《君主论·第九章·市民的君主国》第4节
Nabis, Prince of the Spartans, sustained the attack of all Greece, and of a victorious Roman army, and against them he defended his country and his government; and for the overcoming of this peril it was only necessary for him to make himself secure against a few, but this would not have been sufficient had the people been hostile. And do not let any one impugn this statement with the trite proverb that “He who builds on the people, builds on the mud,” for this is true when a private citizen makes a foundation there, and persuades himself that the people will free him when he is oppressed by his enemies or by the magistrates; wherein he would find himself very often deceived, as happened to the Gracchi in Rome and to Messer Giorgio Scali in Florence. But granted a prince who has established himself as above, who can command, and is a man of courage, undismayed in adversity, who does not fail in other qualifications, and who, by his resolution and energy, keeps the whole people encouraged—such a one will never find himself deceived in them, and it will be shown that he has laid his foundations well. Nabis, tyrant of Sparta, conquered by the Romans under Flamininus in 195 B.C.; killed 192 B.C.
注释摘要
这段论证处在第九章的核心位置。马基雅维利在本章处理的是市民君主国，也就是一个普通公民凭借同胞的拥戴而非邪恶手段或赤裸暴力登上君主之位的路径。他已经分析了依靠贵族与依靠人民两种方式的难易之别，并且反复强调君主必须把人民争取到自己一边。现在他需要面对一个经典的反驳：既然有句老话说“建立在人民之上就是建立在泥滩上”，那他这套主张岂不是建立在不可靠的基础之上？这一…