DISCOURSES OF NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

ON THE FIRST TEN (BOOKS) OF TITUS LIVIUS

TO ZANOBI BUONDELMONTI AND COSIMO RUCELLAI

FIRST BOOK

When I consider how much honor is attributed to antiquity, and how many times,

not to mention many other examples, a fragment of an antique statue has been

bought at a great price in order to have it near to one, honoring his house,

being able to have it imitated by those who delight in those arts, and how they

then strive with all industry to present them in all their work: and when I see,

on the other hand, the works of greatest virtu which Historians indicate have

been accomplished by ancient Kingdoms and Republics, by Kings, Captains,

Citizens, Lawgivers, and others who have worked themselves hard for their

country, to be more readily admired than imitated, or rather so much neglected

by everyone in every respect that no sign of that ancient virtu remains, I

cannot otherwise than wonder and at the same time be sad: and so much more when

I see in the civil differences that arise between Citizens, or in the maladies

which men incur, they always have recourses to those judgments or to those

remedies that have been judged or instituted by the ancients. For the civil laws

are nothing else but the decisions given by the ancient Jurisconsults, which

reduced to a system presently teach our Jurisconsults to judge and also what is

medicine if not the experience had by the ancient Doctors, (and) on which the

present Doctors base their judgments? None the less in the instituting of

Republics, in maintaining of States, in the governing of Kingdoms, in organizing

an army and conducting a war, in (giving) judgment for Subjects, in expanding

the Empire, there will not be found either Prince, or Republic, or Captain, or

Citizen, who has recourse to the examples of the ancients. Which I am persuaded

arises not so much from the weakness to which the present education has brought

the world, or from that evil which an ambitious indolence has created in many

Christian Provinces and Cities, than from not having a real understanding of

history, and from not drawing that (real) sense from its reading, or benefiting

from the spirit which is contained in it. whence it arises that they who read

take infinitely more pleasure in knowing the variety of incidents that are

contained in them, without ever thinking of imitating them, believing the

imitation not only difficult, but impossible: as if heaven, the sun, the

elements, and men should have changed the order of their motions and power, from

what they were anciently. Wanting, therefore, to draw men from this error, I

have judged it necessary to write upon all those books of Titus Livy which,

because of the malignity of the times, have been prevented (from coming to us),

in order that I might judge by comparing ancient and modern events what is

necessary for their better understanding, so that those who may read these

Discourses of mine may be able to derive that usefulness for which the

understanding of History ought to be sought. And although this enterprise may be

difficult, none the less, aided by those who have advised me to begin carrying

this load, I believe I can carry it so that there will remain for others a short

way to bring it to its destined place (end).

CHAPTER I

WHAT HAVE GENERALLY BEEN THE BEGINNINGS OF SOME CITIES, AND WHAT WAS THAT OF

ROME

Those who read what the beginning of the City of Rome was, and of her Law-givers

and how it was organized, do not wonder that so much virtu had been maintained

for so many centuries in that City, and that afterward there should have been

born that Empire to which that Republic was joined. And wanting first to discuss

its birth, I say that all Cities are built either by men born in the place where

they build it or by foreigners. The first case occurs when it appears to the

inhabitants that they do not live securely when dispersed into many and small

parties, each unable by himself both because of the location and the small

number to resist attacks of those who should assault them, and they are not in

time ((the enemy coming)) in waiting for their defense: or if they should be,

they must abandon many of their refuges, and thus they would quickly become the

prey of their enemies: so much that in order to avoid these dangers, moved

either by themselves or by some one among them of greater authority, they

restrict themselves to live together in a place selected by them, more

convenient to live in and more easy to defend. Of these, among others, have been

Athens and Venice: the first under the authority of Theseus was built by the

dispersed inhabitants for like reasons: the other built by many people (who) had

come to certain small islands situated at the head of the Adriatic Sea, in order

to escape those wars which every day were arising in Italy because of the coming

of new barbarians after the decline of that Roman Empire, began among

themselves, without any particular Prince who should organize them, to live

under those laws which appeared to them best suited in maintaining it (their new

state). In this they succeeded happily because of the long peace which the site

gave to them (for) that sea not having issue, where those people who were

afflicting Italy, not having ships with which they could invest them; so that

from a small beginning they were enabled to come to that greatness which they

now have.

