FREE ESSAY ON THE PRINCE BY NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

THE PRINCE BY NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

Niccolo Machiavelli tells of the methods that have been the most successful in gaining and
maintaining power in non-democratic governments in his classic novel, The Prince. Through
a meticulous analysis of political history up to his point in time, he tells of the
political strategies that had worked for rulers time and time again and also of those
that had failed.
Machiavelli maintains that any opposition to a ruler's power should be disposed of. He
gives the example of Agathocles who had his army quickly and ruthlessly killed the senate
of Syracuse and all of the other powerful people in the city so that he could easily take
control with no one to oppose him. Machiavelli does not glorify these actions. He merely
states that they work.
Machiavelli also put a great value on having a military made up of citizens of the state
rather than mercenaries. He concluded that a citizens' army has more to lose if defeated
and more to gain if victorious. A citizen's army is also more likely to be loyal to its
ruler while mercenaries fight purely for profit. At the moment it becomes more profitable
to take some other course of action than to follow the orders of their employer,
mercenaries will do so. Machiavelli cites several examples where having an army of
mercenaries limited the capabilities of the state's military. King Louis XI employed
Swiss mercenaries who fought along side his own troops. In time the French troops were so
accustomed to fighting with the Swiss that they felt they couldn't be victorious without
them. Machiavelli also gave some examples of times when mercenaries actually turned on
their employers such as the Carthaginians' mercenaries that turned on them after they
fought the Romans. 
Machiavelli said that it was critical for a ruler to be constantly thinking of the art of
war. He should come to know the landscape of his own country in order to know the best
strategies for battle should his nation every be attacked, and through this he should
also be able to deduce how to react in similar terrain in another place. Francesco Sforza
raised himself from a private person to the station of Duke of Milan through battle.
Machiavelli believed that a ruler should know how to do wrong. He who tries to do what is
morally right instead of what needs to be done will soon lose his power.
Machiavelli states that it is better to be feared than loved if one cannot be both. A
ruler should not be too merciful. Ruthlessness that sets a few examples is ultimately
more merciful when it prevents disorder because many may die in disorder. Hannibal was
ruthless and cruel, and he was both revered and feared in the eyes of his enormous army,
allowing him to keep them under his command.
Machiavelli explains that a ruler should have the cunning of a fox and the strength of a
lion. Without cunning a ruler is susceptible to tricks and traps, but without a strong
military he is likely to be overwhelmed by the opposition. Alexander VI was an especially
cunning ruler. He was always deceiving someone. Deceit can often be used to manipulate
others.
Niccolo Machiavelli is one of the most widely read authors of all time. His book, The
Prince, has been studied by many people including Hitler and several U.S. presidents. By
the age of 29 Machiavelli was active in the Florentine government, participating in
several diplomatic missions to other nations that afforded him the opportunity to observe
their practices.
Bibliography
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince.