Latest / Classic Educational Library / The Prince - Machiavelli
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: This is an introduction by the translator W. K. Marriott.
- 0:07Speaker 1: Niccolo Machiavelli was born at Florence on May the third,
- 0:11Speaker 1: fourteen sixty nine. He was the second son of Bernardo
- 0:15Speaker 1: di Niccolo Macchiavelli, a lawyer of some repute, and of
- 0:18Speaker 1: Bartolommea di Stefano Nelli, his wife. Both parents were members
- 0:23Speaker 1: of the old Florentine nobility. His life falls naturally into
- 0:29Speaker 1: three periods, each of which singularly enough constitutes a distinct
- 0:33Speaker 1: and important era in the history of Florence. His youth
- 0:37Speaker 1: was concurrent with the greatness of Florence as an Italian
- 0:40Speaker 1: power under the guidance of Lorenzo de Medici il Magnifico.
- 0:46Speaker 1: The downfall of the Medici in Florence occurred in fourteen
- 0:49Speaker 1: ninety four, in which year Machiavelli entered the public service.
- 0:54Speaker 1: During his official career, Florence was free under the government
- 0:58Speaker 1: of a republic, which sich lasted until fifteen twelve, when
- 1:02Speaker 1: the Medici returned to power and Machiavelli lost his office.
- 1:07Speaker 1: The Medici again ruled Florence from fifteen twelve until fifteen
- 1:11Speaker 1: twenty seven one. They were once more driven out. This
- 1:15Speaker 1: was the period of Machiavelli's literary activity and increasing influence,
- 1:20Speaker 1: but he died within a few weeks of the expulsion
- 1:23Speaker 1: of the Medici, on the twenty second of June fifteen
- 1:26Speaker 1: twenty seven, in his fifty eighth year, without having regained office.
- 1:32Speaker 1: Youth age one through twenty five, fourteen sixty nine through
- 1:37Speaker 1: fourteen ninety four. Although there is little recorded of the
- 1:42Speaker 1: youth of Machiavelli, the Florence of those days is so
- 1:45Speaker 1: well known that the early environment of this representative citizen
- 1:49Speaker 1: may be easily imagined. Florence has been described as a
- 1:52Speaker 1: city with two opposite currents of life, one directed by
- 1:56Speaker 1: the fervent and austere Savonarola, the other by the splendor
- 2:00Speaker 1: loving Lorenzo Savonarola's influence upon the young Machiavelli must have
- 2:05Speaker 1: been slight, for although at one time he wielded immense
- 2:08Speaker 1: power over the fortunes of Florence, he only furnished Machiavelli
- 2:12Speaker 1: with a subject of a gibe in the Prince, where
- 2:15Speaker 1: he is cited as an example of an unarmed prophet
- 2:18Speaker 1: who came to a bad end. Whereas the magnificence of
- 2:22Speaker 1: the Medician rule during the life of Lorenzo appeared to
- 2:26Speaker 1: have impressed Machiavelli strongly, for he frequently refers to it
- 2:31Speaker 1: in his writings, and it is to Lorenzo's grandson that
- 2:35Speaker 1: he dedicates the Prince. Machiavelli, in his History of Florence,
- 2:41Speaker 1: gives us a picture of the young men among whom
- 2:44Speaker 1: his youth was past. He writes, they were freer than
- 2:48Speaker 1: their forefathers in dress and living, and spent more in
- 2:53Speaker 1: other kinds of excesses, consuming their time and money in idleness, gaming,
- 2:58Speaker 1: and women. Their chief aim was to appear well dressed
- 3:02Speaker 1: and to speak with wit and acuteness, whilst he who
- 3:05Speaker 1: could wound others the most cleverly was thought the wisest.
- 3:10Speaker 1: In a letter to his son Guido, Machiabelle shows why
- 3:14Speaker 1: youth should avail itself of its opportunities for study, and
- 3:18Speaker 1: leads us to infer that his own youth had been
- 3:21Speaker 1: so occupied. He writes, I have received your letter, which
- 3:25Speaker 1: has given me the greatest pleasure, especially because you tell
- 3:29Speaker 1: me you are quite restored in health, then which I
- 3:33Speaker 1: could have no better news, for if God grant life
- 3:37Speaker 1: to you, and to me. I hope to make a
- 3:40Speaker 1: good man of you. If you are willing to do
- 3:42Speaker 1: your share, then, writing of a new patron, he concludes,
- 3:46Speaker 1: this will turn out well for you. But it is
- 3:49Speaker 1: necessary for you to study, since then you have no
- 3:52Speaker 1: longer the excuse of illness. Take pains to study letters
- 3:57Speaker 1: and music, for you see what honor is done to
- 4:00Speaker 1: me for the little skill I have. Therefore, my son,
- 4:04Speaker 1: if you wish to please me and to bring success
- 4:07Speaker 1: and honour to yourself, do write and study, because others
- 4:12Speaker 1: will help you if you help yourself Office age twenty
- 4:19Speaker 1: five through forty three. Fourteen ninety four through fifteen twelve.
- 4:25Speaker 1: The second period of Machiavelli's life was spent in the
- 4:28Speaker 1: service of the Free Republic of Florence, which flourished as
- 4:32Speaker 1: stated above, from the expulsion of the Medici in fourteen
- 4:35Speaker 1: ninety four until their return in fifteen twelve. After serving
- 4:39Speaker 1: four years in one of the public offices, he was
- 4:42Speaker 1: appointed Chancellor and Secretary to the Second Chancery, the ten
- 4:46Speaker 1: of Liberty and Peace. Here we are on firm ground
- 4:49Speaker 1: when dealing with the events of Machiavelli's life, for during
- 4:52Speaker 1: this time he took a leading part in the affairs
- 4:55Speaker 1: of the Republic, and we have its decrees, records, and
- 4:58Speaker 1: dispatches to guide us, as well as his own writings.
- 5:02Speaker 1: A mere recapitulation of a few of his transactions with
- 5:05Speaker 1: the statesmen and soldiers of his time gives fair indication
- 5:09Speaker 1: of his activities and supplies the sources from which he
- 5:13Speaker 1: drew the experience and characters which illustrate the Prince. His
- 5:18Speaker 1: first mission was in fourteen ninety nine to Catharine Cephorozza,
- 5:22Speaker 1: my Lady of Forli of the Prince, from whose conduct
- 5:26Speaker 1: and fate he drew the moral that it is far
- 5:28Speaker 1: better to earn the confidence of the people than to
- 5:31Speaker 1: rely on fortresses. This is a very noticeable principle in Machiavelli,
- 5:36Speaker 1: and it has urged by him in many ways as
- 5:39Speaker 1: a matter of vital importance to princes. In fifteen hundred
- 5:44Speaker 1: he was sent to France to obtain terms from Louis
- 5:47Speaker 1: the twelfth for continuing the war against Pisa. This king,
- 5:52Speaker 1: it was, who, in his conduct of affairs in Italy,
- 5:55Speaker 1: committed the five capital errors in state craft summarized in
- 5:59Speaker 1: the US Prince, and was consequently driven out. He also,
- 6:04Speaker 1: it was who made the disillusion of his marriage a
- 6:07Speaker 1: condition of support to Pope Alexander the sixth, which leads
- 6:11Speaker 1: Machiavelli to referred to those who urge that such promises
- 6:15Speaker 1: should be kept to what he has written concerning the
- 6:18Speaker 1: faith of princes. Marchiebelli's public life was largely occupied with
- 6:24Speaker 1: events arising out of the ambitions of Pope Alexander the
- 6:28Speaker 1: sixth and his son Caesare Borgia the Duke Valentino, and
- 6:32Speaker 1: these characters fill a large space of the Prince. Marchiabelli
- 6:38Speaker 1: never hesitates to cite the actions of the Duke for
- 6:40Speaker 1: the benefit of usurpers who wish to keep the states
- 6:43Speaker 1: they have seized. He can, indeed find no precepts to
- 6:48Speaker 1: offer for so good a pattern of caeserri Borge's conduct
- 6:52Speaker 1: insomuch that Cesare is acclaimed by some critics as the
- 6:56Speaker 1: hero of the Prince. Yet in the Prince the Duke is,
- 7:00Speaker 1: in point of fact, cited as the type of man
- 7:02Speaker 1: who rises on the fortune of others and falls with them,
- 7:06Speaker 1: who takes every course that might be expected from a
- 7:09Speaker 1: prudent man, but the course which will save him, who
- 7:13Speaker 1: is prepared for all eventualities, but the one which happens,
- 7:17Speaker 1: and who, when all his abilities fail to carry him through,
- 7:21Speaker 1: exclaims that it was not his fault, but an extraordinary
- 7:25Speaker 1: and unforeseen fatality. On the death of Pious the Third
- 7:31Speaker 1: in fifteen o three, Machibelli was sent to Rome to
- 7:35Speaker 1: watch the election of his successor, and there he saw
- 7:38Speaker 1: caeserri Borgia cheated into allowing the choice of the college
- 7:42Speaker 1: to fall on Giolano de Rovi, Julius the Second, who
- 7:46Speaker 1: was one of the cardinals that had most reason to
- 7:49Speaker 1: fear the Duke. Machiavelli, when commenting on this election, says
- 7:53Speaker 1: that he who thinks new favors will cause great personages
- 7:57Speaker 1: to forget old injuries to see himself Julius did not
- 8:02Speaker 1: rest until he had ruined Caesare. It was to Julius
- 8:08Speaker 1: the Second that Machiavelli was sent in fifteen o six,
- 8:11Speaker 1: when that pontiff was commencing his exercise against Bologna, which
- 8:16Speaker 1: was brought to a successful issue, as did many of
- 8:19Speaker 1: his other adventures, owing chiefly to his impetuous character. It
- 8:24Speaker 1: is in reference to Pope Julius that Machiavelli moralizes on
- 8:27Speaker 1: the resemblance between fortune and women, and concludes that it
- 8:32Speaker 1: is the bold, rather than the cautious man, that will
- 8:35Speaker 1: win and hold them both. It is impossible to follow
- 8:41Speaker 1: the varying fortunes of the Italian states, which in fifteen
- 8:44Speaker 1: o seven were controlled by France, Spain and Germany, with
- 8:48Speaker 1: results that have lasted to our day. We are concerned
- 8:51Speaker 1: with those events, and with the three great actors in them,
- 8:54Speaker 1: so far only as they impinge on the personality of Machiavelli.
- 9:00Speaker 1: He had several meetings with Lewis, the twelfth of France,
- 9:03Speaker 1: and his estimate of that monarch's character has already been
- 9:07Speaker 1: alluded to. Machiavelli had painted Ferdinand of Aragon as the
- 9:12Speaker 1: man who accomplished great things under the cloak of religion,
- 9:15Speaker 1: but who in reality had no mercy, faith, humanity or integrity,
- 9:20Speaker 1: and who, had he allowed himself to be influenced by
- 9:23Speaker 1: such motives, would have been ruined. The Emperor Maximilian was
- 9:26Speaker 1: one of the most interesting men of the age. The
- 9:29Speaker 1: character has been drawn by many hands, but Machiavelli, who
- 9:33Speaker 1: was an envoy at his court in fifteen o seven
- 9:36Speaker 1: through fifteen o eight, reveals the secret of his many
- 9:39Speaker 1: failures when he describes him as a secretive man without
- 9:43Speaker 1: force of character, ignoring the human agencies necessary to carry
- 9:48Speaker 1: his schemes into effect, and never insisting on the fulfillment
- 9:52Speaker 1: of his wishes. The remaining years of Machiavelli's official career
- 10:00Speaker 1: were filled with events rising out of the League of Cambre,
- 10:03Speaker 1: made in fifteen oh eight between the three great European
- 10:06Speaker 1: powers already mentioned and the Pope, with the object of
- 10:10Speaker 1: crushing the Venetian Republic. This result was obtained in the
- 10:14Speaker 1: Battle of Valia, when Venice lost in one day all
- 10:17Speaker 1: that she had won in eight hundred years. Florence had
- 10:21Speaker 1: a difficult part to play during these events, complicated as
- 10:24Speaker 1: they were by the feud which broke out between the
- 10:27Speaker 1: Pope and the French, because friendship with France had dictated
- 10:31Speaker 1: the entire policy of the Republic. When in fifteen eleven
- 10:35Speaker 1: Julius the Second finally formed the Holy League against France
- 10:39Speaker 1: and with the assistance of the Swiss, drove the French
- 10:41Speaker 1: out of Italy, Florence lay at the mercy of the
- 10:45Speaker 1: Pope and had to submit to his terms, one of
- 10:48Speaker 1: which was that the Medici should be restored The return
- 10:52Speaker 1: of the Medici to Florence on the first of September
- 10:54Speaker 1: fifteen twelve, and consequent fall of the Republic was the
- 10:58Speaker 1: signal for the dismissal of Macchiavelli and his friends, and
- 11:02Speaker 1: thus put an end to his public career. For as
- 11:05Speaker 1: we have seen, he died without regaining office literature and death,
- 11:13Speaker 1: age forty three through fifty eight fifteen twelve through fifteen
- 11:17Speaker 1: twenty seven. On the return of the Medici, Machiavelli, who
- 11:22Speaker 1: for a few weeks had vainly hoped to retain his
- 11:25Speaker 1: office under the new masters of Florence, was dismissed by
- 11:29Speaker 1: a decree dated seventh November fifteen twelve. Shortly after this,
- 11:34Speaker 1: he was accused of complicity in an abortive conspiracy against
- 11:37Speaker 1: the Medici, Imprisoned and put to the question by torture,
- 11:42Speaker 1: The new Medician, Pope Leo the Tenth, procured his release,
- 11:46Speaker 1: and he retired to his small property at San Casicano,
- 11:50Speaker 1: near Florence, where he devoted himself to literature. In a
- 11:54Speaker 1: letter to Francesco Vittori dated thirteenth December fifteen thirteen, he
- 11:59Speaker 1: has left a very interesting description of his life at
- 12:02Speaker 1: that period which elucidates his methods and his motives in
- 12:06Speaker 1: the Writing of the Prince, After describing his daily occupations
- 12:10Speaker 1: with his family and neighbors, he writes, the evening being come,
- 12:15Speaker 1: I return home and go to my study. At the entrance,
- 12:19Speaker 1: I pull off my peasant clothes covered with dust and dirt,
- 12:23Speaker 1: and put on my noble court dress. Thus becomingly re clothed,
- 12:28Speaker 1: I pass into the ancient courts of the men of old, where,
- 12:32Speaker 1: being lovingly received by them, I am fed with that
- 12:36Speaker 1: food which is mine alone. Where I do not hesitate
- 12:39Speaker 1: to speak with them and to ask for the reason
- 12:42Speaker 1: of their actions, and they, in their benignity answer me,
- 12:47Speaker 1: And for four hours I feel no weariness. I forget
- 12:51Speaker 1: every trouble. Poverty does not dismay, death does not terrify me.
- 12:55Speaker 1: I am possessed entirely by those great men. And because
- 13:00Speaker 1: Dante says, knowledge doth come of learning well retained unfruitful. Else,
- 13:07Speaker 1: I have noted down what I have gained from their conversation,
- 13:11Speaker 1: and have composed a small work on principalities, where I
- 13:16Speaker 1: pour myself out as fully as I can in meditation
- 13:19Speaker 1: on the subject discussing what a principality is what kinds
- 13:23Speaker 1: there are, and how they can be acquired, how they
- 13:27Speaker 1: can be kept, why they are lost? And if any
- 13:31Speaker 1: of my fancies ever pleased you? This ought not to
- 13:35Speaker 1: displease you, And to a prince, especially to a new one,
- 13:39Speaker 1: it should be welcome. Therefore I dedicate it to his magnificence,
- 13:43Speaker 1: Giuliano Filippo Casavecchio has seen it. He will be able
- 13:48Speaker 1: to tell you what is in it, and of the
- 13:50Speaker 1: discourses I have had with him. Nevertheless, I am still
- 13:54Speaker 1: enriching and polishing it. The little book suffered many vicissitudes
- 14:00Speaker 1: before attaining the form in which it has reached us.
- 14:04Speaker 1: Various mental influences were at work during its composition. Its
- 14:08Speaker 1: title and patron were changed, and for some unknown reason,
- 14:12Speaker 1: it was finally dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici. Although Machibelli
- 14:17Speaker 1: discussed with Casovecchio whether it should be sent or presented
- 14:21Speaker 1: in person to the patron, there is no evidence that
- 14:24Speaker 1: Lorenzo ever received or even read it. He certainly never
- 14:28Speaker 1: gave Machiavelli any employment. Although it was plagiarized during Machiavelli's lifetime,
- 14:34Speaker 1: The Prince was never published by him, and its text
- 14:37Speaker 1: is still disputable. Machiavelli concludes his letter to Vittore, Thus,
- 14:44Speaker 1: and as to this little thing his book, when it
- 14:48Speaker 1: has been read, it will be seen that during the
- 14:50Speaker 1: fifteen years I have given to the study of state craft,
- 14:54Speaker 1: I have neither slept nor idled, and men ought to
- 14:58Speaker 1: desire to be served by wa one who has reaped
- 15:00Speaker 1: experience at the expense of others, And of my loyalty
- 15:05Speaker 1: none could doubt, because having always kept faith, I could
- 15:09Speaker 1: not learn how to break it. For he who has
- 15:12Speaker 1: been faithful and honest as I have cannot change his nature.
- 15:16Speaker 1: And my poverty is a witness to my honesty. Before
- 15:21Speaker 1: Machiavelli had got the Prince off his hands, he commenced
- 15:25Speaker 1: his discourse on the First Decade of Titus Livius, which
- 15:29Speaker 1: should be read concurrently with the Prince. These and several
- 15:33Speaker 1: minor works occupied him until the year fifteen eighteen, when
- 15:37Speaker 1: he accepted a small commission to look after the affairs
- 15:40Speaker 1: of some Florentine merchants in Genoa. In fifteen nineteen, the
- 15:44Speaker 1: Medician rulers of Florence granted a few political concessions to
- 15:48Speaker 1: her citizens, and Machiavelli with others, was consulted upon a
- 15:52Speaker 1: new constitution under which the Great Council was to be restored,
- 15:57Speaker 1: but on one pretext or another it was not prompt neugated.
- 16:02Speaker 1: In fifteen twenty the Florentine merchants again had recourse to
- 16:06Speaker 1: Machiabelli to settle their differences with Lucca. But this year
- 16:11Speaker 1: was chiefly remarkable for his re entry into Florentine literary society,
- 16:16Speaker 1: where he was much sought after, and also for the
- 16:19Speaker 1: production of his Art of War. It was in the
- 16:23Speaker 1: same year that he received a commission at the instance
- 16:25Speaker 1: of Cardinal de Medici to write the History of Florence,
- 16:30Speaker 1: a task which occupied him until fifteen twenty five. His
- 16:34Speaker 1: return to popular favor may have determined the Medici to
- 16:37Speaker 1: give him this employment, for an old writer observes that
- 16:41Speaker 1: an able statesman out of work, like a huge whale,
- 16:44Speaker 1: will endeavor to overturn the ship unless he has an
- 16:48Speaker 1: empty cask to play with. When the History of Florence
- 16:53Speaker 1: was finished, Machiabelli took it to Rome for presentation to
- 16:57Speaker 1: his patron, Guilliano de Medici, who had in the meanwhile
- 17:01Speaker 1: become pope under the title of Clement the seventh. It
- 17:05Speaker 1: is somewhat remarkable that, as in fifteen thirteen Machibelli had
- 17:10Speaker 1: ridden the Prince for the instruction of the Medici after
- 17:13Speaker 1: they had just regained power in Florence. So in fifteen
- 17:16Speaker 1: twenty five he dedicated the history of Florence to the
- 17:20Speaker 1: head of the family, when its ruin was now at hand.
- 17:24Speaker 1: In that year, the Battle of Pavia destroyed the French
- 17:27Speaker 1: rule in Italy and left Francis the First as a
- 17:30Speaker 1: prisoner in the hands of his great rival Charles the fifth.
- 17:34Speaker 1: This was followed by the Sack of Rome, upon the
- 17:37Speaker 1: news of which the popular party in Florence threw off
- 17:40Speaker 1: the yoake of the Medici, who were once more banished.
- 17:43Speaker 1: Machibelli was absent from Florence at this time, but hastened
- 17:48Speaker 1: his return, hoping to secure his former office of Secretary
- 17:52Speaker 1: to the Ten of Liberty and Peace. Unhappily, he was
- 17:57Speaker 1: taken ill soon after he reached Florence, where he died
- 18:00Speaker 1: on the twenty second of June fifteen twenty seven.
- 18:07Speaker 2: End of the Introduction The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli, translated
- 18:13Speaker 2: by W. K. Marriott, The Man and his Works, no
- 18:20Speaker 2: one can say where the bones of Machiavelli rest, But
- 18:24Speaker 2: modern Florence has decreed him a stately cenotaph in Santa Croce,
- 18:30Speaker 2: by the side of her most famous sons, recognizing that
- 18:34Speaker 2: whatever nations may have found in his works, Italy found
- 18:38Speaker 2: in them the idea of her unity and the germs
- 18:41Speaker 2: of her renaissance among the nations of Europe. Whilst it
- 18:46Speaker 2: is idle to protest against the worldwide and evil signification
- 18:50Speaker 2: of his name, it may be pointed out that the
- 18:53Speaker 2: harsh construction of his doctrine which this sinister reputation implies,
- 18:59Speaker 2: was unknown to his own day, and that the researches
- 19:02Speaker 2: of recent times have enabled us to interpret him more reasonably.
- 19:08Speaker 2: It is due to these inquiries that the shape of
- 19:11Speaker 2: an unholy necromancer, which so long haunted men's vision, has
- 19:16Speaker 2: begun to fade. Machiavelli was undoubtedly a man of great observation,
- 19:23Speaker 2: acuteness and industry, noting with appreciative eye whatever passed before him,
- 19:30Speaker 2: and with his supreme literary gift, turning it to account.
- 19:34Speaker 2: In his enforced retirement from affairs, he does not present himself,
- 19:39Speaker 2: nor is he depicted by his contemporaries as a type
- 19:43Speaker 2: of that rare combination the successful statesman and author, for
- 19:48Speaker 2: he appears to have been only moderately prosperous in his
- 19:52Speaker 2: several embassies and political employments. He was misled by Caterina's Forza,
- 20:00Speaker 2: gnawed by Lewis the Twelfth, overawed by cisare Borgia. Several
- 20:05Speaker 2: of his embassies were quite barren of results. His attempts
- 20:09Speaker 2: to fortify Florence failed, and the soldiery that he raised
- 20:14Speaker 2: astonished everybody by their cowardice. In the conduct of his
- 20:19Speaker 2: own affairs, he was timid and time serving. He dared
- 20:23Speaker 2: not appear by the side of Soderini, whom he owed
- 20:26Speaker 2: so much, for fear of compromising himself. His connection with
- 20:32Speaker 2: Imidici was open to suspicion, and Giuliano appears to have
- 20:36Speaker 2: recognized his real forte when he set him to write
- 20:40Speaker 2: the history of Florence rather than employ him in the state.
- 20:46Speaker 2: And it is on the literary side of his character,
- 20:49Speaker 2: and there alone, that we find no weakness and no failure.
- 20:55Speaker 2: Although the light of almost four centuries has been focused
- 20:58Speaker 2: on the prince, its problems are still debatable and interesting,
- 21:04Speaker 2: because they are the eternal problems between the ruled, and
- 21:07Speaker 2: their rulers, such as they are. Its ethics are those
- 21:12Speaker 2: of Machiavelli's contemporaries, Yet they cannot be said to be
- 21:17Speaker 2: out of date, so long as the governments of Europe
- 21:20Speaker 2: rely on material rather than on moral forces. Its historical
- 21:26Speaker 2: incidents and personages become interesting by reason of the uses
- 21:31Speaker 2: which Machiavelli makes of them to illustrate his theories of
- 21:35Speaker 2: government and conduct. Leaving out of consideration those maxims of
- 21:41Speaker 2: state which still furnish some European and Eastern statesmen with
- 21:46Speaker 2: principles of action, the prince is bestrewn with truths that
- 21:51Speaker 2: can be proved at every turn. Men still are the
- 21:55Speaker 2: dupes of their simplicity and greed, as they were in
- 21:58Speaker 2: the days of Alexander. The the cloak of religion still
- 22:03Speaker 2: conceals the vices which Machiavelli laid bare in the character
- 22:07Speaker 2: of Ferdinand of Aragon. Men will not look at things
- 22:12Speaker 2: as they really are, but as they wish them to be,
- 22:16Speaker 2: and are ruined in politics. There are no perfectly safe courses.
- 22:22Speaker 2: Prudence consists in choosing the least dangerous ones, then to
- 22:28Speaker 2: pass to a higher plane. Machiavelli reiterates that although crimes
- 22:33Speaker 2: may win an empire, they do not win glory. Necessary
- 22:39Speaker 2: wars are just wars, and the arms of a nation
- 22:42Speaker 2: are hallowed when it has no other resource but to fight.
- 22:48Speaker 2: It is the cry of a far later day than
- 22:51Speaker 2: Machiavelli's that government should be elevated into a living moral force,
- 22:56Speaker 2: capable of inspiring the people with a just recognition of
- 23:00Speaker 2: the fundamental principles of society. To this high argument, the
- 23:05Speaker 2: Prince contributes but little. Machiavelli always refused to write either
- 23:11Speaker 2: of men or of governments otherwise than as he found them,
- 23:16Speaker 2: And he writes with such skill and insight that his
- 23:19Speaker 2: work is of abiding value. But what invests the Prince
- 23:24Speaker 2: with more than a merely artistic or historical interest is
- 23:28Speaker 2: the incontrovertible truth that it deals with the great principles
- 23:33Speaker 2: which still guide nations and rulers in their relationship with
- 23:37Speaker 2: each other and their neighbors. In translating the Prince, my
- 23:43Speaker 2: aim has been to achieve, at all costs, an exact
- 23:46Speaker 2: literal rendering of the original, rather than a fluent paraphrase
- 23:51Speaker 2: adapted to the modern notions of style and expression. Machiavelli
- 23:56Speaker 2: was no facile Phrasemonger. The conditions under which he wrote
- 24:01Speaker 2: obliged him to weigh every word. His themes were lofty,
- 24:06Speaker 2: his substance grave, his manner nobly plain and serious. Quisseofuit
- 24:12Speaker 2: unquam in partiundis rebus in definiendis in explanandes pressire in
- 24:21Speaker 2: the prince, It may be truly said, there is reason
- 24:24Speaker 2: assignable not only for every word, but for the position
- 24:29Speaker 2: of every word. To an Englishman of Shakespeare's time, the
- 24:34Speaker 2: translation of such a treatise was in some ways a
- 24:37Speaker 2: comparatively easy task, for in those times the genius of
- 24:41Speaker 2: the English more nearly resembled that of the Italian language.
- 24:45Speaker 2: To the Englishman of to day, it is not so simple.
- 24:49Speaker 2: To take a single example, the word in Tratenere employed
- 24:54Speaker 2: by Machiavelli to indicate the policy adopted by the Roman
- 24:58Speaker 2: Senate towards the weaker states of Greece would by an
- 25:02Speaker 2: Elizabethan be correctly rendered entertain, and every contemporary reader would
- 25:09Speaker 2: understand what was meant by saying that Rome entertained the
- 25:13Speaker 2: Eetolians and the Achaians without augmenting their power. But to
- 25:18Speaker 2: day such a phrase would seem obsolete and ambiguous, if
- 25:22Speaker 2: not unmeaning, we are compelled to say that Rome maintained
- 25:28Speaker 2: friendly relations with the Aetolians, et cetera. Using four words
- 25:32Speaker 2: to do the work of one, I have tried to
- 25:35Speaker 2: preserve the pithy brevity of the Italian so far as
- 25:39Speaker 2: was consistent with an absolute fidelity to the sense. If
- 25:44Speaker 2: the result be an occasional disparity, I can only hope
- 25:47Speaker 2: that the reader, in his eagerness to reach the author's meaning,
- 25:51Speaker 2: may overlook the roughness of the road that leads him
- 25:54Speaker 2: to it. The following is a list of the works
- 25:58Speaker 2: of Machiavelli. Principal works. Discrso sopra le Corsa de Pisa,
- 26:07Speaker 2: fourteen ninety nine, Del Modo di tratare Ipopoli de la
- 26:13Speaker 2: Valdiciana Ribellati fifteen o two, Del Modo Tenuto del Duca
- 26:20Speaker 2: Valentino Nella Mazzare, vitellozzo Vitelli, Olivorotto da Fermo Zetera fifteen
- 26:28Speaker 2: o two. Discorso sopra la Provinciono Deldnaro fifteen o two,
- 26:36Speaker 2: That Gennale Primo poem in terza Rima fifteen o six.
- 26:42Speaker 2: Retrati de le Corsa de la la Magna fifteen o
- 26:47Speaker 2: eight to fifteen twelve. De Giennalo Escndo fifteen o nine,
- 26:54Speaker 2: Ritrati de la Cosa di Francia fifteen ten, Discorsi sopra
- 27:01Speaker 2: la prima Deca di te Livio, three volumes, fifteen twelve
- 27:07Speaker 2: to fifteen seventeen. Il Principe fifteen thirteen, Andrea comedy translated
- 27:16Speaker 2: from Terence, fifteen thirteen, Questionmak Mandragola prose comedy in five
- 27:24Speaker 2: acts with prologue in verse, fifteen thirteen. De la Lingua
- 27:32Speaker 2: Dialog fifteen fourteen, Clizia comedy in prose, fifteen fifteen, Questionmark
- 27:41Speaker 2: Belfagor Archidia Volo novel, fifteen fifteen. Arsini d'Oro poem in
- 27:50Speaker 2: terza Rima fifteen seventeen, dell Arte de la Gera fifteen
- 27:58Speaker 2: nineteen to fifteen twenty. Di Corso sopra il rifor mare
- 28:03Speaker 2: Lastado di Ferenza fifteen twenty, So Mario de la CorCE
- 28:10Speaker 2: de la Chita di Lucca fifteen twenty, Vita di Castruccio
- 28:15Speaker 2: Catraccini da Lucca fifteen twenty. Istorio Fiorentine, eight books, fifteen
- 28:23Speaker 2: twenty one to fifteen twenty five. Framentistor Ici fifteen twenty five.
- 28:29Speaker 2: Other poems include Sonnetti, Canzoni, ottave and Canti Carna Scileeski
- 28:38Speaker 2: editions Aldo Venice fifteen forty six. De Latertina fifteen fifty,
- 28:47Speaker 2: Cambiaggi Florence, six volumes, seventeen eighty two to seventeen eighty five,
- 28:53Speaker 2: Des Classici milan ten eighteen thirteen, Silvestri nine volumes, eighteen
- 29:02Speaker 2: twenty to eighteen twenty two, Passerini Fanfani Milanesi, six volumes
- 29:08Speaker 2: only published eighteen seventy three to eighteen seventy seven. Minor
- 29:14Speaker 2: works Editor F. L. Polydori eighteen fifty two, Letter Familiari,
- 29:22Speaker 2: editor A Alvisi eighteen eighty three, two editions, one with
- 29:28Speaker 2: excisions credited writings. Editor G. Canestrini, eighteen fifty seven, Letters
- 29:37Speaker 2: to F. Vettori, c. A. Ridolfi, Pensieri in Torno Alascopo, D. N. Macchiavelli,
- 29:47Speaker 2: Nell Libro il Prinshipe et Cetera D. Ferrara, The Private
- 29:54Speaker 2: Correspondence of Niccolo Macchiavelli, nineteen twenty nine. End of the
- 30:02Speaker 2: Man and his Works.
- 30:04Speaker 1: The author's dedication to the Magnificent Lorenzo de Piero de Medici.
- 30:11Speaker 1: Those who strive to obtain the good graces of a prince,
- 30:14Speaker 1: or accustomed to come before him with such things as
- 30:18Speaker 1: they hold most precious or in which they see him,
- 30:21Speaker 1: take most delight. Whence one often sees horses, arms, cloth
- 30:27Speaker 1: of gold, precious stones, and similar ornaments presented to princes
- 30:31Speaker 1: worthy of their greatness. Desiring therefore, to present myself to
- 30:36Speaker 1: your magnificence with some testimony of my devotion towards you,
- 30:41Speaker 1: I have not found among my possessions anything which I
- 30:44Speaker 1: hold more dear than or value so much as the
- 30:48Speaker 1: knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by long
- 30:52Speaker 1: experience in contemporary affairs, and a continual study of antiquity, which,
- 30:58Speaker 1: having reflected upon it with great and prolonged diligence, I
- 31:02Speaker 1: now send, digested into a little volume, to your magnificence.
- 31:08Speaker 1: And although I may consider this work unworthy of your countenance,
- 31:13Speaker 1: nevertheless I trust much to your bedignity that it may
- 31:16Speaker 1: be acceptable, Seeing that it is not possible for me
- 31:20Speaker 1: to make a better gift than to offer you the
- 31:22Speaker 1: opportunity of understanding in the shortest time, all that I
- 31:26Speaker 1: have learnt in so many years, and with so many
- 31:31Speaker 1: troubles and dangers, which work I have not embellished with
- 31:35Speaker 1: a swelling or magnificent words, nor stuffed with rounded periods,
- 31:41Speaker 1: nor with any extrinsic allurements or adornments whatever with which
- 31:45Speaker 1: so many are accustomed to embellish their works. For I
- 31:49Speaker 1: have wished either that no honor should be given it,
- 31:53Speaker 1: or else that the truth of the matter and the
- 31:55Speaker 1: weightiness of the theme shall make it acceptable. Nor do
- 32:00Speaker 1: I hold with those who regard it as a presumption
- 32:04Speaker 1: if a man of low and humble condition dare to
- 32:07Speaker 1: discourse and settle the concerns of princes, Because just as
- 32:12Speaker 1: those who draw landscapes place themselves below in the plain
- 32:16Speaker 1: to contemplate the nature of the mountains and of lofty places,
- 32:21Speaker 1: and in order to contemplate the plains place themselves upon
- 32:25Speaker 1: high mountains, even so as to understand the nature of
- 32:28Speaker 1: the people, it needs to be a prince, and to
- 32:31Speaker 1: understand that of princes, it needs to be of the people. Take, then,
- 32:37Speaker 1: your magnificence, this little gift in the spirit in which
- 32:40Speaker 1: I send it, wherein if it be diligently read and
- 32:44Speaker 1: considered by you, you will learn my extreme desire that
- 32:47Speaker 1: you should attain that greatness which fortune and your other
- 32:51Speaker 1: attributes promise. And if your magnificence, from the summit of
- 32:55Speaker 1: your greatness will sometimes turn your eyes to these lower regions,
- 33:00Speaker 1: you will see how unmeritedly I suffer a great and
- 33:04Speaker 1: continued malignity of fortune. End of the author's dedication.
- 33:12Speaker 3: Chapter one. How many kinds of principalities there are, and
- 33:17Speaker 3: by what means they are acquired? All states, all powers
- 33:26Speaker 3: that have held and hold rule over men, have been
- 33:30Speaker 3: and are either republics or principalities. Principalities are either hereditary,
- 33:38Speaker 3: in which the family has been long established, or they
- 33:41Speaker 3: are new. The new are either entirely new, as was
- 33:47Speaker 3: Milan to Francesco Sforza, or they are, as it were,
- 33:51Speaker 3: members annexed to the hereditary state of the prince who
- 33:55Speaker 3: has acquired them, as was the Kingdom of Naples to
- 33:58Speaker 3: that of the King of Spain. Such dominions thus acquired
- 34:04Speaker 3: are either accustomed to live under a prince or to
- 34:07Speaker 3: live in freedom, and are acquired either by the arms
- 34:11Speaker 3: of the prince himself or of others, or else by fortune,
- 34:16Speaker 3: or by ability. Chapter two, Concerning hereditary principalities, I will
- 34:28Speaker 3: leave out all discussion on republics, inasmuch as in another
- 34:32Speaker 3: place I have written of them at length, and will
- 34:34Speaker 3: address myself only to principalities. In doing so, I will
- 34:38Speaker 3: keep to the order indicated above, and discuss how such
- 34:41Speaker 3: principalities are to be ruled and preserved. I say at
- 34:46Speaker 3: once there are fewer difficulties in holding hereditary states and
- 34:50Speaker 3: those long accustomed to the family of their prince, than
- 34:53Speaker 3: new ones. For it is sufficient only not to transgress
- 34:57Speaker 3: the customs of his ancestors, and to deal with prudently
- 35:00Speaker 3: with circumstances as they arise. For a prince of average
- 35:04Speaker 3: powers to maintain himself in his state unless he be
- 35:07Speaker 3: deprived of it by some extraordinary and excessive force. And
- 35:12Speaker 3: if he should be so deprived of it, whenever anything
- 35:15Speaker 3: sinister happens to the usurper, he will regain it. We
- 35:21Speaker 3: have in Italy, for example, the Duke of Ferrara, who
- 35:25Speaker 3: could not have withstood the attacks of the Venetians in
- 35:27Speaker 3: eighty four, nor those of Pope Julius in ten unless
- 35:32Speaker 3: he had been long established in his dominions. For the
- 35:36Speaker 3: hereditary prince has less cause and less necessity to offend.
- 35:41Speaker 3: Hence it happens that he will be more loved, And
- 35:44Speaker 3: unless extraordinary vices cause him to be hated, it is
- 35:47Speaker 3: reasonable to expect that his subjects will be naturally well
- 35:51Speaker 3: disposed towards him, and in the antiquity and duration of
- 35:55Speaker 3: his rule, the memories and motives that make for change
- 35:58Speaker 3: are lost. For one thing always leaves the toothing for another.
- 36:03Speaker 3: Chapter three concerning mixed principalities. But the difficulties occur in
- 36:11Speaker 3: a new principality, and firstly, if it be not entirely new,
- 36:15Speaker 3: but is, as it were, a member of a state, which,
- 36:19Speaker 3: taken collectively, may be called composite. The changes arise chiefly
- 36:23Speaker 3: from an inherent difficulty, which there is in all new principalities.
- 36:29Speaker 3: For men change their rulers willingly, hoping to better themselves,
- 36:33Speaker 3: and this hope induces them to take up arms against
- 36:35Speaker 3: him who rules, wherein they are deceived, because they afterwards
- 36:40Speaker 3: find by experience they have gone from bad to worse.
- 36:47Speaker 3: This follows also on another natural and common necessity, which
- 36:50Speaker 3: always causes a new prince to burden those who have
- 36:53Speaker 3: submitted to him with his soldiery, and with infinite other hardships,
- 36:57Speaker 3: which he must put on his new acquisition. In this way,
- 37:01Speaker 3: you have enemies in all those whom you have injured
- 37:03Speaker 3: in seizing that principality. And you are not able to
- 37:06Speaker 3: keep those friends who put you there because of your
- 37:08Speaker 3: not being able to satisfy them in the way they expected.
- 37:11Speaker 3: And you cannot take strong measures against them, feeling bound
- 37:15Speaker 3: to them. For although one may be very strong in
- 37:19Speaker 3: armed forces, yet in entering a province, one has always
- 37:22Speaker 3: need of the good will of the natives. For these reasons, Louis,
- 37:28Speaker 3: the twelfth King of France, quickly occupied Milan and as
- 37:31Speaker 3: quickly lost it, and to turn him out the first time,
- 37:34Speaker 3: it only needed Ludovico's own forces, because those who had
- 37:39Speaker 3: opened the gates to him, finding themselves deceived in their
- 37:42Speaker 3: hopes of future benefit, would not endure the ill treatment
- 37:45Speaker 3: of the new prince. It is very true that after
- 37:49Speaker 3: acquiring rebellious provinces a second time, they are not so
- 37:53Speaker 3: lightly lost afterwards, because the prince, with little reluctance, takes
- 37:57Speaker 3: the opportunity of the rebellion to punish the delinquence, to
- 38:00Speaker 3: clear out the suspects, and to strengthen himself in the
- 38:03Speaker 3: weakest places, thus to cause France to lose to Milan
- 38:08Speaker 3: the first time. It was enough for the Duke Ludovico.
- 38:12Speaker 3: Begin footnote. Duke Ludovico was Ludovico Moro, a son of
- 38:17Speaker 3: Francesco Sforza, who married Beatrice dest He ruled over Milan
- 38:22Speaker 3: from fourteen ninety four to fifteen hundred and died in
- 38:26Speaker 3: fifteen ten. End footnote. To raise insurrections on the borders,
- 38:33Speaker 3: thus to cause France to loose Milan the first time.
- 38:36Speaker 3: It was enough for Duke Ludovico to raise insurrections on
- 38:39Speaker 3: the borders, but to cause him to lose it a
- 38:42Speaker 3: second time was necessary to bring the whole world against him,
- 38:46Speaker 3: and that his armies should be defeated and driven out
- 38:48Speaker 3: of Italy, which followed from the causes above mentioned. Nevertheless,
- 38:54Speaker 3: Milan was taken from France both the first and the
- 38:56Speaker 3: second time. The general reasons for the first have been discussed.
- 39:01Speaker 3: It remains to name those for the second, and to
- 39:04Speaker 3: see what resources he had and what anyone in his
- 39:07Speaker 3: situation would have had for maintaining himself more securely in
- 39:10Speaker 3: his acquisition than did the King of France. Now I
- 39:14Speaker 3: say that those dominions which, when acquired, are added to
- 39:17Speaker 3: an ancient state by him who acquires them, are either
- 39:21Speaker 3: of the same country and language, or they are not.
- 39:24Speaker 3: When they are, it is easier to hold them, especially
- 39:27Speaker 3: when they have not been accustomed to self government, and
- 39:30Speaker 3: to hold them securely. It is enough to have destroyed
- 39:33Speaker 3: the family of the prince who was ruling them, Because
- 39:36Speaker 3: the two peoples, preserving in other things the old conditions,
- 39:39Speaker 3: and not being unlike in customs, will live quietly together,
- 39:43Speaker 3: as one has seen in Brittany, Burgundy, Gascony and Normandy,
- 39:48Speaker 3: which have been bound to France for so long a time.
- 39:51Speaker 3: And although there may be some difference in language, nevertheless
- 39:55Speaker 3: the customs are alike, and the people will easily be
- 39:58Speaker 3: able to get on amongst themselves. He who has annexed them,
- 40:03Speaker 3: if he wishes to hold them, has only to bear
- 40:05Speaker 3: in mind two considerations, the one that the family of
- 40:09Speaker 3: their former lord is extinguished, the other that neither their
- 40:14Speaker 3: laws nor their taxes are altered, so that in a
- 40:16Speaker 3: very short time they will become entirely one body with
- 40:20Speaker 3: the old principality. But when states are acquired in a
- 40:25Speaker 3: country differing in language, customs, or laws. There are difficulties,
- 40:30Speaker 3: and good fortune and great energy are needed to hold them.
- 40:33Speaker 3: And one of the greatest and most real helps would
- 40:36Speaker 3: be that he who has acquired them should go and
- 40:38Speaker 3: reside there. This would make his position more secure and durable,
- 40:43Speaker 3: as it has made that of the Turk in Greece, who,
- 40:46Speaker 3: notwithstanding all the other measures taken by him for holding
- 40:49Speaker 3: that state, if he had not settled there, would not
- 40:52Speaker 3: have been able to keep it. Because if one is
- 40:55Speaker 3: on the spot, disorders are seen as they spring up,
- 40:58Speaker 3: and one can quickly remedy them. But if one is
- 41:01Speaker 3: not at hand, they are heard of only when they
- 41:04Speaker 3: are great, and then one can no longer remedy them.
- 41:08Speaker 3: Besides this, the country is not pillaged by your officials.
- 41:12Speaker 3: The subjects are satisfied by promptory course to the Prince. Thus,
- 41:16Speaker 3: wishing to be good, they have more cause to love him,
- 41:19Speaker 3: and wishing to be otherwise to fear him. He who
- 41:22Speaker 3: would attack that state from the outside must have the
- 41:25Speaker 3: utmost caution. As long as the Prince resides there, it
- 41:28Speaker 3: can only be wrested from him with the greatest difficulty.
- 41:32Speaker 3: The other and better course is to send colonies to
- 41:35Speaker 3: one or two places, which may be as keys to
- 41:38Speaker 3: that state, for it is necessary either to do this
- 41:41Speaker 3: or else to keep there a great number of cavalry
- 41:43Speaker 3: and infantry. A prince does not spend much on colonies,
- 41:48Speaker 3: for with little or no expense, he can send them
- 41:51Speaker 3: out and keep them there, And he offends a minority
- 41:54Speaker 3: only of the citizens from whom he takes lands and
- 41:56Speaker 3: houses to give them to the new inhabitants. Those whom
- 42:00Speaker 3: he offense, remaining poor and scattered, are never able to
- 42:04Speaker 3: endure him, whilst the rest, being uninjured, are easily kept
- 42:07Speaker 3: quiet and at the same time are anxious not to
- 42:10Speaker 3: err for fear it should happen to them as it
- 42:13Speaker 3: has to those who have been despoiled. In conclusion, I
- 42:18Speaker 3: say that these colonies are not costly, they are more faithful,
- 42:21Speaker 3: They injure less, and the injured, as has been said,
- 42:25Speaker 3: being poor and scattered, cannot hurt. Upon this one has
- 42:29Speaker 3: to remark that men ought either to be well treated
- 42:32Speaker 3: or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries,
- 42:36Speaker 3: of more serious ones they cannot. Therefore, the injury that
- 42:40Speaker 3: is to be done to a man ought to be
- 42:42Speaker 3: of such a kind that one does not stand in
- 42:45Speaker 3: fear of revenge, but in maintaining armed men there in
- 42:50Speaker 3: place of colonies, one spends much more, having to consume
- 42:54Speaker 3: on the garrison all the income from the state, so
- 42:57Speaker 3: that the acquisition turns into a loss, and many more
- 43:00Speaker 3: are exasperated because the whole state is injured. Through the
- 43:04Speaker 3: shifting of the garrison up and down. All become acquainted
- 43:07Speaker 3: with hardship, and all become hostile. And they are enemies who,
- 43:11Speaker 3: whilst beaten on their own ground, are yet able to
- 43:14Speaker 3: do hurt. For every reason, therefore, such guards are as
- 43:18Speaker 3: useless as a colony is useful. Again, the prince who
- 43:22Speaker 3: holds a country differing in the above respects ought to
- 43:25Speaker 3: make himself the head and defender of his less powerful neighbors,
- 43:29Speaker 3: and to weaken the more powerful amongst them, taking care
- 43:32Speaker 3: that no foreigner as powerful as himself shall, by any accident,
- 43:37Speaker 3: get a footing there For it will always happen that
- 43:41Speaker 3: such a one will be introduced by those who are discontented,
- 43:44Speaker 3: either through excess of ambition or through fear. As one
- 43:47Speaker 3: has seen already, the Romans were brought into Greece by
- 43:51Speaker 3: the Aetolians, and in every other country where they obtained
- 43:55Speaker 3: a footing, they were brought in by the inhabitants. And
- 43:58Speaker 3: the usual course of affair is that as soon as
- 44:01Speaker 3: a powerful foreigner enters a country, all the subject states
- 44:05Speaker 3: are drawn to him, moved by the hatred which they
- 44:08Speaker 3: feel against the ruling power, so that in respect to
- 44:11Speaker 3: those subject states, he has not to take any trouble
- 44:13Speaker 3: to gain them over to himself, for the whole of
- 44:16Speaker 3: them quickly rally to the state which he has acquired.
- 44:19Speaker 3: There he has only to take care that they do
- 44:21Speaker 3: not get hold of too much power and too much authority.
- 44:25Speaker 3: And then, with his own forces and with their good will,
- 44:27Speaker 3: he can easily keep down the more powerful of them,
- 44:30Speaker 3: so as to remain entirely master in the country. And
- 44:35Speaker 3: he who does not properly manage this business will soon
- 44:38Speaker 3: lose what he has acquired, and whilst he does hold it,
- 44:42Speaker 3: he will have endless difficulties and troubles. The Romans and
- 44:46Speaker 3: the countries which they annexed observed closely these measures. They
- 44:50Speaker 3: sent colonies and maintained friendly relations with begin note see
- 44:55Speaker 3: remark in the introduction on the word intratonnier and no.
