvenal the satirist says: (31) Every fault of the mind is the more conspicuous in its guilt In proportion to the rank of the offender. How great, therefore, will be the governor’s care to appoint virtuous and moral teachers, who cultivate the office of life no less than that of knowledge and who by works and deeds demonstrate what they assert in words! (32) Apt and proven teachers will also need to be provided for the young guardians and future men-at-arms, since there are not always wars to which uneducated boys, as we have already said, can be sent with their fathers; if this were the case, as Cicero said about the Romans, whom he says were always and had always been at war, there would be no need for other teachers than fathers or others with whom they most frequently served. (33) But in time of peace, it will be appropriate, lest boyish virtue languish in idleness, that there be masters of fighting with spears and javelins and of the other arts of war, by whom the youngest boys will be instructed. Among the Romans, Publius Rutilius, who served as consul alongside Gaius Manlius, gave the soldiers a method of preparation for bearing arms, for this man, without the example of any commander before him, brought in the more skilled gladiators from the school of Gaius Aurelius Scaurus and worked out the laws of a more subtle method of avoiding

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inferendi ictus subtiliorem rationem legibus ingeneravit virtutemque arti et artem virtuti rursus immiscuit, ut illa impetu huius fortior hec illius scientia cautior fieret. (34) Velitum etiam militum usum eo bello primum asserit fuisse compertum, quo *Capuam *Fulvius Flaccus imperator obsedit. Nam cum equitatui *Campanorum *Romani milites crebris excursationibus, quia numero pauciores erant, obsistere non valeretur, Quintus *Nevius centurio ex peditum numero nonnullos electos expediti corporis septennis armatos hastis parvo tegmine munitos, veloci saltu iungere se equitantibus et rursus celeri motu dilabi instituit, quo facilius equestri prelio subiecti pedites viros pariter atque equos hostium telis incesserent, eaque pugne novitas *Campanorum vires maxime fregit. (35) Et ut huic patrie vicinora exempla non sileam, *Limprandus, olim *Longobardorum rex de genere *Flaviorum, cuius ossa *Papie apud *Augustinenses et *Boethii *sepulcrum in busto illi contiguo requiescunt, ne pacis tempore milites sui nimio otio ignavam vitam agerent, *ludum cestuum ibidem primus instituit, qui usque in hanc etatem illa in urbe quotannis in ripa *Ticini populi multitudine celebratur. (36) Populum namque *Papiensem partes divisit in geminas, quas superiorem inferioremque vocavit, et quia galeam scutumque et ensem ad arma singulos deferre mos erat cum hostes invaderent, voluit in hoc ludo ut vice galee cestus ponderis coequalis, vice clipei scutum

17 divisit] dimisit M 4 Fuluius Flaccus mg1 papiensis mg1

6 Q. Nevius centurio mg1

3–11 Velitum—fregit] Val. Max. 2.3.3

11 Liprandus [sic] Rex mg1

16 populus

16–234.4 Populum—certarent] Laud. Tic. 25–26

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and inflicting blows,7 mixing virtue with art and art conversely with virtue, so that art might become stronger with virtue’s stimulation and virtue more cautious with art’s knowledge, as Valerius Maximus recounts. (34) He also asserts that lightly armed soldiers were used for the first time in the war during which the commander Fulvius Flaccus besieged Capua, since when the Roman soldiers, being less numerous, were unable to oppose the Campanian cavalry by frequent expeditions, the centurion Quintus Naevius8 set up a lightly armed body of a number of chosen men from among the infantry, each armed with seven spears and provided with a small shield, to join the riders in quick maneuvers and then rapidly fall back, allowing the infantry under equestrian attack more easily to strike with their weapons both the enemy’s men and its horses, a novel form of battle that greatly curbed the Campanians’ strength. (35) And— I do not wish to pass over examples closer to this fatherland—Liutprand, once king of the Lombards, from the Flavian dynasty,9 whose bones rest in a grave next to Boethius’s tomb in the Augustinian basilica in Pavia,10 to prevent his soldiers from leading a dishonorable life in time of peace, as a result of excessive leisure, was the first to establish a mock tournament in that city, where it is still celebrated annually today by a multitude of people on the banks of the Ticino. (36) He divided the people of Pavia into two parts, which he called the upper and the lower, and since it was the custom for each man to wear a helmet and carry a shield and sword when they attacked the enemy, he wished that in this tournament they should wear in place of helmets leather caps11 of equal weight 7

8 9

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11

The correct nomen of Manlius is Mallius, and his praenomen is Gnaeus, not Gaius: these are variants found in some manuscripts of Valerius Maximus. Moreover, modern editors correct the form legibus (translated here as “laws”) to legionibus; cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 1:148. Again, Nevius is an erroneous variant (attested in Valerius Maximus’s tradition) of the name Navius; cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 1:150. Decembrio is likely relying on the opening lines of the epitaph on Liutprand’s tomb: “Flavius hoc tumulo Liutprandus conditur, olim / Langobardorum rex inclytus.” See Majocchi, “Le ossa,” 40. According to Paulus Diaconus (Hist. Lang. 6.58), Liutprand’s tomb was at first placed in the church of Saint Adrian in Pavia and later moved to the Augustinian basilica of Saint Peter in Ciel d’Oro. The Latin text has c(a)estus, also used for the tournament’s name (ludus c(a)estuum), which literally means “a strap of bull’s hide loaded with balls of lead or iron, wound around the hands and arms, a gauntlet, boxing-glove for pugilists” (not to be confused with cestus, which means “girdle, tie, belt, girth, strap,” see Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary, 265 and 323). The only other known source for this tournament, Opicino de Canistris’s Liber de laudibus civitatis Ticinensis, states that its participants “carry on their heads helmets made of wood or woven from vines that they call ‘baskets’ ” (Laud. Tic. 25; habent in capitibus galeas ligneas, scilicet viminibus textas, quas cistas vocant). It is clear that Decembrio is using c(a)estus as an equivalent to cista (basket), perhaps influenced by the Italian cesto and cesta, both meaning “basket.”

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agreste ponderosumque, radicibus vel viminibus intextum, corio coopertum, gestarent, loco vero gladii ligneum quendam fustem non minoris ponderis sustinerent, qua quidem armatura contecti utrimque concurrerent et hostili more certarent. (37) Hodie tamen hisque temporibus non more prisco, quo neminem nisi armatum ad id certamen progredi solere instituerant, sed quodam puerili more, paucis armatis vulgoque inhermi acclamante et impellente concurritur, multaque ex hoc discrimina patiuntur: nam ab armatis inhermes sepenumero fustibus feriuntur, discordieque inde multiplices emergunt. (38) Ad finem tamen boni exempli, ut prediximus, est repertum. Illud idem in urbe *Pisana fieri vidi, multoque acerbius furiosiusque *Rome ad tauros indomitos in *Testatio monte certatur, iuxtaque *Neapolim in loco *Carbonarie, ubi quotannis eo ludo quam plurimi moriuntur; consultius itaque in hac est urbe provisum ubi pugilari dumtaxat certamine, non lapidum iactu aut periculo gladiorum, res geritur. (39) Hec autem omnia a principio cernimus emanasse, ut populus inherti desidia non languescat audaciorque veris periculis esse queat, sicut assidue facere cernitis *Venetos et similiter *Ianuenses, qui equidem populi ceterique maritimi, quia balistariorum adminiculo se tuentur, loca in eorum urbibus plura constituunt ubi diebus festis frequentes adveniunt cum balistis, premiisque victoribus prepositis, eosdem ad iactum alliciunt. Quo fit ut inde emergant in ea arte doctissimi, quorum deinde usibus opportunis provideant armamentis. (40) Ex hoc enim olim in *Grecia in *Elea regione iuxta *Pisas apud *Olympum, *Thessalie montem, solebant *Olympia singulo, ut aiunt, quinquennio celebrari, ad que singuli homines cunctarum provinciarum prestantiores ingenio aut viribus accedebant, ibidemque victores coronabantur lauro, hedera vel myrto aut populo secundum ingeniorum aut virium prevalentiam cuiuscunque, quod equidem urgentissimum ad virtutem calcar erat et ad gloriam capessendam. (41) Munitionem vero armorum instrumentorumque omnium que tutele causa comperta sunt, providus rei publice princeps copiosam facere procurabit, ne casu necessario vemente arma custodibus forte deficiant, ad quod *Romani veteres, quorum libenter utor exemplis, maxime vigilarunt. Notum etenim vobis est *templum illud Iani confertum armamentis omnibus, quod bellica necessitate urgente, foribus horride stridentibus manu consulis pandebatur. (42) Vos autem, qui *Venetiis affuistis, si *Arzanam illius urbis contigit introisse, quibus navigiis et armis munita sit potestis ex facili reminisci, quod quidem *Ianue etiam copiose et magnifice

11–12 iuxtaque—moriuntur] Petrar., Fam. 5.6.4 23 singulo—celebrari] Petrar., Fam. 19.16.15 31–33 Notum—pandebatur] Verg., Aen. 7.601–625 34 Arzanam—munita sit] Dante, Inf. 21.7– 15

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and carry in place of shields rough and heavy targets woven from roots or vines and covered with leather, and in place of swords wooden staves of equal weight, with which armaments they faced off against one another and battled like enemies. (37) In this day and age, however, they face off not after the original fashion, according to which it was established that no one came to that contest without being armed, but in a somewhat playful manner, with few of them armed and with the unarmed crowd acclaiming them and driving them on, from which many dangers result, since the unarmed are frequently struck with staves by the armed, and multiple quarrels arise as a result. (38) Nevertheless, it was for the purpose of setting a good example, as we have already said, that this was invented. I have seen the same thing done in the city of Pisa, and wild bulls are fought far more bitterly and furiously in Rome at Mount Testaccio and near Naples in Carbonara, where many die in the same pursuit every year. For this reason the matter is more advisedly treated in this city, where such things are handled at most with a boxing match, not by throwing stones or with the hazards of swords. (39) All these things, however, we observe to have originated at first with the purpose that the populace should not languish in languid idleness but should be able to face true dangers more boldly, a matter in which you observe that the Venetians are assiduous, and likewise the Genoese, as these two peoples, along with other seafarers, since they defend themselves with the help of crossbows, have established many places in their cities where they often come on holidays with crossbows, and they encourage them to shoot by setting prizes for the victors. Hence men most learned in that art arise, whom they then provide with arms for their use on suitable occasions. (40) For this reason formerly in Greece, in the region of Elis near Pisa, at Mount Olympus in Thessaly, the Olympic Games used to be held every fifth year, they say, where the men most distinguished in talent or strength came from all the provinces and where the victors were crowned with laurel, ivy, myrtle, or poplar according to how each one had prevailed in talent or strength, which was indeed a most pressing spur to virtue and to striving after glory. (41) Again, the commonwealth’s foresighted prince will seek to obtain an abundant stockpile of arms and of all instruments that have been invented for defensive purposes, lest the guardians perhaps lack arms at a time of urgent necessity, a matter in which especial care was taken by the ancient Romans, whose examples I prefer to use. For you know that the temple of Janus was packed with armaments of all kinds and in times of military necessity was thrown open by the consuls with a horrible creaking of the doors. (42) Those of you who have been to Venice, on the other hand, and happened to enter that city’s Arsenal, will easily be able to remember the ships and weapons with which it is fortified, as has indeed also always been copiously and magnificently in evidence in Genoa, since the wise man

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semper extitit observatum. Non enim quod ante pedes situm est sapiens dumtaxat speculatur, sed futura etiam consuevit multo vigilantius meditari. (43) Sed ut sic gradatim ad reliqua veniamus, ut *iustitia coli possit, que est, ut sepe diximus, rei publice fundamentum, gubernator noster summa cura conficiet ut *iuris utriusque studium canonici videlicet et *civilis, artis *medicine preterea, que duo in urbe qualibet sunt maxime necessaria iugi studio perlegantur. (44) Ad que facilius obtinenda opere pretium fuerit famosos et illustres doctores vel magistros eligere, in qua re iam diu nostrisque temporibus multum et laudabiliter urbs *Bononie floruit, taliter quod mater legum ab omni populo dicta est. Ea enim semper studuit electissimos habere vel acquirere preceptores, quorum fama accensi scientiarum cupidi traherentur; ea pre ceteris doctos homines et scientificos honoravit; ea, inquam, nullius laudis avara, ut de *Grecis ait *Horatius, nulli pepercit expense ut studium omnium artium potissime *iustitie in ea florentissimum coleret. (45) Princeps etiam ille clarissimus et pace omnium *Vicecomitum reliquorum longe magnanimus *Galeaz Vicecomes, huius nostri principis avus, qui *Papiensi urbe bellica virtute subacta arceque illa nobilissima in urbis eiusdem vertice fabricata aliaque arce in fronte *pontis Ticini pro ipsius custodia stabilita, ipsaque civitate viarum ordinibus et edificiis decorata, studium solemne edificandum duxit, doctoribus et magistris illustribus et famosis undique conquisitis. (46) In *iure enim civili *Segnorolum de Homodeis *Mediolanensem et *Riccardum de Saliceto *Bononiensem, doctores clarissimos, in *medicina *Mainum de Maineriis *Mediolanensem et *Albertinum de Salso *Placentinum magistros precipuos atque claros habere studuit pro illius studii fundamento. (47) Post hunc vero principem non minor animo filius, sed longe amplior dignitate, potestate fortunisque, non solum *Papiense studium ampliavit famosissimisque doctoribus decoravit, ut *Baldo de *Perusio, doctore sui temporis celeberrimo in iuris utriusque peritia *Marsilioque de Sanctasophia in *medicina aliisque viris eruditissimis et famosis, verum etiam *Bononiense studium *Paduanumque, quarum tunc urbium dominium obtinebat, celebritate doctorum magistrorumque summa cura et ingenio decoravit. (48) Noster autem princeps, qui paterne mortis ruinas hucusque sat habuit reparare, nec dum in solidum reparavit, idem agere affectans patria imitando

5 artis] ars M 3–4 Nota mg1 1–2 Non—meditari] Cic., Tusc. 5.39.114; Div. 2.13.30. Cf. Petrar., Ign. 4.69 Horatius] Hor., Ars 323–324

12–13 Nullius—

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not only considers what is right before his eyes but is also in the habit of pondering far more carefully what things are yet to come. (43) But so that we might thus come gradually to what remains, in order that justice might be cultivated, which is, as we have often said, the commonwealth’s foundation, our governor will establish with the greatest care a school of both laws (namely canon law and civil law) and also of the art of medicine, two subjects which in any city are most necessary to be thoroughly studied in a continuing school, (44) for the easier achievement of which it will be worthwhile to choose famous and illustrious doctors or teachers. In this regard the city of Bologna has long greatly and praiseworthily flourished and continues to do so in our day, to such an extent that all peoples call it ‘the mother of the laws,’12 for it has always striven to have or acquire the most select instructors, whose fame attracts those who are eager for knowledge; it above others has honored learned and knowledgeable men; it, I say, greedy for no praise, as Horace says of the Greeks, has spared no expense to cultivate a most flourishing school of all the arts and especially of justice. (45) Also, that most renowned prince, and far greater of soul, with due respect to all the other Visconti, Galeazzo Visconti, our present prince’s grandfather—having subjected the city of Pavia by martial virtue, built a most noble citadel at that city’s highest point, established another citadel opposite the Ticino Bridge to guard it, and adorned the city itself with buildings and with well-arranged streets—determined on the solemn construction of a university, having sought out illustrious and famous doctors and teachers from all regions, (46) for he strove to have for the foundation of this school in civil law Signorolo degli Omodei of Milan and Riccardo da Saliceto of Bologna, most renowned doctors, and in medicine the distinguished and renowned teachers Maino de Maineri of Milan and Albertino da Salso of Piacenza. (47) Succeeding to this prince, indeed, his son, equally great of soul but far greater in dignity, power, and fortune, not only expanded the University of Pavia and honored it with the most famous doctors, such as Baldo of Perugia, a most famous doctor in his time in the knowledge of both laws, and Marsilio di Santasofia in medicine, and other most erudite and famous men, but also with the greatest care and intelligence honored the universities of Bologna and Padua, when he obtained the lordship of those cities, with the fame of doctors and teachers. (48) For his part, eager to do likewise and following in his father’s footsteps, our prince, who up to now has had enough to do in repairing the ruin resulting from his father’s death

12

Decembrio alludes here to the motto of the University of Bologna, “Petrus ubique pater legum Bononia mater” ([Saint] Peter is everywhere the father of the laws, Bologna their mother).

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vestigia *Papiense studium iam ferme more solito composuerat, nisi aeris pestiferi calamitas vetuisset. Nunc autem, salubritate etheris superventa, et studium illud et illam *bibliothecam famosissimam, cui non est nostro in orbe simillima, prorsus decrevit facere reparari, quam quondam eius genitor voluminibus tam *Grecis quam *Latinis omnis artis omnisque scientie refertam loco splendidissimo collocavit. (49) Sed ut ad facta nostre rei publice redeamus, studebit prudentissimus gubernator scientiarum studia, uti prediximus, stabilire, ut unusquisque secundum nature sue proprium operando adiecta arte etiam reddatur acutior. Notum etenim vobis est unum quemque sue artis auctorem esse precipuum. (50) *Q. enim Scevola, clarissimus legum interpres, quotiens de iure pretorio consulebatur, ad *Furium et *Cascellium huic scientie deditos consultores illico transmittebat, qui quotidiano usu eius artis calebant. Sic *Plato, cum de are consuleretur fabrica, ad *Euclidem geometricum querentes etiam transmittebat. Nostro quoque tempore solent etiam advocati, cum de municipali iure huius urbis dubitatur, ad *Panigarolas statutarios transmittere consultores. (51) Verum quia scientiarum omnium nulla subtilior, nulla clarior atque perfectior *philosophia est, que eius gremio cuncta complectitur, omni meditamine fuerit nostro principi elaborandum ut illa in sua re publica indesinenti germine revirescat. (52) Ea est enim *iustitie omniumque virtutum mater, elementorum celestiumque terrestrium indagatrix; hec est illa que leges, mores institutaque hominum format, moderatur et continet, que modum, ordinem regulamque conservat, que omnia adversa acerbaque docet viriliter tolerare, postremo, que obscura omnia occulta et ambigua lucidat et explanat: hec omnia agit cum inter homines conversatur. At si forte ad superiora divertitur, de naturalibus omnibus disputat que in terra marique et celo natura formaverit, de supracelestibus iterum et divinis. (53) Cum tot et tanta igitur hec scientia complectatur, non quoslibet viros illa recipiet, quippe neque ferreos vel eneos, verum forte nec argenteos, sed illos quos aureos diximus, quos electioris materie natura formavit. Ceteri namque, etsi optarent, ardua eius menia scandere non valerent. (54) Non enim hic de una re agitur, sed de universis, nec humanis

3 Bibliotheca mg1 8–9 ut unusquisque—acutior] Plat., Rep. 433a–d 9–10 Notum—precipuum] Val. Max. 8.12. init. 10–12 Q. enim—calebant] Val. Max. 8.12.1 12–14 Sic Plato—transmittebat] Val. Max. 8.12.ext.1 19–22 Ea est—conservat] Cic., Tusc. 5.2.5 54

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and has not yet entirely restored it, would already have almost brought the University of Pavia back to its accustomed form, if the calamity of a pestilence had not prevented this. Now, however, since the atmosphere is once again wholesome, he has determined henceforward to have restored both that university and that most famous library, unequalled in this world, which his father once collected in a most splendid location, covering every art and every science with volumes in both Greek and Latin. (49) But to return to the facts regarding our commonwealth, the most prudent governor will strive to establish schools for all disciplines, as we have previously said, so that each man, acting according to what is proper to his own nature, may also become more clever by adding the mastery of an art to his nature. For you know that each man is a chief authority in his own art, (50) since Quintus Scaevola, a most renowned interpreter of the laws, whenever he was consulted about praetorian law, sent the inquirers to Furius and Cascellius, who dedicated themselves to this discipline and were exercised in this art’s daily practice. Likewise Plato, when he was consulted about making an altar, also sent the questioners to Euclid the geometer.13 In our time as well, lawyers are also accustomed, when doubts are raised about this city’s municipal laws, to send inquirers to the Panigarola family of notaries. (51) True, since among all disciplines, none is more subtle, none more renowned and more perfect than philosophy, which gathers them all within its embrace, our prince will devote all his thoughts to endeavoring that it flourish again in his commonwealth from its undying seed. (52) For it is the mother of justice and of all virtues, the investigator of the elements of heaven and earth; it is the one who shapes, moderates, and restrains the laws, customs, and institutions of men, who preserves measure, order, and rule, who teaches manly endurance of all adversities and hardships, and finally, who elucidates and explains all obscure, hidden, and doubtful things; all this it does when dwelling among men. But if it perhaps turns aside to higher matters, it disputes about all natural things that nature has formed on earth, in the sea, and in the heavens, and about divine things and those found above the heavens’ dome. (53) Therefore, since this discipline embraces so many and such great subjects, it does not receive just any men, namely not those of iron or brass, and indeed perhaps not even those of silver, but only those whom we call golden, whom nature has formed from a more select material, for the others, even if they wished to do so, would be unable to scale its arduous ramparts. (54) Indeed, not one subject is

13

Decembrio’s version of this anecdote has the variants pretorio and giometricus, common in Valerius Maximus’s manuscript tradition, while modern editors prefer praediatorio and geometren respectively; cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 2:148.

