play. Rüdiger Safranski's biography Lit. comes to the conclusion that Schiller, the "freedom enthusiast", is not concerned in Fiesco about how one should act, but rather about what action one truly wants. "It is not a matter of what one should want, but what one wants to want". What Schiller shows is, according to Safranski, that "freedom is what makes people unpredictable, both to themselves and to others". In The Robbers, Schiller took as his theme "the victim of extravagant emotions". In Fiesco he attempted "the opposite, a victim of artifice and intrigue". The concern about the appropriateness for the stage of a "cold, sterile affair of state" is expressed by the author himself in his preface: "If it is true that only emotions can give rise to emotions, then, it seems to me, a political hero is no subject for the stage to the extent to which he has to disregard people in order to become a political hero". Nevertheless, 75 performances proved the play's outstanding success. (See above). Today, however, Fiesco's Conspiracy at Genoa appears relatively seldom on the German stage. One reason could be Schiller's relation to democracy. In the eighth scene of the second act he presents a "crowd scene" with twelve (!) workmen. These people know precisely what they do not want (the establishment of absolutistic reign in Genoa), but not what they want instead. In their perplexity they turn to Fiesco, who should "rescue" them. He tells them a fable in which rule by a large, fierce dog is to be replaced with rule by a lion (in other words, the rule of the Dorias replaced with rule by Fiesco). He persuades them to give up their wish to establish a democracy by pointing out that democracy is "the rule of the cowardly and the stupid", that there are more cowardly people than courageous ones and more stupid people than clever ones, and that in a democracy the majority rules. Their cheers confirm Fiesco's opinion, whereupon he becomes euphorically confident of victory. The view that democracy means "the rule of the cowardly and the stupid" and that, accordingly, the rule of a "benevolent prince" is preferable, is not considered appropriate today, but it was very common in Schiller's time, also because of the reception of Plato's Politeia (The Republic), where Plato shows, among other things, that in the end it is better for all