John of Salisbury (c.1115–1180) was the foremost political theorist of his age. His Policraticus is regarded as the first complete work of political theory to be written in the Latin Middle Ages. Cary Nederman's 1991 edition and translation is primarily aimed at undergraduate students of the history of political thought and medieval history. Acknowledgements xiii Editor's Introduction xv Bibliographical note xxvii Principal events in the life of John of Salisbury xxix Prologue 3(6) BOOK I What most harms the fortunate 9(1) In what consists devotion to unsuitable goals 10(1) The distribution of duties according to the political constitution of the ancients 10(4) BOOK III Prologue 13(1) Of the universal and public welfare 14(3) That pride is the root of all evil and passionate desire a general leprosy which infects all 17(1) The flatterer, the today and the cajoler, than whom none is more pernicious 18(1) The multiplication of flatterers is beyond number and pushes out of distinguished houses those who are honourable 19(3) That the Romans are dedicated to vanity and what the ends of flatterers are 22(3) That it is only permitted to flatter him who it is permitted to slay; and that the tyrant is a public enemy 25(3) BOOK IV Prologue 27(1) On the difference between the prince and the tyrant, and what the prince is 28(2) What law is; and that the prince, although he is an absolutely binding law unto him-self, still is the servant of law and equity, the bearer of the public persona, and sheds blood blamelessly 30(2) That the prince is a minister of priests and their inferior; and what it is for rulers to perform their ministry faithfully 32(3) That the authority of divine law consists in the prince being subject to the justice of law 35(3) That the prince must be chaste and shun avarice 38(3) That the ruler must have the law of God always before his mind and eyes, and he is to be proficient in letters, and he is to receive counsel from men of letters 41(5) That the fear of God should be taught, and humility should exist, and this humility should be protected so that the authority of the prince is not diminished; and that some precepts are flexible, others inflexible 46(3) Of the moderation of the prince's justice and mercy, which should be temperately mixed for the utility of the republic 49(4) What it is to stray to the right or to the left, which is forbidden to the prince 53(1) What utility princes may acquire from the cultivation of justice 54(2) What are the other rewards of princes 56(5) By what cause rulership and kingdoms are transferred 61(4) BOOK V Prologue 65(1) Plutarch's letter instructing Trajan 65(1) According to Plutarch, what a republic is and what place is held in it by the soul of the members 66(2) What is principally directed by Plutarch's plan... 68(1) Of the prince, who is the head of the republic, and his election, and privileges, and the rewards of virtue and sin; and that blessed Job should be imitated; and of the virtues of blessed Job 69(6) What bad and good happens to subjects on account of the morals of princes; and that the examples of some stratagems strengthen this 75(4) Why Trajan seems to be preferable to all others 79(2) Of those who hold the place of the heart, and that the iniquitous are prevented from counselling the powerful, and of the fear of God, and wisdom, and philosophy 81(4) Of the flanks of the powerful, whose needs are to be satisfied and whose malice is to be restrained 85(6) Of the eyes, ears and tongue of the powerful, and of the duties of governing, and that judges ought to have a knowledge of right and equity, a good will and the power of execution, and that they should be bound by oath to the laws and should be distanced from the taint of presents 91(4) What pertains to the sacred calling of proconsuls, governors and ordinary justices, and to what extent it is permitted to reach out for gifts; and of Cicero, Bernard, Martin and Geoffrey of Chartres 95(4) Money is condemned in favour of wisdom; this is also approved by the examples of the ancient philosophers 99(5) BOOK VI Prologue 103(1) That the hand of the republic is either armed or unarmed; and which one is unarmed, and regarding its duties 104(5) That military service requires selection, knowledge and practice 109(3) What ills arise from disregard by our countrymen for the selection of soldiers, and how Harold tamed the Welsh 112(2) What is the formula of the oath of the soldier, and that no one is permitted to serve in the army without it 114(1) The armed soldier is by necessity bound to religion, in just the way that the clergy is consecrated in obedience to God; and that just as the title of soldier is one of labour, so it is one of honour 115(2) That faith is owed to God in preference to any man whomsoever, and man is not served unless God is served 117(1) The examples of recent history, and how King Henry the Second quelled the disturbances and violence under King Stephen and pacified the island 118(4) Of the honour to be exhibited by soldiers, and of the modesty to be shown; and who are the transmitters of the military arts, and of certain of their general precepts 122(3) Who are the feet of the republic and regarding the care devoted to them 125(2) The republic is arranged according to its resemblance to nature, and its arrangement is derived from the bees 127(2) That without prudence and forethought no magistracy remains intact, nor does that republic flourish the head of which is impaired 129(2) The vices of the powerful are to be tolerated because with them rests the prospect of public safety, and because they are the dispensers of safety just as the stomach in the body of animals dispenses nourishment, and this is by the judgment of the Lord Adrian 131(6) Of the coherence of the head and the members of the republic; and that the prince is a sort of image of the deity, and of the crime of high treason and of that which is to be kept in fidelity 137(2) That vices are to be endured or removed and are distinguished from flagrant crimes; and certain general matters about the office of the prince; and a brief epilogue on how much reverence is to be displayed towards him 139(3) That the people are moulded by the merits of the prince and the government is moulded by the merits of the people, and every creature is subdued and serves man at God's pleasure 142(6) BOOK VII Prologue 145(3) That the Academics are more modest than other philosophers whose rashness blinds them so that they are given to false beliefs 148(2) Of the errors of the Academics; and who among them it is permitted to imitate; and those matters which are doubtful to the wise man 150(3) That some things are demonstrated by the authority of the senses, others by reason, others by religion; and that faith in any doctrine is justified by some stable basis that need not be demonstrated; and that some things are known by the learned themselves, others by the uncultivated; and to what extent there is to be doubt; and that stubbornness most often impedes the examination of truth 153(3) That virtue is the unique path to being a philosopher and to advancing towards happiness; and of the three degrees of aspirants and of the three schools of philosophers 156(4) What it is to be a true philosopher; and the end towards which all writings are directed in their aim 160(2) Of ambition, and that passion accompanies foolishness; and what is the origin of tyranny; and of the diverse paths of the ambitious 162(5) Of hypocrites who endeavour to conceal the disgrace of ambition under the false pretext of religion 167(8) Of the love and acclaim of liberty; and of those ancestors who endured patiently free speaking of the mind; and of the difference between an offence and a taunt 175(7) BOOK VIII Prologue 181(1) That some long to be modelled after beasts and insensate creatures; and how much humanity is to be afforded to slaves; and of the pleasures of three senses 182(6) Of the four rivers which spring for Epicureans from the fount of lustfulness and which create a deluge by which the world is nearly submerged; and of the opposite waters and the garments of Esau 188(2) In what way the tyrant differs from the prince; and of the tyranny of priests; and in what way a shepherd, a thief and an employee differ from one another 190(11) Tyrants are the ministers of God; and what a tyrant is; and of the moral characters of Gaius Caligula and his nephew Nero and each of their ends 201(5) That by the authority of the divine book it is lawful and glorious to kill public tyrants, so long as the murderer is not obligated to the tyrant by fealty nor otherwise lets justice or honour slip 206(4) All tyrants reach a miserable end; and that God exercises punishment against them if the human hand refrains, and this is evident from Julian the Apostate and many examples in sacred scripture 210(3) Of Gideon, the model for rulers, and Antiochus 213(3) The counsel of Brutus is to be used against those who not only fight but battle schismatically for the supreme pontificate; and that nothing is calm for tyrants 216(9) What is the most faithful path to be followed towards what the Epicureans desire and promise 225(8) Index 233