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dumtaxat, sed celestibus et divinis, in qua *sapientia sedem locat. Quoscunque igitur ad se venire dignabitur, non oportebit ut reliquos liberales artes a limine salutare, sed eas prorsus imbibere et totaliter exhaurire. (55) Quemadmodum enim experti tinctores agunt si quando pannos electos lanis generosioribus intextos colore aliquo purpureo insigniorive tingere moliuntur, non uno solum colore, sed pluribus superiectis utuntur, ne lotionibus aut purgamentis illius queat in posterum floriditas aboleri: nam aliter si fieret, color ille non stabilis sed fluvidus et evanidus cerneretur; sic et futuri philosophi primum liberales artes taliter sumant memorieque conservent ut nulla alia novitate superducta earum pars vel minima valeat aboleri, potissimum *dyaleticam, que verum a falso discernit rationemque cuiuslibet capit essentie, queque de omni re sibi vel alteri potest reddere rationem. (56) Hec equidem illa est, ut ait *Plato, que sola suppositiones tollens usque ad ipsum procedit initium, ut hoc certum efficiat et animi nostri usum in ceno veluti quodam barbarico obrutum sursum extollat ac ducat utens tanquam ministris ceteris artibus quas dicimus liberales. Hec est illa, inquam, que *rationalis scientia dicitur, cuius *rethorica ministra est, que quidem *dyaletica tertia pars *philosophie narratur. (57) Etenim totius *philosophie tres partes generales esse dicuntur, *naturalis videlicet et *moralis *rationalisque, de quibus omnibus *Aristotiles doctrinam amplam subtilemque reliquit: in naturalibus videlicet *Physicam et *Methaphysicam aliaque volumina, in moralibus *Ethicam, *Politicam et *Yconomicam, in rationalibus *Dyaleticam et *Rethoricam, in supernaturalibus adhuc *Methaurorum libros edidit, alia multa preterea volumina, de quibus mille nomina et eo amplius ad *Latinorum notitiam pervenere. (58) In hac *philosophia *Greci *Athenienses potissime floruerunt, quorum summi fuere primum illi *septem que *sapientie cognomen habuerunt, ut *Solon *Atheniensis, *Chylon *Lacedemonius, *Thales *Milesius, *Byas *Pireneus, *Pittacus *Mytilenus, *Periander *Corinthius et *Cleobulus *Lydius. Nundum enim philosophi nomen erat, cui *Pythagoras

10 Dyaletica mg1 2–3 a limine salutare] Sen., Ep. 5.49.6 3–12 Quemadmodum—rationem] Plat., Rep. 429d– 430b 12–15 Hec equidem—liberales] Plat., Rep. 533c–d 17–19 totius—rationalisque] Sen., Ep. 13.88.24 24–28 In hac—Lydius] Aug., Civ. Dei 18.25. Cf. Petrar., Mem. 3.62–68 28–242.1 Nundum—dedit] Val. Max. 8.7.ext.2; Aug., Civ. Dei 8.2. Cf. Petrar., Mem. 1.24.1

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treated here but all, not just human matters but heavenly and divine ones, and it is amid this wisdom that it sets up its seat. Those whom it will consider worthy to approach it, therefore, must not linger on the threshold of the other liberal arts but rather drink them in entirely and drain them to the dregs. (55) In the same way that professional dyers do not use one color alone when laboring to dye select cloths, woven from more noble wool, with some purple or more illustrious hue, but rather lay several colors on top of one another, lest the cloth’s brightness be subsequently taken away by washing or cleaning, since otherwise the color would look not stable but fluid and evanescent, so likewise let future philosophers first take up the liberal arts and commit them to memory in such a way that no other novelty added on top of them will be able to take away even the smallest part of them, especially dialectic, which distinguishes true from false and grasps the account of any essence and which can render an account of any matter, to itself or to another. (56) It is dialectic, indeed, as Plato says, that alone, stripping away hypotheses, makes its way back to the very beginning, using as its ministers the other arts that we call the liberal arts, in order to make that beginning certain and to raise up and guide our soul’s habit, sunk in a kind of barbarous swamp. It is dialectic, I say, considered the third part of philosophy, that is called the science of reason and that rhetoric serves. (57) For the whole of philosophy is said to have three main parts, namely natural, moral, and rational, in all of which Aristotle left behind extensive and subtle teaching, namely in natural philosophy the Physics and the Metaphysics and other volumes, in moral philosophy the Ethics, the Politics, and the Economics, and in rational philosophy the Dialectic and the Rhetoric. Where matters beyond the natural world are concerned, he also produced the books on Meteorology, as well as many other volumes, of which a thousand titles and more have come to the knowledge of the Latins. (58) In this philosophy the Athenian Greeks especially flourished, the greatest of whom were first of all those who are called the seven sages, Solon of Athens, Chilon of Lacedaemon, Thales of Miletus, Bias of Pirene, Pittacus of Mytilene, Periander of Corinth, and Cleobulus of Lydia,14 since the name of philosopher, first coined by Pythagoras of Samos, did 14

The first list of the seven sages was likely drawn up in Plato’s Protagoras (343a), where, however, Periander is replaced by Myson of Chenae. The list reported by Decembrio is the most widely attested, dating back, it seems, to Demetrius Phalereus, the source of Diogenes Laertius’s Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1.41). Decembrio, however, is unlikely to have taken this list from Plato’s Protagoras or Diogenes Laertius’s Lives, because these texts were not widely accessible at the time, but rather from Augustine’s De civitate Dei (18.25). Moreover, Decembrio calls Bias and Cleobulus “Pireneus” (of Pirene) and “Lydius” (of Lydia) respectively, instead of “Prieneus” (of Priene) and “Lindius” (of Lindos); this could be due to the manuscript he used.

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*Samius primum dedit. Post hos preterea maxime floruerunt *Pythagoras idem et *Socrates, *Plato *Athenienses, *Aristotiles *Macedonicus, *Gorgias *Leontinus, preceptor *Isocratis, *Zenophilus *Calcidensis et *Archytas *Tarentinus, ambo *Pythagorici, *Democritus preterea, *Anaxagoras, *Carneades, *Cleantes, *Zeno, *Stoicorum primus, *Archimedes *Siculus, Anaximenes et *Chrysippus aliique multi, quos numerare non attinet, (59) ut enim in armis *Italia sic in disciplinis *Grecia maxime cernitur floruisse. Nunc autem, ut dixit hesterna die prepositus, inde ingenium omne discessit, paucissimique student superiorum ingenia comitari. Sed ad propositum redeamus. (60) Cum igitur *philosophia de tribus his partibus, de quibus prediximus, tractet longe subtilior acutiorque ea est que de naturalibus disserit, quam *Greci *φυσικήν, nos *naturalem dicimus. (61) Ea enim est que de singulis terra, mari celoque natura editis disputat et secreta latentis nature rimatur, cui artes quam plurime, potissimum *mathematica et *medicina, subiecte sunt. Hec de ventis et fulguribus, de astrorum motibus, de cometis, de *solis et *lune eclipsibus, de oceani fluxibus et refluxibus, de fluminibus et fontibus, de animalibus, arboribus, herbis eorumque naturis et causis disputat; que forma membrorum, que potentia, quibus nexibus colligentur in singulis disserit; quot arborum herbarumque species et virtutes existant explicat seriatim. Longum foret singula numerare, que eius cognitione percurrit de quibusque acutissima meditatione profitetur veram reddere rationem. (62) Ars etenim *medicinalis huic maxime subest, que hac duce, potentiis et virtutibus rerum cognitis, ex quibus generatio vel corruptio, salubritas vel morbus singulis rebus accedat, artem excogitavit, ad salubritatem hominum repertam, quam *physicam vocavere, in qua *Egyptii *Arabicique potissime floruerunt, vel regionum earum freti ingenio, vel quia herbarum potentia solis vicina ibidem efficacior reperitur. (63) *Apollo enim, primus *medicine repertor, filium reliquit *Esculapium in hac arte precipuum, qui postea fulmine peremptus est, *Asclepiadem filium eiusdem *Troiani belli tempore famosum fuisse artificem narrat *Homerus. Fuere subinde alii in ea arte famosi maximeque clari, inter quos *Iapyx et *Hippocras nominantur; post hos interiecto tempore *Galienus et *Avicenna floruerunt multique alii, sed

11 φυσικήν] φυσϊκαν M

14 mathematica] methamatice M

6–7 in armis—floruisse] Cic., Tusc. 1.1.2; Hor., Ep. 2.156–157 26–28 Apollo—peremptus est] Plat., Rep. 408b–c 28–29 Asclepiadem—Homerus] Il. 4.194, 14.1–3 30 Iapyx] Verg., Aen. 12.390

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not yet exist. After these, again, the most flourishing were that same Pythagoras and Socrates; Plato of Athens; Aristotle of Macedon; Gorgias of Leontini, the teacher of Isocrates; Xenophilus of Chalcis and Archytas of Taranto, both Pythagoreans; also Democritus; Anaxagoras; Carneades; Cleanthes; Zeno, the first of the Stoics; Archimedes of Sicily; Anaximenes; and Chrysippus and many others whom it is impossible to count, (59) such that just as Italy is seen to have been especially flourishing in arms, so Greece in learning. Now, however, as the provost said yesterday, all talent has departed from there, and very few strive to pursue the intelligence of higher things. But let us return to the matter at hand. (60) So, although philosophy deals with these three parts we have already mentioned, the one that is far more subtle and acute is the one that discusses natural things, which the Greeks call φυσική and we call ‘natural.’ (61) For this is the one that disputes about the different things produced by nature on land, in the sea, and in the heavens, that pries into nature’s hidden secrets, and to which so many arts, especially mathematics and medicine, are subordinate. This philosophy studies winds and lightning bolts, the motions of the stars, comets, eclipses of the sun and moon, the ocean’s tides, rivers and springs, animals, trees, green plants, and their natures and causes, and about each one of these, this philosophy discusses what shape of limbs it has, what power, and by what connections they are bound together; this philosophy explains one by one how many kinds and virtues of trees and green plants exist. It would take a long time to make an individual count of the things that it turns over in thought and about which it professes to render a true account by most acute consideration. (62) For the medical art in particular is subordinate to this philosophy, and under this philosophy’s leadership, having learned the powers and virtues of things, on account of which generation and corruption, health and disease occur in each case, it worked out that art, invented for the health of men, that is called ‘physic,’ in which the Egyptians and the Arabs especially were successful, whether stimulated by the genius of those regions or because herbs are more efficacious there due to the sun’s nearness. (63) For Apollo, the first inventor of medicine, left behind a son who was outstanding in this art, Aesculapius, and after he was killed by lightning, Homer recounts that his son Asclepiades was famous in this art at the time of the Trojan War.15 After that there were others famous and especially renowned in this art, among whom Iapyx and Hippocrates are mentioned; some time later, Galen and Avicenna flourished, and many others, but those already named were far more renowned than the

15

Decembrio refers to Machaon, mentioned in the Iliad (14.1–3) as Ἀσκληπιάδης, “the son of Asclepius.” Note that Asclepius is the Greek name of Aesculapius.

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predicti longe fuere ceteris clariores artisque acutissimi repertores. (64) Verum quia hec ars rei publice est pre ceteris opportuna, cura erit precipua gubernanti optimos medicos, natura et doctrina cooperante perfectos, egrorum cure preficere. Non enim de re modica fit questio, cum de vita et morte hominis disputatur. (65) Enimvero imperitia medicorum plures quandoque quam bellorum discrimine moriuntur, hinc satiricus difficulter enumerat quot *Themison egros autumno occiderit uno,

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hinc in sepulcrorum lapidibus est compertum: ‘Turba medicorum perii.’ Quocirca in his cautius est agendum: non enim ab his ut ab iniquis sententiis est licitum appellari. (66) Alia pars preterea est *philosophie, que de moribus legibusque hominum tractat, in qua *ἠθικήν ponimus, quam moralem dicimus, *πολιτικήν, quam *civilem, et *οἰκονομικήν, quam *domus regulam *Latino vocabulo nominamus. Huius equidem partis *Socrates, ut legimus, auctor primus fuisse traditur, qui dum priscos philosophos multis dubietatibus ambiguisque sententiis inepte nimium evagari in naturalibus questionibus cerneret, idque sepenumero inutiliter operari, *philosophiam illis relictis anfractibus ad mores hominum evocavit, in quibus multo facilius veraciusque possent acuta ingenia laborare. (67) Cepit igitur primum *Socrates exquirere quid honestum bonumve in vita homini foret, quatuorque illud repperit constare virtutibus: *prudentia verum, quam *Greci *φρόνησιν dicunt, que in veri fictique cognitione consistit, in providentia rerum futurarum, que hominibus prodesse valeant vel obesse, in dispositione presentum et memoria preteritorum cautioneque diligenti et exacta omnium agendorum, in quibus finis maxime considerandus est. (68) Item *iustitia, quam *Greci *δικαιοσύνην vocant, cuius munus est societatem humanam concorditer retinere, neminem violare, et cuilibet quod proprium et suum est impendere, benignitatem agere liberalitatemque humaniter exercere in omnique re dignitatem constantiamque servare. (69) Tertio loco *temperantia, quam *Greci *σωφροσύνην appellant, cuius officium est in agendis

11 ἠθικήν] Εθηκαν M 11–12 πολιτικήν] Πολϊτικαν M 12 οἰκονομικήν] ϊκονωμϊκαν M νησιν] φρονεσην M 24 δικαιοσύνην] Δϊκαὶοσϊνην M 28 σωφροσύνην] σωφροσϊνην M 3 Medici mg1 18 Socrates mg1 ‖ honestum mg1 27–28 Temperantia mg1

19 prudentia mg1

20 φρό-

24 Iusticia mg1

7 quot—uno] Iuv. 10.221 8 hinc—perii] Plin., H. N. 29.5.11. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 5.19.4; Sen. 16.3.43 13–18 Huius—laborare] Cic., Tusc. 5.4.10–11; Val. Max. 3.4.ext.1 18–19 Cepit—virtutibus] Plat., Rep. 427d–434c 19–20 prudentia—dicunt] Cic., Off. 1.43.153

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others and the most acute inventors of the art. (64) True, since this art is useful for the commonwealth above others, it will be a prime concern for the governor to appoint excellent doctors, made perfect by the cooperation of nature and learning, for the care of the sick, since it is no slight matter when human life and death are under discussion. (65) To be sure, more people sometimes die from doctors’ lack of expertise than from the hazards of war. Hence the satirist finds it difficult to count How many sick Themison killed in a single autumn. Hence this inscription has been found on tombstones, ‘I perished due to a crowd of doctors.’ For this reason, greater care is to be taken in these matters, since it is not permitted to appeal these results as if they were the unjust rulings of a court. (66) Further, there is another part of philosophy that deals with human customs and laws, under which we include ἠθική, which we call moral philosophy, πολιτική, or civil philosophy, and οἰκονομική, which in Latin we call a household rule. Of this part, indeed, as we read, Socrates is reported to have been the first author; as he observed that the earliest philosophers ineptly strayed too much in natural questions, raising many doubts and adopting dubious opinions, and repeatedly acted in useless ways, he summoned philosophy to leave behind those intricate arguments and turn to human customs, in which acute intellects could labor far more easily and truthfully. (67) Socrates therefore first began to inquire what was honorable or good in human life, which he found to consist in four virtues. One is prudence, which the Greeks call φρόνησις, which consists in recognition of the true and the fictitious, in foresight with regard to future things that might be profitable or contrary to men, and in the disposition of present things, the remembrance of past ones, and diligent and precise caution with regard to all things to be done, in which the end is to be considered above all. (68) Next is justice, which the Greeks call δικαιοσύνη, the office of which is to maintain human society in concord, to abuse no one, and to grant to each what is his own and proper to him, to act benignly and to exercise humane generosity and in all things to uphold dignity and constancy. (69) Third is temperance, which the Greeks name σωφροσύνη, the duty

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omnibus servare *modestiam, modum videlicet mediumque, in quo abiectis extremis rectitudinis via consistitit. Hec equidem virtus, in qua maxime decorum cernitur, in loquela, in victu, gestu, sexu, gressu, cultu, edificio, hilaritate, tristitia, audacia, metu, gaudio, gemitu, postremo in omni corporis motu consideratur. Nichil enim est quo magis homo a bestiis quam hac virtute differre videatur, quodque magis in vita eluceat sitque convenientius rationi, que sola hominibus propria divinitus est indulta. (70) Quarto vero loco *fortitudinem, quam *ἀνδρείαν *Greci nominant, huius etenim munus magno invictoque animo acerba adversaque fortune convincere et tolerantie clipeo superare. Hec namque in adversis maxime comprobatur. (71) Grandi enim et elato animo illa pati que gravia et apud plurimos ceu impossibilia reputantur, que in vita mortalium multa variaque consistunt, et pro nichilo pendere admirande spectaculum est constantie; pecunias etiam quandoque negligere, quas ut plurimum cuncti appetunt, honoresque et potentias parvifacere, quas maximo cum certamine et discrimine nonnulli ambitiose sollicitant, magni animi excellentisque est; hasque virtutes coniunctas, honestum illud facere, quod solum bonum in vita *Stoici reputant, idem *Socrates deprehendit, quibus homo insignitus vere vir dicitur, a bestiali ritu quam maxime differens. (72) Rei itaque publice parens atque optimus gubernator omni cura omnique vigilia et sollicitudine insistet ut virtutes hec inter subditos suos observentur, *iustitia maxime et *temperantia, quibus duabus hominum societas maxime conservatur. (73) Quis enim hunc oderit qui nulli deroget, omnes diligat, neminem studeat violare, iustus, liberalis et benignus existat, nil aliud corde gerens opereque demonstrans, nisi ut ius suum cuilibet tribuatur? Quis hunc etiam non asserat diligendum qui verbo, opere, gestu omnique actu vite moderatus extiterit, nemini se preferens, ne superbus et insolens nullique se suppeditans, ne abiectus et vilis nimium videatur, sed vite medio, *modestie regula gubernetur, cunctis obsequens et amicus, nullius cupiens dominatum? (74) Quis *Camillum, *Romanorum ducem, virorum iustissimum non miretur? Cum magister ludi, quem scolarum nunc dicimus, quosdam nobilium *Faliscorum pueros spatiandi simulatione secum ductos in eiusdem castra perduxit, ut illis captis *Faliscorum deditio sequeretur, dumque ex hac re magister premium non modicum expectaret, nova et insolita proditione *Camillus concitus, ipsum graviter increpando pueris impe8 ἀνδρείαν] ανδρϊαν M 7–8 Fortitudo mg1

