Page:The Prince.djvu/229

114 of his benefits. Severus arrived in Gaul, and Albinus lost at once the empire and his life.

If we attentively examine the conduct of this emperor, we shall perceive how difficult it must be to unite in so great perfection the power of the lion and the cunning of the fox. He well knew bow to make himself feared and respected by his troops as well as by the people; but we shall not be astonished to see a private individual maintain so difficult a post, if we recollect that it was by commanding esteem and admiration that he disarmed the hatred which his rapacity would otherwise have excited.

Antoņinus (Caracalla his son) possessed also many excellent qualities, which made him dear to the legions and respected by the people; he was a warrior, an indefatigable enemy of effeminacy and high living, which rendered him the idol of the army; but then he carried his ferocity to such a pitch, that not only the people but the soldiery, and even his. own officers, bore him an irreconcileable hatred. He perished.by the hand of a centurion; a feeble vengeance for all the blood he had caused to be shed in Rome and in Alexandria, where none of the inhabitants escaped from carnage.

Upon which I must observe that it is with difficulty princes can be guarded against such attempts. Their lives are at the mercy of every one that fears