To Jump from Humility to Pride and from Mercy to Cruelty Without Profitable Means, is an Imprudent and Useless Thing

In addition to other means ill-used by Appius in order to maintain his tyranny, that of jumping from one quality to another was of no little moment. For his astuteness in deceiving the Plebs by simulating to be a man of the People was well used: those means were also well used in which he caused the Ten to be reappointed: that audacity in nominating himself against the expectation of the Nobility was also well used: the naming of colleagues suitable to him was also well used: but in doing this (according as was said above) what he did was not well used in changing his n............