“They hate those whom they have injured.”Tacit · Anale · 117 · Cartea I, paragraful 69
The aggressor turns the victim into an enemy to justify their own guilt.
Tacitus describes a perverse psychological mechanism: the aggressor, to justify the deed, turns the victim into an enemy. Hatred does not come from what the victim did, but from the aggressor's need to reduce cognitive dissonance. A boss who unfairly fires an employee may start to despise them, to avoid acknowledging their own injustice.
When a parent scolds a child unfairly, they may come to believe the punishment was deserved. It is easier to hate the victim than to admit the mistake. Tacitus shows this hatred is a defense of the ego, not a reaction to real deeds. It turns relationships into power struggles. By noticing this, we can stop the cycle before it starts.
Why it matters This quote explains the dynamics of power abuse in personal or professional relationships and warns us to recognize this tendency in ourselves or others.