Paradox 4

Paradox IV

Every fool is mad

[All fools are insane.]

SECTION 27

Chapter 1

But I consider you not foolish, as I often have, nor wicked, as I always have, but mad […]

[…] can remain unconquered in matters essential to life […]. Will the wise man’s mind, fortified as though by walls with greatness of judgment, endurance of human misfortunes, contempt for fortune, and, in short, every virtue, be conquered and taken by storm—a man who cannot even be driven from his country? For what is a civil community? Is it every gathering, even of savage and brutal men? Is it any crowd of runaway slaves and robbers collected in one place? Surely you will say no. Then there was no civil community at that time, when its laws had no force, when its courts lay prostrate, when ancestral custom had perished, when the magistrates had been driven out by the sword and the senate no longer had so much as a name in the republic. That gathering of plunderers, that banditry established in the Forum under your leadership, those remnants of the conspiracy diverted from Catiline’s frenzy to your own criminal madness—that was no civil community.

SECTION 28

And so I was not driven from a community that did not exist. I was summoned back into a civil community when the republic had a consul, where before there had been none; when it had a senate, which before had perished; when the people could freely express their agreement; when respect for law and justice, the bonds of a civil community, had been restored. And see how thoroughly I despised those weapons of your banditry. I always held that you had launched and hurled a monstrous wrong against me; I never thought it had reached me. Unless perhaps, when you were tearing down walls or setting criminal torches to roofs, you imagined that something belonging to me was collapsing or burning.

SECTION 29

Nothing belongs to me—or to anyone—that can be carried off, snatched away, or lost. If you had wrested from me my soul’s divine certainty that the republic stands, despite your bitter opposition, through my care, my sleepless vigilance, and my counsels; if you had erased the undying memory of this everlasting service; still more, if you had wrested from me the mind from which those counsels flowed—then I would admit that I had suffered an injury. But if you neither did nor could do these things, your injustice gave me a glorious return, not a disastrous departure. I was therefore always a citizen, and never more so than when the senate entrusted my safety to foreign nations ⟨as⟩ that of a citizen of the highest worth. You are not a citizen even now—unless perhaps the same man can be both enemy and citizen. Or do you distinguish citizen from enemy by birth and place, rather than by spirit and deeds?

SECTION 30

Chapter 2

You committed slaughter in the Forum; you occupied temples with armed bandits; you burned private homes and sacred buildings. Why was Spartacus an enemy, if you are a citizen? Can you be a citizen, when because of you there was once no civil community? And do you call me by the name that belongs to you, when everyone thinks that the republic itself went into exile at my departure? Will you never look at yourself, you utterly senseless man? Will you never consider either what you do or what you say? Do you not know that exile is a punishment for crimes, while that journey of mine was undertaken because of my most illustrious achievements?

SECTION 31

All criminals and impious men, whose leader you profess to be, whom the laws intend to punish with exile, are exiles even if they have not changed their place of residence. When all the laws command that you be an exile, ⟨will you not be an exile? Should not “exile”⟩ be the name for a man who has carried a weapon? Your dagger was discovered before the senate. For someone who has killed a man? You have killed very many. For someone who has committed arson? The temple of the Nymphs burned down at your hand. For someone who has occupied temples? You pitched your camp in the Forum.

SECTION 32

But why do I cite the general laws, under every one of which you are an exile? Your closest friend carried a special law directed at you, providing for your exile if you had entered the inner sanctuary of the Good Goddess. Yet you habitually boast that you did precisely that. How, then, after so many laws have driven you into exile, do you not shudder at the name of exile? “I am in Rome,” he says. Indeed, and you were in the inner sanctuary too. A man does not therefore possess the rights of whatever place he happens to be in, if the laws forbid his presence there.

Paradox IV

Every foolish person is out of his mind.

[All foolish people are insane.]

SECTION 27

Chapter 1

I'm not calling you foolish this time, as I often do, or dishonest, as I always do. I'm calling you mad […]

[…] can stay unbeaten over the necessities of life […]. Can anyone defeat a wise man's mind or take it by storm? Sound judgment, the endurance of human troubles, a disregard for fortune—in short, every virtue—stand round it like walls. Why, he can't even be expelled from his civic community! What makes such a community? Does any collection of people qualify, even savage, brutal ones? What about a lot of runaway slaves and robbers gathered together? You'll certainly say it doesn't. Well, there was no civic community here then. Laws counted for nothing. Courts weren't operating. Our ancestors' way of life had died out. Magistrates had been forced out at sword point, and the Senate's name itself had vanished from public life. That mass of looters, that gang of robbers you set up in the Forum, those leftovers of the conspiracy who turned from Catiline's frenzy to your criminal madness—they weren't a civic community.

SECTION 28

So I wasn't expelled from a community: no such community existed. I was invited back into one when the republic once again had a consul, after having none; when a Senate existed again, after its destruction; when the people could agree freely; when law and fairness, which bind a community together, were remembered again. Look how little I cared about the weapons of your gang. I've always thought you aimed and hurled a terrible injustice at me. I've never thought it hit me. Unless, when you pulled down walls or wickedly set fire to roofs, you imagined that something of mine was falling or going up in flames.

SECTION 29

Whatever can be carried away, grabbed, or lost doesn't belong to me—or to anyone. You could have injured me by taking away my mind's godlike certainty that my work, my wakeful nights, and my decisions were keeping the republic standing against your bitter wishes. You could have wiped out the lasting memory of that permanent service. Above all, you could have taken away the mind that produced those decisions. Then I'd admit I'd suffered an injury. But you didn't and couldn't do any of that. Your wrongdoing gave me an honorable return, not a ruinous departure. I've always remained a citizen, especially when the Senate put my safety in the care of foreign peoples ⟨as⟩ a citizen of the very best kind. You aren't a citizen even now—unless a man can be both a citizen and an enemy. Do you really use someone's birth and whereabouts to tell citizen from enemy, rather than his intentions and deeds?

SECTION 30

Chapter 2

You killed people in the Forum. Your armed thugs took over temples. You burned people's houses and holy buildings. If you count as a citizen, why does Spartacus count as an enemy? Can you be a citizen when you once made the civic community itself disappear? You use your own proper title for me, although everyone thinks the republic itself went into exile when I went away. Will you never take a look at yourself, you complete madman? Will you never think about your actions or your words? Don't you know exile is a penalty for crimes? That journey of mine happened because of the outstanding things I'd done.

SECTION 31

You claim to lead all the criminals and people who defy the gods. The laws mean them to be exiles. They are exiles even if they haven't moved. All the laws order you to be an exile; ⟨won't you be one? Shouldn't we⟩ call a man an exile if he's been carrying a weapon? Your dagger was found before the Senate. If he's killed a person? You've killed a great many. If he's started a fire? You burned down the Nymphs' temple yourself. If he's occupied temples? You made the Forum your camp.

SECTION 32

Why go through the laws that apply to everyone? Every one of them makes you an exile. Your closest friend passed a law aimed specifically at you: if you had entered the Good Goddess's secret sanctuary, you had to go into exile. And you're forever boasting that you did exactly that. With so many laws banishing you, how can you hear the word “exile” without shuddering? He says, “I'm in Rome.” Yes, and you were in the secret sanctuary too. Simply being somewhere doesn't give you the right to be there when the law says you shouldn't be.