The 48 Laws Of Power

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70 LAW 51

’['RAl\'S(.')RF.SSlONOFTHELAW

In 131

1313.,

theRomanconsulPubliusCrassusDives

Mucianus,

laying

siege

to

the

Greektownof

Pergamus,

foundhimselfinneedofa

battering

ramtoforce

through

thetown’swalls.Hehadseena

couple

of

heftyship’s

mastsina

shipyard

inAthens

a

few

days

before,

andheorderedthatthe

larger

ofthesebesenttohim

immediately.

The

militaryengineer

inAthens

whoreceived the orderfelt certainthattheconsul

really

wanted the

smallerofthemasts.He

arguedendlessly

withthesoldierswhodelivered

the

request:

Thesmaller

mast,

he

told

them,

wasmuchbettersuitedtothe

task.Andindeeditwouldbeeasierto

transport.

Thesoldierswarnedthe

engineer

thattheirmasterwasnotamanto

argue

with,

butheinsistedthatthesmallermast

would

be

the

only

onethat

wouldworkwithamachinethathewas

constructing

to

go

withit.Hedrew

diagram

after

diagram,

and

wentsofarasto

say

thathewas

the

expert

and

they

hadnocluewhat

they

were

talking

about.Thesoldiersknewtheir

leaderandatlastconvincedthe

engineer

thatitwouldbebettertoswallow

his

expertise

and

obey.

After

they

left,

though,

the

engineerthought

aboutitsomemore.What

wasthe

point,

heasked

himself,

in

obeying

an

orderthatwouldlead

tofail-

ure?Andsohesentthesmaller

mast,

confidentthattheconsulwouldsee

howmuchmoreeffectiveitwasandrewardhim

justly.

Whenthesmallermast

arrived,

Mucianusaskedhissoldiersforanex-

planation.They

described

tohimhowthe

engineer

had

arguedendlessly

forthesmaller

mast,

buthad

finallypromised

tosendthe

larger

one.Mu-

cianuswentinto

a

rage.

Hecould

not

concentrateonthe

siege,

orconsider

the

importance

of

breaching

thewallsbeforethetownreceivedreinforce»

merits.Allhecouldthinkaboutwasthe

impudentengineer,

whomheor-

deredtobe

brought

tohim

immediately.

Arriving

a

few

days

later,

the

engineergladlyexplained

to

the

consul,

onemore

time,

thereasonsforthesmallermastHewentonand

on,

using

thesame

arguments

hehadmadewiththesoldiers.Hesaiditwaswiseto

listento

experts

inthese

matters,

andiftheattackwas

only

triedwiththe

battering

ramhehad

sent,

theconsulwouldnot

regret

itMucianuslethim

finish,

thenhadhim

stripped

nakedbeforethe

soldiers

and

flogged

and

scourged

withrodsuntilhedied.

Interpretation

The

engineer,

whosenamehasnotbeenrecorded

byhistory,

had

spent

his

life

designing

mastsand

pillars,

andwas

respected

asthefinest

engineer

in

a

city

thathadexcelledin

the

science.

He

knewthathewas

right.

Asmaller

ramwouldallowmore

speed

and

carry

moreforce.

Larger

isnotnecessar-

ily

better.Ofcoursetheconsulwouldseehis

logic,

andwould

eventually

understandthatscienceisneutralandreason

superior.

Howcouldthecon-

sul

possiblypersist

inhis

ignorance

ifthe

engineer

showedhimdetailed

di-

agrams

and

explained

thetheoriesbehindhisadvice?

The

military engineer

wasthe

quintessence

ofthe

Arguer,

at

type

found

everywhereamong

us.The

Arguer

doesnotunderstandthatwords