- 45:01Speaker 3: The minor powers without increasing their strength. The Romans, in
- 45:06Speaker 3: the countries which they annexed observed closely these measures. They
- 45:10Speaker 3: sent colonies and maintained friendly relations with the minor powers
- 45:14Speaker 3: without increasing their strength. They kept down the greater and
- 45:18Speaker 3: did not allow any strong foreign powers to gain authority.
- 45:22Speaker 3: Greece appears to me sufficient for an example. The Achaeans
- 45:27Speaker 3: the Aetolians were kept friendly by them. The Kingdom of
- 45:30Speaker 3: Macedonia was humbled, Antiochus was driven out. Yet the merits
- 45:35Speaker 3: of the Achaeans and Aetolians never secured for them permission
- 45:39Speaker 3: to increase their power. Nor did the persuasions of Philip
- 45:43Speaker 3: ever induce the Romans to be his friends without first
- 45:46Speaker 3: humbling him, nor did the influence of Antiochus make them
- 45:49Speaker 3: agree that he should retain any lordship over the country.
- 45:54Speaker 3: Because the Romans did in these instances what all prudent
- 45:57Speaker 3: princes ought to do. Who have to regard not only
- 46:00Speaker 3: present troubles, but also future ones, for which they must
- 46:03Speaker 3: prepare with every energy, because when foreseen, it is easy
- 46:08Speaker 3: to remedy them. But if you wait until they approach,
- 46:11Speaker 3: the medicine is no longer in time, because the malady
- 46:14Speaker 3: has become incurable. For it happens in this as the
- 46:18Speaker 3: physicians say it happens in hectic fever, that in the
- 46:21Speaker 3: beginning of the malady it is easy to cure but
- 46:24Speaker 3: difficult to detect. But in the course of time, not
- 46:28Speaker 3: having been either detected or treated in the beginning, it
- 46:31Speaker 3: becomes easy to detect but difficult to cure. This happens
- 46:36Speaker 3: in affairs of state, for when the evils that arise
- 46:39Speaker 3: have been foreseen, which it is only given to a
- 46:42Speaker 3: wise man to see, they can be quickly redressed. But when,
- 46:45Speaker 3: though not having been foreseen, they have been permitted to
- 46:48Speaker 3: grow in a way that everyone can see them, there
- 46:52Speaker 3: is no longer a remedy. Therefore, the Romans, foreseeing troubles,
- 46:58Speaker 3: dealt with them at once, and even to avoid a war,
- 47:01Speaker 3: would not let them come to a head, for they
- 47:04Speaker 3: knew that war is not to be avoided, but is
- 47:06Speaker 3: only to be put off to the advantage of others. Moreover,
- 47:10Speaker 3: they wished to fight with Philip and Antiochus in Greece,
- 47:13Speaker 3: so as not to have to do it in Italy.
- 47:16Speaker 3: They could have avoided both, but this they did not wish,
- 47:20Speaker 3: nor did that ever please them, which is forever in
- 47:22Speaker 3: the mouths of the wise ones of our time. Let
- 47:25Speaker 3: us enjoy the benefits of the time, but rather the
- 47:28Speaker 3: benefits of their own valor and prudence, For time drives
- 47:32Speaker 3: everything before it and is able to bring with it
- 47:35Speaker 3: good as well as evil, and evil as well as good.
- 47:40Speaker 3: But let us turn to France and inquire whether she
- 47:42Speaker 3: has done any of the things mentioned. I will speak
- 47:46Speaker 3: of Louis. Begin note Louis, the seventh King of France,
- 47:52Speaker 3: the father of the people, born fourteen sixty two died
- 47:56Speaker 3: fifteen fifteen end note, and not of Charles. Begin note Charles,
- 48:04Speaker 3: the eighth King of France born fourteen seventy died fourteen
- 48:10Speaker 3: ninety eight end note. As King Louis was brought into
- 48:14Speaker 3: Italy by the ambition of the Venetians, who desire to
- 48:18Speaker 3: obtain half the state of Lombardy by his intervention. I
- 48:23Speaker 3: will speak of Louis and not of Charles, as the
- 48:26Speaker 3: one whose conduct is the better to be observed. He
- 48:29Speaker 3: having possession of Italy for the longest period, and you
- 48:33Speaker 3: will see that he has done the opposite to those
- 48:35Speaker 3: things which ought to be done to retain a state
- 48:37Speaker 3: composed of diverse elements. King Louis was brought into Italy
- 48:41Speaker 3: by the ambition of the Venetians, who desire to obtain
- 48:44Speaker 3: half the state of Lombardy by his intervention. I will
- 48:47Speaker 3: not blame the course taken by the King, because, wishing
- 48:50Speaker 3: to get a foothold in Italy and having no friends there,
- 48:54Speaker 3: seeing rather that every door was shut to him owing
- 48:56Speaker 3: to the conduct of Charles, he was forced to accept
- 48:59Speaker 3: those friendships which he could get, and he would have
- 49:02Speaker 3: succeeded very quickly in his design, if in other matters
- 49:05Speaker 3: he had not made some mistakes. The King, however, having
- 49:10Speaker 3: acquired Lombardy, regained at once the authority which Charles had
- 49:13Speaker 3: lost Genoa yielded. The Florentines became his friends, the Marquess
- 49:19Speaker 3: of Mantua, the Duke of Ferrara, the Bentivogli, my Lady
- 49:23Speaker 3: of Forli, the lords of Faenza, of Pesaro, of Rimini,
- 49:28Speaker 3: of Camerino, of Piombino, the Lucees, the Pisans, the Sioneese.
- 49:35Speaker 3: Everybody made advances to him to become his friend. Then
- 49:39Speaker 3: could the Venetians realize the rashness of the course taken
- 49:42Speaker 3: by them, which, in order that they might secure two
- 49:45Speaker 3: towns in Lombardy, had made the king master of two
- 49:47Speaker 3: thirds of Italy. Let any one now consider with what
- 49:52Speaker 3: little difficulty the king could have maintained his position in
- 49:55Speaker 3: Italy had he observed the rules above, laid down, and
- 49:59Speaker 3: kept all his friends cure and protected. For although they
- 50:03Speaker 3: were numerous, they were both weak and timid, some afraid
- 50:06Speaker 3: of the Church, some of the Venetians, and thus they
- 50:09Speaker 3: would always have been forced to stand in with him,
- 50:11Speaker 3: and by their means he could easily have made himself
- 50:14Speaker 3: secure against those who remained powerful. But he was no
- 50:18Speaker 3: sooner in Milan than he did the contrary by assisting
- 50:21Speaker 3: Pope Alexander to occupy the Romagna. It never occurred to
- 50:25Speaker 3: him that by this action he was weakening himself, depriving
- 50:29Speaker 3: himself of friends and of those who had thrown themselves
- 50:32Speaker 3: into his lap, whilst he aggrandized the church by adding
- 50:35Speaker 3: much temporal power to the spiritual, thus giving it greater authority.
- 50:41Speaker 3: And having committed this prime error, he was obliged to
- 50:44Speaker 3: follow it up so much that to put an end
- 50:47Speaker 3: to the ambition of Alexander, and to prevent his becoming
- 50:50Speaker 3: the Master of Tuscany, he was himself forced to come
- 50:53Speaker 3: into Italy, and, as if it were not enough to
- 50:57Speaker 3: have aggrandized the Church and deprived himself of friends. He
- 51:01Speaker 3: wishing to have the Kingdom of Naples, divided it with
- 51:04Speaker 3: the king of Spain, and where he was the prime
- 51:07Speaker 3: arbiter in Italy, he takes an associate so that the
- 51:10Speaker 3: ambitious of that country and the malcontents of his own
- 51:14Speaker 3: should have somewhere to shelter. And whereas he could have
- 51:17Speaker 3: left the kingdom in his own pensioner as a king,
- 51:20Speaker 3: he drove him out to put one there who was
- 51:23Speaker 3: able to drive him Louis out. In turn, the wish
- 51:27Speaker 3: to acquire is in truth very natural and common, and
- 51:31Speaker 3: men always do so when they can, and for this
- 51:33Speaker 3: they will be praised, not blamed. But when they cannot
- 51:36Speaker 3: do so, yet wish to do so by any means,
- 51:39Speaker 3: then there is folly and blame. Therefore, if France could
- 51:43Speaker 3: have attacked Naples with her own forces, she ought to
- 51:45Speaker 3: have done so. If she could not, then she ought
- 51:48Speaker 3: not to have divided it. And if the partition which
- 51:51Speaker 3: she made with the Venetians in Lombardy was justified by
- 51:54Speaker 3: the excuse that by it she got a foothold in Italy,
- 51:58Speaker 3: this other partition merited blame for it had not the
- 52:01Speaker 3: excuse of that necessity. Therefore Louis made these five errors.
- 52:08Speaker 3: He destroyed the minor powers, he increased the strength of
- 52:11Speaker 3: one of the greater powers in Italy. He brought in
- 52:14Speaker 3: a foreign power, He did not settle in the country.
- 52:18Speaker 3: He did not send colonies, which errors, had he lived,
- 52:23Speaker 3: were not enough to injure him had he not made
- 52:25Speaker 3: a sixth by taking away their dominions from the Venetians,
- 52:29Speaker 3: because had he not aggrandized the Church nor brought Spain
- 52:33Speaker 3: into Italy, it would have been very reasonable and necessary
- 52:36Speaker 3: to humble them. But having first taken these steps, he
- 52:40Speaker 3: ought never to have consented to their ruin, for they,
- 52:43Speaker 3: being powerful, would always have kept off others from designs
- 52:46Speaker 3: on Lombardy, to which the Venetians would never have consented,
- 52:50Speaker 3: except to become masters themselves. There Also, because the others
- 52:54Speaker 3: would not wish to take Lombardy from France in order
- 52:57Speaker 3: to give it to the Venetians, and to run counter
- 52:59Speaker 3: to they would not have had the courage. And if
- 53:03Speaker 3: anyone should say King Louis yielded to the Romagna to
- 53:07Speaker 3: Alexander and the Kingdom to Spain to avoid war, I
- 53:11Speaker 3: answer for the reasons given above, that a blunder ought
- 53:14Speaker 3: never to be perpetrated to avoid war, because it is
- 53:17Speaker 3: not to be avoided, but is only deferred to your disadvantage.
- 53:21Speaker 3: And if another should allege the pledge which the king
- 53:24Speaker 3: had given to the Pope, that he would assist him
- 53:26Speaker 3: in the enterprise in exchange for the dissolution of his marriage.
- 53:31Speaker 3: Begin footnote. Louis the seventh divorced his wife Jean, daughter
- 53:36Speaker 3: of Louis the sixth, and married in fourteen ninety nine
- 53:39Speaker 3: Anne of Brittany, widow of Charles the eighth, in order
- 53:43Speaker 3: to retain the Duchy of Brittany for the crown and
- 53:46Speaker 3: for the cap to Ruin. Begin footnote. The archbishop of
- 53:51Speaker 3: Ruin he was George d'Amboise, created a cardinal by Alexander
- 53:56Speaker 3: the sixth born fourteen sixty die fifteen ten. End footnote
- 54:03Speaker 3: to that I reply what I shall write later on
- 54:05Speaker 3: concerning the faith of princes and how it ought to
- 54:08Speaker 3: be kept. And if another should allege the pledge which
- 54:12Speaker 3: the king had given to the Pope, that he would
- 54:15Speaker 3: assist him in the enterprise in exchange for the dissolution
- 54:18Speaker 3: of his marriage and for the cap to Ruin. To
- 54:21Speaker 3: that I reply what I shall write later on concerning
- 54:24Speaker 3: the faith of princes and how it ought to be kept.
- 54:29Speaker 3: Thus King Louis lost Lombardy by not having followed any
- 54:32Speaker 3: of the conditions observed by those who have taken possession
- 54:35Speaker 3: of countries and wished to retain them. Nor is there
- 54:39Speaker 3: any miracle in this, but much that is reasonable and
- 54:42Speaker 3: quite natural. And on these matters I spoke at nance
- 54:46Speaker 3: with Ruin when Valentino, as Cesar Borgia, the son of
- 54:50Speaker 3: Pope Alexander, was usually called, occupied the Romagna. And on
- 54:54Speaker 3: Cardinal Ruin observing to me that the Italians did not
- 54:58Speaker 3: understand war, I reply to him that the French did
- 55:01Speaker 3: not understand state craft, meaning that otherwise they would not
- 55:05Speaker 3: have allowed the Church to reach such greatness. And in fact,
- 55:10Speaker 3: it has been seen that the greatness of the Church
- 55:13Speaker 3: and of Spain in Italy has been caused by France,
- 55:16Speaker 3: and her ruin may be attributed to them. From this
- 55:19Speaker 3: a general rule is drawn, which never or rarely fails,
- 55:24Speaker 3: that he who is the cause of another becoming powerful
- 55:27Speaker 3: is ruined, because that predominancy has been brought about either
- 55:32Speaker 3: by astuteness or else by force, And both are distrusted
- 55:36Speaker 3: by him who has been raised to power. End of
- 55:40Speaker 3: Chapters one, two and three.
- 55:44Speaker 1: Chapter four. Why the kingdom of Drius conquered by Alexander
- 55:49Speaker 1: did not rebel against the successors of Alexander at his death.
- 55:58Speaker 1: Considering the difficulties which men have had to hold a
- 56:02Speaker 1: newly acquired state, some might wonder, how, seeing that Alexander
- 56:07Speaker 1: the Great became the master of Asia in a few
- 56:10Speaker 1: years and died whilst it was scarcely settled, whence it
- 56:15Speaker 1: might appear reasonable that the whole empire would have rebelled. Nevertheless,
- 56:20Speaker 1: his successors maintained themselves and had to meet no other
- 56:25Speaker 1: difficulty than that which arose among themselves from their own ambitions.
- 56:31Speaker 1: I answer that the principalities of which one has record
- 56:36Speaker 1: are found to be governed in two different ways, either
- 56:39Speaker 1: by a prince with a body of servants who assist
- 56:42Speaker 1: him to govern the kingdom as ministers by his favor
- 56:46Speaker 1: and permission, or by a prince and barons who hold
- 56:51Speaker 1: that dignity by antiquity of blood and not by the
- 56:54Speaker 1: grace of the prince. Such barons have states and their
- 56:59Speaker 1: own subject who recognize them as lords and hold them
- 57:03Speaker 1: in natural affection. Those states that are governed by a
- 57:06Speaker 1: prince and his servants hold their prince in more consideration,
- 57:11Speaker 1: because in all the country there is no one who
- 57:15Speaker 1: is recognized as superior to him, And if they yield
- 57:18Speaker 1: obedience to another, they do it as to a minister
- 57:22Speaker 1: and official, and they do not bear him any particular affection.
- 57:28Speaker 1: The examples of these two governments in our time are
- 57:31Speaker 1: the Turk and the King of France. The entire monarchy
- 57:34Speaker 1: of the Turk is governed by one lord, the others
- 57:38Speaker 1: are his servants, and dividing his kingdom into sanjaks. He
- 57:42Speaker 1: sends there different administrators and shifts and changes them as
- 57:47Speaker 1: he chooses. But the King of France is placed in
- 57:51Speaker 1: the midst of an ancient body of lords, acknowledged by
- 57:54Speaker 1: their own subjects and beloved by them. They have their
- 57:58Speaker 1: own prerogatives. Can the king take these away except at
- 58:03Speaker 1: his peril. Therefore, who considers both of these states will
- 58:08Speaker 1: recognize great difficulties in seizing the state of the Turk,
- 58:12Speaker 1: but once it is conquered, great ease in holding it.
- 58:18Speaker 1: The causes of the difficulties in seizing the Kingdom of
- 58:21Speaker 1: the Turk are that the usurper cannot be called in
- 58:24Speaker 1: by the princes of the kingdom, nor can he hope
- 58:27Speaker 1: to be assisted in his designs by the revolt of
- 58:30Speaker 1: those whom the lord has around him. This arises from
- 58:34Speaker 1: the reasons given above, for his ministers, being all slaves
- 58:39Speaker 1: and bondmen, can only be corrupted with great difficulty, and
- 58:43Speaker 1: one can expect little advantage from them when they have
- 58:47Speaker 1: been corrupted, as they do not carry the people with them.
- 58:50Speaker 1: For the reasons assigned, Hence, he who attacks the Turk
- 58:55Speaker 1: must bear in mind that he will find him united,
- 58:59Speaker 1: and he will have to rely more on his own
- 59:02Speaker 1: strength than on the revolt of others. But if once
- 59:06Speaker 1: the Turk has been conquered and routed to the field
- 59:09Speaker 1: in such a way that he cannot replace his armies,
- 59:12Speaker 1: there is nothing to fear but the family of this prince,
- 59:15Speaker 1: and this being exterminated, there remains no one to fear,
- 59:20Speaker 1: the others, having no credit with the people, And as
- 59:23Speaker 1: the conqueror did not rely on them before his victory,
- 59:26Speaker 1: so he not ought to fear them after it. The
- 59:31Speaker 1: contrary happens in kingdoms governed like that of France, because
- 59:35Speaker 1: one can easily enter there by gaining some baron of
- 59:39Speaker 1: the kingdom. For one always finds malcontents and such as
- 59:44Speaker 1: desire a change. Such men, for the reasons given, can
- 59:48Speaker 1: open the way into the state and render the victory easy.
- 59:52Speaker 1: But if you wish to hold it afterwards, you meet
- 59:55Speaker 1: with infinite difficulties, both from those who have assisted you
- 1:00:00Speaker 1: and from those you have crushed. Nor is it enough
- 1:00:03Speaker 1: for you to have exterminated the family of the prince,
- 1:00:06Speaker 1: because the lords that remain make themselves the head of
- 1:00:10Speaker 1: fresh movements against you, and as you are unable to
- 1:00:13Speaker 1: either satisfy or exterminate them, that state is lost. Whenever
- 1:00:18Speaker 1: time brings the opportunity. Now, if you will consider what
- 1:00:24Speaker 1: was the nature of the government of Derias, you will
- 1:00:28Speaker 1: find it similar to the Kingdom of the Turk. And
- 1:00:30Speaker 1: therefore it was only necessary for Alexander at first to
- 1:00:35Speaker 1: overthrow him in the field, and then to take the
- 1:00:37Speaker 1: country from him, after which victory Duryas being killed. The
- 1:00:41Speaker 1: state remained secure to Alexander for the above reasons, and
- 1:00:46Speaker 1: if his successors had been united, they would have enjoyed
- 1:00:50Speaker 1: it securely and at their ease. For there were no
- 1:00:53Speaker 1: tumults raised in the kingdom except those they provoked themselves,
- 1:00:59Speaker 1: but it is impossible to hold with such tranquility states
- 1:01:03Speaker 1: constituted like that of France. Hence arose those frequent rebellions
- 1:01:09Speaker 1: against the Romans in Spain, France, and Greece, owing to
- 1:01:13Speaker 1: the many principalities there were in these states, of which,
- 1:01:17Speaker 1: as long as the memory of them endured, the Romans
- 1:01:20Speaker 1: always held an insecure possession. But with the power and
- 1:01:24Speaker 1: long continuance of empire, the memory of them passed away,
- 1:01:29Speaker 1: and the Romans then became secure possessors. And when fighting
- 1:01:35Speaker 1: afterwards among themselves, each one was able to attach to
- 1:01:39Speaker 1: himself his own parts of the country according to the
- 1:01:42Speaker 1: authority he had assumed there, and the family of the
- 1:01:46Speaker 1: former lord being exterminated, none other than the Romans were acknowledged.
- 1:01:52Speaker 1: When these things are remembered, no one will marvel at
- 1:01:55Speaker 1: the ease with which Alexander held the Empire of Asia,
- 1:02:00Speaker 1: or at the difficulties which others have had to keep
- 1:02:04Speaker 1: an acquisition such as Paris and many more. This is
- 1:02:08Speaker 1: not occasioned by the little or abundance of ability in
- 1:02:13Speaker 1: the conqueror, but by the want of uniformity in the
- 1:02:18Speaker 1: subject state. Chapter five concerning the way to govern cities
- 1:02:27Speaker 1: or principalities which lived under their own laws before they
- 1:02:31Speaker 1: were annexed. Whatever, those states which have been acquired, as stated,
- 1:02:39Speaker 1: have been accustomed to live under their own laws and
- 1:02:42Speaker 1: in freedom. There are three courses for those who wish
- 1:02:47Speaker 1: to hold them. The first is to ruin them. The
- 1:02:51Speaker 1: next is to reside there in person. The third is
- 1:02:54Speaker 1: to permit them to live under their own laws, drawing
- 1:02:57Speaker 1: a tribute and establishing within it an oligarchy, which will
- 1:03:01Speaker 1: keep it friendly to you. Because such a government, being
- 1:03:05Speaker 1: created by the Prince, knows that it cannot stand without
- 1:03:09Speaker 1: his friendship and interest, and does its utmost to support him.
- 1:03:13Speaker 1: And therefore he who would keep the city accustomed to freedom,
- 1:03:18Speaker 1: will hold it more easily by means of its own
- 1:03:21Speaker 1: citizens than in any other way. There are, for example,
- 1:03:26Speaker 1: the Spartans and the Romans. The Spartans held Athens and Thebes,
- 1:03:32Speaker 1: establishing there an oligarchy. Nevertheless, they lost them. The Romans,
- 1:03:38Speaker 1: in order to hold Capua, Carthage and Numatia, dismantled them,
- 1:03:42Speaker 1: and did not lose them. They wished to hold Greece
- 1:03:46Speaker 1: as the Spartans held it, making it free and permitting
- 1:03:49Speaker 1: its laws. And did not succeed so to hold it,
- 1:03:54Speaker 1: were compelled to dismantle many cities in the country, for
- 1:03:59Speaker 1: in truth, there is no safe way to retain them
- 1:04:03Speaker 1: otherwise than by ruining them. And he who becomes master
- 1:04:08Speaker 1: of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy
- 1:04:11Speaker 1: it may expect to be destroyed by it. For in
- 1:04:15Speaker 1: rebellion it has always the watchword of liberty and the
- 1:04:19Speaker 1: ancient privileges as a rallying point, which neither time nor
- 1:04:24Speaker 1: benefits will ever cause it to forget. And whatever you
- 1:04:28Speaker 1: may do or provide against, they never forget that name
- 1:04:33Speaker 1: or their privileges, unless they are disunited or dispersed. But
- 1:04:39Speaker 1: at every chance they immediately rally to them, as Pisa
- 1:04:43Speaker 1: after the hundred years she had been held in bondage
- 1:04:46Speaker 1: by the Florentines. But when cities or countries are accustomed
- 1:04:53Speaker 1: to live under a prince and his family is exterminated, they,
- 1:04:58Speaker 1: being on the one hand accustomed to obey him, and
- 1:05:02Speaker 1: on the other hand, not having the old prince, cannot
- 1:05:05Speaker 1: agree in making one from among themselves, and they do
- 1:05:08Speaker 1: not know how to govern themselves. For this reason, they
- 1:05:12Speaker 1: are very slow to take up arms, and a prince
- 1:05:15Speaker 1: can gain them to himself and secure them much more easily.
- 1:05:20Speaker 1: But in republics there is more vitality, greater hatred, and
- 1:05:25Speaker 1: more desire for vengeance, which will never permit them to
- 1:05:29Speaker 1: allow the memory of their former liberty to rest, So
- 1:05:32Speaker 1: that the safest way is to destroy them or to
- 1:05:36Speaker 1: reside there. Chapter six, concerning new principalities which are acquired
- 1:05:45Speaker 1: by one's own arms and ability. Let no one be
- 1:05:51Speaker 1: surprised if Finn, speaking of entirely new principalities, as I
- 1:05:55Speaker 1: shall do, I adduce the highest examples, both of prince
- 1:06:00Speaker 1: and of states. Because men, walking almost always in paths
- 1:06:05Speaker 1: beaten by others, and following by imitation their deeds, are
- 1:06:10Speaker 1: yet unable to keep entirely to the ways of others,
- 1:06:14Speaker 1: or to attain the power of those they imitate. A
- 1:06:18Speaker 1: wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by
- 1:06:21Speaker 1: great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme,
- 1:06:26Speaker 1: so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at
- 1:06:30Speaker 1: least it will savor of it. Let him act like
- 1:06:33Speaker 1: the clever archers, who, designing to hit the mark which
- 1:06:37Speaker 1: yet appears too far distant, and knowing the limits to
- 1:06:41Speaker 1: which the strength of their bow attains take aim much
- 1:06:46Speaker 1: higher than the mark, not to reach by their strength
- 1:06:49Speaker 1: or arrow to so great a height, but to be
- 1:06:53Speaker 1: able to reach, with the aid of so high an aim,
- 1:06:58Speaker 1: to hit the mark they wished to reach. I say therefore,
- 1:07:03Speaker 1: that in entirely new principalities, where there is a new prince,
- 1:07:07Speaker 1: more or less difficulty is found in keeping them. Accordingly
- 1:07:11Speaker 1: as there is more or less ability in him who
- 1:07:14Speaker 1: has acquired the state. Now, as the fact of becoming
- 1:07:18Speaker 1: a prince from a private station presupposes either ability or fortune,
- 1:07:23Speaker 1: it is clear that one or other of these things
- 1:07:27Speaker 1: will mitigate in some degree many difficulties. Nevertheless, he who
- 1:07:32Speaker 1: has relied least on fortune is established the strongest. Further,
- 1:07:38Speaker 1: it facilitates matters when the prince, having no other state,
- 1:07:42Speaker 1: is compelled to reside there in person, but to come
- 1:07:46Speaker 1: to those who, by their own ability and not through fortune,
- 1:07:50Speaker 1: have risen to be princes. I may say that Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, Theseus,
- 1:07:57Speaker 1: and such the like are the most excellent examples. And
- 1:08:01Speaker 1: although one may not discuss Moses, he having been a
- 1:08:05Speaker 1: mere executor of the will of God, yet he ought
- 1:08:09Speaker 1: to be admired, if only for that favor which made
- 1:08:12Speaker 1: him worthy to speak with God. But in considering Cyrus
- 1:08:16Speaker 1: and others who have acquired or founded kingdoms, all will
- 1:08:21Speaker 1: be found admirable, And if their particular deeds and conduct
- 1:08:25Speaker 1: shall be considered, they will not be found inferior to
- 1:08:29Speaker 1: those of Moses, although he had so great a perceptor,
- 1:08:34Speaker 1: and in examining their actions and lives, one cannot see
- 1:08:38Speaker 1: that they owed anything to fortune beyond opportunity, which brought
- 1:08:42Speaker 1: them the material to mold into the form which seemed
- 1:08:46Speaker 1: best to them. Without that opportunity, their powers of mind
- 1:08:51Speaker 1: would have been extinguished, and without those powers the opportunity
- 1:08:56Speaker 1: would have come in vain. It was necess therefore to
- 1:09:01Speaker 1: Moses that he should find the people of Israel in
- 1:09:04Speaker 1: Egypt enslaved and oppressed by the Egyptians, in order that
- 1:09:08Speaker 1: they should be disposed to follow him so as to
- 1:09:11Speaker 1: be delivered out of bondage. It was necessary that Romulus
- 1:09:15Speaker 1: should not remain in Alba, and that he should be
- 1:09:18Speaker 1: abandoned at his birth, in order that he should become
- 1:09:21Speaker 1: king of Rome and founder of the Fatherland. It was
- 1:09:25Speaker 1: necessary that Cyrus should find the Persians discontented with the
- 1:09:30Speaker 1: government of the Meds, and the meds soft and effeminate.
- 1:09:34Speaker 1: Through their long peace. Theseus could not have shown his
- 1:09:38Speaker 1: ability had he not found the Athenians dispersed. These opportunities
- 1:09:43Speaker 1: therefore made those men fortunate, and their high ability enabled
- 1:09:49Speaker 1: them to recognize the opportunity whereby their country was ennobled
- 1:09:54Speaker 1: and made famous. Those who by valorous ways become princes.
- 1:10:00Speaker 1: Like these men acquire a principality with difficulty, but they
- 1:10:05Speaker 1: keep it with ease. The difficulties they have been acquiring
- 1:10:09Speaker 1: it rise in part from the new rules and methods
- 1:10:12Speaker 1: which they are forced to introduce to establish their government
- 1:10:15Speaker 1: and its security. And it ought to be remembered that
- 1:10:19Speaker 1: there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more
- 1:10:22Speaker 1: perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than
- 1:10:27Speaker 1: to take the lead in the introduction of a new
- 1:10:30Speaker 1: order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all
- 1:10:34Speaker 1: those who have done well under the old conditions, and
- 1:10:39Speaker 1: lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.
- 1:10:44Speaker 1: This coolness arises partially from fear of the opponents who
- 1:10:48Speaker 1: have laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity
- 1:10:53Speaker 1: of men who do not readily believe in new things
- 1:10:56Speaker 1: until they have had a long experience of them. Thus
- 1:11:00Speaker 1: it happens that whenever those who are hostile have the
- 1:11:04Speaker 1: opportunity to attack, they do it like partisans, whilst the
- 1:11:09Speaker 1: others defend luke warmly, in such wise that the Prince
- 1:11:14Speaker 1: is endangered along with them. It is necessary, therefore, if
- 1:11:19Speaker 1: we desire to discuss this matter thoroughly, to inquire whether
- 1:11:24Speaker 1: these innovators can rely on themselves or have to depend
- 1:11:28Speaker 1: on others, That is to say, whether to consummate their
- 1:11:32Speaker 1: enterprise they have to use prayers or can they use force.
- 1:11:38Speaker 1: In the first instance, they always succeed badly and can
- 1:11:42Speaker 1: never compass anything. But when they can rely on themselves
- 1:11:47Speaker 1: and use force, then they are rarely endangered. Hence it
- 1:11:52Speaker 1: is that all armed prophets have conquered, and the unarmed
- 1:11:56Speaker 1: ones have been destroyed. Besides the reds since mentioned. The
- 1:12:01Speaker 1: nature of the people is variable, and whilst it is
- 1:12:04Speaker 1: easy to persuade them, it is difficult to fix them
- 1:12:08Speaker 1: in that persuasion, and thus it is necessary to take
- 1:12:11Speaker 1: such measures that, even when they believe no longer, it
- 1:12:15Speaker 1: may be possible to make them believe by force. If Moses, Cyrus,
- 1:12:22Speaker 1: Theseus and Romulus had been unarmed, they could not have
- 1:12:26Speaker 1: enforced their constitutions for long, as happened in our time
- 1:12:30Speaker 1: to Fra. Giolamo Savonarola, who was ruined with his new
- 1:12:35Speaker 1: order of things. Immediately the multitude believed in him no longer,
- 1:12:39Speaker 1: and he had no means of keeping steadfast those who believed,
- 1:12:43Speaker 1: or of making the unbelievers to believe. Therefore, such as
- 1:12:48Speaker 1: these have great difficulties in consummating their enterprises. For all
- 1:12:53Speaker 1: their dangers are in the ascent. Yet with ability they
- 1:12:58Speaker 1: will overcome them. But when these are overcome, and those
- 1:13:02Speaker 1: who envied them their success are exterminated, they will begin
- 1:13:06Speaker 1: to be respected, and they will continue afterwards, powerful, secure, honored,
- 1:13:13Speaker 1: and happy. To these great examples, I wish to add
- 1:13:18Speaker 1: a lesser one. Still it bears some resemblance to them,
- 1:13:22Speaker 1: and I wish it to suffice me for all of
- 1:13:26Speaker 1: the little kind. It is Hiero the Syracusan. The man
- 1:13:32Speaker 1: rose from a private station to be the prince of Syracuse.
- 1:13:36Speaker 1: Nor did he either owe anything to fortune but opportunity.
- 1:13:40Speaker 1: For the Syracusans, being oppressed, chose him for their captain. Afterwards,
- 1:13:46Speaker 1: he was rewarded by being made their prince He was
- 1:13:49Speaker 1: of so great ability, even as a private citizen, that
- 1:13:53Speaker 1: one who writes of him says he wanted nothing but
- 1:13:57Speaker 1: a kingdom. To be a king. This man abolished the
- 1:14:01Speaker 1: old soldiery, organized the new, gave up old alliances, made
- 1:14:06Speaker 1: new ones. And as he had his own soldiers and
- 1:14:10Speaker 1: allies on such foundations, he was able to build any edifice. Thus,
- 1:14:16Speaker 1: whilst he had endured much trouble in acquiring, he had
- 1:14:20Speaker 1: but little in keeping. End of chapter six.
- 1:14:27Speaker 2: Chapter seven. Concerning new principalities, which are acquired either by
- 1:14:33Speaker 2: the arms of others or by good fortune, those who
- 1:14:39Speaker 2: solely by good fortune become princes from being private citizens
- 1:14:44Speaker 2: have little trouble in rising, but much in keeping a top.
- 1:14:48Speaker 2: They have not any difficulties on the way up, because
- 1:14:50Speaker 2: they fly, but they have many when they reach the summit.
- 1:14:55Speaker 2: Such are those to whom some state is given, either
- 1:14:58Speaker 2: for money or by the favor of him who bestows it,
- 1:15:02Speaker 2: as happened to many in Greece, in the cities of
- 1:15:05Speaker 2: Ionia and in the Hellespont, where princes were made by
- 1:15:09Speaker 2: Darius in order that they might hold the cities both
- 1:15:12Speaker 2: for his security and his glory. As also were those
- 1:15:16Speaker 2: emperors who, by the corruption of the soldiers from being citizens,
- 1:15:21Speaker 2: came to empire. Such stands simply elevated upon the good
- 1:15:25Speaker 2: will and the fortune of him who has elevated them,
- 1:15:29Speaker 2: two most inconstant and unstable things. Neither have they the
- 1:15:34Speaker 2: knowledge required for the position, because unless they are men
- 1:15:38Speaker 2: of great worth and ability, it is not reasonable to
- 1:15:41Speaker 2: expect that they should know how to command, having always
- 1:15:45Speaker 2: lived in a private condition. Besides, they cannot hold it
- 1:15:49Speaker 2: because they have not forces which they can keep. Friendly
- 1:15:51Speaker 2: and faithful states that rise unexpectedly, then, like all other
- 1:15:58Speaker 2: things in nature, which are born and grow rapidly, cannot
- 1:16:01Speaker 2: leave their foundations and correspondenceies note the radici correspondenze their roots,
- 1:16:12Speaker 2: that is, foundations and correspondencies or relations with other states,
- 1:16:17Speaker 2: a common meaning of correspondence and correspondency in the sixteenth
- 1:16:22Speaker 2: and seventeenth centuries. End note, cannot leave their foundations and
- 1:16:31Speaker 2: correspondencies fixed in such a way that the first storm
- 1:16:35Speaker 2: will not overthrow them, unless, as is said, those who
- 1:16:40Speaker 2: unexpectedly become princes are men of so much ability that
- 1:16:44Speaker 2: they know they have to be prepared at once to
- 1:16:46Speaker 2: hold that which fortune has thrown into their laps, and
- 1:16:50Speaker 2: that these foundations which others have laid before they became princes,
- 1:16:54Speaker 2: they must lay afterwards. Concerning these two methods of rising
- 1:17:00Speaker 2: to be a prince by ability of fortune a wish
- 1:17:03Speaker 2: to adduce. Two examples within our own recollection, and these
- 1:17:07Speaker 2: are Francesco Sforza and Cesare Borgia. Note. Francesco Sforza born
- 1:17:17Speaker 2: fourteen o one died fourteen sixty six. He married Bianca
- 1:17:22Speaker 2: Maria Visconti, a natural daughter of Filippo Visconti, the Duke
- 1:17:27Speaker 2: of Milan, on whose death he produced his own elevation
- 1:17:31Speaker 2: to the Duchy. Machiavelli was the accredited agent of the
- 1:17:36Speaker 2: Florentine Republic to c. Cizare Borgia fourteen seventy eight to
- 1:17:40Speaker 2: fifteen o seven during the transactions which led up to
- 1:17:44Speaker 2: the assassinations of the Orsini and Vitelli at Sinigalia, and
- 1:17:49Speaker 2: along with his letters to his chiefs in Florence, he
- 1:17:52Speaker 2: has left an account written ten years before the Prince
- 1:17:56Speaker 2: of the proceedings of the Duke in his Descrizione de
- 1:18:00Speaker 2: mordo teutu dl. Duca Valentino Nello Amazzare, Vitellozzo Vitelli et. Cetera,
- 1:18:07Speaker 2: a translation of which is appended to the present work.
- 1:18:12Speaker 2: End note. Francesco, by proper means and with great ability,
- 1:18:18Speaker 2: from being a private person, rose to be Duke of Milan,
- 1:18:22Speaker 2: and that which he had acquired with his thousand anxieties
- 1:18:25Speaker 2: he kept with little trouble. On the other hand, Cesaro Borja,
- 1:18:30Speaker 2: called by the people Duke Valentino, acquired his state during
- 1:18:35Speaker 2: the ascendancy of his father, and on its decline he
- 1:18:38Speaker 2: lost it, notwithstanding that he had taken every measure and
- 1:18:42Speaker 2: done all that ought to be done by a wise
- 1:18:44Speaker 2: and able man to fix firmly his roots in the
- 1:18:47Speaker 2: states which the arms and fortunes of others had bestowed
- 1:18:50Speaker 2: on him. Because as is stated above, he who has
- 1:18:56Speaker 2: not laid his foundations may be able with great ability
- 1:18:59Speaker 2: to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with
- 1:19:02Speaker 2: trouble to the architect and danger to the building. If
- 1:19:06Speaker 2: therefore all the steps taken by the Duke be considered,
- 1:19:10Speaker 2: it will be seen that he laid solid foundations for
- 1:19:12Speaker 2: his future power. And I do not consider it superfluous
- 1:19:16Speaker 2: to discuss them, because I do not know what better
- 1:19:19Speaker 2: precepts to give a new prince than the example of
- 1:19:22Speaker 2: his actions, and if his dispositions were of no avail,
- 1:19:26Speaker 2: that was not his fault, but the extraordinary and extreme
- 1:19:30Speaker 2: malignity of fortune. Alexander the sixth, in wishing to aggrandize
- 1:19:35Speaker 2: the Duke his son, had many immediate and prospective difficulties. Firstly,
- 1:19:41Speaker 2: he did not see his way to make him master
- 1:19:43Speaker 2: of any state that was not a state of the Church.
- 1:19:47Speaker 2: And if he was willing to rob the Church, he
- 1:19:50Speaker 2: knew that the Duke of Milan and the Venetians would
- 1:19:52Speaker 2: not consent, because Faienza and Rimini were already under the
- 1:19:56Speaker 2: protection of the Venetians. Besides his or the arms of Italy,
- 1:20:01Speaker 2: especially those by which he might have been assisted in
- 1:20:04Speaker 2: hands that would fear the aggrandizement of the Pope, namely
- 1:20:08Speaker 2: the Orsini and colonn NeSSI and their following. It behooved him, therefore,
- 1:20:14Speaker 2: to upset this state of affairs and embroil the powers
- 1:20:17Speaker 2: so as to make himself securely master of part of
- 1:20:20Speaker 2: their states. This was easy for him to do, because
- 1:20:24Speaker 2: he found the Venetians, moved by other reasons, inclined to
- 1:20:28Speaker 2: bring back the French into Italy. He would not only
- 1:20:32Speaker 2: oppose this, but he would render it more easy by
- 1:20:35Speaker 2: dissolving the former marriage of King Louis. Therefore, the King
- 1:20:40Speaker 2: came into Italy with the assistance of the Venetians and
- 1:20:43Speaker 2: the consent of Alexander. He was no sooner in Milan
- 1:20:47Speaker 2: than the Pope had soldiers from him for the attempt
- 1:20:50Speaker 2: on the Romagna, which yielded to him the reputation of
- 1:20:54Speaker 2: the King. The Duke, therefore, having acquired the Romagna and
- 1:20:59Speaker 2: beaten them the Colonnesi, while wishing to hold that and
- 1:21:03Speaker 2: to advance further, was hindered by two things. The one
- 1:21:07Speaker 2: his forces did not appear loyal to him, the other
- 1:21:10Speaker 2: the good will of France. That is to say, he
- 1:21:13Speaker 2: feared that the forces of the Orsini which he was using,
- 1:21:17Speaker 2: would not stand to him, that not only might they
- 1:21:20Speaker 2: hinder him from winning more, but might themselves seize what
- 1:21:23Speaker 2: he had won, and that the King might also do
- 1:21:26Speaker 2: the same. Of the Orsini. He had a warning when,
- 1:21:29Speaker 2: after taking Fensa and attacking Bologna, he saw them go
- 1:21:34Speaker 2: very unwillingly to that attack. And as to the King,
- 1:21:37Speaker 2: he learned his mind when he himself, after taking the
- 1:21:41Speaker 2: Duchy of Urbino, attacked Tuscany, and the King made him
- 1:21:45Speaker 2: desist from that undertaking. Hence the Duke decided to depend
- 1:21:49Speaker 2: no more upon the arms and the luck of others.
- 1:21:54Speaker 2: For the first thing, he weakened the Orsigni and Colonnesi
- 1:21:57Speaker 2: parties in Rome by gaining to himself or their adherents,
- 1:22:01Speaker 2: who were gentlemen, making them his gentlemen, giving them good pay,
- 1:22:06Speaker 2: and according to their rank, honoring them with office and command,
- 1:22:10Speaker 2: in such a way that in a few months all
- 1:22:12Speaker 2: attachment to the factions was destroyed and turned entirely to
- 1:22:17Speaker 2: the Duke. After this he awaited an opportunity to crush
- 1:22:21Speaker 2: the Orsini, having scattered the adherents of the Colonna house.
- 1:22:26Speaker 2: This came to him soon, and he used it well.
- 1:22:29Speaker 2: For the Orsini, perceiving at length that the aggrandizement of
- 1:22:34Speaker 2: the Duke and the Church was ruined to them, called
- 1:22:37Speaker 2: a meeting of the Maggione in Peruja. From this sprung
- 1:22:41Speaker 2: the rebellion at Urbino and the tumults in the Romagna,
- 1:22:46Speaker 2: with endless dangers to the Duke, all of which he
- 1:22:49Speaker 2: overcame with the help of the French, having restored his
- 1:22:54Speaker 2: authority not to leave at risk by trusting either the
- 1:22:57Speaker 2: French or the outside forces. He had recourse to his
- 1:23:01Speaker 2: wild and he knew so well how to conceal his
- 1:23:04Speaker 2: mind that, by the mediation of Signor Pagolo, whom the
- 1:23:08Speaker 2: Duke did not fail to secure with all kinds of attention,
- 1:23:11Speaker 2: giving him money, apparel, and horses, the Orsini were reconciled,
- 1:23:16Speaker 2: so that their simplicity brought them into his power at
- 1:23:20Speaker 2: Sinigalia Note Sinigalia, thirty first of December fifteen O two
- 1:23:28Speaker 2: end note. Having exterminated the leaders and turned their partisans
- 1:23:35Speaker 2: into his friends, the Duke laid sufficiently good foundations to
- 1:23:39Speaker 2: his power. Having all the Romagna and the Duchy of Urbino,
- 1:23:44Speaker 2: and the people now beginning to appreciate their prosperity, he
- 1:23:48Speaker 2: gained them all over to himself. And as this point
- 1:23:51Speaker 2: is worthy of notice and to be imitated by others,
- 1:23:55Speaker 2: I am not willing to leave it out. When the
- 1:24:00Speaker 2: Duke occupied the Romagna, he found it under the rule
- 1:24:03Speaker 2: of weak masters, who rather plundered their subjects than ruled them,
- 1:24:08Speaker 2: and gave them more cause for disunion than for union,
- 1:24:11Speaker 2: so that the country was full of robbery, quarrels and
- 1:24:14Speaker 2: every kind of violence, And so wishing to bring back
- 1:24:18Speaker 2: peace and obedience to authority, he considered it necessary to
- 1:24:22Speaker 2: give it a good governor. Thereupon he promoted Messer Ramino
- 1:24:27Speaker 2: Dorco note raminud'rco Ramiro de Lorquoi end note, a swift
- 1:24:39Speaker 2: and cruel man, to whom he gave the fullest power.
- 1:24:44Speaker 2: This man, in a short time, restored peace and unity
- 1:24:47Speaker 2: with the greatest success. Afterwards, the Duke considered that it
- 1:24:51Speaker 2: was not advisable to confer such excessive authority, for he
- 1:24:54Speaker 2: had no doubt but that he would become odious. So
- 1:24:58Speaker 2: he set up a court of judgment in the country
- 1:25:00Speaker 2: under a most excellent president, wherein all cities had their advocates.
- 1:25:05Speaker 2: And because he knew that the past severity had caused
- 1:25:08Speaker 2: some hatred against himself, so to clear himself in the
- 1:25:12Speaker 2: minds of the people and gain them entirely to himself,
- 1:25:15Speaker 2: he desired to show that if any cruelty had been practiced,
- 1:25:19Speaker 2: it had not originated with him, but in the natural
- 1:25:22Speaker 2: sternness of the minister. Under this pretense, he took Ramiro
- 1:25:28Speaker 2: and one morning caused him to be executed and left
- 1:25:31Speaker 2: on the piazza at Cesena, with the block and a
- 1:25:34Speaker 2: bloody knife at his side. The barbarity of this spectacle
- 1:25:39Speaker 2: caused people to be at once satisfied and dismayed. But
- 1:25:44Speaker 2: let us return whence we started. I say that the Duke,
- 1:25:48Speaker 2: finding himself now sufficiently powerful and partly secured from immediate
- 1:25:52Speaker 2: dangers by having armed himself in his own way, and
- 1:25:56Speaker 2: having in a great measure crushed those forces in his
- 1:25:59Speaker 2: vicinity that could injure him if he wished to proceed
- 1:26:02Speaker 2: with his conquest, had next to consider France. For he
- 1:26:06Speaker 2: knew that the king, who too late was aware of
- 1:26:09Speaker 2: his mistake, would not support him, and from this time
- 1:26:13Speaker 2: he began to seek new alliances and to temporize with
- 1:26:17Speaker 2: France in the expedition which she was making towards the
- 1:26:20Speaker 2: Kingdom of Naples against the Spaniards who were besieging Gaieta.
- 1:26:26Speaker 2: It was his intention to secure himself against them, and
- 1:26:30Speaker 2: this he would have quickly accomplished had Alexander lived. Such
- 1:26:35Speaker 2: was his line of action as to present affairs. But
- 1:26:39Speaker 2: as to the future he had to fear in the
- 1:26:41Speaker 2: first place that a new successor to the Church might
- 1:26:44Speaker 2: not be friendly to him and might seek to take
- 1:26:46Speaker 2: from him that which Alexander had given him. So he
- 1:26:50Speaker 2: decided to act in four ways. Firstly, by exterminating the
- 1:26:55Speaker 2: families of those lords whom he had despoiled, so as
- 1:26:58Speaker 2: to take away that pretext from the pope. Secondly, by
- 1:27:03Speaker 2: winning to himself all the gentlemen of Rome, so as
- 1:27:06Speaker 2: to be able to curb the Pope with their aid,
- 1:27:09Speaker 2: as has been observed. Thirdly, by converting the college more
- 1:27:14Speaker 2: to himself. Fourthly, by acquiring so much power before the
- 1:27:18Speaker 2: Pope should die, that he could, by his own measures
- 1:27:22Speaker 2: resist the first shock of these four things. At the
- 1:27:26Speaker 2: death of Alexander, he had accomplished three, for he had
- 1:27:30Speaker 2: killed as many of the dispossessed lords as he could
- 1:27:33Speaker 2: lay hands on, and few had escaped. He had won
- 1:27:37Speaker 2: over the Roman gentleman, and he had the most numerous
- 1:27:40Speaker 2: party in the College. And as to any fresh acquisition,
- 1:27:44Speaker 2: he intended to become master of Tuscany, for he already
- 1:27:48Speaker 2: possessed Perugia and Piombino, and Pisa was under his protection.