The second case, when a city is built by foreign forces, is caused by free men

and by men who depend on others, such as the Colonies sent either by a Republic

or by a Prince to relieve their towns of (excessive) inhabitants or for the

defense of that country which they have newly acquired (and) want to maintain

securely and without expense; (thy Roman people built many cities, throughout

all their Empire) or they are built by a Prince, not to live there but for his

own glory, as was the City of Alexandria built by Alexander. And because these

cities at their origin do not have their freedom, it rarely happens that they

make great progress and are able to be numbered among the chief Kingdoms. Such

was the building of Florence, for (it was built either by the soldiers of Sulla,

or perhaps by the inhabitants of the Mountains of Fiesole, who trusting in that

long peace which prevailed in the world under Octavian were led to live in the

plain along the Arno) it was built under the Roman Empire, and could not in its

beginning have any other growth that those which were conceded to her through

the courtesy of the Prince.

The builders of Cities are free when any people either under a Prince or by

themselves are constrained either by pestilence or by famine or by war to

abandon their native country, and seek new homes: These either inhabit the

cities that they find in the countries they acquire, as Moses did, or they build

new ones, as Eneas did. This is a case where the virtu and fortune of the

builder of the edifice is recognized, which is of greater or less wonder

according as that man who was the beginner was of greater or less virtu. The

virtu of whom is recognized in two ways: the first is in the selection of the

site, the other in the establishment of the laws. And because men work either

from necessity or from choice: and because it is seen here that virtu is greater

where choice has less authority (results from necessity), it is (something) to

be considered whether it would be better for the building of a city to select

sterile places, so that men constrained to be industrious and less occupied with

idleness, should live more united, where, because of the poverty of the site,

they should have less cause for discord, as happened at Ragusa and in many other

cities built in similar places; which selection would without doubt be more wise

and more useful if men would be content to live of their own (possessions), and

not want to seek to command that of others.

However, as men are not able to make themselves secure except through power, it

is necessary to avoid this sterility of country and locate it in very fertile

places, where because of the fertility of the site, it can grow, can defend

itself from whoever should assault it, and suppress whoever should oppose its

aggrandizement. And as to that idleness which the site should encourage, it

ought to be arranged that in that necessity the laws should constrain them (to

work) where the site does not constrain them (does not do so), and to imitate

those who have been wise and have lived in most amenable and most fertile

countries, which are apt to making men idle and unable to exercise any virtu:

that to obviate those which the amenity of the country may cause through

idleness, they imposed the necessity of exercise on those who were to be

soldiers: of a kind that, because of such orders, they became better soldiers

than (men) in those countries where nature has been harsh and sterile: among

which was the Kingdom of Egypt, which notwithstanding that the country was most

amenable, that necessity ordained by the laws was so great, that most excellent

men resulted therefrom: and if their names had not been extinguished by

antiquity, it would be seen that they would have merited more praise than

Alexander the Great, and many others of whom memory is still fresh. And whoever

had considered the Kingdom of Soldan and the order of the Mamelukes, and of

their military (organization) before it was destroyed by Selim the Grand Turk,

would have seen there how much the soldiers exercised, and in fact would have

known how much they feared that idleness to which the benignity of the country

could lead them if they had not obviated it by the strongest laws. I say

therefore that the selection of a fertile location in establishing (a city) is

more prudent when (the results) of that fertility can be restricted within given

limits by laws.

