John of Salisbury's Theory on a Tyrant - Vespasian

John of Salisbury's theory on a tyrant is by far the best definition when compared to other theorist discussed in this class. John believes a tyrant is on who neglects his responsibilities, lets their wickedness interfere with the common goods and rules by force rather than by law. John also believes that once a king becomes a tyrant he looses all his authority, and his subjects have the right to no longer be loyal to him. In addition, in an extreme case of tyranny john believe a good Christian has the right to assassinate a tyrant and if that does not take place god will eventually punish such tyrant. It is under those conditions that it is possible to identify if Vespasian and Henry the VIII were indeed tyrants.

To begin, I will be discussing why Vespasian does not qualify as a tyrant under Salisbury's theory. First, as stated previously Salisbury believes that a tyrant is one who neglects his responsibilities, interfere with common good and rules by force; these all stand false in regards to Vespasian. Vespasian did not neglect his responsibilities, since he respected the laws, and protected his subjects which are qualities of a good emperor. Vespasian had many responsibilities even prior of becoming emperor and he handled them well, which is one of the reasons he became emperor after all. The passage states "the Romans needed a strong army under an energetic commander who could be trusted not to abuse his considerable powers" (281). The quote shows Vespasian had a responsibility prior of becoming emperor which was to direct an outstanding army, and it also shows that the Romans believed that he was a good and trustworthy leader who did not abuse his leadership powers. Vespasian was also a disciplined man; he [missed no opportunity to tighten discipline]