- 1:27:53Speaker 2: And as he had no longer to study France, for
- 1:27:57Speaker 2: the French were already driven out of the Kingdom of
- 1:27:59Speaker 2: Naples by the Spaniards, and in this way both were
- 1:28:03Speaker 2: compelled to buy his good will. He pounced upon Pisa.
- 1:28:09Speaker 2: After this, Lucca and Siena yielded at once, partly through
- 1:28:14Speaker 2: hatred and partly through fear of the Florentines, and the
- 1:28:17Speaker 2: Florentines would have had no remedy had he continued to
- 1:28:21Speaker 2: prosper as he was prospering the year that Alexander died,
- 1:28:26Speaker 2: for he had acquired so much power and reputation that
- 1:28:29Speaker 2: he would have stood by himself and no longer have
- 1:28:32Speaker 2: depended on the luck and the forces of others, but
- 1:28:36Speaker 2: solely on his own power and ability. But Alexander died
- 1:28:42Speaker 2: five years after he had first drawn the sword. He
- 1:28:45Speaker 2: left the Duke with the state of Romagna alone, consolidated
- 1:28:49Speaker 2: with the rest in the air, between two most powerful
- 1:28:52Speaker 2: hostile armies, and sick unto death. Yet there were in
- 1:28:57Speaker 2: the Duke such boldness and ability, and he knew so
- 1:29:00Speaker 2: well how men are to be won or lost, and
- 1:29:03Speaker 2: so firm were the foundations which in so short a
- 1:29:06Speaker 2: time he had laid, that if he had not had
- 1:29:09Speaker 2: those armies on his back, or if he had been
- 1:29:11Speaker 2: in good health, he would have overcome all difficulties. And
- 1:29:16Speaker 2: it is seen that his foundations were good, for the
- 1:29:19Speaker 2: Romagna awaited him for more than a month in Rome,
- 1:29:23Speaker 2: although but half alive, he remained secure, and whilst the Baliuni,
- 1:29:28Speaker 2: the Vitelli, and the Rossini might come to Rome, they
- 1:29:32Speaker 2: could not effect anything against him. If he could not
- 1:29:35Speaker 2: have made pope him whom he wished, at least the
- 1:29:38Speaker 2: one whom he did not wish, would not have been elected.
- 1:29:42Speaker 2: But if he had been in sound health at the
- 1:29:44Speaker 2: death of Alexander. Note Alexander the sixth died of fever
- 1:29:52Speaker 2: eighteenth of August fifteen o three end note, everything would
- 1:29:59Speaker 2: have been different to him. On the day that Julius
- 1:30:03Speaker 2: the second Note Julius the second was Giuliano de la Rovere,
- 1:30:11Speaker 2: Cardinal of San Pietro Advincula born fourteen forty three died
- 1:30:17Speaker 2: fifteen thirteen end Note. On the day that Julius the
- 1:30:25Speaker 2: second was elected, he told me that he had thought
- 1:30:28Speaker 2: of everything that might occur at the death of his father,
- 1:30:31Speaker 2: and he provided a remedy for all, except that he
- 1:30:34Speaker 2: had never anticipated that when the death did happen, he
- 1:30:38Speaker 2: himself would be on the point to die. When all
- 1:30:43Speaker 2: the actions of the Duke are recalled, I do not
- 1:30:46Speaker 2: know how to blame him, but rather it appears to
- 1:30:48Speaker 2: be as I have said that I ought to offer
- 1:30:51Speaker 2: him for imitation to all those who, by the fortune
- 1:30:54Speaker 2: or the arms of others, are raised to government, because he,
- 1:30:58Speaker 2: having a lofty spirit and far reaching aims, could not
- 1:31:01Speaker 2: have regulated his conduct otherwise, and only the shortness of
- 1:31:05Speaker 2: the life of Alexander and his own sickness frustrated his designs. Therefore,
- 1:31:12Speaker 2: he who considers as necessary to secure himself in his
- 1:31:15Speaker 2: new principality, to win friends, to overcome either by force
- 1:31:20Speaker 2: or fraud, to make himself beloved and feared by the people,
- 1:31:24Speaker 2: to be followed and revered by the soldiers, to exterminate
- 1:31:28Speaker 2: those who have power or reason to hurt him, To
- 1:31:31Speaker 2: change the old order of things for new, to be
- 1:31:34Speaker 2: severe and gracious, magnominious and liberal, to destroy a disloyal soldiery,
- 1:31:40Speaker 2: and to create new to maintain friendships with kings and
- 1:31:44Speaker 2: princes in such a way that they must help him
- 1:31:46Speaker 2: with zeal and defend with caution. Cannot find a more
- 1:31:51Speaker 2: lively example than the actions of this man. Only can
- 1:31:56Speaker 2: he be blamed for the election of Julius the Second,
- 1:32:00Speaker 2: in whom he made a bad choice, because, as is said,
- 1:32:03Speaker 2: not being able to elect a pope to his own mind,
- 1:32:06Speaker 2: he could have hindered any other from being elected pope,
- 1:32:10Speaker 2: and he ought never to have consented to the election
- 1:32:12Speaker 2: of any cardinal whom he had injured or who had
- 1:32:15Speaker 2: cause to fear him if they became pontiffs. For men injure,
- 1:32:20Speaker 2: either from fear or hatred. Those whom he had injured,
- 1:32:25Speaker 2: amongst others were San Pietro Advinula, Colonna, Saint Georgio and Ascagno.
- 1:32:35Speaker 2: Note Saint Georgio is Rafaelo Riario, Ascagno is Ascagno's forza
- 1:32:44Speaker 2: end Note. The rest in becoming pope had to fear him.
- 1:32:50Speaker 2: Rouen and the Spaniards accepted the latter from their relationship
- 1:32:55Speaker 2: and obligations. The former, from his influence the Kingdom of
- 1:32:59Speaker 2: France have relations with him. Therefore, above everything, the Duke
- 1:33:04Speaker 2: ought to have created a Spaniard pope, and failing him,
- 1:33:07Speaker 2: he ought to have consented to Rouen and not San
- 1:33:11Speaker 2: Pietro Advinula. He who believes that new benefits will cause
- 1:33:16Speaker 2: great personages to forget old injuries is deceived. Therefore, the
- 1:33:22Speaker 2: Duke erred in his choice, and it was the cause
- 1:33:24Speaker 2: of his ultimate Ruin Chapter eight, concerning those who have
- 1:33:32Speaker 2: obtained a principality by wickedness. Although a prince may rise
- 1:33:39Speaker 2: from a private station in two ways, neither of which
- 1:33:42Speaker 2: can be entirely attributed to fortune or genius, yet it
- 1:33:47Speaker 2: is manifest to me that I must not be silent
- 1:33:50Speaker 2: on them, although one could be more copiously treated. When
- 1:33:53Speaker 2: I discuss republics. These methods are when either by some
- 1:33:58Speaker 2: wicked or nefarious way, one ascends to the principality, or when,
- 1:34:03Speaker 2: by the favor of his fellow citizens, a private person
- 1:34:07Speaker 2: becomes the prince of his country. And speaking of the
- 1:34:11Speaker 2: first method, it will be illustrated by two examples, one ancient,
- 1:34:15Speaker 2: the other modern. And without entering further into the subject,
- 1:34:19Speaker 2: I consider these two examples will suffice those who may
- 1:34:22Speaker 2: be compelled to follow them. Agathocles the Sicilian became king
- 1:34:29Speaker 2: of Syracuse not only from a private but from a
- 1:34:33Speaker 2: low and abject position. Note Agathocles the Sicilian born three
- 1:34:40Speaker 2: hundred sixty one b C. Died two hundred eighty nine BC. End.
- 1:34:47Speaker 2: Note this man, the son of a potter, through all
- 1:34:52Speaker 2: the changes in his fortunes, always led an infamous life. Nevertheless,
- 1:34:58Speaker 2: he accompanied his infamies with so much ability of mind
- 1:35:01Speaker 2: and body, that, having devoted himself to the military profession,
- 1:35:06Speaker 2: he rose through its ranks to be Praetor of Syracuse.
- 1:35:11Speaker 2: Being established in that position, and having deliberately resolved to
- 1:35:15Speaker 2: make himself prince and to seize by violence without obligation
- 1:35:19Speaker 2: to others, that which had been conceded to him by assent,
- 1:35:24Speaker 2: he came to an understanding for the purpose with Amilcar,
- 1:35:27Speaker 2: the Carthaginian, who with his army was fighting in Sicily.
- 1:35:33Speaker 2: One morning he assembled the people and the Senate of Syracuse,
- 1:35:37Speaker 2: as if he had to discuss with them things relating
- 1:35:40Speaker 2: to the republic, and at a given signal, the soldiers
- 1:35:44Speaker 2: killed all the senators and the richest of the people.
- 1:35:47Speaker 2: These dead, he seized and held the princedom of that
- 1:35:51Speaker 2: city without any civil commotion. And although he was twice
- 1:35:56Speaker 2: routed by the Carthaginians and ultimately besieged, yet not only
- 1:36:01Speaker 2: was he able to defend his city, but leaving part
- 1:36:04Speaker 2: of his men for its defense with the others, he
- 1:36:07Speaker 2: attacked Africa and in a short time raised the siege
- 1:36:11Speaker 2: of Syracuse. The Carthaginians, reduced to extreme necessity, were compelled
- 1:36:17Speaker 2: to come to terms with Agathocles and leaving Sicily to him,
- 1:36:22Speaker 2: had to be content with the possession of Africa. Therefore,
- 1:36:28Speaker 2: he who considers the actions and the genius of this
- 1:36:30Speaker 2: man will see nothing or little which can be attributed
- 1:36:34Speaker 2: to fortune. Inasmuch as he attained pre eminence, as is
- 1:36:38Speaker 2: shown above, not by the favor of any one, but
- 1:36:41Speaker 2: step by step in the military profession, which steps were
- 1:36:45Speaker 2: gained with a thousand troubles and perils, which were afterwards
- 1:36:49Speaker 2: boldly held by him, with even more hazardous dangers. Yet
- 1:36:54Speaker 2: it cannot be called talent to slay fellow citizens, to
- 1:36:58Speaker 2: deceive friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion.
- 1:37:03Speaker 2: Such methods may gain empire, but not glory. Still, in
- 1:37:08Speaker 2: the courage of Agathocles, in entering into and extricating himself
- 1:37:12Speaker 2: from the dangers, be considered together with his greatness of
- 1:37:16Speaker 2: mind in enduring and overcoming hardships, it cannot be seen
- 1:37:20Speaker 2: why he should be esteemed less than the most notable captain. Nevertheless,
- 1:37:26Speaker 2: his barbarous cruelty and inhumity with infinite wickedness do not
- 1:37:31Speaker 2: permit him to be celebrated among the most excellent men.
- 1:37:36Speaker 2: What he achieved cannot be attributed either to fortune or
- 1:37:39Speaker 2: genius in our times. During the rule of Alexander the sixth,
- 1:37:45Speaker 2: Oliverotto da Fermo, having been left an orphan many years before,
- 1:37:51Speaker 2: was brought up by his maternal uncle Giovanni Fogliani, and
- 1:37:56Speaker 2: in the early years of his youth sent to fight
- 1:37:59Speaker 2: under Pagolo Vitelli, that being trained under his discipline, he
- 1:38:04Speaker 2: might attain some high position in the military profession. After
- 1:38:08Speaker 2: Pagolo died, he fought under his brother Vitellozzo, and in
- 1:38:13Speaker 2: a very short time, being endowed with wit and a
- 1:38:17Speaker 2: vigorous body and mind, he became the first man in
- 1:38:20Speaker 2: his profession. But it appearing a paltry thing to serve
- 1:38:25Speaker 2: under others, he resolved, with the aid of some citizens
- 1:38:29Speaker 2: of Fermo, to whom the slavery of their country was
- 1:38:32Speaker 2: dearer than its liberty, and with the help of the Viteleski,
- 1:38:37Speaker 2: to seize Fermont. So he wrote to Giovanni Foliani, that,
- 1:38:43Speaker 2: having been away from home for many years, he wished
- 1:38:46Speaker 2: to visit him and his city, and in some measure
- 1:38:49Speaker 2: to look upon his patrimony. And although he had not
- 1:38:53Speaker 2: labored to acquire anything except honor, yet in order that
- 1:38:56Speaker 2: the citizens should see he had not spent his time
- 1:38:59Speaker 2: in Vain. He desired to come honorably, so would be
- 1:39:03Speaker 2: accompanied by one hundred horsemen, his friends and retainers, and
- 1:39:08Speaker 2: he entreated Giovanni to arrange that he should be received
- 1:39:11Speaker 2: honorably by the Fermians, all of which would be not
- 1:39:15Speaker 2: only to his honor, but also to that of Giovanni himself,
- 1:39:19Speaker 2: who had brought him up. Giuvanni therefore did not fail
- 1:39:24Speaker 2: in any attentions due to his nephew, and he caused
- 1:39:27Speaker 2: him to be honorably received by the Fermians, and he
- 1:39:31Speaker 2: lodged him in his own house, where, having passed some days,
- 1:39:35Speaker 2: and having arranged what was necessary for his wicked designs,
- 1:39:39Speaker 2: Oliverotto gave a solemn banquet, to which he invited Giovanni,
- 1:39:44Speaker 2: Folliani and the chiefs of Fermont. When the vianes and
- 1:39:49Speaker 2: all other entertainments that are usual in such banquets were finished,
- 1:39:54Speaker 2: Oliverotto artfully began certain grave discourses, speaking of the greatness
- 1:39:59Speaker 2: of Popa Zonder and his son Cizare, and of their enterprises,
- 1:40:04Speaker 2: to which discourse Giovanni and others answered. But he rose
- 1:40:08Speaker 2: at once, saying that such matters ought to be discussed
- 1:40:11Speaker 2: in a more private place, and he betook himself to
- 1:40:14Speaker 2: a chamber, whither Giovanni and the rest of the citizens
- 1:40:18Speaker 2: went in after him. No sooner were they seated than
- 1:40:22Speaker 2: soldiers issued from secret places and slaughtered Giovanni and the rest.
- 1:40:27Speaker 2: After these murders, Oliverotto, mounted on horseback, rode up and
- 1:40:32Speaker 2: down the town, and besieged the chief magistrate of the place,
- 1:40:36Speaker 2: so that, in fear, the people were forced to obey
- 1:40:38Speaker 2: him and to form a government, of which he made
- 1:40:41Speaker 2: himself the prince. He killed all the malcontents which were
- 1:40:46Speaker 2: able to injure him, and strengthened himself with new civil
- 1:40:50Speaker 2: and military ordinances, in such a way that in the
- 1:40:53Speaker 2: year during which he held the principality, not only was
- 1:40:57Speaker 2: he secure in the city of Fermoont, but he had
- 1:41:00Speaker 2: become formidable to all his neighbours, and his destruction would
- 1:41:04Speaker 2: have been as difficult as that of Agathocles if he
- 1:41:07Speaker 2: had not allowed himself to be overreached by Shisaro Borja,
- 1:41:12Speaker 2: who took him with the Orsini and Vitelli at Sinigalia.
- 1:41:18Speaker 2: As was stated above, thus, one year after which he
- 1:41:22Speaker 2: had committed this parricide, he was strangled together with Vitelozzo,
- 1:41:27Speaker 2: whom he had made his leader in valor and wickedness.
- 1:41:33Speaker 2: Some may wonder how it can happen that Agathacles and
- 1:41:37Speaker 2: his like, after infinite treacheries and cruelties, should live for long,
- 1:41:42Speaker 2: secure in his country, and defend himself from external enemies,
- 1:41:47Speaker 2: and never be conspired against by his own citizens. Seeing
- 1:41:51Speaker 2: that many others, by means of cruelty, have never been able,
- 1:41:55Speaker 2: even in peaceful times, to hold the state still less
- 1:41:58Speaker 2: in the doubtful times of war, I believe that this
- 1:42:02Speaker 2: follows from severities. Note mister Byrd suggests that this word
- 1:42:08Speaker 2: probably comes near the modern equivalent of Machiavelli's thought when
- 1:42:12Speaker 2: he speaks of crudelta rather than the more obvious cruelties. Note.
- 1:42:21Speaker 2: I believe that this follows from severities being badly or
- 1:42:25Speaker 2: properly used. Those may be called properly used if of
- 1:42:30Speaker 2: evil it is possible to speak well that are applied
- 1:42:33Speaker 2: in one blow and are necessary to one's security, and
- 1:42:38Speaker 2: that are not persisted in afterwards, unless they can be
- 1:42:41Speaker 2: turned to the advantage of the subjects. The badly employed
- 1:42:46Speaker 2: are those which, notwithstanding they may be few in the commencement,
- 1:42:50Speaker 2: multiply with time, rather than decrease. Those who practice the
- 1:42:55Speaker 2: first system are able, by aid of God or man,
- 1:42:59Speaker 2: to mitigate in some degree their rule. As a Gothiclis did,
- 1:43:04Speaker 2: it is impossible for those who follow the other to
- 1:43:06Speaker 2: maintain themselves. Hence, it is to be remarked that in
- 1:43:11Speaker 2: seizing a state, the usurper ought to examine closely into
- 1:43:15Speaker 2: all those injuries which it is necessary for him to inflict,
- 1:43:20Speaker 2: and to do them all at one stroke, so as
- 1:43:22Speaker 2: not to have to repeat them daily. And thus, by
- 1:43:25Speaker 2: not unsettling men, he will be able to reassure them
- 1:43:29Speaker 2: and win them to himself by benefits. He who does otherwise,
- 1:43:33Speaker 2: either from timidity or evil advice, is always compelled to
- 1:43:37Speaker 2: keep the knife in his hand. Neither can he rely
- 1:43:40Speaker 2: on his subjects, nor can they attach themselves to him,
- 1:43:45Speaker 2: owing to their continued and repeated wrongs. For injuries ought
- 1:43:49Speaker 2: to be done all at one time, so that being
- 1:43:53Speaker 2: tasted less, they offend less. Benefits ought to be given
- 1:43:57Speaker 2: little by little, so that the flavor of them may
- 1:44:00Speaker 2: last longer. And above all things, a prince ought to
- 1:44:04Speaker 2: live amongst his people in such a way that no
- 1:44:07Speaker 2: unexpected circumstances, whether of good or evil shall make him change,
- 1:44:13Speaker 2: Because if the necessity for this comes in troubled times,
- 1:44:17Speaker 2: you are too late for harsh measures, and mild ones
- 1:44:19Speaker 2: will not help you, for they will be considered as
- 1:44:22Speaker 2: forced from you, and no one will be under any
- 1:44:25Speaker 2: obligation to you for them. End of Chapters seven and eight.
- 1:44:33Speaker 1: Chapter nine concerning a civil principality, but coming to the
- 1:44:41Speaker 1: other point, where a leading citizen becomes the prince of
- 1:44:44Speaker 1: his country, not by wickedness or any intolerable violence, but
- 1:44:49Speaker 1: by the favor of his fellow citizens, this may be
- 1:44:53Speaker 1: called a sibyl principality. Nor is genius or fortune altogether
- 1:44:58Speaker 1: necessary to attain to it, but rather a happy shrewdness.
- 1:45:04Speaker 1: I say, then, that such a principality is obtained either
- 1:45:08Speaker 1: by the favor of the people or by the favor
- 1:45:11Speaker 1: of the nobles, because in all cities these two distinct
- 1:45:16Speaker 1: parties are found. And from this it arises that the
- 1:45:20Speaker 1: people do not wish to be ruled nor oppressed by
- 1:45:24Speaker 1: the nobles, and the nobles wish to rule and oppress
- 1:45:28Speaker 1: the people. And from these two opposite desires there arises
- 1:45:33Speaker 1: in cities one of three results. Either a principality self
- 1:45:39Speaker 1: government or anarchy. A principality is created either by the
- 1:45:44Speaker 1: people or by the nobles, accordingly as one or the
- 1:45:48Speaker 1: other of them has the opportunity. For the nobles, seeing
- 1:45:52Speaker 1: they cannot withstand the people, begin to cry up the
- 1:45:55Speaker 1: reputation of one of themselves, and they make him a prince,
- 1:45:59Speaker 1: so that under his shadow they can give vent to
- 1:46:02Speaker 1: their ambitions. The people, finding they cannot resist the nobles,
- 1:46:07Speaker 1: also cry up the reputation of one of themselves and
- 1:46:10Speaker 1: make him a prince, so as to be defended by
- 1:46:13Speaker 1: his authority. He who obtains sovereignty by the assistance of
- 1:46:18Speaker 1: the nobles maintains himself with more difficulty than he who
- 1:46:23Speaker 1: comes to it by the aid of the people, because
- 1:46:26Speaker 1: the former finds himself with many around him who consider
- 1:46:29Speaker 1: themselves his equals, and because of this he can neither
- 1:46:34Speaker 1: rule nor manage them to his liking. But he who
- 1:46:37Speaker 1: reaches sovereignty by popular favor finds himself alone and has
- 1:46:43Speaker 1: none around him, or few who are not prepared to
- 1:46:47Speaker 1: obey him. Besides this, one cannot, by fair dealing and
- 1:46:52Speaker 1: without injury to others, satisfy the nobles, But you can
- 1:46:56Speaker 1: satisfy the people. For their object is more righteous than
- 1:47:01Speaker 1: that of the nobles, the latter wishing to oppress, while
- 1:47:04Speaker 1: the former only desire not to be oppressed. It is
- 1:47:09Speaker 1: to be added that a prince can never secure himself
- 1:47:13Speaker 1: against a hostile people because of their being too many,
- 1:47:17Speaker 1: whilst from the nobles he can secure himself, as they
- 1:47:21Speaker 1: are few in number. The worst that a prince may
- 1:47:24Speaker 1: expect from a hostile people is to be abandoned by them.
- 1:47:28Speaker 1: But from hostile nobles he has not only to fear abandonment,
- 1:47:33Speaker 1: but also that they will rise against him, for they,
- 1:47:37Speaker 1: being in these affairs more far seeing and astute, always
- 1:47:41Speaker 1: come forward in time to save themselves and to obtain
- 1:47:45Speaker 1: favors from him, whom they expect to prevail. Further, the
- 1:47:50Speaker 1: prince is compelled to live always with the same people,
- 1:47:54Speaker 1: but he can do well without the same nobles, being
- 1:47:57Speaker 1: able to make and unmake them daily, and to give
- 1:48:02Speaker 1: or take away authority when it pleases him. Therefore, to
- 1:48:06Speaker 1: make this point clearer, I say that the nobles ought
- 1:48:10Speaker 1: to be looked at mainly in two ways. That is
- 1:48:14Speaker 1: to say, they either shape their course in such a
- 1:48:17Speaker 1: way as binds them entirely to your fortune, or they
- 1:48:21Speaker 1: do not. Those who do so bind themselves and are
- 1:48:26Speaker 1: not rapacious ought to be honored and loved. Those who
- 1:48:30Speaker 1: do not bind themselves may be dealt with in two ways.
- 1:48:34Speaker 1: They may fail to do this through pusillanimity and the
- 1:48:37Speaker 1: natural want of courage, in which case you ought to
- 1:48:41Speaker 1: make use of them, especially of those who are of
- 1:48:44Speaker 1: good counsel. And thus, while in prosperity you honor them,
- 1:48:49Speaker 1: in adversity you do not have to fear them. But
- 1:48:53Speaker 1: when for their own ambitious ends they shun binding themselves,
- 1:48:58Speaker 1: it is a token that they are giving more thought
- 1:49:01Speaker 1: to themselves than to you. And a prince ought to
- 1:49:05Speaker 1: guard against such and to fear them as if they
- 1:49:09Speaker 1: were open enemies, because in adversity they always help to
- 1:49:15Speaker 1: ruin him. Therefore, one who becomes a prince through the
- 1:49:19Speaker 1: favor of the people ought to keep them friendly, and
- 1:49:23Speaker 1: this he can easily do, seeing they only ask not
- 1:49:27Speaker 1: to be oppressed by him. But one who in opposition
- 1:49:31Speaker 1: to the people becomes a prince by the favor of
- 1:49:34Speaker 1: the nobles ought above everything to seek to win the
- 1:49:38Speaker 1: people over to himself, and this he may easily do
- 1:49:42Speaker 1: if he takes them under his protection. Because men when
- 1:49:46Speaker 1: they receive good of him, of whom they were expecting evil,
- 1:49:51Speaker 1: are bound more closely to their benefactor. Thus the people
- 1:49:55Speaker 1: quickly become more devoted to him than if he had
- 1:49:59Speaker 1: been raised the principality by their favors, and the prince
- 1:50:03Speaker 1: can win their affections in many ways. But as these
- 1:50:07Speaker 1: vary according to the circumstances, one cannot give fixed rules.
- 1:50:11Speaker 1: So I omit them. But I repeat it is necessary
- 1:50:15Speaker 1: for a prince to have the people friendly, otherwise he
- 1:50:19Speaker 1: has no security in adversity. Nabus Note Nabus Tyrant of Sparta,
- 1:50:27Speaker 1: conquered by the Romans under Flomenus in one ninety five
- 1:50:30Speaker 1: BC and killed in one ninety two Bcnabus, Prince of
- 1:50:36Speaker 1: the Spartans, sustained the attack of all Greece and of
- 1:50:40Speaker 1: the victorious Roman army, and against them he defended his
- 1:50:44Speaker 1: country and his government, and for the overcoming of this peril.
- 1:50:49Speaker 1: It was not only necessary for him to make himself
- 1:50:52Speaker 1: secure against a few, but this would not have been
- 1:50:55Speaker 1: sufficient had the people been hostile. And do not let
- 1:51:00Speaker 1: any one impugne this statement with trite proverb that he
- 1:51:04Speaker 1: who builds on the people builds on the mud. For
- 1:51:07Speaker 1: this is true when a private citizen makes a foundation
- 1:51:10Speaker 1: there and persuades himself that the people will free him
- 1:51:14Speaker 1: when he is oppressed by the enemies or by the magistrates,
- 1:51:18Speaker 1: wherein he would find himself very often deceived, as happened
- 1:51:22Speaker 1: to the Grachi in Rome and to Messer Giorgio Scali
- 1:51:26Speaker 1: in Florence. Messer Giorgio Scali this event was to be
- 1:51:30Speaker 1: found in Machiavelli's Florentine History Book three. But granted a
- 1:51:36Speaker 1: prince who has established himself as above, who can command,
- 1:51:41Speaker 1: and is a man of courage, undismayed in adversity, who
- 1:51:44Speaker 1: does not fail in other qualifications, and who by his
- 1:51:48Speaker 1: resolution and energy, keeps the whole people encouraged. Such a
- 1:51:53Speaker 1: one will never find himself deceived in them, and it
- 1:51:57Speaker 1: will be shown that he has laid his head foundations well.
- 1:52:03Speaker 1: These principalities are liable to danger when they are passing
- 1:52:07Speaker 1: from the civil to the absolute order of government. For
- 1:52:11Speaker 1: such princes either rule personally or through magistrates. In the
- 1:52:16Speaker 1: latter case, their government is weaker and more insecure, because
- 1:52:21Speaker 1: it rests entirely on the good will of those citizens
- 1:52:24Speaker 1: who are raised to the magistracy and who especially in
- 1:52:28Speaker 1: troubled times, can destroy the government with great ease, either
- 1:52:32Speaker 1: by intrigue or open defiance. And the prince has not
- 1:52:36Speaker 1: the chance amid tumults to exercise absolute authority, because the
- 1:52:41Speaker 1: citizens and subjects accustomed to receive orders from magistrates are
- 1:52:47Speaker 1: not be mind to obey him amid these confusions, and
- 1:52:51Speaker 1: there will always be, in doubtful times a scarcity of
- 1:52:55Speaker 1: men whom he can trust. For such a prince cannot
- 1:52:59Speaker 1: rely upon what he observes in quiet times when citizens
- 1:53:04Speaker 1: have need of the state, because then everyone agrees with him,
- 1:53:09Speaker 1: they all promise, and when death is far distant, they
- 1:53:13Speaker 1: all wish to die for him. But in troubled times,
- 1:53:17Speaker 1: when the state has need of its citizens, then he
- 1:53:20Speaker 1: finds but few. And so much the more is this
- 1:53:25Speaker 1: experiment dangerous, inasmuch is it can only be tried once. Therefore,
- 1:53:32Speaker 1: a wise prince ought to adopt such a course that
- 1:53:36Speaker 1: his citizens will always, in every sort and kind of circumstance,
- 1:53:41Speaker 1: have need of the state and of him, and then
- 1:53:45Speaker 1: he will always find them faithful. Chapter ten, Concerning the
- 1:53:54Speaker 1: way in which the strength of all principalities ought to
- 1:53:58Speaker 1: be measured, it is necessary to consider another point in
- 1:54:04Speaker 1: examining the character of these principalities, that is, whether a
- 1:54:09Speaker 1: prince has such power that in case of need, he
- 1:54:12Speaker 1: can support himself with his own resources, or whether he
- 1:54:16Speaker 1: has always need of the assistance of others. And to
- 1:54:20Speaker 1: make this quite clear, I say that I consider those
- 1:54:24Speaker 1: who are able to support themselves by their own resources,
- 1:54:27Speaker 1: who can, either by abundance of men or money, raise
- 1:54:31Speaker 1: a sufficient army to join battle against anyone who comes
- 1:54:35Speaker 1: to attack him. And I consider those always to have
- 1:54:39Speaker 1: need of others, who cannot show themselves against an enemy
- 1:54:42Speaker 1: in the field, but are forced to defend themselves by
- 1:54:46Speaker 1: sheltering behind walls. The first case has been discussed, but
- 1:54:51Speaker 1: we will speak of it again should it recur. In
- 1:54:55Speaker 1: the second case, one can say nothing except to encourage
- 1:55:00Speaker 1: such princes to provision and fortify their towns, and not
- 1:55:04Speaker 1: on any account to defend the country. And whoever shall
- 1:55:08Speaker 1: fortify his town well, and shall have managed the other
- 1:55:12Speaker 1: concerns of his subjects in the way stated above, and
- 1:55:17Speaker 1: to be often repeated, will never be attacked without great caution.
- 1:55:22Speaker 1: For men are always adverse to enterprises where difficulties can
- 1:55:26Speaker 1: be seen, and it will be seen not to be
- 1:55:30Speaker 1: an easy thing to attack one who has his own
- 1:55:34Speaker 1: town well fortified and is not hated by his people.
- 1:55:40Speaker 1: The cities of Germany are absolutely free. They own but
- 1:55:44Speaker 1: little country around them, and they yield obedience to the
- 1:55:47Speaker 1: Emperor when it suits them. Nor do they fear this
- 1:55:51Speaker 1: or any other power they may have near them, because
- 1:55:55Speaker 1: they are fortified in such a way that everyone thinks
- 1:55:58Speaker 1: the taking of them by assault be tedious and difficult,
- 1:56:02Speaker 1: seeing that they have proper ditches and walls, They have
- 1:56:05Speaker 1: sufficient artillery, and they always keep in public depots enough
- 1:56:10Speaker 1: for one year's eating, drinking, and firing, and beyond this,
- 1:56:15Speaker 1: to keep the people quiet and without loss to the state.
- 1:56:18Speaker 1: They always have the means of giving work to the
- 1:56:21Speaker 1: community in those labors that are the life and strength
- 1:56:25Speaker 1: of the city, and on the pursuit of which the
- 1:56:28Speaker 1: people are supported. They also hold military exercises in repute,
- 1:56:33Speaker 1: and moreover have many ordinances to uphold them. Therefore, a
- 1:56:40Speaker 1: prince who has a strong city and has not made
- 1:56:44Speaker 1: himself odious will not be attacked, or if anyone should attack,
- 1:56:50Speaker 1: he will only be driven off with disgrace. Again, because
- 1:56:54Speaker 1: that the affairs of the world are so changeable, it
- 1:56:57Speaker 1: is almost impossible to keep an army a whole year
- 1:57:00Speaker 1: in the field without being interfered with, And whoever should reply,
- 1:57:05Speaker 1: if the people have property outside the city and see
- 1:57:09Speaker 1: it burnt, they will not remain patient, and the long
- 1:57:13Speaker 1: siege and self interest will make them forget their prince.
- 1:57:17Speaker 1: To this, I answer that a powerful and courageous prince
- 1:57:21Speaker 1: will overcome all such difficulties by giving at one time
- 1:57:26Speaker 1: hope to his subjects that the evil will not be forlong,
- 1:57:30Speaker 1: and another time fear of the cruelty of the enemy,
- 1:57:35Speaker 1: than preserving himself adroitly from those subjects who seem to
- 1:57:39Speaker 1: him to be too bold. Further, the enemy would naturally,
- 1:57:44Speaker 1: on his arrival at once burn and ruin the country
- 1:57:48Speaker 1: at the time when the spirits of the people are
- 1:57:50Speaker 1: still hot and ready for the defense, and therefore so
- 1:57:55Speaker 1: much less ought the prince to hesitate, because after a time,
- 1:58:00Speaker 1: when spirits have cooled, the damage is already done, the
- 1:58:04Speaker 1: ills are incurred, and there is no longer any remedy,
- 1:58:08Speaker 1: and therefore they are so much the more ready to
- 1:58:11Speaker 1: unite with their prince, he appearing to be under obligations
- 1:58:16Speaker 1: to them, now that their houses have been burnt and
- 1:58:18Speaker 1: their possessions ruined in his defense. For it is the
- 1:58:23Speaker 1: nature of men to be bound by the benefits they
- 1:58:26Speaker 1: confer as much as by those they receive. Therefore, if
- 1:58:31Speaker 1: everything is well considered, it will not be difficult for
- 1:58:35Speaker 1: a wise prince to keep the minds of his citizens
- 1:58:39Speaker 1: steadfast from first to last, when he does not fail
- 1:58:43Speaker 1: to support and defend them. Chapter eleven, concerning ecclesiastical principalities.
- 1:58:56Speaker 1: It only remains now to speak of ecclesiastical principalities, touching
- 1:59:02Speaker 1: which all difficulties are prior to getting possession, because they
- 1:59:06Speaker 1: are acquired either by capacity or good fortune, and they
- 1:59:10Speaker 1: can be held without either, for they are sustained by
- 1:59:13Speaker 1: the ancient ordinances of religion, which are so all powerful
- 1:59:17Speaker 1: and of such a character, that the principalities may be
- 1:59:20Speaker 1: held no matter how their princes behave and live. These
- 1:59:25Speaker 1: princes alone have states and do not defend them, and
- 1:59:29Speaker 1: they have subjects and do not rule them. And the states,
- 1:59:33Speaker 1: although unguarded, are not taken from them, and the subjects,
- 1:59:38Speaker 1: although not ruled, do not care. And they have neither
- 1:59:43Speaker 1: the desire nor the ability to alienate themselves. Such principalities
- 1:59:48Speaker 1: only are secure and happy, but being upheld by powers
- 1:59:54Speaker 1: to which the human mind cannot reach. I shall speak
- 1:59:57Speaker 1: no more of them, because, being a exalted and maintained
- 2:00:01Speaker 1: by God, it would be the act of a presumptuous
- 2:00:04Speaker 1: and rash man to discuss them. Nevertheless, if any one
- 2:00:10Speaker 1: should ask of me, how it comes that the Church
- 2:00:13Speaker 1: has attained such greatness and temporal power, Seeing that from
- 2:00:18Speaker 1: Alexander backwards, the Italian potentates, not only those who have
- 2:00:23Speaker 1: been called potentates, but every baron and lord through the smallest,
- 2:00:28Speaker 1: have valued the temporal power very slightly. Yet Thou, a
- 2:00:32Speaker 1: King of France, tremblest before it, and it has been
- 2:00:36Speaker 1: able to drive him from Italy and to ruin the Venetians.
- 2:00:40Speaker 1: Although this may be very manifest, it does not appear
- 2:00:43Speaker 1: to me superfluous to recall it in some measure to memory.
- 2:00:49Speaker 1: Before Charles, King of France, passed into Italy. Charles the
- 2:00:54Speaker 1: eighth invaded Italy in fourteen ninety four. This country was
- 2:00:58Speaker 1: under the dominion of the Pope, the Venetians, the King
- 2:01:02Speaker 1: of Naples, the Duke of Milan, and the Florentines. These
- 2:01:07Speaker 1: potentates had two principal anxieties, the one that no foreigner
- 2:01:13Speaker 1: should enter Italy under arms the other that none of
- 2:01:17Speaker 1: themselves should seize more territory. Those about whom there was
- 2:01:23Speaker 1: the most anxiety were the Pope and the Venetians. To
- 2:01:28Speaker 1: restrain the Venetians, the union of all the others was necessary,
- 2:01:33Speaker 1: as it was for the defense of Ferrara and to
- 2:01:38Speaker 1: keep down the Pope. They made use of the barons
- 2:01:41Speaker 1: of Rome, who, being divided into two factions Orsini and Colonnessi,
- 2:01:47Speaker 1: have always a pretext for disorder, and standing with arms
- 2:01:52Speaker 1: in their hands under the eyes of the pontiff kept
- 2:01:55Speaker 1: the pontificate weak and powerless. And although there might arise
- 2:02:00Speaker 1: some times a courageous pope such as Sixtus, yet neither
- 2:02:04Speaker 1: fortune nor wisdom could rid him of these annoyances. And
- 2:02:09Speaker 1: the short life of a pope is also a cause
- 2:02:12Speaker 1: for weakness, for in the ten years, which is the
- 2:02:15Speaker 1: average life of a pope, he can with difficulty lower
- 2:02:20Speaker 1: one of the factions. And if so to speak, one
- 2:02:23Speaker 1: people should almost destroy the Colonneessi, another would arise hostile
- 2:02:29Speaker 1: to the Orsini, who would support their opponents, and yet
- 2:02:33Speaker 1: would not have time to ruin the Orsini. This is
- 2:02:37Speaker 1: the reason why the temporal powers of the pope were
- 2:02:41Speaker 1: little esteemed in Italy. Alexander the sixth a rose afterwards,
- 2:02:48Speaker 1: who of all the pontiffs that have ever been, showed
- 2:02:51Speaker 1: how a pope with both money and arms was able
- 2:02:55Speaker 1: to prevail. And through the instrumentality of the Duke Valino,
- 2:03:01Speaker 1: and by reason of the entry of the French, he
- 2:03:03Speaker 1: brought about all those things which I have discussed above
- 2:03:08Speaker 1: in the actions of the Duke. And although his intention
- 2:03:12Speaker 1: was not to aggrandize the Church but the Duke, nevertheless
- 2:03:17Speaker 1: what he did contributed to the greatness of the Church, which,
- 2:03:20Speaker 1: after his death and the ruin of the Duke, became
- 2:03:23Speaker 1: the heir to all his labors. Pope Julius came afterwards
- 2:03:30Speaker 1: and found the Church strong, possessing all the Romagna. The
- 2:03:34Speaker 1: barons of Rome reduced to impotence, and through the chastisements
- 2:03:39Speaker 1: of Alexander the factions wiped out. He also found the
- 2:03:44Speaker 1: way open to accumulate money in such a manner as
- 2:03:48Speaker 1: had never been practiced before Alexander's time. Such things Julius
- 2:03:54Speaker 1: not only followed, but improved upon, and he intended to
- 2:03:58Speaker 1: gain Bologna, to ruin the Venetians, and to drive the
- 2:04:02Speaker 1: French out of Italy. All of these enterprises prospered with him,
- 2:04:07Speaker 1: and so much the more to his credit, inasmuch as
- 2:04:11Speaker 1: he did everything to strengthen the church, and not any
- 2:04:15Speaker 1: prime person. He kept also the Orsini and the Colonnezzi
- 2:04:20Speaker 1: factions within the bounds in which he found them, And
- 2:04:23Speaker 1: although there was among them some mind to make disturbance,
- 2:04:28Speaker 1: nevertheless he held two things firm, the one the greatness
- 2:04:32Speaker 1: of the Church, with which he terrified them, and the
- 2:04:36Speaker 1: other not allowing them to have their own cardinals, who
- 2:04:40Speaker 1: caused the disorders among them. For whenever these factions have
- 2:04:45Speaker 1: their cardinals, they do not remain quiet for long. Because
- 2:04:49Speaker 1: cardinals foster the factions in Rome and out of it,
- 2:04:53Speaker 1: and the barons are compelled to support them, and thus
- 2:04:57Speaker 1: from the ambitions of prilates arise in disorders and tumults
- 2:05:01Speaker 1: among the barons. For these reasons, his holiness Pope Leo
- 2:05:06Speaker 1: pop Leo the tenth was the Cardinal de Medici, found
- 2:05:10Speaker 1: the pontificate most powerful, and it is to be hoped
- 2:05:14Speaker 1: for if others make it great in arms, he will
- 2:05:18Speaker 1: make it still greater and more venerated by His goodness
- 2:05:23Speaker 1: and infinite other virtues. End of Chapter eleven.
- 2:05:31Speaker 3: Chapter twelve, how many kinds of soldiery there are? And
- 2:05:36Speaker 3: concerning mercenaries. Having discoursed particularly on the characteristics of such
- 2:05:42Speaker 3: principalities as in the beginning, I propose to discuss, and
- 2:05:47Speaker 3: having considered in some degree the causes of their being
- 2:05:50Speaker 3: good or bad, and having shown the methods by which
- 2:05:53Speaker 3: many have sought to acquire them and to hold them,
- 2:05:57Speaker 3: it now remains for me to discuss jenna the means
- 2:06:01Speaker 3: of offense and defense which belong to each of them.
- 2:06:05Speaker 3: We have seen above how necessary it is for a
- 2:06:08Speaker 3: prince to have his foundations well laid, Otherwise it follows
- 2:06:13Speaker 3: of necessity he will go to ruin. The chief foundations
- 2:06:18Speaker 3: of all states, new as well as old or composite,
- 2:06:22Speaker 3: are good laws and good arms. And as there cannot
- 2:06:26Speaker 3: be good laws where the state is not well armed,
- 2:06:29Speaker 3: it follows that where they are well armed, they have
- 2:06:33Speaker 3: good laws. I shall leave the laws out of the discussion,
- 2:06:37Speaker 3: and shall speak of the arms. I say therefore, that
- 2:06:42Speaker 3: the arms with which a prince defends his state are
- 2:06:45Speaker 3: either his own, or they are mercenaries, auxiliaries, or mixed.
- 2:06:50Speaker 3: Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous and if one
- 2:06:54Speaker 3: holds his state based on these arms, he will stand
- 2:06:57Speaker 3: neither firm nor safe. For they are disunited, ambitious and
- 2:07:02Speaker 3: without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies. They
- 2:07:10Speaker 3: have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men,
- 2:07:13Speaker 3: and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack
- 2:07:16Speaker 3: is for in peace one is robbed by them, and
- 2:07:21Speaker 3: in war by the enemy. The fact is they have
- 2:07:24Speaker 3: no other attraction or reason for keeping the field than
- 2:07:27Speaker 3: a trifle of stipend, which is not sufficient to make
- 2:07:31Speaker 3: them willing to die for you. They are ready enough
- 2:07:34Speaker 3: to be your soldiers whilst you do not make war,
- 2:07:37Speaker 3: but if forecomes, they take themselves off or run from
- 2:07:40Speaker 3: the foe, which I should have little trouble to prove.
- 2:07:44Speaker 3: For the ruin of Italy has been caused by nothing
- 2:07:47Speaker 3: else than by resting all her hopes for many years
- 2:07:50Speaker 3: on mercenaries. And although they formerly made some display and
- 2:07:54Speaker 3: appeared valiant amongst themselves, yet when the foreigners came, they
- 2:07:58Speaker 3: showed what they were. Thus it was that Charles, King
- 2:08:02Speaker 3: of France, was allowed to seize Italy with chalk in hand.
- 2:08:07Speaker 3: Begin note with chalk in hand called Jesso. This is
- 2:08:13Speaker 3: one of the bonn moeux of Alexander the sixth and
- 2:08:16Speaker 3: refers to the ease with which Charles the eighth seized Italy,
- 2:08:20Speaker 3: implying that it was only necessary for him to send
- 2:08:23Speaker 3: his quarter masters to chalk up the billets for his
- 2:08:26Speaker 3: soldiers to conquer the country. C. F. The History of
- 2:08:30Speaker 3: Henry the Seventh by Lord Bacon. King Charles had conquered
- 2:08:35Speaker 3: the realm of Naples and lost it again in a
- 2:08:39Speaker 3: kind of felicity of a dream. He passed the whole
- 2:08:42Speaker 3: length of Italy without resistance, so that it was true
- 2:08:46Speaker 3: what Pope Alexander was wont to say that the Frenchmen
- 2:08:49Speaker 3: came into Italy with chalk in their hands to mark
- 2:08:52Speaker 3: up their lodgings, rather than with swords to fight. End Note.
- 2:08:59Speaker 3: Thus it was that Charles, King of France, was allowed
- 2:09:02Speaker 3: to seize Italy with chalk in hand. And he who
- 2:09:06Speaker 3: told us that our sins were the cause of it
- 2:09:08Speaker 3: told the truth. But they were not the sins he imagined,
- 2:09:12Speaker 3: but those which I have related. And as they were
- 2:09:15Speaker 3: the sins of princes, it is the princes who have
- 2:09:18Speaker 3: also suffered the penalty I wish to demonstrate further the
- 2:09:23Speaker 3: implicity of these arms. The mercenary captains are either capable
- 2:09:28Speaker 3: men or they are not. If they are, you cannot
- 2:09:31Speaker 3: trust them, because they always aspire to their own greatness,
- 2:09:35Speaker 3: either by oppressing you, who are their master, or others
- 2:09:38Speaker 3: contrary to your intentions. But if the captain is not skillful,
- 2:09:43Speaker 3: you are ruined in the usual way. And if it
- 2:09:46Speaker 3: be urged that whoever is armed will act in the
- 2:09:49Speaker 3: same way, whether mercenary or not, I reply that when
- 2:09:53Speaker 3: arms have to be resorted to, either by a prince
- 2:09:56Speaker 3: or a republic, then the prince ought to go in
- 2:09:59Speaker 3: person and perfor the duty of a captain. The republic
- 2:10:03Speaker 3: has to send its citizens, And when one is sent
- 2:10:05Speaker 3: who does not turn out satisfactorily, it ought to recall him,
- 2:10:09Speaker 3: and when one is worthy, to hold him by the
- 2:10:11Speaker 3: law so that he does not leave the command. And
- 2:10:15Speaker 3: experience has shown princes and republics single handed making the
- 2:10:19Speaker 3: greatest progress, and mercenaries doing nothing except damage. And it
- 2:10:24Speaker 3: is more difficult to bring a republic armed with its
- 2:10:27Speaker 3: own arms under the sway of one of its citizens
- 2:10:31Speaker 3: than it is to bring one armed with foreign arms.
- 2:10:34Speaker 3: Rome and Sparta stood for many ages armed and free.
- 2:10:38Speaker 3: The Switzers are completely armed and quite free of ancient mercenaries.
- 2:10:44Speaker 3: For example, there are the Carthaginians who are oppressed by
- 2:10:48Speaker 3: their mercenary soldiers after the first war with the Romans.