Alexander the Great, wishing to build a city for his glory, Dinocrates, the

Architect came to him and showed him how he could do so upon the mountain Athos,

which place in addition to being strong, could be arranged in a way that the

City would be given human form, which would be a marvelous and rare thing and

worthy of his greatness: and Alexander asking him on what the inhabitants would

live, he replied that he had not thought of it: at which he laughed, and leaving

that mountain as it was, he built Alexandria, where the inhabitants would stay

willingly because of the richness of the country and the convenience to the sea

and of the Nile.

Whoever should examine, therefore, the building of Rome if he should take Eneas

for its first ancestor, will know that that City was built by foreigners: (but)

if Romulus, it would have been built by men native to the place, and in any case

it would be seen to have been free from the beginning without depending on

anyone: it will also be seen (as it will be said below) to what necessity the

laws made by Romulus, Numa, and the others had constrained them; so much so that

the fertility of the site, the convenience of the sea, the frequent victories,

the greatness of the Empire, could not corrupt her for many centuries, and they

maintained her full of so much virtu than any other republic has ever been

adorned. And because the things achieved by them and that are made notable by

Titus Livius, have taken place either through public Councils or private

(individuals) either inside or outside the City, I shall begin to discourse upon

those things which occured inside; and as for the public Council, which is

worthy of greater annotation, I shall judge, adding all that is dependent on

them; with which discourses this fast book, or rather this fast part will be

ended.

CHAPTER II

OF THE KINDS OF REPUBLICS THERE ARE, AND OF WHICH WAS THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

I want to place aside the discussion of those cities that had their beginning

subject to others, and I will talk of those which have had their beginning far

removed from any external servitude, but which (were) initially governed

themselves through their own will, either as Republics or as Principalities;

which have had (as diverse origins) diverse laws and institutions. For to some,

at the beginning or very soon after, their laws were given to them by one (man)

and all at one time, as those which were given to the Spartans by Lycurgus: Some

have received them by chance, and at several times, according to events, as Rome

did. So that a Republic can be called fortunate which by chance has a man so

prudent, who gives her laws so ordered that without having need of correcting

them, she can live securely under them. And it is seen that Sparta observed hers

(laws) for more than eight hundred years without changing them and without any

dangerous disturbance: and on the contrary that City has some degree of

unhappiness which (not having fallen to a prudent lawmaker) is compelled to

reorganize her laws by herself. And she also is more unhappy which has diverged

more from her institutions; and that (Republic) is even further from them whose

laws lead her away from perfect and true ends entirely outside of the right

path; for to those who are in that condition it is almost impossible that by

some incident they be set aright. Those others which do not have a perfect

constitution, but had made a good beginning, are capable of becoming better, and

can become perfect through the occurrence of events. It is very true, however,

that they have never been reformed without danger, for the greater number of men

never agree to a new law which contemplates a new order for the City, unless the

necessity that needs be accomplished is shown to them: and as this necessity

cannot arise without some peril, it is an easy thing for the Republic to be

ruined before it can be brought to a more perfect constitution. The Republic of

Florence gives a proof of this, which because of the incident of Arezzo in (the

year) one thousand five hundred and two (1502) was reorganized, (and) it was

disorganized by that of Prato in (the year) one thousand five hundred and twelve

(1512).

Wanting therefore to discourse on what were the institutions of the City of Rome

and what events brought her to her perfection, I say, that some who have written

of Republics say there are (one of) three States (governments) in them called by

them Principality (Monarchy), of the Best (Aristocracy), and Popular

(Democracy), and that those men who institute (laws) in a City ought to turn to

one of these, according as it seems fit to them. Some others (and wiser

according to the opinion of many) believe there are six kinds of Governments, of

which those are very bad, and those are good in themselves, but may be so easily

corrupted that they also become pernicious. Those that are good are three

mentioned above: those that are bad, are three others which derive from those

(first three), and each is so similar to them that they easily jump from one to

the other, for the Principality easily becomes a tyranny, autocracy easily

become State of the Few (oligarchies), and the Popular (Democracy) without

difficulty is converted into a licentious one (anarchy). So much so that an

organizer of a Republic institutes one of those three States (governments) in a

City, he institutes it for only a short time, because there is no remedy which

can prevent them from degenerating into their opposite kind, because of the

resemblance that virtu and vice have in this instance.

