Export a Citation 
Print View
hide main text 
show main text 
hide table of contents
show table of contents
previous
CHAP. IV.: Particular Cause of the Corruption of the People.
GREAT success, especially when chiefly owing to the people, intoxicates them to such a degree that it is impossible to contain them within bounds. Jealous of their magistrates, they soon become jealous
likewise of the magistracy; enemies to those who govern, they soon prove enemies also to the constitution. Thus it was that the victory over the Persians, in the straits of Salamis, corrupted the republic of Athens†249; and thus the defeat of the Athenians ruined the republic of Syracuse†250.Marseilles never experienced those great transitions from lowness to grandeur; this was owing to the prudent conduct of that republic, who always preserved her principles.