- 2:10:51Speaker 3: Although the Carthaginians had their own citizens for captains, after
- 2:10:56Speaker 3: the death of a Pamenandas Philip of Macedon was made
- 2:10:59Speaker 3: cap of their soldiers by the Thebans, and after victory
- 2:11:03Speaker 3: he took away their liberty. Duke Philippo being dead, the
- 2:11:08Speaker 3: Milanese enlisted Francesco's Fororza against the Venetians, and he, having
- 2:11:13Speaker 3: overcome the enemy at Caravaggio begin note Battle of Caravaggio
- 2:11:19Speaker 3: fifteenth September fourteen forty eight end note. And he, having
- 2:11:25Speaker 3: overcome the enemy at Caravaggio, allied himself with them to
- 2:11:29Speaker 3: crush the Milanese. His masters his father Sforza having been
- 2:11:34Speaker 3: engaged by Queen Johanna of Naples begin note. Johanna the
- 2:11:40Speaker 3: Second of Naples, the widow of Ladislao, King of Naples,
- 2:11:44Speaker 3: end note, left her unprotected, so that she was forced
- 2:11:48Speaker 3: to throw herself into the arms of the King of
- 2:11:50Speaker 3: Aragon in order to save her kingdom and if the
- 2:11:54Speaker 3: Venetians and the Florentines formerly extended their dominion by these arms,
- 2:11:59Speaker 3: and yet their captains did not make themselves princes, but
- 2:12:02Speaker 3: have defended them, I replied that the Florentines in this
- 2:12:06Speaker 3: case have been favored by chance. For of the able
- 2:12:09Speaker 3: captains of whom they might have stood in fear, some
- 2:12:12Speaker 3: have not conquered, some have been opposed, and others have
- 2:12:16Speaker 3: turned their ambitions elsewhere. One who did not conquer was
- 2:12:20Speaker 3: Giovanni Acudo. Begin note. Giovanni Acudo an English knight whose
- 2:12:27Speaker 3: name was Sir John Hawkwood. He fought in the English
- 2:12:30Speaker 3: Wars in France, and was knighted by Edward the Third.
- 2:12:34Speaker 3: Afterwards he collected a body of troops and went into Italy.
- 2:12:38Speaker 3: These became the famous White Company. He took part in
- 2:12:42Speaker 3: many wars and died in Florence in thirteen ninety four.
- 2:12:47Speaker 3: He was born about thirteen twenty at cybel Hedingham, a
- 2:12:51Speaker 3: village in Essex. He married Domnia, a daughter of Bernabo Visconti.
- 2:12:57Speaker 3: End note. One who did not conquer was Giovanni Acudo.
- 2:13:02Speaker 3: And since he did not conquer, his fidelity cannot be proved,
- 2:13:06Speaker 3: but every one will acknowledge that, had he conquered the
- 2:13:09Speaker 3: Florentines would have stood at his discretion. Sforza had the
- 2:13:13Speaker 3: Brakeesci always against him, so they watched each other. Francesco
- 2:13:18Speaker 3: turned his ambition to Lombardy Braccio against the Church and
- 2:13:22Speaker 3: the Kingdom of Naples. But let us come to that
- 2:13:25Speaker 3: which happened a short while ago. The Florentines appointed as
- 2:13:29Speaker 3: their captain Pagolo Fetelli, a most prudent man, who from
- 2:13:34Speaker 3: a private position had risen to the greatest renown. If
- 2:13:38Speaker 3: this man had taken Pisa, nobody can deny that it
- 2:13:41Speaker 3: would have been proper for the Florentines to keep in
- 2:13:43Speaker 3: with him. For if he became the soldier of their enemies,
- 2:13:47Speaker 3: they had no means of resisting, and if they held
- 2:13:50Speaker 3: to him, they must obey him. The Venetians, if their
- 2:13:54Speaker 3: achievements are considered, will be seen to have acted safely
- 2:13:57Speaker 3: and gloriously, so long as they sent to war their
- 2:14:00Speaker 3: own men. When with armed gentlemen at Plebeians, they did valiantly.
- 2:14:05Speaker 3: This was before they turned to enterprises on land. But
- 2:14:09Speaker 3: when they began to fight on land, they forsook this
- 2:14:11Speaker 3: virtue and followed the custom of Italy, and in the
- 2:14:15Speaker 3: beginning of their expansion on land, through not having much
- 2:14:18Speaker 3: territory and because of their great reputation, they had not
- 2:14:22Speaker 3: much to fear from their captains. But when they expanded
- 2:14:25Speaker 3: as under Carmignuola. Begin note Carmignuola Francesco Busson born at
- 2:14:32Speaker 3: Carmignuola about thirteen ninety executed at Venice, fifth of May
- 2:14:38Speaker 3: fourteen thirty two. But when they expanded as under Carmignuola,
- 2:14:44Speaker 3: they had a taste of this mistake, for having found
- 2:14:47Speaker 3: him a most valiant man, they beat the Duke of
- 2:14:50Speaker 3: Milan under his leadership, and on the other hand, knowing
- 2:14:54Speaker 3: how lukewarm he was in the war, they feared they
- 2:14:57Speaker 3: would no longer conquer under him, And for this reason
- 2:15:00Speaker 3: they were not willing, nor were they able to let
- 2:15:03Speaker 3: him go, and so not to lose again that which
- 2:15:06Speaker 3: they had acquired, they were compelled, in order to secure
- 2:15:10Speaker 3: themselves to murder him. They had afterwards for their captains
- 2:15:14Speaker 3: Bartolomeo de Bargamo, Roberto di san Severino, the Count of Pitigliano.
- 2:15:21Speaker 3: Begin note. Bartolomeo Coglioni of Bergamo died fourteen fifty seven.
- 2:15:28Speaker 3: Roberto of san Severino died fighting for Venice against Sigismund,
- 2:15:33Speaker 3: Duke of Austria in fourteen eighty seven. Primo Capitano in
- 2:15:38Speaker 3: Italia Machiavelli, Count of Pitigliano Niccolo Orsini born fourteen forty
- 2:15:45Speaker 3: two died fifteen ten end note and the like under
- 2:15:51Speaker 3: whom they had to dread loss and not gain, as
- 2:15:54Speaker 3: happened afterwards at Vallia. Begin note Battle of Vallia in
- 2:15:59Speaker 3: fifteen o nine. As happened afterwards at Vallia, where in
- 2:16:03Speaker 3: one battle they lost that which in eight hundred years
- 2:16:06Speaker 3: they had acquired with so much trouble. Because from such
- 2:16:10Speaker 3: arms conquests come but slowly, long delayed, and inconsiderable, but
- 2:16:15Speaker 3: the loss is sudden and portentous. And as with these examples,
- 2:16:20Speaker 3: I have reached Italy, which has been ruled for many
- 2:16:23Speaker 3: years by mercenaries. I wish to discuss them more seriously,
- 2:16:27Speaker 3: in order that, having seen their rise and progress, one
- 2:16:31Speaker 3: may be better prepared to counteract them. You must understand
- 2:16:35Speaker 3: that the Empire has recently come to be repudiated in Italy,
- 2:16:39Speaker 3: that the Pope has acquired more temporal power, and that
- 2:16:42Speaker 3: Italy has been divided up into more states, for the
- 2:16:45Speaker 3: reason that many of the great cities took up arms
- 2:16:47Speaker 3: against their nobles, who formerly favored by the Emperor, were
- 2:16:52Speaker 3: oppressing them, whilst the Church was favoring them, so as
- 2:16:55Speaker 3: to gain authority in temporal power. In many others, their
- 2:17:00Speaker 3: citizens became princes. From this it came to pass that
- 2:17:04Speaker 3: Italy fell partly into the hands of the Church and
- 2:17:07Speaker 3: of republics, and the Church, consisting of priests, and the
- 2:17:11Speaker 3: Republic of citizens, unaccustomed to arms, both commenced to enlist foreigners.
- 2:17:18Speaker 3: The first to give renown to this soldiery was Albrigio
- 2:17:21Speaker 3: d'aconno begin note Albrigio d'aconno Alberico da Barbiano, Count of
- 2:17:28Speaker 3: Cunio in Romagna. He was the leader of the famous
- 2:17:32Speaker 3: Company of Saint George, composed entirely of Italian soldiers. He
- 2:17:37Speaker 3: died in fourteen o nine. The Romagnan from the school
- 2:17:42Speaker 3: of this man sprang, among others Braccio and Sforza, who
- 2:17:46Speaker 3: in their time were the arbiters of Italy. After these
- 2:17:50Speaker 3: came all the other captains who till now have directed
- 2:17:53Speaker 3: the arms of Italy, and the end of all their
- 2:17:56Speaker 3: valor has been that she has been overrun by Charles,
- 2:18:00Speaker 3: robbed by Lewis, ravaged by Ferdinand, and insulted by the Switzers.
- 2:18:06Speaker 3: The principle that has guided them has been at first
- 2:18:09Speaker 3: to lower the credit of infantry so that they might
- 2:18:12Speaker 3: increase their own. They did this because, subsisting on their
- 2:18:16Speaker 3: pay and without territory, they were unable to support many soldiers,
- 2:18:21Speaker 3: and a few infantry did not give them any authority.
- 2:18:24Speaker 3: So they were led to employ cavalry with a moderate force,
- 2:18:28Speaker 3: of which they were maintained and honored, And affairs were
- 2:18:31Speaker 3: brought to such a pass that in an army of
- 2:18:33Speaker 3: twenty thousand soldiers, there were not to be found two
- 2:18:37Speaker 3: thousand foot soldiers. They had. Besides this, used every art
- 2:18:42Speaker 3: to lessen fatigue and danger to themselves and their soldiers,
- 2:18:45Speaker 3: not killing in the fray, but taking prisoners and liberating
- 2:18:49Speaker 3: without ransom. They did not attack towns at night, nor
- 2:18:53Speaker 3: did the garrisons of the towns attack encampments at night.
- 2:18:57Speaker 3: They did not surround the camp either with stockade ditch,
- 2:19:01Speaker 3: nor did they campaign in the winter. All these things
- 2:19:04Speaker 3: were permitted by their military rules, and devised by them
- 2:19:07Speaker 3: to avoid. As I have said, both fatigue and dangers.
- 2:19:12Speaker 3: Thus they have brought Italy to slavery and contempt. End
- 2:19:17Speaker 3: of Chapter twelve. Chapter thirteen concerning auxiliaries, mixed soldiery and
- 2:19:26Speaker 3: one's own auxiliaries, which are the other useless arm are
- 2:19:31Speaker 3: employed when a prince is called in with his forces
- 2:19:33Speaker 3: to aid and defend, as was done by Pope Julius
- 2:19:37Speaker 3: in the most recent times, for he, having in the
- 2:19:40Speaker 3: enterprise against Ferrara, had poor proof of his mercenaries, turned
- 2:19:45Speaker 3: to auxiliaries and stipulated with Ferdinand, King of Spain for
- 2:19:49Speaker 3: his assistance with men and arms. Begin note Ferdinand the fifth,
- 2:19:56Speaker 3: Ferdinand the Second of Arragon and Sicily Ferdinand the third
- 2:20:01Speaker 3: of Naples, surnamed the Catholic born fifteen forty two died
- 2:20:07Speaker 3: fifteen sixteen. These arms may be useful and good in themselves,
- 2:20:14Speaker 3: but for him who calls them in, they are always disadvantageous,
- 2:20:18Speaker 3: for losing one is undone, and winning one is their captive.
- 2:20:23Speaker 3: And although ancient histories may be full of examples, I
- 2:20:26Speaker 3: do not wish to leave this recent one of Pope
- 2:20:29Speaker 3: Julius the Second, the peril of which cannot fail to
- 2:20:32Speaker 3: be perceived, for he wishing to get Ferrara threw himself
- 2:20:37Speaker 3: entirely into the hands of the foreigner. But his good
- 2:20:40Speaker 3: fortune brought about a third event, so that he did
- 2:20:43Speaker 3: not reap the fruit of his rash choice. Because, having
- 2:20:47Speaker 3: his auxiliaries routed at Ravenna, and the Switzers having risen
- 2:20:51Speaker 3: and driven out the conquerors, against all expectation both his
- 2:20:55Speaker 3: and others, it so came to pass that he did
- 2:20:59Speaker 3: not become prisoner to his enemies they having fled, nor
- 2:21:03Speaker 3: to his auxiliaries. He having conquered by other arms than theirs.
- 2:21:09Speaker 3: The Florentines, being entirely without arms, sent ten thousand Frenchmen
- 2:21:14Speaker 3: to take Pisa, whereby they ran more danger than at
- 2:21:17Speaker 3: any other time of their troubles. The Emperor of Constantinople
- 2:21:22Speaker 3: begin note Joannes Cantacuzenas born thirteen hundred died thirteen eighty
- 2:21:28Speaker 3: three end note. The Emperor of Constantinople, to oppose his neighbors,
- 2:21:35Speaker 3: sent ten thousand Turks into Greece, who, on the war
- 2:21:39Speaker 3: being finished, were not willing to quit. This was the
- 2:21:42Speaker 3: beginning of the servitude of Greece to the infidels. Therefore,
- 2:21:47Speaker 3: let him who has no desire to conquer, make use
- 2:21:50Speaker 3: of these arms, for they are much more hazardous than mercenaries,
- 2:21:54Speaker 3: because with them the ruin is ready made. They are
- 2:21:58Speaker 3: all united, all yeld obedience to others. But with mercenaries,
- 2:22:03Speaker 3: when they have conquered, more time and better opportunities are
- 2:22:06Speaker 3: needed to injure you. They are not all of one community.
- 2:22:12Speaker 3: They are found and paid by you, and a third party,
- 2:22:15Speaker 3: which you have made their head, is not able at
- 2:22:17Speaker 3: all at once to assume enough authority to injure you.
- 2:22:21Speaker 3: In conclusion, in mercenaries, dastardy is most dangerous in auxiliaries. Valor,
- 2:22:29Speaker 3: the wise Prince, therefore, has always avoided these arms and
- 2:22:32Speaker 3: turned to his own, and has been willing rather to
- 2:22:35Speaker 3: lose with them than to conquer with the others. Not
- 2:22:38Speaker 3: deeming that a real victory which is gained with the
- 2:22:41Speaker 3: arms of others, I shall never hesitate to sight, says
- 2:22:45Speaker 3: ar Borgia. And his actions. This duke entered the Romagna
- 2:22:49Speaker 3: with auxiliaries, taking their only French soldiers, and with them
- 2:22:53Speaker 3: he captured Emola and Forli, But afterwards such forces, not
- 2:22:57Speaker 3: appearing to him reliable, he turned to mercenaries, discerning less
- 2:23:02Speaker 3: danger in them, and enlisted the Orsini and Vitelli, whom
- 2:23:06Speaker 3: presently on handling and finding them doubtful, unfaithful and dangerous,
- 2:23:12Speaker 3: he destroyed and turned to his own men. And the
- 2:23:15Speaker 3: difference between one and the other of these forces can
- 2:23:18Speaker 3: easily be seen when one considers the difference there was
- 2:23:22Speaker 3: in the reputation of the Duke when he had the French,
- 2:23:26Speaker 3: when he had the Orsini and Vitelli, and when he
- 2:23:29Speaker 3: relied on his own soldiers, on whose fidelity he could
- 2:23:33Speaker 3: always count and found it ever increasing. He was never
- 2:23:37Speaker 3: esteemed more highly than when every one saw that he
- 2:23:40Speaker 3: was complete master of his own forces. I was not
- 2:23:45Speaker 3: intending to go beyond Italian and recent examples, but I
- 2:23:48Speaker 3: am unwilling to leave out Hiero the Syracusan, he being
- 2:23:52Speaker 3: one of those I have named above. This man, as
- 2:23:56Speaker 3: I have said, made head of the army by the Syracusans,
- 2:23:59Speaker 3: soon found out that a mercenary soldiery constituted like our
- 2:24:04Speaker 3: Italian Condottieri, was of no use, and it appearing to
- 2:24:08Speaker 3: him that he could neither keep them nor let them go,
- 2:24:12Speaker 3: he had them all cut to pieces, and afterwards made
- 2:24:15Speaker 3: war with his own forces and not with aliens. I
- 2:24:20Speaker 3: wish also to recall to memory an instance from the
- 2:24:23Speaker 3: Old Testament applicable to this subject. David offered himself to
- 2:24:28Speaker 3: Saul to fight with Goliath, the Philistine champion, and to
- 2:24:32Speaker 3: give him courage. Saul armed him with his own weapons,
- 2:24:37Speaker 3: which David rejected as soon as he had them on
- 2:24:39Speaker 3: his back, saying he could make no use of them,
- 2:24:42Speaker 3: and that he wished to meet the enemy with his
- 2:24:44Speaker 3: sling and his knife. In conclusion, the arms of others
- 2:24:48Speaker 3: either fall from your back, or they weigh you down,
- 2:24:51Speaker 3: or they bind you fast. Charles the Seventh begin note
- 2:24:59Speaker 3: Charles the the seventh of France, surnamed the Victorious born
- 2:25:03Speaker 3: fourteen o three died fourteen sixty one. End note the
- 2:25:09Speaker 3: father of King Louis the eleventh. Begin note Louis the eleventh,
- 2:25:15Speaker 3: son of the above, born fourteen twenty three, died fourteen
- 2:25:19Speaker 3: eighty three. End note. Having by good fortune and valor
- 2:25:24Speaker 3: liberated France from the English, recognized the necessity of being
- 2:25:28Speaker 3: armed with forces of his own, and he established in
- 2:25:31Speaker 3: his kingdom ordinances concerning men at arms and infantry. Afterwards,
- 2:25:37Speaker 3: his son, King Louis abolished the infantry and began to
- 2:25:41Speaker 3: enlist the switzers, which mistake followed by others, is, as
- 2:25:45Speaker 3: is now seen, a source of peril to that kingdom,
- 2:25:49Speaker 3: because having raised the reputation of the switzers, he has
- 2:25:52Speaker 3: entirely diminished the value of his own arms. For he
- 2:25:55Speaker 3: has destroyed the infantry altogether, and his men at arms
- 2:25:59Speaker 3: he has sob ordinated to others, for being as they
- 2:26:02Speaker 3: are so accustomed to fight along with switzers, it does
- 2:26:05Speaker 3: not appear that they can now conquer without them. Hence
- 2:26:09Speaker 3: it arises that the French cannot stand against the switzers,
- 2:26:13Speaker 3: and without the switzers they do not come off well
- 2:26:15Speaker 3: against others. The armies of the French have thus become mixed,
- 2:26:20Speaker 3: partly mercenary and partly national, both of which arms together
- 2:26:24Speaker 3: are much better than mercenaries alone or auxiliaries alone, but
- 2:26:29Speaker 3: much inferior to one's own forces. And this example proves it.
- 2:26:33Speaker 3: For the Kingdom of France would be unconquerable if the
- 2:26:36Speaker 3: ordinance of Charles had been enlarged or maintained. But the
- 2:26:41Speaker 3: scanty wisdom of man, on entering into an affair which
- 2:26:45Speaker 3: looks well at first, cannot discern the poison that is
- 2:26:48Speaker 3: hidden in it. As I have said above of hectic fevers. Therefore,
- 2:26:53Speaker 3: if he who rules a principality cannot recognize evils until
- 2:26:57Speaker 3: they are upon him, he is not truly won. And
- 2:27:01Speaker 3: this insight is given to few. And if the first
- 2:27:04Speaker 3: disaster to the Roman Empire should be examined, it will
- 2:27:08Speaker 3: be found to have commenced only with the enlisting of
- 2:27:12Speaker 3: the Goths, because from that time the vigor of the
- 2:27:15Speaker 3: Roman Empire began to decline, and all that valor which
- 2:27:19Speaker 3: had raised it passed away to others. Begin note in quotations.
- 2:27:26Speaker 3: Many speakers to the House the other night, in the
- 2:27:29Speaker 3: debate on the reduction of armaments, seemed to know a
- 2:27:32Speaker 3: most lamentable ignorance of the conditions under which the British
- 2:27:35Speaker 3: Empire maintains its existence. When mister Balfour replied to the
- 2:27:40Speaker 3: allegations that the Roman Empire sank under the weight of
- 2:27:43Speaker 3: its military obligations, he said that this was wholly unhistorical.
- 2:27:48Speaker 3: He might well have added that the Roman power was
- 2:27:51Speaker 3: at its zenith when every citizen acknowledged his liability to
- 2:27:54Speaker 3: fight for the state, but that it began to decline
- 2:27:58Speaker 3: as soon as this obligation was no longer read recognized.
- 2:28:02Speaker 3: Paul Marl Gazette, fifteenth of May nineteen o six. End note.
- 2:28:10Speaker 3: I conclude therefore that no principality is secure without having
- 2:28:14Speaker 3: its own forces. On the contrary, it is entirely dependent
- 2:28:18Speaker 3: on good fortune, not having the valor which in adversity
- 2:28:21Speaker 3: would defend it. And it has always been the opinion
- 2:28:25Speaker 3: and judgment of wise men that nothing can be so
- 2:28:28Speaker 3: uncertain or unstable as fame or power not founded on
- 2:28:32Speaker 3: its own strength. And one's own forces are those which
- 2:28:36Speaker 3: are composed either of subjects, citizens, or dependents, all others
- 2:28:41Speaker 3: mercenaries or auxiliaries. And the way to make ready one's
- 2:28:45Speaker 3: own forces will be easily found if the rules suggested
- 2:28:49Speaker 3: by me shall be reflected upon, and if one will
- 2:28:52Speaker 3: consider how Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, and
- 2:28:56Speaker 3: many republics and princes have armed and organized them to
- 2:29:01Speaker 3: which rules I entirely commit myself. End of Chapter thirteen.
- 2:29:09Speaker 4: Chapter fourteen. That which concerns a prince on the subject
- 2:29:15Speaker 4: of the art of war. A prince ought to have
- 2:29:21Speaker 4: no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for
- 2:29:25Speaker 4: his study than war and its rules and discipline. For
- 2:29:30Speaker 4: this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules,
- 2:29:33Speaker 4: and it is of such force that it not only
- 2:29:36Speaker 4: upholds those who are born princes, but it often enables
- 2:29:40Speaker 4: men to rise from a private station to that rank.
- 2:29:44Speaker 4: And on the contrary, it is seen that when princes
- 2:29:47Speaker 4: have thought more of ease than of arms, they have
- 2:29:50Speaker 4: lost their states. And the first cause of your losing
- 2:29:54Speaker 4: it is to neglect this art. And what enables you
- 2:29:58Speaker 4: to acquire a state is to be a master of
- 2:30:00Speaker 4: the art. Francesco Sforza, though being marshal from a private person,
- 2:30:07Speaker 4: became Duke of Milan, and the sons, though avoiding the
- 2:30:11Speaker 4: hardships and troubles of arms from dukes, became private persons.
- 2:30:17Speaker 4: For among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it
- 2:30:21Speaker 4: causes you to be despised. And this is one of
- 2:30:24Speaker 4: those ignominies against which a prince ought to guard himself,
- 2:30:28Speaker 4: as is shown later on, because there is nothing proportionate
- 2:30:33Speaker 4: between the armed and the unarmed, and it is not
- 2:30:36Speaker 4: reasonable that he who is armed should yield obedience willingly
- 2:30:40Speaker 4: to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man
- 2:30:44Speaker 4: should be secure among armed servants, because there being in
- 2:30:48Speaker 4: the one disdain and in the other suspicion, it is
- 2:30:52Speaker 4: not possible for them to work well together. And therefore
- 2:30:57Speaker 4: a prince who does not understand the art of life war,
- 2:31:00Speaker 4: over and above the other misfortunes already mentioned, cannot be
- 2:31:04Speaker 4: respected by his soldiers, nor can he rely on them.
- 2:31:09Speaker 4: He ought never therefore, to have out of his thoughts
- 2:31:12Speaker 4: this subject of war, and in peace he should addict
- 2:31:16Speaker 4: himself more to its exercise than in war. This he
- 2:31:20Speaker 4: can do in two ways, the one by action, the
- 2:31:23Speaker 4: other by study. As regards action, he ought above all
- 2:31:29Speaker 4: things to keep his men well organized and drilled, to
- 2:31:33Speaker 4: follow incessantly the chase by which he accustoms his body
- 2:31:37Speaker 4: to hardships, and learns something of the nature of localities,
- 2:31:41Speaker 4: and gets to find out how the mountains rise, how
- 2:31:44Speaker 4: the valleys open out, how the plains lie, and to
- 2:31:49Speaker 4: understand the nature of rivers and marshes, and in all
- 2:31:53Speaker 4: this to take the greatest care which knowledge is useful
- 2:31:57Speaker 4: in two ways. Firstly, he learns to know his country,
- 2:32:01Speaker 4: and is better able to undertake its defense. Afterwards, by
- 2:32:06Speaker 4: means of the knowledge and observation of that locality, he
- 2:32:10Speaker 4: understands with ease any other which it may be necessary
- 2:32:13Speaker 4: for him to study. Hereafter, because the hills, valleys and
- 2:32:18Speaker 4: plains and rivers and marshes that are, for instance, in Tuscany,
- 2:32:23Speaker 4: have a certain resemblance to those of other countries, so
- 2:32:27Speaker 4: that with a knowledge of the aspect of one country,
- 2:32:30Speaker 4: one can easily arrive at a knowledge of others. And
- 2:32:35Speaker 4: the prince that lacks this skill lacks the essential which
- 2:32:39Speaker 4: it is desirable that a captain should possess, for it
- 2:32:42Speaker 4: teaches him to surprise his enemy, to select quarters, to
- 2:32:46Speaker 4: lead armies, to array the battle, to besiege towns, to advantage.
- 2:32:53Speaker 4: Begin Note Philopoemen, the last of the Greeks, born two
- 2:33:00Speaker 4: fifty two b C. Died one eighty three b C.
- 2:33:05Speaker 4: End Note Philipoemon, Prince of the Achaeans, among other praises
- 2:33:12Speaker 4: which writers have bestowed on him, is commended because in
- 2:33:15Speaker 4: time of peace he never had anything in his mind
- 2:33:18Speaker 4: but the rules of war. And when he was in
- 2:33:22Speaker 4: the country with friends, he often stopped and reasoned with them.
- 2:33:26Speaker 4: If the enemy should be upon that hill, and we
- 2:33:29Speaker 4: should find ourselves here with our enemy, with whom would
- 2:33:33Speaker 4: be the advantage, how should one best advance to meet him,
- 2:33:37Speaker 4: keeping the ranks. If we should wish to retreat, how
- 2:33:41Speaker 4: ought we to pursue and he would set forth to
- 2:33:45Speaker 4: them as he went all the chances that could befall
- 2:33:48Speaker 4: an army. He would listen to their opinion and state
- 2:33:51Speaker 4: his confirming it with reasons, so that by these continual
- 2:33:55Speaker 4: discussions there could never arise, in time of war any
- 2:34:00Speaker 4: unexpected circumstances that he could not deal with. But to
- 2:34:06Speaker 4: exercise the intellect, the prince should read histories and study
- 2:34:10Speaker 4: there the actions of illustrious men, to see how they
- 2:34:13Speaker 4: have borne themselves in war, to examine the causes of
- 2:34:17Speaker 4: their victories and defeat, so as to avoid the latter
- 2:34:20Speaker 4: and imitate the former. And above all, do as an
- 2:34:24Speaker 4: illustrious man did, who took as an exemplar, one who
- 2:34:28Speaker 4: had been praised and famous before him, and whose achievements
- 2:34:32Speaker 4: and deeds he always kept in his mind. As it
- 2:34:36Speaker 4: is said, Alexander the Great imitated Achilles Caesar Alexander Scipio Cirrus.
- 2:34:43Speaker 4: And whoever reads the Life of Cyrus written by Xenophon,
- 2:34:47Speaker 4: will recognize afterwards in the Life of Scipio how that
- 2:34:51Speaker 4: imitation was his glory, and how in chastity, affability, humanity,
- 2:34:57Speaker 4: and liberality Scipio conformed to those things which have been
- 2:35:01Speaker 4: written of Cirrus by Xenophon. A wise prince ought to
- 2:35:07Speaker 4: observe some such rules, and never, in peaceful times stand idle,
- 2:35:12Speaker 4: but increase his resources with industry in such a way
- 2:35:15Speaker 4: that they may be available to him in adversity, so that,
- 2:35:19Speaker 4: if fortune chances it may find him prepared to resist
- 2:35:23Speaker 4: her blows. End of Chapter fourteen. Chapter fifteen. Concerning things
- 2:35:32Speaker 4: for which men, and especially princes are praised or blamed,
- 2:35:39Speaker 4: it remains now to see what ought to be the
- 2:35:42Speaker 4: rules of conduct for a prince towards subject and friends.
- 2:35:47Speaker 4: And as I know that many have written on this point,
- 2:35:50Speaker 4: I expect I shall be considered presumptuous in mentioning it again,
- 2:35:54Speaker 4: especially as in discussing it I shall depart from the
- 2:35:57Speaker 4: methods of other people. But it being my intention to
- 2:36:02Speaker 4: write a thing which shall be useful to him who
- 2:36:04Speaker 4: apprehends it, it appears to me more appropriate to follow
- 2:36:08Speaker 4: up the real truth of the matter than the imagination
- 2:36:11Speaker 4: of it. For many have pictured republics and principalities which
- 2:36:17Speaker 4: in fact have never been known or seen. Because how
- 2:36:20Speaker 4: one lives is so far distant from how one ought
- 2:36:23Speaker 4: to live, that he who neglects what is done for
- 2:36:27Speaker 4: what ought to be done sooner affects his ruin than
- 2:36:30Speaker 4: his preservation. For a man who wishes to act entirely
- 2:36:35Speaker 4: up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what
- 2:36:38Speaker 4: destroys him among so much that is evil. Hence, it
- 2:36:43Speaker 4: is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own,
- 2:36:46Speaker 4: to know how to do wrong, and to make use
- 2:36:49Speaker 4: of it or not according to necessity. Therefore, putting on
- 2:36:54Speaker 4: one side imaginary things concerning a prince, and discussing those
- 2:36:58Speaker 4: which are real, I say that all men, when they
- 2:37:02Speaker 4: are spoken of, and chiefly princes, for being more highly placed,
- 2:37:07Speaker 4: are remarkable for some of those qualities which bring them
- 2:37:10Speaker 4: either blame or praise. And thus it is that one
- 2:37:15Speaker 4: is reputed liberal, another miserly, using a Tuscan term, because
- 2:37:21Speaker 4: an avaricious person in our language is still he who
- 2:37:24Speaker 4: desires to possess by robbery, whilst we call one miserly
- 2:37:29Speaker 4: who deprives himself too much of the use of his own.
- 2:37:34Speaker 4: One is reputed generous, one rapacious, one cruel, one compassionate,
- 2:37:40Speaker 4: one faithless, another faithful, one effeminate and cowardly, another bold
- 2:37:47Speaker 4: and brave, one affable, another haughty one lascivious, another chaste, one, sincere,
- 2:37:57Speaker 4: another cunning one, harm another easy one, grave, another frivolous one, religious,
- 2:38:06Speaker 4: another unbelieving, and the like. And I know that everyone
- 2:38:12Speaker 4: will confess that it would be most praiseworthy in a
- 2:38:15Speaker 4: prince to exhibit all the above qualities that are considered good.
- 2:38:20Speaker 4: But because they can neither be entirely possessed nor observed,
- 2:38:25Speaker 4: for human conditions do not permit it. It is necessary
- 2:38:28Speaker 4: for him to be sufficiently prudent that he may know
- 2:38:31Speaker 4: how to avoid the reproach of those vices which would
- 2:38:34Speaker 4: lose him his state, and also to keep himself, if
- 2:38:38Speaker 4: it be possible, from those which would not lose him it.
- 2:38:42Speaker 4: But this not being possible, he may, with less hesitation,
- 2:38:46Speaker 4: abandon himself to them. And again he need not make
- 2:38:51Speaker 4: himself uneasy at incurring a reproach for those vices without
- 2:38:55Speaker 4: which the state can only be saved with difficulty, For
- 2:38:59Speaker 4: if every thing is considered carefully, it will be found
- 2:39:03Speaker 4: that something which looks like virtue, if followed, would be
- 2:39:07Speaker 4: his ruin, whilst something else which looks like vice, yet followed,
- 2:39:12Speaker 4: brings him security and prosperity. End of Chapter fifteen, Chapter
- 2:39:20Speaker 4: sixteen concerning liberality and meanness. Commencing then with the first
- 2:39:30Speaker 4: of the above named characteristics, I say that it would
- 2:39:33Speaker 4: be well to be reputed liberal. Nevertheless, liberality exercised in
- 2:39:39Speaker 4: a way that does not bring you the reputation for
- 2:39:42Speaker 4: it injures you. For if one exercises it honestly and
- 2:39:47Speaker 4: as it should be exercised, it may not become known,
- 2:39:50Speaker 4: and you will not avoid the reproach of its opposite. Therefore,
- 2:39:55Speaker 4: anyone wishing to maintain among men the name of liberal
- 2:39:59Speaker 4: is a blos to avoid no attribute of magnificence. So
- 2:40:03Speaker 4: that a prince thus inclined will consume in such acts
- 2:40:07Speaker 4: all his property, and will be compelled in the end,
- 2:40:11Speaker 4: if he wished to maintain the name of liberal, to
- 2:40:14Speaker 4: unduly weigh down his people and tax them, and do
- 2:40:18Speaker 4: everything he can to get money. This will soon make
- 2:40:22Speaker 4: him odious to his subjects, and becoming poor. He will
- 2:40:25Speaker 4: be little valued by anyone. Thus, with his liberality having
- 2:40:31Speaker 4: offended many and rewarded few, he is affected by the
- 2:40:35Speaker 4: very first trouble and imperiled by whatever may be the
- 2:40:38Speaker 4: first danger. Recognizing this himself and wishing to draw back
- 2:40:43Speaker 4: from it, he runs at once into the reproach of
- 2:40:46Speaker 4: being miserly. Therefore, a prince not being able to exercise
- 2:40:52Speaker 4: this virtue of liberality in such a way that it
- 2:40:55Speaker 4: is recognized except to his cost. If he is wise,
- 2:41:00Speaker 4: he ought not to fear the reputation of being mean,
- 2:41:03Speaker 4: for in time he will come to be more considered
- 2:41:06Speaker 4: than if liberal, seeing that with his economy, his revenues
- 2:41:10Speaker 4: are enough that he can defend himself against all attacks
- 2:41:14Speaker 4: and is able to engage in enterprises without burdening his people.
- 2:41:19Speaker 4: Thus it comes to pass that he exercises liberality towards
- 2:41:23Speaker 4: all from whom he does not take, who are numberless,
- 2:41:27Speaker 4: and meanness towards those to whom he does not give,
- 2:41:31Speaker 4: who are few. We have not seen great things done
- 2:41:36Speaker 4: in our time except by those who have been considered mean.
- 2:41:40Speaker 4: The rest have failed. Pope Julius the second was assisted
- 2:41:45Speaker 4: in reaching the papacy by a reputation for liberality, Yet
- 2:41:49Speaker 4: he did not strive afterwards to keep it up. When
- 2:41:53Speaker 4: he made war on the King of France, and he
- 2:41:55Speaker 4: made many wars without imposing any extraordinary tax on his subjects,
- 2:42:01Speaker 4: for he supplied his additional expenses out of his long
- 2:42:04Speaker 4: thriftiness the present King of Spain would not have undertaken
- 2:42:10Speaker 4: or conquered in so many enterprises if he had been
- 2:42:13Speaker 4: reputed liberal. A prince, therefore, provided that he has not
- 2:42:19Speaker 4: to rob his subjects, that he can defend himself, that
- 2:42:24Speaker 4: he does not become poor and abject, that he is
- 2:42:27Speaker 4: not forced to become rapacious, ought to hold of little
- 2:42:32Speaker 4: account a reputation for being mean, for it is one
- 2:42:35Speaker 4: of those vices which will enable him to govern. And
- 2:42:40Speaker 4: if anyone should say, Caesar obtained empire by liberality, and
- 2:42:45Speaker 4: many others have reached the highest positions by having been
- 2:42:48Speaker 4: liberal and by being considered so, I answer, either you
- 2:42:54Speaker 4: are a prince in fact, or in a way to
- 2:42:56Speaker 4: become one. In the first case, this liberality is dangerous.
- 2:43:01Speaker 4: In the second, it is very necessary to be considered liberal.
- 2:43:05Speaker 4: And Caesar was one of those who wished to become
- 2:43:07Speaker 4: pre eminent in Rome. But if he had survived after
- 2:43:12Speaker 4: becoming so, and had not moderated his expenses, he would
- 2:43:16Speaker 4: have destroyed his government. And if anyone should reply, many
- 2:43:22Speaker 4: have been princes and have done great things with armies
- 2:43:25Speaker 4: who have been considered very liberal, I reply, either a
- 2:43:30Speaker 4: prince spends that which is his own or his subjects,
- 2:43:33Speaker 4: or else that of others. In the first case, he
- 2:43:37Speaker 4: ought to be sparing. In the second, he ought not
- 2:43:40Speaker 4: to neglect any opportunity for liberality. And to the prince
- 2:43:44Speaker 4: who goes forth with his army supporting it by pillage,
- 2:43:48Speaker 4: sack and extortion, handling that which belongs to others, this
- 2:43:52Speaker 4: liberality is necessary, otherwise he would not be followed by soldiers.
- 2:43:59Speaker 4: And of that which is neither yours nor your subjects,
- 2:44:02Speaker 4: you can be a ready giver, as were Cyrus, Caesar
- 2:44:06Speaker 4: and Alexander, because it does not take away your reputation
- 2:44:10Speaker 4: if you squander that of others, but adds to it.
- 2:44:13Speaker 4: It is only squandering your own that injures you. And
- 2:44:19Speaker 4: there is nothing wastes so rapidly as liberality, for even
- 2:44:23Speaker 4: whilst you exercise it, you lose the power to do so,
- 2:44:27Speaker 4: and so become either poor or despised, or else in
- 2:44:31Speaker 4: avoiding poverty, rapacious and hated. And a prince should guard
- 2:44:37Speaker 4: himself above all things against being despised and hated, and
- 2:44:42Speaker 4: liberality leads you to both. Therefore, it is wiser to
- 2:44:46Speaker 4: have a reputation for meanness, which brings reproach without hatred,
- 2:44:51Speaker 4: than to be compelled, through seeking a reputation for liberality,
- 2:44:55Speaker 4: to incur a name for rapacity, which begets reproach with hatred.
- 2:45:01Speaker 4: End of Chapter sixteen. End of chapters fourteen through sixteen.
- 2:45:08Speaker 5: Chapter seventeen concerning cruelty and clemency, and whether it is
- 2:45:14Speaker 5: better to be loved than feared. Coming now to the
- 2:45:19Speaker 5: other qualities mentioned above, I say that every prince ought
- 2:45:23Speaker 5: to desire to be considered clement and not cruel. Nevertheless,
- 2:45:30Speaker 5: he ought to take care not to misuse his clemency.
- 2:45:37Speaker 5: Cesare Borgia was considered cruel, notwithstanding his cruelty, reconciled Romanga,
- 2:45:44Speaker 5: unified it, and restored it to peace and loyalty. And
- 2:45:49Speaker 5: if this be rightly considered, he will be seen to
- 2:45:51Speaker 5: have been much more merciful than the Florentine people, who,
- 2:45:55Speaker 5: to avoid a reputation for cruelty, permitted Pistoia to be destroyed. Therefore,
- 2:46:04Speaker 5: a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united
- 2:46:07Speaker 5: and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty,
- 2:46:11Speaker 5: because with a few examples, he will be more merciful
- 2:46:14Speaker 5: than those who, through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise,
- 2:46:19Speaker 5: from which follows murders or robberies, for these are wont
- 2:46:24Speaker 5: to injure the whole people, whilst those executions which originate
- 2:46:28Speaker 5: with the prince offend the individual only. And of all princes,
- 2:46:34Speaker 5: it is impossible for the new prince to avoid the
- 2:46:37Speaker 5: imputation of cruelty, owing to the new states being full
- 2:46:41Speaker 5: of dangers. Hence, Virgil, through the mouth of Dido, excuses
- 2:46:47Speaker 5: the inhumanity of her reign, owing to its being new,
- 2:46:50Speaker 5: saying res dura it regina novitas metalia kogunt molieri e
- 2:46:59Speaker 5: latte venues costode tuerri translation, against my will, my fate,
- 2:47:09Speaker 5: a throne unsettled and an infant state, bid me to
- 2:47:13Speaker 5: defend my realms with all my powers, and guard with
- 2:47:17Speaker 5: these severities my shores. Nevertheless, he ought to be slow
- 2:47:24Speaker 5: to believe and to act, nor should he himself show fear,
- 2:47:28Speaker 5: but proceed in a temperate manner, with prudence and humanity,
- 2:47:33Speaker 5: so that too much confidence may not make him incautious,
- 2:47:36Speaker 5: and too much distrust render him intolerable. Upon this a
- 2:47:41Speaker 5: question arises whether it be better to be loved than feared,
- 2:47:46Speaker 5: or feared than loved. It may be answered that one
- 2:47:50Speaker 5: should wish to be both, But because it is difficult
- 2:47:53Speaker 5: to unite them in one person, it is much safer
- 2:47:57Speaker 5: to be feared than loved, when of the two either
- 2:48:00Speaker 5: must be dispensed with, Because this is to be asserted
- 2:48:04Speaker 5: in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous,
- 2:48:10Speaker 5: and as long as you succeed, they are yours entirely.
- 2:48:14Speaker 5: They will offer you their blood, property, life, and children,
- 2:48:19Speaker 5: as is said above, when the need is far distant.
- 2:48:23Speaker 5: But when it approaches, they turn against you. And that prince,
- 2:48:27Speaker 5: who relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions,
- 2:48:31Speaker 5: is ruined. Because friendships that are obtained by payments and
- 2:48:36Speaker 5: not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned,
- 2:48:40Speaker 5: but they are not secured, and in time of need
- 2:48:44Speaker 5: cannot be relied upon, and men have less scrupulous offending
- 2:48:48Speaker 5: one who is beloved than one who is feared. For
- 2:48:52Speaker 5: love is preserved by the link of obligation, which, owing
- 2:48:57Speaker 5: to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity
- 2:49:01Speaker 5: for their advantage. But fear preserves you by a dread
- 2:49:06Speaker 5: of punishment, which never fails. Nevertheless, a prince ought to
- 2:49:11Speaker 5: inspire fear in such a way that if he does
- 2:49:14Speaker 5: not win love, he avoids hatred, because he can endure
- 2:49:18Speaker 5: very well being feared whilst he is not hated, which
- 2:49:21Speaker 5: will always be as long as he abstains from the
- 2:49:24Speaker 5: property of his citizens and subjects, and from their women.
- 2:49:28Speaker 5: But when it is necessary for him to proceed against
- 2:49:31Speaker 5: the life of someone, he must do it on proper
- 2:49:35Speaker 5: justification and for manifest cause. But above all things, he
- 2:49:39Speaker 5: must keep his hands off the property of others, because
- 2:49:42Speaker 5: men more quickly forget the death of their father than
- 2:49:45Speaker 5: the loss of their patrimony. Besides, pretexts for taking away
- 2:49:50Speaker 5: the property are never wanting, for he who has once
- 2:49:54Speaker 5: begun to live by robbery will always find presects for
- 2:49:59Speaker 5: seizing what belongs to others. But reasons for taking life,
- 2:50:03Speaker 5: on the contrary, are more difficult to find, and sooner lapse.
- 2:50:07Speaker 5: But when a prince is with his army and has
- 2:50:09Speaker 5: under control a multitude of soldiers, then it is quite
- 2:50:13Speaker 5: necessary for him to disregard the reputation of cruelty, for
- 2:50:17Speaker 5: without it he would never hold his army united or
- 2:50:20Speaker 5: dispose to its duties. Among the wonderful deeds of Hannibal.
- 2:50:26Speaker 5: This one is enumerated that, having led an enormous army
- 2:50:30Speaker 5: composed of many various races of men, to fight in
- 2:50:34Speaker 5: foreign lands, no dissensions arose either among them or against
- 2:50:39Speaker 5: the Prince, whether in his bad or in his good fortune.
- 2:50:43Speaker 5: This arose from nothing else than his inhuman cruelty, which,
- 2:50:48Speaker 5: with his boundless valor, made him revered and terrible in
- 2:50:51Speaker 5: the sight of his soldiers. But without that cruelty, his
- 2:50:54Speaker 5: other virtues were not sufficient to produce this effect, and
- 2:50:58Speaker 5: short sighted writers admit meyer his deeds from one point
- 2:51:01Speaker 5: of view, and from another condemned the principal cause of them.
- 2:51:05Speaker 5: That it is true his other virtues would not have
- 2:51:08Speaker 5: been sufficient for him may be proved by the case
- 2:51:10Speaker 5: of Scipio, that most excellent man, not only of his
- 2:51:15Speaker 5: own times, but within the memory of man, against whom
- 2:51:18Speaker 5: nevertheless his army rebelled in Spain. This arose from nothing
- 2:51:23Speaker 5: but his too great forbearance, which gave his soldiers more
- 2:51:27Speaker 5: license than is consistent with military discipline. For this he
- 2:51:32Speaker 5: was upbraided, but in the Senate by Fabius Maximus, and
- 2:51:36Speaker 5: called the corruptor of the Roman soldiery. The Locrians were
- 2:51:42Speaker 5: laid waste by a legate of Scipio, Yet they were
- 2:51:49Speaker 5: not avenged by him, nor was the insolence of the
- 2:51:53Speaker 5: legate punished, owing entirely to his easy nature, insomuch that
- 2:51:58Speaker 5: someone in the Senate, wishing to execute him, said, there
- 2:52:02Speaker 5: were many men who knew much better how not to
- 2:52:05Speaker 5: err than to correct the errors of others. This disposition,
- 2:52:09Speaker 5: if he had been continued in the command, would have
- 2:52:13Speaker 5: destroyed in time the fame and glory of Scipio. But
- 2:52:17Speaker 5: he being under the control of the Senate, this injurious
- 2:52:20Speaker 5: characteristic not only concealed itself, but contributed to his glory.
- 2:52:26Speaker 5: Returning to the question of being feared or love, I
- 2:52:31Speaker 5: come to the conclusion that men loving according to their
- 2:52:34Speaker 5: own will, and fearing according to that of the prince.
- 2:52:37Speaker 5: A wise prince should establish himself on that which is
- 2:52:41Speaker 5: in his own control, and not in that of others.
- 2:52:47Speaker 5: He must endeavor only to avoid hatred, as is noted
- 2:52:53Speaker 5: Chapter eighteen concerning the way in which princes should be
- 2:53:00Speaker 5: to keep faith. Note the present chapter has given greater
- 2:53:06Speaker 5: offense than any other portune of Machiavelli's writings. According to Bird,
- 2:53:13Speaker 5: everyone admits how praiseworthy it is in a prince to
- 2:53:17Speaker 5: keep faith and to live with integrity, and not with craft. Nevertheless,
- 2:53:23Speaker 5: our experience has been that those princes who have done
- 2:53:26Speaker 5: great things have held good faith of little account, and
- 2:53:30Speaker 5: have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft,
- 2:53:34Speaker 5: and in the end have overcome those who relied on
- 2:53:37Speaker 5: their word. You must know that there are two ways
- 2:53:41Speaker 5: of contesting, the one by the law, the other by force.
- 2:53:46Speaker 5: The first method is proper to men, the second to beasts.
- 2:53:50Speaker 5: But because the first is frequently not sufficient, it is
- 2:53:53Speaker 5: necessary to have recourse to the second. Therefore, it is
- 2:53:57Speaker 5: necessary for a prince to understand how to have been
- 2:54:00Speaker 5: ail himself of the beast and the man. This has
- 2:54:03Speaker 5: been figuratively taught to princes by ancient writers, who describe
- 2:54:07Speaker 5: how Achilles and many other princes of old were given
- 2:54:12Speaker 5: to the centaur Chiron, to nurse, who brought them up
- 2:54:15Speaker 5: in his discipline, which means solely that as they had
- 2:54:19Speaker 5: for a teacher, one who was half beast and half man,
- 2:54:22Speaker 5: so it is necessary for a prince to know how
- 2:54:25Speaker 5: to make use of both natures, and that one without
- 2:54:28Speaker 5: the other is not durable. A prince, therefore being compelled
- 2:54:33Speaker 5: knowingly to adopt the beast ought to choose the fox
- 2:54:36Speaker 5: and the lion, because the lion cannot defend himself against snakes,
- 2:54:42Speaker 5: and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves. Therefore, it
- 2:54:47Speaker 5: is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares,
- 2:54:50Speaker 5: and a lion to terrify the wolves. Those who rely
- 2:54:59Speaker 5: simply on the lion did not understand what they are about. Therefore,
- 2:55:03Speaker 5: wise Lord cannot nor not he to keep faith when
- 2:55:08Speaker 5: such observance may be turned against him, and when the
- 2:55:11Speaker 5: reasons that caused him to pledge it exists no longer.