20 Iusticia et temperantia mg1

28 Camillus mg1

10–13 Grandi—constantie] Cic., Off. 1.20.67 16–17 hasque—deprehendit] Plat., Rep. 427d– 434c ‖ honestum—reputant] Cic., Off. 3.3.11–13 24–28 Quis hunc—dominatum?] Cic., Off. 1.34.124 28–248.3 Quis Camillum—tardarunt] Val. Max. 6.5.1

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of which is to uphold in all actions modesty, namely measure and moderation, in which the path of righteousness consists, leaving aside the extremes. This virtue, indeed, in which decorousness is especially to be seen, is considered in speech, in eating, gestures, gender, walking, worship, building, cheerfulness, sadness, boldness, fear, joy, lamentation, and finally in every bodily motion, for there is nothing by which man differs more from the beasts than by this virtue, or that does more to shed light on life or is more appropriate to reason, which is characteristic of human beings alone and divinely infused. (70) Fourth is fortitude, which the Greeks name ἀνδρεία, since its office is to withstand the hardships and adversities of Fortune with a great and unconquered soul and to overcome them with the shield of endurance. This virtue is demonstrated above all in adversity, (71) since it is an example of admirable constancy to endure with a great and elevated soul those things that are judged serious and by many practically impossible, which are many and various in mortal life, and to esteem them as nothing, and it also pertains to a great and excellent soul sometimes to neglect money, which everyone usually desires, and to think little of honors and positions of power, which no few men ambitiously seek with the greatest struggles and perils. Socrates argued that these virtues together made up the honor that the Stoics held to be the only good in life, by which the human being adorned with them is truly called a man [vir], differing to the greatest degree from the customs of animals. (72) The parent and best governor of the commonwealth will therefore press with all care and all watchfulness and solicitude that these virtues be practiced among his subjects, especially justice and temperance, by the two of which human society is especially preserved. (73) For who will hate a man who disparages no one, loves everyone, strives to abuse no one, and is just, generous, and kind, having nothing else in his heart and demonstrating nothing else in his actions but the desire to render to each what is his right? Who also will not assert that a man is to be loved who is moderate in word, action, gesture, and every act of life, setting himself above no one, lest he seem proud and insolent, and making himself the servant of no one, lest he seem excessively abject and vile, but rather is governed by moderation in life, by a rule of modesty, compliant and a friend to all, desiring domination over none? (74) Who will not wonder at Camillus, a leader of the Romans and the most just of men? When the master of the games, whom we would now call the schoolmaster, led some boys from the Faliscan nobility into his camp, under the pretext of taking them for a walk, in order to induce the Faliscans’ surrender as a consequence of their capture, and expecting no small reward for this, Camillus, enraged by this novel and unaccustomed treachery and rep-

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ravit ut eundem vinctum virgis cedentes ad *Lares patrios protraherent. Qua *iustitia animi *Faliscorum omnium moti mitigatique, qui ante expugnari non poterant, ultro *Romanis subici non tardarunt. (75) Nonne in eadem virtute *Fabricius admirabilis est censendus, qui dum *Pyrri medicus eundem *Pyrrum *Romanis hostem formidabilem veneno necatum promitteret, denegavit, quinimo *Pyrrum admonuit ut deinceps adversus huius generis insidias cautius vigilaret? (76) *Zaleucus etiam, *Locrensium dux, cum filius eius adulterio deprehensus utroque lumine legis sententia cecandus existeret, populo repugnante et ut gratia fieret postulante, suo oculo prius evulso, alterum filio, ut lex impleretur et gratia populo simul fieret iussit evelli. *Carunda vero *Tyrius, ut legi obtemperaret, que erat ne quis cum telo forum introiret, dum incautus et legis immemor rure adveniens ferro cinctus introisset, eodem ferro legis admonitus illico se peremit. (77) *Traianus insuper, serenissimus imperator, quo pacto *iustitiam observaverit omnibus etiam barbaris notum est, qui unigenitum suum, quia incaute discurrendo vidue filium oppresserat, necari iusserat, et quia illud edictum mulieri displicuerat, lacrimabiliter asserenti non ideo filium suum habituram, suum illi largiri maluit quam munus *iustitie in aliquo violare. Hec sunt exempla *iustitie, quibus eiusdem virtus consecratur et vice numinis colitur. (78) Quantum autem apud homines gratitudinis moderatio conferat quis non videt? Dum apud *Romanos olim *L. Quintius Cincinnatus consul iterum creari consulem anno proximo se sentiret, omnimode fieri vetuit, ne ordo amplissimus populi rumperetur in consuetudinemque transiret.

4 Fabricius mg1 7 Zaleucus mg1 20–21 L.Q. Cincinatus mg1

10 Carunda mg1

13 Trayanus mg1

19 Moderatio mg1

3–7 Nonne—vigilaret?] Cic., Off. 3.22.86; Eutr. 2.14. Cf. Petrar., Vir. ill. 14.4–5 7–13 Zaleucus— peremit] Val. Max. 6.5.ext.3–4 13–18 Traianus—violare] Ioh. Salisb., Policrat. 5.8; I. Varag., Leg. aur. 46.10; Dante, Purg. 10.73–93. Cf. Petrar., Sen. 7.1.129 20–250.7 Dum—recusavit] Val. Max. 4.1.4–6

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rimanding the teacher severely, commanded the boys to take him back bound to their hometown,16 beating him with rods as they went. Moved and mollified in soul by this act of justice, all the Faliscans, who could not previously be overcome, promptly subjected themselves to the Romans. (75) Is not Fabricius to be judged admirable in the same virtue, he who refused when Pyrrhus’s doctor offered to slay Pyrrhus, a formidable enemy of the Romans, by poison, and instead warned Pyrrhus to be more on his guard against plots of this kind in the future?17 (76) Zaleucus also, the leader of the Locrians, when his son was caught in adultery and was to be blinded in both eyes according to the law, over the opposition of the people calling for mercy, ordered that first one of his own eyes and then one of his son’s be plucked out, so that the law would be fulfilled and the people would at the same time receive the grace they sought. Charondas of Tyre,18 for his part, in obedience to a law that forbade entering the forum with a weapon, when he thoughtlessly and unmindful of the law came in from the country with a blade at his belt and was warned of it, took his own life right there with the same blade. (77) Again, the most serene emperor Trajan, whose observance of justice for all, even barbarians, is well known, ordered his only son to be slain because he had trampled a widow’s son with his careless riding, and since that edict displeased the woman, who tearfully asserted that it would not bring her son back, he preferred to give her his own son rather than to violate the office of justice in any way.19 These are examples of justice, by which its virtue is consecrated and by which it is cultivated as the lieutenant of divine command. (78) On the other hand, who does not see how much favor moderation wins among men? When formerly among the Romans the consul Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus thought that he would be elected consul again the next year, he utterly forbade it, lest the most eminent order existing among the people be broken and this become a custom.20 For his part, Fabius 16

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18 19 20

The Latin text has “ad Lares patrios,” which literally means “to [their] paternal Lares”; cf. the Latin phrase “redire ad Larem suum,” meaning “to go back to one’s Lar” or “to return home.” Note that Valerius Maximus, the source of this passage, has only “in patriam.” It is possible that the source of this passage, apart from Cicero (Off. 3.22.86) and Eutropius (Brev. 2.14), is Plutarch’s life of Pyrrhus, the only classical source that mentions Fabricius’s advice to the king of Epirus (Pyrr. 21). This is Charondas of Thurii: the forms Carunda and Tyrius are variants found in Valerius Maximus’s manuscript tradition. Cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 2:64. For this version of Trajan’s legend, see Paris, “La légende.” The Latin ordo amplissimus is the Roman Senate; cf. Cic., Prov. cons. 25. Decembrio, perhaps due to an error in his Valerius Maximus manuscript, appears to have misread this passage, as the historian says that Cincinnatus “unus causa fuit ut ordo amplissimus [i.e., the Senate] populusque tutus esset ab iniusti facti reprehensione.” Cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 1:341: “he singly was the reason why the most honorable order and the people were saved from censure for an impropriety.”

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*Fabius item Maximus, quia *Fabie genti sepius quam alteri nationi contigerat consulatus, filium consulem creari protinus non permisit. (79) P. etiam *Africanus, dum ob amplissima eius gesta populus *Romanus multis eundem honoribus extollere decrevisset, ut statuas in *comitio, in *rostris, in *curia, in *cella Iovis Optimi Maximi in *Capitolio collocaret, preterea ut per omne vite tempus continuum consulatum perpetuamque gereret dictaturam, omnino ea sibi fieri recusavit. (80) Magnum profecto moderationis exemplum posterior exhibuit *Africanus, qui censor existens dum lustrum conderet scribaque consuetum ex publicis tabellis carmen illud promeret quod dii immortales populi *Romani rem publicam meliorem amplioremque efficerent, ‘Satis,’ inquit, ‘bona et ampla est, itaque precor ut eam sic perpetuo servent incolumem,’ ad eumque modum carmen corrigi iussit. (81) *M. etiam Iubilus, vir amplissime dignitatis, duos egregie indolis filios a certis *Egyptianis militibus peremptos audiverat, quorum occisores ad eum vinctos *Cleopatra regina transmiserat, ut gravissime cladis ultionem arbitrio suo exigeret, ille autem eos illico statuit remittendos, asserens non sibi, sed *senatui vindictam huiusmodi pertinere. (82) Quid *Pittaci quoque moderatione venustius, qui *Alceum poetam contra se sepius oblocutum, adepta sibi ex principatu nocendi potestate, tantummodo quid in opprimendo posset admonuit? *Theopompus rex etiam *Spartanorum primus instituit ut *ephori *Lacedemonio crearentur opposite regie maiestati, ut *Rome tribuni consulari potestati quondam obices creabantur, quod cum consorti innotuisset dixissetque potestatem ex hoc regiam minuisse, ‘Vero,’ inquit, ‘sed illam profecto effeci ut non ambigo longiorem.’ Hec et similia moderationis exempla civium amorem conciliant vehementer. (83) Moderatione itaque adiuncta *iustitie res publica facillime bonis moribus regulatur, in quo maxime virtus principis agnoscitur, ad cuius exemplar civium suorum vita formabitur. Hoc tantum bonum *philosophia contribuit, quam ideo coli facere idem princeps omni arte omnique promptitudine suadebit. (84) Restat nunc de *politica *yconomicaque disserere. Sed quia de *politica satis, ni fallor, a *Platone et hoc libro etiam dictum est, finem faciam. De *yconomica apud *Xenophontem phi

2 permisit] omisit M

11 incolumem] incolumen M

1 Fabius maximus mg1 2–3 honestum primus mg1 iubilus mg1 17 pitacius mg1 19 Theopompus mg1

17 Pittaci] pitacii M 8 Affricanus secundus mg1

12 M.

7–12 Magnum—iussit] Val. Max. 4.1.10 12–16 M. etiam—pertinere] Val. Max. 4.1.15 16–19 Quid Pittaci—admonuit?] Val. Max. 4.1.ext.6 19–23 Theopompus—longiorem] Val. Max. 4.1.ext.8 29–252.1 De yconomica—Cicero] Cic., Off. 2.24.87; Sen. 22.75, 27.59. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 3.18.4

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Maximus repeatedly refused to allow his son to be elected consul, because the consulship had fallen to the Fabian gens more often than to other kindreds. (79) Again, when the Roman people decreed that on account of Publius Africanus’s most distinguished deeds, he was to be exalted with many honors, setting up statues in the Comitium, on the Rostra, in the Senate, and in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill and granting him a continual consulship for his entire life and a perpetual dictatorship, he refused it all. (80) Africanus the younger indeed gave a great example of moderation when he was offering the expiatory sacrifice as censor and a scribe brought forward from the public records that traditional hymn asking that the immortal gods make the Roman people’s commonwealth better and more extensive. ‘It is sufficiently good and extensive,’ he said, ‘and so I pray that they may preserve it perpetually unharmed as it is,’ and he had the hymn corrected accordingly. (81) When Marcus Iubilus,21 for his part, a man of the greatest dignity, heard that two extraordinarily promising sons of his had been killed by some Egyptian soldiers, whom Queen Cleopatra sent to him bound so that he might demand vengeance for that most serious slaughter as he saw fit, he determined to send them back, asserting that it was not to him but to the Senate that such retribution belonged. (82) Likewise, what is more handsome than the moderation of Pittacus, who when he had acquired with the power to rule the power to harm, merely warned Alcaeus, a poet who had often spoken against him, about what he would be able to do to crush him? Theopompus also, the king of the Spartans, first instituted the election of ephors in Lacedaemon in opposition to the royal majesty, just as tribunes were formerly elected in Rome to counter the consular power, and when his spouse learned of it and said that the royal power was thereby decreased, he said, ‘True, but I indeed have no doubt that it is made more enduring.’ These and similar examples of moderation powerfully inspire the citizens to love their ruler. (83) By the combination of moderation and justice, therefore, the commonwealth is very easily regulated in good customs, something that especially reveals the virtue of its prince, on whose example his citizens’ lives will be modeled. This great good is philosophy’s contribution, and this is why the prince will seek to persuade with every art and with all eagerness that it be cultivated. (84) It now remains to discuss political and economic matters. But since enough has been said about politics by Plato and in this book as well, unless I am mistaken, let me end this subject. Regarding economics, it is asserted that it was very fully discussed by the philosopher Xenophon. Cicero

21

Iubilus is a variant, common in Valerius Maximus’s manuscript tradition, of the correct Bibulus; cf. Shackleton Bailey, Valerius Maximus, 1:350.

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losophum plenissime asseritur disputatum. Hanc olim *Cicero, nuper *Leonardus Aretinus, orator conspicuus, de *Greco transtulit in *Latinum, inde quicquid *Xenophon ipse disseruerit audietis. (85) Tertia autem *philosophie pars *rationalis est dicta, que inter *dyaleticam *rethoricamque dividitur, quarum prima verum a falso dignoscere nos docebit, altera quicquid animus sapienter et acute conceperit explicabit rationabiliter et polite. De his duabus apud *Aristotilem *Ciceronemque accuratissime tractatum fore comperimus, taliterque quod aliorum adminiculo non egemus. Itaque, his omissis, ad reliqua incoati operis transeamus. (86) Erit tamen a nostro principe summopere providendum ut res publica sua prestantes et optimos habeat oratores, quorum opera tum in legationibus tum in foro nedum opportuna, sed honoratissima quidem est. Hi enim sunt in quorum ore laus et vituperium, consultatio deliberatioque et causarum iudicialium etiam cognitio summa versatur, qui de omnibus sapienter facundissimeque loquitur, postremo qui decus et honor rei publice iudicantur, horum maximi apud *Grecos *Demosthenes, apud nos *Cicero nominantur. (87) Et quoniam ex sua re publica censet *Plato poetas et pictores omnimode depellendos, poetas maxime tanquam ministros voluptatum et iuvenum corruptores, pace tanti viri dixerim utilius iudicare non omnes poetas ab usu rerum publicarum arcendos, sed eos dumtaxat qui suis amenis blandiciis iuvenilis etatis corda sollicitant, ut de *Archilocho egisse *Lacedemonas legimus et de *Nasone *Augustum, qui duo quia inepte nimium et solute de amore tractaverant, fuerunt a suis urbibus ablegati. (88) Verum, ut alio loco diximus, rerum gestarum poete celeberrimi, a quibus vocabulorum electorum graviumque sententiarum facundia latissime prosiluit fictionumque tegmenta allegorice sepenumero pulcerrimas sententias efferunt, non sunt profecto a rebus publicis expellendi, quinimo pre omnibus tanquam divini homines venerandi. (89) Quid enim *Virgilio subtilius, facundius pulcriusve

16–17 De poetis et pictoribus mg1

20 Archilocus mg1

20–21 de Archiloco—legimus] Val. Max. 6.3.ext.1 quinimo—venerandi] Cic., Arch. 31

21 Naso mg1

21 de Nasone Augustum] Ov., Tr. 2

26–27

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in former times and the distinguished orator Leonardo Aretino more recently have translated his work from Greek into Latin,22 where you may hear whatever Xenophon himself had to say. (85) The third part of philosophy, however, is called rational and is divided between dialectic and rhetoric, of which the former will teach us to distinguish true from false, and the latter will explain in reasonable and polished fashion whatever the soul has wisely and acutely conceived. We find that both of these have been most accurately treated by Aristotle and Cicero, in such a way that we have no need of assistance from others. Therefore, omitting these things, let us turn to what remains of the work we have begun. (86) Nevertheless, it will be of the greatest importance for our prince to see to it that his commonwealth has outstanding and excellent orators, whose work, both in embassies and in the forum, is not merely useful but exceedingly honorable, for it is in these men’s mouths that praise and condemnation are found, counsel and deliberation, as well as the highest knowledge of judicial cases; it is these men who speak wisely and most eloquently about all things and who are finally considered to be the commonwealth’s adornment and honor. The greatest of these are said to be Demosthenes among the Greeks, Cicero among us. (87) And since Plato judges that poets and painters are to be entirely expelled from his commonwealth, and especially poets, as ministers of pleasure and corruptors of youth, I would say with all due respect to so great a man that it would be more useful to judge that not all poets are to be barred from the usages of the commonwealth, but only those who solicit the hearts of the young with their soft blandishments,23 as we read that the Lacedaemonians did with Archilochus, and Augustus with Ovid. Both were banished from their cities because they treated love with excessive ineptitude and dissoluteness. (88) On the other hand, as we have said elsewhere, the most famous poets of deeds should not really be expelled from commonwealths, those from whom there springs up on all sides the eloquence of chosen words and serious doctrines, and the cloaks of fiction frequently express through allegory the most beautiful sentiments; rather, they are to be venerated above others as divine men. (89) For what can be thought of that is more subtle, more eloquent, or

22

23

Decembrio refers to Cicero’s Latin translation of Xenophon’s Oeconomicus (mentioned in Off. 2.24.87), mistaking Leonardo Bruni’s version of the pseudo-Aristotelian Oeconomica for a new rendition of Xenophon’s work; see the introduction, section 4.1. See 3.26 above. This is precisely the position of Plato’s Socrates in the third book of the Republic (398a), where it is stated that only some imitative poetry should be banned from the commonwealth, so Decembrio appears to have misinterpreted Plato. However, the humanist could have been influenced by a passage in the tenth book of Plato’s dialogue (595a) in which Socrates argues as if all imitative poetry has been banned.

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excogitari potest, ceterisque poetis qui fuerunt divinam eius poesim imitati? Satiricos preterea, vitiorum omnium reprehensores, ab urbe nostra expellere, que dementia diceretur! Imo, si hoc fieret, non modicum foret indicium nos vitia potius diligere quam virtutes. (90) Eadem est pictorum ferme conditio; utrique etenim uno ordine unoque limite gradiuntur, ut *Flaccus ait: pictoribus atque poetis quidlibet audendi semper fuit equa potestas.

