Machiavellis The Prince Chapter I The Kinds of

Machiavelli’s The Prince

Chapter I: The Kinds of Principalities and the Means by Which They Are Acquired �All states are either republics or principalities. �New states are either completely new or updates of existing ones.

Chapter II: Hereditary Principalities �Will not discuss republics. �Easier to rule hereditary states. �Easier to re-conquer, if one loses power.

Chapter III: Mixed Principalities �Men must be either pampered or annihilated. �Hard to control because you can never live up to expectations. �Previous regimes always keep some control. �Easier to control a principality if the people have the same language and customs as you. �Establish colonies, instead of taking them over completely.

Chapter IV: Why Alexander’s Successors Were Able to Keep Possession of Darius’ Kingdom after Alexander’s Death �Easier to rule a state run by ministers than by nobles. �To control a state run by nobles, you must kill many more people. �Uses historical examples of how this is true.

Chapter V: How to Govern Cities and Principalities That, Prior to Being Occupied, Lived Under Their Own Laws �First – complete destruction �Second – conquer and occupy �Third – let them rule themselves and tax them.

Chapter VI: Concerning New Principalities Acquired by One’s Own Arms and Ability �[P]eople are by nature changeable. It is easy to persuade them about some particular matter, but it is hard to hold them to that persuasion. �Imitate great rulers of the past. �Use prowess instead of fortune. �Use force, harder, but if successful, very successful.

Chapter VII: Concerning New Principalities Acquired with the Arms and Fortunes of Others �People become Prince by fortune. �They are weak. �Soldiers are not loyal; so you must eliminate rivals. �You must also lay a foundation.

Chapter VIII: Concerning Those Who Become Princes by Evil Means �“treacherous, pitiless, and irreligious” �Princes who rise through crime achieve power, but never glory. �Must strike all evil at once and then try to become good. �Too much evil leads to revolt.

Chapter IX: Concerning the Civil Principality �Princes who come to power this way are elected by the people. �Two types of people, nobles and common people. �Power by nobles harder to maintain, either dependent on them or indifferent. �Power by the commoners is easy, but less effective.

Chapter X: How the Strength of All Principalities Should Be Measured �An army should always be as big as any competitor. �There must be defenses and fortifications. �Must create patriotism. �Deters aggressors.

Chapter XI: Concerning Ecclesiastical Principalities �Countries controlled by the Catholic Church. �Since they are controlled by religion, these places are easy to control since the people follow blindly. �You do not even need a crown.

Chapter XII: Concerning Various Kinds of Troops, and Especially Mercenaries �Three types of armies. �Prince’s troops �Mercenaries �Auxiliary Troops. �The last two are useless or dangerous or both. �Mercenaries are faithless. Commanders are either unskilled or skilled. Unskilled are worthless, skilled ones can’t be trusted.

Chapter XIII: Concerning Auxiliary, Mixed, and Native Forces �Auxiliary Forces are armies that belong to another Ruler. �They are more skilled and loyal the mercenaries, but they are loyal to another ruler, not You! �This makes them more dangerous, if they lose you are defenseless, if they win, you owe your victory to someone else. �A Prince should command his own forces, if not the principality can never be secure.

Chapter XIV: A Prince’s Concern in Military Matters �A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war. �The only thing a prince needs to study is the art of war. �The story of the armed man and the unarmed man. �Rulers must study geography, history, and both he physical and mental side of war.

Chapter XV: Concerning Things for Which Men, and Princes Especially, Are Praised or Censured �Subject has been previously addresses, but theoretically and not practically. �Most people write about ideal men, but men never live their lives virtuously all the time. �Courage, compassion, faith, craftiness, and generosity number among the qualities that receive praise. �Cowardice, cruelty, stubbornness, and miserliness are usually met with condemnation. �However, sometimes the bad can lead to good, preserving the state is the number one responsibility.

