Balance of Power: States, Societies, and the Narrow Corridor to Liberty

by Daron Acemoğlu

Other examples of politicians whose names include the word “shit” are the brothers Gregorio and Guglielmo Cacainarca, whose family name means “shit in a box.” Similarly, the name of the consul Arderico Cagainosa, who held office between 1140 and 1144, is translated as “shit in your pants.” Other names of prominent political families include Cacainbasilica, “shit in the church”; Cacarana, “shit a frog”; Cagalenti, or “shit slowly”; and even Cagatosici, which means “toxic shit.” Get too powerful or misbehave, and you risked getting a surname featuring Caca. A few other features of the fresco are noteworthy. At the foot of the ruler, a little to the right, are two kneeling noblemen in armor. They signify the authority of the commune over the aristocracy who too are bound by Justice. Behind them are a group of soldiers carrying lances that may represent the special force that the Nine recruited in 1302 to police the Sienese countryside. This all sounds very much like liberty from fear (because of Peace), violence (because of Justice), and dominance (because the state and the elite are constrained by laws and popular mandates). At the bottom of the wall are painted words that say as much: Wherever this holy virtue [Justice] rules, She induces to unity many souls; And these, gathered for such a purpose A common good (ben comun) for their master undertake; Who, in order to govern his state, chooses Never to keep his eyes turned From the splendor of the faces Of the virtues which ...