The first way by which we can set right and improve the condition of our country is to select as our advisers on affairs of state the kind of men whose advice we should desire on our private affairs, and to stop thinking of the sycophants as friends of democracy. Isocrates. On The Peace. Speech 8. Section 133.
Image: Camillus and the Schoolmaster of Falerii, 1635-40 by Nicolas Poussin courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena CA
This painting portrays an event from the life of Marcus Furius Camillus who besieged Falerii in 394 BCE. The siege, as reported by Livy in his History of Rome, 5.27, continued for years due to Falerii's defenses and stockpiled supplies and appeared that it would drag on for years to come. A teacher within the city, though, tired of the stalemate, rounded up the town's children and marched them into the Roman camp so Camillus would have leverage to force the town's surrender. The honorable Camillus, however, “... had the traitor stripped and his hands tied behind his back. Then, telling the boys to escort him home, gave each of them a stick with which to beat him back into town.” The people of Falerii were so impressed they agreed to begin peace negotiations and subsequently became allies of Rome.
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