It's not poetic. It's a feature of his rhetorical training.
The quote really sounds to me like an echo of the Roman historian Tacitus. Paine's quote would remind his readers of Tacitus' writings about how the Roman emperors gradually and sneakily assumed control over the government, and over Roman lives.
The quote really sounds to me like an echo of the Roman historian Tacitus. Paine's quote would remind his readers of Tacitus' writings about how the Roman emperors gradually and sneakily assumed control over the government, and over Roman lives.
I'll have to look it up.
- Samuel Edward Konkin III, founder of agorism (1947 - 2004)
Personally, I like Thomas Paine's quote better. It's more poetic.