Tyrannicide John argued that princes must be subordinate to the law, and distinguished the prince from the tyrant on the basis that the prince "obeys the law and rules the people by its dictates, accounting himself as but their servant". The "limbs" of the body politic could be in subjection to the "head", the monarch, "always and only on condition that religion be kept inviolate". The tyrant's resistance of divine law, on the other hand, could merit his death. John's examples of tyrants included the scriptural figures of Sisera and Holofernes, as well as the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate, who attempted to restore Rome's pagan religion. In cases such as these, John argued that killing a ruler, when all other resources were exhausted, was not only justifiable but necessary. Where the prince was an image of God, the tyrant was an "image of depravity", "for the most part even to be killed". The "tree" of tyranny" is to be cut down by an axe anywhere it grows". This was the first systematic defense of tyrannicide to be written after antiquity. Modern editions and translations Critical editions Policraticus, ed. K. S. B. Keats-Rohan, CCCM 118 (Turnholt, 1993). Books I-IV. Policratici, sive, De nugis curialium et vestigiis philosophorum, ed. Clement Webb (Oxford, 1909). Books I-VIII. English translations No complete English translation of all eight books of the Policraticus currently exists. Translated selections may be found in: The Statesman's Book of John of Salisbury, trans. John Dickinson (New York, 1927). (Contains books IV-VI, with selections from VII and VIII.) Frivolities of Courtiers and Footprints of Philosophers, trans. Joseph B. Pike (Minneapolis and London, 1938). (Contains books I-III, selections of VII and VIII.) Policraticus: Of the Frivolities of Courtiers and the Footprints of Philosophers, trans. Cary J. Nederman (Cambridge, 1990). (Contains various selections, mostly from books IV-VIII. References Further reading 1150s books Philosophy books Political philosophy literature Ethics books Medieval philosophical literature 12th-century Latin books