SECT. XII.
XLVI. I would not have it understood by what I have said, that I think the reading of Machiavel would not be pernicious; for it would without doubt be so to many, and especially if their dispositions incline them to the side of ambition. There have been, and ever will be, an infinite number of tyrants, who never heard of, or read Machiavel’s book, intituled The Prince; but that book may probably have made tyrants of many, who never would have been such without perusing it; and it would have the same effect in the hands of a weak prince, that the mouth of an evil counsellor would have applied to his ear.
XLVII. One of the most atrocious and treacherous acts ever recorded in history, and one that has made the greatest noise in the world, was, the unworthy putting to death of the great Pompey, which was occasioned intirely, by young Ptolemy who was then king of Egypt, having at the time it was committed, a Machiavel by his side, in the person of the depraved Theodotus.
XLVIII. Pompey, after being routed in the battle of Pharsalia, and becoming a fugitive from Cæsar and his fortune, thought no asylum could be more convenient and safe for him, than the kingdom of Egypt; because the prince who then reigned there, was indebted to him, for the great favour of having reinstated his father on that throne, from whence he had been cast down by his own subjects. On the confidence of this service, he steered for Alexandria, and upon entering the port, sent to inform the king of his arrival, and beg that protection from him, which he had so just a right to demand. The king summoned a council to deliberate on the matter, in which the majority of votes, were for doing what was honourable and right, and gave it as their opinion, that the unfortunate hero should be entertained and protected. But Theodotus, who had got the ascendency over the young king, and who had more influence with him than every body else, suggested to him, that he should not only not grant Pompey his protection, but that he should take away his life also.
XLIX. But let us hear from Lucan, the reasons of convenience, on which that depraved politician grounded his advice for perpetrating so horrid and atrocious an act of treachery, in order, that by comparing them with those of Machiavel, we may discern, whether the principles of the Florentine master were well understood in those times. But it is proper to observe, that Lucan makes the eunuch Photinus the author of the advice, instead of Theodotus; whereas other writers do not make Photinus the adviser, but assisted by the general Aquilas, the executor of the wickedness; and some others again, attribute to this last, a great part, if not the whole of the suggestion.
L. But whether Theodotus, Aquilas, or Photinus, was the first who suggested the treacherous cruelty, is not material to the main question. The arguments used with Ptolemy, to incite him to the deed, were as follow: That great as his father’s obligations were to Pompey, he ought to consider, that he owed more to himself than he did to him; that Fortune had declared itself in favour of Cæsar, and against Pompey, and that it would be the height of imprudence to take part with that side, to whom Fortune was averse; that although it was true, the affording Pompey an asylum had the appearance of an honest action, still, princes ought not to attend to what was honest, but to what was useful; that the monarch, who is desirous of confining his operations within the limits of justice, is more a slave of the laws, than a master of his dominions; that the supreme power is paramount to all law, nor can it acknowledge any subjection; that it was beyond a doubt, the affording Pompey protection in his kingdom, would soon bring on him, the invincible arms of Cæsar, and the power of the whole Roman empire; against which attack, he would be unable to make the slightest resistance; that he already, as far as his ability went, had complied with his obligations to Pompey, by wishing that he might be victorious; but now that Cæsar had won the day, he ought to attach himself to die conqueror, and endeavour to court his favour, by taking away the life of Pompey; that pursuing the medium, of neither receiving nor destroying him, would be the worst resolution they could take, for that by such a determination, they would lose the useful, without attaining the honest; that Cæsar would always look upon him as an enemy, who having had it in his power, should neglect to destroy his rival, although all the rest of the world should regard him as ungrateful, for refusing to protect his benefactor. It was also suggested, that it would not be difficult to assign a religious motive for destroying Pompey, and to cover the cruelty of the action under that pretence; for it might be alledged, that he was sacrificed to the goddess of Fortune, who had already declared herself adverse to the unhappy hero; that this sacrifice seemed not only to be dictated by religion, but justice also; for that protecting Pompey under such circumstances, in the kingdom of Egypt, and in the manner he wished, would infallibly, by provoking the indignation of Cæsar, bring on it ruin and desolation, and that he ought therefore to be proceeded against with fire and sword, as against an avowed enemy of the state.
LI. I ask now, if Nicholas Machiavel, placed at the ear of the king of Egypt in that conjuncture, and under the like circumstances, could have said more? Thus there always were Machiavels, and they were always pernicious and did mischief, when concerned in the administration of public affairs, not only to the people at large, but most commonly to the princes themselves, whose exaltation or security they endeavoured to promote, by the practice and adoption of impious and cruel maxims.
LII. I believe, that although all who read the relation we have just been discussing, will abominate the advice of Theodotus, as base, tyrannical, violent, inhuman, and atrocious; there are many of those who attend to nothing but temporal convenience, will think it salutary; but observe, that instead of this, it was extremely hurtful and injurious. They perpetrated the murder of the great Pompey, by adding to the act of cruelty, another of treachery, which was coaxing him to come ashore, by an assurance, that the king had engaged his royal word that his life should be safe. What was the result of all this? That Ptolemy obtained the hoped for friendship of Cæsar? That Theodotus, Aquilas, and Photinus, were rewarded for the great service they had done him, by freeing him for ever from the apprehension of so formidable an enemy as Pompey? No, nothing of this sort fell out in consequence of the base act; but it happened, that in a few days after, Ptolemy in a most tragical manner, lost his kingdom and his life, and that the three authors and executors of the murder of Pompey, Theodotus, Aquilas, and Photinus, died miserably; which consequences are produced, either by impious maxims tending naturally to bring on misfortunes, or by the interposition of the Supreme Providence, which superintends and watches over human affairs, and with an especial design, fulminates his wrath on the authors of such wickedness, in a manner, that serves to make them scarecrows to terrify, as well as examples to warn others.
SECT. XIII.
LIII. I am fully persuaded, that if the case on which the council of king Ptolemy deliberated, had been referred to the politicians of our Europe, and in our age, that not one of them would have advised the putting to death of Pompey; but it is likely there would have been very few of them so generous, as to recommend the receiving and protecting him. In truth, although not only generous, but hazardous resolutions, may be appendages to the punctilios of princes, and may spring from that source, they are very rarely suggested to them by their counsellors. Thus, if a point of this sort was to be discussed by the council of a king now-a-days, the consideration of the danger of protecting Pompey on the one hand, and the scandal of sacrificing him to the resentment of Cæsar on the other, would most probably have determined them to pursue the middle way, of neither entertaining nor injuring him, and would have left to his own election, the choice of another asylum, and to his fortune, the good or bad exit from his troubles; nor do I doubt but that in the court of Ptolemy there were some, and possibly the major part, of this opinion. Notwithstanding this, if I had been a member of that council, I should have given my vote for the most benign, not only as the most honest, but the most useful and beneficial resolve they could have fallen upon; and I even think, it would have had great weight with the king, if any one of those who assisted at it, had recommended to him the protection of Pompey, for the reasons, supported with some such arguments as follow, which altogether I shall call