 Lipsius’s own traumatic experiences in the bloody civil wars of his day surely explain, at least in part, his obsessive concern for unity in both state and religion, the secular authority (auctoritas) of the prince and the disciplined obedience of the citizenry. Decades before Thomas Hobbes, Lipsius placed order and peace, which alone could guarantee political stability, far above civil liberties and personal freedom. That is why Lipsius, writing in Calvinist Leiden, argued in favor of a more powerful central authority in order to control revolutionary forces in an efficient way. The prince’s authority must be as strong as possible, reinforcing his subjects’ opinion of him. He has at his disposal three instruments of power (praecipua vis imperii) to achieve this: his commands, his actual power (depending on wealth, army, advisors, alliances and God’s will) and, finally, his moral standards. Voluntary obedience and common consent, together with the peace and unity which they produce, are secured by the efficient operation of these three instruments (Politica IV.9).