''Policraticus'' or ''Polycraticus'' is a work by John of Salisbury, written around 1159. Sometimes called the first complete medieval work of

political theory Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from d ...

, it belongs, at least in part, to the genre of advice literature addressed to rulers known as "

mirrors for princes Mirrors for princes or mirrors of princes () constituted a literary genre of didactic political writings throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It was part of the broader speculum or mirror literature genre. The Latin term ''speculum reg ...

", but also breaks from that genre by offering advice to courtiers and bureaucrats. Though it takes up a wide variety of ethical questions, it is most famous for attempting to define the responsibilities of kings and their relationship to their subjects.

Title

The title ''Policraticus'', like those of other works by John of Salisbury, is a Greco-

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

, sometimes rendered as "The Statesman's Book". Its original subtitle was ', "On the Frivolities of Courtiers and the Footprints of Philosophers".

Structure

The work consists of eight books, falling roughly into three 'blocks': the private 'frivolities' of the courtiers (books I-III), the public offices of different classes, with a focus on the prince and the body politic (books IV-VI), and the 'footprints' of the philosophers (books VII and VIII). Most scholarly attention of the work has focused on the 'political' content of the second block and the discussion of tyranny in the final book. The topics of the books are as follows: * Book I: Hunting, theatre, and magic * Book II: Omens, dreams, and occult sciences * Book III: Self-interest and flattery * Book IV: The duties of the 'prince' (''princeps'') * Book V and VI: The

body politic The body politic is a polity—such as a city, realm, or state—considered metaphorically as a physical body. Historically, the sovereign is typically portrayed as the body's head, and the analogy may also be extended to other anatomical part ...

* Book VII: Three Epicurean tendencies (according to

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...

) * Book VIII: Another two Epicurean tendencies; Tyranny

Arguments

Monarchy

John drew his arguments primarily from the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

and from

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

, especially Justinian's Code and Novels. He depicted "the prince" as a "likeness on earth of the divine majesty", "feared by each of those over whom he is set as an object of fear". The prince's power, like all earthly authority, was "from God", requiring the obedience of the prince's subjects. Purportedly following a manual by

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

titled the '—likely invented by John himself—he argued that the prince had four principal responsibilities: to revere God, adore his subjects, exert self-discipline and instruct his ministers. Since the ruler was the image of God, John advocated strict punishments for lèse-majesté, but he qualified this by specifying that the temporal power of the ruler was delegated by the spiritual power of the church, and argued that a prince should err on the side of mercy and compassion when enforcing the law.

Tyrannicide

John argued that princes must be subordinate to the law, and distinguished the prince from the tyrant on the basis that the prince "obeys the law and rules the people by its dictates, accounting himself as but their servant". The "limbs" of the

could be in subjection to the "head", the monarch, "always and only on condition that religion be kept inviolate". The tyrant's resistance of divine law, on the other hand, could merit his death. John's examples of tyrants included the scriptural figures of Sisera and Holofernes, as well as the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate, who attempted to restore Rome's

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

religion. In cases such as these, John argued that killing a ruler, when all other resources were exhausted, was not only justifiable but necessary. Where the prince was an image of God, the tyrant was an "image of depravity", "for the most part even to be killed". The "tree" of tyranny" is to be cut down by an axe anywhere it grows". This was the first systematic defense of

tyrannicide Tyrannicide is the killing or assassination of a tyrant or unjust ruler, purportedly for the common good, and usually by one of the tyrant's subjects. Tyrannicide was legally permitted and encouraged in Classical Athens. Often, the term "tyrant ...

to be written after antiquity.

Modern editions and translations

Critical editions

* ''Policraticus'', ed. K. S. B. Keats-Rohan, CCCM 118 (Turnholt, 1993). Books I-IV. * ''Policratici, sive, De nugis curialium et vestigiis philosophorum'', ed. Clement Webb (Oxford, 1909). Books I-VII

English translations

No complete English translation of all eight books of the ''Policraticus'' currently exists. Translated selections may be found in: * ''The Statesman's Book of John of Salisbury'', trans. John Dickinson (New York, 1927

(Contains books IV-VI, with selections from VII and VIII.) * ''Frivolities of Courtiers and Footprints of Philosophers,'' trans. Joseph B. Pike (Minneapolis and London, 1938

(Contains books I-III, selections of VII and VIII.) * ''Policraticus: Of the Frivolities of Courtiers and the Footprints of Philosophers'', trans. Cary J. Nederman (Cambridge, 1990

(Contains various selections, mostly from books IV-VIII.