Let us get to know one aspect of Martius, the protagonist of the Coriolanus tragedy: Martius was a soldier who did noble service to his country. Yet to preserve honour is a virtue no less than to win it. A man must gather no more stones than his palm may hold, for in clutching one, another is lost. Let it be known that an excess of happiness breeds arrogance; and arrogance clouds judgment, silences self-rebuke, and makes a man his own idol. Martius was valiant. His valour brought him days of fortune, and his spirit swelled with pride. He sought even in peace to wield the harshness he had shown in war. Thus the people feared him, and in fearing, came to hate him.
He is not alone in being cast out and scorned by the world. Many lie in foxlike sleep upon the skirts of lofty mountains, their eyes ever fixed upon the summit, until they seem to burst from their heads. Therefore, though a seat of power may glitter fair, it often proves a grave to him who sits upon it. Our Roman commander is as honest as his spear, yet cold toward that creature called man; for he has never truly known him. Or else, all his life, he has looked for beauty and virtue in every soul. He knows not that men may at times take on the nature of beasts, of serpents, yea, even of devils. In war, men contend with equal or like arms; but in the life of the commonwealth, the contest is of another kind. A thousand discordant forces arise. Against the plots and stratagems laid upon him, a man must, in my judgment, wear armour far stronger than that which shields him in battle.