In the 1996 film version of Romeo and Juliet, Prince Escalus's role as Verona's keeper of the peace was interpreted literally; he was represented as a police officer.

The name, Escalus, literally means scale, an old symbol for justice. Throughout the play, Escalus tries to maintain order and strike a just balance. He attempts to rule wisely and within the prevailing guidelines for the time period.

Verona, the setting for Romeo and Juliet is a city-state in Italy during the Renaissance. As its ruler, Escalus has broad discretion about how to govern. Leaders of this time were frequently despots. Escalus is atypical of his era, as he continually strives to temper his judgments about the Montague-Capulet feud with compassion and parity.

Escalus	Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word, By thee, old Capulet, and Montague, Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets,
(1.1.89-91)

He obviously holds them equally responsible and says that he will speak to each of them, privately, about the situation. What's his collateral for this bargain? Their lives. The Prince means business.

Prince Escalus's very name calls to mind his role as the representative of judgment and justice in Romeo and Juliet.

Has the Prince been too harsh in his decree? An understanding of Elizabethan law might provide some insight, but a consideration of the laws that would have governed an Italian city-state such as Verona is useful.

Prince Escalus is unlike most rulers of Renaissance city-states. The prevailing wisdom of the time called for dire and direct punishment of offenders against the state. In 1513, the great Italian statesman and writer Niccolo Machiavelli wrote a famous treatise called The Prince. In it, he provided guidelines for how a ruler should manage his subjects in order to stay in power. The Prince is not merely prescriptive for rulers of its time; the document reflects how successful leaders were governing. The information contained therein can be applied to Prince Escalus's governing of Verona.

According to Machiavelli's The Prince, the best way for a prince to maintain order is to rule well. If this is not possible, then Machiavelli presents a variety of strategies for remaining in power. Cruelty is definitely an option.

"The Prince must not mind incurring the charge of cruelty for the purpose of keeping his subjects united and faithful; for, with a very few examples, he will be more merciful than those who, from excess of tenderness, allow disorders to arise." -Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

In The Prince, Machiavelli describes the courses of action a ruler can take when confronted with persistent civil strife (such as the brawling that erupts on the streets of Verona). He lists what the Prince can do to maintain order in his principality and to retain his own power.

1. the one is to put the leaders to death
2. (the second) to banish them from the city
3. (last, and certainly least) to reconcile them to each other under a pledge not to offend again
   -Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince is still widely considered by political theorists to be a masterpiece.

Though Escalus has threatened a death sentence, he does not impose it. The punishment he enforces is the third option: "to reconcile them to each other under a pledge." Presumably, in his individual discussions with Montague and Capulet, the Prince extracts their pledge to end the fighting. Capulet's gracious behavior toward Romeo and his refusal to have a brawl in his home suggest that he has taken the Prince's edict seriously and intends to uphold the pledge.

But there's a catch. Though Romeo has slain Tybalt, Tybalt struck the first blow against Mercutio. The situation appears to leave Escalus in a quandary.

Escalus decides to be lenient in his measure of justice. He does not execute Romeo; instead he selects the second option two from the Machiavellian scheme: "to banish them [the offenders] from the city." He insists that Romeo get out, fast, or face the death sentence. He warns that this is the last time he'll show mercy.

Escalus's final appearance is at the tragic end of the story. There has been more bloodshed. This time, Juliet, Romeo, and Paris (another kinsman to the Prince) are all dead. In the final scene, Prince Escalus acts not only as ruler of Verona, but also as a kind of detective attempting to sort out all of the facts. He is both the police and the judge.

Escalus	Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while, Till we can clear these ambiguities, And know their spring, their head, their true descent; And then will I be general of your woes, And lead you even to death. Meantime, forbear, And let mischance be slave to patience. Bring forth the parties of suspicion.
(5.3.216-22)

He calmly listens to the testimony of Friar Lawrence, Romeo's servant Balthasar, and Paris's page. Then, in his role of the dispenser of justice to Verona, he makes his final proclamation.

The Rotunda of St. Lawrence in Mantua suggests that the city was not the hell-on-earth that Romeo seems to consider it after Escalus banishes him from Verona.

Shakespeare's source material for the play, Arthur Brooke's poem, Romeus and Juliet details these punishments. But Shakespeare chooses to leave them out. He does not have Escalus metes out final judgments.

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