“The Prince” by Machiavelli

Summary

Niccollo Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. He received the usual education of the Renaissance middle class. He had also studied mathematics and later worked for a Florentine banker. He had the chance to witness the expelling of the Medici family along with the rise of Girolamo Savanorola. The intense political conflicts in Italy motivated Machiavelli for consideration of the important political decisions and personality of the ruler. In 1513 he started his writing career and in 1521 he took the decision to work over The Prince, which became one of his most outstanding works. Niccollo Machiavelli dedicated The Prince to the Magnificent Lorenzo de’ Medici.

Chapter 1

Machiavelli divided all states into two categories of republics and principalities. The last category could be subdivided into hereditary principalities and new principalities. New principalities could be completely new or could be created as appendages to the already existing states. Any prince is able to obtain a new principality in case he has his own army or can use the army of others.

Chapter 2

In this chapter the author considers the methods of governing and maintaining principalities. He does not refer to republics, because he mentions that he had discussed them on other occasions. Machiavelli explains that it is much easier to govern a hereditary state, than a new one, because the citizens of the state know the ruler and his family, and the natural prince does not have to establish the new institutions, instead it is enough to keep the existing ones.

Chapter 3

People in the new states might tend to create a lot of disorder, when they try to take arms against the new prince. The prince, who gains control over the new principality, is at risk, as on the one hand he is not able to fulfill all the expectations of people there and on the other hand because he can not be too harsh towards them. In order to prevent revolts, however, the prince should prepare a harsh response to the participants of revolts.

Chapter 4

Machiavelli explains the two ways for governing of a principality. The first option involves a prince and appointed ministers. All of them are subservient to the prince. The second option is a prince and nobles. They are also appointed by the prince, but they are still more independent from him. It is harder to manage the principality with ministers, as they could easily be tempted by foreign powers. The state, ruled by nobles, is easer to take over, but more difficult to rule.

Chapter 5

The author assumes that there are three ways to hold states, which initially were used to live in accordance to their own laws. First of all it is necessary to devastate them, then the conqueror should occupy them and finally the prince should allow the states keep their own laws, under the condition of paying taxes and establishment of oligarchy. This is done in order to establish the authority of the new prince.

Chapter 6

Princes are to consider and to imitate the actions of the great rules from the past, as this is the direct way towards gaining the reputation of a powerful ruler. If a prince is able to get the control over a state with the help of his prowess, then it would be easier for him to maintain control over the state later. This is a better approach in comparison to relying upon fortune, which would not allow meeting the challenges of new order establishment.

Chapter 7

Good fortune could be helpful for some private citizens to become princes. Their fortune could not be stable and thus their power is also rather shaky. They would most luckily have problems with holding the power, as there are no loyal people by their sides and they would not be able to manage the opposition. Those princes, who use their own prowess, have much stronger foundations.

Chapter 8

This chapter is also devoted to descriptions of the ways to become a prince. Apart of fortune and prowess, it is possible to use criminal actions and approval of the fellow citizens. Princes, committing criminal acts, are not able to achieve glory, even if they are successful in achieving power. In addition in order to be successful a prince should always be consistent in relation to various subjects.

Chapter 9

One more way for a prince to gain power is to use the favor his fellow citizens. Those princes, who use this option, are called constitutional principalities according to Machiavelli. Two groups of citizens could be usually found in all cities: common people and nobles. The common people want to avoid oppression by the nobles, whereas the nobles tend to dominate and oppress the common people. This opposition, which is developed between the two groups, would lead either to creation of principality or anarchy.

Chapter 10

Any prince should taker care of an army, which is big and strong enough to confront potential aggressors. Along with this it is important to consider the fortifications and additional security measures. Enemies could certainly lay siege to fortified cities, but the task of a prince is to convince them to develop the feelings of patriotism and enthusiasm. This would bring additional benefits upon the end of the siege.

Chapter 11

There are differences between various kinds of principalities and ecclesiastical principalities. It is difficult to take control of the last and the fortune or prowess should be extremely good for this. In addition it is difficult for a prince to govern, as the leading positions are given to the principles of religion in ecclesiastical principalities. Such principalities do not need administration. But the citizens of these principalities are convinced that they are happy, as they are ruled by higher powers.

Chapter 12

The two major components of any strong state are good laws and good armies. They are interrelated to each other. As soon as there is a good army, there are also good laws. There are various types of armies, including the own troops of a prince, mercenary troops and auxiliary troops. The last two variants are usually dangerous and useless for a prince. The only motivation, they understand, is money.

