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20“I, therefore, when I hear such considerations advanced and turn my thoughts to them, am inclined to go so far as to urge you to give up altogether the inflicting of the death penalty in any case for reasons of this kind. 2For the office of ruler has been established for the preservation of the governed, to prevent them from being injured either by one another or by foreign peoples, and not for a moment that they may be harmed by the rulers themselves; and the greatest glory is gained, not by putting many citizens to death, but by being in a position to save them all, if that be possible. 3We must educate the citizens by means of laws and benefits and admonitions, in order that they may be right-minded, and furthermore, we must watch over them and guard them, in order that, even if they wish to do wrong, they may not be able to do so; and if there is any ailment among them, we must find some way to cure it and correct it, in order that the ailing member may not be utterly destroyed. 4To endure the offences of the multitude is a task demanding at once great prudence and great power; but if any one is going to punish them all without distinction as they deserve, before he knows it he will have destroyed the majority of mankind. 5Hence and for these reasons I give you my opinion to the effect that you should not inflict the death penalty upon any man for such offences, but should rather bring them to their senses in some other way, so that they will not in future commit any crime. What wrongdoing, indeed, could a man indulge in who is shut up on an island, or in the country, or in some city, not only deprived of a throng of servants and a supply of money, but also under guard, in case this, too, is necessary? 6Of course, if the enemy were anywhere near here or if some part of our sea belonged to a foreign power, so that one or another of the prisoners might escape to them and do us some harm, or if, again, there were strong cities in Italy with fortifications and armed forces, so that if a man seized them, he might become a menace to us, that would be a different story. 7But in fact all the places here are unarmed and without walls that would be of any value in war, and our enemies are separated from them by an immense distance; much sea and much land, including mountains and rivers hard to cross, lie between them and us. 8Why, then, should one fear this man or that, defenceless men in private station, here in the middle of your empire and hemmed in by your armed forces? For my part, I do not believe that any one could conceive any such plot as I have mentioned, or that the veriest madman could accomplish anything by it.
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