The 48 Laws Of Power

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fellow

r.itizcnsreachedthe

point

atwhich

their

jealousy

nzadethem

listenro

any

slanderat

his

¢’xp¢ws('.

andso

/he]

was

forced

to

remimlthe

unsemffly

of

histzvhievet-rtentsmm‘!

I/zey

could

bearthisno

longer.

Hr:oncemidto

thosewhowere

cornplnirtingof

him:

“Why

are

you

tired

of

receiving

benefits

so

often

from

the

same

mm?

"

Besidesthishe

gaveoffense

tothe

people

when

he

built

the

temple

0

fArtemir.

for

not

only

didhe

style

lht‘

goddms

ArtemisAristmboule,or

Artemiswisest

incoun-

.s‘eI~—wz't}tthehintthm

itwashe

who

had

givmz

thebestcounsel

totheAthcntulzsand

theGreekx—1mrhe

chose

ame

for

itnmr

hisownhouseat

Melite....S0atlastthe

Arhemkzrtsbamlwlwrl

him.

Titty

madeuse

of

the0.$'fr£irIi.S‘I1Ito

Izurnblehis

greatrepu-

tationam!his(tut/1or~

fly,

asIndeedwastheir

habitwith

any

wlwre

powertheyregarded

as

opprtvssive.

orwhohad

risentoaneminencr

which

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out

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362 LAW 42

the

people,arguing

vehementlyagainstappeasement

and

workingdesper-

ately

toarmthe

citizens

andto

organize

resistance

against

the

pope

and

his

puppet

French

prince.By

hookor

by

crook,

Bonifacehadtoneutralize

Dante.And

so,

even

as

on

theonehandhethreatenedFlorencewith

Charlesde

Valois,

ontheotherheheldouttheolive

branch,

the

possibil-

ity

of

negotiations,hoping

Dantewouldtakethebait.AndindeedtheFlov

rentines decidedtosenda

delegation

toRomeand

try

to

negotiate

a

peace.

Toheadthe

mission,

predictably,they

chose

Dante.

Somewarnedthe

poet

thatthe

wilypope

was

settingup

a

trap

to

lure

him

away,

butDantewenttoRome

anyway,arriving

astheFrench

army

stoodbeforethe

gates

ofFlorence.Hefeltsurethathis

eloquence

andma»

sonwouldwin

the

pope

overandsavethe

city.

Yetwhenthe

pope

metthe

poet

andthe

Florentine

delegates,

he

instantly

intimidated

them,

ashedid

so

many.

“Fall

on

your

kneesbeforeme!”hebellowedattheirfirstmeet-

ing.

“Submittome!Itell

you

thatinalltruthIhave

nothing

in

my

heart

butto

promoteyourpeace.”

Succumbing

tohis

powerfulpresence,

the

Florentineslistenedasthe

popepromised

tolookaftertheirinterests.He

then

advised

themtoreturn

home,

leaving

oneoftheirmembersbehind

tocontinue

the

talks.Boniface

signaled

that

the

manto

stay

wastobe

Dante.He

spoke

withtheutmost

politeness,

but

in

essenceitwasanorder.

AndsoDanteremainedinRome.Andwhileheandthe

pope

contin-

uedtheir

dialogue,

Florencefell

apart.

Withnooneto

rally

the

Whites,

andwithCharlesdeValois

using

the

pope’smoney

tobribeandsowdis-

sension,

theWhites

disintegrated,

some

arguing

for

negotiations,

others

switching

sides.

Facing

an

enemy

nowdividedandunsureof

itself,

the

Blacks

easilydestroyed

themwithin

weeks,

exacting

violent

revenge

on

them.Andonce

the

Blacksstood

firmly

in

power,

the

popefinally

dis-

missed

DantefromRome.

TheBlacksorderedDante

to

return

hometoface

accusations

and

standtrial.Whenthe

poet

refused,

theBlackscondemnedhimtobe

burnedtodeathifheeversetfootinFlorence

again.

AndsoDante

began

amiserablelifeof

exile,

wanderingthroughItaly,disgraced

inthe

city

that

he

loved,

nevertoreturnto

Florence,

evenafter

his

death.

Interpretation

Bonifaceknewthatifhe

only

hada.

pretext

tolureDante

away,

Florence

would

crumble.He

played

theoldestcardinthe

book—threatenix1g

with

onehand

while

holding

out

theolivebranchwiththe

other»~—-and

Dante

fellforit.Oncethe

poet

wasin

Rome,

the

popekept

himthereforas

long

asittook.ForBonifaceunderstoodoneofthe

principalprecepts

inthe

game

of

power:

Oneresolute

person,

oneclisobedient

spirit,

cantuma

flockof

sheep

intoadenoflions.Sobeisolatedthetroublemaker.With-

outthebackbone

of

the

city

to

keep

them

together,

the

sheepquickly

scattered.

Learnthelesson:Donotwaste

your

time

lashing

outinalldirections

atwhatseemstobea

many-headedenemy.

Findtheoneheadthatmat-