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    The Prince and Other Writings
    The Prince and Other Writings
    The Prince and Other Writings
    Ebook158 pages2 hours

    The Prince and Other Writings

    By Niccolò Machiavelli

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    "The Prince & Other Writings" gathers Machiavelli's master work with the bulk of his other writing, organized into eight appendices. Machiavelli (1469-1527) became the pre-eminent political philosopher of his era with the release of "The Prince" (1532). In this treatise he examines the role of political power in shaping statehood. His rejection of idealism in favor of realism often enabled his notional ruler to act immorally in order to gain and maintain power. Now firmly situated within the Western Canon "The Prince" ranks among the greatest works of political theory, finding lasting relevance in today's complex political climate. In the appendices we find several letters to important political leaders of Renaissance Italy. The additional text in this edition gives tremendous insight into Machiavelli's thought that helped shape his defining work.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDigireads.com Publishing
    Release dateFeb 1, 2012
    ISBN9781420945782
    The Prince and Other Writings
    Author

    Niccolò Machiavelli

    Niccolò Machiavelli was born on 3 May 1469 in Florence during the city-state's peak of greatness under the Medici family. In 1494, the year the Medici were exiled, Machiavelli entered Florentine public service. In 1498 he was appointed Chancellor and Secretary to the Second Chancery. Serving as a diplomat for the republic, Machiavelli was an emissary to some of the most distinguished people of the age. When the Medici were returned to Florence in 1512, Machiavelli was forced into retirement. In the years that followed he devoted himself to literature, producing not only his most famous work, The Prince, but also the Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius (First Decade here means First Ten Books), his Art of War and The History of Florence. In 1527 the Medici were once again expelled from Florence, but before Machiavelli was able once again to secure political office in the city he died on 22 June 1527.

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    Reviews for The Prince and Other Writings

