《君主论·第十九章·应当避免受轻视与憎恨》第8节
There is first to note that, whereas in other principalities the ambition of the nobles and the insolence of the people only have to be contended with, the Roman emperors had a third difficulty in having to put up with the cruelty and avarice of their soldiers, a matter so beset with difficulties that it was the ruin of many; for it was a hard thing to give satisfaction both to soldiers and people; because the people loved peace, and for this reason they loved the unaspiring prince, whilst the soldiers loved the warlike prince who was bold, cruel, and rapacious, which qualities they were quite willing he should exercise upon the people, so that they could get double pay and give vent to their own greed and cruelty. Hence it arose that those emperors were always overthrown who, either by birth or training, had no great authority, and most of them, especially those who came new to the principality, recognizing the difficulty of these two opposing humours, were inclined to give satisfaction to the soldiers, caring little about injuring the people. Which course was necessary, because, as princes cannot help being hated by someone, they ought, in the first place, to avoid being hated by every one, and when they cannot compass this, they ought to endeavour with the utmost diligence to avoid the hatred of the most powerful. Therefore, those emperors who through inexperience had need of special favour adhered more readily to the soldiers than to the people; a course which turned out advantageous to them or not, accordingly as the prince knew how to maintain authority over them.
注释摘要
在进入罗马皇帝们的具体案例之前，马基雅维利先澄清了一个结构性的差异，理解这个差异是把握此后一连串血腥故事的前提。他在这里搭建的是一套“三股势力”的分析框架。在一般的君主国，君主只需要应对两种力量：贵族的野心与民众的傲慢。但罗马帝国的情况截然不同，皇帝们必须额外面对第三股势力，那就是军队。这不是一支现代意义上可以召之即来的国家武装，而是一支常年驻扎在帝国各行…