Chapter XVI: Liberality and Parsimony �Of all the things he must guard against, hatred and contempt come first, and liberality leads to both. �Liberality, or generosity, is a quality that many men admire. But if a prince develops a reputation for generosity, he will ruin his state. �Ungenerous Princes will eventually be seen as generous. �Frugal princes will eventually have funds to be generous.

Chapter XVII: Concerning Cruelty: Whether It Is Better to Be Loved Than to Be Feared, or the Reverse �Compassion, like generosity, is usually admired. But a prince must be careful that he does not show compassion unwisely. �Crimes harm the entire community; executions only harm individuals. �Cruelty is good to an extent. �Is it better to be loved than feared. Ideally a Prince should be both, but if he can only be one, be feared.

Chapter XVII: Concerning Cruelty: Whether It Is Better to Be Loved Than to Be Feared, or the Reverse �This is because men, by nature, are “ungrateful, fickle, dissembling, anxious to flee danger, and covetous of gain. ” �When inducing fear, however, a prince must be careful to avoid inducing hatred. �He must make sure that any executions are properly justified. �Above all, a prince should never confiscate the property of his subjects or take their women, since these actions are most likely to breed hatred. �With an army, no such thing as too much cruelty, in fact inhumane cruelty is allowed.

Chapter XVIII: In What Way Princes Should Keep Their Word �Princes who honor their word are respected, but history shows us that Princes should be cunning, crafty and able to trick others. �Two ways to fight, by force or by law. �When using force, he acts like a beast (fox and a lion) �However a Prince must always come off as virtuous even if he is not.

Chapter XIX: The Need to Avoid Contempt and Hatred �A prince must avoid being hated at all costs. �Worry about two things; internal insurrection and external threats. �A conspirator might do something if the people will be happy he has done it. �Delegate unpopular laws to others, that way they are the ones disliked. �Not always possible not to be hated, but try not to be hated by the most powerful.

Chapter XX: Whether Fortresses and Many Other Expedients That Princes Commonly Employ Are Useful or Not �Do not disarm your subjects. This will make them want to have arms against you. �Create opposition that you can easily defeat, that way you look more powerful. �Fortresses can both help and hurt, the issue is not building a fortress, but put trust in a fortress.

Chapter XXI: What a Prince Must Do to Be Esteemed �Great Endeavors and noble examples are the best way to win one over people. �Military wins should always be sought. Never stay neutral because both sides will be angry. �Choose partners that are weaker than you, but can still win. �Princes should let their people make money, do not tax too much. Throw celebrations.

Chapter XXII: Concerning the Prince’s Ministers �Ministers are very important because they are the first impression people get. �Three types of intellect a man can posses. �Ability to understand independently �Ability to appreciate another person’s ability �Ability to do neither �Never have a minister who thinks he is better than you because they become a threat.

Chapter XXIII: How to Avoid Flatterers �Flatterers present danger to any ruler. �Convince that you are not offended by the truth, but do not lose respect. They should only offer the truths when asked. �A prince should always seek advice, but not when it is given and not asked for. �Be skeptical of advice. �A prince must posses intelligence of their own or they will fail.

Chapter XXIV: Why the Princes of Italy Have Lost Their States �A number of Italian princes have lost states through their own military faults. �They fled when they should have fought, expecting their subjects to call them back. �They took too much comfort in prosperous times, never anticipating danger. �A prince’s best defense is his own valor.

Chapter XXV: Concerning the Influence of Fortune in Human Affairs, and the Manner in Which It Is to Be Resisted �Although it is often thought that fortune controls human affairs, fortune controls only half of one’s actions, while free will determines the other half. �Fortune is like a river, some people build better dykes and are able to survive fortune. �Fortune favors energetic youth over cautious age.

Chapter XXVI: An Exhortation to Free Italy from the Hands of the Barbarians �Italy’s current disarray favors the emergence of a new prince who will bring happiness to the Italian people. �Lorenzo de’ Medici is Italy’s best hope. If he has learned from the great men named in The Prince, the salvation of Italy will not be difficult. �To succeed, Lorenzo must create a national army.