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Sed verbo poete, hi opere, illi animo, isti vero oculo sua ingenia representant, utrumque tamen opus in hoc maxime simillimum est, quod de omnibus creatis rebus claram necesse est eos habere notitiam, ut rerum proprietates et formas eorum artibus manifestent. (91) Ex his itaque pictoribus optimos et electos, quos paucos et raros singulis etatibus fuisse comperio, gubernator noster rei publice retinebit. Ridiculum enim vetustis apparuit picturam *Apellis vel *Parrhasii aut *Zeuxis parvifacere, tabulasque potius eligere quam picturas, quorum ingenia rarissima visa sunt. (92) Idem de *Zoto *Florentino et *Iohanne de Senis avorum nostrorum temporibus et hac etate de *Iohanne Arbosio, *Michelino Papiense et *Gentili Fabriano pictoribus prestantissimis dici possent, quorum ingenia fuerunt et sunt a singulis velut rarissima venerata. (93) De ceteris autem artificibus multis et innumeris qui in urbe consistunt disponet optimus gubernator, quemadmodum nature speciale ingenium singulos ad artes singulas specialiter promovebit, ut *iustitie munus in omnibus conservetur, quod est ut quilibet agat quod est sibi proprium natureque conforme, dummodo illud proprium, ut prediximus, turpe aut inhonestum non existat. (94) Nam turpes artes et voluptatis ministras, licet quorumdam naturales et proprie sint, non permittet in sua re publica a quopiam exerceri, quinimo huiu-

6–7 pictoribus—potestas] Hor., Ars 9–10 13–14 Apellis—Zeuxis] Plin., H. N. 35.36.60–97. Cf. Petrar., Fam. 5.17.5 15–16 Idem—Senis] Petrar., Fam. 5.17.6 21–23 ut iustitie—existat] Plat., Rep. 433a–d

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more beautiful than Virgil and the other poets who have imitated his divine poetry? What madness also it would be to expel from our city satirists, who reprehend all vices! Rather, if this were done, it would be no small indication that we loved vices more than virtues. (90) Nearly the same is true of painters, for both are graded in a single hierarchy and according to a single standard, as Horace says: To painters and poets Has always been granted the power of daring whatever they please. Poets represent their inventions in words, painters in works, the former appealing to the soul, the latter to the eye, but both their labors are most similar above all in this, that they need to have clear knowledge of all created things, in order to manifest their properties and forms by their arts. (91) From among the painters, therefore, our governor of the commonwealth will retain the best and the elect, whom I find to have been few and rare at any time, for it appeared ridiculous to the ancients to denigrate the painting of Apelles or Parrhasius or Zeuxis, whose talents seemed most rare, and to choose written documents rather than paintings. (92) The same could be said of the most distinguished painters Giotto of Florence and Giovanni da Siena in our grandfathers’ time24 and Jean d’Arbois, Michelino of Pavia, and Gentile da Fabriano in our own day,25 whose talents were and are venerated by everyone as most exceptional. (93) Where the many and countless other craftsmen found in a city are concerned, however, in the same way that a special natural talent particularly encourages different individuals toward different crafts, the best governor will so dispose that the office of justice may be preserved in all things, which office is that each person do what is proper to him and in conformity with nature, so long as that is not shameful or dishonorable, as we have said before. (94) For he will not permit anyone in his commonwealth to practice foul arts and those that minister to pleasure, even if these are natural and proper to some individu24

25

It is unclear who this “Giovanni da Siena” (or “de Senis”) is, and it is unlikely that Decembrio is referring to the Sienese painter Giovanni di Paolo (ca. 1403–1482) or to the military engineer Giovanni da Siena (1386–1438 or 1440). However, since the humanist is alluding to Petrarch’s Fam. 5.17.5–6, which mentions the ancient painters Apelles, Parrhasius, and Zeuxis along with Petrarch’s contemporaries Giotto and Simone Martini (as “Simon Senensis”), it is possible that Decembrio is referring incorrectly to the latter, perhaps due to a manuscript corruption. Apart from Michelino of Pavia, already mentioned in 3.100, Jean d’ Arbois (fl. 1365–1399) is primarily known as an illuminator at the Visconti court, while Gentile da Fabriano (ca. 1370–1427) was perhaps the greatest master of the International Gothic style.

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smodi operarios tanquam sentinam aliquam vitiorum ex urbe ceterorumque consortio prorsus expellet. Et sic in omnibus aliis artium et ingeniorum ordinibus nostra res publica felicissimis successibus disponetur. (95) In fine autem operis sui *De re publica *Plato, ipsumque imitatus *Cicero, de immortalitate anime disputarunt. Unus sub fabule tegmento *Heretem quendam *Pamphilum introduxit, qui iam duodena die in bello peremptus, dum rogo imponeretur vite redditus dixit permulta que post obitum in alia vite sorte cognoverat, de statibus videlicet animarum, earumdem premiis et suppliciis, multaque de celestibus spheris astrorumque ordinibus inseruit consequenter. (96) Alter sub somnii ymagine induxit *P. Cornelium Scipionem ab avo suo priore videlicet *Africano monitum de alterius vite statu et animorum immortalitate, multaque ibidem de mundi natura ordineque celestium retulit divinisque sedibus, ad quos post defunctum corpus animas hominum asseruit convolare. (97) Sed hec omnia que apud illos reliquosque philosophos incerta ambiguaque fuere, qui cecutientium instar lumen in tenebris queritabant, apud nos adeo certa sunt, ut nichil ad id probandum querendumve necessarium videatur. Vera enim lux, que apud illos defecerat vel nundum illuxerat, iter nobis prebuit veritatis, quo longe feliciores illis *christiani sorte nascendi possunt granditer consolari. Ea propter illa figmenta probationesque et rerum simulatarum ymagines tanquam supervacuas prorsus hoc loco duximus omittendas. (98) Hec sunt que de re publica sub compendio duximus explicanda. Si qua autem supersunt, plura enim deesse non ambigo: ab doctioribus queritote. Mea tamen est sententia nullam rem publicam posse salubriter gubernari nisi in ea *iustitia moderatioque regula inviolabili conserventur.” Et his dictis inclinata iam die, cum annuissent ceteri, abscessimus, edes proprias letis animis repetentes. Finit. UBERTI DECEMBRIS DE RE PUBLICA QUARTUS ET ULTIMUS LIBER EXPLICIT FELICITER.

3–9 In fine—consequenter] Plat., Rep. 616e 9–13 Alter—convolare] Cic., Rep. 6 15 cecutientium—queritabant] Vulg., Rom. 2.19 16–17 Vera—illuxerat] Vulg., Joh. 1.9. Cf. Petrar., Ign. 4.65 24 regula inviolabili] Cic., Rep. 3.22.33, ap. Lact. Inst. 6.8.6–9; Petrar., Fam. 17.1.30–31. Cf. Cic., Leg. 2.4.8; Aug., Lib. arb. 1.6, Tho. Aq., Sum. Theol. 1a2ae.91.1

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als, but rather will at once expel such artisans, like a sewer of vices, from the city and from the company of others. And so in all other orders of arts and talents our commonwealth will be arranged by most fortunate occurrences. (95) At the end of his work on the commonwealth, however, Plato discussed the immortality of the soul, and Cicero imitated him. The former introduced under the cloak of fable a certain Er of Pamphylia who came back to life when placed on his funeral pyre, twelve days after his death in battle, and recounted a great many things he learned in another kind of life after death, namely about the states of souls and their rewards and punishments; he also subsequently inserted many things about the heavenly spheres and the orders of the stars. (96) The latter brought in under the pretense of a dream Publius Cornelius Scipio, warned by his grandfather, namely Scipio Africanus, about the state of the other life and the immortality of souls, and he reported there many things about the nature of the world and the order of the heavens and the seats of divinity, to which he asserted that human souls ascended after the body’s decease. (97) But all these things that were uncertain and doubtful to them and to the remaining philosophers, who sought light amid the darkness like blind men, are so certain among us that there seems no need to demonstrate them or seek them out. The true light, which they lacked or by which they were not yet illuminated, has opened for us the path of truth, by which, far happier than them, those born Christians may be greatly consoled. For this reason we have determined that those imaginings and demonstrations and images of feigned things are simply to be omitted here as superfluous. (98) This is what we have set out to briefly explain about the commonwealth. If some sections are too long, however, I have no doubt that many things are lacking: inquire about them from those more learned. Nevertheless, my opinion is that no commonwealth can be wholesomely governed unless justice and moderation are preserved in it by an inviolable rule.” And after this, since it was already late in the day, and once the others had agreed, we departed, seeking our own abodes with joyful souls. The end. UBERTO DECEMBRIO’S FOURTH AND FINAL BOOK ON THE COMMONWEALTH ENDS HAPPILY.

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Glossarial Index All references in this index are to the Latin text (where the terms indexed are recognizable by an asterisk) and are given by book and chapter numbers. References to proper names that are alluded to in the text but not explicitly mentioned are enclosed in square brackets. Mentions of the dialogue’s interlocutors are included, but not their speeches, and references occurring in the title of the work, as well as in the rubrics and marginal notes, are omitted. I have decided to exclude from this index the word “res publica,” since it appears almost constantly in the text of the dialogue, but I have included references to Plato’s eponymous work.

achates lapis, an agate gem 1.62 Addua, the Adda river in Lombardy 2.14–15 Adriaticum mare, the Adriatic Sea, part of the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and the Balkan Peninsula 2.9 Africa, the continent of Africa 2.6 Africanus. See Scipio Africanus, Publius Cornelius Aganippes, the naiad Aganippe 3.4 Ἁγία Σοφία, the Basilica of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople 3.11 Agrippina, Vipsania Agrippina (36 BC–20 AD), first wife of the Emperor Tiberius 3.70 Ahala, Gaius Servilius Structus, a legendary Roman politician ( fifth century BC) 2.30 Albertinus de Salso, Albertino da Salso, fourteenth-century Italian physician 4.46 Alceus, the Greek lyric poet Alcaeus (seventh– sixth century BC) 4.82 Alexander quintus, Pope Alexander V, born Pietro Filargo of Candia (ca. 1339–1410), who reigned from 1409 to his death, simultaneously with the antipopes Gregory XII and Benedict XIII 3.prol.1 alme Virginis templum. See templum alme Virginis Alpes, the Alps 2.20, 2.109, 4.1 nivose 4.2 Alpis Iulia, the Julian Alps 2.13 Alverni, incorrect form for Arverni, a Celtic tribe 2.13 Alvernia, the Auvergne region in south-central France 2.7 Ambigatus, a legendary king of the Bituriges (sixth century BC) 2.11 Ambraci, incorrect form for Ambarri, a Celtic tribe 2.13

Ambrosius, Aurelius, Ambrose (ca. 340–397), the patron saint of Milan 1.prol.4, 2.48 Anacharsis, Scythian philosopher (sixth century BC) 1.60 Anaxagoras, Greek philosopher (ca. 510– 428 BC) 4.58 ἀνδρεία. See fortitudo Anglia, England 2.7 Apelles, Greek painter ( fl. fourth century BC) 4.91 Apollo, the mythical inventor of medicine 4.63 Appenninus (mons), the Apennine Mountains in Italy 2.20 Apuleius Saturninus, Lucius, Roman politician (130–100 BC) 2.31 Apulia, a region in southeastern Italy 4.3 Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula 2.6 Arabici, the Arabs 4.62 Arbosius, Iohannes, the French painter and illuminator Jean d’ Arbois ( fl. 1365–1399) 4.92 Archilochus, Greek lyric poet (ca. 680– ca. 645 BC) 4.87 Archimedes, Greek mathematician (ca. 287– ca. 212 BC) 4.58 Archytas, Greek philosopher (428–347 BC) 1.prol.7, 4.58 Argus, a hundred-eyed giant 4.7 Ariani, the Arians, followers of Arius (256– 336), who believed that God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit did not share the same nature 2.48 ἀριστοκρατία, aristocracy, a form of government in which power is held by the nobility 2.24

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267

Aristotiles, the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) 2.prol.1, 2.prol.4, 4.57–58, 4.85 arithmetica, arithmetic 3.91 Armenia, a region of western Asia 2.6 Arthemisia, Artemisia II, queen of Caria (d. 350 BC) 3.69 Arzana, the Venetian Arsenal 4.42 Asclepiades, Machaon, the mythical son of Asclepius, who fought in the Trojan War 4.63 Asiaticus, -a, -um, Asian suppellex 1.43 Assyria, a region in northern Mesopotamia 2.6 astrologia, astrology (and astronomy) 3.93 astutie, or stratagemata, Gr. στρατηγήματα, military artifices 2.123, 3.86 Athene, the city of Athens 3.9 Athenienses, the Athenians 2.108, 3.8, 3.37, 4.58 Atheniensis, Athenian Codrus 3.20 Plato 4.58 Socrates 4.58 Solon 4.58 Augustinenses Papie, the Augustinian basilica of Saint Peter in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia 4.35 Augustinus, Aurelius, Augustine of Hippo (354–430) 1.prol.4, 3.75 Augustus, the first Roman emperor (63 BC– 14 AD) 4.87 Aulerci, a Celtic tribe or confederation of tribes 2.13 Aurelius Augustinus. See Augustinus, Aurelius Aurelius [Pecuniola]. See Pecuniola, Publius Aurelius Avicenna, Persian physician (ca. 980–1037) 4.63

Bartholomeus Falchio. See Falchio, Bartholomeus Bellovesus, the legendary Gallic king and founder of Milan (ca. 590 BC) 2.12–13, 2.19 Bernardinus Magnanus. See Magnanus, Bernardinus bibliotheca (Papie), the Visconti Library in Pavia 4.prol.1, 4.48 Bituriges, a Celtic tribe in central Gaul 2.13 Bituringia, the territory of the Bituriges, corresponding to the ancient province of Berry 2.7 Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus, Roman philosopher and senator (ca. 477–524) 4.35 Bohemia, a region in central Europe, now part of the Czech Republic 2.7 Boi, Boii, a Gallic tribe 2.20 Bononia, the city of Bologna 4.44, [4.47] Bononiensis, of Bologna Riccardus de Saliceto 4.46 studium 4.47 Brennus, fourth-century BC chieftain of the Senones who led an army of Cisalpine Gauls in their attack on Rome 2.20 Brixia, the city of Brescia in eastern Lombardy 2.19 Brutus, Lucius Iunius, the founder and one of the first consuls of the Roman Republic (d. 509 BC) 2.25–26, 2.115 Brutus, Marcus Iunius, Roman politician, descendant of Lucius Junius Brutus and one of Julius Caesar’s assassins (85–42 BC) 3.69 Brutus, Tiberius Iunius, the elder son (d. ca. 509 BC) of Lucius Junius Brutus [2.115] Brutus, Titus Iunius, the younger son (d. ca. 509 BC) of Lucius Junius Brutus [2.115] Byas, the Greek politician Bias of Priene, one of the seven sages of Greece (ca. 600–530 BC) 4.58

Bacchus, the god of wine; hence also, wine 1.3, 1.4, 3.27 Baldus de Perusio, the Italian jurist Baldo degli Ubaldi (1327–1400) 4.47 Barnabas, the apostle Saint Barnabas, who brought Christianity to Milan as the first bishop of Milan (d. 61 AD) 2.47

Calabria, a region in southern Italy 1.prol.7 Calcidensis, of Chalcis Zenophilus 4.58 Calpurnius Piso. See Piso Frugi, Lucius Calpurnius Camillus, Marcus Furius, Roman statesman and soldier (ca. 446–336 BC) 4.74

268 Campani, the Campanians, an ancient Italic people living in the area of Capua 4.34 Candaules, king of Lydia (d. ca. 687 BC) [1.62] Candidus. See Decembrius, Petrus Candidus Canis, Facinus, Facino Cane (1360–1412), a military captain who tyrannically ruled the duchy of Milan after the death of Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti [2.36], 4.prol.4 spurcus homo et nequam 2.35 Canne, Cannae, a village in the Apulia region 4.3 Cannensis clades, the Battle of Cannae (216 BC) 2.121 canonicum ius. See ius canonicum Capitolium, the Capitoline Hill in Rome 2.20, 3.83, 4.79 Capua, a city in Campania in southern Italy 4.34 Carbonaria, Piazza of San Giovanni a Carbonara in Naples 4.38 Caria, a region of western Anatolia 3.69 Carmites, incorrect form for Carnutes, a Gaulish people 2.13 Carneades, Greek philosopher (214–129/128 BC) 4.58 Carunda, Charondas, lawgiver of Catania in Sicily (sixth century BC) 4.76 Cascellius, Gaius Aulus, Roman jurist ( first century BC) 4.50 Cato, a Roman pontifex 4.10 Cato Uticensis, Marcus Porcius, Cato the Younger, Roman statesman (95–46 BC) 2.24, 3.69, 3.85 durus 2.24 Catonianus, -a, -um, of Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder) illud 1.13, 3.65, 4.26 Catullus, Gaius Valerius, Latin poet (ca. 84– ca. 54 BC) 1.prol.4 C. Cotta. See Cotta, Gaius Aurelius cella Iovis Optimi Maximi, the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome 4.79 Celte, the Celts 2.12 Cenomani, a Celtic people of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) 2.19 Cepio, Quintus Servilius, the Roman statesman and general Quintus Servilius Caepio, consul in 106 BC 2.31

glossarial index Ceres, goddess of agriculture and grain crops; hence also, grain 3.27 Cesar, Gaius Iulius, Roman politician and military general (100–44 BC) 3.10, 3.94, 4.10 Cesares, the Caesars (i.e., the Holy Roman emperors) 2.17 novi 1.2 C. et M. Plancii. See Plancus, Gaius and Plancus, Marcus christiani, the Christians 1.5, 2.48, 4.10, 4.97 See also christicola christianissimus, -a, -um, the most Christian Iustinianus 3.11 christianus, -a, -um, Christian fides 2.47 christicola, Christian 1.6 See also christiani Christus, Christ 2.47 Chrysippus, Greek philosopher (ca. 279– ca. 206 BC) 4.58 Chylon, Chilon, Spartan politician, one of the seven sages of Greece ( fl. sixth century BC) 4.58 Cicero, Marcus Tullius, Roman statesman and orator (106–43 BC) 1.9, 2.60, 2.92, 3.53, 4.84–86, 4.95 eloquentissimus 1.21 princeps eloquentie 3.25 noster 3.34 Cicero Minor, Marcus Tullius, son (b. 65 BC) of Marcus Tullius Cicero, nicknamed Bibulus (Drunkard) 3.34 Cincinnatus, Lucius Quintius, Roman statesman and military leader (ca. 519– ca. 430 BC) 2.30, 2.116, 4.78 Circeus, -a, -um, of Circe fabula 1.106 civile ius. See ius civile civilis (philosophia). See politica Clausium, the ancient city of Clusium in Italy 2.20 Cleantes, the Greek philosopher Cleanthes (ca. 330–ca. 230 BC) 4.58 Cleobulus, tyrant of Lindos, one of the seven sages of Greece ( fl. sixth century BC) 4.58 Cleopatra, Cleopatra VII Philopator, queen of the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt (69–30 BC) 3.70, 4.81

glossarial index Clytemestra, Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon and legendary queen of Mycenae (or Argos) 3.70 C. Manlius. See Manlius, Gaius C. Marius. See Marius, Gaius Codrus, the legendary last king of Athens 3.20 comitium, an area in the northwest corner of the Roman Forum where the popular assemblies (comitia) were held 4.79 concilium Constantiense, the Council of Constance (1414–1418) 2.50–51 Constantini urbs, the city of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), founded by the Roman emperor Constantine I (272–337) in 324 3.11 Consualia, the Roman festival in honor of Consus, god of the granary 1.23 Corinthius, -a, -um, of Corinth Periander 4.58 vasa et signa 1.43 Cotta, Gaius Aurelius, Roman statesman and military leader, consul in 252 and 248 BC 2.114 Cretenses, the Cretans, inhabitants of Crete 2.25 Cumanus lacus, Lake Como 2.15 curia, the Roman Senate 3.23, 3.50, 4.79 See also senatus Curius Dentatus, Manius, three-time consul and hero of the Roman Republic (ca. 330– 270 BC) 4.24 Curtius, Quintus, incorrect reference to Manius Curius Dentatus 3.20 December, Ubertus, Uberto Decembrio, the author of the De re publica libri IV and one of the dialogue’s interlocutors (d. 1427) 1.16, 1.54, 1.59, 1.81 Decembrius, Petrus Candidus, Pier Candido Decembrio (1392 or 1399–1477), Uberto’s son and secretary of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti 4.prol.5 Decius Mus, Publius (1), consul of the Roman Republic in 340 BC 3.20 Decius Mus, Publius (2), consul of the Roman Republic (d. 295 BC), son of Publius Decius Mus (1) 3.20 de Homodeis, Segnorolus, the Italian jurist

