The 48 Laws Of Power

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Ovio,43

n.c:—c..«..n, 18

404 LAW 45

the

sidelines,

ontheother

hand,

hewouldleavean

opening

foranother

factiontorise

up

astheAlbizzis

had,

andto

punish

theMedicisfortheir

success.

Cosimosolvedthe

problem

intwo

ways:

He

secretly

usedhiswealth

to

buy

influence

amongkey

citizens,

andhe

placed

hisown

allies,

allclev-

erly

enlistedfrom

the

middleclassesto

disguise

their

allegiance

to

him,

in

top

government

positions.

Thosewho

complained

ofhis

growingpolitical

cloutweretaxedinto

submission,

ortheir

properties

were

bought

outfrom

under

them

by

Cosimo’s

bankerallies.

The

republic

survivedinname

only.

Cosimoheld

the

strings.

Whileheworkedbehindthescenesto

gain

control,however,

publicly

Cosimo

presented

another

picture.

Whenhewalked

through

thestreetsof

Florence,

hedressed

modestly,

wasattended

by

nomorethanoneser-

vant,

andbowed

deferentially

to

magistrates

andeldercitizens.

He

rodea

muleinsteadofahorse.Henever

spoke

outonmattersof

publicimport,

even

though

hecontrolledFlorence’s

foreign

affairsforover

thirtyyears.

He

gavemoney

tocharitiesandmaintainedhistiestoFlorence’smerchant

class.Hefinancedallldndsof

publicbuildings

thatfedtheFlorentines’

pride

intheir

city.

When

he

builta

palace

forhimselfand

his

family

in

nearby

Fiesole,

he

turned down the ornate

designs

that

Brunelleschi

haddrawn

up

forhimandinsteadchoseamodeststructure

designedby

Michelozzo,

amanofhumbleFlorentine

origins.

The

palace

wasa

symbol

ofCosimo’s

strategy—allsimplicity

onthe

outside,

all

elegance

and

opu~

lence

within.

Cosimo

finally

diedin

1464,

after

ruling

for

years.

Thecitizens

ofFlorencewantedtobuildhima

great

tomb,

andtocelebratehis

memory

withelaboratefuneral

ceremonies,

butonhisdeathbedhehadaskedtobe

buriedwithout

“anypomp

ordemonstration.”Some

sixtyyears

later,

MachiavellihailedCosimoasthewisestofall

princes,

“forheknewhow

extraordinarythings

that

areseenand

appear

every

hourmakemenmuch

moreenviedthanthosethataredoneindeedandarecoveredoverwith

decency.”

Interpretation

Aclosefriendof

Cosimo’s,

thebookseller

Vespasiano

da

Bisticci,

once

wroteof

him,

“Andwheneverhewishedtoachieve

something,

hesawto

it,

inorderto

escapeenvy

asmuchas

possible,

thattheinitiative

appeared

to

comefrom

others,

andnotfromh.1'.m.”

One

of

Cosirno’s

favorite

expres-

sions

was,

“Envy

isa

weedthat

should

notbewatered.”

Understanding

the

powerenvy

hasinademocratic

environment,

Cosimoavoidedthe

appear-

anceof

greatness.

Thisdoesnotmeanthat

greatness

shouldbe

suffocated,

orthat

only

themediocreshould

survive;

only

thata

game

of

appearances

mustbe

played.

Theinsidious

envy

ofthemassescan

actually

bedeflected

quiteeasily:Appear

asoneofthem

in

style

andvalues.Makeallianceswith

thosebelow

you,

andelevatethemto

positions

of

power

tosecuretheir

support

intimesofneed.Neverflaunt

your

wealth,

and

carefully

conceal