It wasn't that he didn't believe that governments could be despotic. He had seen it, here and back home. But he had also seen the dream that was Rome - Marcus Aurelius' dream. The fact that John had called him 'the last of the five good emperors' was disheartening, but that did not take away from the man he knew.
"Evil is everywhere. The richest man or the poorest man, it makes no difference. But how many kings or emperors have you known? How many Emperors have you fought beside? Bled beside? How many have murmured philosophy to you in the dark?"
"There are good men, among them. If they are not good men, then you fight. I've seen the world change, in every way save one."
"There are always evil men. And there are always good men. Kings, or no."
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It wasn't that he didn't believe that governments could be despotic. He had seen it, here and back home. But he had also seen the dream that was Rome - Marcus Aurelius' dream. The fact that John had called him 'the last of the five good emperors' was disheartening, but that did not take away from the man he knew.
"Evil is everywhere. The richest man or the poorest man, it makes no difference. But how many kings or emperors have you known? How many Emperors have you fought beside? Bled beside? How many have murmured philosophy to you in the dark?"
"There are good men, among them. If they are not good men, then you fight. I've seen the world change, in every way save one."
"There are always evil men. And there are always good men. Kings, or no."