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    • 3/5
      Reading The Prince made me realize that I liked Machiavelli's take on the justness and rightness of war better than the Catholic philosophers. To use a metaphor from a class I took on the Great Books on World Politics, where the Catholics tried to fit a square peg into a round hole, Machiavelli just used the round peg. In other words, rather than using convoluted logic to make a dubious argument as Aquinas insisted upon, Machiavelli used one maxim--uphold the benefit of the people of the state above all else--and drew conclusions from that. Sure, this may require unsavory acts, but at least he is upfront and honest about it. He doesn't cloak it in the way Aquinas and Augustine do.
    • 4/5
      This was a very interesting read. Machiavelli was certainly an interesting man with some interesting, and somewhat complicated, ideas. I appreciate that this particular translation of The Prince included other related works by Machiavelli, including even some portions of his Discourses on Livy. The translation was also spectacular and I especially appreciate that the translator pointed out in the text each time that Machiavelli used the Italian word "virtu" or a related word, a word that is very important in Machiavelli's lexicon and has great implications for his philosophy. The introduction and notes at the end of each chapter were also excellent resources for further information about references that Machiavelli makes to events and people in his own life as well as throughout European history. The Prince is an interesting work all on its own, a foundational work for modern political philosophy, but this particular version made it much more accessible and for that I am very grateful!
    • 4/5
      Excellent introduction to this figure so important to the development of the state and politics. There is a very good biographical sketch of Michiavelli that places him in the historical and geographical context of the time, begins with a chronology, has maps, then selections of his writings. He lived a full life in difficult times.
    • 5/5
      The best way to manipulate a group of people. Very readable translation. GMA's bible in controlling the Filipino masses.
    • 4/5
      Part political science and part history, The Prince is basically an instructional guide for a new prince to follow in order to most effectively lead and hold onto his power. While this book is often credited with giving us the phrase "the ends justify the means", that is not what Machiavelli is trying to express. I think this explanation from the Introduction by Wayne Rebhorn is helpful."In keeping with his preference for an effectual truth that bears fruit in the real world, Machiavelli stresses the importance of judging human beings and their deeds in terms of how things turn out in the end. This is not the same thing as saying that the end justifies the means, although sometimes Machiavelli is interpreted that way. Revealingly, in chapter 18 of The Prince, ?How Princes Must Keep Their Word,? he uses a phrase that shows just how different his thought is on this subject. The phrase occurs just after Machiavelli has declared that a prince must appear to be ?all mercy, all loyalty, all sincerity, all humanity, all religion,? although he need not actually have any of these qualities. The reason is that men in general judge things by appearances and that the few who may perceive the truth will be overwhelmed by the many who do not. Moreover, he continues, ?in the actions of all men, and especially of princes, where there is no court of appeal, one looks at the outcome.? ?One looks at the outcome?: si guarda al fine. Machiavelli?s statement here may seem to suggest he is saying that the end or outcome justifies whatever means the prince might use to achieve it?in other words, that a good end makes even the most wicked means morally acceptable. But what he is really saying is that people will judge a prince?s means to be good as long as he succeeds and the outcome is beneficial to them. Machiavelli admits, both here and in his works generally, that morality may be a good thing, but it is not what drives people?s behavior in the real world. What he is not saying, however, is also important, for by not declaring that the end justifies the means for the prince, he is not offering the prince a convenient way out of the moral dilemma he faces, which results from the fact that if he wants to gain and keep political power, he has to do despicable things that cannot really be justified morally by the end he pursues. If one could argue that a prince who does evil does it simply in order to bring about some greater moral good?defined as, say, political stability or economic welfare? then this problem would vanish. Such a move was precisely the one made by political theorists in Machiavelli?s wake who came up with the idea of ragione di stato or raison d??tat?namely, that some serious and morally unimpeachable ?reason of state? could justify the most criminally culpable acts. By contrast, what Machiavelli is saying is harder, more uncomfortable, more thought-provoking, and more cynical: sometimes the prince must do evil simply because he cannot gain or preserve power otherwise, but as long as he succeeds and people benefit from it, they will not be upset."The other writings in this book are helpful in gaining a greater understanding of Machiavelli, and I particularly like the "Excerpts from the Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy". I found the Chapter 2 Preface to be especially interesting.
    • 3/5
      To write a review of a classic of this type is a fool’s game. The Prince is a discussion of how individuals can keep control of principalities and kingdoms. Its writing has influenced people throughout the ages. And the mere fact that the book has lasted this long is an indication of the power it contains.But now, to the more casual reader. Not surprisingly, this is not an easy read. The sentences are circuitous and, to be honest, so is some of the logic. There are good points throughout. However, as I read them, I began to wonder about some of the conclusions he was making.There are business books out there (hang in there with me, this will tie in) where the authors have a premise they want to make. Then they go out and find successful (or unsuccessful – depending on the premise) companies which support that premise. To some extent, this is the way it felt with Machiavelli – he has a point he wants to make, and finds the events in history that support it. And, to be honest, some of his conclusions do not, completely, follow from the story he tells.It is a book that should be read by anyone that is involved in any politics – all types of politics, even office politics – because there are truths within. But the revelations have to be dug for.The additional material within this volume follows in the same form, if at a somewhat lower success rate. However, the absolute highlight for me – even better than The Prince – was the end of The Life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca. After describing the aforementioned life, Machiavelli provides some of Castracani’s “retorts and stinging remarks.” These are excellent and should be required reading for all – even required before The Prince.
    • 5/5
      The book that provided rehab for my politics addiction.

      I now watch each election with a cynical eye as people extol the virtues of different candidates with conviction and idealism. I know that these people have never read "The Prince" and if they did, failed to grasp its primary message. After reading this book I am even more proud of the fact that I have never voted for a presidential candidate from either of the two major parties.......and I have voted in every presidential election since 1984.

      Politics and government will not change for the better or make the world a better place. Only one thing can bring about true change and improvement and that is the improvement of the human species itself. When human beings cease to suck this world will be a pretty fine place.

      Stop devolving now!

