Join or Die - Or Maybe Neither
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Enshrined in the canon of Ars Magica is the principle that in the early
days of the Order, a number of aggressive magi prowled Mythic Europe,
accosting every hedge wizard they could find and offering a stark
choice: "join or die!"  

I don't know where this was first mentioned or who first thought of it,
but let's take a moment to consider how much sense this really makes.
Why would a magus in the early Order want to do this?  What would he and
the Order stand to gain?

I think the nominal reason for this was to eliminate magi who were
potential threats to the Order.  A hedge wizard, not being a member of
the Order, had no Oath prohibiting him from killing Hermetic magi.
Therefore, the thinking goes, he might be inclined to do just that.
Better to have him face off against Flambeau the Founder than some
defenseless, freshly-trained lab rat.

Does that really withstand examination?  It would seem that the main
deterrent to killing Hermetic magi is not some sworn Oath, but the
threat of Wizard's March - swift and lethal retaliation.  If a member of
the Order can be hunted down and executed for murder, then certainly a
hedge wizard can suffer the same penalty.  Indeed, it's easier and more
convenient to eliminate a non-member because there is none of that
tedious legal procedure and no embarassing questions from the
Quaesitores.  Whether the Order can protect its members does not depend
so much on whom they can get to swear the Oath, as on whom they have
available to avenge slain magi.

It also seems unlikely that rampaging around Mythic Europe issuing
ultimatums would be a good way to keep the hedgies from causing trouble.
Violence from Hermetic aggressors invites a violent response.  If, on
the other hand, the Order reserved its vengeance only for those who
attack its members, there would be a good reason not to mess with
Hermetic magi.

If the Order can't increase its peace and security through the
"join or die" ultimatum, what can it gain?  Access to the magical
knowledge of the hedge wizards, for one thing.  In the early Order, this
may have been rather important.  We don't know how well developed
Hermetic theory really was in the early days.  Verditius never learned
to cast spells, and Mercere lost his Gift, so clearly there were some
rough spots.  Integrating more magical knowledge into the Order's theory
might have been a high priority in the early days.  On the other hand,
most of the major features of the Ars Magica magic system are attributed
to the Founders.  Bonisagus invented Parma Magica and the fifteen Arts.
Diedne invented spontaneous spells.  Verditius invented enchanted
items.  Someone - Mercere I think - came up with the method for binding
familiars.  How much of a contribution could hedge wizards really make?  
The powers of most hedge wizards are probably quite feeble compared to
those of a fully-trained magus.  At the same time, the rules suggest
that hedge wizards have increasing difficulty in learning Hermetic magic
as they progress in their own tradition of magic - that a wizard's Gift
permanently adapts to the kind of magic he uses.  It is doubtful that a
hedge wizard would personally be able to contribute anything valuable to
the young Order.  The best likelihood of a real advance would be to have
a powerful hedge wizard sit down with Bonisagus and hammer out a way to
integrate a new tradition into Hermetic theory.  That may have been
tried, but if it had really worked there would be more than twelve
Founders.  Also, the Order is portrayed as holding hedge wizards in
contempt rather than in esteem.  We don't know when this attitude arose
but if it was in place early on, then there would be no incentive to try
to learn anything from non-Hermetic wizards.

Another reason the early Order may have sought recruits is that they
wanted to establish their magical dominance of Europe.  This is an
explanation that makes some sense, but there is an adage that one
catches more flies with honey than with vinegar.  Which would be a 
more effective recruitment technique - to send around Trianoma (in
a low-cut tunic, batting her eyelashes and offering the dual secrets of 
Parma Magica and the Longevity Ritual), or Flambeau the Psychopath
and his Flaming Balls of Death?

Now, think about what the Order might have to lose by recruiting too
aggressively.  First there is the not-inconsequential threat that the
so-called "hedge wizard" might be a diabolist.  It might suit the
Devil's plans very nicely if one of his minions were offered a chance to
join the Order.  In Fifth Edition Ars Magica, the extent of demonic
influence in the world is a choice left up to individual Troupes.  That
means, in my game at least, some fraction of the professed hedge wizards
out there are actually diabolists.  Given that demons are hard to detect
with Hermetic magic, and given the damage a diabolist could do to the
Order by corrupting other members, it would seem that caution is
indicated when seeking to induct "magicians" into the Order.

Much of Hermetic politics in Ars Magica games boils down to squabbling
over resources: primarily vis, secondarily desirable covenant sites,
sources of income, and other things necessary for covenant life.  Even
if the early days of the Order were a time of abundant vis and
unoccupied magical sites, magi, being intelligent people (positive Int
is still the norm) would soon realize that the more bumbling hedgies get
inducted into the Order, the fewer resources there will be to go round
for the "real magi."  Once inside the Order, the hedge wizard would gain
the full protection of the Code, including protection from having his
vis stolen.  As an outsider, magi could rob him every season and get
away with it.  It hardly seems likely one would be willing to kill to
get more people with whom to compete for resources.

Generally I do not believe that even an imaginary Order in the harsh
world of Mythic Europe would be so amoral as to openly sanction Flambeau
going around killing people just because they won't join the "wizards'
club."  They might not be able to stop Flambeau doing it, but that
doesn't mean he would attract a lot of imitators.  I don't know how many
characters in your version of Mythic Europe would be willing to carry
out a death threat against some relatively defenseless hedge wizard
minding his own business, but in mine, the number of homicidal maniacs
is rather small (they tend to kill each other in Wizards' Wars).  

If there is a sound argument in favor of the "join or die" recruiting
method, I have yet to see it.  After having thought about it, I conclude
that this is something that was written into the early game supplements
without much thought, and has been preserved in canon without much
scrutiny.  It just doesn't seem to add up.

-Andrew Gronosky