Plutarch's Romane Questions · Plutarch
71.
_Wherefore use the_ Romans _to tie a wisp of hey unto the hornes of kine, and other beefes, that are woont to boak and be curst with their heads, that by the meanes thereof folke might take heed of them, and looke better to themselves when they come in their way_? IS it not for that beefes, horses, asses, yea and men become fierce, insolent, and dangerous, if they be highly kept and pampered to the full? according as _Sophocles_ said: _Like as the colt or jade doth winse and kick, In case he find his provender to prick: Even so do'st thou: for lo, thy paunch is full Thy cheeks be puft, like to some greedie gull._ And thereupon the Romans gave out, that _Marcus Crassus_ caried hey on his horne: for howsoever they would seeme to let flie and carpe at others, who dealt in the affaires of State, and government, yet beware they would how they commersed with him as being a daungerous man, and one who caried a revenging mind to as many as medled with him. Howbeit it was said afterwards againe on the other side, that _Cæsar_ had plucked the hey from _Crassus_ his horne: for he was the first man that opposed himselfe, and made head against him in the management of the State, and in one word set not a straw by him.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.