Chapter 2. Royal Rank Is a Disgrace to One Who Lacks Royal Virtues

¹ Do not suppose that kingship itself will win you glory, unless you also display a kingly character—for otherwise even the mad Cambyses and the effeminate Sardanapalus would outshine Aristides and Epaminondas in splendor.[1] No—you will be mocked for insulting kingship all the more, the more conspicuous your insult. For when a private citizen lives without reason and offends against the laws of virtue, even his own neighbor may not notice; for a private person’s wrongdoing does not tend to spread to many, but is naturally shut up within his own household. Not so the king: let him merely calculate that he is about to sin, and already it will not escape the notice of the many.