An alliance with a powerful person is never safe.

Phaedrus, the freedman who clothed truth in fables, warned the generations with these solemn words: “An alliance with a powerful person is never safe.” In this saying, he speaks to the imbalance that lies at the heart of such bonds. When one joins hands with the mighty, the weaker soul is always at risk, for the powerful hold not only strength but the liberty to turn their will as they please. What begins as partnership may end in servitude, and what seems like protection may conceal the seed of ruin.

The heart of his teaching lies in the danger of dependence. To ally with the powerful is to stand beneath a towering shadow, where one’s fate is tied to the whims of another. Today they may smile, tomorrow they may scorn, and the weaker partner has little recourse. The bond is never equal; the weaker one must bend, while the stronger one may break the tie at leisure. Thus Phaedrus reminds us that safety does not come from borrowed strength but from strength of one’s own.

History bears bitter witness. Consider the fate of the Italian states in the Renaissance. Florence, Venice, and Milan often sought alliances with kings of France or Spain to secure advantage. Yet again and again, these alliances brought betrayal. The powerful monarchs used the cities as pawns, discarding them when convenience ended. Italy was ravaged, not because it lacked genius, but because it sought safety in the embrace of giants who cared nothing for its survival.

So too in the ancient world. Athens, in her decline, bound herself in uneasy alliance with Persia, once her mortal enemy, hoping to counter Sparta. Yet in so doing, she surrendered dignity and independence, and the bond proved poisonous. The Persians gave aid as long as it served their interest, and when it no longer did, Athens was left weakened, her destiny no longer in her own hands. The lesson is plain: to ally with the mighty is to gamble with one’s very future.

O children of tomorrow, remember Phaedrus’ counsel: beware the embrace of the powerful, for it is rarely safe. Better to stand on your own ground, though it be humble, than to lean on a pillar that may at any moment crush you. True security lies not in borrowed power but in integrity, independence, and self-reliance. For the friendship of the great is fleeting, but the strength of one’s own virtue endures forever.