269 Signorolo degli Omodei (1308–1371) 4.46 de la Cruce, Manfredus, Manfredo della Croce, abbot of the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, one of the dialogue’s interlocutors 1.14, 1.18, 1.53, [1.75], 1.107, [2.124–125], [3.40], [3.57], [3.60], [3.111], [4.98] de la Scala nobiles, the noble family of the Scaliger, lords of Verona from 1262 to 1387 4.22 delubrum Ambrosii, the shrine of Ambrose, or the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan 1.1, 1.14, [1.74] δημοκρατική. See popularis (principandi species) Democritus, Greek philosopher (ca. 460– ca. 370 BC) 2.prol.4, 4.58 Demosthenes, Greek statesman and orator (384–322 BC) 4.86 de Sanctasophia, Marsilius, the Italian physician Marsilio di Santasofia (ca. 1338–1405) 4.47 de Tertiis, Otho, the Italian military captain Ottobuono de’ Terzi, who despotically ruled the cities of Parma and Reggio Emilia from 1404 to his death in 1409 2.37 deus, a (pagan) god 1.prol.6, 1.3, 1.5–6, 2.45, 2.71, 3.2, 3.29, 4.80 See also dii Deus, God the Father 1.63, 1.71, 1.79–81, 1.84– 85, 1.101, 1.112, 1.117, 1.119–120, 2.10–11, 2.32, 2.36, 2.39, 2.49, 3.19, 3.58, 3.60, 3.62, 4.9, 4.12 δικαιοσύνη. See iustitia dii, the pagan gods 1.71 See also deus dimocratica. See popularis (principandi species) domus regula. See yconomica Donatiste, the Donatists, followers of Donatus Magnus (d. ca. 355), who claimed that the validity of the sacraments depended on the worthiness of the minister 2.48 Drusus, Marcus Livius, tribune of the plebeians of the Roman Republic (d. 91 BC) 2.31 dyaletica, dialectic 3.89, 4.55, [4.56], 4.85 Dyaletica (Aristotelis), Aristotle’s Dialectic (or the whole Organon) 4.57

270 Edui, Aedui, a Celtic tribe in east-central Gaul 2.13 Egyptianus, -a, -um, Egyptian milites 4.81 Egyptii, the Egyptians 4.62 Egyptus, Egypt 2.6 Elea, the region of Elis in southern Greece 4.40 Elicona, Mount Helicon in Boeotia, where, according to Greek myth, there were two springs sacred to the Muses, the Aganippe and the Hippocrene 3.4 Emilianus. See Scipio Emilianus, Publius Cornelius Emilius Lepidus. See Lepidus, Marcus Emilius Eneas, the Trojan hero Aeneas 1.62, 3.28 Ennius, Quintus, Roman writer and poet (ca. 239–ca. 169 BC) 3.25 ephori, the Spartan ephors, an annually elected council of five who shared power with the two Spartan kings 4.82 Eritonius, incorrect reference to Etitovius, leader of the Cenomani 2.19 Esculapius, Aesculapius (or Asclepius), god of medicine 4.63 Ethica (Aristotelis), Aristotle’s Ethics (Nicomachean Ethics, Magna Moralia, and Eudemian Ethics) 4.57 ἠθική. See moralis (philosophia) Etrusci, the Etruscans 2.13, 2.20 εὐκαιρία. See occasio Euclides, the Greek philosopher Euclid (ca. 435–ca. 365 BC) 4.50 εὐταξία. See modestia Fabia, gens, the Fabian gens, one of the most ancient patrician families in Rome 4.78 Fabius Maximus Eburnus, Quintus, Roman statesman, consul in 116 BC 2.114 Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, Quintus, Roman statesman and general (ca. 280–203 BC) 2.120, 4.10, 4.78 Fabius Rutilianus. See Rutilianus, Fabius Fabricius Luscinus, Gaius, Roman statesman, consul in 282 BC 4.75 Falchio, Bartholomeus, Bartolomeo Falcone, doctor and soldier, contemporary of Uberto Decembrio 2.70

glossarial index Falisci, the Faliscans, an Italic people who lived in what is now northern Lazio 4.74 Flaccus. See Horatius Flaccus, Quintus Flavii, the Flavian dynasty; hence, a title of legitimacy used by the Lombard kings (sixth–eighth century AD) 4.35 Florentinus, -a, -um, of Florence Zotus 4.92 fortitudo, Gr. ἀνδρεία, fortitude, one of the four cardinal virtues 1.99, 2.87–88, 4.70 frumentaria (lex). See lex frumentaria Fulvius Flaccus, Gneus, brother of Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, convicted of cowardice against Hannibal in 210 BC 2.114 Fulvius Flaccus, Quintus, Roman statesman and military leader, consul in 237 and 234 BC 2.114, 4.34 Furius, Roman jurist ( first century BC) 4.50 Gades, the city of Cadiz in southwestern Spain 1.2 Gaius Aurelius Scaurus. See Scaurus, Gaius Aurelius Galeaz Vicecomes. See Vicecomes, Galeaz Galienus, the Greek physician Galen (129– ca. 200/216) 1.72, 4.63 Galli, the Gauls 2.19 Gallia, Gaul, a region in western Europe 2.7, 2.12 Gallicus, -a, -um, Gaulish; hence, French fercula 1.43 verba 2.72 Gentilis Fabriano, the Italian painter Gentile da Fabriano (ca. 1370–1427) 4.92 geometria, geometry 3.91 Germani, the Germanic peoples 2.19 Germania, a region in north-central Europe inhabited by the Germanic peoples; hence, Germany 2.7 Ghibellini, the Ghibellines, a faction supporting the Holy Roman emperor in the Italian city-states and communes during the late Middle Ages 2.37 Gigantes, the mythical giants 1.71 Gorgias, Greek philosopher (ca. 485– ca. 380 BC) 1.12, 2.prol.4, 4.58 Gracchus, Gaius Sempronius, Roman tribune of the plebs (154–121 BC), younger brother of Tiberius 2.31

glossarial index Gracchus, Tiberius Sempronius, Roman tribune of the plebs (ca. 169/164–133 BC) 2.31, 3.69 Grece (adv.), in Greek 3.88 Greci, the Greeks 1.12, 1.99, 2.23, 3.4, 3.92, 4.15, 4.44, 4.58, 4.60, 4.67–70, 4.86 Grecia, Greece 3.9, 4.40, 4.59 Grecum, the Greek language 4.84 Grecus, -a, -um, Greek grammatica 3.87 lingua 1.17 origo 3.3 vocabulum 1.99, 2.23, 3.11 volumina 4.48 Guelfi, the Guelphs, a faction supporting the pope in the Italian city states and communes during the late Middle Ages 2.37 Gyges, king of Lydia ( fl. seventh century BC) 1.62 Hannibal, the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca (247–ca. 183/181 BC) 2.122, 3.84, 4.2–3, [4.4] Hecato, Greek philosopher ( fl. ca. 100 BC) 3.48 Helena, Helen, the legendary queen of Sparta kidnapped by Prince Paris of Troy 3.70 Her, Er, a character in the Myth of Er in Plato’s Republic 4.95 Hercules, or Heracles, Greek and Roman hero and god 1.2–4, 4.14 Herycinii saltus, the Hercynian Forest 2.13 Hesiodus, the Greek poet Hesiod (eighth– seventh century BC) 2.25 Hibernia, the island of Ireland 2.7 Hippocras, the Greek physician Hippocrates (ca. 460–ca. 370 BC) 4.63 Hispania, the Iberian Peninsula 2.111 Histrum, the Istrian Peninsula 2.7 Homerus, the legendary Greek poet Homer 2.25, 4.63 honorabilis (principandi species), Gr. τιμοκρατική (πολιτεία), timocracy, a form of government in which ambition for honor and glory motivates the rulers 2.23, 2.25 Horatius Flaccus, Quintus, the Roman poet Horace (65–8 BC) [3.73], 4.44, 4.90 horologium (Papiense), the clock built in 1381 by Giovanni Dondi for Duke Gian Galeazzo

271 Visconti, who installed it in his library in Pavia 4.prol.1 Hypsicratea, queen of Pontus ( fl. 63 BC) 3.69 Iacobus Mothonensis, Giacomo da Modone, provost of the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, one of the dialogue’s interlocutors 2.125, [3.1], [3.25], [3.40], [4.1], [4.98] Ianua, the city of Genoa in Liguria 4.42 Ianuenses, the Genoese 4.39 Iapyx, the favorite of Apollo, who gave him the gift of healing 4.63 Illyricus, -a, -um, Illyrian mare 2.9 India, the Indian subcontinent 2.6 Insubrium ager (or Sebrium), the territory of the Gaulish people of the Insubri, later named Seprio, now in northwestern Lombardy 2.13, 2.15 Iohannes (Vicecomes). See Vicecomes, Iohannes Iohannes Arbosius. See Arbosius, Iohannes Iohannes de Horologio, the physician and astronomer Giovanni Dondi dell’Orologio (ca. 1330–1388) 4.prol.1 Iohannes de Senis, a Sienese painter, probably an incorrect reference to the painter Simone Martini (ca. 1284–1344) 4.92 Iohannes Galeaz (Vicecomes). See Vicecomes, Iohannes Galeaz Iohannes Maria (Vicecomes). See Vicecomes, Iohannes Maria Ioviniani, the Jovinians, followers of Jovinian (d. ca. 405), referred to by Saint Jerome as the “Epicurus of Christianity” 2.48 Ippia, probably an incorrect reference to Eppia, a senator’s wife who ran off with a gladiator, mentioned in Juvenal’s sixth Satire 3.70 Isocrates, Greek rhetorician (436–338 BC) 4.58 Italia, Italy 1.prol.7, 2.8, 2.13, 2.17, 2.19, 2.109, 2.121, 3.50, 4.59 Italicus, -a, -um, Italian religio 2.47 Iubilus, Marcus, incorrect reference to Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, a politician of the Roman Republic (ca. 102–48 BC) 4.81 Iudei, the Jews 2.48

272 Iugurthinum prelium, the Jugurthine War (112–106 BC) 2.113 Iulia (Cesaris filia), the daughter of Gaius Julius Caesar and the fourth wife of Pompey the Great (ca. 76–54 BC) 3.69 Iulius Cesar. See Cesar, Gaius Iulius Iupiter, the planet Jupiter 3.93 ius canonicum (or iura canonica), canon law 3.14, 4.43 ius civile (or ius Romanum civile), civil law 1.78, 3.8, 3.12, 4.43 ius gentium, law of nations 3.7, 3.12–13, 3.58 ius naturale primevum, primitive natural law 3.6, 3.58 ius non scriptum, unwritten law 3.15 ius publicum, public law 1.26 Iustinianus, Justinian I (ca. 482–565), emperor of the Byzantine Empire 3.11, 4.17 Iustinianus, -a, -um, of Justinian sanctio 1.72 iustitia, Gr. δικαιοσύνη, justice, the foundation of the commonwealth and one of the four cardinal virtues 1.18, 1.28–30, 1.46–61, 1.63–64, 1.66–69, 1.72–75, 1.77, 1.81, 1.86–90, 1.99, 1.102, 1.107, 1.110, 1.121, 2.1– 2, 2.41, 2.79, 2.81–82, 2.84–89, 3.prol.5, 3.6, 3.23–24, 3.31, 3.97, 4.43–44, 4.52, 4.68, 4.72, 4.74, 4.77, 4.83, 4.93, 4.98 ius utriusque. See ius canonicum and ius civile ius XII tabularum. See leges XII tabularum Iuvenal, Decimus Iunius, the Roman poet Juvenal ( fl. first–second century AD) [2.105], [3.23], [3.49], [3.111], [4.14], 4.21, [4.31] Karthago, the city of Carthage; hence, the Carthaginian Empire 2.112, 4.3–4 Lacedemone, or Lacedemonium, Lacedaemon, the other name of Sparta 4.82, 4.87 Lacedemonii, the Lacedaemonians 2.89, 3.69 See also Lacones and Spartani Lacedemonius, -a, -um, Lacedaemonian Chylon 4.58 Lacones, the Laconians 2.25 prisci 3.37 See also Lacedemonii and Spartani

glossarial index Lares patrii, the paternal Lares, guardian deities in ancient Roman religion; hence, fatherland, hometown 4.74 Latine (adv.), in Latin 1.17, 3.88 Latini, the Latins [2.112], 4.57 prisci 3.79 Latinum, the Latin language 1.17, 4.84 Latinus, -a, -um, Latin grammatica 3.87 lingua 1.17 transfugi 2.112 vocabulum 4.66 volumina 4.48 Laufella, incorrect reference to Saufeia, a priestess of the Bona Dea mentioned by Juvenal for her drunkenness and immodest sexual behavior 3.70 L. Brutus. See Brutus, Lucius Iunius leges XII tabularum, the law of the Twelve Tables 1.26, 3.9 Leo (Morigia). See Morigia, Leo Leonardus Aretinus, the Italian humanist Leonardo Bruni from Arezzo, Tuscany (ca. 1370–1444) orator conspicuus 4.84 Leontinus, -a, -um, of Leontini Gorgias 2.prol.4, 4.58 Lepidus, Marcus Emilius, the Roman statesman and military leader Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (ca. 230–152 BC) 3.83 lex agraria, the Agrarian Law 1.26 lex frumentaria, the Corn Law 1.26 lex matrimonialis, the Marriage Law 1.26 Libya, the region west of the Nile corresponding to the modern Maghreb 2.6 Liguria, a territory in northwestern Italy subject to Milan 1.prol.3, 1.8, 2.8, 2.13, 2.37, 4.3 Ligures, the Ligurians 1.122 Limprandus, Liutprand, king of the Lombards from 712 to 744 4.35 Lingones, a Celtic tribe who lived in eastern Gaul 2.20 Livius, Titus, the Roman historian Livy (64 or 59 BC–12 or 17 AD) 2.12, 2.19, 4.4 Livius Drusus. See Drusus, Marcus Livius L. Minucius. See Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus, Lucius Locrenses, the Locrians 4.76

glossarial index Longobardi, the Lombards 4.35 L. Paulus. See Paulus, Lucius Emilius L. Postumius. See Postumius, Lucius L.Q. (or Quintius) Cincinnatus. See Cincinnatus, Lucius Quintius L. Sylla. See Sylla, Lucius Cornelius Lucanus, Marcus Anneus, the Roman poet Lucan (39–65 AD) 2.32, 2.80, 3.24, 3.27 ludus cestuum, a mock tournament established by Liutprand in Pavia 4.35, [4.36– 37] Luna, the moon 3.93, 4.61 Lydia, a kingdom in western Asia Minor 1.62 Lydius, -a, -um, of Lydia Cleobulus 4.58 Macedonicus, -a, -um, of Macedon Aristotiles 4.58 Magna Grecia, Magna Graecia, a region of Greek colonial expansion corresponding to what is now southern Italy 1.prol.7 Magnanus, Bernardinus, Bernardino Magnani, Pavian physician, contemporary of Uberto Decembrio 2.70 Maineriis, Mainus de, the Italian physician Maino de Maineri (d. 1368) 4.46 Maior lacus, Lake Maggiore 2.15 See also Verbanus lacus Manfredus de la Cruce. See de la Cruce, Manfredus Manlius, Gaius, incorrect reference to Gnaeus Mallius Maximus, Roman politician and general, consul in 105 BC 4.33 Manlius (Imperiosus) Torquatus, Titus, Roman statesman and military leader ( fourth century BC) 2.115 Mantuanus, of Mantua in northern Italy Virgilius 1.prol.4 Marcellus, Marcus Claudius, Roman statesman and military leader (ca. 268–208 BC) 2.121 Marius, Gaius, Roman statesman and general (157–86 BC) 3.50 Maro. See Virgilius Maro, Publius Mars, the planet Mars sevus 3.93 Marsilius de Sanctasophia. See de Sanctasophia, Marsilius

273 Martesana, a territory north of Milan 2.15 Martinus, Romanus pontifex, Pope Martin V, born Otto Colonna (1369–1431), who reigned from 1417 to his death 2.50 mathematica, mathematics 4.61 Matthia, the apostle Matthias 2.47 matrimonialis (lex). See lex matrimonialis Mauritania, a territory in the western Maghreb 2.6 Mausolus, satrap of Caria (377–353 BC) 3.69 M. Cato. See Cato Uticensis, Marcus Porcius Medea, a mythical sorceress, niece of Circes 3.70 medicina (or medicinalis ars), medicine 1.38, 1.51, 1.78, 3.37, 4.43, 4.46, 4.47, 4.61– 62, [4.63] Mediolanensis, of Milan gens 2.21 Mainus de Maineriis 4.46 Segnorolus de Homodeis 4.46 Mediolanum, Mediolanium, or Milanum, the city of Milan 1.prol.3, 2.13, [2.14], [2.17], 2.18, [2.47], 4.prol.3, [4.22] Melius, Spurius, the Roman plebeian Spurius Maelius, suspected of aiming at royal power, slain by Gaius Servilius Ahala in 439 BC 2.30 Meotides paludes, the Maeotian marshes, or Sea of Azov 2.7 Mercurius, the planet Mercury 3.93 Messalina, Valeria Messalina (ca. 17/20– 48 AD), the third wife of the Roman emperor Claudius, a woman notorious for her nymphomania 3.70 Messius, Quintus, incorrect reference to the Roman statesman and general Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus (ca. 210– 116/115 BC) 2.119 Metellus Numidicus, Quintus Cecilius, Roman statesman and military leader (ca. 160–91 BC) 2.31, 2.113 Methaphysica (Aristotelis), Aristotle’s Metaphysics 4.57 Methaurorum libri (Aristotelis), Aristotle’s Meteorology (or Meteors) 4.57 Michael (or Michelinus) Papiensis, the Pavian painter Michelino Molinari da Besozzo (ca. 1370–ca. 1455) 3.100, 4.92

274 Michelinus Papiensis. See Michael Papiensis Milanum. See Mediolanum Milesius, -a, -um, of Miletus, a Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia Thales 4.58 Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom 1.5, 2.25 Minius, -a, -um, Minyan mulieres 3.69 Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus, Lucius, Roman politician, consul in 458 BC, decemvir from 450 to 449 BC 2.116 Mithridates, Mithridates VI, king of Pontus (135–63 BC) 3.69 M. Iubilus. See Iubilus, Marcus modestia, Gr. εὐταξία, modesty 1.29, 1.99, 2.43, 2.92, 3.45, 3.51, 4.30, 4.69, 4.73 moralis (philosophia), Gr. ἠθική, moral philosophy 4.57, 4.66 Morigia, Leo, Leone Morigia, one of the dialogue’s interlocutors 1.1, 1.6, 1.11, 1.41, 1.49, 1.51, 1.75, 1.108, 1.121, 2.1, [2.2], 2.22, 2.76, 2.98, 2.124, 3.25, 3.97, 3.111, [4.98] Morigia, Simon, Simone Morigia, one of the dialogue’s interlocutors, younger brother of Leone 1.1, 1.5, 1.8, 1.11–12, 1.17, 1.21, 1.47, 1.49, 1.53, 1.121, 2.1, [2.2], 2.22, 2.76, 2.97, 2.124, 3.106, [4.98] Moyses, the five books of Moses, or Pentateuch, including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy 3.60 M. Scaurus. See Scaurus, Marcus Emilius Mucius Scevola, Quintus, the Roman politician and jurist Quintus Mucius Scaevola (ca. 189–88 BC) 3.50, 4.50 musica, music 1.51, 3.37, 3.92 Mytilenus, -a, -um, of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos Pittacus 4.50 Nasica Scipio. See Scipio Nasica, Publius Cornelius Naso. See Ovidius Naso, Publius naturalis (philosophia). See physica Neapolis, the city of Naples 4.38 Nemeus, -a, -um, of Nemea in Argolis, where Hercules killed the Nemean lion leo 1.4

glossarial index Nevius, Quintus, incorrect reference to the Roman centurion Quintus Navius, who at the siege of Capua (212 BC) was the first to suggest the mixing of infantry with cavalry 4.34 Numantia, an ancient Celtiberian city besieged by the Roman army in 134–133 BC 2.111 occasio, Gr. εὐκαιρία, occasion 3.51 οἰκονομική. See yconomica oligarchica. See paucorum regentium (principandi species) ὀλιγαρχική. See paucorum regentium (principandi species) Olympia, the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece 4.40 Olympum, Mount Olympus in Thessaly, Greece, the mythical home of the Greek gods 4.40 orti Ambrosiani, the Ambrosian gardens, i.e., the gardens of the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan 1.8 Otho de Tertiis. See de Tertiis, Otho Ovidius Naso, Publius, the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC–17/18 AD) 1.prol.4, 2.53, [3.73], 3.110, 4.87 Padua, a city in northeastern Italy [4.47] Paduanus, -a, -um, of Padua studium 4.47 See also Patavinus Padus, the Po river in northern Italy 2.15, 2.20 pagani, the pagans 1.6, 2.47 paganus, -a, -um, pagan (adj.) 1.5 Pamphilus, -a, -um, of Pamphylia, a region in southern Asia Minor Her 2.95 Πανδέκται, the Pandects (or Digest), compiled by order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I between 530 and 533 3.11 Panigarola, a family of notaries who held statutory office in Milan from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries 4.50 Papia, the city of Pavia, south of Milan 4.35 See also Ticinum Papiensis, Pavian Bernardinus Magnanus 2.70

glossarial index populus 4.35 studium 4.45–48 urbs 4.45 Papirius Cursor, Lucius, Roman general, fivetime consul and dictator in 325 and 310 BC 2.117 Parrhasius, Greek painter ( fifth–fourth century BC) 4.91 Pascalis, of Easter dies 1.1 Patarini, the Patarenes, a religious movement that arose in eleventh-century Milan, aimed at reforming the clergy and ecclesiastical government by suppressing simony and clerical marriage 2.48 Patavinus, -a, -um, of Padua Iohannes de Horologio 4.prol.1 See also Paduanus paucorum regentium (principandi species), or oligarchica, Gr. ὀλιγαρχική (πολιτεία), oligarchy, a form of government in which power is held by a small elite 2.23, 2.27 Paulus, Lucius Emilius, the Roman statesman and general Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus (ca. 229–160 BC) 2.120 P. Cornelius Scipio. See Scipio Africanus, Publius Cornelius and Scipio Emilianus, Publius Cornelius Pecuniola, Publius Aurelius, a relative of the consul Gaius Aurelius Cotta (incorrectly mentioned as his son) 2.114 Pelignus, -a, -um, Pelignian Naso 1.prol.4 Peni, incorrect reference to the Pennine Pass in the western Alps 2.20 Periander, tyrant of Corinth, one of the seven sages of Greece (d. ca. 585 BC) 4.58 Peripatetici, the Peripatetic philosophers 1.113 Perseus, king of Macedon (212–166 BC) [2.120] Perusia (or Perusium), the city of Perugia in Umbria in central Italy 4.3, 4.47 Petilius Spurinus, Quintus, Roman statesman (d. 176 BC) 2.122 Petrarcha, Franciscus, the Italian humanist Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374) 3.2 Phalaris, the tyrant of Akragas (now Agri-

