Coluccio Salutati

Invective against Antonio Loschi of Vicenza

Who could bear to stand aside and let strangers shamefully slander our homeland, to which we owe
everything? I would like to bring this case before a prince and argue it in the presence of our enemies
themselves. I would like to listen to them speak, in order to understand the reasons for their lies and see what
sort of evidence and arguments they bring forth. I dare say I would so thoroughly give them what they
deserve that they would never again hurl their insults at that city which they have been unable to defeat - and,
by God, they never will defeat us - not even with those mighty forces of which you [Antonio Loschi] boast.
Since I am a citizen and a member of this community, and no longer a stranger, I intend to plead the cause of
my homeland, which everyone should strive to defend with all his might. I entreat those who read my words
to listen to me with benevolence as I speak in defense of truth, justice, and my homeland. Since you, my
readers, have managed to suffer my opponent's irreverence - with reluctance, I imagine - I beg you to be
patient with me and listen to my words.

I wish to start by quoting my opponent's words, one after the other, exactly as he wrote them, and I shall
then reply separately to each one of his assertions. You, Loschi, began your venomous speech as follows:
Someday, wretched citizens who have destroyed your country and disrupted peace in all Italy, you will finally
suffer the just punishment for your crimes and pay the penalties you deserve. Someday your followers will be
so horrified at your tremendous corruption as to fear their own ruin on account of their misdeeds. Your fall,
therefore, will be not only a legitimate vindication but also a useful example. Someday your scheming, in
which your entire force lies, will finally be discovered and revealed to all, thereby showing your opponents'
wisdom and, by contrast, your depravity and utter wickedness.

At the very beginning of your oration, as your words attest, you seem to express three wishes. Like a raging
madman with a harsh tongue, you invoke the Furies' aid, a sign of extreme desperation, in making the
Florentines suffer base and undeserved punishments. You wish their ruin to be an example to all; to terrify all
with the Florentines' misfortune. You wish, thus, that a due vindication would also become a useful example.
You wish our plots to be discovered, and others to appear wise, while the Florentines seem wicked, as you
think they truly are. I shall now briefly explain how foolish the beginning of your oration is and what it really
conveys to readers. Is there any prince or lord against whom these same accusations could not be hurled, if
one let himself get carried away by wrath? If these words were pronounced against your lord, O Loschi, who
could assert that they were spoken unjustly? What else would one need do, apart from substituting the word
"tyrant" for "citizens" and replacing the plural with the singular? But let us leave out your lord and all the
dead, to whom one should always show greater respect than to those who are alive. Tell me, if you will: Is it
not true that your words prove you a fierce and deadly enemy of the Florentines? Answer, if you please: Are
you acting as prosecutor or witness? If the latter is the case - namely, if you claim to be a witness and act as
such, while at the same time you openly confess to being an enemy of those you are accusing - how can you
hope to be considered the least bit trustworthy? Was there ever an efficacious prosecutor who merely asserted
the veracity of his accusations or hurled invective at the accused? Without bringing forth any evidence, one
can never convince the court to convict the accused, be the prosecutor Cicero, Demosthenes, the virtuous
Cato, Antony, Crassus, Aeschines opposing Demosthenes, or any other accomplished orator speaking in the
senate or a court of law, or even all these figures put together.

Recognize your ignorance, therefore, and acknowledge your mistake; learn, you mad and foolish beast, that
before both the senate and the people no trust is or should be granted to the accuser and witnesses if they
prove to be enemies of the accused, even if the judges, whether senators or the people, happen to be ill
disposed toward the accused, as is often the case. Each time the accuser or the witnesses asked to testify
show this rage and aversion which you demonstrate so candidly, they either unwittingly behave like madmen
or consider the members of the court stupid. They believe they can convince the audience that their insane
statements are true, and they strive to induce the judges to commit an obvious folly or a shameful injustice.
Who, in fact, would be so mad and naive as to trust an accuser or a witness who openly demonstrates his
hostility or confesses himself an enemy of the accused?

You call the Florentines "wretched citizens who have destroyed your country and disrupted peace in all Italy."
"Wretched citizens," you say. If your aim is to insult the Florentines, what you say is an outright lie. The term
"wretched citizens" may, in fact, apply to those who squander their possessions and lead a wicked life,
committing immoral acts and all sorts of sins; truthfully speaking, however, the Florentines who do not
deserve to be dubbed wretched are far more numerous. You must confess that, by consensus, many of them
should and must be acknowledged as good citizens, not wretched ones. At any rate, it does not behoove our
enemy to complain about this; we [not you] are the ones who should deplore wicked citizens, for it is in our
interest to have good and useful citizens who help our republic.

