Moral essays. With an English translation by J.W. Basore

ON MERCY, I. VIII. 5-ix. 2great power causes wider terror than harm, and notwithout reason ; for when the doer is omnipotent, menconsider not how much he has done, but how much heis Ukely to do. Consider, too, that whereas privatecitizens, by enduring the \\Tongs aheady received,he more open to recei\'ing others, yet kings byclemency gain a security more assured, becauserepeated punishment, while it crushes the hatred ofa few, stirs the hatred of all. The inchnation to ventone's rage should be less strong than the provocationfor it ; otherwise, just as trees that have beentrimmed throw out again countless branches, and asmany kinds of plants are cut back to make them growthicker, so the cruelty of a king by removing hisenemies increases their number ; for the parents andchildren of those who have been killed, their relativestoo and their friends, step into the place of eachsingle \ictim.By an example from your own family I wish toremind you how true this is. The deified Augustuswas a mild prince if one should undertake to judgehim from the time of his principate ; but when heshared the state with others," he A^-ielded the sword.When he was at your present age, having just passedhis eighteenth year," he had already buried hisdagger in the bosom of friends ; he had already instealth aimed a blow at the side of the consul, MarkAntony ; he had already been a partner in proscription.But when he had passed his fortieth yearand was staying in Gaul,'^ the information was broughtto him that Lucius Cinna,"* a dull-witted man, wasconcocting a plot against him. He was told whereCornelius Cinna, son-in-law of Pompey, was the father of theconspirator.381