O državi bez pravde
[IV] Remota itaque iustitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia? quia et latrocinia quid sunt nisi parua regna? Manus et ipsa hominum est, imperio principis regitur, pacto societatis astringitur, placiti lege praeda diuiditur. Hoc malum si in tantum perditorum hominum accessibus crescit, ut et loca teneat sedes constituat, ciuitates occupet populos subiuget, euidentius regni nomen adsumit, quod ei iam in manifesto confert non dempta cupiditas, sed addita inpunitas.
Eleganter enim et ueraciter Alexandro illi Magno quidam comprehensus pirata respondit. Nam cum idem rex hominem interrogaret, quid ei uideretur, ut mare haberet infestum, ille libera contumacia: Quod tibi, inquit, ut orbem terrarum; sed quia <id> ego exiguo nauigio facio, latro uocor; quia tu magna classe, imperator.
Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies themselves, but little kingdoms? The band itself is made up of men; it is ruled by the authority of a prince, it is knit together by the pact of the confederacy; the booty is divided by the law agreed on. If, by the admittance of abandoned men, this evil increases to such a degree that it holds places, fixes abodes, takes possession of cities, and subdues peoples, it assumes the more plainly the name of a kingdom, because the reality is now manifestly conferred on it, not by the removal of covetousness, but by the addition of impunity.
Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride, “What thou meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who dost it with a great fleet art styled emperor.
Odmakne li se pravda, što su kraljevstva ako ne velike razbojničke družine? Jer što su drugo razbojničke družine negoli mala kraljevstva? Ta družina je skupina ljudi kojom vođa upravlja, vezani su zajedničkim ugovorom, plijen dijele po uglavljenu zakonu. Ako pridolaskom velikog broja zdvojnika to zlo tako naraste te i mjesta zaposjedne, uspostavi svoje sjedište, osvoji gradove i podjarmi narode, onda sebi bjelodano prisvaja naziv kraljevstva, koje mu javno dodjeljuje ne umanjena pohlepa, nego pridodata nekaznenost
Jer i duhovito i istinito odvratio je Aleksandru Velikom neki zarobljeni gusar. Kad je toga čovjeka kralj upitao, što je mislio, kad se upustio po moru napadati, on mu je otvoreno i drsko odgovorio: ‘Isto što i ti kad si napao cijeli svijet; ali jer to ja činim s malim brodom, zovu me lopovom; a ti s golemim brodovljem, i zovu te carem'
Aurelije Avgustin, “O državi Božjoj” (De civitate Dei), odeljak 4.4; prevod Tomislav Ladan, Zagreb 1982
Manje poznate reči: zdvojnik – očajnik; nekaznenost – nekažnjivost; bjelodano – očigledno