This is a matter of concern to us, but what you said regarding those of us who have destroyed your country
also concerns us. What does it mean to destroy a country, if not to ruin it? Now, if you are referring to our
country [Florence], you should not deplore it, but wish it to happen. If, on the other hand, you are referring
to Liguria, Romagna, and Veneto, oppressed by your lord's yoke, I urge you to be distressed about it, for far
from inveighing against those you call the destroyers of your enemies' country and lamenting the fate of the
rest of Italy, you should wish to have them as the rulers of your own region. In Italy there are many people
who are not subject to your lord; they rule their own territory, have freedom of speech, and know how to use
it. Have rulers or citizens of these regions ever complained about the things of which you are now accusing
us? If, as you assert, we disrupted the peace of all Italy, all Italy would be our enemy. This is not the case, but,
on the contrary, wherever the serpent that hates justice has not imposed his yoke and spread his venom, the
Florentines are allowed to dwell, and people love them for their mercantile activities. Is it not clear, thus, that
your assertions counter this factual evidence and that the word "fraud," which you use to accuse the
Florentines, should rather be employed to describe you? I suppose you use the word "plot" in the meaning of
"hidden fraud"; you would not wish to expose all these things, in fact, if you did not believe such plots to be
secret. But who taught you to accuse your enemies of such things? Who has ever cared whether his enemy's
actions were fraudulent or virtuous? At any rate, please tell me: When has the Florentine Republic ever
plotted against either your lord or anyone else? When has it ever attacked anyone other than its enemies?
Nothing keeps you from throwing these insults at anyone you wish; but it is not enough to utter such things,
you must also provide proof of your statements.

Let us listen once more, however, to this new, furious prophet of ours: We shall see, you say, your famous
Roman steadfastness and strength in defending your shameful liberty, or, should I say, your most fierce
tyranny. You always pride yourselves on claiming descent from the Romans, but I shall explain at another
time the greatness of your impudent behavior.

We shall see, you say, but, in truth, you have already seen, as you do now and will again in the future, the
steadfastness and the fortitude of the Florentines, superior even to that of the Romans, in defending their
most beloved liberty; a divine gift, as the saying goes, more precious than all the money in the world. All
Florentines are firmly committed to using their riches and their weapons to protect their lives, as well as this
priceless blessing that they have received from their elders. They actually prize it even more than life itself,
and wish to pass it down to their sons, by God's will, intact and pure. Great is our love for the liberty that
you, most foolish of all men, call shameful; only those who have never experienced it, like yourself, fail to
appreciate it and to understand its value. The people of Lombardy alone - I do not know if it is due to their
nature, or their lifestyle, or both - seem neither to desire nor to love liberty. You are the only one, however,
who considers this, God's greatest gift, to be a vile and despicable thing. I truly doubt that you will find
anyone who shares your opinion, not even among those who live with you under the rule of your Lord, since
the love of liberty is something completely natural. I think you should be called servant of the servants, not
on account of your humility, but because of your vice. But why do I even call you servant, since you enjoy
your servitude to the point of not refraining from calling liberty shameful, considering it a most fierce
tyranny, which is a sign of even greater insanity? I am sure your definition will make many people laugh, but I
find it truly detestable. Have you ever known any form of liberty, either in Italy or abroad, which can be said
to be greater and purer than Florentine liberty, or even [to be] its equal? Is the tyranny that oppresses you so
tremendous that it forces you to consider Florentine liberty a form of tyranny? I know that to abide by the
law in order to preserve one's freedom can be hard; it can even look like a kind of slavery, especially to a
reckless young man, always eager to fulfill his material desires and yield to passion. I can easily understand
how you and people like you not only fail to appreciate the value of liberty, but even abhor its very name and
its effects as something awful. Livy, too, substantiates this, in his usual expressive style, when he writes about
the attempt to bring monarchy back to Rome. "There were Roman youths:' he writes, "born into well-off
families, who - being of the same age as the Tarquins, and their friends - had grown used to a regal lifestyle,
since they had enjoyed complete license under the monarchy. They considered equality of rights as lack of
order and lamented that the liberty of all had led to their enslavement."' Since human beings are curious
about the things they desire, they naturally dedicate themselves to pursuing them; I suppose, thus, that you
have read the above-mentioned words and other similar passages by this excellent author and have finally
come to the conclusion that liberty, the sweetest of all things, is a fierce tyranny and something despicable.

I would gladly leave it up to you to judge how foolish and inane your statements are; but since you do not
speak for yourself alone, but on behalf of others, I must make your opinion known to all my readers.
Among other things, you do not believe that the Florentines descended from the Romans. Tell me, if you
will, where have you found proof to the contrary? Why do you want to deny what all Italy grants us, what
everyone, except you, horrible beast, holds to be true, what even Rome herself and the Roman princes have
always admitted by considering and calling us their sons, flesh of their flesh, bones of their bones, unique
honor and glory of their name? To make you feel ashamed of your foolishness in having doubted all this, I
want to relate what I believe is the origin of our great city, using authors I can cite. Since you promised to
show how impudent we are in claiming to be the offspring of the Romans, my account will acquaint you with
the truth, and prevent you from ranting any further.

