The Triumph of Optimism Over Experience

"A wise candidate did his best to please as many people as possible. He and his friends were expected to entertain and praise both individuals and groups - the equestrian order, the publicani, the less well-off classes, and members of the various guilds in the City and voting divisions in the Assemblies. It was vital to be seen as generous and willing to help, particularly in return for support. As Quintus Cicero put it: 'people want not only promises . . . but promises made in a lavish and complimentary way.' They were also bound to ask for favours. 'Whatever you cannot perform, decline gracefully or, better yet, don't decline. A good man will do the former, a good candidate the latter.' Better to promise wherever possible, since 'if you refuse you are sure to rouse antagonism at once, and in more people . . . . Especially as they are much angrier with those who refuse them than with a man who . . . has reason for not fulfilling his promise, although he would do so if he possibly could.' Elections pledges were just as important in the first century BC as they are today, and voters similarly inclined to let optimism triumph over experience."

Goldsworthy, Adrian. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, 41.