Chapter 13

Auxiliary troops or armies are borrowed from more powerful states. They are of little use for a prince. If they fail, a prince remains without support, if they succeed, his success still comes from a power of another. Auxiliary troops are mostly skilled and organized, but they maintain loyalty to a different ruler and they could become more dangerous, than helpful.

Chapter 14

The only important thing to study for a prince is the art of war. Any usual individual could be turned into a great ruler in case he becomes the master of this discipline. If a prince neglects the art of war, he risks losing the state. The analogy, offered by Machiavelli in this chapter, is rather vivid – an armed man and unarmed man. It is clear who of them would have to obey. Thus all the time of a prince should be devoted to studying of the art of war.

Chapter 15

Along with strengths of states and principalities the author devotes attention to consideration of the appropriate behaviors of a prince. He claims that a prince needs a set of practical rules, whereas a lot of other sources provide only theoretical rules. Neither there is place for any idealized concepts. Any prince should be focused upon achieving of practical benefits in his actions.

Chapter 16

Most of people admire such human qualities as generosity and liberality. However, as soon as a prince has the reputation of generosity, he will not be able to maintain the state. Such approach would lead to excessive taxes with the aim to raise more money and support this reputation of generosity. A good prince should be able to develop fund to protect his state from aggression without making his people pay too high taxes.

Chapter 17

Compassion is also considered to be a positive human quality. A prince should show his compassion wisely, as if he is too compassionate, then he would not be able to punish his people for disloyalty adequately and this would be the first step towards creation of the atmosphere of disorder. There should be measures for cruelty, but a prince should be careful with exercising it.

Chapter 18

On the one hand those princes, who honor their words, gain good reputation by their people. On the other hand on the basis of numerous historical examples it could be proved that only those princes, who are cunning and tricky, are successful. Thus there are two ways to protect somebody’s position – by force or by law. A prince should learn to use both in his fights.

Chapter 19

Any prince should avoid being despised. Even if he is criticized for a lack of virtue, still he should not be hated for this. There are two basic things for any prince to be concerned about: internal insurrection from his subjects and external threat from other countries and states. Creating good allies is beneficial for protecting from foreign threats, but it could be possible only under the condition of a good army available.

Chapter 20

This chapter is devoted to the use from fortresses and other expedients, employed by princes as the means to defend from external insurrection. Usually princes do not prevent their subjects from having weapons, as this might lead to ruining of trust and loyalty among them. However, in case a prince conquers the state, he is forced to disarm them. In some cases the supporters of the new state could be allowed to keep the arms, but at any rate they should be made weaker, than before.

Chapter 21

There are two ways for a prince to earn prestige: great enterprises and noble examples. Nobility could be achieved with the help of a system of rewards and punishments. Princes should take care of building their reputation as individuals with outstanding abilities. Princes are not advised to maintain neutrality in conflicts; they should take either of the conflict sides. For a victor the neutral prince is associated with a doubtful friend ad for a loser – with a coward. Only short-term dangers could be managed via maintaining neutral positions.

Chapter 22

The ministers are the reflections of a prince and thus their selection is an important procedure. In case the ministers are wise and loyal the image of a wise and loyal prince is created. Men could possess three types of intellect: they are able to understand the things independently, they are able to appreciate the ability of the others to understand things and they are able to do nothing of these. The third type has no use. A good minister does not think about his personal profits.

Chapter 23

One of the most serious dangers to a prince is presented by flatterers. All individuals, who have strong power, tend to become self-focused. This provides the chance for other people to say only the positive things. But it is much better to make them believe that a prince is not against hearing the truth and then he would not lose respect. Irrespective of this a prince should be firm when taking his decisions.

Chapter 24

In this chapter Machiavelli offers his reasons, why a lot of Italian princes have lost their states because of their military mistakes. They preferred to flee, when there was a need to fight, but they were waiting for their subjects to call them back. These princes were ready to enjoy the nice times and were not prepared to harsh times. In reality all princes should take care of defending themselves.

Chapter 25

It is widely believed that fortune is in control of human affairs, in reality it controls only one half of them. The second half is controlled by free will. Two individuals might choose the same path and one would succeed and the other would fail only because of variations of fortune. Times and environments change, they never remain static and princes should follow these changes and be ready to adjust to them.

Chapter 26 Conclusion

Italy needs a new prince, able to secure happiness to the citizens of the country. There was a prince, who redeemed Italy. The best hope of Italy, according to Machiavelli, was Lorenzo de’ Medici. Under the condition of consideration of the information from The Prince, he would be able to save Italy. The military system of Italy was old and useless and the princes did not manage to strengthen it before.

Works cited:

Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince, London: Penguin, 1961

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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