Regarding the origin of Florence, a difficult subject buried in antiquity, I would certainly be disposed to
believe that this glorious people and famous city derive from a small yet noble source. Nevertheless, there is
no doubt that Florence has a more illustrious origin than one might expect. It is known, in fact, that the
ancient people of Fiesole moved to our city. Tradition has it that they came to our city after having been
defeated in war, although some hold that the people of Fiesole, being mountain dwellers, were inspired to
move simply because of the beauty of the land. It is not surprising that we do not know precisely how things
actually happened. Who knows, for instance, the exact origin of Rome, not to mention the origin of other
cities? We read that, having reached Italy with the gods' help and at Carmentis' bidding, Evander and the
Arcadians went up the Tiber and arrived at a city called Valentia, at the exact site where Rome was later
founded. By looking at the etymology of the name, the Arcadians translated the Latin Valentia into "Rome."
This is why some believe the Arcadians to be the ones to have named the city Rome, not Romus. The
founder of the city, in fact, was called Romus, not Romulus, as is clearly attested by the name of the city itself,
Roma, not Romula. Varro, for instance, writes "Romus." Where can we find information on the ancient
author of the name Valentia and the foundation of that city? We have also inherited from the Romans the
tradition that the precise origins of our city remain unknown, as is the case with Rome herself, which is
further proof to the ancient foundation of Florence.

As for the founders of our city, there is precise evidence attesting to the fact that Florence was built by the
Romans. In the center of Florence, there is a capitol building with a forum right next to it; there is, moreover,
the so-called Parlascio or amphitheater, as well as places called Terme, Capacia, and a neighborhood called
Parione. There is a temple that was once consecrated to Mars, whom pagans believed to be the father of the
Roman people. It must be noted that this temple is built in a style not Greek or Etruscan, but utterly Roman.
I also want to mention another element confirming our Roman origin, although it no longer exists: until the
third decade of the fourteenth century after the incarnation of Christ (mediator between God and mankind)
an equestrian statue of Mars stood on the Ponte Vecchio. People preserved it as a testimonial to our entirely
Roman origin, but the flood that destroyed three of Florence's bridges swept it away seventy years ago
November 4. Many people still alive today saw it and remember it.

We still possess, moreover, the arches and other remains of the aqueducts built in ancient Roman style that
brought fresh water to the city for public use. Since all these Roman ruins are still to be found here today,
together with Roman names and the customs of that ancient people, who would dare say, against such strong
evidence of our illustrious origins, that the authors of such things were not the Romans? Anyone who has
ever seen the round towers and the ruins of the city gates, which are now attached to the bishop's palace,
would not only suspect but actually swear that they were built by the Romans - and not merely because of the
material out of which they are made, namely tiles and bricks, but because of the style itself.

It need not surprise us, therefore, if, relying upon such solid elements, the Florentines have always maintained
the belief that our city was built by the Romans in order to oppose Fiesole. Strong evidence of the people of
Fiesole's deep hatred for the Romans is provided by writings on the Social War,' a conflict in which Fiesole
and many other cities were razed to the ground. It is thus complete folly to doubt the Roman origin of
Florence. In Sallust, a most trustworthy historian, we read that Catiline sent a certain Caius Manilius to recruit
an army in the territory of Fiesole. The people of Etruria "were eager for a revolution," he writes, "because of
both poverty and the wrong they had suffered, having lost their fields and all their possessions under Sulla's
rule. Manilius thus managed to recruit a vast army by assembling all the many criminals of various sorts who
lived in that region and some of the settlers sent by Sulla who, because of their debauchery and lack of
restraint, had soon squandered all the wealth they had amassed through great plunderings."

Let us return, now, to your accusations: We shall see the vain and foolish arrogance of the Florentines and
their insolence, you say, and find out how much truth there is in the abundance of praise they unjustly
receive.

You accuse the Florentines of a vain and foolish arrogance. Who would say that the Florentine government
has boasted of anything in its letters, sent all over the world? Arrogance is a characteristic that is preoccupied
with the future, and we leave such behavior to you and people like yourself. It is typical of the Florentines'
seriousness, in fact, not to make bold claims about the future, as you do with your foolish prophecies. But we
shall discuss this later. If, as I believe, by "arrogance" and "insolence" you mean the taking of pride in one's
own merits, there are no lords in Italy, nor nations in the world that can more deservedly and rightly take
pride in their deeds in war and peace than the Florentines, who, however, boast little indeed. After all, there is
no glory more complete than that which proceeds from true merit. I do not mean to offend anyone, but
would it not be proper to remember, for example, the deeds carried out by this free people in wars fought
either to defend its own liberty, as it has often done, or to maintain an agreement, as it has always done? Is it
some kind of vain and foolish arrogance to pride oneself on what is true? If I wanted now to collect all your
lord's deeds and sayings, since I ignore your own, Loschi, and those achievements of which he boasts, I am
sure that the Florentines could hardly be accused of such boasting in either public or private, unless one
attacked them, as is your custom, with false accusations.