[knighthawk]

Europe-list

If people want on or off this list, please let me know.

[Cicero]

Balance of power politics goes back much further than that. It was brought to perfection by Metternich and Bismark, but it was specifically advocated by Machiavelli in The Prince. Machiavelli in turn cites the Roman example especially in their Greek campaign against Philip of Macedon.

That principle is perfectly summed up in Virgil's famous passage on what the Roman "art" will be: the art of governing the world by supporting weaker states and weakening or destroying stronger states: debellare superbos.