Consultation

doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7571.737

BMJ 2006;333:737 (7 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7571.737

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Consultation

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In his account of the Persian wars, Herodotus tells how theLydian king Croesus consulted the Delphic oracle, asking whetherhe should go to war with Persia. If Croesus attacks the Persians,said the oracle, he will destroy a mighty empire. Croesus confidentlymarched on Cappadocia, but it was his own mighty empire thathe destroyed by doing so, not that of the enemy king, Cyrus.Other oracular pronouncements were equally ambiguous. Accordingto Ennius, "Aio te Romanos vincere posse" (quoted by Shakespearein Henry VI, Part 2) was the answer that Pyrrhus, king of Epirus,received when he asked about making war with Rome: "I assertthat you can conquer the Romans/the Romans can conquer you."The lesson is clear: listen carefully to those whom you consult—theymay not be saying what you would like them to say. It is a lessonthat seems to have been forgotten.