When the roused anger of the leader seems justified, everything is forgotten.
From haste to fear is but one step, while slowness is nearer to genuine firmness.
Distance increases the charm.
Bad emperors like absolute power, and good ones like a measure of freedom.
They will both perish: the first, because he lost the war, the second, because he won it.
Villainy is a shortcut to positions that usually come as a reward for heroism.
Haste is related to fear.
Posterity will reward all according to merit. There is therefore reason to laugh at the impudence of those who, enjoying power at present, think they can rob even the memory of future generations.
Leaders always suspect and hate those who can take their place.
Rulers are mortal, the state - eternal.
In glorifying ancient times, we do not take enough interest in the recent past.
Traitors despise even those they have done a favor to.
Ignore the gossip and it will die out.
Crime needs surprise, good deed - time.
The power gained by crime cannot be kept, everything will suddenly return to the moderation and strictness of the old morals.
Let each use the blessings of his time, without condemning those of the past.
And cowards can start a war, but it is up to the brave to fight its dangers.
The worst thing to choose in the moment of misfortune is the middle line.
Death levels all, that is the law of nature, but with it comes either oblivion or posthumous fame. If the righteous and the guilty share the same end, it is better that the true man should not die in vain.
Over time, bad feelings lose their strength, and unruly people, more often than not, cannot overcome a fresh hatred.
They say they brought peace, when in fact they gave birth to a wasteland. (Germans about Romanians)
Fear weakens even attempted eloquence.
Striving for power, he behaved like a slave.
This is how people are made: they look with disapproval at anything that has risen suddenly, and they demand modesty especially from the one who until recently was their equal.
You have to lead some people who cannot endure any real slavery, no real freedom.
Reason does no harm to the disobedient, but evident iniquities can find support only in boldness.
It's in the mob's nature to blame someone for anything that happens.
It is hard to say whether Piso was really an enemy of Viius or so the enemies of Viius wanted to believe: it is always easier to think that a man is animated by hatred.
He who has no enemies destroys his friends.
No one demands an explanation from the victor.