275 gento), Sicily, from ca. 570 to 554 BC, notorious for his Brazen Bull, an instrument of torture with a fire burning inside 3.49 Phedra, Phaedra, the mythical wife of Theseus, who fell in love with Hippolytus, Theseus’s son by another woman (either Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, or Antiope, her sister) 3.70 philosophia, philosophy 1.prol.4, 1.prol.7, 1.78, 3.3–4, 3.32, 3.37, 3.95, 4.51, 4.56–58, 4.60, 4.66, 4.83, 4.85 φρόνησις. See prudentia physica, or naturalis (philosophia), Gr. φυσική, natural philosophy 4.57, 4.60, 4.62 Physica (Aristotelis), Aristotle’s Physics 4.57 φυσική. See physica Pindaricus, -a, -um, of the Greek poet Pindar (ca. 522–ca. 443 BC) carmen 1.81 Pireneus, -a, -um, misspelling of Prieneus, of Priene, a city in Ionia, Greece Byas 4.58 Pisana urbs, the city of Pisa in western Tuscany, Italy 4.38 Pise, the city of Pisa in the western Peloponnese, Greece 4.40 Piso Frugi, Lucius Calpurnius, Roman statesman, consul in 133 BC 2.118 Pittacus, Greek general, one of the seven sages of Greece (ca. 640–568 BC) 4.58, 4.82 Placentinus, -a, -um, of Piacenza Albertinus de Salso 4.46 Plancus, Gaius, incorrect reference to Gaius Plautius Numida, a Roman senator (ca. 100 BC) 3.69 Plancus, Marcus, incorrect reference to Marcus Plautius Hypsaeus, prefect of the navy in 84–83 BC 3.69 Plato, Greek philosopher (428/427 or 424/423– 348/347 BC) 1.prol.7, 1.16–17, 1.21, 2.prol.2, 2.prol.5, [2.prol.6], [2.prol.9], 2.24– 25, 2.54, 2.61, 2.64, 2.74, 2.79, 2.88–89, 2.100–101, 2.104, 2.106, 3.23, 3.25, 3.27, 3.91–92, 3.102, 4.50, 4.56, 4.58, 4.84, 4.87, 4.95 politica, Gr. πολιτική, or civilis (philosophia),

276 political philosophy, or politics 4.66, 4.84 Politica (Aristotelis), Aristotle’s Politics 4.57 πολιτική. See politica Pompeius Magnus, Gneus, the Roman military and political leader Pompey the Great (106–48 BC) 3.69 pons Ticini, the Ticino Bridge in Pavia, a covered bridge built in the time of Giovanni Visconti and destroyed in 1944 4.45 Ponticus sinus, the Pontic Gulf, i.e., the Black Sea 2.109 Pontus, a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea in today’s northeastern Turkey 3.69 popularis (principandi species), or dimocratica, Gr. δημοκρατική (πολιτεία), democracy, a form of government in which power belongs to the people 2.23, 2.28, [2.29– 30] Porcia, Catonis filia, Portia, the daughter of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis and the second wife of Marcus Junius Brutus (ca. 70–43 BC) 3.69 Postumius, Lucius, incorrect reference to the Roman military leader Aulus Postumius Tubertus, magister equitum (master of the cavalry) in 434 BC 2.115 prudentia, Gr. φρόνησις, prudence, one of the four cardinal virtues 1.29, 1.99, 1.101, [2.77], 3.prol.5, 3.44, 3.62, 4.67 See also sapientia P. Rutilius. See Rutilius, Publius and Rutilius Rufus, Publius P. Scipius. See Scipio, Publius Cornelius Publicola. See Valerius Publicola, Publius Publius, the Latin writer Publilius Syrus ( fl. 85–43 BC) 2.prol.3 Pyrrus, Pyrrhus, king of Epirus (319/318– 272 BC) 4.75 Pythagoras, Greek philosopher (ca. 570– ca. 495 BC) 1.prol.7, 1.12, 2.prol.2, 2.prol.4, 4.58 pythagoreus, -a, -um, Pythagorean (adj.) 1.prol.7 Pythagorici, the Pythagoreans, followers of Pythagoras Archytas 4.58 Zenophilus 4.58

glossarial index Q. Curtius. See Curtius, Quintus Q. Fabius. See Fabius Maximus Eburnus, Quintus Q. Messius. See Messius, Quintus Q. Petilius. See Petilius Spurinus, Quintus Q. Scevola. See Mucius Scevola, Quintus Quiris, a Roman citizen 3.24 rationalis (philosophia, or scientia), rational philosophy, or logic 4.56–57, 4.85 Res publica, or De re publica (Platonis), Plato’s Republic 1.17, 2.74, 2.100, 3.25, 4.95 rethorica, rhetoric 3.32, 3.37, 3.90, 4.56, 4.85 Rethorica (Aristotelis), Aristotle’s Rhetoric 4.57 Riccardus de Saliceto, the Italian jurist Riccardo da Saliceto (ca. 1310–1379) 4.46 Roma, the city of Rome 2.19–21, 4.2, 4.82 See also Urbs Romani, the Romans 1.5, 2.19, 2.111–112, 3.8–9, 3.24, 3.69, 3.83, 3.85, 4.3–4, 4.10, 4.15, 4.19, 4.21, 4.24, 4.32, 4.74–75, 4.78 veteres 1.23, 4.41 Romanum civile (ius). See ius civile Romanus, -a, -um, Roman annales 1.26, 2.110, 2.113 disciplina 2.121 historia 2.25 milites 4.34 populus 3.10, 4.21, 4.79–80 res publica 2.108, 2.110 urbs 2.27, 2.50 Romulus, the legendary founder and first king of Rome from ca. mid- to late eighth century BC 1.23, 2.109 rostra, a platform in the Roman forum from which orators addressed the people, so called from being adorned with the prows of captured ships 4.79 Ruthenia, a region in eastern Europe now lying in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, northeastern Slovakia, and eastern Poland 2.7 Rutilianus, Fabius, incorrect reference to the Roman statesman and military leader Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus ( fourth–third century BC) 2.117 Rutilius, Publius, incorrect reference to the

glossarial index Roman statesman Publius Rupilius, consul in 132 BC 2.114 Rutilius Rufus, Publius, Roman statesman (158–after 78 BC) 2.31, 4.33 Salluvii, a tribe in southern Gaul 2.20 Samius, -a, -um, of Samos Pythagoras 4.58 Samnites, an Italic people who lived in southcentral Italy 4.24 sapientia, Gr. σοφία, wisdom 1.prol.4, 1.14, 1.78, 1.86, 1.99, 2.61, 3.prol.4, 3.3–4, 3.40, 3.87, 4.7, 4.29, 4.54, 4.58 See also prudentia Sardanapalus, king of Assyria (668–626 BC) 4.14 Saturnus, the planet Saturn 3.93 Scaurus, Gaius Aurelius, the owner of a gladiatorial school in Capua in 105 BC 4.33 Scaurus, Marcus Emilius, the Roman statesman Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (ca. 163– 89 BC) 4.10 Scevola. See Mucius Scevola, Quintus Scipio, Publius Cornelius, Roman general and statesman (d. 211 BC), father of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus 3.84 Scipio Africanus, Publius Cornelius, Roman general and statesman (236–183 BC) 2.110, [2.112], 3.84, 4.4, 4.79, 4.96 Scipio Emilianus, Publius Cornelius, the Roman general and statesman Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus (185–129 BC), son of Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, later adopted by Publius Cornelius Scipio, son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus 2.110–111, 2.113, 4.80, 4.96 Scipio Nasica, Publius Cornelius, the Roman consul and military commander Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Cornelianus Scipio Nasica (ca. 100/98–46 BC) 4.10 Scythia, a region in eastern Europe and central Asia 2.7 Sebrium. See Insubrium Secunda Roma, the Second Rome, a title given to the city of Milan 2.17 Segnorolus de Homodeis. See de Homodeis, Segnorolus Segovesus, the brother of the legendary Gallic king Bellovesus 2.12–13

277 senatus, the Roman Senate 2.117, 2.121, 3.50, 4.81 See also curia Seneca, Lucius Anneus, the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger (ca. 4 BC–65 AD) 3.prol.4, 3.27, [3.73], 3.95 Senones, a Celtic people of Gaul 2.13, 2.20 septem miracula (mundi), the seven wonders of the ancient world, i.e., the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria 3.69 septem sapientes, the seven sages of Greece, a title given to seven philosophers, statesmen, and lawgivers of the sixth century BC 2.9, 4.58 sepulcrum Boethii, Boethius’s tomb in the basilica of Saint Peter in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia 4.35 Servilius Cepio. See Cepio, Quintus Servilius Sicilia, the island of Sicily 2.114, 2.118, 2.121 Siculus, of Sicily Archimedes 4.58 Simon (Morigia). See Morigia, Simon Sirene, the Sirens, mythical creatures who lure sailors to their death with their songs canentium 2.60 Socrates, Greek philosopher, one of the characters in Plato’s Republic (ca. 470–399 BC) 1.17, 2.prol.4, 2.58, 3.23, 4.12, 4.58, 4.67, 4.71 Sol, the sun 3.93, 4.61 Solon, Greek statesman, one of the seven sages of Greece (ca. 638–ca. 558 BC) 3.8–9, 4.58 Somnium Scipionis, Scipio’s Dream, the sixth book of Cicero’s De re publica 1.21, [4.96] σοφία. See sapientia Sophocles, Greek tragedian (ca. 497/6– 406/5 BC) 3.25 σωφροσύνη. See temperantia Spartani, the Spartans 4.82 See also Lacedemonii and Lacones Spurius Melius. See Melius, Spurius statua (Bacchi), a statue of Bacchus (often identified as Hercules) in the basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan, destroyed in 1796 1.1–6

278 Stoici, the Stoic philosophers 2.24, 3.prol.6, 4.58, 4.71 stratagemata. See astutie στρατηγήματα. See astutie Superbus (Tarquinius). See Tarquinius Superbus Sylla, Lucius Cornelius, the Roman general and statesman Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (ca. 138–78 BC) 3.50, 3.85 Syracuse, a city in southeastern Sicily 2.121 Tanais, a city in the Don River delta in southwestern Russia 2.7 Tarentinus, -a, -um, of Taranto, a Greek city in Apulia Archytas 4.58 Tarquinius Priscus, the legendary fifth king of Rome from 616 to 579 BC 2.19 Tarquinius Superbus, Lucius, the legendary seventh and final king of Rome from 535 to 509 BC [2.25], 2.26, 2.115 Taurini saltus, the Taurine passes, now the Col de Montgenèvre in the Cottian Alps, France 2.13 Taurus (mons), the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey 2.109 temperantia, Gr. σωφροσύνη, temperance, one of the four cardinal virtues 1.99, 1.103, [2.92], 3.prol.5, 4.30, 4.69, 4.72 templum alme Virginis, the Milan Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Mary of the Nativity, consecrated in 1418 2.49 templum Iani, the Temple of Janus in the Roman forum, whose doors were open in times of war, closed in times of peace 4.41 Testatius mons, Mount Testaccio, an artificial mound in Rome mostly composed of fragments of pottery 4.38 T. Gracchus. See Gracchus, Tiberius Thales, traditionally considered the first Greek philosopher and one of the seven sages of Greece (ca. 624–ca. 546 BC) 4.58 Themison, a Greek physician, native of Laodicea in Syria ( fl. first century BC) 4.65 Theophrastus, Greek philosopher (ca. 371– ca. 287 BC) 2.prol.4 Theopompus, king of Sparta during the late

glossarial index eighth and early seventh centuries BC 4.82 Thessalia, Thessaly, a region in northeastern Greece 4.40 Thracia, Thrace, a territory north of Thessaly in southeastern Europe 2.7 Ticinum, the city of Pavia, south of Milan [3.84] See also Papia Ticinus, the Ticino River 2.13–15, 3.84, 4.3, 4.35, 4.45 τιμοκρατική. See honorabilis (principandi species) Titius, Gaius, Roman magister equitum (master of the cavalry) in 133 BC 2.118 Titus Livius. See Livius, Titus Traianus, the Roman emperor Trajan (53–117) 4.77 Trasimenus lacus, Lake Trasimene in Umbria in central Italy 4.3 Trebia (1), incorrect reference to the Celtiberian city of Contrebia (now Botorrita) in Spain 2.119 Trebia (2), the Trebbia River in Liguria and Emilia Romagna in northern Italy 4.3 Troianus, -a, -um, Trojan Aeneas 1.62 bellum 4.63 Tuscia, a territory in central Italy corresponding to Tuscany, a great part of Umbria, and northern Lazio today 4.3 Tusculane (disputationes), Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations 2.25 Tusculanum, Cicero’s villa in Tusculum, a Roman city in Lazio in central Italy 1.9 tyrannis, tyranny, a form of government in which the ruler seizes and takes power illegally, often by force 1.102, 2.23, 2.30, [2.31–32], 2.34–35, 2.39, [2.40], [3.85], [4.prol.3], 4.prol.4 Tyrius, misspelling of Thurius, of Thurii, a Greek city in Apulia in southern Italy Carunda 4.58 Umbri, the Umbrians, an Italic people living along the east bank of the upper Tiber River in central Italy 2.20 Urbs (Rome), the city of Rome 3.24, 3.50 See also Roma

glossarial index Valerius (Maximus), the Roman historian Valerius Maximus ( fl. 14–37 AD) 2.45, 2.109, 3.50, 3.69, 4.33 Valerius Publicola, Publius, Roman statesman and military leader, one of the first consuls of the Roman Republic (ca. 560–503 BC) 2.25–26 Varro, Marcus Terentius, Roman scholar and writer (116–27 BC) doctissimus 2.prol.3 Veneti, the Venetians, i.e., the inhabitants of Venice 2.9, 4.39 Venetie, the city of Venice in northeastern Italy 4.42 Venus (1), the Roman goddess of love; hence, lust 4.14 Venus (2), the planet Venus 3.93 Verbanus lacus, another name of Lake Maggiore 2.15 See also Maior lacus Verona, a city in northeastern Italy 2.19 Veronensis, of Verona Catullus 1.prol.4 dominium 4.22 Virgilius Maro, Publius, the Roman poet Virgil (70–19 BC) 1.prol.4, 3.28, [3.29], 3.79, 3.85, 3.111, 4.21, 4.89 noster 1.22 Vicecomes, Filippus Maria, Filippo Maria Visconti (1392–1447), duke of Milan [1.prol.1], [2.prol.1], [2.38], [3.prol.1], [4.prol.1], [4.45], [4.48] Vicecomes, Galeaz, Galeazzo II Visconti (ca. 1320–1378), lord of Milan 4.45

279 Vicecomes, Iohannes, Giovanni Visconti (1290–1354), archbishop and lord of Milan 1.8, 4.22, [4.24] Vicecomes, Iohannes Galeaz, Gian Galeazzo Visconti (1351–1402), duke of Milan 2.38, [3.prol.1], [4.47] Vicecomes, Iohannes Maria, Giovanni Maria Visconti (1390–1412), duke of Milan 2.36 Vicecomites, the Visconti family 4.45 Xenophon, Greek philosopher and historian (ca. 430–354 BC) 4.84 yconomica (Gr. οἰκονομική), or domus regula, economics, or household management 4.84 Yconomica (Aristotelis), Aristotle’s Economics (now attributed to a student of Aristotle or of his follower Theophrastus) 4.57 Zaleucus, Greek lawgiver of Locri, Magna Graecia, now Calabria in southern Italy ( fl. seventh century BC) 4.76 Zeno, Greek philosopher, native of Citium, Cyprus (ca. 334–ca. 262 BC) 4.58 Zenophilus, the Greek philosopher Xenophilus (ca. fourth century BC) 4.58 Zeuxis, Greek painter, native of Heraclea in Magna Graecia, now Basilicata in southern Italy ( fl. fifth century BC) 4.91 Zotus, the Italian painter Giotto di Bondone (ca. 1267–1337) 4.92

General Index This index includes both names and subjects. All references are to the introduction and the English translation. References to proper names that are alluded to in the text but not explicitly mentioned are enclosed in square brackets. For names in the Latin text, see the glossarial index.

