d an error in not being beforehand with him
in those ways whereby he came to have influence with the people, Piero
himself erred in like manner, in not anticipating his enemies in those
methods whereby they grew formidable to him; I answer that Piero is to
be excused, both because it would have been difficult for him to have so
acted, and because for him such a course would not have been honourable.
For the paths wherein his danger lay were those which favoured the
Medici, and it was by these that his enemies attacked him, and in the
end overthrew him. But these paths Piero could not pursue without
dishonour, since he could not, if he was to preserve his fair fame,
have joined in destroying that liberty which he had been put forward to
defend. Moreover, since favours to the Medicean party could not have
been rendered secretly and once for all, they would have been most
dangerous for Piero, who, had he shown himself friendly to the Medici,
must have become suspected and hated by the people; in which case his
enemies would have had still better opportunities than before for his
destruction.

Men ought therefore to look to the risks and dangers of any course which
lies before them, nor engage in it when it is plain that the dangers
outweigh the advantages, even though they be advised by others that it
is the most expedient way to take. Should they act otherwise, it will
fare with them as with Tullius, who, in seeking to diminish the power
of Marcus Antonius, added to it. For Antonius, who had been declared an
enemy by the senate, having got together a strong force, mostly made up
of veterans who had shared the fortunes of Caesar, Tullius counselled the
senate to invest Octavianus with full authority, and to send him against
Antonius with the consuls and the army; affirming, that so soon as those
veterans who had served with Caesar saw the face of him who was Caesar's
nephew and had assumed his name, they would rally to his side and desert
Antonius, who might easily be crushed when thus left bare of support.

But the reverse of all this happened. For Antonius persuaded Octavianus
to take part with him, and to throw over Tullius and the senate. And
this brought about the ruin of the senate, a result which might easily
have been foreseen. For remembering the influence of that great captain,
who, after overthrowing all opponents, had seized on sovereign power in
Rome, the senate should have turned a deaf ear to the persuasions