The 48 Laws Of Power

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHELAW

SometimeintheMiddle

Ages,

a

mercenary

soldier

(acondottiere),

whose

namehasnotbeen
recorded,
saved
thetownofSienafroma

foreignag~

gressor.

How

couldthe

good

citizens

of

Sienarewardhim?Noamountof

money

orhonorcould

possibly

compare

invaluetothe

preservation

ofa

city’sliberty.

Thecitizens

thought

of

making

the

mercenary

thelordofthe

city,

buteven

that,

they

decided,

wasn’t

recompenseenough.

Atlastoneof

themstoodbeforethe

assembly

calledtodebatethismatter

and

said,

“Let

uskill
himand
then

worship

himasour

patron

saint.”Andso

they

did.

TheCountof

Carmagnola

wasoneofthebravestandmostsuccessful

ofallthecondottieri.In

1442,

lateinhis

life,

hewasinthe

employ

ofthe

city

of

Venice,

whichwasinthemidstofa

long

warwithFlorence.Thecount

was

suddenly

recalledtoVenice.Afavoriteofthe

people,

he

was

received

therewithallkindsof

honor

and

splendor.

That

evening

hewastodine

withthe

doge

himself,

inthe

doge’spalace.

Onthe

way

intothe

palace,

however,

henoticedthatthe

guard

was

leading

himinadifferentdirection

fromusual.

Crossing

thefamous

Bridge

of

Sighs,

he

suddenly

realized

where

they

were

taking

him—tothe

dungeon.

Hewas

convictedon

a

trurnped~upcharge

andthenext

day

inthePiazza

San

Marco,

beforea

horrifiedcrowdwhocouldnotunderstandhowhisfatehad

changed

s

drastically,

hewasbeheaded.

'

interpretation

Many

of

the

great

tomlottieriofRenaissance

Italy

sufferedthesamefateas

the

patron

saintofSienaandtheCountof

CarrnagnolazThey

wonbattle

afterbattlefortheir

employers

only

tofindthemselves

banished,

impris-

oned,

orexecuted.The

problem

wasnot

ingratitude;

itwasthattherewere

so

many

othercandottieriasableandvaliantas

they

were.

They

werere-

placeable.Nothing

waslost

bykilling

them.

Meanwhile,

theolder

among

themhad

grownpowerful

themselves,

andwantedmoreandmore

money

fortheirservices.Howmuch

better,then,

todo

away

withthemandhirea

younger,cheapermercenary.

ThatwasthefateoftheCountofCarma-

gnola,

whohadstartedtoact

impudently

and

independently.

Hehadtaken

his

power

for

granted

without

making

surethathewas

trulyindispensable.

Such

is

the

fate

(to

a

lessviolent

degree,

one

hopes)

ofthosewhodo

notmakeothers

dependent

onthem.Soonerorlatersomeonecomes

along

whocandothe

job

aswellas

they

can-—someone

younger,

fresher,

lessex-

pensive,

less

threatening.

Bethe

only

onewhocandowhat

you

do,

andmakethefateofthose

who

hire

you

so

entwined

with

yours

that

they

cannot

possiblyget

ridof

you.

Otherwise

you

will

someday

beforcedtocross

your

own

Bridge

of

Sighs.

()BSliRVANCF.OFTHELAVV

WhenOtto

von

Bismarckbecame

a

deputy

inthePrussian

parliament

in

1847,

hewas

thirty~two

years

oldandwithoutan

ally

orfriend.

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