    Book preview

    The Prince and Other Writings - Niccolò Machiavelli

    THE PRINCE AND OTHER WRITINGS

    BY NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

    FROM THE TRANSLATIONS OF

    LUIGI RICCI AND J. SCOTT BYERLEY

    A Digireads.com Book

    Digireads.com Publishing

    Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-4537-9

    Ebook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-4578-2

    This edition copyright © 2012

    Please visit www.digireads.com

    CONTENTS

    THE PRINCE

    NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI TO LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT SON OF PIEBO DI MEDICI

    CHAPTER I. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF GOVERNMENT AND THE WAYS BY WHICH THEY ARE ESTABLISHED

    CHAPTER II. OF HEREDITARY MONARCHIES

    CHAPTER III. OF MIXED MONARCHIES

    CHAPTER IV. WHY THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS, OCCUPIED BY ALEXANDER, DID NOT REBEL AGAINST THE SUCCESSORS OF THE LATTER AFTER HIS DEATH.

    CHAPTER V. THE WAY TO GOVERN CITIES OR DOMINIONS THAT, PREVIOUS

    CHAPTER VI. OF NEW DOMINIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED BY ONE'S OWN ARMS AND POWERS

    CHAPTER VII. OF NEW DOMINIONS ACQUIRED BY THE POWER OF OTHERS OR BY FORTUNE

    CHAPTER VIII. OF THOSE WHO HAVE ATTAINED THE POSITION OF PRINCE BY VILLAINY

    CHAPTER IX. OF THE CIVIC PRINCIPALITY

    CHAPTER X. HOW THE STRENGTH OF ALL STATES SHOULD BE MEASURED

    CHAPTER XI. OF ECCLESIASTICAL PRINCIPALITIES

    CHAPTER XII. THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF MILITIA AND MERCENARY SOLDIERS

    CHAPTER XIII. OF AUXILIARY, MIXED, AND NATIVE TROOPS

    CHAPTER XIV. WHAT THE DUTIES OF A PRINCE ARE WITH REGARD TO THE MILITIA

    CHAPTER XV. OF THE THINGS FOR WHICH MEN, AND ESPECIALLY PRINCES, ARE PRAISED OR BLAMED

    CHAPTER XVI. OF LIBERALITY AND NIGGARDLINESS

    CHAPTER XVII. OF CRUELTY AND CLEMENCY, AND WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO BE LOVED OR FEARED

    CHAPTER XVIII. IN WHAT WAY PRINCES MUST KEEP FAITH

    CHAPTER XIX. THAT WE MUST AVOID BEING DESPISED AND HATED

    CHAPTER XX. WHETHER FORTRESSES AND OTHER THINGS WHICH PRINCES OFTEN MAKE ARE USEFUL OR INJURIOUS

    CHAPTER XXI. HOW A PRINCE MUST ACT IN ORDER TO GAIN REPUTATION

    CHAPTER XXII. OF THE SECRETARIES OF PRINCES

    CHAPTER XXIII. HOW FLATTERERS MUST BE SHUNNED

    CHAPTER XXIV. WHY THE PRINCES OF ITALY HAVE LOST THEIR STATES

    CHAPTER XXV. HOW MUCH FORTUNE CAN DO IN HUMAN AFFAIRS AND HOW IT MAY BE OPPOSED

    CHAPTER XXVI. EXHORTATION TO LIBERATE ITALY FROM THE BARBARIANS

    APPENDIX A. FLORENCE, MAY 8, 1497.

    APPENDIX B. A RELATION OF THE MURDER OF VITELLOZZO, VITELLI, OLIVEROTTO DA FERMO, CARDINAL PAGOLO, AND THE DUKE DE GRAVINA; COMMITTED BY CÆSAR BORGIA, COMMONLY CALLED DUKE VALENTINO.

    APPENDIX C. TO RISE FROM A MIDDLING STATION TO SPLENDID FORTUNE, CUNNING IS MORE AVAILING THAN FORCE.

    APPENDIX D. TO FRANCISCO VETTORI, AMBASSADOR AT ROME.

