"Weaponize your opponents' own stated principles against them Gaius repeatedly used the Roman reverence for the mos maiorum — ancestral tradition — as a political tool, pursuing reforms that happened to benefit him while framing them as restoration of tradition. The result was that senators "were unable to oppose him, lest they themselves be accused of opposing the mos maiorum, and exposing their own selective glorification of Roman tradition." The transferable lesson: when dealing with institutions or individuals who appeal to principles selectively, carefully demonstrating that their own stated values require the outcome you want makes opposition rhetorically impossible. Source: Kings and Generals, Kings and Generals Podcast, Caligula: The Mad Emperor Explained"