- 2:55:16Speaker 5: If men were entirely good, this precept would not hold.
- 2:55:19Speaker 5: But because they are bad and will not keep faith
- 2:55:21Speaker 5: with you, you too are not bound to observe it with them,
- 2:55:25Speaker 5: nor will there ever be wanting to ap prince. Legitimate
- 2:55:29Speaker 5: reasons to excuse this non observance of this endless Modern
- 2:55:36Speaker 5: examples could be given showing how many treaties and engagements
- 2:55:39Speaker 5: have been made void and of no effect through the
- 2:55:42Speaker 5: faithlessness of princes. And he who has known how best
- 2:55:46Speaker 5: to employ the fox has succeeded best. But it is
- 2:55:51Speaker 5: necessary to know well how to disguise this characteristic and
- 2:55:55Speaker 5: to be a great pretender and dissembler. And men are
- 2:55:58Speaker 5: so simple and so subject to present necessities, that he
- 2:56:01Speaker 5: who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will
- 2:56:04Speaker 5: allow himself to be deceived. One recent example I cannot
- 2:56:09Speaker 5: pass over in silence. Alexander the sixth did nothing else
- 2:56:14Speaker 5: but deceive men, nor ever thought of doing otherwise, and
- 2:56:17Speaker 5: he always found victims. For there never was a man
- 2:56:20Speaker 5: who had greater power in asserting, or who with greater
- 2:56:24Speaker 5: oaths would affirm a thing, yet would observe it less. Nevertheless,
- 2:56:29Speaker 5: his deceits always succeeded according to his wishes, because he
- 2:56:36Speaker 5: well understood this side of mankind. Therefore, it is unnecessary
- 2:56:41Speaker 5: for a prince to have all the good qualities I
- 2:56:43Speaker 5: have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to
- 2:56:47Speaker 5: have them. And I shall dare to say this also,
- 2:56:51Speaker 5: that to have them and always to observe them is injurious,
- 2:56:56Speaker 5: and that to appear to have them is useful. To
- 2:56:58Speaker 5: appear merciful, faith full, humane, religious, upright, and to be so,
- 2:57:04Speaker 5: but with a mind so framed that should you require
- 2:57:07Speaker 5: not to be so, you may be able and know
- 2:57:10Speaker 5: how to change the opposite. And you have to understand
- 2:57:17Speaker 5: this that a prince, especially a new one, cannot observe
- 2:57:21Speaker 5: all those things for which men are esteemed, being often
- 2:57:26Speaker 5: forced in order to maintain the state, to act contrary
- 2:57:30Speaker 5: to fidelity, friendship, humanity, and religion. Therefore, it is necessary
- 2:57:36Speaker 5: for him to have a mind ready to turn itself
- 2:57:38Speaker 5: accordingly as the winds and variations of fortune force it. Yet,
- 2:57:43Speaker 5: as I have said above, not to diverge from the
- 2:57:47Speaker 5: good if he can avoid doing so, but if compelled,
- 2:57:51Speaker 5: then to know how to set about it. A note
- 2:57:55Speaker 5: on fidelity from the translator contrary to faith contro alla
- 2:58:02Speaker 5: fede and tuto fede altogether faithful in the next paragraph.
- 2:58:07Speaker 5: It is noteworthy that these two phrases contro alla fede
- 2:58:11Speaker 5: and tuto fede were omitted in the Testina edition, which
- 2:58:15Speaker 5: was published with the sanction of the papal authorities. It
- 2:58:19Speaker 5: may be that the meaning attached to the word fede
- 2:58:21Speaker 5: was the faith i e. The Catholic creed, and not
- 2:58:24Speaker 5: as rendered here fidelity and faithful. Observed that the world
- 2:58:28Speaker 5: religione was suffered to stand in the text of the Testina,
- 2:58:32Speaker 5: because being used to signify indifferently every shade of belief,
- 2:58:36Speaker 5: as witness the religion, a phrase inevitably employed to designate
- 2:58:41Speaker 5: the Huguenot heresy South. In his Sermons nine page sixty nine,
- 2:58:47Speaker 5: edition eighteen forty three, comments on this passage as follows,
- 2:58:51Speaker 5: that great patron and Corphaeus of this tribe, Niccolo Machiavel
- 2:58:57Speaker 5: laid down this for a master rule in his political scheme,
- 2:59:00Speaker 5: that the show of religion was helpful to the politician,
- 2:59:03Speaker 5: but the reality of it hurtful and pernicious, and of
- 2:59:06Speaker 5: translator's note, For this reason, a prince ought to take
- 2:59:10Speaker 5: care that he never lets anything slip from his lips
- 2:59:13Speaker 5: that is not replete with the above named five qualities,
- 2:59:17Speaker 5: that he may appear to him who sees and hears
- 2:59:19Speaker 5: him altogether merciful, faithful, humane, upright, and religious. There is
- 2:59:25Speaker 5: nothing more necessary to appear to have than this last quality,
- 2:59:29Speaker 5: inasmuch as men judged generally more by the eye than
- 2:59:32Speaker 5: by the hand. Because it belongs to everybody to see you,
- 2:59:36Speaker 5: to few to come in touch with you. Every one
- 2:59:39Speaker 5: sees what you appear to be, few really know what
- 2:59:42Speaker 5: you are, and those few dare not oppose themselves to
- 2:59:45Speaker 5: the opinion of the many, who have the majesty of
- 2:59:48Speaker 5: the state to defend them. And in the actions of
- 2:59:52Speaker 5: all men, and especially of princes, which it is not
- 2:59:56Speaker 5: prudent to challenge, one judges by the result. For that reason,
- 3:00:01Speaker 5: let a prince have the credit of conquering and holding
- 3:00:04Speaker 5: his state. The means will always be considered honest, and
- 3:00:08Speaker 5: he will be praised by everybody. Because the vulgar are
- 3:00:12Speaker 5: always taken by what thing seems to be and what
- 3:00:16Speaker 5: comes of it. And in the world there are only
- 3:00:20Speaker 5: the vulgar, for the few find a place there only
- 3:00:23Speaker 5: when the many have no ground to rest on. One
- 3:00:28Speaker 5: prince of the present time, who it is not well
- 3:00:31Speaker 5: to name, never preaches anything else but peace and good faith,
- 3:00:36Speaker 5: and to both he is most hostile and either. If
- 3:00:39Speaker 5: he had kept it, would have deprived him of reputation
- 3:00:42Speaker 5: and kingdom many a time. Note from the translator on
- 3:00:48Speaker 5: this Prince Ferdinand of Arragon. When Machiavelli was writing the Prince,
- 3:00:54Speaker 5: it would have been clearly impossible to mention Ferdinand's name
- 3:00:57Speaker 5: here without giving offense from birds ill prince ship be
- 3:01:03Speaker 5: page three eight end of translator's note end of chapter eighteen.
- 3:01:10Speaker 2: Chapter nineteen, that one should avoid being despised and hated. Now,
- 3:01:18Speaker 2: concerning the characteristics of which mention is made above, I
- 3:01:23Speaker 2: have spoken of the more important ones. The others I
- 3:01:26Speaker 2: wish to discuss briefly under this generality, that the prince
- 3:01:30Speaker 2: must consider, as has been in part said before, how
- 3:01:35Speaker 2: to avoid those things which will make him hated or contemptible.
- 3:01:40Speaker 2: And as often as he shall have succeeded, he will
- 3:01:43Speaker 2: have fulfilled his part, and he need not fear any
- 3:01:46Speaker 2: danger in other reproaches. It makes him hated above all things,
- 3:01:53Speaker 2: as I have said, to be rapacious, and to be
- 3:01:57Speaker 2: a violator of the property and women of his subjects,
- 3:02:02Speaker 2: from both of which he must abstain. And when neither
- 3:02:06Speaker 2: their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of
- 3:02:10Speaker 2: men live content, and he has only to contend with
- 3:02:13Speaker 2: the ambition of a few, whom he can curb with ease.
- 3:02:17Speaker 2: In many ways, it makes him contemptible to be considered fickle, frivolous, effeminate,
- 3:02:25Speaker 2: mean spirited, irresolute, from all of which a prince should
- 3:02:30Speaker 2: guard himself as from a rock. And he should endeavor
- 3:02:34Speaker 2: to show in his actions greatness, courage, gravity and fortitude,
- 3:02:40Speaker 2: And in his private dealings with his subjects, let him
- 3:02:44Speaker 2: show that his judgments are irrevocable, and maintain himself in
- 3:02:49Speaker 2: such reputation that no one can hope either to deceive
- 3:02:53Speaker 2: him or to get round him. That prince is highly
- 3:02:59Speaker 2: esteemed who conveys this impression of himself, and he who
- 3:03:04Speaker 2: is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against, For provided
- 3:03:09Speaker 2: it is well known that he is an excellent man
- 3:03:12Speaker 2: and revered by his people, he can only be attacked
- 3:03:15Speaker 2: with difficulty. For this reason, a prince ought to have
- 3:03:21Speaker 2: two fears, one from within on account of his subjects,
- 3:03:26Speaker 2: the other from without, on account of external powers. From
- 3:03:31Speaker 2: the latter he is defended by being well armed and
- 3:03:35Speaker 2: having good allies. And if he is well armed, he
- 3:03:38Speaker 2: will have good friends, and affairs will always remain quiet
- 3:03:42Speaker 2: within when they are quiet without, unless they should have
- 3:03:46Speaker 2: already been disturbed by conspiracy. And even should affairs outside
- 3:03:52Speaker 2: be disturbed, if he has carried out his preparations and
- 3:03:56Speaker 2: has lived as I have said, as long as he
- 3:03:59Speaker 2: does not spare, he will resist every attack, as I
- 3:04:03Speaker 2: said now Bis the Spartan did. But concerning his subjects,
- 3:04:11Speaker 2: when affairs outside are disturbed, he has only to fear
- 3:04:14Speaker 2: that they will conspire secretly from which a prince can
- 3:04:18Speaker 2: easily secure himself by avoiding being hated and despised, and
- 3:04:23Speaker 2: by keeping the people satisfied with him, which it is
- 3:04:26Speaker 2: most necessary for him to accomplish. As I said above
- 3:04:31Speaker 2: at length, and one of the most efficacious remedies that
- 3:04:36Speaker 2: a prince can have against conspiracies is not to be
- 3:04:40Speaker 2: hated and despised by the people. For he who conspires
- 3:04:44Speaker 2: against a prince always expects to please them by his removal.
- 3:04:49Speaker 2: But when the conspirator can only look forward to offending them,
- 3:04:54Speaker 2: he will not have the courage to take such a course.
- 3:04:58Speaker 2: For the difficulties that confront a conspirator are infinite, and
- 3:05:04Speaker 2: as experience shows, many have been the conspiracies, but few
- 3:05:09Speaker 2: have been successful, because he who conspires cannot act alone,
- 3:05:15Speaker 2: nor can he take a companion except from those whom
- 3:05:18Speaker 2: he believes to be malcontents. And as soon as you
- 3:05:22Speaker 2: have opened your mind to a malcontent, you have given
- 3:05:26Speaker 2: him the material with which to content himself, For by
- 3:05:30Speaker 2: denouncing you he can look for every advantage, so that,
- 3:05:34Speaker 2: seeing the gain from this course to be assured, and
- 3:05:37Speaker 2: seeing the other to be doubtful and full of dangers,
- 3:05:41Speaker 2: he must be a very rare friend or a thoroughly
- 3:05:44Speaker 2: obstinate enemy of the Prince, to keep faith with you,
- 3:05:50Speaker 2: and to reduce the matter into a small compass. I
- 3:05:53Speaker 2: say that on the side of the conspirator there is
- 3:05:56Speaker 2: nothing but feared, jealousy, prospect of punishment to terrify him.
- 3:06:02Speaker 2: But on the side of the Prince there is the
- 3:06:04Speaker 2: majesty of the principality, the laws, the protection of friends,
- 3:06:09Speaker 2: and the state to defend him. So that, adding to
- 3:06:13Speaker 2: all these things the popular good will, it is impossible
- 3:06:17Speaker 2: that any should be so rash as to conspire for
- 3:06:22Speaker 2: Bheras in general, the conspirator has to fear before the
- 3:06:26Speaker 2: execution of his plot, in this case he has also
- 3:06:30Speaker 2: to fear the sequel to the crime, because on account
- 3:06:34Speaker 2: of it he has the people for an enemy, and
- 3:06:37Speaker 2: thus cannot hope for any escape. Endless examples could be
- 3:06:44Speaker 2: given on this subject, but I will be content with
- 3:06:47Speaker 2: one brought to pass within the memory of our fathers.
- 3:06:52Speaker 2: Messa Annibalo Bentivogli, who was prince in Bologna, grandfather of
- 3:06:58Speaker 2: the present Annibale, having been murdered by the Caneski who
- 3:07:03Speaker 2: had conspired against him. Not one of his family survived
- 3:07:07Speaker 2: but Messer Giovanni, who was in childhood. Immediately after his assassination,
- 3:07:14Speaker 2: the people rose and murdered all the Caneski. This sprung
- 3:07:19Speaker 2: from the popular good will which the house of Bentivoli
- 3:07:23Speaker 2: enjoyed in those days in Bologna, which was so great
- 3:07:27Speaker 2: that although none remained there after the death of Annibale,
- 3:07:31Speaker 2: who was able to rule the state, the Bolognese, having
- 3:07:35Speaker 2: information that there was one of the Bentivoli family in Florence,
- 3:07:40Speaker 2: who up to that time had been considered the son
- 3:07:43Speaker 2: of a blacksmith, sent to Florence for him and gave
- 3:07:47Speaker 2: him the government of their city, and it was ruled
- 3:07:50Speaker 2: by him until Messa Giovanni came in due course to
- 3:07:53Speaker 2: the government. Note. Giovanni Bentivo born in Bologna fourteen thirty
- 3:08:03Speaker 2: eight died in Milan fifteen o eight. He ruled Bologna
- 3:08:08Speaker 2: from fourteen sixty two to fifteen o six. Machiavelli's strong
- 3:08:13Speaker 2: condemnation of conspiracies may get its edge from his own
- 3:08:17Speaker 2: very recent experience February fifteen thirteen, when he had been
- 3:08:22Speaker 2: arrested and tortured for his alleged complicity in the Boscoali conspiracy.
- 3:08:29Speaker 2: End of note. For this reason, I consider that a
- 3:08:35Speaker 2: prince ought to reckon conspiracies of little account when his
- 3:08:39Speaker 2: people hold him in esteem, but when it is hostile
- 3:08:43Speaker 2: to him and bears hatred towards him, he ought to
- 3:08:47Speaker 2: fear everything and everybody. And well ordered states and wise
- 3:08:53Speaker 2: princes have taken every care not to drive the nobles
- 3:08:56Speaker 2: to desperation, and to keep the people satisfied and contented,
- 3:09:02Speaker 2: for this is one of the most important objects a
- 3:09:05Speaker 2: prince can have. Among the best ordered and governed kingdoms
- 3:09:11Speaker 2: of our times is France, and in it are found
- 3:09:14Speaker 2: many good institutions on which depend the liberty and security
- 3:09:19Speaker 2: of the king. Of these, the first is the parliament
- 3:09:23Speaker 2: and its authority, Because he who founded the kingdom, knowing
- 3:09:28Speaker 2: the ambition of the nobility and their boldness, considered that
- 3:09:32Speaker 2: a bit to their mouths would be necessary to hold
- 3:09:35Speaker 2: them in. And on the other side, knowing the hatred
- 3:09:39Speaker 2: of the people founded in fear against the nobles, he
- 3:09:44Speaker 2: wished to protect them. Yet he was not anxious for
- 3:09:47Speaker 2: this to be the particular care of the king. Therefore,
- 3:09:51Speaker 2: to take away the reproach which he would be liable
- 3:09:54Speaker 2: to from the nobles for favoring the people, and from
- 3:09:58Speaker 2: the people for favoring the nobles, he set up an arbiter,
- 3:10:02Speaker 2: who should be one who could beat down the great
- 3:10:05Speaker 2: and favor the lesser without reproach to the king. Neither
- 3:10:11Speaker 2: could he have a better or a more prudent arrangement,
- 3:10:14Speaker 2: or a greater source of security to the king and kingdom.
- 3:10:19Speaker 2: From this one can draw another important conclusion, that princes
- 3:10:23Speaker 2: ought to leave affairs of reproach to the management of
- 3:10:26Speaker 2: others and keep those of grace in their own hands.
- 3:10:32Speaker 2: And further, I consider that a prince ought to cherish
- 3:10:36Speaker 2: the nobles, but not so as to make himself hated
- 3:10:39Speaker 2: by the people. It may appear, perhaps to some who
- 3:10:44Speaker 2: have examined the lives and deaths of the Roman emperors,
- 3:10:49Speaker 2: that many of them would be an example, contrary to
- 3:10:51Speaker 2: my opinion, seeing that some of them lived nobly and
- 3:10:55Speaker 2: showed great qualities of soul. Nevertheless, they have lost their
- 3:11:00Speaker 2: empire or have been killed by subjects who have conspired
- 3:11:04Speaker 2: against them. Wishing therefore, to answer these objections, I will
- 3:11:10Speaker 2: recall the characters of some of the emperors, and will
- 3:11:13Speaker 2: show that the causes of their ruin were not different
- 3:11:17Speaker 2: to those alleged by me. At the same time, I
- 3:11:21Speaker 2: will only submit for consideration those things that are noteworthy
- 3:11:26Speaker 2: to him who studies the affairs of those times. It
- 3:11:30Speaker 2: seems to me sufficient to take all those emperors who
- 3:11:34Speaker 2: succeeded to the empire, from Marcus the Philosopher down to Maximinus.
- 3:11:40Speaker 2: They were Marcus and his son Commodus, Pertinax, Julian, Severus
- 3:11:47Speaker 2: and his son Antonius Caracalla, Macrinus, Heliogabalus, Alexander, and Maximinus.
- 3:11:59Speaker 2: There is first to note that, whereas in other principalities
- 3:12:04Speaker 2: the ambition of the nobles and the insolence of the
- 3:12:06Speaker 2: people only have to be contended with, the Roman empress
- 3:12:11Speaker 2: had a third difficulty in having to put up with
- 3:12:14Speaker 2: the cruelty and avarice of their soldiers, a matter so
- 3:12:19Speaker 2: beset with difficulties that it was the ruin of many.
- 3:12:23Speaker 2: For it was a hard thing to give satisfaction both
- 3:12:27Speaker 2: to soldiers and people. Because the people loved peace, and
- 3:12:32Speaker 2: for this reason they loved the unaspiring prince, whilst the
- 3:12:36Speaker 2: soldiers loved the warlike prince, who was bold, cruel, and rapacious,
- 3:12:42Speaker 2: which qualities they were quite willing he should exercise upon
- 3:12:45Speaker 2: the people. So that they could get double pay and
- 3:12:49Speaker 2: give vent to their own greed and cruelty. Hence, it
- 3:12:54Speaker 2: arose that those emperors were always overthrown who, either by
- 3:12:58Speaker 2: birth or training, had no great authority. And most of them,
- 3:13:03Speaker 2: especially those who came new to the principality, recognizing the
- 3:13:07Speaker 2: difficulty of these two opposing humors, were inclined to give
- 3:13:12Speaker 2: satisfaction to the soldiers, caring little about injuring the people,
- 3:13:17Speaker 2: which cause was necessary, because as princes cannot help being
- 3:13:22Speaker 2: hated by some one, they ought in the first place
- 3:13:25Speaker 2: to avoid being hated by every one, And when they
- 3:13:29Speaker 2: cannot compass this, they ought to endeavor with the utmost
- 3:13:33Speaker 2: diligence to avoid the hatred of the most powerful. Therefore,
- 3:13:39Speaker 2: those emperors who through inexperience had need of special favor
- 3:13:44Speaker 2: adhered more readily to the soldiers than to the people,
- 3:13:48Speaker 2: a course which turned out advantageous to them, or not accordingly,
- 3:13:52Speaker 2: as the prince knew how to maintain authority over them.
- 3:13:57Speaker 2: From these causes, it arose that Marcus, Pertinax and Alexander,
- 3:14:03Speaker 2: being all men of modest life, lovers of justice, enemies
- 3:14:07Speaker 2: to cruelty, humane and benignant, came to a sad end.
- 3:14:12Speaker 2: Except Marcus, he alone lived and died honored, because he
- 3:14:17Speaker 2: had succeeded to the throne by hereditary title, and owed
- 3:14:21Speaker 2: nothing either to the soldiers or the people, and afterwards,
- 3:14:26Speaker 2: being possessed of many virtues which made him respected, he
- 3:14:30Speaker 2: always kept both orders in their places whilst he lived,
- 3:14:34Speaker 2: and was neither hated nor despised. But Pertinax was created
- 3:14:41Speaker 2: emperor against the wishes of the soldiers, who, being accustomed
- 3:14:45Speaker 2: to live licentiously under Commodus, could not endure the honest
- 3:14:50Speaker 2: life to which Pertinax wished to reduce them. Thus having
- 3:14:55Speaker 2: given cause for hatred, to which hatred there was added
- 3:14:58Speaker 2: contempt for his old age, he was overthrown at the
- 3:15:02Speaker 2: very beginning of his administration. And here it should be
- 3:15:06Speaker 2: noted that hatred is acquired as much by good works
- 3:15:10Speaker 2: as by bad ones. Therefore, as I said before, a
- 3:15:15Speaker 2: prince wishing to keep his state is very often forced
- 3:15:19Speaker 2: to do evil. For when that body is corrupt, whom
- 3:15:24Speaker 2: you think you have need of to maintain yourself, it
- 3:15:28Speaker 2: may be either the people, or the soldiers, or the nobles.
- 3:15:32Speaker 2: You have to submit to its humors and to gratify them,
- 3:15:36Speaker 2: And then good works will do you harm. But let
- 3:15:42Speaker 2: us come to Alexander, who is a man of such
- 3:15:45Speaker 2: great goodness that, among the other praises which are accorded him,
- 3:15:50Speaker 2: is this that in the fourteen years he held the empire,
- 3:15:54Speaker 2: no one was ever put to death by him unjudged. Nevertheless,
- 3:16:00Speaker 2: being considered effeminate and a man who allowed himself to
- 3:16:03Speaker 2: be governed by his mother, he became despised. The army
- 3:16:08Speaker 2: conspired against him and murdered him. Turning now to the
- 3:16:14Speaker 2: opposite characters of Commodius, Severus, at Ninus, Caracalla, and Maximinis,
- 3:16:22Speaker 2: you will find them all cruel and rapacious men who,
- 3:16:25Speaker 2: to satisfy their soldiers, did not hesitate to commit every
- 3:16:29Speaker 2: kind of iniquity against the people. And all except Severus
- 3:16:35Speaker 2: came to a bad end. But in Severus there was
- 3:16:39Speaker 2: so much valor that keeping the soldiers friendly. Although the
- 3:16:44Speaker 2: people were oppressed by him, he reigned successfully, for his
- 3:16:48Speaker 2: valor made him so much admired in the sight of
- 3:16:51Speaker 2: the soldiers and people, that the latter were kept in
- 3:16:54Speaker 2: a way astonished and awed, and the former respectful and satisfied.
- 3:17:00Speaker 2: And because the actions of this man, as a new prince,
- 3:17:04Speaker 2: were great, I wish to show briefly that he knew
- 3:17:07Speaker 2: well how to counterfeit the fox and the lion, which natures.
- 3:17:12Speaker 2: As I said above, it is necessary for a prince
- 3:17:15Speaker 2: to imitate. Knowing this loss of the Emperor Julian, he
- 3:17:22Speaker 2: persuaded the Armian's Glavonia, of which he was captain, that
- 3:17:27Speaker 2: it would be right to go to Rome and avenge
- 3:17:29Speaker 2: the death of Pertinax, who had been killed by the
- 3:17:32Speaker 2: Pretorian soldiers. And under this pretext, without appearing to aspire
- 3:17:38Speaker 2: to the throne, he moved the army on Rome and
- 3:17:41Speaker 2: reached Italy before it was known that he had started.
- 3:17:46Speaker 2: On his arrival at Rome, the Senate, through fear, elected
- 3:17:50Speaker 2: him emperor and killed Julian. After this, there remained for Severus,
- 3:17:56Speaker 2: who wished to make himself master of the whole empire
- 3:18:00Speaker 2: two difficulties, one in Asia, where Niger, head of the
- 3:18:05Speaker 2: Asiatic Army, had caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, the
- 3:18:10Speaker 2: other in the West, where Albinus was, who also aspired
- 3:18:14Speaker 2: to the throne, And as he considered it dangerous to
- 3:18:18Speaker 2: declare himself hostile to both, he decided to attack Niger
- 3:18:23Speaker 2: and to deceive Albinus to the latter, he wrote that,
- 3:18:27Speaker 2: being elected emperor by the Senate, he was willing to
- 3:18:31Speaker 2: share that dignity with him, and sent him the title
- 3:18:34Speaker 2: of Caesar, and moreover, that the Senate had made Albinus
- 3:18:39Speaker 2: his colleague, which things were accepted by Albinus as true.
- 3:18:45Speaker 2: But after Severus had conquered and killed Niger and settled
- 3:18:50Speaker 2: oriental affairs, he returned to Rome and complained to the
- 3:18:54Speaker 2: Senate that Albinus, little recognizing the benefits that he had
- 3:18:59Speaker 2: received from him, had by treachery, sought to murder him,
- 3:19:03Speaker 2: and for this ingratitude he was compelled to punish him. Afterwards,
- 3:19:09Speaker 2: he sought him out in France and took from him
- 3:19:12Speaker 2: his government and life. He who will therefore carefully examine
- 3:19:18Speaker 2: the actions of this man will find him a most
- 3:19:21Speaker 2: valiant lion and a most cunning fox. He will find
- 3:19:25Speaker 2: him feared and respected by every one, and not hated
- 3:19:29Speaker 2: by the army. And it need not be wondered at
- 3:19:32Speaker 2: that he, a new man, was able to hold the
- 3:19:35Speaker 2: empire so well because his supreme renown always protected him
- 3:19:40Speaker 2: from that hatred which the people might have conceived against
- 3:19:44Speaker 2: him for his violence. But his son Antoninus was a
- 3:19:51Speaker 2: most eminent man, and had very excellent qualities, which made
- 3:19:55Speaker 2: him admirable in the sight of the people and acceptable
- 3:19:59Speaker 2: to this Sodo, for he was a warlike man, most
- 3:20:03Speaker 2: enduring of fatigue, a despiser of all delicate food and
- 3:20:08Speaker 2: other luxuries, which caused him to be beloved by the armies. Nevertheless,
- 3:20:14Speaker 2: his ferocity and cruelties were so great and so unheard of, that,
- 3:20:20Speaker 2: after endless single murders he killed a large number of
- 3:20:24Speaker 2: the people of Rome and all those of Alexandria. He
- 3:20:28Speaker 2: became hated by the whole world, and also feared by
- 3:20:32Speaker 2: those he had around him, to such an extent that
- 3:20:35Speaker 2: he was murdered in the midst of his army by
- 3:20:38Speaker 2: a centurion. And here it must be noted that such
- 3:20:43Speaker 2: like deaths, which are deliberately inflicted with a resolved and
- 3:20:47Speaker 2: desperate courage, cannot be avoided by princes, because any one
- 3:20:51Speaker 2: who does not fear to die can inflict them. But
- 3:20:55Speaker 2: a prince may fear them the less, because they are
- 3:20:58Speaker 2: very rare. He has only to be careful not to
- 3:21:01Speaker 2: do any grave injury to those whom he employs or
- 3:21:05Speaker 2: has around him in the service of the state. Antoninus
- 3:21:09Speaker 2: had not taken this care, but had contumiliously killed a
- 3:21:14Speaker 2: brother of that centurion, whom also he daily threatened, yet
- 3:21:18Speaker 2: retained in his bodyguard, which, as it turned out, was
- 3:21:22Speaker 2: a rush thing to do, and proved the emperor's ruin.
- 3:21:28Speaker 2: But let us come to Commodus, to whom it should
- 3:21:31Speaker 2: have been very easy to hold the empire, for being
- 3:21:35Speaker 2: the son of Marcus, he had inherited it, and he
- 3:21:38Speaker 2: had only to follow in the footsteps of his father
- 3:21:41Speaker 2: to please his people and soldiers. But being by nature
- 3:21:45Speaker 2: cruel and brutal, he gave himself up to amusing the
- 3:21:49Speaker 2: soldiers and corrupting them so that he might indulge his
- 3:21:53Speaker 2: rapacity upon the people. On the other hand, not maintaining
- 3:21:57Speaker 2: his dignity, often descending to the theater to compete with gladiators,
- 3:22:02Speaker 2: and doing other vile things little worthy of the imperial majesty,
- 3:22:08Speaker 2: he fell into contempt with the soldiers, and, being hated
- 3:22:12Speaker 2: by one party and despised by the other, he was
- 3:22:16Speaker 2: conspired against and was killed. It remains to discuss the
- 3:22:22Speaker 2: character of Maximinus. He was a very warlike man, and
- 3:22:28Speaker 2: the armies, being disgusted with the effeminacy of Alexander, of
- 3:22:33Speaker 2: whom I have already spoken, killed him and elected Maximinus
- 3:22:37Speaker 2: to the throne. This he did not possess for long,
- 3:22:41Speaker 2: for two things made him hated and despised. The one
- 3:22:46Speaker 2: his having kept sheep in Thrace, which brought him into contempt,
- 3:22:51Speaker 2: it being well known to all and considered a great
- 3:22:54Speaker 2: indignity by every one. And the other his having, at
- 3:22:59Speaker 2: the accession to his dominions, deferred going to Rome and
- 3:23:03Speaker 2: taking possession of the imperial seat. He had also gained
- 3:23:07Speaker 2: a reputation for the utmost ferocity by having, through his
- 3:23:11Speaker 2: prefects in Rome and elsewhere in the Empire, practiced many cruelties,
- 3:23:17Speaker 2: so that the whole world was moved to anger at
- 3:23:20Speaker 2: the meanness of his birth and to fear at his barbarity.
- 3:23:26Speaker 2: First Africa rebelled, Then the Senate, with all the people
- 3:23:30Speaker 2: of Rome and all Italy, conspired against him, to which
- 3:23:34Speaker 2: may be added his own army, this latter, besieging Aquileia,
- 3:23:40Speaker 2: and meeting with difficulties in taking it, were disgusted with
- 3:23:44Speaker 2: his cruelties, and, fearing him less, when they found so
- 3:23:47Speaker 2: many against him, murdered him. I do not wish to
- 3:23:53Speaker 2: discuss Heliogobalus, Macrinus or Julian, who, being thoroughly contemptible, were
- 3:24:00Speaker 2: quickly wiped out. But I will bring this discourse to
- 3:24:04Speaker 2: a conclusion by saying that princes in our times have
- 3:24:08Speaker 2: this difficulty of giving inordinate satisfaction to their soldiers in
- 3:24:13Speaker 2: a far less degree, because notwithstanding one has to give
- 3:24:18Speaker 2: them some indulgence that is soon done. None of these
- 3:24:22Speaker 2: princes have armies that are veterans in the governance and
- 3:24:26Speaker 2: administration of provinces, as were the armies of the Roman Empire.
- 3:24:32Speaker 2: And whereas it was then more necessary to give satisfaction
- 3:24:36Speaker 2: to the soldiers than to the people, it is now
- 3:24:39Speaker 2: more necessary to all princes, except the Turk and the Soldan,
- 3:24:44Speaker 2: to satisfy the people rather than the soldiers, because the
- 3:24:49Speaker 2: people are the more powerful. From the above, I have
- 3:24:56Speaker 2: accepted the Turk, who always keeps round him twelve thousand
- 3:25:00Speaker 2: infantry and fifteen thousand cavalry, on which depend the security
- 3:25:05Speaker 2: and strength of the kingdom, and it is necessary that,
- 3:25:09Speaker 2: putting aside every consideration for the people, he should keep
- 3:25:13Speaker 2: them his friends. The kingdom of the soldan is similar,
- 3:25:18Speaker 2: being entirely in the hands of soldiers. It follows again
- 3:25:22Speaker 2: that without regard to the people, he must keep them
- 3:25:25Speaker 2: his friends. But you must note that the state of
- 3:25:29Speaker 2: the Soldan is unlike all the other principalities, for the
- 3:25:33Speaker 2: reason that it is like the Christian pontificate, which cannot
- 3:25:37Speaker 2: be called either a hereditary or a newly formed principality,
- 3:25:43Speaker 2: because the sons of the old prince are not the heirs,
- 3:25:46Speaker 2: but he who is elected to that position by those
- 3:25:50Speaker 2: who have authority, and the sons remain only noblemen. And
- 3:25:55Speaker 2: this being an ancient custom, it cannot be called a
- 3:25:59Speaker 2: new principality, because there are none of those difficulties in
- 3:26:02Speaker 2: it that are met with in the new ones. For
- 3:26:06Speaker 2: although the prince is new, the constitution of the state
- 3:26:09Speaker 2: is old, and it is framed so as to receive
- 3:26:12Speaker 2: him as if he were its hereditary lord. But returning
- 3:26:19Speaker 2: to the subject of our discourse, I say that whoever
- 3:26:22Speaker 2: will consider it will acknowledge that either hatred or contempt
- 3:26:27Speaker 2: has been fatal in the above named emperors, And it
- 3:26:30Speaker 2: will be recognized also how it happened that a number
- 3:26:34Speaker 2: of them, acting in one way and a number in another,
- 3:26:38Speaker 2: only one in each way came to a happy end,
- 3:26:42Speaker 2: and the rest to unhappy ones, because it would have
- 3:26:46Speaker 2: been useless and dangerous for Pertinax and Alexander, being new princes,
- 3:26:52Speaker 2: to imitate Marcus, who was heir to the principality. And
- 3:26:56Speaker 2: likewise it would have been utterly destructive to Caracolor, Commodus
- 3:27:01Speaker 2: and Maximinus to have imitated Severus, they not having sufficient
- 3:27:06Speaker 2: valor to enable them to tread in his footsteps. Therefore,
- 3:27:11Speaker 2: a prince new to the principality cannot imitate the actions
- 3:27:16Speaker 2: of Marcus. Nor again, is it necessary to follow those
- 3:27:20Speaker 2: of Severus. But he ought to take from Severus those
- 3:27:24Speaker 2: parts to found his state, and from Marcus those which
- 3:27:29Speaker 2: are proper and glorious to keep a state that may
- 3:27:33Speaker 2: already be stable and firm end of Chapter nineteen.
- 3:27:42Speaker 1: Chapter twenty are fortresses and many other things to which
- 3:27:47Speaker 1: princes often resort, advantageous or hurtful. One. Some princes, so
- 3:27:57Speaker 1: as to hold securely the state, tellt disarmed their subjects.
- 3:28:02Speaker 1: Others have kept their subject towns distracted by factions. Others
- 3:28:06Speaker 1: have fostered enmities against themselves. Others have laid themselves out
- 3:28:12Speaker 1: to gain over those whom they distrusted. In the beginning,
- 3:28:15Speaker 1: of their governments. Some have built fortresses, some have overthrown
- 3:28:20Speaker 1: and destroyed them. And although one cannot give a final
- 3:28:24Speaker 1: judgment on all of these things unless one possesses the
- 3:28:27Speaker 1: particulars of those states in which a decision has to
- 3:28:31Speaker 1: be made, Nevertheless, I will speak as comprehensively as the
- 3:28:35Speaker 1: matter of itself will admit. Two, there never was a
- 3:28:43Speaker 1: new prince who has disarmed his subjects. Rather, when he
- 3:28:47Speaker 1: has found them disarmed, he has always armed them, Because
- 3:28:51Speaker 1: by arming them those arms become yours. Those men who
- 3:28:56Speaker 1: were distrusted become faithful, and those who were faith are
- 3:29:00Speaker 1: kept so, and your subjects become your adherents. And whereas
- 3:29:05Speaker 1: all subjects cannot be armed, yet when those whom you
- 3:29:10Speaker 1: do arm are benefited, the others can be handled more freely.
- 3:29:14Speaker 1: And this difference in their temperament, which they quite understand,
- 3:29:19Speaker 1: makes the former your dependence, and the latter, considering it
- 3:29:23Speaker 1: to be a necessity that those who have the most
- 3:29:26Speaker 1: danger and service should have the most reward, excuse you.
- 3:29:31Speaker 1: But when you disarm them, you at once offend them
- 3:29:35Speaker 1: by showing that you distrust them, either for cowardice or
- 3:29:39Speaker 1: for want of loyalty. And either of these opinions breeds
- 3:29:43Speaker 1: hatred against you. And because you cannot remain unarmed, it
- 3:29:48Speaker 1: follows that you should turn to mercenaries, which are of
- 3:29:51Speaker 1: the character already shown. Even if they should be good,
- 3:29:55Speaker 1: they would not be sufficient to defend you against powerful
- 3:29:58Speaker 1: enemies and dis trusted subjects. Therefore, as I have said,
- 3:30:04Speaker 1: a new prince in a new principality has always distributed arms.
- 3:30:10Speaker 1: Histories are full of examples. But when a prince acquires
- 3:30:13Speaker 1: a new state, which he adds as a province to
- 3:30:16Speaker 1: his old one, then it is necessary to disarm the
- 3:30:20Speaker 1: men of that state, except those who have been his
- 3:30:24Speaker 1: adherents in acquiring it. And these, again, with time and opportunity,
- 3:30:29Speaker 1: should be rendered soft and effeminate, and matters should be
- 3:30:32Speaker 1: managed in such a way that all the armed men
- 3:30:36Speaker 1: in the state shall be your own soldiers, who, in
- 3:30:40Speaker 1: your old state were living near you. Three our forefathers,
- 3:30:48Speaker 1: those who were reckoned wise, were accustomed to say that
- 3:30:52Speaker 1: it was necessary to hold Pistoia by factions and Pisa
- 3:30:56Speaker 1: by fortresses. And with this idea they fostered quarrels in
- 3:31:01Speaker 1: some of their tributary towns so as to keep possession
- 3:31:05Speaker 1: of them the more easily. This may have been well
- 3:31:08Speaker 1: enough in those times when Italy was in a way balanced,
- 3:31:13Speaker 1: but I do not believe that it can be accepted
- 3:31:15Speaker 1: as a precept for today, because I do not believe
- 3:31:19Speaker 1: that factions can ever be of use. Rather, it is
- 3:31:22Speaker 1: certain that when the enemy comes upon you in divided cities,
- 3:31:27Speaker 1: you are quickly lost, because the weakest party will always
- 3:31:31Speaker 1: assist the outside forces, and the other will not be
- 3:31:34Speaker 1: able to resist. The Venetians, moved, as I believe, by
- 3:31:39Speaker 1: the above reasons, fostered the Gath and Ghibelin factions in
- 3:31:43Speaker 1: their tributary cities. And although they never allowed them to
- 3:31:48Speaker 1: come to bloodshed, yet they nursed these disputes among them
- 3:31:52Speaker 1: so that the citizens distracted by their differences should not
- 3:31:56Speaker 1: unite against them, which, as we saw, did not afterwards
- 3:32:01Speaker 1: turn out as expected, because after the route at Valia,
- 3:32:05Speaker 1: one party at once took courage and seize the state.
- 3:32:10Speaker 1: Such methods argue therefore weakness in the prince, because these
- 3:32:14Speaker 1: factions will never be permitted in a vigorous principality. Such
- 3:32:19Speaker 1: methods for enabling one the more easily to manage subjects
- 3:32:24Speaker 1: are only useful in times of peace. But if war comes,
- 3:32:28Speaker 1: this policy proves fallacious. Se without doubt, princes become great
- 3:32:37Speaker 1: when they overcome the difficulties and obstacles by which they
- 3:32:40Speaker 1: are confronted, and therefore, fortune, especially when she desires to
- 3:32:46Speaker 1: make a new prince great, who has a greater necessity
- 3:32:49Speaker 1: to earn renown than an hereditary one, causes enemies to
- 3:32:53Speaker 1: arise and form designs against him, in order that he
- 3:32:57Speaker 1: may have the opportunity of overcoming them, and by them,
- 3:33:01Speaker 1: to mount higher, as by a ladder which his enemies
- 3:33:05Speaker 1: have raised. For this reason, many consider that the wise prince,
- 3:33:10Speaker 1: when he has the opportunity, ought with craft, to foster
- 3:33:14Speaker 1: some animosity against himself, so that, having crushed it, his
- 3:33:19Speaker 1: renown may rise higher. Five Princes, especially new ones, have
- 3:33:28Speaker 1: found more fidelity and assistance in those men who, in
- 3:33:33Speaker 1: the beginning of their rule were distrusted than among those
- 3:33:37Speaker 1: who in the beginning were trusted. Pandolfo Petrucci, Prince of Sienna,
- 3:33:42Speaker 1: ruled his state more by those who had been distrusted
- 3:33:46Speaker 1: than by others. But on this question one cannot speak generally,
- 3:33:51Speaker 1: for it varies so much with the individual. I will
- 3:33:55Speaker 1: only say this that those men who at the commencements
- 3:33:59Speaker 1: of a prince to man have been hostile. If they
- 3:34:02Speaker 1: are of a description to need assistance to support themselves,
- 3:34:06Speaker 1: can always be gained over with the greatest ease, and
- 3:34:10Speaker 1: they will be tightly held to serve the Prince with fidelity,
- 3:34:13Speaker 1: inasmuch as they know it to be very necessary for
- 3:34:17Speaker 1: them to cancel by deeds the bad impression which he
- 3:34:21Speaker 1: had formed of them. And thus the Prince always extracts
- 3:34:26Speaker 1: more profit from them than from those who serving him
- 3:34:30Speaker 1: in too much security, may neglect his affairs. And since
- 3:34:36Speaker 1: the matter demands it, I must not fail to warn
- 3:34:38Speaker 1: a prince who, by means of secret favors, has acquired
- 3:34:42Speaker 1: a new state, that he must well consider the reasons
- 3:34:46Speaker 1: which induced those to favor him who did so. And
- 3:34:50Speaker 1: if it be not a natural affection toward him, but
- 3:34:53Speaker 1: only discontent with their government, then he will only keep
- 3:34:58Speaker 1: them friendly with great great trouble and difficulty, for it
- 3:35:02Speaker 1: will be impossible to satisfy them. And weighing well the
- 3:35:06Speaker 1: reasons for this, in those examples which can be taken
- 3:35:10Speaker 1: from ancient and modern affairs, we shall find that it
- 3:35:13Speaker 1: is easier for the prince to make friends of those
- 3:35:16Speaker 1: men who were contented under their former government, and are
- 3:35:20Speaker 1: therefore his enemies, than of those who, being discontented with it,
- 3:35:26Speaker 1: were favorable to him and encouraged him to seize it. Six.
- 3:35:34Speaker 1: It has been accustomed with princes, in order to hold
- 3:35:37Speaker 1: their states more securely, to build fortresses that they may
- 3:35:41Speaker 1: serve as a bridle and bit to those who might
- 3:35:44Speaker 1: design to work against them, and as a place of
- 3:35:47Speaker 1: refuge from a first attack. I praise this system because
- 3:35:52Speaker 1: it has been made use of formerly. Notwithstanding that Messer
- 3:35:56Speaker 1: Nicolo Vitelli in our times has been seen to demolish
- 3:36:00Speaker 1: two fortresses in Sitta di Castello that he might keep
- 3:36:04Speaker 1: that state. Guido Ubaldo, Duke of Verbino, on returning to
- 3:36:09Speaker 1: his dominion, whence he had been driven by Caesri Borgia,
- 3:36:13Speaker 1: raised to the foundations all the fortresses in that province,
- 3:36:18Speaker 1: and considered that without them it would be more difficult
- 3:36:21Speaker 1: to lose it. The bent VOGUEI, returning to Bologna, came
- 3:36:27Speaker 1: to a similar decision. Fortresses, therefore, are useful or not
- 3:36:32Speaker 1: according to circumstances. If they do you good in one way,
- 3:36:36Speaker 1: they injure you in another. And this question can be
- 3:36:40Speaker 1: reasoned thus the prince who has more to fear from
- 3:36:44Speaker 1: the people than from foreigners, ought to build fortresses. But
- 3:36:49Speaker 1: he who has more to fear from foreigners than from
- 3:36:52Speaker 1: the people, ought to leave them alone. The Castle of Milan,
- 3:36:57Speaker 1: built by Francesco Saborza, has made and will make, more
- 3:37:02Speaker 1: trouble for the House of Saborza than any other disorder
- 3:37:06Speaker 1: in the state. For this reason, the best possible fortress
- 3:37:10Speaker 1: is not to be hated by the people, because although
- 3:37:14Speaker 1: you may hold the fortresses, yet they will not save
- 3:37:17Speaker 1: you if the people hate you, For there will never
- 3:37:20Speaker 1: be wanting foreigners to assist a people who have taken
- 3:37:24Speaker 1: arms against you. It has not been seen in our
- 3:37:27Speaker 1: times that such fortresses have been used to any prince,
- 3:37:32Speaker 1: unless to the Countess of Forli, when the Count Girolamo,
- 3:37:36Speaker 1: her consort, was killed, For by that means she was
- 3:37:39Speaker 1: able to withstand the popular attack and wait for assistance
- 3:37:43Speaker 1: from Milan and thus recover her state. And the posture
- 3:37:46Speaker 1: of affairs was such at that time that the foreigners
- 3:37:50Speaker 1: could not assist the people, but fortresses were of little
- 3:37:54Speaker 1: value to her. Afterwards, when Caesaribolgia attacked her, and when
- 3:37:59Speaker 1: the people her enemy were allied with the foreigners. Therefore,
- 3:38:03Speaker 1: it would have been safer for her, both then and before,
- 3:38:08Speaker 1: not to have been hated by the people, than to
- 3:38:11Speaker 1: have had the fortresses. All these things considered, then I
- 3:38:15Speaker 1: shall praise him who builds fortresses, as well as him
- 3:38:20Speaker 1: who does not, and I shall blame whoever, trusting in them,
- 3:38:25Speaker 1: cares little about being hated by the people. Chapter twenty one.
- 3:38:34Speaker 1: How a prince should conduct himself so as to gain renown.
- 3:38:40Speaker 1: Nothing makes a prince so much esteemed as great enterprises.
