《君主论·第十九章·应当避免受轻视与憎恨》第10节
But let us come to Alexander, who was a man of such great goodness, that among the other praises which are accorded him is this, that in the fourteen years he held the empire no one was ever put to death by him unjudged; nevertheless, being considered effeminate and a man who allowed himself to be governed by his mother, he became despised, the army conspired against him, and murdered him. Turning now to the opposite characters of Commodus, Severus, Antoninus Caracalla, and Maximinus, you will find them all cruel and rapacious-men who, to satisfy their soldiers, did not hesitate to commit every kind of iniquity against the people; and all, except Severus, came to a bad end; but in Severus there was so much valour that, keeping the soldiers friendly, although the people were oppressed by him, he reigned successfully; for his valour made him so much admired in the sight of the soldiers and people that the latter were kept in a way astonished and awed and the former respectful and satisfied. And because the actions of this man, as a new prince, were great, I wish to show briefly that he knew well how to counterfeit the fox and the lion, which natures, as I said above, it is necessary for a prince to imitate.
注释摘要
马基雅维利在这一段里开始正面回应一个可能动摇他整个论证的难题：如果“避免被轻视与憎恨”真是君主保位的铁律，那为什么历史上那么多罗马皇帝明明各有优点，甚至不乏美德，却还是被推翻、被杀害？他选取从哲学家皇帝马可·奥勒留一直到马克西米努斯这一长串帝国统治者作为样本，逐一剖析他们的结局，目的是要证明，导致他们覆灭的原因恰恰不是别的，正是憎恨与轻视——只不过在不同类…