[hprints-00683151, v2] Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pius II ... - Hprints.org

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hprints-00683151, version 2 - 19 Mar 2013 [62] Civium modo naturam examinemus, quae pro vestra securitate non est parum consideranda 610 . Plenum namque periculi est inter cives vivere, qui ipsi 611 inter se divisi discordiosique sint, qui nullo inter se pacto cohaereant. Talibus enim in civitatibus necesse est saepe immutari regimina: nunc unum esse, nunc alium principatum. {9v} Neque innovari sine discrimine res possunt, et quemadmodum ait Comicus: Non fit sine periculo magnum facinus et memorabile.Quod intelligo non solum eorum, qui agunt, sed spectantium etiam. [63] Sed nihil horum in urbe Papiensi 612 trepidabitis 613 . Est enim populus pacicolus 614 , quieti et otio deditus, cives perurbani, non belli aut intestinarum avidi discordiarum, sed suis occupati possessionibus, plurimum tempus in agricultura 615 consumunt, et juxta Graecum proverbium, quam quisque artem novit in hac se exercet. Nec vano libertatis nomine gloriantur quemadmodum aliqui, qui tum se liberos vocant, cum maxime serviunt, et subesse quampluribus liberum fore dicunt. Ego vero quietiorem populo Papiensi nullum adhuc reperi 616 , qui et suo semper principi oboedivit, et devotissimus ecclesiae fuit. 610 considerare M 611 omit. N 612 Papiensium M 613 trepidabitur M 614 placidus M; pacificus Z 615 agricoltura D 616 repperi B, C, D, N 122
hprints-00683151, version 2 - 19 Mar 2013 4.2.2. The citizens of Pavia are peace-loving and tranquil [62] Let us look for a moment at the character of the citizens. This is clearly relevant to your security for it is highly risky to live among citizens who are divided and contentious and who can in no way become reconciled. In such cities there are of necessity frequent political changes: now they have one leadership, now another 617 . However, political changes are never without risk, and as the Comic Poet 618 says: You can’t do anything big or brilliant without risk. 619 This applies not only to the actors, but also to the bystanders. [63] None of this you have to fear in the city of Pavia. It is a peace-loving people, given to quietness and tranquility. The citizens are perfectly civilized and do not want war or civil discord. They are occupied with their own business and spend most of their time on agriculture. They live according to the Greek proverb The art which each man knows, in this let he employ himself. 620 They are not vainly boasting of the name of liberty as others do who call themselves free when in reality they are slaves, and who believe that freedom is to have many masters. Personally, I have never seen a quieter people that the Pavians: they have always been obedient to their own prince, and they are highly devoted to the Church 621 . 617 This is an early statement of Piccolomini/Pius’ inveterate disdain of democratic government and the common people. His views on this matter were probably influenced by the history of Siena, where the popular party in the 14th century expelled the noble families, including the Piccolomini, both from power and from the city itself. Afterwards the Piccolomini family fell into poverty and insignificance, from which it was saved only by their illustrious member, our Piccolomini himself, as he rose to be a prince of the Empire and of the Church and finally to the Papal Throne 618 Comicus = Publius Terentius Afer: Roman playwright (195/185 – 159 BC), better known in English as Terence, He was one of Piccolomini’s favourite classical authors 619 Terentius, Heautontimoroumenos, 314. Quoted from the Loeb edition of 1994 620 Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, 1, 18, 41. Quoted from the Loeb edition of 1927 621 i.e. both to their secular and religious rulers 123
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[hprints-00683151, v2] Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pius II ... - Hprints.org

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