    APPENDIX E. FROM MACHIAVELLI'S LETTER TO FRANCIS VETTORI

    APPENDIX F. INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI TO RAPHAËL GIROLAMI, AMBASSADOR TO THE EMPEROR.

    APPENDIX G.

    APPENDIX H. HE THAT WOULD WISH FOR SUCCESS, MUST ACT IN UNISON WITH THE TIMES.

    THE PRINCE

    BY NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI

    TRANSLATED BY LUIGI RICCI

    Of all Machiavelli's works The Prince is undoubtedly the greatest; and a new English edition of it is likely to be welcome to all those who have not the advantage of reading it in the classical Italian original.

    For a true appreciation of Machiavelli, impossible in a brief Preface, I must refer the English reader to Macaulay's Essay on the Italian historian and statesman. In it he will see how our Author's ideas and work were wrongfully and wilfully misinterpreted by the very men who, while profiting by his wisdom, have with great ingratitude criticised the statesman and defamed his name, as that of the inventor of the worst political system ever imagined. Yet, as his whole life was an indefatigable and unremitting endeavour to secure for his native Florence a good and popular government, and as he lost his great office of Secretary to the Florentine Republic on account of his avowed liberal opinions, it is not only unjust but ridiculous to accuse him of helping tyrants to enslave the people. What he did was to show in the most deliberate and in the plainest way the arts by which free peoples were made slaves; and, had his words of advice been always heeded, no tyrant in Italy or elsewhere could have been successful in his policy. That he was not listened to, and his advice scorned and spurned, was not Machiavelli's fault.

    Those who still share the opinion of his interested detractors should read his private correspondence with the leaders of liberal ideas in Italy—many of his letters being still left unpublished in the MS. Collection of Giuliano Ricci in the National Library, in the Riccardiana Library (No. 2467), in the Government Archives (Strozzi, Nos. 133 and 1028) of Florence, in the Barberini Library, and in the Collezione Gonnelli of the Palatine Library in Rome.

    LUIGI RICCI.

    22 Albemarle Street,

    London, W.

    NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI TO LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT SON OF PIEBO DI MEDICI

    It is customary for those who wish to gain the favour of a prince to endeavour to do so by offering him gifts of those things which they hold most precious, or in which they know him to take especial delight. In this way princes are often presented with horses, arms, cloth of gold, gems, and such-like ornaments worthy of their grandeur. In my desire, however, to offer to Your Highness some humble testimony of my devotion, I have been unable to find among my possessions anything which I hold so dear or esteem so highly as that knowledge of the deeds of great men which I have acquired through a long experience of modern events and a constant study of the past.

    The results of my long observations and reflections are recorded in the little volume which I now offer to Your Highness: and although I deem this work unworthy of Your Highness's notice, yet my confidence in your humanity assures me that you will accept it, knowing that it is not in my power to offer you a greater gift than that of enabling you to understand in the shortest possible time all those things which I have learnt through danger and suffering in the course of many years. I have not sought to adorn my work with long phrases or high-sounding words or any of those allurements and ornaments with which many writers seek to embellish their books, as I desire no honour for my work but such as its truth and the gravity of its subject may justly deserve. Nor will it, I trust, be deemed presumptuous on the part of a man of humble and obscure condition to attempt to discuss and criticise the government of princes; for in the same way that landscape painters station themselves in the valleys in order to draw mountains or elevated ground, and ascend an eminence in order to get a good view of the plains, so it is necessary to be a prince to be able to know thoroughly the nature of a people, and to know the nature of princes one must be one of the populace.

    May I trust, therefore, that Your Highness will accept this little gift in the spirit in which it is offered; and if Your Highness will deign to peruse it, you will recognise in it my ardent desire that you may attain to that grandeur which fortune and your own merits presage for you.

    And should Your Highness gaze down from the summit of that eminence towards this humble spot, you will recognise the great and unmerited sufferings inflicted on me by a cruel fate.

