19.3. 3. Of Tyranny.
There are two sorts of tyranny: one real, which
arises from oppression; the other is seated in opinion, and is sure to
be felt whenever those who govern establish things shocking to the
existing ideas of a nation.
Dio
[7]
tells us that Augustus was desirous of being called Romulus;
but having been informed that the people feared that he would cause
himself to be crowned king, he changed his design. The old Romans were
averse to a king, because they could not suffer any man to enjoy such
power; these would not have a king, because they could not bear his
manners. For though Csar, the Triumvirs, and Augustus were really
invested with regal power, they had preserved all the outward appearance
of equality, while their private lives were a kind of contrast to the
pomp and luxury of foreign monarchs; so that when the Romans were
resolved to have no king, this only signified that they would preserve
their customs, and not imitate those of the African and eastern nations.
The same writer informs us that the Romans were exasperated against
Augustus for making certain laws which were too severe; but as soon as
he had recalled Pylades the comedian, whom the jarring of different
factions had driven out of the city, the discontent ceased. A people of
this stamp have a more lively sense of tyranny when a player is banished
than when they are deprived of their laws.
Footnotes
[7]
Book liv. 17, p. 532.
