backed up by fear, that they placed over us in the heavens the image of an avenger, and him well armed. XLIII Why, therefore, on this assumption, is the bolt that Jupiter sends alone, peaceful, while the other is destructive on which he has sought counsel, and which he has sent down with the approval of other gods besides? The reason is that Jupiter, that is, an absolute monarch, when acting alone ought to be always a power for good; he should not inflict injury unless when a numerous council has ratified the decision. From this let all those who have inherited great earthly power learn that not even the bolt of heaven is sent without counsel taken. Let them call to them their advisers, let them ponder the opinions of a multitude of counsellors, let them temper the rigour of their decrees; and when some blow must fall, let them not forget that even Jupiter needs more than his own wisdom to guide him. XLIV Nor, again, were the ancient sages so stupid as to suppose that 1 Jupiter changed his missiles. It is only the licence of poetry that can with decency say: There is another and lighter bolt to which the Cyclopes’ hands Have added less of harshness and of flame, less, too, of wrath. The dwellers above call them missiles of peace. Those men of exalted wisdom were undoubtedly not possessed with the 2 delusion that Jupiter sometimes employs lighter bolts, weapons of the practising school, so to speak. Their object was to warn those who have to direct their bolts against the sins of men, that all offences are not to be visited after the same fashion: some offenders must be crushed, some censured and lightly punished, some[49] dismissed with an admonition. [49] _Admoneri_ = to be admonished, seems necessary, instead of the authoriser _admoveri_, to which it is impossible to attach any satisfactory meaning in this connection. The word means to be moved towards; _amoveri_ = to be removed, would make sense. XLV