Ronald Syme

In all ages, whatever the form and name of government, be it monarchy, republic, or democracy, an oligarchy lurks behind the façade; and Roman history, Republican or Imperial, is the history of the governing class. The marshals, diplomats, and financiers of the Revolution may be discerned again in the Republic of Augustus as the ministers and agents of power, the same men but in different garb. They are the government of the New State.

— Ronald Syme

Without a party a statesman is nothing. He sometimes forgets that awkward fact.

— Ronald Syme

Security and aggression are terms of partisan interpretation.

— Ronald Syme

The best party is but a kind of conspiracy against the Commonwealth.

— Ronald Syme

The political cant of a country is naturally and always most strongly in evidence on the side of the vested interests. In times of peace and prosperity it commands a wide measure of acquiescence, even of belief. Revolution rends the veil.

— Ronald Syme