    CHAPTER I. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF GOVERNMENT AND THE WAYS BY WHICH THEY ARE ESTABLISHED

    All states and dominions which hold or have held sway over mankind are either republics or monarchies. Monarchies are either hereditary ones, in which the rulers have been for many years of the same family, or else they are those of recent foundation. The newly founded ones are either entirely new, as was Milan to Francesco Sforza, or else they are, as it were, new members grafted on to the hereditary possessions of the prince that annexes them, as is the kingdom of Naples to the King of Spain. The dominions thus acquired have either been previously accustomed to the rule of another prince, or else have been free states, and they are annexed either by force of arms of the prince, or of others, or else fall to him by good fortune or merit.

    CHAPTER II. OF HEREDITARY MONARCHIES

    I will not here speak of republics, having already treated of them fully in another place. I will deal only with monarchies, and will show how the various kinds described above can be governed and maintained. In the first place, in hereditary states accustomed to the reigning family the difficulty of maintaining them is far less than in new monarchies; for it is sufficient not to exceed the ancestral usages, and to accommodate one's self to accidental circumstances; in this way such a prince, if of ordinary ability, will always be able to maintain his position, unless some very exceptional and excessive force deprives him of it; and even if he be thus deprived of it, on the slightest misfortune happening to the new occupier, he will be able to regain it.

    We have in Italy the example of the Duke of Ferrara, who was able to withstand the assaults of the Venetians in the year '84, and of Pope Julius in the year '10, for no other reason than because of the antiquity of his family in that dominion. In as much as the legitimate prince has less cause and less necessity to give offence, it is only natural that he should be more loved; and, if no extraordinary vices make him hated, it is only reasonable for his subjects to be naturally attached to him, the memories and causes of innovations being forgotten in the long period over which his rule has existed; whereas one change always leaves the way prepared for the introduction of another.

    CHAPTER III. OF MIXED MONARCHIES

    But it is in the new monarchy that difficulties really exist. Firstly, if it is not entirely new, but a member as it were of a mixed state, its disorders spring at first from a natural difficulty which exists in all new dominions, because men change masters willingly, hoping to better themselves; and this belief makes them take arms against their rulers, in which they are deceived, as experience shows them that they have gone from bad to worse. This is the result of another very natural cause, which is the necessary harm inflicted on those over whom the prince obtains dominion, both by his soldiers and by an infinite number of other injuries unavoidably caused by his occupation.

    Thus you find enemies in all those whom you have injured by occupying that dominion, and you cannot maintain the friendship of those who have helped you to obtain this possession, as you will not be able to fulfil their expectations, nor can you use strong measures with them, being under an obligation to them; for which reason, however strong your armies may be, you will always need the favour of the inhabitants to take possession of a province. It was from these causes that Louis XII. of France, though able to occupy Milan without trouble, immediately lost it, and the forces of Ludovico alone were sufficient to take it from him the first time, for the inhabitants who had willingly opened their gates to him, finding themselves deluded in the hopes they had cherished and not obtaining those benefits that they had anticipated, could not bear the vexatious rule of their new prince.

    It is indeed true that, after reconquering the rebel territories they are not so easily lost again, for the ruler is now, by the fact of the rebellion, less averse to secure his position by punishing offenders, investigating any suspicious circumstances, and strengthening himself in weak places. So that although the mere appearance of such a person as Duke Ludovico on the frontier was sufficient to cause France to lose Milan the first time, to make her lose her grip of it the second time was only possible when all the world was against her, and after her enemies had been defeated and driven out of Italy; which was the result of the causes above mentioned. Nevertheless it was taken from her both the first and the second time. The general causes of the first loss have been already discussed; it remains now to be seen what were the causes of the second loss and by what means France could have avoided it, or what measures might have been taken by another ruler in that position which were not taken by the King of France. Be it observed, therefore, that those states which on annexation are united to a previously existing state may or may not be of the same nationality and language. If they are, it is very easy to hold them, especially if they are not accustomed to freedom; and to possess them securely it suffices that the family of the princes which formerly governed them be extinct. For the rest, their old condition not being disturbed, and

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