- 3:38:44Speaker 1: And setting a fine example, we have in our time
- 3:38:48Speaker 1: Ferdinand of Aragon, the present King of Spain. He can
- 3:38:53Speaker 1: almost be called a new prince, because he has risen
- 3:38:57Speaker 1: by fame and glory from being an insignate, nificant king
- 3:39:01Speaker 1: to being the foremost king in Christendom. And if you
- 3:39:04Speaker 1: will consider his deeds, you will find them all great deeds,
- 3:39:08Speaker 1: and some of them extraordinary. In the beginning of his
- 3:39:12Speaker 1: reign he attacked Grenada, and this enterprise was the foundation
- 3:39:17Speaker 1: of his dominions. He did this quietly at first, and
- 3:39:20Speaker 1: without any fear of hindrance, for he held the minds
- 3:39:24Speaker 1: of the barons of Castile occupied in thinking of the war,
- 3:39:29Speaker 1: and not anticipating any innovations. Thus they did not perceive
- 3:39:34Speaker 1: that by these means he was acquiring power and authority
- 3:39:37Speaker 1: over them. He was able, with the money of the
- 3:39:41Speaker 1: church and of the people, to sustain his armies, and
- 3:39:45Speaker 1: by that long war, to lay the foundation for the
- 3:39:48Speaker 1: military skill which has since distinguished him. Further, always using
- 3:39:54Speaker 1: religion as a plea so as to undertake greater schemes,
- 3:39:58Speaker 1: he devoted himself with pious cruelty to driving out and
- 3:40:03Speaker 1: clearing his kingdom of the moors. Nor could there be
- 3:40:07Speaker 1: a more admirable example, nor one so rare. Under this
- 3:40:12Speaker 1: same cloak, he assailed Africa, he came down on Italy,
- 3:40:17Speaker 1: he was finally attacked France. And thus his achievements and
- 3:40:21Speaker 1: designs have always been great, and have kept the minds
- 3:40:25Speaker 1: of his people in suspense and admiration and occupied with
- 3:40:29Speaker 1: the issue of them, And his actions have risen in
- 3:40:32Speaker 1: such a way one out of the other, that men
- 3:40:35Speaker 1: have never been given time to work steadily against him. Again,
- 3:40:42Speaker 1: it much assists a prince to set unusual examples in
- 3:40:47Speaker 1: internal affairs, similar to those which are related of Messer
- 3:40:51Speaker 1: Bernabo di Milano, who, when he had the opportunity by
- 3:40:56Speaker 1: anyone in civil life doing such extraordinary things, being either
- 3:41:00Speaker 1: good or bad, would take some method of rewarding or
- 3:41:04Speaker 1: punishing him, which would be very much spoken about. And
- 3:41:09Speaker 1: a prince ought above all things, always endeavor in every
- 3:41:13Speaker 1: action to gain for himself the reputation of being a
- 3:41:17Speaker 1: great and remarkable man. The prince is also respected when
- 3:41:24Speaker 1: he is either a true friend or a downright enemy,
- 3:41:28Speaker 1: that is to say, when, without any reservation, he declares
- 3:41:32Speaker 1: himself in favor of one party against another, which course
- 3:41:36Speaker 1: will always be more advantageous than standing neutral. Because if
- 3:41:41Speaker 1: two of your powerful neighbors come to blows, they are
- 3:41:45Speaker 1: of such a character that if one of them conquers,
- 3:41:49Speaker 1: you either have to fear him or not. In either case,
- 3:41:53Speaker 1: it will always be more advantageous for you to declare
- 3:41:57Speaker 1: yourself and make war strenuously, because if the first case,
- 3:42:02Speaker 1: if you do not declare yourself, you will invariably fall
- 3:42:06Speaker 1: a prey to the conqueror. To the pleasure and satisfaction
- 3:42:10Speaker 1: of him who has been conquered. You will have no
- 3:42:14Speaker 1: reasons to offer, nor anything to protect or to shelter you,
- 3:42:19Speaker 1: because he who conquers does not want doubtful friends who
- 3:42:23Speaker 1: will not aid him in time of trial, and he
- 3:42:26Speaker 1: who loses will will not harbor you, because you did
- 3:42:30Speaker 1: not willingly soard in hand court his fate. Antiochus went
- 3:42:38Speaker 1: into Greece, being sent for by the Aetolians to drive
- 3:42:42Speaker 1: out the Romans. He sent envoys to the Achaeans, who
- 3:42:46Speaker 1: were friends of the Romans, exhorting them to remain neutral,
- 3:42:50Speaker 1: and on the other hand, the Romans urged them to
- 3:42:53Speaker 1: take up arms. This question came to be discussed in
- 3:42:57Speaker 1: the Council of the Achaeans, where the of Antiochus urge
- 3:43:01Speaker 1: them to stand neutral. To this, the Roman legate answered,
- 3:43:05Speaker 1: as for that which has been said, that it is
- 3:43:08Speaker 1: better and more advantageous for your state not to interfere
- 3:43:12Speaker 1: in our war. Nothing can be more erroneous, because by
- 3:43:17Speaker 1: not interfering, you will be left without favor or consideration
- 3:43:22Speaker 1: the gurdon of the conqueror. Thus it will always happen
- 3:43:27Speaker 1: that he who is not your friend will demand your neutrality,
- 3:43:32Speaker 1: whilst he who is your friend will entreat you to
- 3:43:35Speaker 1: declare yourself with arms and irresolute. Princes, to avoid present dangers,
- 3:43:41Speaker 1: generally follow the neutral path and are generally ruined. But
- 3:43:46Speaker 1: when a prince declares himself gallantly in favor of one side,
- 3:43:51Speaker 1: if the party with whom he allies himself conquers. Although
- 3:43:55Speaker 1: the victor may be powerful and have him at his mercy,
- 3:43:58Speaker 1: yet he is in debt to him, and there is
- 3:44:02Speaker 1: established a bond of amity. And men are never so
- 3:44:06Speaker 1: shameless as to become a monument of ingratitude by oppressing you. Victories,
- 3:44:12Speaker 1: after all, are never so complete that the victor must
- 3:44:15Speaker 1: not show some regard, especially to justice. But if he
- 3:44:21Speaker 1: with whom you ally yourself loses, you may be sheltered
- 3:44:25Speaker 1: by him, and whilst he is able, he may aid
- 3:44:29Speaker 1: you and become your companions on a fortune that may
- 3:44:33Speaker 1: rise again. In the second case, when those who fight
- 3:44:40Speaker 1: are of such a character that you have no anxiety
- 3:44:43Speaker 1: as to who may conquer, so much, the more it
- 3:44:46Speaker 1: is greater prudence to be allied, because you assist that
- 3:44:50Speaker 1: the destruction of one by the aid of another, who,
- 3:44:54Speaker 1: if he had been wise, would have saved him and conquering,
- 3:44:58Speaker 1: as it is impossible that he should not do so
- 3:45:01Speaker 1: with your assistance, he remains at your discretion. And here
- 3:45:06Speaker 1: it is to be noted that a prince ought to
- 3:45:09Speaker 1: take care never to make an alliance with one more
- 3:45:12Speaker 1: powerful than himself for the purposes of attacking others, unless
- 3:45:17Speaker 1: necessity compels him, as it is said above, because if
- 3:45:22Speaker 1: he conquers, you are at his discretion, and princes ought
- 3:45:26Speaker 1: to avoid as much as possible, being in the discretion
- 3:45:30Speaker 1: of anyone. The Venetians joined with France against the Duke
- 3:45:35Speaker 1: of Milan, and this alliance, which cause their ruin, could
- 3:45:39Speaker 1: have been avoided. But when it cannot be avoided, as
- 3:45:43Speaker 1: happened to the Florentines, when the Pope and Spain sent
- 3:45:47Speaker 1: armies to attack Lombardy, then in such a case, for
- 3:45:51Speaker 1: the above reasons, the prince ought to favor one of
- 3:45:54Speaker 1: the parties. Never let any government imagine that it can
- 3:46:00Speaker 1: choose perfectly safe courses. Rather let it expect to have
- 3:46:06Speaker 1: to take very doubtful ones. Because it is found in
- 3:46:10Speaker 1: ordinary affairs that one never seeks to avoid one trouble
- 3:46:15Speaker 1: without running into another. But prudence consists in knowing how
- 3:46:20Speaker 1: to distinguish the character of troubles, and for choice to
- 3:46:24Speaker 1: take the lesser evil. A prince ought also to show
- 3:46:30Speaker 1: himself a patron of ability, and to honor the proficient
- 3:46:35Speaker 1: in every art. At the same time, he should encourage
- 3:46:39Speaker 1: his citizens to practice their callings peaceably, both in commerce
- 3:46:43Speaker 1: and in agriculture, and in every other following, so that
- 3:46:48Speaker 1: one should not be deterred from improving his possessions for
- 3:46:53Speaker 1: fear lest they be taken away from him, or another
- 3:46:56Speaker 1: from opening up trade for fear of taxes. But the
- 3:47:00Speaker 1: prince ought to offer rewards to whoever wishes to do
- 3:47:03Speaker 1: these things and designs in any way to honor his
- 3:47:07Speaker 1: city or state. Further, he ought to entertain the people
- 3:47:12Speaker 1: with festivals and spectacles at convenient seasons of the year.
- 3:47:16Speaker 1: And as every city is divided into guilds or into societies,
- 3:47:21Speaker 1: he ought to hold such bodies in esteem, and associate
- 3:47:25Speaker 1: with them sometimes, and show himself an example of courtesy
- 3:47:29Speaker 1: and liberality, nevertheless always maintaining the majesty of his rank.
- 3:47:36Speaker 1: For this he must never consent to abate in anything.
- 3:47:43Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two, concerning the secretaries of princes. The choice
- 3:47:51Speaker 1: of serpents is of no little importance to a prince,
- 3:47:54Speaker 1: and they are good or not according to the discrimination
- 3:47:58Speaker 1: of the prince. And the first opinion which one forms
- 3:48:02Speaker 1: of a prince and of his understanding, is by observing
- 3:48:06Speaker 1: the men who he has around him, and when they
- 3:48:09Speaker 1: are capable and faithful, he may always be considered wise,
- 3:48:13Speaker 1: because he has known how to recognize the capable and
- 3:48:18Speaker 1: to keep them faithful. But when they are otherwise, one
- 3:48:21Speaker 1: cannot form a good opinion of him for the prime
- 3:48:25Speaker 1: error which he has made in choosing them. There were
- 3:48:30Speaker 1: none who knew Messer Antonio de Venofro as a servant
- 3:48:33Speaker 1: of Pandolfo Petrucci, Prince of Sienna, who would not consider
- 3:48:38Speaker 1: Pandolpho to be a very clever man in having Panafro
- 3:48:41Speaker 1: for his servant. Because there are three classes of intellects,
- 3:48:46Speaker 1: one which comprehends by itself, another which appreciates what others
- 3:48:52Speaker 1: have comprehended, and a third which neither comprehends by itself
- 3:48:57Speaker 1: nor by the showing of others. The first is most excellent,
- 3:49:01Speaker 1: the second is good, the third is useless. Therefore, it
- 3:49:05Speaker 1: follows necessarily that if Pandolpho was not in the first rank,
- 3:49:11Speaker 1: he was in the second. For whenever one has judgment
- 3:49:15Speaker 1: to know good and bad when it is said and done,
- 3:49:18Speaker 1: although he himself may not have the initiative, yet he
- 3:49:22Speaker 1: can recognize the good and bad in his servant, and
- 3:49:26Speaker 1: the one can praise and the other correct. Thus the
- 3:49:30Speaker 1: servants cannot hope to deceive him, and are kept honest.
- 3:49:36Speaker 1: But to enable a prince to form an opinion of
- 3:49:39Speaker 1: his servant, there is one test which never fails. When
- 3:49:44Speaker 1: you see the servant thinking more of his own interests
- 3:49:47Speaker 1: than of yours, and seeking inwardly his own profit in everything,
- 3:49:53Speaker 1: such a man will never make a good servant, nor
- 3:49:56Speaker 1: will you ever be able to trust him, because he
- 3:50:00Speaker 1: who has the state of another in his hands, ought
- 3:50:04Speaker 1: never to think of himself, but always of his prince,
- 3:50:08Speaker 1: and never pay any attention to matters in which the
- 3:50:12Speaker 1: prince is not concerned. On the other hand, to keep
- 3:50:17Speaker 1: his servant honest, a prince ought to study him, honoring him,
- 3:50:21Speaker 1: enriching him, doing him kindnesses, sharing with him the honors
- 3:50:26Speaker 1: and cares, and at the same time let him see
- 3:50:30Speaker 1: that he cannot stand alone, so that many honors may
- 3:50:34Speaker 1: not make him desire more, many riches make him wish
- 3:50:38Speaker 1: for more, and that many cares may make him dread chances.
- 3:50:43Speaker 1: When therefore, servants and princes towards servants are thus disposed,
- 3:50:48Speaker 1: they can trust each other. But when it is otherwise,
- 3:50:51Speaker 1: the end will always be disastrous for either one or
- 3:50:56Speaker 1: the other. End of Chapter twenty two of The Prince
- 3:51:01Speaker 1: by Niccolo Marchiarelli.
- 3:51:04Speaker 6: Chapter twenty three, How flatterers should be avoided. I do
- 3:51:12Speaker 6: not wish to leave out an important branch of this subject,
- 3:51:16Speaker 6: for it is a danger from which princes are with
- 3:51:20Speaker 6: difficulty preserved unless they are very careful and discriminating. It
- 3:51:27Speaker 6: is that of flatterers, of whom courts are full, because
- 3:51:33Speaker 6: men are so self complaisant in their own affairs, and
- 3:51:37Speaker 6: in a way so deceived in them, that they are
- 3:51:41Speaker 6: preserved with difficulty from this pest. And if they wish
- 3:51:46Speaker 6: to defend themselves, they run the danger of falling into contempt.
- 3:51:52Speaker 6: Because there is no other way of guarding oneself from
- 3:51:55Speaker 6: flatterers except letting men understand that to tell you the
- 3:52:00Speaker 6: truth does not offend you, but when everyone may tell
- 3:52:04Speaker 6: you the truth, respect for you abates. Therefore, a wise
- 3:52:13Speaker 6: prince ought to hold a third course, by choosing the
- 3:52:17Speaker 6: wise men in his state, and giving to them only
- 3:52:21Speaker 6: the liberty of speaking the truth to him, and then
- 3:52:25Speaker 6: only of the things of which he inquires, and of
- 3:52:28Speaker 6: none others. But he ought to question them upon everything,
- 3:52:32Speaker 6: and listen to their opinions, and afterwards form his own conclusions.
- 3:52:39Speaker 6: With these counselors separately and collectively. He ought to carry
- 3:52:43Speaker 6: himself in such a way that each of them should
- 3:52:46Speaker 6: know that the more freely he shall speak, the more
- 3:52:50Speaker 6: he shall be preferred. Outside of these, he should listen
- 3:52:55Speaker 6: to no one, pursue the thing resolved on, and be
- 3:53:00Speaker 6: steadfast in his resolutions. He who does otherwise is either
- 3:53:06Speaker 6: overthrown by flatterers, or is so often changed by varying
- 3:53:10Speaker 6: opinions that he falls into contempt. I wish on this
- 3:53:20Speaker 6: subject to adduce a modern example. Fra Luca, the man
- 3:53:26Speaker 6: of affairs to Maximilian, the present Emperor, speaking of his majesty,
- 3:53:32Speaker 6: said he consulted with no one, yet never got his
- 3:53:37Speaker 6: own way in anything. This arose because of his following
- 3:53:44Speaker 6: a practice the opposite to the above. For the Emperor
- 3:53:48Speaker 6: is a secretive man. He does not communicate his designs
- 3:53:52Speaker 6: to anyone, nor does he receive opinions on them. But
- 3:53:57Speaker 6: as in carrying them into effect they become revealed and known,
- 3:54:02Speaker 6: they are at once obstructed by those men whom he
- 3:54:06Speaker 6: has around him, and he, being pliant, is diverted from them.
- 3:54:11Speaker 6: Hence it follows that those things he does one day,
- 3:54:16Speaker 6: he undoes the next, and no one ever understands what
- 3:54:20Speaker 6: he wishes or intends to do, and no one can
- 3:54:23Speaker 6: rely on his resolutions. Begin note Maximilian the First born
- 3:54:32Speaker 6: in fourteen fifty nine died in fifteen nineteen, Emperor of
- 3:54:36Speaker 6: the Holy Roman Empire. He married first Mary, daughter of
- 3:54:41Speaker 6: Charles the Bold, after her death Bianca Cephorza, and thus
- 3:54:47Speaker 6: became involved in Italian politics. End note. A prince therefore
- 3:54:57Speaker 6: ought always to take counsel, but only when he wishes,
- 3:55:01Speaker 6: and not when others wish. He ought rather to discourage
- 3:55:06Speaker 6: every one from offering advice unless he asks it. But however,
- 3:55:12Speaker 6: he ought to be a constant inquirer and afterwards a
- 3:55:16Speaker 6: patient listener concerning the things of which he inquired. Also,
- 3:55:22Speaker 6: on learning that any one, on any consideration has not
- 3:55:26Speaker 6: told him the truth, he should let his anger be felt.
- 3:55:33Speaker 6: And if there are some who think that a prince
- 3:55:35Speaker 6: who conveys an impression of his wisdom is not so
- 3:55:38Speaker 6: through his own ability, but through the good advisers that
- 3:55:42Speaker 6: he has around him, beyond doubt, they are deceived, because
- 3:55:47Speaker 6: this is an axiom which never fails. That a prince
- 3:55:51Speaker 6: who is not wise himself will never take good advice,
- 3:55:55Speaker 6: unless by chance he has yielded his affairs entirely to
- 3:55:58Speaker 6: one person who happens to be a very prudent man.
- 3:56:02Speaker 6: In this case, indeed, he may be well governed, but
- 3:56:07Speaker 6: it would not be for long, because such a governor
- 3:56:11Speaker 6: would in a short time take away his state from him.
- 3:56:15Speaker 6: But if a prince who is not inexperienced should take
- 3:56:20Speaker 6: counsel from more than one, he will never get united councils,
- 3:56:25Speaker 6: nor will they know how to unite them. Each of
- 3:56:28Speaker 6: the councilors will think of his own interests, and the
- 3:56:32Speaker 6: prince will not know how to control them or to
- 3:56:35Speaker 6: see through them. And they are not to found otherwise,
- 3:56:39Speaker 6: because men will always prove untrue to you unless they
- 3:56:44Speaker 6: are kept honest by constraint. Therefore, it must be inferred
- 3:56:50Speaker 6: that good counsels, whensoever they come, are born of the
- 3:56:54Speaker 6: wisdom of the prince, and not the wisdom of the prince.
- 3:56:58Speaker 6: From good Count Chapter twenty four, Why the princes of
- 3:57:07Speaker 6: Italy have lost their states. The previous suggestions, carefully observed
- 3:57:15Speaker 6: will enable a new prince to appear well established and
- 3:57:18Speaker 6: render him at once more secure and fixed in the
- 3:57:22Speaker 6: state than if he had been long seated there. For
- 3:57:26Speaker 6: the actions of a new prince are more narrowly observed
- 3:57:30Speaker 6: than those of an hereditary one, and when they are
- 3:57:33Speaker 6: seen to be able to gain more men and bind
- 3:57:36Speaker 6: far tighter than ancient blood. Because men are more attracted
- 3:57:40Speaker 6: by the present than the past, and when they find
- 3:57:44Speaker 6: the present good, they enjoy it and seek no further.
- 3:57:49Speaker 6: They also make the most defense of a prince if
- 3:57:52Speaker 6: he fails them not in other things. Thus it will
- 3:57:57Speaker 6: be a double glory for him to have established an
- 3:58:00Speaker 6: new principality and adorned and strengthened it with good laws,
- 3:58:03Speaker 6: good arms, good allies, and with a good example. So
- 3:58:08Speaker 6: it will be a double disgrace to him who born
- 3:58:11Speaker 6: a prince shall lose his state by want of wisdom.
- 3:58:18Speaker 6: And if those seignors are considered who have lost their
- 3:58:22Speaker 6: states in Italy in our times, such as the King
- 3:58:26Speaker 6: of Naples, the Duke of Milan, and others, there will
- 3:58:31Speaker 6: be found in them, firstly, one common defect in regard
- 3:58:35Speaker 6: to arms, from the causes which have been discussed at
- 3:58:38Speaker 6: length in the next place, some one of them will
- 3:58:42Speaker 6: be seen either to have had the people hostile or
- 3:58:47Speaker 6: if he has had the people friendly, he has not
- 3:58:51Speaker 6: known how to secure the nobles. In the absence of
- 3:58:55Speaker 6: these defects, states that have power enough to keep an
- 3:58:58Speaker 6: army in the field cannot be lost. Philip of Macedon,
- 3:59:07Speaker 6: not the father of Alexander the Great, but he who
- 3:59:10Speaker 6: was conquered by Titus Quintineus, had not much territory compared
- 3:59:16Speaker 6: to the greatness of the Romans and of Greece who
- 3:59:19Speaker 6: attacked him. Yet, being a warlike man who knew how
- 3:59:23Speaker 6: to attract the people and secure the nobles, he sustained
- 3:59:27Speaker 6: the war against his enemies for many years, and if
- 3:59:31Speaker 6: in the end he lost a dominion of some cities,
- 3:59:34Speaker 6: nevertheless he retained the kingdom. Therefore, do not let our
- 3:59:41Speaker 6: princes accuse fortune for the loss of their principalities after
- 3:59:46Speaker 6: so many years possession, but rather their own sloth, because
- 3:59:51Speaker 6: in quiet times they never thought there could be a change.
- 3:59:56Speaker 6: It is a common defected man not to take any
- 3:59:59Speaker 6: provi in the calm against the tempest, And when afterwards
- 4:00:05Speaker 6: the bad times came, they thought of flight and not
- 4:00:08Speaker 6: of defending themselves. And they hoped that the people, disgusted
- 4:00:12Speaker 6: with the insolence of the conquerors would recall them. This
- 4:00:16Speaker 6: course when others fail, may be good, but it is
- 4:00:20Speaker 6: very bad to have neglected all the other expedients for that,
- 4:00:25Speaker 6: since you would never wish to fall, because you trusted
- 4:00:29Speaker 6: to be able to find some one later on to
- 4:00:31Speaker 6: restore you. This again, either does not happen, or if
- 4:00:35Speaker 6: it does, it will not be for your security, because
- 4:00:39Speaker 6: that deliverance is of no avail which does not depend
- 4:00:42Speaker 6: upon yourself. Those only are reliable, certain, and durable that
- 4:00:49Speaker 6: depend on yourself and your valor Chapter twenty five. What
- 4:00:57Speaker 6: fortune can effect in human affairs and how to withstand her?
- 4:01:03Speaker 6: It is not unknown to me how many men have
- 4:01:07Speaker 6: had and still have the opinion that the affairs of
- 4:01:12Speaker 6: the world are in such wise governed by fortune and
- 4:01:17Speaker 6: by God, that men, with their wisdom cannot direct them,
- 4:01:22Speaker 6: and that no one can even help them. And because
- 4:01:25Speaker 6: of this they would have us believe that it is
- 4:01:28Speaker 6: not necessary to labor much in affairs, but to let
- 4:01:33Speaker 6: chance govern them. This opinion has been more credited in
- 4:01:38Speaker 6: our times because of the great changes in affairs which
- 4:01:41Speaker 6: have been seen and may still be seen every day,
- 4:01:45Speaker 6: beyond all human conjecture. Sometimes pondering this I am in
- 4:01:51Speaker 6: some degree inclined to their opinion, nevertheless, not to extinguish
- 4:01:57Speaker 6: our free will. I hold it to be true that
- 4:02:00Speaker 6: Fortune is the arbiter of one half of our actions,
- 4:02:05Speaker 6: but that she still leaves us to direct the other half,
- 4:02:10Speaker 6: or perhaps a little less. Begin note Frederick the Great
- 4:02:17Speaker 6: was accustomed to say, the older one gets, the more
- 4:02:22Speaker 6: convinced one becomes that his Majesty King Chance does three
- 4:02:26Speaker 6: quarters of the business of this miserable universe. From Sorel's
- 4:02:34Speaker 6: eastern question end note, I compare her to one of
- 4:02:42Speaker 6: those raging rivers, which, when in flood, overflows the plains,
- 4:02:48Speaker 6: sweeping away trees and buildings, bearing away the soil from
- 4:02:52Speaker 6: place to place. Everything flies before it, all yield to
- 4:02:56Speaker 6: its violence, without being in any way to withstand it.
- 4:03:01Speaker 6: And yet though its nature be such, it does not
- 4:03:05Speaker 6: follow therefore that men, when the weather becomes fair, shall
- 4:03:10Speaker 6: not make provision both with defenses and barriers, in such
- 4:03:15Speaker 6: a manner that, rising again, the waters may pass away
- 4:03:19Speaker 6: by canal, and their force be neither so unrestrained nor
- 4:03:22Speaker 6: so dangerous. So it happens with Fortune, who shows her
- 4:03:27Speaker 6: power where valor has not prepared to resist her, and
- 4:03:31Speaker 6: thither she turns her forces where she knows that barriers
- 4:03:35Speaker 6: and defenses have not been raised to constrain her. And
- 4:03:40Speaker 6: if you will consider Italy, which is the seat of
- 4:03:45Speaker 6: these changes, and which has been given to them their impulse,
- 4:03:49Speaker 6: you will see it to be an open country without
- 4:03:52Speaker 6: barriers and without any defense. For if it had been
- 4:03:56Speaker 6: defended by proper valor, as are Germany, Spain and France,
- 4:04:02Speaker 6: either this invasion would not have made that great changes
- 4:04:06Speaker 6: it has made, or it would not have come at all.
- 4:04:09Speaker 6: And this I consider enough to say concerning resistance to
- 4:04:14Speaker 6: fortune in general, but confining myself more to the particular,
- 4:04:21Speaker 6: I say that a prince may be seen happy today
- 4:04:25Speaker 6: and ruined tomorrow, without having shown any change of disposition
- 4:04:30Speaker 6: or character. This I believe arises firstly from causes that
- 4:04:35Speaker 6: have already been discussed at length, namely, that the prince
- 4:04:39Speaker 6: who relies entirely on fortune is lost when it changes.
- 4:04:43Speaker 6: I believe also that he will succeed who directs his
- 4:04:48Speaker 6: actions according to the spirit of the times, and that
- 4:04:51Speaker 6: he whose actions do not accord with the times will
- 4:04:55Speaker 6: not be successful. Because men are seen in affairs that
- 4:05:00Speaker 6: lead to the end which every man has before him,
- 4:05:03Speaker 6: namely glory, and riches to get there by various methods,
- 4:05:08Speaker 6: one with caution, another with haste, one with force, another
- 4:05:13Speaker 6: by skill, one by patience, another by its opposite, And
- 4:05:15Speaker 6: each one succeeds in reaching the goal by a different method.
- 4:05:21Speaker 6: One can also see of two cautious men, the one
- 4:05:25Speaker 6: attain his end, the other fail. And similarly, two men
- 4:05:29Speaker 6: of different observances are also equally successful, the one being cautious,
- 4:05:34Speaker 6: the other impetuous. All this arises from nothing else than
- 4:05:39Speaker 6: whether or not they can form in their methods to
- 4:05:41Speaker 6: the spirit of the times. This follows from what I
- 4:05:44Speaker 6: have said, that two men working differently bring about the
- 4:05:49Speaker 6: same effect, and of two working similarly, one attains his
- 4:05:54Speaker 6: object and the other does not. Changes in a state
- 4:06:02Speaker 6: also issue from this. For if to one who governs
- 4:06:07Speaker 6: himself with caution and patience, time and affairs converts in
- 4:06:12Speaker 6: such a way that his administration is successful, his fortune
- 4:06:16Speaker 6: is made. But if time and affairs change, he is
- 4:06:21Speaker 6: ruined if he does not change his course of action.
- 4:06:26Speaker 6: But a man is not often found sufficiently circumspect to
- 4:06:31Speaker 6: know how to accommodate himself to the change, both because
- 4:06:35Speaker 6: he cannot deviate from what nature inclines him to do.
- 4:06:38Speaker 6: But also because having always prospered by acting in one way,
- 4:06:43Speaker 6: he cannot be persuaded that it is well to leave it.
- 4:06:47Speaker 6: And therefore the cautious man, when it is time to
- 4:06:51Speaker 6: turn adventurous, does not know how to do it. Hence
- 4:06:56Speaker 6: he is ruined. But had he changed his conduct with
- 4:07:00Speaker 6: the times, fortune would not have changed. Pope Julius the
- 4:07:08Speaker 6: second went to work impetuously in all his affairs, and
- 4:07:13Speaker 6: found times and circumstances conformed so well to that line
- 4:07:17Speaker 6: of action that he always met with success. Consider his
- 4:07:22Speaker 6: first enterprise against Bologna, Monsieur Giovanni Bentvioli being still alive.
- 4:07:30Speaker 6: The Venetians were not agreeable to it, nor was the
- 4:07:35Speaker 6: King of Spain, and he had the enterprise still under
- 4:07:38Speaker 6: his discussion with the King of France. Nevertheless, he personally
- 4:07:43Speaker 6: entered upon the expedition with his accustomed boldness and energy,
- 4:07:48Speaker 6: a move which made Spain and the Venetians stand irresolute
- 4:07:51Speaker 6: and passive, the latter from fear, the former from desire
- 4:07:56Speaker 6: to recover the Kingdom of Naples. And on the other hand,
- 4:08:00Speaker 6: he drew after him the King of France, because that king,
- 4:08:04Speaker 6: having observed the movement, and, desiring to make the pope's
- 4:08:07Speaker 6: friend so as to humble the Venetians, found it impossible
- 4:08:11Speaker 6: to refuse him. Therefore, Julius, with his impetuous action, accomplished
- 4:08:18Speaker 6: what no other pontiff with simple human wisdom could have done.
- 4:08:22Speaker 6: For if he had waited in Rome until he could
- 4:08:25Speaker 6: get away, with his plans arranged and everything fixed, as
- 4:08:29Speaker 6: any other pontiff would have done, he would never have succeeded,
- 4:08:35Speaker 6: because the King of France would have made a thousand excuses,
- 4:08:39Speaker 6: and others would have raised a thousand fears. I will
- 4:08:44Speaker 6: leave his other actions alone, as they were all alike,
- 4:08:48Speaker 6: and they all succeeded, for the shortness of his life
- 4:08:51Speaker 6: did not let him experience the contrary. But if circumstances
- 4:08:54Speaker 6: had arisen which required him to go cautiously, his ruin
- 4:08:59Speaker 6: would have followed, because he would never have deviated from
- 4:09:03Speaker 6: those ways to which nature inclined him. I conclude therefore,
- 4:09:09Speaker 6: that fortune, being changeful and mankind steadfast in their ways,
- 4:09:14Speaker 6: so long as the two are in agreement, man is successful,
- 4:09:18Speaker 6: but unsuccessful when they fall out. For my part, I
- 4:09:23Speaker 6: consider that it is better to be adventurous than cautious,
- 4:09:27Speaker 6: because fortune is a woman, and if you wish to
- 4:09:30Speaker 6: keep her under, it is necessary to beat her and
- 4:09:34Speaker 6: ill use her. And it is seen that she allows
- 4:09:37Speaker 6: herself to be mastered by the adventuress, rather than those
- 4:09:41Speaker 6: who go to work more coldly. She is therefore always
- 4:09:46Speaker 6: womanlike a lover of young men, because they are less cautious,
- 4:09:51Speaker 6: more violent, and with more audacity command her Chapter twenty six,
- 4:10:00Speaker 6: Exhortation to liberate Italy from the Barbarians. Having carefully considered
- 4:10:07Speaker 6: the subject of the above discourses, and wondering within myself
- 4:10:12Speaker 6: whether the present times were propitious to a new prince,
- 4:10:17Speaker 6: and whether there were elements that would give an opportunity
- 4:10:21Speaker 6: to a wise and virtuous want to introduce a new
- 4:10:24Speaker 6: order of things which would do honor to him and
- 4:10:27Speaker 6: good to the people of his country, it appears to
- 4:10:30Speaker 6: me that so many things concur to favor a new prince,
- 4:10:34Speaker 6: that I never knew a time more fit than the present.
- 4:10:39Speaker 6: And if, as I have said, it was necessary that
- 4:10:44Speaker 6: the people of Israel should be captive so as to
- 4:10:47Speaker 6: make manifest the ability of Moses, that the persons should
- 4:10:51Speaker 6: be oppressed by Mades so as to discover the greatness
- 4:10:55Speaker 6: of the soul of Cyrus, and that the Athenian should
- 4:10:59Speaker 6: be dispersed to illustrate the capabilities of theseus. Then at
- 4:11:04Speaker 6: the present time, in order to discover the virtue of
- 4:11:07Speaker 6: an Italian spirit, it is necessary that Italy should be
- 4:11:12Speaker 6: reduced to the extremity that she is now, in, that
- 4:11:16Speaker 6: she should be more enslaved than the Hebrews, more oppressed
- 4:11:20Speaker 6: than the Persians, more scattered than the Athenians, without head,
- 4:11:24Speaker 6: without order, beaten, despoiled, torn overrun, and to have endured
- 4:11:30Speaker 6: every kind of desolation. Although lately some spark may have
- 4:11:37Speaker 6: been shown by one which made us think he was
- 4:11:40Speaker 6: ordained by God for his redemption, Nevertheless, it was afterwards seen,
- 4:11:46Speaker 6: in the height of his career, that fortune rejected him,
- 4:11:50Speaker 6: so that Italy left as without life, waits for him
- 4:11:54Speaker 6: who shall yet heal her wounds and put an end
- 4:11:58Speaker 6: to the ravaging and the plundering of Lombardy, to the
- 4:12:02Speaker 6: swindling and taxing of the kingdom and of Tuscany, and
- 4:12:05Speaker 6: cleanse those sores that for long have festered. It is
- 4:12:11Speaker 6: seen how she entreats God to sends some one who
- 4:12:15Speaker 6: shall deliver her from these wrongs and barbarous insolences. It
- 4:12:20Speaker 6: is seen also that she is ready and willing to
- 4:12:24Speaker 6: follow a banner, if only some one will raise it.
- 4:12:32Speaker 6: Nor is there to be seen at present one in
- 4:12:35Speaker 6: whom she can place more hope than in your illustrious house,
- 4:12:40Speaker 6: with its valor and fortune, favored by God and by
- 4:12:43Speaker 6: the Church of which it is now chief, and which
- 4:12:48Speaker 6: could be made the head of this redemption. This will
- 4:12:52Speaker 6: not be difficult if you will recall to yourself the
- 4:12:56Speaker 6: actions and lives of the men I have named, and all,
- 4:13:00Speaker 6: although they were great and wonderful men, yet they were men,
- 4:13:05Speaker 6: and each of them had no more opportunity than present offers.
- 4:13:10Speaker 6: For their enterprises were neither more just nor easier than this.
- 4:13:15Speaker 6: Nor was God more their friend than he is yours.
- 4:13:22Speaker 6: Begin Note Giuolano de Medici. He had just been created
- 4:13:30Speaker 6: a cardinal by Leo the tenth. In fifteen twenty three,
- 4:13:35Speaker 6: Giulano was elected pope, who took the title of Clement
- 4:13:40Speaker 6: the seventh.
- 4:13:42Speaker 3: End.
- 4:13:43Speaker 6: Note with us there is great justice, because that war
- 4:13:51Speaker 6: is just, which is necessary, and arms are hollowed when
- 4:13:56Speaker 6: there is no other hope. But in them here there
- 4:14:01Speaker 6: is the greatest willingness, And where the willingness is great.
- 4:14:04Speaker 6: The difficulties cannot be great if you will only follow
- 4:14:09Speaker 6: those men to whom I have directed your attention. Further
- 4:14:12Speaker 6: than this, have extraordinarily the ways of God have been manifested.
- 4:14:18Speaker 6: Beyond example, the sea is divided, a cloud has led
- 4:14:22Speaker 6: the way, the rock has poured forth water, it has
- 4:14:25Speaker 6: rained manna. Everything has contributed to your greatness. You ought
- 4:14:32Speaker 6: to do the rest. God is not willing to do everything,
- 4:14:36Speaker 6: and thus take away our free will and that share
- 4:14:40Speaker 6: of glory which belongs to us, And it is not
- 4:14:45Speaker 6: to be wondered at all. None of the above mentioned
- 4:14:48Speaker 6: Italians have been able to accomplish all that is expected
- 4:14:52Speaker 6: from your illustrious house. And if, in so many revolutions
- 4:14:56Speaker 6: in Italy and in so many campaigns, it has always
- 4:15:00Speaker 6: appeared as if military virtue were exhausted. This has happened
- 4:15:04Speaker 6: because the old order of things was not good, and
- 4:15:08Speaker 6: none of us has known how to find a new one.
- 4:15:12Speaker 6: And nothing honors man more than to establish new laws
- 4:15:15Speaker 6: and new ordinances when he himself has newly risen. Such things,
- 4:15:22Speaker 6: when they are well founded and dignified, will make him
- 4:15:24Speaker 6: revered and admired. And in Italy there are not wanting
- 4:15:29Speaker 6: opportunities to bring such use into every form. Here there
- 4:15:37Speaker 6: is great valor in the limbs, whilst it fails in
- 4:15:41Speaker 6: the head. Look attentively at the duels and at the
- 4:15:44Speaker 6: hand to hand combats. How superior the Italians are in strength,
- 4:15:49Speaker 6: dexterity and subtlely. But when it comes to armies they
- 4:15:54Speaker 6: do not bear comparison. And this brings entirely from the
- 4:15:59Speaker 6: inefficiency of a leaders, since those who are capable are
- 4:16:03Speaker 6: not obedient, and each one seems to himself to know
- 4:16:09Speaker 6: there having never been anyone so distinguished above the rest,
- 4:16:12Speaker 6: either by valor or fortune, that others would yield to him.
- 4:16:16Speaker 6: Hence it is that, for so long a time, and
- 4:16:20Speaker 6: during so much fighting in the past twenty years, whenever
- 4:16:24Speaker 6: there has been an army holy Italian, it has always
- 4:16:28Speaker 6: given a poor account of itself. The first witness to
- 4:16:32Speaker 6: this is il Taro. Afterwards, Alessandria, Capua, Genoa, Velia, Bologna
- 4:16:40Speaker 6: Maestri begin note the battles of Iltro fourteen ninety five,
- 4:16:49Speaker 6: Alessandria fourteen ninety nine, Capua fifteen oh one, Genoa fifteen
- 4:16:58Speaker 6: oh seven, DA fifteen O nine, Bologna fifteen eleven Maistrie
- 4:17:07Speaker 6: fifteen thirteen end. Note, If therefore, your illustrious house, which
- 4:17:18Speaker 6: is to follow these remarkable men who have redeemed their country,
- 4:17:23Speaker 6: it is necessary, before all things, as a true foundation
- 4:17:26Speaker 6: for every enterprise, to be provided with your own forces,
- 4:17:31Speaker 6: Because there can be no more faithful, truer, or better soldiers.
- 4:17:36Speaker 6: And although singly they are good altogether, they will be
- 4:17:40Speaker 6: much better when they find themselves commanded by their Prince,
- 4:17:43Speaker 6: honored by him, and maintained at his expense. Therefore, it
- 4:17:49Speaker 6: is necessary to be prepared with such arms so that
- 4:17:54Speaker 6: you can be defended against foreigners by Italian valor. And
- 4:18:00Speaker 6: although Swiss and Spanish infantry may be considered very formidable,
- 4:18:06Speaker 6: nevertheless there is a defect in both by reason of
- 4:18:10Speaker 6: which a third order would not only be able to
- 4:18:12Speaker 6: oppose them, but might be relied upon to overthrow them.
- 4:18:18Speaker 6: For the Spaniards cannot resist cavalry, and the Switzers are
- 4:18:24Speaker 6: afraid of infantry whenever they encounter them in close combat.
- 4:18:27Speaker 6: Owing to this, as has been and may be seen,
- 4:18:31Speaker 6: the Spaniards are unable to resist French cavalry, and the
- 4:18:34Speaker 6: Switzers are overthrown by Spanish infantry, and although a complete
- 4:18:40Speaker 6: proof of this latter it cannot be shown. Nevertheless, there
- 4:18:44Speaker 6: has been some evidence of it at the Battle of Ravenna,
- 4:18:47Speaker 6: when the Spanish infantry was confronted by German battalions, who
- 4:18:52Speaker 6: follow the same tactics as the Swiss. When the Spaniards,
- 4:18:56Speaker 6: by agility and body, and with the aid of their shields,
- 4:19:00Speaker 6: got in under the pikes of the Germans and stood
- 4:19:03Speaker 6: out of danger able to attack, while the Germans stood helpless,
- 4:19:08Speaker 6: and if the cavalry had not dashed up, all would
- 4:19:12Speaker 6: have been over with them. It is possible, therefore, knowing
- 4:19:16Speaker 6: the defects of these infantries, to invent a new one
- 4:19:21Speaker 6: which will resist cavalry and not be afraid of infantry.
- 4:19:25Speaker 6: This need not create a new order of arms, but
- 4:19:28Speaker 6: a variation upon the old. And these are the kind
- 4:19:32Speaker 6: of improvements which confer reputation and power upon a new prince.
- 4:19:41Speaker 6: This opportunity therefore ought not to be allowed to pass.
- 4:19:45Speaker 6: For letting Italy at last see her liberator appear. Nor
- 4:19:50Speaker 6: can one express the love with which he would have
- 4:19:54Speaker 6: received in all those provinces which would have suffered so
- 4:19:59Speaker 6: much from the ou these foreign scourings. With what thirst
- 4:20:04Speaker 6: for revenge, with what stubborn faith, with what devotion, with
- 4:20:08Speaker 6: what tears? What door would be closed to him? Who
- 4:20:13Speaker 6: would refuse obedience to him, who would envy, would hinder him,
- 4:20:17Speaker 6: what Italian would refuse him to homage to all of us?
- 4:20:24Speaker 6: This barberous dominion stinks. Let therefore, your illustrious house take
- 4:20:31Speaker 6: up this charge with that courage and hope with which
- 4:20:36Speaker 6: all just enterprises are taken, such that under its standard
- 4:20:41Speaker 6: our native country may be ennobled, and under the auspices
- 4:20:47Speaker 6: may be verified that saying of petrarch.
- 4:20:52Speaker 7: Virtoo contralfuror trender alarme if he a combatcourt guill antico
- 4:21:00Speaker 7: valore neilitali chiquaro nancoormort.
- 4:21:06Speaker 6: Virtue against fury, shall advance the fight, and it is
- 4:21:10Speaker 6: the combat soon shall put to flight, For the old
- 4:21:13Speaker 6: Roman Valor is not dead, nor in the Italian's breasts extinguished.
- 4:21:21Speaker 6: Edward Dacre, sixteen forty, end of chapters twenty three, twenty four,
- 4:21:29Speaker 6: twenty five, and twenty six.
- 4:21:33Speaker 8: Description of the methods adopted by the Duke Valentino when
- 4:21:37Speaker 8: murdering Vitelozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto di Fermo, the Signor Pagolo and
- 4:21:44Speaker 8: the Duke de Gravini Orsini. The Duke Valentino, had returned
- 4:21:49Speaker 8: from Lombardy, where he had been to clear himself with
- 4:21:52Speaker 8: the King of France from the calumnies which had been
- 4:21:55Speaker 8: raised against him by the Florentines concerning the rebellion of
- 4:21:59Speaker 8: Arezzo and other towns in the val Diciani, and had
- 4:22:03Speaker 8: arrived at Imola, whence he intended with his army to
- 4:22:08Speaker 8: enter upon the campaign against Giovanni Bentivogli, the tyrant of Bologna,
- 4:22:14Speaker 8: for he intended to bring that city under his domination
- 4:22:17Speaker 8: and to make it the head of his Romanian duchy.
- 4:22:22Speaker 8: These matters coming to the knowledge of the Vitelli and
- 4:22:25Speaker 8: Orsini and their following, it appeared to them that the
- 4:22:28Speaker 8: Duke would become too powerful, and it was feared that,
- 4:22:33Speaker 8: having seized Bologna, he would seek to destroy them in
- 4:22:36Speaker 8: order that he might become supreme in Italy. Upon this
- 4:22:41Speaker 8: a meeting was called at Maggione, in the district of Perugia,
- 4:22:46Speaker 8: to which came the Cardinal Pagolo and the Duke de Gravini, Orsini, Vielozzo, Vitelli,
- 4:22:52Speaker 8: Olivereto da Fermo, Gianpagallo Baglioni, the Tyrant of Perusia, and
- 4:23:00Speaker 8: es Sir Antonio de Vanafro, sent by Pandolfo Petrucci, the
- 4:23:05Speaker 8: Prince of Siena. Here were discussed the power and courage
- 4:23:08Speaker 8: of the Duke, and the necessity of curbing his ambitions,
- 4:23:12Speaker 8: which might otherwise bring danger to the rest of being ruined.
- 4:23:16Speaker 8: And they decided not to abandon Bentivogli, but to strive
- 4:23:20Speaker 8: to win over the Florentines. And they send their men
- 4:23:23Speaker 8: to one place and another, promising to one party assistance
- 4:23:27Speaker 8: and to another encouragement to unite with them against the
- 4:23:30Speaker 8: common enemy. This meeting was at once reported throughout all Italy,
- 4:23:35Speaker 8: and those who were discontented under the Duke, among whom
- 4:23:39Speaker 8: were the people of Urbino, took hope of effecting a revolution.
- 4:23:44Speaker 8: Thus it arose that men's minds, being thus unsettled, it
- 4:23:48Speaker 8: was decided by certain men of Urbino to seize the
- 4:23:52Speaker 8: fortress of San Leio, which was held for the Duke,
- 4:23:55Speaker 8: and which they captured by the following means. The castilan
- 4:23:59Speaker 8: was forty, fying the rock and causing timber to be
- 4:24:02Speaker 8: taken there. So the conspirators watched, and when certain beams
- 4:24:06Speaker 8: which were being carried to the rock, were upon the bridge,
- 4:24:09Speaker 8: so that it was prevented from being drawn up by
- 4:24:12Speaker 8: those inside. They took the opportunity of leaping upon the
- 4:24:16Speaker 8: bridge and thence into the fortress. Upon this capture being effected,
- 4:24:21Speaker 8: the whole state rebelled and recalled the old Duke, being
- 4:24:26Speaker 8: encouraged in this not so much by the capture of
- 4:24:29Speaker 8: the fort as by the diet of Maggione, from whom
- 4:24:32Speaker 8: they expected to get assistance. Those who heard of the
- 4:24:36Speaker 8: rebellion at Urbino thought they would not lose the opportunity,
- 4:24:40Speaker 8: and at once assembled their men so as to take
- 4:24:42Speaker 8: any town, should any remain in the hands of the
- 4:24:45Speaker 8: Duke in that state. And they sent again to Florence
- 4:24:48Speaker 8: to beg that republic to join with them in destroying
- 4:24:51Speaker 8: the common Firebrand, showing that the risk was lessened and
- 4:24:55Speaker 8: that they ought not to wait for another opportunity. But
- 4:24:59Speaker 8: the Florentines, from hatred for sundry reasons of the Vitelli
- 4:25:04Speaker 8: and Orsini, not only would not ally themselves, but sent
- 4:25:08Speaker 8: Niccolo Machiavelli, their secretary, to offer shelter and assistance to
- 4:25:13Speaker 8: the Duke against his enemies. The Duke was found full
- 4:25:17Speaker 8: of fear at Imola, because, against everybody's expectations, his soldiers
- 4:25:23Speaker 8: had at once gone over to the enemy, and he
- 4:25:26Speaker 8: found himself disarmed on war at his door. But recovering
- 4:25:31Speaker 8: courage from the offers of the Florentines, he decided to
- 4:25:34Speaker 8: temporize before fighting with a few soldiers that remained to him,
- 4:25:39Speaker 8: and to negotiate for a reconciliation and also to get assistance.
- 4:25:45Speaker 8: This latter he obtaining two ways, by sending to the
- 4:25:49Speaker 8: King of France for men, and by enlisting men at
- 4:25:52Speaker 8: arms and others, whom he turned into cavalry of a sort,
- 4:25:56Speaker 8: to all he gave money. Notwithstanding this, his enemies drew
- 4:26:01Speaker 8: near to him and approached for Sanbrone, where they encountered
- 4:26:05Speaker 8: some men of the Duke, and with the aid of
- 4:26:07Speaker 8: the Orsini and Vitelli, rooted them. When this happened, the
- 4:26:11Speaker 8: Duke resolved at once to see if he could not
- 4:26:14Speaker 8: close the trouble with offers of reconciliation, and being a
- 4:26:18Speaker 8: most perfect dissembler, he did not fail in any practices
- 4:26:22Speaker 8: to make the insurgents understand that he wished every man
- 4:26:26Speaker 8: who had acquired anything to keep it as it was
- 4:26:29Speaker 8: enough for him to have the title of prince, whilst
- 4:26:32Speaker 8: others might have the principality. And the Duke succeeded so
- 4:26:36Speaker 8: well in this that they sent Signor Pagolo to him
- 4:26:40Speaker 8: to negotiate for a reconciliation, and they brought their army
- 4:26:43Speaker 8: to a standstill. But the Duke did not stop his preparations,
- 4:26:48Speaker 8: and took every care to provide himself with cavalry and infantry,
- 4:26:52Speaker 8: and that such preparations might not be apparent of the others.