Abbot of Corvara 43n Abruzzo 69n Acciaioli, Niccolò 43, 43n Achates 7n, 95n Acqui Terme 99n Acts of the Apostles 139n Adda (river) 127 Adeimantus (character in Plato’s Republic) 4, 101n Adorno, Antoniotto 41 Adriatic Sea 125 See also Illyrian Sea Aedui 125, 127 Aeneas 7n, 95, 95n, 181 Aeschines Pro Ctesiphonte 41n Aesculapius 243, 243n Africa 125 Africanus. See Scipio Africanus, Publius Cornelius and Scipio Aemilianus, Publius Cornelius Aganippe 171 agate (gem) 7, 95, 95n Ἁγία Σοφία (Hagia Sophia) 173 Agrippina 197, 197n Ahala, Gaius Servilius Structus 23n, 133 Alan of Lille 39n Albano Vercellese 41 Albertino da Salso 237 Albert the Great 8, 20, 39n, 40 Alcaeus 251 Alcibiades 50 Alexander V, pope. See Filargo, Pietro Alfieri, Alberto Ogdoas 41 Alighieri, Dante 32, 32n, 60, 119n Convivio 33 Alonso de Burgos 37n Alps 4, 14, 42, 127n, 129, 159, 221n

Alverni 125 Ambigatus 125 Ambraci 125 Ambrose, Saint 69, 139, 139n Anacharsis 93 Anaxagoras 243 ἀνδρεία. See fortitude Antonio da Rho 37n Antonio da Vimercate 103n, 181n Apelles 17, 255, 255n Apennine Mountains 129 Apollo 243 Apuleius Saturninus, Lucius 133 Apulia 14, 221 Arabia 123 Arabs 243 Archilochus 8, 253 Archimedes 243 Archytas 71, 243 Arese, Andreolo 53 Argelati, Filippo 3n Argus 223 Arian heretics 139 aristocracy (Gr. ἀριστοκρατία) 9, 131 Aristotelian (follower of Aristotle) 12n Aristotelianism 38, [50] See also Scholastic Aristotelianism Aristotle 7–8, 12, 12n, 18, 38, 47–50, 51, 52, 69n, 119, 241, 243, 253 Dialectic 241 Ethics 241 Historia animalium 39 Metaphysics 241 Meteorology 60, 60n, 241 Physics 107n, 241 Politics 25, 25n, 40, 49, 241 Rhetoric 241 pseudo-Aristotle Economics (or Oeconomica) 21, 51, 241, 253n

general index arithmetic 13, 65n, 205–207 Armenia 123 Artemisia 197 Arsenal (of Venice) 235 Asclepiades 243, 243n Asclepius. See Aesculapius Asian (adj.) 87 Assyria 123, 225n astrology 13n, 207 astronomy 13n Athenian (adj.) 241 Athenians 159, 173, 185 Athens 17, 34, 173, 177, 241, 243 Augustinian (adj.) 209n, 233, 233n Augustinus, Aurelius (or Augustine), Saint 10n, 20, 28, 34, 40, 69, 199 De civitate Dei 241n De libero arbitrio 34n Augustus 253 Aulerci 125 Auvergne 125 Avaricum 125n Avicenna 243 Bacchus 6, 73, 179 Balbi, Giovanni 60n, 61 Catholicon 59, 65 Baldo of Perugia. See Degli Ubaldi, Baldo Barbato da Sulmona 42n Barnabas, Saint 139, 139n Baron, Hans 24, [38], 46 Barsabbas, Joseph 139n Barzizza, Gasparino 40, 73n Basilica of Saint Peter in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia 233, 233n Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan 4, 6, 77n, 163n See also shrine of Ambrose Battle of Cannae. See Cannae Battle of Casalecchio 19n, 33, 43n Battle of Porto Conte 46n Bauli (now Bacoli, Campania) 75n Bellovesus 125, 127, 129 Bembo, Pietro 64 Bendideia 4 Bergamo 42, 43, 43n, 46n, 48 Bernardo, Aldo S. 43n, 45n Berry 125n Bias (philosopher) 241

281 Bible 12, 193 See also Old Testament and Vulgate Bituriges 125, 125n Boccaccio, Giovanni 42n Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus 233 Boethius’s tomb 233 Bohemia 125 Boii 129 Bologna 27, 237 Bolognese 44n Bourges 125n Bracciolini, Poggio 99n De nobilitate 34 Brennus 129 Brivio, Giuseppe 1 Bruges 26 Bruni, Francesco 31n Bruni, Leonardo 21–28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37–38, 39, 40, 41, 41n, 46, 48–50, 51, 253 De militia 22–23, 25, 27 Dialogi ad Petrum Histrum 32 Latin translation of Aeschines’s and Demosthenes’s Pro Ctesiphonte 41n Latin translation of Aristotle’s Politics 49 Latin translation of the pseudo-Aristotelian Economics 21, 51, [253], 253n Latin translation of Plato’s works 39n, 50 Laudatio Florentine urbis 25, 28, 29n, 34, 37 Life of Aristotle (Vita Aristotelis) 48, 48n Oratio in funere Iohannis Strozze 23, 29n, 46n Brutus, Lucius Junius 131, 161 Brutus, Marcus Junius 197 Brutus, Tiberius Junius [131], [161] Brutus, Titus Junius [131], [161] Burley, Walter De vita et moribus philosophorum 48n Bussolari, Jacopo 43n Byzantine (adj.) 2 Cadiz 73 Caepio, Quintus Servilius 133 Caesar, Gaius Julius 11, 30, 31n, 32, 46, 173, 197, 207, 223 Calabria 71

282 Calcidius 19, 19n, 39, 40 translation of Plato’s Timaeus 19 Calpurnius Bibulus, Marcus 251n Camillus, Marcus Furius 23n, 247 Campanians 233 Candaules [95] Candia 1 Candido. See Decembrio, Pier Candido Cane, Facino 2, 13, 21, 75n, 135n, 217 Cannae 14, 163, 221 Capitoline Hill (Rome) 129, 203, 251 Capra, Bartolomeo 40, 41n Capua 233 Carbonara, Piazza 42, 235 Caria 197 Carmites 125 Carneades 243 Carnutes 125 Carrara, Francesco I da 46n Carthage 159, 221 Cascellius, Gaius Aulus 239 Catholic faith 12n, 36 See also Christian faith Cato, Marcus Porcius or Cato the Elder 16, 77, 195, 229 Cato (Roman pontifex) 223, 223n Cato Uticensis, Marcus Porcius or Cato the Younger 11, 30, 32, 177, 179, 197, 203, 205 Catullus, Gaius Valerius 69 Cebà, Niccolò 49–50 Celtic Gaul. See Gaul Celts 125 Cenomani 129n Cephalus (character in Plato’s Republic) 4, 7, 7n Ceres 181 Chalcis 243 Charles IV, Holy Roman emperor 43n Charondas 249, 249n Chartres, school of. See school of Chartres Chenae 241n Chilon 241 Christ 75, 139 true light from True Light 223, 257 See also Jesus choleric man. See four humors theory Christian (adj.) 12, 20, [34], 46, 64, 73n, 139, 173

general index faith 12, 18, 137, 139, [223], [257] See also Catholic faith Christianity 64 Christians 6, 75, 223, 257 Christmas 115n, 153n Chronica fratrum Humiliatorum 127n Chrysippus 243 Chrysoloras, Manuel 2, 3, 19, 64 church of Saint Adrian (Pavia) 233n Ciceri, Francesco 54, 54n Cicero, Marcus Tullius 3, 6, 6n, 9, 12, 17, 18, 19–20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 34, 38, 39, 41, (plural) 44, 45, 47, 51, [52], 55, 57, 64, 64n, 75, 75n, 77n, 79, 101n, 131n, 141, 143, 147, 153, 179, 183, 191, 223, 231, 249n, 251, 253, 257 Academica 75n Brutus 75n Catilinariae 23n De divinatione 57n, 75n De fato 57n De finibus bonorum et malorum 75n De natura deorum 57n De officiis 4, 9, 12n, 16, 19, 20–21, 23, 23n, 24, 39, 47, 48, 51, 89n, 141n, 147n De oratore 41, 75n De provinciis consularibus 55 De re publica 18, 34, 39, [79], 79n De senectute 223n Latin translation of Xenophon’s Oeconomicus 21, 253, 253n orations 55 Orator 41 Scipio’s Dream, or Somnium Scipionis (i.e., the sixth book of the De re publica) 18, 39, 79, [257] Tusculan disputations, or Tusculanae disputationes 4, 11, 17, 38, 48, 57, [75], 179 Cicero Minor, Marcus Tullius [45], [183] Ciceronian (adj.) 7, 12, 20, 52 Cincinnatus, Lucius Quintius 17, 133, 161, 249, 249n Circe 111 civil philosophy, or politics (Gr. πολιτική) 245, 251 Cleanthes 243 Cleobulus 241n Cleopatra 197, 197n, 251 Clusium 129

general index Clytemnestra 197, 197n Codrus 11, 177 Colonna, Giovanni 16n Comitium 251 Como, Lake 127 Consignatio librorum 53 Constantinople 173 Consualia 81 Contrebia 161n Corinth 241 Corinthian (adj.) 161 Cotta, Gaius Aurelius 161, 161n Council of Constance 77n, 139 Council of Pisa 2 Cretans 131 Cromwell, Oliver 36n Instrument of Government 36n Cumae 75n Curius Dentatus, Manius 15, 177n, 229 Curtius, Quintus 177, 177n Curtius Rufus, Quintus 177n Dandolo, Andrea 43n Dante. See Alighieri, Dante d’Arbois, Jean 17, 255, 255n Davus (a slave in Horace’s Satires) 31n de Canistris, Opicino Liber de laudibus civitatis Ticinensis 233n Decembrio, Angelo Camillo 1, 37n Politia litteraria 3n, 37n Decembrio, Anselmo 1 Decembrio, Modesto 1, 2, 3, 41, 52, 56–59, 61, 62n Decembrio, Paolo Valerio 1 Decembrio, Pier Candido 1, 2, 3, 8, 13, 19n, 30, 31, 36, 37, 37n, 42, 50, 50n, 51, 52, 54–56, 57–58, 62n, 217 Celestis Politia (translation of Plato’s Republic) [37n], 50, 50n De laudibus Mediolanensium urbis panegyricus 9, 37, 37n, [38] Epigramma Matthei Iohannis Secretarii 55 Eulogium in Rinucium avarum et maledicum 55 Notitiae obitus nonnullorum ex familia Decembrii Uberti et eorum sepulchri 55

283 Vita Philippi Marie Vicecomitis [36n], [54n] Decembrio, Uberto references in the De re publica libri IV [71], [73], [75], [77], 79, [80], [87], 91, 93, [99], 101, [105], [113], [117], [119– 121], [123], [129], [139], [145], [147], [155], [157], [159], [163], [165], [167– 169], [171], [179], [185], [187], [191], [193], [209], [211], [217–219], [221], [257] Life allegedly meets Petrarch 1 appointed podestà of Treviglio by Filippo Maria Visconti 2, 43, 54 appointed secretary of Pietro Filargo 1, 13, [29], [167] dies in Treviglio 2, [56] early years and family 1 imprisoned by Facino Cane 2, [3], 13, 31, 75n, [135], 217 meets Coluccio Salutati in Florence 1 moves with Filargo to Milan 2 praises Gian Galeazzo Visconti 10, 32, 167, 237 released after Facino Cane’s and Giovanni Maria Visconti’s deaths 2, 13, 217 studies Greek with Manuel Chrysoloras 2, 18n, [39] thanks Filippo Maria Visconti for the appointment of his son Pier Candido as ducal secretary 13, 217 translates Plato’s Republic with Manuel Chrysoloras 3, 8, 18n, 19, 20, 21, 39, 40–41, [52], [56], [57], [58], 64, 79 Thought adopts Petrarch’s anti-Scholastic and anti-Aristotelian polemic 18n, 38, 47 adopts Petrarch’s claim about the superiority of Latin over Greek 38, 47 composes the De re publica libri IV to overcome the ‘crisis’ of Milan 21, 36

284 definition of justice 6, 27, 91 definition of res publica (commonwealth) 6, 26, 81 political thought and ‘civic humanism’ 18–38 reappraises Aristotle 18n, 47–50 similarities with Leonardo Bruni’s political thought 21–34 the ‘inviolable rule’ of the commonwealth 18, 34, 36, 257 translates Plato’s Republic and rediscovers Greek culture and the Greek language 39–40 Works Compendium Historiae Romanae 3 De candore 3, 3n, 30, 31n, 32, 55, 56 De modestia 3, 55, 56 De re publica libri IV analysis of 4–18 composition date of 51–52 reception of 36–37, 52–54 manuscript tradition of 54–58 style of 63–65 Epistula ad consolamen amici 42n In questione proposita utrum maioris sit dignitatis an marchio an comes 42n Latin translation of Plato’s Republic 3, 8, 18–21, 23, 39, 40, 40n, 41, 50, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 64–65, 79 letters 3, 3n, 29n, 55, 56 to an unknown Scholastic follower of Aristotle 38, 47 to Antonio da Vimercate 103, 181 to Bartolomeo Capra 40–41 to Coluccio Salutati 1, 29–30, 32n to Gian Galeazzo Visconti 19, 33, 44 to Leone Morigia 62n, 73n, 115n, 153n, 183n to Manuel Chrysoloras 2 to Simone Morigia 62n, 73n Moralis philosophie dyalogi 3, 52, 53n, 55, 56, 56n, 57, 57n Oratio de adventu Martini V pontificis 51n, 55

general index poems 3 to Antonio Loschi 33 to Giovanni II Visconti 32n Sermo factus ad missam novi sacerdotis 42n Decius Mus, Publius (father) 30, 177 Decius Mus, Publius (son) 30, 177 degli Omodei, Signorolo 18, 237 degli Ubaldi, Baldo 16, 18, 237 Commentariolum super pace Constantiae 18 della Croce, Manfredo 77n character in Uberto Decembrio’s De re publica libri IV 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 77, 77n, 79, 91, [93], [99], 111, [117], 123, [129], [139], [145], [155], [157], [163], [165], [171], [185], [191], 193, [215], [221], [257] della Scala, Antonio 107n della Scala (family) [62n], 229 delle Colonne, Guido Historia destructionis Troiae 95n Demetrius Phalereus 241n democracy (Gr. δημοκρατική [πολιτεία]) 9, 131, [133] δημοκρατική. See democracy Democritus 119, 243 Demosthenes 3, 17, 41n, 253 Pro Ctesiphonte 41n de’ Terzi, Ottobuono 135 dialectic 13, 17, 205, 241, 253 δικαιοσύνη. See justice Diogenes Laertius Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 241n di Santasofia, Marsilio [62n], 237 Disticha Catonis 4 Donatist heretics 139 Dondi dell’Orologio, Giovanni 1, 42, 217 Drusus, Marcus Livius 133 Du Cange, Charles de Fresne, sieur 63n duchy of Milan 2, 15, 19 Duria, pass of the 127 economics (Gr. οἰκονομική) Egypt 123 Egyptian (adj.) 251 Egyptians 243 Elders of Genoa 31n

245, 251

285

general index Elis 235 emperor ancient Roman 73, 173 Holy Roman 43n, 135 England 125 English language 54, 63 Ennius, Quintus 11, 179 ephors 251 Epirus 249n Eppia 197n Er. See Myth of Er Erasmus (of Rotterdam), Desiderius Erastianism 14, 14n Erastus, Thomas 14 Eritonius 129 Este, Leonello dʾ 31n ethics. See natural philosophy ἠθική. See natural philosophy Etitovius 129n Etruscan (adj.) 129 Etruscans 129 εὐκαιρία. See occasion Euclid 16, 239 εὐταξία. See modesty Eutropius 249n

64n

Fabian gens 251 Fabius Maximus Eburnus, Quintus 160, 251 Fabius Maximus, Quintus (son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus) [251] Fabius Maximus Rullianus, Quintus 161n Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, Quintus 23n, 161, 223, 249–251 Fabricius Luscinus, Gaius 249, 249n Falcone, Bartolomeo 145 Faliscans 247–249 Fate (personified) 69, 181 See also Fortune Ferrando, Giovanni 42–43 Ferrara 31n Ferraù, Giacomo 52 Fiamma, Galvano Manipulus florum 129n Filargo, Pietro 1–2, 13, 29 Alexander V, pope 2, 13, 167 Flavian dynasty 233 Florence 1–2, 3, 21, 22, 25, 28n, 29, 31, 32, 34, 39, 44n, 255

Florentine (adj.) 18, 21, 23, 27, 31n, 32, 34, 38, 46, 50, 51 fortitude (Gr. ἀνδρεία) 7, 109, 151, 247 Fortune (personified) 5, [69–71], 91, 101, 103, 109, 115–117, 125, 181, 191, 193, 217–219, 247 See also Fate four humors (or elements) theory 83, 201 Francesco, bishop of Acqui 99n French dishes 87 (language) 63 words (or terms) 39, 145, 147, 147n Fulvius Flaccus, Gneus 161 Fulvius Flaccus, Quintus 161, 233 Furius 239 Gabriel (archangel) 199n Galen 99, 243 gardens of Giacomo da Modone 10, 41–42, 171 gardens of Sant’Ambrogio 4, 6, 7, 42n, 75, 163 gardens of Santa Valeria 42n Garin, Eugenio 19 Gaul 125, 125n Gauls 129 Genoa 16, 31n, 41, 46, 235 Genoese (adj.) 41, 46n, 49, 50 Genoese (people) 235 Gentile da Fabriano 17, 255, 255n geometry 13, 207 Germans (or Germani) 129, 129n Germany 125 Ghibellines 135 Giacomo da Modone 163n character in Uberto Decembrio’s De re publica libri IV 4, 10, [11], 14, 41, 163, [165], [171], [179], [185], [193], [215], [221], [243], [257] Giotto di Bondone 17, 62, 255 Giovanni da Siena (engineer) 255n Giovanni da Siena (painter) 255, 255n Giovanni da Viterbo Liber de regimine civitatum 20 Giovanni dell’Orologio. See Dondi dell’Orologio, Giovanni Giovanni di Paolo 255n Giovannolo da Mandello 43n

286 Glaucon (character in Plato’s Republic) 4, 7 Gnatho (character in Terence’s Eunuchus) 64n God 12, 14, 27, 33, 46, 64, 95, 99, 101, 103, 109, 115, 117, 125, 133, 135, 137, 139, 175, 187n, 191, 193, 223, 225 god (or deity) 6, 71, 73, 171, 181 Gorgias (philosopher) 77, 119, 243 Gracchus, Gaius Sempronius 133 Gracchus, Tiberius Sempronius 133, 197 grammar (Greek and Latin) 13, 205, 207, 211, 213 Greece 17, 171, 173, 235, 243 Greek (adj.) 4, 16, 39, 59, 65, 77, 129, 147n, 243n language 2, 7, 18, 37, 38–41, 47, 57, 62, 79, 109, 173, 205, 239, 253 Greeks 38, 38n, 40, 109, 129, 131, 159, 163, 171, 189, 207, 225, 237, 241, 243, 245, 247, 253 Guarino Veronese 40 Guelfs 135 Gyges 7, 7n, 95, 95n Hankins, James 19n, 23, 37, 50 Hannibal 14, 163, 203, 221, 221n Hecato 189 Helen 197, 197n Helicon 171 Hercules 6, 73, 157, 171, 225 Hercynian Forest 127 Hesiod 11, 179 Hildegard of Bingen 39n Hippocrates 243 Hispania 159 Holy Nail, ceremony of the 54n Homer 11, 38n, (plural) 44, 179, 243 Iliad 243n Horace 4, 11, 131n, 201, 237, 255 Ars poetica 17n, 32n Satires 31n, 153n Hortensius Hortalus, Quintus 75n Hypsicratea 197 Ianziti, Gary 54n Iapyx 243 Illyrian Sea 125 See also Adriatic Sea

general index India 123 Insubrium 127 See also Seprio International Gothic style 255n Ireland 125 Ippia 197, 197n Isidore of Seville Etymologiae or Origines 95n Isocrates 243 Istria 125 Italian (adj.) [79n] language 63, 233n See also vernacular religion 137 Italic tribe 69 Italy 71, 125, 127, 129, 159, 163, 189, 243 Iubilus, Marcus 251, 251n Jacobins 6n Jesus 64 See also Christ Jews 139, 139n Job (prophet) 181n book of 103n John of Salisbury Policraticus 28 Jovinian heretics 139 Jugurthine War 159 Julia (Caesar’s daughter) 197 Julian Alps 127 Julius Caesar. See Caesar, Gaius Julius Julius Paris epitome of Valerius Maximus’ Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri 161n Jupiter (god) 64 Jupiter (planet) 207 justice (Gr. δικαιοσύνη) 4–5, 6–7, 10, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, 26–28, 29, 34, 36, 47, 53, 79, 81, 83, 89–105, 109, 111, 113, 117, 123, 137, 149–151, 167, 177, 179, 209, 237, 239, 245, 247, 249, 251, 255, 257 cosmic 19 definition of 5, 6–7, 26–27, 89, 91 divine 10, 10n examples of 247–249 eye of the soul 113 first office of 149, 183

