the prince and other writings niccolo machiavelli

More than just keeping power, The Prince is about being great (a condition that Machiavelli never conflates with morality).įor those of us who live in democracies, we don't always have a clear understanding of exactly what duties occupy the mind of a prince. The Prince, then, is a programme for good leadership of a state. Even in Discourses, Machiavelli says that only a single man can found a republic (Chapter 9: 'How It Is Necessary for a Man to Act Alone in Order to Organize a Republic Anew.'). As a student of history, Machiavelli knows that Italy was once strong-and unified. From the way he speaks wistfully of Rome-both republic and empire-I couldn't help but get a sense that Machiavelli's outlining what he sees as the qualities Italy needs in a leader who will restore the country's former glory.

Maybe Machiavelli wrote it only as an attempt to get into the good graces of the Medicis.

Although he's a staunch republican, if you read only The Prince, you probably wouldn't know it.

In comparing contemporary Italy to the times that preceded it, Machiavelli usually finds his own time lacking. In both The Prince and Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli makes heavy use of examples from ancient Rome. Fifteenth-century Italy was one fucked up place, and it's no wonder that Machiavelli felt the need to write The Prince. Consequently, I've learned more about Italian history from The Prince than any other source. He draws on specific cases, both from ancient (usually Roman) history and recent events in 15th-century Italy. What sets Machiavelli apart is his style, the way he articulates his arguments and advances his philosophy for ruling a principality. I think it's a mistake to reduce The Prince though. New princes must establish control over their state, whether it's one they have recently conquered or one they've seized in a coup. Machiavelli focuses in particular on princes who are new to their principality, as hereditary princes simply need to continue the practices of their predecessors that made the people content enough not to revolt. If one wants to be reductionist, one can boil down The Prince to a manual on how to keep power. As much as it is an exploration of politics, it is also an exploration of personality, a fact that becomes much clearer when it's held up next to Machiavelli's other works, such as The Life of Castruccio Castracani and Discourses on Livy. Part history and part philosophy, The Prince is a glimpse into the mind of a Renaissance thinker. In the twenty-first century, they're bullet-point lists bound in bright yellow covers with a cartoon on the front. In the fifteenth century, manuals for prospective rulers took the form of profound philosophical treatises. Want to know the difference between the Renaissance and present-day society? If Machiavelli had written The Prince today, it would be called Ruling Principalities for Dummies.

The prince and other writings niccolo machiavelli