- 4:26:56Speaker 8: He sent his troops in separate parties to every part
- 4:26:59Speaker 8: of their remo. In the meanwhile, there came also to
- 4:27:03Speaker 8: him five hundred French lancers, And although he found himself
- 4:27:08Speaker 8: sufficiently strong to take vengeance on his enemies in open war,
- 4:27:12Speaker 8: he considered that it would be safer and more advantageous
- 4:27:17Speaker 8: to outwit them, And for this reason he did not
- 4:27:20Speaker 8: stop the work of reconciliation. And that this might be affected,
- 4:27:24Speaker 8: the Duke concluded a peace with them, in which he
- 4:27:27Speaker 8: confirmed their former covenants. He gave them four thousand ducats
- 4:27:31Speaker 8: at once. He promised not to injure the Bentivogli, and
- 4:27:36Speaker 8: he formed an alliance with Giovanni and Moreover, he would
- 4:27:39Speaker 8: not force them to come personally into his presence unless
- 4:27:43Speaker 8: it pleased them to do so. On the other hand,
- 4:27:46Speaker 8: they promised to restore to him the Duchy of Urbino
- 4:27:50Speaker 8: and other places seized by them, to serve him in
- 4:27:54Speaker 8: all his expeditions, and not to make war against or
- 4:27:57Speaker 8: ally themselves with any one without his permission. This reconciliation
- 4:28:03Speaker 8: being completed, Guido Ubaldo, the Duke of Urbino, again fled
- 4:28:08Speaker 8: to Venice, having first destroyed all the fortresses in his state,
- 4:28:13Speaker 8: because trusting in the people, he did not wish that
- 4:28:17Speaker 8: the fortresses, which he did not think he could defend,
- 4:28:20Speaker 8: should be held by the enemy, since by these means
- 4:28:24Speaker 8: a check would be kept upon his friends. But the
- 4:28:27Speaker 8: Duke Valentino, having completed this convention and dispersed his men
- 4:28:32Speaker 8: throughout the Romagna, set out for Imola at the end
- 4:28:35Speaker 8: of November, together with his French men at arms. Thence
- 4:28:40Speaker 8: he went to Cicina, where he stayed some time to
- 4:28:43Speaker 8: negotiate with the envoys of the Vitelli and Orsini, who
- 4:28:46Speaker 8: had assembled with their men in the Duchy of Urbino,
- 4:28:50Speaker 8: as to the enterprise in which they should now take part,
- 4:28:53Speaker 8: But nothing being concluded. Oliverotto da Fermo was sent to
- 4:28:57Speaker 8: propose that if the Duke wished to undertake an expedition
- 4:29:01Speaker 8: against Tuscany, they were ready. If he did not wish it,
- 4:29:05Speaker 8: then they would besieged Sinegalia. To this, the Duke replied
- 4:29:09Speaker 8: that he did not wish to enter into war with
- 4:29:12Speaker 8: Tuscany and thus become hostile to the Florentines, but that
- 4:29:16Speaker 8: he was very willing to proceed against Sinegalia. It happened
- 4:29:20Speaker 8: that not long afterwards the town surrendered, but the fortress
- 4:29:23Speaker 8: would not yield to them, because the castilan would not
- 4:29:26Speaker 8: give it up to any one but the Duke in person. Therefore,
- 4:29:30Speaker 8: they exhorted him to come there. This appeared a good
- 4:29:34Speaker 8: opportunity to the Duke, as being invited by them, and
- 4:29:37Speaker 8: not going of his own free will, he would awaken
- 4:29:40Speaker 8: no suspicions, and the more to reassure them, he allowed
- 4:29:44Speaker 8: all the French men atarms who were with him in
- 4:29:47Speaker 8: Lombardy to depart, except the one hundred lancers under Mons
- 4:29:51Speaker 8: de Candales, his brother in law. He left Sina about
- 4:29:55Speaker 8: the middle of December and went to Farno, and with
- 4:29:58Speaker 8: the utmost cunning and clevernes. He persuaded the Vitelli and
- 4:30:02Speaker 8: Orsini to wait for him at Sinegalia, pointing out to
- 4:30:06Speaker 8: them that any lack of compliance would cast a doubt
- 4:30:09Speaker 8: upon the sincerity and permanency of the reconciliation, and that
- 4:30:14Speaker 8: he was a man who wished to make use of
- 4:30:15Speaker 8: the arms and counsel of his friends. But Vitelozzo remained
- 4:30:19Speaker 8: very stubborn, for the death of his brother warned him
- 4:30:23Speaker 8: that he should not offend a prince and afterwards trust him. Nevertheless,
- 4:30:27Speaker 8: persuaded by Pagolo Orsini, whom the Duke had corrupted with
- 4:30:31Speaker 8: gifts and promises, he agreed to wait upon this. The
- 4:30:35Speaker 8: Duke before his departure from Farno, which was to be
- 4:30:39Speaker 8: on the thirtie of the December fifteen O two, communicated
- 4:30:42Speaker 8: his designs to eight of his most trusted followers, among
- 4:30:46Speaker 8: who were Don Michel and the Monseignor Duna, who was
- 4:30:50Speaker 8: afterwards cardinal, and he ordered that as soon as Vitelozzo,
- 4:30:53Speaker 8: Pagolo Orsini, the Duke de Gravini, and Oliverotto should arrive,
- 4:30:58Speaker 8: his followers in pairs should take them one by one,
- 4:31:01Speaker 8: entrusting certain men to certain pairs, who should entertain them
- 4:31:05Speaker 8: until they reached Sinegalia, nor should they be permitted to
- 4:31:09Speaker 8: leave until they came to the Duke's quarters, where they
- 4:31:13Speaker 8: should be seized. The Duke afterwards ordered all his horsemen
- 4:31:17Speaker 8: and infantry, of which there were more than two thousand
- 4:31:20Speaker 8: cavalry and ten thousand footmen, to assemble by daybreak at
- 4:31:24Speaker 8: the Metauro, a river five miles distant from Faro, and
- 4:31:28Speaker 8: await him there. He found himself therefore, on the last
- 4:31:31Speaker 8: day of December at the Metturo with his men, and
- 4:31:34Speaker 8: having sent a cavalcade of about two hundred horsemen before him,
- 4:31:38Speaker 8: he then moved forward the infantry, whom he accompanied with
- 4:31:42Speaker 8: the rest of the men at arms. Farno and Sinegalia
- 4:31:46Speaker 8: are two cities of the La Marca, situate on the
- 4:31:48Speaker 8: shore of the Adriatic Sea, fifteen miles distant from each other,
- 4:31:52Speaker 8: so that he who goes toward Sinegalia has the mountains
- 4:31:56Speaker 8: on his right hand, the bases of which are touched
- 4:31:59Speaker 8: by the sea in some places. The city of Sinegalia
- 4:32:03Speaker 8: is distant from the foot of the mountains little more
- 4:32:06Speaker 8: than a bow shot, and from the shore about a
- 4:32:08Speaker 8: mile on the side opposite to the city runs a
- 4:32:12Speaker 8: little river which baths that part of the walls looking
- 4:32:15Speaker 8: towards Farno facing the high road, which baths that part
- 4:32:18Speaker 8: of the walls looking toward Farno facing the high road. Thus,
- 4:32:23Speaker 8: he who draws near to Sinegalia comes for a good
- 4:32:25Speaker 8: space by road along the mountains and reaches the river
- 4:32:29Speaker 8: which passes by Sinegalia. If he turns to his left
- 4:32:32Speaker 8: hand along the bank of it and goes for the
- 4:32:35Speaker 8: distance of a bow shot, he arrives at a bridge
- 4:32:38Speaker 8: which crosses the river. He is then almost abreast of
- 4:32:41Speaker 8: the gate that leads into Sinegalia, not by a straight line,
- 4:32:45Speaker 8: but transversely. Before this gate there stands a collection of
- 4:32:49Speaker 8: houses with the square to which the bank of the
- 4:32:51Speaker 8: river forms one side. The Vitelli and Orsini, having received
- 4:32:56Speaker 8: orders to wait for the Duke and to honor him
- 4:32:59Speaker 8: in person, sent away their men to several castles distant
- 4:33:02Speaker 8: from Sinegalia, about six miles, so that room could be
- 4:33:06Speaker 8: made for the men of the Duke, and they left
- 4:33:09Speaker 8: in Sinegalia only Olivaratto and his band, which consisted of
- 4:33:13Speaker 8: one thousand infantry and one hundred and fifty horsemen, who
- 4:33:17Speaker 8: were quartered in the suburb mentioned above. Matters having been
- 4:33:21Speaker 8: thus arranged, the Duke Valentino left for Sinegalia, and when
- 4:33:26Speaker 8: the leaders of the cavalry reached the bridge, they did
- 4:33:29Speaker 8: not pass over, but having opened it, one portion wheeled
- 4:33:33Speaker 8: toward the river, and the other toward the country, and
- 4:33:36Speaker 8: away was left in the middle, through which the infantry
- 4:33:38Speaker 8: passed without stopping.
- 4:33:40Speaker 5: In the town.
- 4:33:41Speaker 8: Fittilozzo, Pagolo, and Duke de Gravina, on mules, accompanied by
- 4:33:45Speaker 8: a few horsemen, went toward the Duke. Fittilozzo, unarmed and
- 4:33:50Speaker 8: wearing a cape lined with green, appeared very dejected, as
- 4:33:54Speaker 8: if conscious of his approaching a circumstance which, in view
- 4:33:59Speaker 8: of the ability of the man and his former fortune,
- 4:34:02Speaker 8: caused some amazement. And it is said that when he
- 4:34:05Speaker 8: parted from his men before setting out for Senegalia to
- 4:34:09Speaker 8: meet the Duke, he acted as if it were his last.
- 4:34:12Speaker 8: Parting from them. He recommended his house and its fortunes
- 4:34:16Speaker 8: to his captains, and advised his nephews that it was
- 4:34:20Speaker 8: not the fortune of their house, but the virtues of
- 4:34:23Speaker 8: their fathers that should be kept in mind. These three
- 4:34:27Speaker 8: therefore came before the Duke and saluted him respectfully, and
- 4:34:30Speaker 8: were received by him with good will. They were at
- 4:34:33Speaker 8: once placed between those who had commissioned to look after them.
- 4:34:36Speaker 8: But the Duke, noticing that Oliverotto, who had remained with
- 4:34:39Speaker 8: his band in Saint Negaalia, was missing, for oliver Otto
- 4:34:43Speaker 8: was waiting in the square before his quarters near the river,
- 4:34:46Speaker 8: keeping his men in order and drilling them, signaled with
- 4:34:49Speaker 8: his eye to Don Michel, to whom the care of
- 4:34:51Speaker 8: oliver Otto had been committed, that it should take measures
- 4:34:54Speaker 8: that Oliverotto should not escape. Therefore, Don Michel rode off
- 4:34:59Speaker 8: and joined Oliverotto, telling him that it was not right
- 4:35:02Speaker 8: to keep his men out of their quarters, because these
- 4:35:05Speaker 8: might be taken up by the men of the Duke,
- 4:35:07Speaker 8: and he advised him to send them at once to
- 4:35:10Speaker 8: their quarters and to come himself to meet the Duke.
- 4:35:13Speaker 8: And Oliverotto, having taken this advice, came before the Duke, who,
- 4:35:18Speaker 8: when he saw him, called to him, and Oliverotto, having
- 4:35:21Speaker 8: made his obeisience, joined the others. So the whole party
- 4:35:25Speaker 8: entered Sinegalia, dismounted at the Duke's quarters, and went with
- 4:35:29Speaker 8: him into a secret chamber, where the Duke made them prisoners.
- 4:35:33Speaker 8: He then mounted on horseback and issued orders that the
- 4:35:36Speaker 8: men of Oliverotto and the Orsini should be stripped of
- 4:35:39Speaker 8: their arms. Those of Oliverotto, being at hand, were quickly settled,
- 4:35:44Speaker 8: but those of the Orsini and Vitelli, being at a
- 4:35:47Speaker 8: distance and having a presentiment of the destruction of their masters,
- 4:35:51Speaker 8: had time to prepare themselves. And bearing in mind the
- 4:35:55Speaker 8: valor and discipline of the Orsinian and Vitalian houses, they
- 4:35:59Speaker 8: stood together again the hostile forces of the country and
- 4:36:02Speaker 8: saved themselves. But the Duke's soldiers, not being content with
- 4:36:06Speaker 8: having pillaged the men of Oliverotto, began to sax Inegalia,
- 4:36:10Speaker 8: and if the Duke had not repressed this outrage by
- 4:36:12Speaker 8: killing some of them, they would have completely sacked it.
- 4:36:16Speaker 8: Night having come and the tumult being silenced, the Duke
- 4:36:19Speaker 8: prepared to kill Vitelozzo and Oliverotto. He led them in
- 4:36:23Speaker 8: a room and caused them to be strangled. Neither of
- 4:36:27Speaker 8: them used words in keeping with their past lives. Bittelotto
- 4:36:31Speaker 8: prayed that he might ask of the Pope full pardon
- 4:36:34Speaker 8: for his sins. Oliverotto cringed and laid the blame for
- 4:36:38Speaker 8: all injuries against the Duke on Vitelozzo Pagolo and the
- 4:36:42Speaker 8: Duke de Gravino Orsini were kept alive until the Duke
- 4:36:46Speaker 8: heard from Rome that the Pope had taken the Cardinal Orsino,
- 4:36:50Speaker 8: the Archbishop of Florence, and Messa Jacopo de Santa Croce,
- 4:36:54Speaker 8: after which news on eighteenth of January fifteen o two,
- 4:36:58Speaker 8: in the castle of piev they also were strangled in
- 4:37:01Speaker 8: the same way.
- 4:37:04Speaker 1: End of section The Life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca,
- 4:37:09Speaker 1: written by Niccolo Machiavelli and sent to his friends Zenobi
- 4:37:13Speaker 1: Buono del Monte and Luigi Alamanni Castruccio Castracani twelve eighty
- 4:37:20Speaker 1: four through thirteen twenty eight. It appears, dearest Zenobi and Luigi,
- 4:37:27Speaker 1: a wonderful thing to those who have considered the matter
- 4:37:30Speaker 1: that all men, or the larger number of them, who
- 4:37:33Speaker 1: have performed great deeds in the world and excelled all
- 4:37:37Speaker 1: others in their day, have had their birth and beginning
- 4:37:40Speaker 1: in baseness and obscurity, or have aggrieved by fortune in
- 4:37:45Speaker 1: some outrageous way. They have either been exposed to the
- 4:37:48Speaker 1: mercy of wild beasts, or they have had so mean
- 4:37:52Speaker 1: a parentage, that in shame they have given themselves out
- 4:37:55Speaker 1: to be sons of Jove or some other deity. It
- 4:37:59Speaker 1: would be wearisome to relate who these persons may have been,
- 4:38:03Speaker 1: because they are well known to everybody, and as such
- 4:38:07Speaker 1: tales would not be particularly edifying to those who read them.
- 4:38:10Speaker 1: They are omitted. I believe that these lowly beginnings of
- 4:38:14Speaker 1: great men occur because Fortune is desirous of showing to
- 4:38:19Speaker 1: the world that such men owe much to her and
- 4:38:23Speaker 1: little to wisdom, because she begins to show her hand
- 4:38:27Speaker 1: when wisdom can really take no part in their career. Thus,
- 4:38:31Speaker 1: all success must be attributed to her. Castruccio Castracani of
- 4:38:36Speaker 1: Lucca was one of those men who did great deeds
- 4:38:40Speaker 1: if he is measured by the times in which he
- 4:38:42Speaker 1: lived and the city in which he was born. But
- 4:38:45Speaker 1: like many others, he was neither fortunate nor distinguished in
- 4:38:48Speaker 1: his birth, as the course of this history will show,
- 4:38:52Speaker 1: it appeared to be desirable to recall his memory, because
- 4:38:57Speaker 1: I have discerned in him such indications of valor and
- 4:39:00Speaker 1: fortune as should make him a great exemplar to men.
- 4:39:04Speaker 1: I think also that I ought to call your attention
- 4:39:07Speaker 1: to his actions, because you, of all men I know,
- 4:39:11Speaker 1: delight most in noble deeds. The family of Castracani was
- 4:39:16Speaker 1: formerly numbered among the noble families of Lucca, but in
- 4:39:21Speaker 1: the days of which I speak, it had somewhat fallen
- 4:39:23Speaker 1: in a state, as so often happens in this world.
- 4:39:27Speaker 1: To this family was born a son, Antonio, who became
- 4:39:30Speaker 1: a priest of the Order of San Michel of Lucca,
- 4:39:34Speaker 1: and for this reason was honored with the title of
- 4:39:36Speaker 1: Messer Antonio. He had an only sister, who had been
- 4:39:41Speaker 1: married to Bornocorosso Senami, but Boracorosa dying, she became a widow, and,
- 4:39:47Speaker 1: not wishing to marry again, went to live with her brother.
- 4:39:51Speaker 1: Messer Antonio had a vineyard behind the house where he resided,
- 4:39:55Speaker 1: and as it was bounded on all sides by gardens,
- 4:39:59Speaker 1: any person could have access to it without difficulty. One morning,
- 4:40:04Speaker 1: shortly after sunrise, Madonna di'onoro, as the sister of Messer
- 4:40:08Speaker 1: Antonio was called, had occasion to go into the vineyard
- 4:40:12Speaker 1: as usual to gather herbs for seasoning the dinner, and
- 4:40:16Speaker 1: hearing a slight rustling among the leaves of a vine,
- 4:40:19Speaker 1: she turned her eyes in that direction and heard something
- 4:40:23Speaker 1: resembling the cry of an infant. Whereupon she went towards
- 4:40:28Speaker 1: it and saw the hands and face of a baby
- 4:40:31Speaker 1: who was lying enveloped in the leaves, and who seemed
- 4:40:34Speaker 1: to be crying for its mother. Partly wondering and partly fearing,
- 4:40:39Speaker 1: yet full of compassion, she lifted it up and carried
- 4:40:42Speaker 1: it into the house, where she washed it, clothed it
- 4:40:45Speaker 1: with clean linen, as is customary, and showed it to
- 4:40:49Speaker 1: Messer Antonio when he returned home. When he heard what
- 4:40:53Speaker 1: had happened and saw the child, he was not less
- 4:40:56Speaker 1: surprised or compassionate than his sister. They discussed between themselves
- 4:41:00Speaker 1: what should be done, and seeing that he was priest
- 4:41:03Speaker 1: and that she had no children, they finally determined to
- 4:41:07Speaker 1: bring it up. They had a nurse for it, and
- 4:41:10Speaker 1: it was reared and loved as if it were their
- 4:41:12Speaker 1: own child. They baptized it and gave it the name
- 4:41:16Speaker 1: of Castruccio, after their father. As the years passed, Castruccio
- 4:41:21Speaker 1: grew very handsome and gave evidence of wit and discretion,
- 4:41:25Speaker 1: and learnt with a quickness beyond his years, those lessons
- 4:41:28Speaker 1: which messer Antonio imparted to him. Messer Antonio intended to
- 4:41:33Speaker 1: make a priest of him, and in time he would
- 4:41:37Speaker 1: have inducted him into his cannonry and other beneficence. And
- 4:41:40Speaker 1: all the instruction was given with this object. But Antonio
- 4:41:45Speaker 1: discovered that the character of Castruccio was quite unfitted for
- 4:41:49Speaker 1: the priesthood. As soon as Castruccio reached the age of fourteen,
- 4:41:54Speaker 1: he began to take less notice of the chiding of
- 4:41:57Speaker 1: Master Antonio and Madonna d'onora, and no longer to fear them,
- 4:42:02Speaker 1: he left off reading ecclesiastical books and turned to playing
- 4:42:06Speaker 1: with arms, delighting in nothing so much as in learning
- 4:42:10Speaker 1: their uses, and in running, leaping, and wrestling with the
- 4:42:13Speaker 1: other boys. In all exercises he far excelled his companions
- 4:42:18Speaker 1: in courage and bodily strength. And if at any time
- 4:42:22Speaker 1: he did turn to books, only those pleased him, which
- 4:42:25Speaker 1: told of wars and the mighty deeds of men, Messer
- 4:42:29Speaker 1: Antonio beheld all this with vexation and sorrow. There lived
- 4:42:35Speaker 1: in the city of Lucca a gentleman of the Genie
- 4:42:38Speaker 1: family named Messer Francesco, whose profession was arms, and who
- 4:42:44Speaker 1: in riches, bodily strength and valor excelled all other men
- 4:42:48Speaker 1: in Lucca. He had often fought under the command of
- 4:42:52Speaker 1: the Visconti of Milan, and as a ghibelline, was the
- 4:42:56Speaker 1: valued leader of that party in Lucca. This gentleman resided
- 4:43:00Speaker 1: in Lucca and was accustomed to assemble with others most
- 4:43:04Speaker 1: mornings and evenings under the balcony of the Podesta, which
- 4:43:08Speaker 1: is at the top of the Square of San Michel,
- 4:43:11Speaker 1: the finest square in Lucca. And he had often seen
- 4:43:15Speaker 1: Castruccio taking part with other children in the street in
- 4:43:19Speaker 1: those games of which I have spoken, noticing that Castruccio
- 4:43:23Speaker 1: far excelled the other boys, and that he appeared to
- 4:43:26Speaker 1: exercise a royal authority over them, and that they loved
- 4:43:31Speaker 1: and obeyed him. Messer Francesco became greatly desirous of learning
- 4:43:36Speaker 1: who he was. Being informed of the circumstances of the
- 4:43:40Speaker 1: bringing up of Castruccio, he felt a greater desire to
- 4:43:44Speaker 1: have him near to him. Therefore, he called him one
- 4:43:47Speaker 1: day and asked him whether he would more willingly live
- 4:43:49Speaker 1: in the house of a gentleman, where he would learn
- 4:43:51Speaker 1: to ride horses and use arms, or in the house
- 4:43:54Speaker 1: of a priest, where he would learn nothing but masses
- 4:43:57Speaker 1: and the services of the church. Mes Francesco could see
- 4:44:01Speaker 1: that it pleased caur Struccio greatly to hear horses and
- 4:44:04Speaker 1: arms spoken of, even though he stood silent, blushing modestly,
- 4:44:09Speaker 1: but being encouraged by Messer Francesco to speak, he answered that,
- 4:44:13Speaker 1: if his master were agreeable, nothing would please him more
- 4:44:16Speaker 1: than to give up his priestly studies and take up
- 4:44:19Speaker 1: those of a soldier. This reply delighted Messer Francesco, and
- 4:44:24Speaker 1: in a very short time he obtained the consent of
- 4:44:26Speaker 1: Messer Antonio, who was driven to yield by his knowledge
- 4:44:30Speaker 1: of the nature of the lad and the fear that
- 4:44:33Speaker 1: he would not be able to hold him much longer.
- 4:44:36Speaker 1: Thus Castruccio passed from the house of Messer Antonio the
- 4:44:40Speaker 1: Priest to the house of Messer Francesco Junini the Soldier,
- 4:44:44Speaker 1: and it was astonishing to find that in a very
- 4:44:47Speaker 1: short time he manifested all that virtue and bearing which
- 4:44:50Speaker 1: we are accustomed to associate with the true gentleman. In
- 4:44:54Speaker 1: the first place, he became an accomplished horseman, and could
- 4:44:57Speaker 1: manage with ease the most fiery charger, and in all
- 4:45:00Speaker 1: jousts and tournaments, although still a youth, he was observed
- 4:45:04Speaker 1: beyond all others, and he excelled in all exercises of
- 4:45:09Speaker 1: strength and dexterity. But what enhanced so much the charm
- 4:45:14Speaker 1: of these accomplishments was the delightful modesty, which enabled him
- 4:45:18Speaker 1: to avoid offense in either act or word to others.
- 4:45:22Speaker 1: For he was deferential to the great men, modest with
- 4:45:25Speaker 1: his equals, and courteous to his inferiors. These gifts made
- 4:45:29Speaker 1: him beloved not only by all the Gunini family, but
- 4:45:33Speaker 1: all Luca. When Castruccio had reached his eighteenth year, the
- 4:45:38Speaker 1: Ghibelins were driven from Pavia by the ghosts, and Messer
- 4:45:42Speaker 1: Francesco was sent by the Visconti to assist the Gibelines,
- 4:45:46Speaker 1: and with him when Castruccio in charge of his forces.
- 4:45:50Speaker 1: Castruccio gave ample proof that his prudence and courage in
- 4:45:54Speaker 1: this expedition, acquiring greater reputation than any other captain, and
- 4:45:59Speaker 1: his name and fame were known not only in Pavia
- 4:46:03Speaker 1: but throughout all Lombardy. Castruccio, having returned to Lucca in
- 4:46:09Speaker 1: far higher estimation than he left, it did not omit
- 4:46:13Speaker 1: to use all the means in his power to gain
- 4:46:16Speaker 1: as many friends as he could, neglecting none of those
- 4:46:19Speaker 1: arts which are necessary for that purpose. About this time,
- 4:46:23Speaker 1: Messer Francesco died, leaving a son thirteen years of age
- 4:46:28Speaker 1: named Pagolo, and having appointed Castruccio to be his son's
- 4:46:32Speaker 1: tutor and administrator of his estate. Before he died, Francesco
- 4:46:38Speaker 1: called Castruccio to him and prayed him to show Pagolo
- 4:46:41Speaker 1: the good will thoch he Francesco had always shown to him,
- 4:46:46Speaker 1: and to render to the son the gratitude which he
- 4:46:49Speaker 1: had not been able to repay to the father. Upon
- 4:46:53Speaker 1: the death of Francesco, Custruccio became the governor and tutor
- 4:46:57Speaker 1: of Pagolo, which increased enormous slay his power and position,
- 4:47:02Speaker 1: and created a certain amount of envy against him in
- 4:47:05Speaker 1: Lucca in place of the former universal good will, for
- 4:47:09Speaker 1: many men suspected him of harboring tyrannical intentions. Among these
- 4:47:14Speaker 1: the leading man was Giorgio de Gliopizzi, the head of
- 4:47:18Speaker 1: the Gelth party. This man hoped, after the death of
- 4:47:21Speaker 1: Messer Francesco, to become the chief man in Lucca, but
- 4:47:25Speaker 1: it seemed to him that Castruccio, with the great abilities
- 4:47:29Speaker 1: which he already showed and holding the position of governor,
- 4:47:33Speaker 1: deprived him of this opportunity. Therefore, he began to sow
- 4:47:37Speaker 1: those seeds which should rob Castruccio of his eminence. Gastruccio
- 4:47:42Speaker 1: at first treated this with scorn, but afterwards he grew alarmed,
- 4:47:47Speaker 1: thinking that Messer Giorgio might be able to bring him
- 4:47:50Speaker 1: into disgrace with the deputy of King Ruberto of Naples
- 4:47:54Speaker 1: and have him driven out of Lucca. The lord of
- 4:47:59Speaker 1: Pisa at that time was UGUCCIONI of the Thagarola of Arezzo, who,
- 4:48:04Speaker 1: being in the first place, elected their captain, afterwards became
- 4:48:07Speaker 1: their lord. There resided in Paris some exiled Gibelins from Lucca,
- 4:48:13Speaker 1: with whom Castruccio held communications, with the object of effecting
- 4:48:17Speaker 1: their restoration. With the help of Uguccione. Castruccio also brought
- 4:48:23Speaker 1: into his plans friends from Lucca who would not endure
- 4:48:26Speaker 1: the authority of the Opizzi. Having fixed upon a plan
- 4:48:31Speaker 1: to be followed, Castruccio cautiously fortified the tower of the Onezzi,
- 4:48:36Speaker 1: filling it with supplies and munitions of war, in order
- 4:48:39Speaker 1: that it might stand a siege for a few days
- 4:48:42Speaker 1: in case of need. When the night came, which had
- 4:48:45Speaker 1: been agreed upon with Aguccione, who had occupied the plain
- 4:48:49Speaker 1: between the mountains and Pisa with many men, the signal
- 4:48:53Speaker 1: was given, and without being observed, Aguccioni approached the gate
- 4:48:57Speaker 1: of San Piero and set fire to the Portcullis. Castruccio
- 4:49:02Speaker 1: raised a great uproar within the city, calling the people
- 4:49:05Speaker 1: to arms and forcing open the gate from his side.
- 4:49:09Speaker 1: Uguccioni entered with his men, poured through the town and
- 4:49:13Speaker 1: killed Messer Giorgio with all his family and many of
- 4:49:16Speaker 1: his friends and supporters. The governor was driven out and
- 4:49:21Speaker 1: the government reformed according to the wishes of Guguccione, to
- 4:49:25Speaker 1: the detriment of the city, because it was found that
- 4:49:28Speaker 1: more than one hundred families were exiled at that time.
- 4:49:32Speaker 1: Of those who fled, part went to Florence and part
- 4:49:36Speaker 1: to Pistonia, which city was the headquarters of the Gulf Party,
- 4:49:40Speaker 1: and for this reason it became most hostile to Uguzione
- 4:49:45Speaker 1: and the Lucchesi. It now appeared to the Florentines and
- 4:49:50Speaker 1: others of the Gulf Party that the Ghibelians absorbed too
- 4:49:53Speaker 1: much power in Tuscany. They determined to restore the exiled
- 4:49:58Speaker 1: Gulfs to Lucca. They assembled a large army on the
- 4:50:02Speaker 1: val de neviol and seized Montecatini. From thence they marched
- 4:50:07Speaker 1: to Monte Carlo in order to secure the free passage
- 4:50:10Speaker 1: into Lucca. Upon this, Uguccioni assembled his Peason and Luchesi forces,
- 4:50:17Speaker 1: and with a number of German cavalry, which he drew
- 4:50:20Speaker 1: out of Lombardy, he moved against the quarters of the Florentines, who,
- 4:50:24Speaker 1: upon the appearance of the enemy, withdrew from Monte Carlo
- 4:50:28Speaker 1: and posted themselves between Montecatini and Pessia. Uguccioni now took
- 4:50:34Speaker 1: up a position near to Monte Carlo and within about
- 4:50:37Speaker 1: two miles of the enemy, and slight skirmishes between the
- 4:50:41Speaker 1: horse of both parties were a daily occurrence. Owing to
- 4:50:45Speaker 1: the illness of Guccioni, the Peasans and Luchesi delayed coming
- 4:50:50Speaker 1: to battle with the enemy. Uguccioni, finding himself growing worse,
- 4:50:54Speaker 1: went to Monte Carlo to be cured and left the
- 4:50:57Speaker 1: command of the army in the hands all Castruccio. This
- 4:51:02Speaker 1: change brought about the ruin of the Gulphs, who, thinking
- 4:51:06Speaker 1: that the hostile army having lost its captain, had now
- 4:51:09Speaker 1: lost its head grew over competent. Castruccio observed this and
- 4:51:14Speaker 1: allowed some days to pass. In order to encourage this belief.
- 4:51:18Speaker 1: He also showed signs of fear and did not allow
- 4:51:22Speaker 1: any of the munitions of his camp to be used.
- 4:51:26Speaker 1: On the other side, the Gulphs grew more insolent the
- 4:51:30Speaker 1: more they saw the evidences of fear, and every day
- 4:51:34Speaker 1: they drew out in the order of battle in front
- 4:51:38Speaker 1: of the army of Castruccio. Presently, deeming that the enemy
- 4:51:42Speaker 1: was sufficiently emboldened and having mastered their tactics, he decided
- 4:51:47Speaker 1: to join battle with them. First, he spoke a few
- 4:51:50Speaker 1: words of encouragement to his soldiers and pointed out to
- 4:51:53Speaker 1: them the certainty of victory if they would but obey
- 4:51:56Speaker 1: his commands. Castruccio had noticed how the enemy had placed
- 4:52:01Speaker 1: all his best troops in the center of the line
- 4:52:04Speaker 1: of battle, and his less reliable men on the wings
- 4:52:07Speaker 1: of the army, whereupon he did exactly the opposite, putting
- 4:52:11Speaker 1: his most valiant men on the flanks, while those on
- 4:52:15Speaker 1: whom he could not so strongly rely moved to the center.
- 4:52:20Speaker 1: Observing this order of battle, he drew out of his
- 4:52:23Speaker 1: lines and quickly came in sight of the hostile enemy, who,
- 4:52:27Speaker 1: as usual, had come up in their insolence to defy him.
- 4:52:32Speaker 1: He then commanded his center squadrons to march slowly whilst
- 4:52:36Speaker 1: he moved rapidly forward with the wings. Thus, when they
- 4:52:42Speaker 1: came into contact with the enemy, only the wings of
- 4:52:45Speaker 1: the two armies became engaged, whilst the center battalions remained
- 4:52:50Speaker 1: out of action. For these two positions of the line
- 4:52:53Speaker 1: of battle were separated from each other by a long interval,
- 4:52:57Speaker 1: and thus unable to reach each other. By this expedient,
- 4:53:01Speaker 1: the more valiant part of Castruccio's men were opposed to
- 4:53:05Speaker 1: the weaker part of the enemy's troops, and the most
- 4:53:09Speaker 1: efficient men of the army were disengaged. Thus the Florentines
- 4:53:14Speaker 1: were unable to fight with those who were arrayed opposite them,
- 4:53:17Speaker 1: or to give any assistance to their own flanks. So,
- 4:53:21Speaker 1: without much difficulty, Castruccio put the enemy to flight on
- 4:53:25Speaker 1: both flanks, and the setter battalions took to flight when
- 4:53:28Speaker 1: they found themselves exposed to attack, without having had a
- 4:53:31Speaker 1: chance to display their valor. The defeat was complete, and
- 4:53:36Speaker 1: the loss in men was very heavy, there being more
- 4:53:39Speaker 1: than ten thousand men killed, with many officers and knights
- 4:53:43Speaker 1: of the Gulf party in Tuscany, and also many princes
- 4:53:47Speaker 1: who had come to help them, among whom were Piero,
- 4:53:50Speaker 1: the brother of King Ruberto, and Carlo his nephew, and Filippo,
- 4:53:55Speaker 1: the Lord of Taranto. On the part of Castruccio, the
- 4:54:00Speaker 1: loss did not amount to more than three hundred men,
- 4:54:03Speaker 1: among whom was Francesco, the son of Uguccioni, who, being
- 4:54:08Speaker 1: young and brash, was killed in the first onset. This
- 4:54:14Speaker 1: victory so greatly increased the reputation of Castruccio that Ugucciono
- 4:54:19Speaker 1: conceived some jealousy and suspicion of him, because it appeared
- 4:54:24Speaker 1: to Uguccione that this victory had given him no increase
- 4:54:28Speaker 1: of power, but rather than diminished it. Being of this mind,
- 4:54:33Speaker 1: he only waited for an opportunity to give effect to it.
- 4:54:38Speaker 1: This occurred in the death of Pierre Angolo Michelli, a
- 4:54:42Speaker 1: man of great repute and abilities in Lucca, the murderer
- 4:54:46Speaker 1: of whom fled to the house of Castruccio for refuge.
- 4:54:51Speaker 1: On the sergeants of the captain going to arrest the murderer.
- 4:54:54Speaker 1: They were driven off by Castruccio, and the murderer escaped
- 4:54:59Speaker 1: the surveyor. Coming to the knowledge of Buguccioni, who was
- 4:55:02Speaker 1: then at Pisa, it appeared to him a proper opportunity
- 4:55:05Speaker 1: to punish Castruccio. He therefore sent for his son Neri,
- 4:55:10Speaker 1: who was the governor of Lucca, and commissioned him to
- 4:55:14Speaker 1: take Castruccio prisoner at a banquet and put him to death. Castruccio,
- 4:55:19Speaker 1: fearing no evil, went to the governor in a friendly way,
- 4:55:22Speaker 1: was entertained at supper and then thrown into prison. But Neri,
- 4:55:27Speaker 1: fearing to put him to death lest the people should
- 4:55:30Speaker 1: be incensed, kept him alive in order to hear further
- 4:55:34Speaker 1: from his father concerning his intentions. Uguccione cursed the hesitation
- 4:55:39Speaker 1: and cowardice of his son, and at once set out
- 4:55:42Speaker 1: from Pisa to Lucca with four hundred horsemen to finish
- 4:55:45Speaker 1: the business in his own way. But he had not
- 4:55:48Speaker 1: yet reached the baths when the peasans rebelled and put
- 4:55:52Speaker 1: his deputy to death and created Count Goddo de la
- 4:55:56Speaker 1: Galadesca their lord. Before Uguccioni reached to Lucca, he heard
- 4:56:01Speaker 1: of the occurrences in Pisa, but it did not appear
- 4:56:04Speaker 1: wise to him to turn back, lest the Lucchesi, with
- 4:56:07Speaker 1: him the example of Pisa before him, should close their
- 4:56:10Speaker 1: gates against him. But the Lucchesi, having heard of what
- 4:56:14Speaker 1: happened at Pisa, availed themselves of this opportunity to demand
- 4:56:19Speaker 1: the liberation of Castruccio, notwithstanding that Uguccioni had arrived in
- 4:56:23Speaker 1: their city. They first began to speak of it in
- 4:56:27Speaker 1: private circles, afterwards openly in the squares and streets. Then
- 4:56:31Speaker 1: they raised a tumult with their arms in their hands,
- 4:56:34Speaker 1: and went to Auguccioni, demanding that Castruccio should be set
- 4:56:37Speaker 1: at liberty. Uguccioni, fearing that worse might happen, released him
- 4:56:42Speaker 1: from prison, whereupon Castruccio gathered his friends around him and,
- 4:56:47Speaker 1: with the help of the people, attacked to Guccioni, who,
- 4:56:50Speaker 1: finding he had no resource but in flight, rode away
- 4:56:54Speaker 1: with his friends to Lombardy to the lords of Scale,
- 4:56:57Speaker 1: where he died in poverty. But Castruccio, from being a prisoner,
- 4:57:03Speaker 1: almost became a prince in Lucca, and he carried himself
- 4:57:07Speaker 1: so discreetly with his friends and the people that appointed
- 4:57:10Speaker 1: him captain of their army for one year. Having obtained
- 4:57:13Speaker 1: this and wishing to gain renown in war, he planned
- 4:57:17Speaker 1: the recovery of many towns which had rebelled after the
- 4:57:20Speaker 1: departure of Aguccione, and with the help of the peasans
- 4:57:23Speaker 1: with whom he had concluded a treaty, he marched to
- 4:57:27Speaker 1: Zerezzana to capture this place. He constructed a fort against it,
- 4:57:31Speaker 1: which is called to day Zerezzanello. In the course of
- 4:57:35Speaker 1: two months, Castruccio captured the town. With the reputation gained
- 4:57:40Speaker 1: at that siege, he rapidly seized Massa Carrara and the Venza,
- 4:57:45Speaker 1: and in a short time had overrun the whole of Uigana.
- 4:57:50Speaker 1: In order to close the pass which leads from Lombardi
- 4:57:53Speaker 1: to Luigana, he besieged Pontremoldi and wrested it from the
- 4:57:57Speaker 1: hands of Messer Astinagio Pallavino Cccini, who was the lord
- 4:58:01Speaker 1: of it. After the victory, he returned to Lucca and
- 4:58:05Speaker 1: was welcomed by the whole people and now Castruccio, deeming
- 4:58:10Speaker 1: it imprudent any longer to defer, making himself a prince
- 4:58:14Speaker 1: got himself created the Lord of Lucca with the help
- 4:58:17Speaker 1: of Paisano del Bolgio, Puccinio, der Portico, Francesco Boconsaki, and
- 4:58:23Speaker 1: secul Ginnini, all of whom he had corrupted, and he
- 4:58:28Speaker 1: was afterwards solemnly and deliberately elected prince by the people.
- 4:58:34Speaker 1: At this time, Frederic of Bavaria, the King of the Romans,
- 4:58:38Speaker 1: came into Italy to assume the imperial crown, and Castruccio,
- 4:58:43Speaker 1: in order that he might make friends with him, met
- 4:58:46Speaker 1: him at the head of five hundred horsemen. Castruccio had
- 4:58:50Speaker 1: left his deputy in Lucca, Baolloginini, who was held in
- 4:58:54Speaker 1: high estimation because of the people's love for the memory
- 4:58:57Speaker 1: of his father. Castruccio was received in great honor by Frederic,
- 4:59:03Speaker 1: and many privileges were conferred upon him, and he was
- 4:59:06Speaker 1: appointed the Emperor's lieutenant in Tuscany. At this time, the
- 4:59:11Speaker 1: Peasans were in great fear of Godo dela Gerardesca, whom
- 4:59:15Speaker 1: they had driven out of Pisa, and they had recourse
- 4:59:18Speaker 1: for assistance to Frederic. Frederick created Kastruccio the Lord of Pisa,
- 4:59:24Speaker 1: and the Peasans in dread of the Gulf Party, and
- 4:59:27Speaker 1: particularly of the Florentines, were constrained to accept him as
- 4:59:32Speaker 1: their lord. Frederick, having appointed a governor in Rome to
- 4:59:37Speaker 1: watch his Italian affairs, return to Germany. All the Tuscan
- 4:59:42Speaker 1: and Lombardian Ghibelins who followed the imperial lead had recourse
- 4:59:46Speaker 1: to Castruccio for help and counsel, and all promised him
- 4:59:50Speaker 1: the governorship of his country if enabled to recover it
- 4:59:54Speaker 1: with his assistants. Among these exiles were Matteo Guidi, nar
- 5:00:00Speaker 1: Do Scolari, Lapo Uberti, Gezorronardi, and Piero Bulucossori, all exiled
- 5:00:08Speaker 1: Florentines and Gibelins. Castruccio had the secret intention of becoming
- 5:00:13Speaker 1: the master of all Tuscany with the aid of these
- 5:00:16Speaker 1: men and of his own forces, and in order to
- 5:00:20Speaker 1: gain greater weight in affairs, he entered into a league
- 5:00:23Speaker 1: with Messer Matteo Bisconni, the Prince of Milan, and organized
- 5:00:28Speaker 1: for him the forces of his city and the country districts.
- 5:00:33Speaker 1: As Lucca had five gates, he divided his own country
- 5:00:37Speaker 1: districts into five parts, which he supplied with arms and
- 5:00:41Speaker 1: enrolled the men under captains and ensigns, so that he
- 5:00:44Speaker 1: could quickly bring into the field twenty thousand soldiers, without
- 5:00:49Speaker 1: those whom he could summon to his assistants from Pisa.
- 5:00:53Speaker 1: While he surrounded himself with these forces and allies, it
- 5:00:57Speaker 1: happened that Messer Matteo Visconti was attacked by the gulfs
- 5:01:01Speaker 1: of Piacequenza, who had driven out the Ghibelines with the
- 5:01:04Speaker 1: assistance of a Florentine army and King Roberto. Messer Matteo
- 5:01:10Speaker 1: called upon Castruccio to invade the Florentines in their own territories,
- 5:01:15Speaker 1: so that, being attacked at home, they should be compelled
- 5:01:18Speaker 1: to draw their army out of Lombardy in order to
- 5:01:21Speaker 1: defend themselves. Castruccio invaded the Valdarno and seized Fuechio and
- 5:01:28Speaker 1: San Miniato, inflicting immense damage upon the country, whereupon the
- 5:01:33Speaker 1: Florentines recalled their army, which had scarcely reached Tuscany when
- 5:01:37Speaker 1: Castruccio was forced by other necessities to return to Lucca.
- 5:01:45Speaker 1: There resided in the city of Lucco the Polgio family,
- 5:01:49Speaker 1: who were so powerful that they could not only elevate Castruccio,
- 5:01:52Speaker 1: but even advance him to the dignity of prince, and
- 5:01:55Speaker 1: it appearing to them that they had not received such
- 5:01:59Speaker 1: rewards for their services as they deserved, they incited other
- 5:02:03Speaker 1: families to rebel and to drive Castruccio out of Lucca.
- 5:02:08Speaker 1: They found their opportunity one morning, and arming themselves, they
- 5:02:12Speaker 1: set upon the lieutenant whom Castruccio had left to maintain order,
- 5:02:15Speaker 1: and killed him. They endeavored to raise the people in revolt,
- 5:02:19Speaker 1: but Stefano di Poggio, a peaceable old man who had
- 5:02:22Speaker 1: taken no hand in the rebellion, intervened and compelled them,
- 5:02:26Speaker 1: by his authority to lay down their arms, and he
- 5:02:30Speaker 1: offered to be their mediator with Castruccio to obtain from
- 5:02:34Speaker 1: him what they desired. Therefore, they laid down their arms
- 5:02:38Speaker 1: with no greater intelligence than they had taken them up. Castruccio,
- 5:02:42Speaker 1: hearing the news of what had happened in Lucca, at
- 5:02:45Speaker 1: once put Paul lu Gunini in command of the army,
- 5:02:49Speaker 1: and with the troop of cavalry, set out for home.
- 5:02:52Speaker 1: Contrary to his expectations, he found the rebellion at an end.
- 5:02:56Speaker 1: Yet he posted his men and the most advance contagious
- 5:03:00Speaker 1: places throughout the city. As it appeared to Stefano that
- 5:03:05Speaker 1: Castruccio ought to be very much obliged to him, he
- 5:03:08Speaker 1: sought him out, and, without saying anything, on his own behalf,
- 5:03:11Speaker 1: for he did not recognize any need for his doing. So,
- 5:03:15Speaker 1: he begged Castruccio to pardon the other members of his family,
- 5:03:19Speaker 1: by reason of their youth, their former friendships, and the
- 5:03:22Speaker 1: obligations which Castruccio was under to their house. To this,
- 5:03:27Speaker 1: Castruccio graciously responded and begged Stefano to reassure himself, declaring
- 5:03:33Speaker 1: that he gave him more pleasure to find the tumult
- 5:03:36Speaker 1: at an end than it had ever caused him anxiety
- 5:03:39Speaker 1: to hear of its inception. He encouraged Stefano to bring
- 5:03:43Speaker 1: his family to him, saying that he had thanked God
- 5:03:46Speaker 1: for having given him the opportunity of showing his clemency
- 5:03:49Speaker 1: and liberality. Upon the word of Stefano and Castruccio, they surrendered,
- 5:03:56Speaker 1: and with Stefano were immediately thrown into prison and put
- 5:04:00Speaker 1: to death. Meanwhile, the Florentines had recovered San Miniato, whereupon
- 5:04:05Speaker 1: it seemed advisable to Scastruccio to make peace, as he
- 5:04:09Speaker 1: did not appear to him. He was sufficiently secure at
- 5:04:12Speaker 1: Lucca to leave him. He approached the Florentines with the
- 5:04:16Speaker 1: proposal of a truce, which they readily entertained, for they
- 5:04:20Speaker 1: were weary of war and desirous of getting rid of
- 5:04:23Speaker 1: the expenses of it. A treaty was concluded with them
- 5:04:26Speaker 1: for two years, by which both parties agreed to keep
- 5:04:30Speaker 1: the conquests they had made. Gastruccio, thus released from his trouble,
- 5:04:35Speaker 1: turned his attention to affairs in Lucca, and, in order
- 5:04:39Speaker 1: that he should not again be subject to the perils
- 5:04:42Speaker 1: from which he had just escaped, he, under various pretenses
- 5:04:45Speaker 1: and reasons, first wiped out all those who by their
- 5:04:49Speaker 1: ambition might aspire to the principality, not sparing one of them,
- 5:04:53Speaker 1: but depriving them of country and property, and those whom
- 5:04:57Speaker 1: he had in his hands of life, also stating that
- 5:05:00Speaker 1: he had found by experience that none of them were
- 5:05:03Speaker 1: to be trusted. Then, for his further security, he raised
- 5:05:08Speaker 1: a fortress in Lucca with the stones of the towers
- 5:05:10Speaker 1: of those whom he had killed or hunted out of
- 5:05:14Speaker 1: the state, and of the first part of the life
- 5:05:20Speaker 1: of Castruccio Castracanti of Lucca by Niccolo Macchiavelli, the second
- 5:05:26Speaker 1: part of the life of Castruccio Castracanti of Lucca. Whilst
- 5:05:33Speaker 1: Castruccio made peace with the Florentines and strengthened his position
- 5:05:37Speaker 1: in Lucca, he neglected no opportunity, short of open war,
- 5:05:42Speaker 1: of increasing his importance elsewhere. It appeared to him that
- 5:05:46Speaker 1: if he could get possession of Pistolia, he would have
- 5:05:49Speaker 1: a foot in Florence, which was his great desire. He therefore,
- 5:05:54Speaker 1: in various ways made friends with the mountaineers and worked
- 5:05:58Speaker 1: matters so in Pistoia that both parties confided their secrets
- 5:06:02Speaker 1: to him. Pistoia was divided, as it has always been,
- 5:06:06Speaker 1: into the Bianchi and Neeri parties. The head of the
- 5:06:10Speaker 1: Bianchi was Bastino di Poscenti, and of the Neari Jacopold Guilla.
