In “I CLAUDIUS” King Herod , who was a boyhood friend of Claudius, visists Rome and has some words of advice for the newly-crowned emporer. It goes like this (apologies if I misquote"
…"…trust NO ONE, not me, not your friends, not your wife orr deepest confidant. TRUST No ONE"!
Is this sound advice for a ruler? I imagine a roman emperor HAS to trust somebody…so exactly what was herod getting across-that Claudius should never trust, or only trust once the paerson has been tested and found trustworthy?
Well, he trusted Agrippina. Look what that got him.
“Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved… Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life, and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you. And that prince who, relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions, is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear reserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails… I come to the conclusion that, men loving according to their own will and fearing according to that of the prince, a wise prince should establish himself on that which is in his own control and not in that of others; he must endeavour only to avoid hatred.” – Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter XVII
I don’t know what Herod’s interpretation was. But I’d say “trust no one” is best understood to mean “remember that everyone has an agenda”. You need to understand the motives of other people so you can know why they are doing what they do. Then you can make informed decisions about whether their interests coincide with your own and can be worked on together.
CLAUDIUS: No one? Not even you?
HEROD AGRIPPA: [silence]
Of course I have the luxury of hindsight but I think the advice was specific to Claudius(though just as applicable to the emperors who followed him)because he achieved the most powerful position in the known world basically by usurpation rather then any due process,not even being named as heir in Caligulas will.
The Praetorian guard supposedly chose him as Caligulas successor on a whim and exacted a hefty bonus for themselves for their trouble,a story that many historians have come to doubt since ; believing that not so bumbling Claudius probably preplanned the event.
The precedent having been made it would be surprising if others close to the throne didn’t
muse even for a moment or two on repeating the process to oust Claudius and replace him
with their own candidate .
The people around him had survived not just Caligula but Livia before him so we’re not talking about simple country folk here and the prize was breathtaking.
More of the Caesers who succeded him gained their positions by civil wars,coups and assasinations then ever they did by peacefull means and unlike alot of todays politicians owed no accountability to the people at all.
But as I’ve already said its sooooooo easy to be wise after the event.
Sound advice.
I have given it to others, but mainly fallen foul of not anticipating that people would do things that any fool could see would not be to their advantage.
Rather like not evaluating a really stupid Chess move.