The 48 Laws Of Power

Onhis

way

homefromthe

temple,

Pausanias

got

wordofwhathad

happened.

Herantoanother

temple

to

hide,

buttheauthoritiesfollowed

himthereand

placed

sentriesallaround.Pausaniasrefusedtosurrender.

Unwilling

to

forcibly

removehimfromthesacred

temple,

theauthorities

kept

him

trapped

inside,

untilhe

eventually

diedofstarvation.

Interpretation

Atfirst

glance

it

might

seemthatPausanias

simply

fellinlovewithanother

culture,

a

phenomenon

asoldastime.Nevercomfortablewiththeasceti-

cismofthe

Spartans,

hefoundhimselfenthralled

by

thePersianloveof

luxury

andsensual

pleasure.

He

put

onPersianrobesand

perfumes

witha

senseofdeliverancefromGreek

discipline

and

simplicity.

Thisishowit

appears

when

peopleadopt

acultureinwhich

they

were

notraised.

Often,however,

thereisalso

something

elseat

play:People

whoflaunttheirinfatuationwithadifferentcultureare

expressing

adis

dainand

contempt

fortheirown.

They

are

using

theoutward

appearance

oftheexoticto

separate

themselvesfromthecommonfolkwho

unques-

tioningly

followthelocalcustomsand

laws,

andto

express

theirsenseof

superiority.

Otherwise

they

wouldactwithmore

dignity,showingrespect

forthosewhodonotsharetheirdesires.Indeedtheirneedtoshowtheir

difference

so

dramatically

often

makesthemdisliked

by

the

people

whose

beliefs

they challenge, indirectly

and

subtly, perhaps,

but’

offensively

nonetheless.

As

Thucydides

wroteof

Pausanias,

“By

his

contempt

forthelawsand

hisimitationof

foreignways

hehadmadehimself

verywidelysuspected

of

beingunwilling

toabide

by

normalstandards.”Cultureshavenormsthat

reflectcenturiesofsharedbeliefsandideals.Donot

expect

toscoffatsuch

things

with

impunity.

Youwillbe

punished

somehow,

evenif

justthrough

isolation—a

position

ofreal

powerlessness.

Many

of

us,

like

Pausanias,

feelthesirencallofthe

exotic,

the

foreign‘

Measureandmoderatethis

desire.

Flauntingyourpleasure

inalien

ways

of

thinking

and

acting

willreveala

differentmotive————todemonstrate

your

su-

periority

over

your

fellows.

OBSERVANCE

OFTHELAVV

During

thelatesixteenth

century,

aviolentreaction

against

theProtestant

Reformation

erupted

in

Italy.

The

Counter-Reformation,

asitwas

called,

includeditsownversionofthe
Inquisition

torootoutalldeviationsfrom

theCatholicChurch.
Among

itsvictimswasthe

scientist

Galileo,

butan

important

thinkerwhosufferedeven

greaterpersecution

was

theDomini-

canmonkand

philosopher

Tommaso

Campanella.

AfollowerofthematerialistdoctrineoftheRoman

philosopherEpi-

cums,

Campanella

didnotbelievein

miracles,

orinheavenandhell.The

Church
had

promoted

such

superstitions,

he

wrote,

tocontrolthecommon

folk

bykeeping

theminfear.Suchideas

verged

on

atheism,

andCam-

panella.expressed

them

incautiously.

In 1593 the

Inquisition

threwhim

Bone

vixil,

qui

bone

latuit~“lIeliveswell

who(‘0fl(,‘(,’lZl.\‘

himself _

well."

Ovm,

c. 43 B.(7.—/\.D. 18

Wisemen

/shouldbe]

like

(‘offers

with

double

bottoms:Whichwhen

ozhemlookinto,

being

opened.they

see

not

all

that

they

hold.

SIR\V/\l,TFRl{Al.F.!(‘vH.

1554-161 8

\K|l|Cl\'l'|ll;\NIlil(~2

\X|~‘,l{l“,(1|M,\(y|ul)

()Il(‘.I.’

upon

ayirrw

Klzidntheteacher

of

Moms,

culled

upon

Immklmlwithitwarm-

ing.

Ata

certaindtllt’,

hesaid.allthewaterin

theworldwhichhad

no!been

specially

huunlerl,

would

lllSLl[r-

pear.

Itwouldthenbe

l‘(f7té,’W€(l.with

difjfarrzrtr

water.wlzlcliwould

drivemenmarl.

Only

oneman/iivtz-nod

tothe

meaningof

this

advice.Hecollected

waterandwenttoll

secure

plum

wherehe

.\‘t0red

it,

andwaiwd

for

thewiuer11)

change

its

i'ht2raL'm'.

Onthe

Il[)]7(IlH{(‘.tl

(I/715’

thestreanm

.Str>p]7P(l

running,

thewells‘want

dry.andthemanwho

had

llA‘(€H(>.’(l,

seeing

this

LAW 33 319