287

general index foundation of the commonwealth 27– 28, 83, 89, 171, 237 holy [27], 33 human 10, 10n, 19, 91 origin of 93 Platonic model of 10n Justinian I 10, 14, 32, 46n, 99, 227 Digest 171, 173n Juvenal, Decimus Junius 4, 10, 11, 177, 189, 213, 225, 227, 231 Satires 13, 157n, 197 Kaiser, Cristian 41 Keyes, Clinton W. 34n Lacedaemon 241, 251 Lacedaemonians 151, 197, 253 See also Laconians and Spartans Laconians 131, 185 See also Lacedaemonians and Spartans Lactantius 34 Landulf of Saint Paul Historia Mediolanensis 6n Lar (and Lares) 249n Latin (adj.) 3, 4, 13, 16, 39, 41, 42, 47, 51, 54, 55, 57, 58, 65, 77, 133n, 159, 163, 181, 233n, 249, 253n Latini, Brunetto Livre du Trésor 20 Latin language 3, 19, 21, 31, 38, 39, 41, 47, 50, 60, 64n, 79, 187, 205, 239, 245, 249, 253 archaic 64 classical (or ancient) 39, 62, 63, 64, 64n ecclesiastical 64 humanist 63, 64 medieval 61, 63, 64, 65 Latins 38, 47, 109, 203, 241 Laufella 197, 197n law 5, 6, 10–11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 26, 28, 33, 34, 70, 73, 79, 81, 83, 87, 91, 93, 99, 131, 133, 143, 149, 171n, 173, 175, 177, 191, 225, 227, 229, 231, 233, 237, 239, 249 Agrarian 83 basic 36 canon 10, 18, 175, 237 civil 10, 18, 101, 173, 237 Corn 83 divine 139

eternal and unchangeable 34 holy 121, 139 human 6, 79, 245 Marriage 83 municipal 10, 17, 173, 175, 239 of nations 10, 173, [175], 191 of society 149 of the Twelve Tables 83, 173 praetorian 239 primitive natural (or nature’s) 10, 115, 171, 191 public 83 Roman 32, 46n, 173 unwritten 10, 175 written 9, 10, 141 Lazio 221n Leonardo Aretino. See Bruni, Leonardo Leontini 119, 243 Leontius Pilatus 38n Lepidus, Marcus Aemilius 203 Libya 123 Liguria 42, 53, 69, 75, 125, 127, 135, 221 Ligurians 163 Lindos 241n Lingones 129 Liutprand 233, 233n Livy 4, 8, 14, 23, 23n, 81n, 125, 125n, 127, 127n, 129, 129n, 221, 221n Historiae 125n, [127] Locrians 249 Lombards 233 Lombard school 209n Lombardy 1n, 38, 43, 52 Loschi, Antonio 1, 21, 33, 40 Lucan 4, 10, 11, 23, 133, 149, 177, 179, 179n Pharsalia 11, 23n, 32, 133n, 179n Lucius III, pope De novi operis nunciatione 175n Lydia 95, 241, 241n Lysias 3 Macedon 163, 243 Machaon [243], 243n Machiavelli, Niccolò 20n Maelius, Spurius 133 Maeotian marshes 125 Maggiore, Lake 127 Magna Graecia 71

288 Magnani, Bernardino 145 Mai, Angelo [79n] Maineri, Maino de 16, 237 Mallius Maximus, Gnaeus 233n Manlius, Gaius 231, 233, 233n Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus, Titus 161 Mantegazza, Agnese 41 Mantua 69 Marazzi, Caterina 1 Marcellus, Marcus Claudius 163 Marco Genovese 43n, 44 Marius, Gaius 189 Mars (planet) 207 Martesana 127 Martin V, pope 2, 51, 139 Martini, Simone 255n Martin of Tours, Saint 52 Mary, Virgin 64 Annunciation to the [199], 199n mathematics 243 Matthias (apostle) 139 Mauritania 123 Mausolus 197 McManus, Stuart M. 31n Medea 197, 197n Medici, Cosimo deʾ 50 medicine 16, 85, [91], [99], 101, [183], 185, 237, 243 Mediolanum 127, 129 Mela, Marcus Annaeus 179n melancholic man. See four humors theory Mercury (planet) 207 Messalina 197, 197n Messenia 163n Messius, Quintus 161, 161n Metellus Macedonicus, Quintus Caecilius 161n Metellus Numidicus, Quintus Caecilius 133, 159 Methoni (Gr. Μεθώνη, It. Modone) 62n, 163n Michelino (or Michele) of Pavia. See Molinari da Besozzo, Michelino Middle Ages 8, 10, 13n, 19, 40, 60, 60n, 63n Milan 1–2, 3, 4n, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 29, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 42n, 51, 52, 54n, 55, 56, 69, [71], [73], 75n, 77n, [79], [99], 127, 129n, [135–137],

general index 139n, 165, [168], 171, [189], 218, [229], 229n, [235], 237, [239] Cathedral 2, 51 foundation of 8, 37, 125–129 mistress and mirror of all Liguria 42, 69 Petrarch’s stay in 1, [4], [38–39], 42n, 171n site of 5, 8, 37, 37n, 123–127 Milanese (adj.) 38, 44n, 46, 54 citizens (or people) 9, 22, 129, [175], [183], [189], [195] duchy. See duchy of Milan Miletus 241 military artifice (Gr. στρατηγήμα) 163 See also stratagem Minerva 75, 131, 145 Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus, Lucius 161 Minyan (adj.) 197 Mithridates 197 modesty (Gr. εὐταξία) 3, 6, 83, 109, [121], 137, 153, 157, 187, 189, [191], 195, 199, [213], 231, 247 Molinari da Besozzo, Michelino 1, 13, 209, 209n, 255, 255n Montemagno, Buonaccorso da 33 De nobilitate 33 moon 207, 243 moral philosophy (Gr. ἠθική) [5], [6], [8], [10–11], 17, [20], [38], [47], [71], [77], [79], 241, 245 Morigia, Leone 62n, 73n, 115n, 153n, 183n character in Uberto Decembrio’s De re publica libri IV 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 36, 73, 75, 77, 87, 89, 91, 99, 105, 113, 117, 123, 129, [145], 147, 155, 157, 157n, 163, 179, 209, 213, [215], [221], [257] Morigia, Simone 62n, 73n character in Uberto Decembrio’s De re publica libri IV 4, 5, 6, [7], 13, [14], 27, 73, 75, 77, 79, 89, 91, 105, 117, 123, 129, [145], 147, 155, 157, 163, 211, [215], [221], [257] Moses 193n book of 12n, 193 See also Pentateuch Mucius Scevola, Quintus 189, 239 music 13, 38n, 91, [183], 185, 207 Myson 241n

general index Myth of Er 18, 48, 257 Mytilene 241 Naevius, Quintus 233, 233n Naples 16, 16n, 42, 43, 55, 56, 56n, 235 natural philosophy (Gr. φυσική) 50, 183, [239], 241, 243 Navius, Quintus 233n Nelli, Francesco 4n Nemean lion 73 Niccoli, Niccolò 25, 32n, 39 Novara 1 Numantia 159 occasion (Gr. εὐκαιρία) 189 οἰκονομική. See economics Old Testament 181n See also Bible and Vulgate Olgiati, Antonio 55 Oliari, Bartolomeo 31n ὀλιγαρχική. See oligarchy oligarchy (Gr. ὀλιγαρχική [πολιτεία]) 9, 129, 131 Olympic Games 16, 235 Olympus, Mount 235 Ovid 4, 8, 69, 69n, 139, 199, 213, 253 Ars amatoria 199n, 213n Padua 46, 217, 237 Paduan 42 Paeligni 69n Paelignan (adj.) 69 pagan (adj.) 6, 75, 223 paganism [64], [75], 115n, [137], [179n], [223], [257] pagans 75, 137 Palatine Hill (Rome) 75n Palmieri, Matteo Vita civile 20 Pamphylia 257 Πανδέκται 173 Panigarola family 17, 239 Papias Elementarium doctrinae 65 Papirius Cursor, Lucius 161 Paris (city) 12n Paris, Julius. See Julius Paris Parrhasius 17, 255, 255n Patarenes 139, 139n

289 Paulus Diaconus 233n Paulus, Lucius Aemilius 30, 163 Pavia 1–2, 16, 52, 56, 145, 209, 233, 233n, 237, 255 Pavian (adj.) 1, 16 Library. See Visconti Library Pecuniola, Publius Aurelius 161n Pelignian 69 Peloponnese 163n Penates 179n Peni 129, 129n Pennine pass 129n Pentateuch (or Torah) 193n Deuteronomy 193n Exodus 193n Genesis 12n, 193n Leviticus 193n Numbers 193n Periander 241, 241n Peripatetics 115 Perseus of Macedon 163n Perugia 221, 237 Peter, Saint 237n Petilius Spurinus, Quintus 163 Petrarch (or Petrarca), Francesco 1, 4n, 16, 17, 18, 34, 38, 39, 41–46, 47, 56, 58, 59, 60n, 61, 62, 62n, 64, 171, 171n, 209n, 255n Contra eum qui maledixit Italie 38 De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia 38 De viris illustribus 62n latin poem to Barbato da Sulmona 42n Res familiares 41, 43 Res seniles 41, 42, 55, 56 uncollected letters 43 Phaedra 197, 197n Phalaris 189 phlegmatic man. See four humors theory φρόνησις. See prudence φυσική. See physics Piacentini, Angelo 3n Piacenza 52, 237 Piccolomini, Enea Silvio 16, 16n De liberis educandis 16n Pietro da Castelletto 209n Pilatus, Leontius. See Leontius Pilatus Pindar 101, 101n Pirene 241, 241n Pisa (Greece) 235

290 Pisa (Italy) 2, 16, 61, 65, 235 Pisanello 31 Piso Frugi, Lucius Calpurnius 161 Pittacus 241, 251 Pizolpasso, Francesco 31n, 37n Plancus, Gaius 197, 197n Plancus, Marcus 197, 197n Platina. See Sacchi, Bartolomeo Plato 3–14, 16, 17–23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32, 37, 39–41, 44, 46, 47–50, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 64–65, 71, 77n, 79, 95, 101, 119–121, 129–131, 141, 141n, 143, 147, 149, 151, 155–157, 177, 179, 205–207, 209–211, 239, 241, 243, 251, 253, 253n, 257 arithmetic 65n, 205–207 banning of poets and painters 8, 26n, 32n, 47, [50n], 52, 253, 253n community of goods, wives, and children 9, 40, 47, 48–49, [50n], 52, 119–121, 157– 159, 177n dialectic 65n, 241 five types of regimes 9, 37, 37n, 129–131 gold, silver, and bronze/iron men 9, 11, 22, 187, 239 ‘healthy’ and ‘fevered’ city 6, 25, 52n, 81–89 metaphysics 8, [48], [119] philosopher-king 9, 11, 20, [137], [139– 143], [177], [183–185], [187], [201], [209], [223], [231], [235], [239], [251], [253] theory of the transmigration of souls 40, 47–48, [119], [257] two rules (or warnings) of 21, 141 utopia 3, 46, 47 Works 19, 39, 50, 79 Apology of Socrates 8, 50 Crito 50 Gorgias 50 Letters 23 Laws 8, 28 Phaedo 39n, 50 Phaedrus 8, 50 Protagoras 241n Republic 3, 4–5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 37, 39, 40, 41, 46, 47, 50, [50n], 52, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 60n, 62, 62n, 64, 79, 95n, 101n, [119– 121], 147, [155], 179, 211n, 253n, [257]

general index Symposium 12, 12n, 50 Timaeus 19, 40 Platonic 3, 6, 8, 9, 10n, 14, 19, 40, 46, 48, 52n, 65n Platonist 8 Plautius Hypsaeus, Marcus 197n Plautius Numida, Gaius 197n Plautus 84 Pliny the Elder Historia naturalis 95n Plutarch Life of Pyrrhus 249n Pompey the Great 197 Pontic Gulf 159 Pontus 197 Porta Romana (Milan) 2 Portia 197 Postumius, Lucius 161, 161n Postumius Tubertus, Aulus 161n Prague 1 Priene 241n Priscian 60 prudence (Gr. φρόνησις) 7, 83, 109, 111, [113], [137], [147], 167, 187, 193, 197, [199], [223], [229], 245 See also wisdom Publilius Syrus 119 Pyrrhus 249, 249n Pythagoras 119, 241 Pythagorean (adj.) 8, 48, 71 Pythagoreans 243 Quintilian 41 Institutio oratoria

41

Ramus, Peter 47 rape of the Sabine women [81], 81n rational philosophy 17, 241, 253 Regulus, Marcus Attilius 23n, 30 rhetoric 13, 17, 45, 64n, 183, 185, 205, 241 Riccardo da Saliceto 237 Rimini 25 Roman (adj.) 9, 14, 15, 22, 28, 32, 73, 131, 139, 159, 163, 197, 203, 223, 233, 249 commonwealth 159 discipline 14, 23, 159, 163 empire 159 law. See law, Roman people 43, 173, 227, 251

general index republic 19, 21, 23, [28], 29, 32 state 30, 131 Romans 1, 14, 75, 81, 129, 159, 173, 179, 197, 203, 207, 221, 223, 225, 227, 229, 231, 235, 247, 249 Rome 14, 16, 17, 34, 37, 83, 127, 129, 129n, 131, 139, 179, 189, 221, 235, 251 Romulus 81, 159 Rostra 251 Rupilius, Publius 159n Ruthenia 125 Rutilianus, Fabius 161, 161n Rutilius, Publius 159 Rutilius Rufus, Publius 133, 231 Sacchi, Bartolomeo 34 De vera nobilitate 34 Sallust 43 Bellum Iugurthinum 43 De coniuratione Catilinae 22 Salluvii 62n, 129 Salutati, Coluccio 1, 29, 30, 31, 31n, 32, 32n, 37n, 39, 40, 40n De tyranno 31n letters 31n, 40n Samnites 15, 229 Samos 241 sanguine man. See four humors theory Sardanapalus 225, 225n satirists 183, 255 Saturn 207 Saufeia 197n Scaevola. See Mucius Scaevola, Quintus Scaurus, Gaius Aurelius 231 Scaurus, Marcus Aemilius 223 Schmitt, Carl 36, 36n Scholastic (adj.) 77n Aristotelianism 38 disputation 77n unknown scholar 38, 40, 47 school of Chartres 40 Scipio Aemilianus, Publius Cornelius 159, 251, 257 Scipio Africanus, Publius Cornelius 14, 159, 221, 251, 257 Scipio Nasica, Publius Cornelius 223, 223n Scipio, Publius Cornelius 203 Scythia 125 Second Rome 37, 127, 127n

291 Segovesus 125–127 Senate (Roman) 15, 28, 161, 163, 177, 189, 249n, 251 Seneca, Lucius Anneus (or Seneca the Younger) 4, 10, 30, 38, 41, 42, 47, 52, 64, 167, [179], 179n, 199, 207 dialogues 23n Epistulae ad Lucilium 3, 167n Octavia 199n Senones 125, 129 Seprio 127 See also Insubrium Sette, Guido 43n, 46n, 171n seven sages of Greece 173, 241, 241n, [243] shrine of Ambrose 73, 77, 99 See also Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan Sicily 159, 161, 163, 243 Siena 2, 255 Sienese (adj.) 255 Simonides 7n Sirens 143 Skinner, Quentin 20 Socrates 49, 119, 141, 177, 225, 243, 245 character in Plato’s Republic 7, 7n, 52, 79, 247, 253n Solon 173, 241 σοφία. See wisdom Sophocles 11, 179 σωφροσύνη. See temperance Spartans 251 See also Lacedaemonians and Laconians statue of Bacchus in the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio 6, 6n, 73 Stoic (adj.) 7, 12 Stoics 115, 131, 169, 243, 247 stratagem 149–151, 163, 205 See also military artifice στρατηγήματα. See military artifice and stratagem Strozzi, Nanni 24 Suetonius De vita Caesarum 57n Sulla, Lucius Cornelius 189, 203 Sulmona 42, 69 sun 113, 123, 207, 243 Syracuse 163

292 Tanais 125 Taranto 243 Tarquinius Priscus 129 Tarquinius Superbus, Lucius 131 Taurine passes 127, 127n Taurus, Mount 159 temperance (Gr. σωφροσύνη) 7, 17, 109, 111, 141, 153, 167, 231, 245–247 Tempier, Étienne 12n temple of Janus 235 temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus 251 temple of the nourishing Virgin 139 See also Milan Cathedral Terence 56n, 64, 89n Eunuchus 64 Testaccio, Mount 235 Thales 241 Themison 245 Theophrastus 48n, 119 Theopompus 251 Thessaly 235 Thierry of Chartres 40 Thomas Aquinas, Saint 8, 10n, 20, 28, 34, 34n, 40, 119n commentary on Aristotle’s Physics 107n Summa Theologiae 34n Thrace 125 Thurii 249n Ticino Bridge 237 Ticino River 14, 127, 203, 221, 233 timocracy (Gr. τιμοκρατική [πολιτεία]) 9, 37n, 129, [131] τιμοκρατική. See timocracy Titius, Gaius 161 Titus Livius. See Livy Torah. See Pentateuch Trajan 17, 249, 249n Trasimene, Lake 14, 221 Trebbia River 14, 221 Trebia 161, 161n Treviglio 2, 42, 43, 54, 54n Trojan War 243 True Light, the. See Christ Tuscany 221n Tuscia 221, 221n Tusculum 75n tyranny 9, 15, 21–22, 32, 36, 38, 111, 131, 133, 135, [217] Tyre 249, 249n

general index Uguccione da Pisa 61 Magnae derivationes 65 Ulpian 7, 27, 171n Umbria 221n Umbrians 129 University of Bologna 237, 237n University of Padua 237 University of Pavia 16, 51, 52, 73n, 237, 239 Valerius Maximus 4, 9, 10, 15, 17, 23, 137, 159, 159n, 161n, 163n, 177n, 189, 197, 197n, 233n, 239n, 249n, 251n Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri (or De dictis et factis memorabilibus) 23n, 62 Valerius Publicola, Publius 23n, 131 Varro, Marcus Terentius Saturae Menippeae 64 Venetian (adj.) 163n Venetians 125, 235 Venice 2, 16, 43, 235 Venus 207 Verbano, Lake 127 Vercelli 41 Vergerio, Pier Paolo 37n, 40, 40n vernacular (i.e., Italian) 39, 60 See also Italian language Verona 15, 62n, 107n, 129, 229 Vigevano 1, 13, 46n Virgil 15, (plural) 44, 56n, 57, 69, 81, 95, 181n, 201, 205, 213, 227, 255 Aeneid 43, [95n] Georgics 81n Virgin Mary. See Mary, Virgin Visconti, Bernabò 41, 43n Visconti, Caterina 41 Visconti court 53–54, 255 Visconti duchy (or state). See duchy of Milan Visconti family 18n, 28, 32n, 33, 41, 44n, 237 ‘plenitude of power’ 18, 28, 37 Visconti, Filippo Maria 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, [16], [20], 21, 31, 32, 32n, 36–37, 40, 51–54, 57, 69, 77n, [119], [135], [167], [218], [237–239] Decree on the Crime of Lèse-majesté 36, 54 Visconti, Gabriele Maria 41 Visconti, Galeazzo II 16, 237

293

general index Visconti, Gian Galeazzo 1, 2, 10, 15, 16, 19n, 21, 32n, 33, 41, 44n, 46n, 107n, 135, [167], 209n, [237] Visconti, Giovanni II (archbishop of Milan) 32n Visconti, Giovanni (archbishop and lord of Milan) 15, 18, 75, 75n, 229, 229n Visconti, Giovanni Maria 2, 21, 77n, 135 Visconti Library 16, 51, 53, 217, 239 Visconti, Luchino 18, 75n Visconti Milan. See Milan Vittorino da Feltre 16n Vulgate 139n See also Bible and Old Testament Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia 1 William of Conches 40 William of Moerbeke 39, 39n

Latin translation of Aristotle’s Historia animalium 39 wisdom (Gr. σοφία) 4, [6], 7, 9, [14], 15, [29], [38], 69, 77, [81], 91, [93], 101, 103, 105, 109, [113], [115–117], [123], [133], 143, [147], [149], 167, 171, [173], 185, [189], 205, [207–209], [221], 223, [225], 231, [235], 241, [253] See also prudence Xenophilus 243 Xenophon 251 Oeconomicus 21, 51, 251–253 Zaleucus 249 Zanella, Antonio 42, 57 Zeno 243 Zeuxis 17, 255, 255n