- 5:06:16Speaker 1: Each of these men held secret communications with Castruccio, and
- 5:06:21Speaker 1: each desired to drive the other out of the city,
- 5:06:24Speaker 1: and after many threatenings, they came to blows. Jacobo fortified
- 5:06:28Speaker 1: himself at his Florentine gate, Bastiano at that of the
- 5:06:32Speaker 1: Lucchesi side of the city. Both trusted more in Castruccio
- 5:06:37Speaker 1: than in the Florentines, because they believed that Castruccio was
- 5:06:41Speaker 1: far more ready and willing to fight than the Florentines,
- 5:06:45Speaker 1: and they both sent to him for assistance. He gave
- 5:06:49Speaker 1: promises to both, saying to Bastiano that he would come
- 5:06:52Speaker 1: in person, and that to Jacobo that he would send
- 5:06:55Speaker 1: his pupil, Pagolo Giulini. At the appointed time, he said,
- 5:07:00Speaker 1: forward Pagolo by way of Pisa, and went himself direct
- 5:07:03Speaker 1: to Pistolia. At midnight, both of them met outside the
- 5:07:07Speaker 1: city and both were admitted as friends. Thus the two
- 5:07:11Speaker 1: leaders entered, and at a signal given by Castruccio, one
- 5:07:16Speaker 1: killed Jacopogregia, the other bastinianod Pocente, and both took prisoners
- 5:07:22Speaker 1: or killed the partisans of either faction. Without further opposition,
- 5:07:27Speaker 1: Pistolia passed into the hands of Castruccio, who, having forced
- 5:07:31Speaker 1: the Senora to leave the palace, compelled the people to
- 5:07:35Speaker 1: yield obedience to him, making them many promises and remitting
- 5:07:39Speaker 1: their old debts. The countryside flocked to the city to
- 5:07:43Speaker 1: see the new prince, and all were filled with hope
- 5:07:46Speaker 1: and quickly settled down. Influenced in great measure by his
- 5:07:51Speaker 1: great valor. About this time, great disturbances arose in Rome
- 5:07:57Speaker 1: owing to the dearness of living, which was caused by
- 5:08:00Speaker 1: the absence of the pontiff at Avignon. The German governor,
- 5:08:04Speaker 1: Enrico was much blamed for what happened, murders and tumults
- 5:08:09Speaker 1: following each other daily without his being able to put
- 5:08:12Speaker 1: an end to them. This caused Enrico much anxiety lest
- 5:08:17Speaker 1: the Romans should call in Ruberto, the King of Naples,
- 5:08:20Speaker 1: who would drive the Germans out of the city and
- 5:08:23Speaker 1: bring back the Pope. Having no dearer friend to whom
- 5:08:27Speaker 1: he could apply for help, think Castruccio, he sent to him,
- 5:08:31Speaker 1: begging him not only to give him assistance, but also
- 5:08:34Speaker 1: to come in person to Rome. Castruccio considered that he
- 5:08:38Speaker 1: ought not to hesitate to render the Emperor this service,
- 5:08:42Speaker 1: because he believed that he himself would not be safe
- 5:08:45Speaker 1: if at any time the Emperor ceased to hold Rome.
- 5:08:49Speaker 1: Leaving Pagolo Ginini in command at Lucca, Castruccio set out
- 5:08:53Speaker 1: for Rome with six hundred horsemen, where he was received
- 5:08:57Speaker 1: by Enrico with the greatest distinction. In short time, the
- 5:09:01Speaker 1: presence of Castruccio obtained such respect for the emperor that,
- 5:09:06Speaker 1: without bloodshed or violence, good order was restored, chiefly by
- 5:09:10Speaker 1: reason of Castruccio having sent by sea from the country
- 5:09:14Speaker 1: round Pisa large quantities of corn, and thus removed the
- 5:09:18Speaker 1: source of the trouble. When he had chastised some of
- 5:09:22Speaker 1: the Roman leaders and admonished others, voluntary obedience was rendered
- 5:09:27Speaker 1: to Enrico. Castruccio received many honors and was made a
- 5:09:31Speaker 1: Roman senator. This dignity was assumed with the greatest pomp,
- 5:09:36Speaker 1: Corstruccio being clothed in a brocaded toga, which had the
- 5:09:40Speaker 1: following words embroidered on its front, I am what God wills,
- 5:09:46Speaker 1: whilst on the back was what God desires shall be.
- 5:09:54Speaker 1: During this time, the Florentines, who were much enraged that
- 5:09:57Speaker 1: Castruccio should have seized Pistoia during the truce, considered how
- 5:10:02Speaker 1: they could tempt the city to rebel, to do which
- 5:10:05Speaker 1: they thought would not be difficult in his absence. Among
- 5:10:09Speaker 1: the exiled Pistolians in Florence were Balduceki and Jacopo Baldini,
- 5:10:15Speaker 1: both men of leading and ready to face danger. These
- 5:10:20Speaker 1: men kept up communications with their friends in Pistolia, and
- 5:10:24Speaker 1: with the aid of the Florentines, entered the city by night,
- 5:10:27Speaker 1: and after driving out some of Castruccio's officials and partisans
- 5:10:31Speaker 1: and killing others, they restored the city to its freedom.
- 5:10:36Speaker 1: The news of this greatly angered Castruccio, and taking leave
- 5:10:40Speaker 1: of Henrico, he pressed on in great haste to Pistolia.
- 5:10:44Speaker 1: When the Florentines heard of his return, knowing that he
- 5:10:47Speaker 1: would lose no time, they decided to intercept him with
- 5:10:51Speaker 1: their forces in the Val de Naviol, under the belief
- 5:10:54Speaker 1: that by doing so they would cut off his road
- 5:10:57Speaker 1: to Pistoia. Umbling a great army of the supporters of
- 5:11:02Speaker 1: the Gulf cause, the Florentines entered the Pistolian territories. On
- 5:11:07Speaker 1: the other hand, Castruccio reached Monte Carlo with his army,
- 5:11:10Speaker 1: and having heard where the Florentines lay, he decided not
- 5:11:15Speaker 1: to encounter it in the plains of Pistoria, nor to
- 5:11:18Speaker 1: await it in the plains of Pestia, but as far
- 5:11:21Speaker 1: as he possibly could, to attack it boldly in the
- 5:11:25Speaker 1: past of Saravalle. He believed that if he succeeded in
- 5:11:29Speaker 1: this design, a victory was assured, although he was informed
- 5:11:32Speaker 1: that the Florentines had thirty thousand men whilst he had
- 5:11:36Speaker 1: only twelve thousand. Although he had every confidence in his
- 5:11:40Speaker 1: own abilities and the valor of his troops, yet he
- 5:11:43Speaker 1: hesitated to attack his enemy in the open, lest he
- 5:11:46Speaker 1: should be overwhelmed by their numbers. Saraval Lay is a
- 5:11:51Speaker 1: castle between Pestia and Pistolia, situated on a hill which
- 5:11:55Speaker 1: blocks the Val de Neviole, not in the exact pass,
- 5:11:59Speaker 1: but of a bowshot beyond. The pass. Itself is in
- 5:12:03Speaker 1: places narrow and steep, whilst in general it ascends greatly
- 5:12:07Speaker 1: but is still narrow, especially at the summit where the
- 5:12:11Speaker 1: waters divide, so that twenty men side by side could
- 5:12:15Speaker 1: hold it. The lord of Saravalle was Manfred, a German, who,
- 5:12:19Speaker 1: before Castruccio became lord of Pistoia, had been allowed to
- 5:12:23Speaker 1: remain in possession of the castle, it being common to
- 5:12:26Speaker 1: the Lucchesi and the Pistolians and unclaimed by either, neither
- 5:12:31Speaker 1: of them wishing to displace Manfred as long as he
- 5:12:33Speaker 1: kept his promise of neutrality and came under obligations of
- 5:12:37Speaker 1: no one. For these reasons, and also because the castle
- 5:12:41Speaker 1: was well fortified, he had always been able to maintain
- 5:12:44Speaker 1: his position. It was here that Castruccio had determined to
- 5:12:48Speaker 1: fall upon his enemy, for here his few men would
- 5:12:52Speaker 1: have the advantage, and there was no fear lest seeing
- 5:12:56Speaker 1: the large masses of the hostile force before they became engaged,
- 5:13:00Speaker 1: they should not stand. As soon as this trouble with
- 5:13:03Speaker 1: Florence arose. Castruccio saw the immense advantage which possession of
- 5:13:08Speaker 1: this castle would give him, and having an intimate relationship
- 5:13:12Speaker 1: with a resident in the castle, he arranged matters so
- 5:13:15Speaker 1: that with him that four hundred of his men were
- 5:13:18Speaker 1: to be admitted to the castle the night before the
- 5:13:20Speaker 1: attack on the Florentines, and the castellan put to death. Castruccio,
- 5:13:27Speaker 1: having prepared everything, had now to encourage the Florentines to
- 5:13:31Speaker 1: persist in their desire to carry the seat of war
- 5:13:33Speaker 1: away from Pistoia into the Val de Neviole. Therefore he
- 5:13:38Speaker 1: did not move his army from Monte Carlo. Thus the
- 5:13:41Speaker 1: Florentines hurried on until they reached their encampment under Sarvalle,
- 5:13:46Speaker 1: intending to cross the hill on the following morning. In
- 5:13:49Speaker 1: the meantime, Castruccio had seized the castle at night, and
- 5:13:53Speaker 1: had also moved his army from Monte Carlo, and marching
- 5:13:57Speaker 1: from thence at midnight and in dense silence, sea had
- 5:14:00Speaker 1: reached the foot of the Saravale. Thus he and the
- 5:14:03Speaker 1: Florentines commenced the ascent of the hill at the same time.
- 5:14:06Speaker 1: In the morning, Castruccio set forward his infantry by the
- 5:14:10Speaker 1: main road, and a troop of four hundred horsemen by
- 5:14:14Speaker 1: a path on the left toward the castle. The Florentines
- 5:14:19Speaker 1: set forward four hundred cavalry ahead of their army, which
- 5:14:22Speaker 1: was following, never expecting to find Castruccio in possession of
- 5:14:26Speaker 1: the hill, nor were they aware of his having seized
- 5:14:29Speaker 1: the castle. Thus it happened that the Florentine horsemen moving
- 5:14:34Speaker 1: to the hill was completely taken by surprise when they
- 5:14:37Speaker 1: discovered the infantry of Castruccio, and so close were they
- 5:14:41Speaker 1: upon it that they scarcely had time to pull down
- 5:14:44Speaker 1: their vizors. It was a case of unready soldiers being
- 5:14:48Speaker 1: attacked by ready and they were assailed with such vigor
- 5:14:52Speaker 1: that with difficulty they could hold their own, although some
- 5:14:55Speaker 1: few of them got through. When the noise of their
- 5:14:59Speaker 1: fighting reached the Florentine camp below. It was filled with confusion.
- 5:15:04Speaker 1: The cavalry and infantry became inextricably mixed. The captains were
- 5:15:08Speaker 1: unable to get their men either backward or forward, owing
- 5:15:11Speaker 1: to the narrowness of the pass, and admit all this tumult,
- 5:15:15Speaker 1: no one knew what ought to be done or what
- 5:15:18Speaker 1: could be done. In a short time, the cavalry who
- 5:15:22Speaker 1: were engaged with the enemy's infantry were scattered or killed,
- 5:15:25Speaker 1: without having made any effective defense. Because of their unfortunate position,
- 5:15:30Speaker 1: Although in sheer desperation they had offered a stout resistance,
- 5:15:35Speaker 1: retreat had been impossible with the mountains on both flanks
- 5:15:39Speaker 1: whilst in front with their enemies, and to their rear
- 5:15:42Speaker 1: their friends. When Castruccio saw that his men were unable
- 5:15:46Speaker 1: to strike a decisive blow at the enemy and put
- 5:15:49Speaker 1: them to flight, he sent one thousand infantrymen round by
- 5:15:53Speaker 1: the castle with orders to join the four hundred horsemen
- 5:15:56Speaker 1: he had previously despatched there, and commanded the whole force
- 5:16:00Speaker 1: to fall upon the flank of the enemy. These orders
- 5:16:04Speaker 1: they carried out with such fury that the Florentines could
- 5:16:07Speaker 1: not sustain the attack, but gave way and were soon
- 5:16:10Speaker 1: in full retreat, conquered more by their unfortunate position than
- 5:16:15Speaker 1: by the valor of their enemy. Those in the rear
- 5:16:18Speaker 1: returned towards Pistoia and spread throughout the plains, each man
- 5:16:23Speaker 1: seeking only his own safety. The defeat was complete and
- 5:16:28Speaker 1: very sanguinary. Many captains were taken prisoners. Among them were
- 5:16:33Speaker 1: Bandini dei Rossi, Francesco Brulcelli, and Giovanni della Toozza, all
- 5:16:39Speaker 1: Florentine noblemen, with many Tuscans and Neopolitans, who fought on
- 5:16:43Speaker 1: the Florentine side, having been sent by King Ruberto to
- 5:16:47Speaker 1: assist the Gops. Immediately the Pistolians heard of this defeat,
- 5:16:52Speaker 1: they drove out the friends of the Goops and surrendered
- 5:16:55Speaker 1: to Castruccio. He was not content with occupying Prato and
- 5:16:59Speaker 1: all the castles on the plains on both sides of
- 5:17:02Speaker 1: the Arno, but marched his army onto the plain of Peritola,
- 5:17:06Speaker 1: about two miles from Florence. Here he remained many days,
- 5:17:11Speaker 1: dividing the spoils and celebrating his victory with feasts and games,
- 5:17:16Speaker 1: holding horse races and foot races for men and women.
- 5:17:20Speaker 1: He also struck medals in commemoration of the defeat of
- 5:17:23Speaker 1: the Florentines. He endeavored to corrupt the some of the
- 5:17:27Speaker 1: citizens of Florence who were to open the city gates
- 5:17:30Speaker 1: at night, but the conspiracy was discovered and the participators
- 5:17:34Speaker 1: in it taken and beheaded, among whom were Tomaso Lupacci
- 5:17:39Speaker 1: and Lambertuccio Frescobaldi. This defeat caused the Florentines great anxiety
- 5:17:46Speaker 1: and despairing of preserving their liberty, they sent envoys to
- 5:17:50Speaker 1: King Roberto of Naples, offering him the dominion of their city,
- 5:17:54Speaker 1: and he, knowing of what immense importance the maintenance of
- 5:17:59Speaker 1: the gulf caused, was to him, accepted it. He agreed
- 5:18:03Speaker 1: with the Florentines to receive from them a yearly tribute
- 5:18:06Speaker 1: of two hundred thousand florins, and sent his son Carlo
- 5:18:11Speaker 1: to Florence with four thousand horsemen. Shortly after this, the
- 5:18:16Speaker 1: Florentines were relieved in some degree of the pressure of
- 5:18:19Speaker 1: Castruccio's army, owing to his being compelled to leave his
- 5:18:23Speaker 1: positions beflor Florence and march on Pisa in order to
- 5:18:27Speaker 1: suppress a conspiracy that had been raised against him by
- 5:18:30Speaker 1: Bandetto Lanfranchi, one of the first men of Pisa, who
- 5:18:34Speaker 1: could not endure that his fatherland should be under the
- 5:18:37Speaker 1: dominion of the Lucchesie. He had formed this conspiracy intending
- 5:18:42Speaker 1: to seize the citadel, kill the partisans of Castruccio, and
- 5:18:45Speaker 1: drive out the garrison. As However, in a conspiracy, paucity
- 5:18:50Speaker 1: of numbers is essential to secrecy, so for its execution
- 5:18:54Speaker 1: a few are not sufficient, and in seeking more adherents
- 5:18:58Speaker 1: to his conspiracy, Lanfranchi encountered a person who revealed the
- 5:19:03Speaker 1: design to Castruccio. This betrayal cannot be passed by without
- 5:19:07Speaker 1: severe reproach to Bonifaccio c Cerzi and Giovanni Guidi, two
- 5:19:12Speaker 1: Florentine exiles who were suffering their banishment in Pisa. Therefore,
- 5:19:17Speaker 1: Castruccio seized Benedetto and put him to death, and beheaded
- 5:19:22Speaker 1: many other noble citizens, and drove their families into exile.
- 5:19:27Speaker 1: It now appeared to Castruccio that both Pisa and Pistoia
- 5:19:31Speaker 1: were thoroughly disaffected. He employed much thought and energy upon
- 5:19:35Speaker 1: securing his position there, and this gave the Florentines their
- 5:19:39Speaker 1: opportunity to reorganize their army and to await the coming
- 5:19:43Speaker 1: of Carlo, the son of the King of Naples. When
- 5:19:47Speaker 1: Carlo arrived, they decided to lose no more time and
- 5:19:50Speaker 1: assembled a great army of more than thirty thousand infantry
- 5:19:53Speaker 1: and ten thousand cavalry, Having called to their aid every
- 5:19:57Speaker 1: gulf there was in Italy, they consulted whether they should
- 5:20:01Speaker 1: attack Pistolia or Pisa first, and decided that it would
- 5:20:05Speaker 1: be better to march on the latter, a course, owing
- 5:20:08Speaker 1: to the recent conspiracy, more likely to succeed, and more
- 5:20:13Speaker 1: advantage to them, because they believed that the surrender of
- 5:20:16Speaker 1: Pistolia would follow the acquisition of Pisa. In the early
- 5:20:22Speaker 1: part of May thirteen twenty eight, the Florentines put in
- 5:20:25Speaker 1: motion this army and quickly occupied Lastra Signa, Montelupo and Embulli,
- 5:20:32Speaker 1: passing from Thence to San Miniato. When Castruccio heard of
- 5:20:36Speaker 1: the enormous army which the Florentines were sending against him,
- 5:20:39Speaker 1: he was in no degree alarmed, believing that the time
- 5:20:42Speaker 1: had now arrived when fortune would deliver the Empire of
- 5:20:45Speaker 1: Tuscany into his hands. For he had no reason to
- 5:20:49Speaker 1: think that his enemy would make a better fight or
- 5:20:52Speaker 1: had better prospects for success at Pisa or Ceravelle. He
- 5:20:56Speaker 1: assembled twenty thousand foot soldiers and four thousand horsemen, and
- 5:21:01Speaker 1: with this army went to Fuquecchio, whilst he sent Pagolo
- 5:21:05Speaker 1: Giulini to Pisa with five thousand infantry. Fuquechio has a
- 5:21:09Speaker 1: stronger position than any other town in the Peasan district,
- 5:21:13Speaker 1: owing to its situation between the rivers Arno and Gusciana
- 5:21:17Speaker 1: and its slight elevation above the surrounding plain. Moreover, the
- 5:21:22Speaker 1: enemy could not hinder its being victualed unless they divided
- 5:21:25Speaker 1: their forces. Nor could they approach it either from the
- 5:21:29Speaker 1: direction of Lucca or Pizza. Nor could they get through
- 5:21:32Speaker 1: Pizza or attack Gestruccio's forces except at disadvantage. In one case,
- 5:21:38Speaker 1: they would find themselves placed between his two armies, the
- 5:21:42Speaker 1: one under his own command and the other under Pagolo,
- 5:21:46Speaker 1: And in the other case they would have to cross
- 5:21:48Speaker 1: the Arno to get the close quarters with the enemy,
- 5:21:51Speaker 1: an undertaking of great hazard. In order to tempt the
- 5:21:55Speaker 1: Florentines to take this latter course, Castruccio withdrew his men
- 5:21:59Speaker 1: from the banks of the river and placed them under
- 5:22:02Speaker 1: the walls of Fuceechio, leaving a wide expanse of land
- 5:22:06Speaker 1: between them and the river. The Florentines, having occupied San Miniotto,
- 5:22:12Speaker 1: held a council of war to decide whether they should
- 5:22:15Speaker 1: attack Pisa or the army of Castruccio, And having weighed
- 5:22:20Speaker 1: the difficulties of both courses, they decided upon the latter.
- 5:22:24Speaker 1: The river Arno was at that time low enough to
- 5:22:27Speaker 1: be fordable, yet the water reached to the shoulders of
- 5:22:30Speaker 1: the infantrymen and to the saddles of the horsemen. On
- 5:22:34Speaker 1: the morning of the tenth of June thirteen twenty eight,
- 5:22:38Speaker 1: the Florentines commenced the battle by ordering forward a number
- 5:22:41Speaker 1: of cavalry and ten thousand infantry. Gastruccio, whose plan of
- 5:22:47Speaker 1: action was fixed then, who knew well what to do,
- 5:22:50Speaker 1: at once, attacked the Florentines with five thousand infantry and
- 5:22:53Speaker 1: three thousand horsemen, not allowing them to issue from the
- 5:22:57Speaker 1: river before he charged them. He also so set one
- 5:23:01Speaker 1: thousand light infantry up the river bank and the same
- 5:23:04Speaker 1: number down the Arno. The infantry of the Florentines were
- 5:23:08Speaker 1: so much impeded by their arms and the water that
- 5:23:11Speaker 1: they were not able to mount the banks of the river,
- 5:23:13Speaker 1: whilst the cavalry had made passage of the river more
- 5:23:16Speaker 1: difficult for the others by reason of the few who
- 5:23:20Speaker 1: had crossed, having broken up the bed of the river,
- 5:23:23Speaker 1: and this being deep with mud. Many of the horses
- 5:23:26Speaker 1: rolled over with their riders, and many of them stuck
- 5:23:29Speaker 1: so fast that they could not move. When the Florentine
- 5:23:33Speaker 1: captains saw the difficulties their men were meeting, they withdrew
- 5:23:37Speaker 1: them and moved higher up the river, hoping to find
- 5:23:40Speaker 1: the river less treacherous and the banks more adapted for landing.
- 5:23:45Speaker 1: These men were met at the bank by the forces
- 5:23:48Speaker 1: which Castruccio had already sent forward, who, being light armed
- 5:23:52Speaker 1: with bucklers and javelins in their hands, let fly with
- 5:23:56Speaker 1: tremendous shouts into the faces and bodies of the cavalry.
- 5:24:00Speaker 1: The horses, alarmed by the noise and the wounds, would
- 5:24:04Speaker 1: not move forward, and trampled each other in great confusion.
- 5:24:08Speaker 1: The fight between the men of Castruccio and those of
- 5:24:11Speaker 1: the enemy who succeeded in crossing was sharp and terrible.
- 5:24:15Speaker 1: Both sides fought with the utmost desperation, and neither would yield.
- 5:24:19Speaker 1: The soldiers of Castruccio fought to drive the others back
- 5:24:22Speaker 1: into the river, whilst the Florentines strove to get a
- 5:24:26Speaker 1: footing on the land to make room for the others
- 5:24:28Speaker 1: pressing forward, who, if they could but get out of
- 5:24:32Speaker 1: the water, would be able to fight. And in this
- 5:24:34Speaker 1: obstinate conflict they were urged on by their captains. Castruccio
- 5:24:39Speaker 1: shouted to his men that these were the same enemies
- 5:24:43Speaker 1: whom they had before conquered at Saabella, while the Florentines
- 5:24:47Speaker 1: reproached each other that the money should be overcome by
- 5:24:51Speaker 1: the few. At length, Castruccio, seeing how long the battle
- 5:24:55Speaker 1: had lasted, and that both his men and the enemy
- 5:24:58Speaker 1: were utterly exhausted, and that both sides had many killed
- 5:25:02Speaker 1: and wounded, pushed forward another body of infantry to take
- 5:25:06Speaker 1: up position at the rear of those who were doing
- 5:25:09Speaker 1: the fighting. He then commanded these latter to open their
- 5:25:12Speaker 1: ranks as if they intended to retreat, and one part
- 5:25:17Speaker 1: of them to turn to the right and another to
- 5:25:19Speaker 1: the left. This cleared a space of which the Florentines
- 5:25:23Speaker 1: at once took advantage and thus gained possession of a
- 5:25:26Speaker 1: portion of the battlefield. But when these tired soldiers found
- 5:25:30Speaker 1: themselves at close quarters with Castruccio's reserves, they could not
- 5:25:34Speaker 1: stand against them, and at once fell back into the river.
- 5:25:39Speaker 1: The cavalry of either side had not as yet gained
- 5:25:42Speaker 1: any decisive advantage over the other, because Castruccio, knowing his
- 5:25:47Speaker 1: inferiority in that arm had commanded his leaders only to
- 5:25:51Speaker 1: stand on the defensive against the attacks of their adversaries,
- 5:25:55Speaker 1: as he hoped that when he had overcome the infantry,
- 5:25:58Speaker 1: he would be able to make short work work of
- 5:26:00Speaker 1: the cavalry. This fell out as he had hoped for.
- 5:26:04Speaker 1: When he saw the Florentine army driven back across the river,
- 5:26:08Speaker 1: he ordered the remainder of his infantry to attack the
- 5:26:11Speaker 1: cavalry of the enemy. This they did with lance and chauvelin,
- 5:26:15Speaker 1: and joined by their own cavalry, fell upon the enemy
- 5:26:18Speaker 1: with the greatest fury and soon put him to flight.
- 5:26:22Speaker 1: The Florentine captains, having seen the difficulty their cavalry had
- 5:26:26Speaker 1: met with in crossing the river, had attempted to make
- 5:26:29Speaker 1: their infantry cross lower down the river in order to
- 5:26:33Speaker 1: attack the flanks of Castruccio's army. But here also the
- 5:26:38Speaker 1: banks were steep and already lined by the men of Castruccio,
- 5:26:43Speaker 1: and this movement was quite useless. Thus the Florentines were
- 5:26:47Speaker 1: so completely defeated at all points that scarcely a third
- 5:26:51Speaker 1: of them escaped, and Castruccio was again covered with glory.
- 5:26:57Speaker 1: Many captains were taken prisoners, and Carlo, son of King Roberto,
- 5:27:02Speaker 1: with Michelangelo Falcone and Tadeo Degli Albrizzi, the Florentine commissioners
- 5:27:08Speaker 1: fled to Empoli. If the spoils were great, the slaughter
- 5:27:13Speaker 1: was infinitely greater, as might be expected in such a
- 5:27:16Speaker 1: battle of the Florentines. There fell twenty thousand, two hundred
- 5:27:21Speaker 1: and thirty one men, while Castruccio lost one thousand, five
- 5:27:27Speaker 1: hundred and seventy men. But fortune, growing envious of the
- 5:27:33Speaker 1: glory of Castruccio, took away his life just at the
- 5:27:37Speaker 1: time when she should have preserved it, and thus ruined
- 5:27:40Speaker 1: all those plans which for so long a time had
- 5:27:44Speaker 1: worked to carry into effect, and in the successful prosecution
- 5:27:49Speaker 1: of which nothing but death could have stopped him. Castruccio
- 5:27:53Speaker 1: was in the thick of battle. The whole of the day,
- 5:27:56Speaker 1: and when the end of it came, although fatigued and
- 5:27:59Speaker 1: over heat, he stood at the gate of Fuquechio to
- 5:28:02Speaker 1: welcome his men on their return from victory and personally
- 5:28:06Speaker 1: to thank them. He was also on the watch for
- 5:28:10Speaker 1: any attempt of the enemy to retrieve the fortunes of
- 5:28:13Speaker 1: the day, he being of the opinion that it was
- 5:28:16Speaker 1: the duty of a good general to be the first
- 5:28:19Speaker 1: man in the saddle and the last out of it.
- 5:28:22Speaker 1: Here Castruccio stood exposed to a wind which often rises
- 5:28:26Speaker 1: at midday on the banks of the Arno, and which
- 5:28:30Speaker 1: is often very unhealthy. From this he took a chill,
- 5:28:34Speaker 1: of which he thought nothing, as he was accustomed to
- 5:28:37Speaker 1: such troubles, but it was the cause of his death.
- 5:28:41Speaker 1: On the following night, he was attacked with a high fever,
- 5:28:45Speaker 1: which increased so rapidly that the doctors saw it must
- 5:28:49Speaker 1: prove fatal. Castruccio therefore called Paolo Ginini to him and
- 5:28:54Speaker 1: addressed him as follows. If I could have believed that
- 5:29:00Speaker 1: fortune would have cut me off in the midst of
- 5:29:02Speaker 1: the career which was leading to that glory which all
- 5:29:06Speaker 1: my successes promised, I should have labored less, and I
- 5:29:10Speaker 1: should have left thee, if a smaller state, at least
- 5:29:14Speaker 1: with fewer enemies and perils, because I should have been
- 5:29:18Speaker 1: content with the governorships of Lucca and Pisa. I should
- 5:29:23Speaker 1: have neither subjucated the Pistolians nor outraged the Florentines with
- 5:29:29Speaker 1: so many injuries. But I would have made both of
- 5:29:33Speaker 1: these peoples my friends. And I should have lived, if
- 5:29:37Speaker 1: no longer, at least more peacefully, and have left you
- 5:29:42Speaker 1: a state, without a doubt, smaller, but one more secure
- 5:29:47Speaker 1: and established on a surer foundation. But fortune, who insists
- 5:29:52Speaker 1: upon having the arbitrament of human affairs, did not endow
- 5:29:57Speaker 1: me with sufficient judgment to recognize this from them the first,
- 5:30:01Speaker 1: nor time to surmount it. Thou hast heard, for many
- 5:30:05Speaker 1: have told THEE, and I have never concealed it. How
- 5:30:08Speaker 1: I entered the house of thy father whilst yet a boy,
- 5:30:11Speaker 1: a stranger to all those ambitions which every generous soul
- 5:30:16Speaker 1: should feel, And how I was brought up by him
- 5:30:19Speaker 1: and loved as though I had been born of his blood.
- 5:30:24Speaker 1: How under his governance I learned to be valiant and
- 5:30:27Speaker 1: capable of availing myself of all that fortune of which
- 5:30:32Speaker 1: thou hast been witness. When thy good father came to die,
- 5:30:37Speaker 1: he committed THEE and all his possessions to my care.
- 5:30:41Speaker 1: And I have brought THEE up with that love and
- 5:30:45Speaker 1: increased thy estate with that care which I was bound
- 5:30:48Speaker 1: to show, and in order that thou shouldst not only
- 5:30:53Speaker 1: possess the estate which thy father left, but also that
- 5:30:57Speaker 1: which my fortune and abilities have gained. And I have
- 5:31:01Speaker 1: never married, so that the love of children should never
- 5:31:04Speaker 1: deflect my mind from that gratitude which I owe the
- 5:31:08Speaker 1: children of thy father. Thus I leave THEE a vast
- 5:31:13Speaker 1: estate of which I am well content, but I am
- 5:31:17Speaker 1: deeply concerned inasmuch as I leave it THEE unsettled and insecure.
- 5:31:24Speaker 1: Thou hast the city of Lucca on thy hands, which
- 5:31:27Speaker 1: will never rest contented under thy government. Thou hast also Pisa,
- 5:31:33Speaker 1: where the men are of nature changeable and unreliable, who,
- 5:31:38Speaker 1: although they may sometimes be held in subjection, yet they
- 5:31:43Speaker 1: will ever disdain to serve under a LUKESI Bestoia is
- 5:31:48Speaker 1: also disloyal to THEE, she being eaten up with factions
- 5:31:52Speaker 1: and deeply incensed against thy family by reason of the
- 5:31:56Speaker 1: wrongs recently inflicted upon them. Thou hast for neighbors, the
- 5:32:01Speaker 1: offended Florentines, injured by us in a thousand ways, but
- 5:32:05Speaker 1: not utterly destroyed, who will hail the news of my
- 5:32:09Speaker 1: death with more delight than they would the acquisition of
- 5:32:12Speaker 1: all Tuscany. In the Emperor and in the princes of Milan,
- 5:32:18Speaker 1: thou canst place no reliance, for they are far distant, slow,
- 5:32:23Speaker 1: and their help is very long in coming. Therefore thou
- 5:32:28Speaker 1: hast no hope in anything but thine own abilities, and
- 5:32:32Speaker 1: in the memory of my valor, and in the prestige
- 5:32:36Speaker 1: which this latest victory has brought THEE, which, as thou
- 5:32:40Speaker 1: knowest how to use it with prudence, will assist THEE
- 5:32:44Speaker 1: to come to terms with the Florentines, who, as they
- 5:32:47Speaker 1: are suffering under this great defeat, should be inclined to
- 5:32:51Speaker 1: listen to THEE. And whereas I have sought to make
- 5:32:54Speaker 1: them my enemies, because I believe that war with them
- 5:32:58Speaker 1: would conduce to my power and glory, thou hast every
- 5:33:02Speaker 1: inducement to make friends of them, because their alliance will
- 5:33:07Speaker 1: bring THEE advantages and security. It is of the greatest
- 5:33:12Speaker 1: import in this world that a man should know himself,
- 5:33:16Speaker 1: and that the measure of his own strength and means
- 5:33:19Speaker 1: be known. And he who knows that he has not
- 5:33:23Speaker 1: a genius for fighting, must learn how to govern by
- 5:33:26Speaker 1: the arts of peace. And it will be well for
- 5:33:30Speaker 1: THEE to rule thy conduct by my counsel, and to
- 5:33:34Speaker 1: learn in this way to enjoy what my life, work
- 5:33:38Speaker 1: and dangers have gained. And in this thou wilt easily
- 5:33:43Speaker 1: succeed when thou hast learned to believe that what I
- 5:33:46Speaker 1: have told THEE is true, and thou wilt be doubly
- 5:33:50Speaker 1: indebted to me in that I have left THEE this
- 5:33:54Speaker 1: realm and have taught THEE how to keep it. After this,
- 5:34:00Speaker 1: there came to Castruccio those citizens of Pisa, Pistolia, and
- 5:34:04Speaker 1: Lucca who had been fighting at his side, and whilst
- 5:34:08Speaker 1: recommending Pagolo to them and making them swear obedience to
- 5:34:12Speaker 1: him as his successor, he died. He left a happy
- 5:34:16Speaker 1: memory to those who had known him, and no prince
- 5:34:19Speaker 1: of those times was ever loved with such devotion as
- 5:34:23Speaker 1: he was. His obsequies were celebrated with every sign of mourning,
- 5:34:28Speaker 1: and he was buried in San Francesco at Lucca. Fortune
- 5:34:32Speaker 1: was not so unfriendly to Pagolo Gunini, as she had
- 5:34:35Speaker 1: been to Castruccio, for he had not the abilities. Not
- 5:34:41Speaker 1: long after the death of Castruccio, Pagolo lost Pisa, and
- 5:34:46Speaker 1: then Pistolia, and then only with difficulty, held on to Lucca.
- 5:34:51Speaker 1: This latter city continued in the family of Gunini until
- 5:34:55Speaker 1: the time of the great grandson of Pagolo. From what
- 5:35:01Speaker 1: has here been related, it will be seen that Kestruccio
- 5:35:05Speaker 1: was a man of exceptional abilities, not only measured by
- 5:35:09Speaker 1: men of his own time, but also by those of
- 5:35:12Speaker 1: an earlier date. In stature, he was above the ordinary
- 5:35:16Speaker 1: height and perfectly proportioned. He was of a gracious presence,
- 5:35:21Speaker 1: and he welcomed men with such urbanity that those who
- 5:35:25Speaker 1: spoke with him rarely left him displeased. His hair was
- 5:35:29Speaker 1: inclined to be red, and he wore it cut short
- 5:35:32Speaker 1: above the ears, and whether it rained or snowed, he
- 5:35:36Speaker 1: always went without a hat. He was delightful among friends,
- 5:35:41Speaker 1: but terrible to his enemies, just to his subjects, ready
- 5:35:45Speaker 1: to play false with the unfaithful, and willing to overcome
- 5:35:49Speaker 1: by fraud those whom he desired to subdue, because he
- 5:35:54Speaker 1: was wont to say that it was the victory that
- 5:35:57Speaker 1: brought the glory, not the methods of achieving it. No
- 5:36:01Speaker 1: one was bolder in facing danger, no one more prudent
- 5:36:05Speaker 1: in extricating himself. He was accustomed to say that men
- 5:36:10Speaker 1: ought to attempt everything and fear nothing, that God is
- 5:36:14Speaker 1: a lover of strong men, because one always sees that
- 5:36:19Speaker 1: the weak archestized by the strong. He was also wonderfully
- 5:36:24Speaker 1: sharp or biting, though courteous in his answers, And as
- 5:36:28Speaker 1: he did not look for any indulgence in this way
- 5:36:31Speaker 1: of speaking from others, so he was not angered when
- 5:36:35Speaker 1: others did not show it to him. It has often
- 5:36:38Speaker 1: happened that he has listened quietly when others have spoken
- 5:36:42Speaker 1: sharply to him, as on the following occasions. He caused
- 5:36:47Speaker 1: a ducat to be given for a partridge, and was
- 5:36:50Speaker 1: taken to task for doing so by a friend, to
- 5:36:54Speaker 1: whom Castruccio had said, you would not have given more
- 5:36:58Speaker 1: than a penny. That is true, true, answered the friend.
- 5:37:02Speaker 1: Then Castruccio said to him, a ducat is much less
- 5:37:07Speaker 1: to me, having about him a flatterer on whom he
- 5:37:11Speaker 1: had spat to show that he scorned him. The flatterer
- 5:37:15Speaker 1: said to him, fishermen are willing to let the waters
- 5:37:18Speaker 1: of the sea saturate them in order that they may
- 5:37:21Speaker 1: make a few little fishes. And I allow myself to
- 5:37:25Speaker 1: be wetted by spittle, that I may catch a wail.
- 5:37:30Speaker 1: And this was not only heard by Castruccio with patience,
- 5:37:34Speaker 1: but rewarded. When told by a priest that it was
- 5:37:37Speaker 1: wicked for him to live so sumptuously, Castruccio said, if
- 5:37:42Speaker 1: that be a vice, then you should not fare so
- 5:37:45Speaker 1: splendidly at the feasts of our saints. Passing through a street,
- 5:37:51Speaker 1: he saw a young man as he came out of
- 5:37:53Speaker 1: a house of ill fame, blush at being seen by Castruccio,
- 5:37:58Speaker 1: and said to him, shouldst not be ashamed when thou
- 5:38:02Speaker 1: comest out, but when thou goest into such places? A
- 5:38:07Speaker 1: friend gave him a very curiously tied not to undo,
- 5:38:11Speaker 1: and was told, fool, do you think that I wish
- 5:38:14Speaker 1: to untie a thing which gave you so much trouble
- 5:38:17Speaker 1: to fasten? Gastruccio said, to one who professed to be
- 5:38:22Speaker 1: a philosopher, you are like the dogs who always run
- 5:38:26Speaker 1: after those who will give them the best to eat,
- 5:38:30Speaker 1: And was answered, we are rather like the doctors who
- 5:38:33Speaker 1: go to the houses of those who had the greatest
- 5:38:36Speaker 1: need of them. Going by water from Pisa to Leghorn,
- 5:38:41Speaker 1: Castruccio was much disturbed by a dangerous storm that sprang up,
- 5:38:46Speaker 1: and was reproached for cowardice by the one of those
- 5:38:49Speaker 1: with him, who said that he did not fear anything.
- 5:38:52Speaker 1: Gastruccio answered him that he did not wonder at that,
- 5:38:55Speaker 1: since every man valued his soul for what it was worth.
- 5:39:00Speaker 1: Being asked by one what he ought to do to
- 5:39:04Speaker 1: gain estimation, he said, when thou goest to a banquet,
- 5:39:09Speaker 1: take care that thou dost not seat one piece of
- 5:39:13Speaker 1: wood upon another. To a person who is boasting that
- 5:39:18Speaker 1: he had bread many things, Castruccio said, he knows better
- 5:39:22Speaker 1: than to boast of remembering many things. Some one bragged
- 5:39:27Speaker 1: that he could drink much without becoming intoxicated. Castruccio replied,
- 5:39:33Speaker 1: an ox does the same. Castruccio was acquainted with a
- 5:39:38Speaker 1: girl with whom he had had intimate relations, and being
- 5:39:42Speaker 1: blamed by a friend who told him it was undignified
- 5:39:46Speaker 1: for him to be taken in by a woman. He said,
- 5:39:49Speaker 1: she has not taken me in. I have taken her.
- 5:39:54Speaker 1: Being also blamed for eating very dainty foods, he answered,
- 5:39:58Speaker 1: thou dost not spend as much as I do, and,
- 5:40:03Speaker 1: being told that it was true, he continued, then thou
- 5:40:06Speaker 1: art more avaricious than I am gluttonous. Being invited by
- 5:40:12Speaker 1: Todeo Bernardi, a very rich and splendid citizen of Lucca,
- 5:40:16Speaker 1: to supper, he went to the house and was shown
- 5:40:19Speaker 1: by to Dayo to a chamber hung with silk and
- 5:40:22Speaker 1: paved with fine stones representing flowers and foliage of the
- 5:40:26Speaker 1: most beautiful coloring. Castruccio gathered some saliva in his mouth
- 5:40:32Speaker 1: and spit it out upon Todeo, and seeing him much
- 5:40:35Speaker 1: disturbed by this, he said to him, I knew not
- 5:40:39Speaker 1: where to spit in order to offend thee less. Being
- 5:40:44Speaker 1: one knight in the house of one of his gentlemen,
- 5:40:46Speaker 1: where many ladies were assembled, he was reproved by one
- 5:40:50Speaker 1: of his friends for dancing and amusing himself with them,
- 5:40:53Speaker 1: more than was usual in one of his station. So
- 5:40:57Speaker 1: he said, he who is considered wise by by day
- 5:41:01Speaker 1: will not be considered a fool at night. A person
- 5:41:04Speaker 1: came to demand the favor of Castruccio, and, thinking he
- 5:41:08Speaker 1: was not listening to his plea, threw himself on his
- 5:41:11Speaker 1: knees to the ground, and, being sharply reproved by Castruccio, said,
- 5:41:16Speaker 1: thou art the reason of my acting thus, for thou
- 5:41:20Speaker 1: hast thy ears in thy feet. Whereupon he obtained double
- 5:41:25Speaker 1: the favor he had asked. Castruccio used to say that
- 5:41:30Speaker 1: the way to hell was an easy one, seeing that
- 5:41:33Speaker 1: it was downward direction that you traveled blindfolded. Being asked
- 5:41:38Speaker 1: a favor by one who used many superfluous words, he
- 5:41:42Speaker 1: said to him, when you have another request to make,
- 5:41:46Speaker 1: send someone else to make it. Having been wearied by
- 5:41:50Speaker 1: a similar man with a long oration, who wound up saying,
- 5:41:54Speaker 1: perhaps I have fatigued you by speaking so long, Castruccio said,
- 5:41:59Speaker 1: you have, for I have not listened to a word
- 5:42:02Speaker 1: you said. He used to say of one who had
- 5:42:06Speaker 1: been a beautiful child, and who had afterwards become a
- 5:42:09Speaker 1: fine man, that he was dangerous because he first took
- 5:42:14Speaker 1: the husbands from the wives, and now he took the
- 5:42:17Speaker 1: wives from the husbands. To an envious man who laughed,
- 5:42:22Speaker 1: he said, do you laugh because you are successful or
- 5:42:26Speaker 1: because another is unfortunate. Whilst he was still in the
- 5:42:31Speaker 1: charge of messer Francesco Guinnini, one of his companions, said
- 5:42:35Speaker 1: to him, what shall I give you if you will
- 5:42:38Speaker 1: let me give you a blow on the nose. Castruccio
- 5:42:42Speaker 1: answered a helmet. Having put to death the citizen of Lucca,
- 5:42:50Speaker 1: who had been instrumental in raising him to power, and
- 5:42:54Speaker 1: being told that he had done wrong to kill one
- 5:42:57Speaker 1: of his old friends, he answered that people deceived themselves.
- 5:43:01Speaker 1: He had only killed a new enemy. Castruccio praised greatly
- 5:43:07Speaker 1: those men who intended to take a wife and then
- 5:43:10Speaker 1: did not do so, saying they were like the men
- 5:43:13Speaker 1: who said they would go to sea and then refused
- 5:43:17Speaker 1: when the time came, he said that it always struck
- 5:43:20Speaker 1: him with surprise that whilst men, in buying an earthen
- 5:43:24Speaker 1: or glass vase should sound it first to learn if
- 5:43:27Speaker 1: it were good, yet in choosing a wife they were
- 5:43:30Speaker 1: content with only looking at her. He was once asked
- 5:43:35Speaker 1: in what manner he would wish to be buried when
- 5:43:38Speaker 1: he died, and he answered with the face turned downwards,
- 5:43:43Speaker 1: for I know when I am gone, this country will
- 5:43:46Speaker 1: be turned upside down. On being asked if it had
- 5:43:51Speaker 1: ever occurred to him to become a friar in order
- 5:43:54Speaker 1: to save his soul. He answered that it had not,
- 5:43:58Speaker 1: because it appeared straight to him that Fra Lazerone should
- 5:44:02Speaker 1: go to Paradise and Uguccioni de la Fagiolo to the inferno.
- 5:44:08Speaker 1: He was once asked when should a man eat to
- 5:44:11Speaker 1: preserve his health, and replied, if the man be rich,
- 5:44:15Speaker 1: let him eat when he is hungry. If he is poor,
- 5:44:19Speaker 1: then let him eat when he can. Seeing one of
- 5:44:23Speaker 1: his gentlemen make a member of his family lace him up,
- 5:44:27Speaker 1: he said to him, I pray God that you will
- 5:44:29Speaker 1: let him feed you. Also, seeing that someone had written
- 5:44:34Speaker 1: upon his house in Latin, the words may God preserve
- 5:44:38Speaker 1: this house from the wicked, he said the owner must
- 5:44:42Speaker 1: never go in. Passing through one of the streets, he
- 5:44:46Speaker 1: saw a small house with a very large door, and remarked,
- 5:44:50Speaker 1: that house will fly through that door. He was having
- 5:44:55Speaker 1: a discussion with the ambassador of the King of Naples
- 5:44:58Speaker 1: concerning the property of some banished nobles, when a dispute
- 5:45:02Speaker 1: arose between them, and the ambassador asked him if he
- 5:45:06Speaker 1: had no fear of the king. Is this king of
- 5:45:09Speaker 1: yours a bad man or a good one? Asked Castruccio,
- 5:45:14Speaker 1: and was told that he was a good one, whereupon
- 5:45:17Speaker 1: he said, why would you suggest that I should be
- 5:45:20Speaker 1: afraid of a good man? I could recount many other
- 5:45:24Speaker 1: stories of his sayings, both witty and weighty, but I
- 5:45:28Speaker 1: think that the above will be sufficient testimony to his
- 5:45:32Speaker 1: high qualities. He lived forty four years and was in
- 5:45:37Speaker 1: every way a prince. He was surrounded by many evidences
- 5:45:41Speaker 1: of his good fortune, so he also desired to have
- 5:45:45Speaker 1: near him some memorials of his bad fortune. Therefore, the
- 5:45:50Speaker 1: manacles with which he was chained in prison are to
- 5:45:54Speaker 1: be seen to this day fixed up on the tower
- 5:45:57Speaker 1: of his residence, where they were placed by him, to
- 5:46:01Speaker 1: testify forever to his days of adversity. As in his
- 5:46:06Speaker 1: life he was inferior neither to Philip of Macedon, the
- 5:46:10Speaker 1: father of Alexander, nor to Scipio of Rome. So he
- 5:46:15Speaker 1: died in the same year of his age as they did,
- 5:46:19Speaker 1: and he would doubtless have excelled both of them, had
- 5:46:23Speaker 1: fortune decreed that he should be born not in Lucca,
- 5:46:28Speaker 1: but in Macedonia or in Rome. And that was the
- 5:46:36Speaker 1: end of the life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca, written
- 5:46:41Speaker 1: by Niccolo Machiavelli,