These variations in government among men are born by chance, for at the

beginning of the world the inhabitants were few, (and) lived for a time

dispersed and like beasts: later as the generations multiplied they gathered

together, and in order to be able better to defend themselves they began to seek

among themselves the one who was most robust and of greater courage, and made

him their head and obeyed him. From this there arose the knowledge of honest and

good things; differentiating them from the pernicious and evil; for seeing one

man harm his benefactor there arose hate and compassion between men, censuring

the ingrates and honoring those who were grateful, and believing also that these

same injuries could be done to them, to avoid like evils they were led to make

laws, and institute punishments for those who should contravene them; whence

came the cognition of justice. Which thing later caused them to select a Prince,

not seeking the most stalwart but he who was more prudent and more just. But

afterwards when they began to make the Prince by succession and not by election,

the heirs quickly degenerated from their fathers, and leaving off from works of

virtu they believed that Princes should have nothing else to do than surpass

others in sumptuousness and lasciviousness and in every other kind of delight.

So that the Prince began to be hated, and because of this hate he began to fear,

and passing therefore from fear to injury, a tyranny quickly arose. From this

there arose the beginnings of the ruin and conspiracies; and these conspiracies

against the Prince were not made by weak and timid men, but by those who because

of their generosity, greatness of spirit, riches, and nobility above the others,

could not endure the dishonest life of that prince.

The multitude therefore following the authority of these powerful ones armed

itself against the Prince, and having destroyed him, they obeyed them as their

liberators. And these holding the name of chief in hatred, constituted a

government by themselves, and in the beginning (having in mind the past tyranny)

governed themselves according to the laws instituted by them, preferring every

common usefulness to their conveniences, and governed and preserved private and

public affairs with the greatest diligence. This administration later was handed

down to their children, who not knowing the changeability of fortune (for) never

having experienced bad (fortune), and not wanting to remain content with civil

equality, they turned to avarice, ambition, violation of women, caused that

aristocratic government (of the Best) to become an oligarchic government (of the

Few) regardless of all civil rights: so that in a short time the same thing

happened to them as it did to the Tyrant, for the multitude disgusted with their

government, placed itself under the orders of whoever would in any way plan to

attack those Governors, and thus there arose some one who, with the aid of the

multitude, destroyed them. And the memory of the Prince and the injuries

received from him being yet fresh (and) having destroyed the oligarchic state

(of the Few), and not wanting to restore that of the Prince, the (people) turned

to the Popular state (Democracy) and they organized that in such a way, that

neither the powerful Few nor a Prince should have any authority. And because all

States in the beginning receive some reverence, this Popular State maintained

itself for a short time, but not for long, especially when that generation that

had organized it was extinguished, for they quickly came to that license where

neither private men or public men were feared: this was such that every one

living in his own way, a thousand injuries were inflicted every day: so that

constrained by necessity either through the suggestion of some good man, or to

escape from such license, they once again turn to a Principality; and from this

step by step they return to that license both in the manner and for the causes

mentioned (previously).

And this is the circle in which all the Republics are governed and will

eventually be governed; but rarely do they return to the same (original)

governments: for almost no Republic can have so long a life as to be able often

to pass through these changes and remain on its feet. But it may well happen

that in the troubles besetting a Republic always lacking counsel and strength,

it will become subject to a neighboring state which may be better organized than

itself: but assuming this does not happen, a Republic would be apt to revolve

indefinitely among these governments. I say therefore that all the (previously)

mentioned forms are inferior because of the brevity of the existence of those

three that are good, and of the malignity of those three that are bad. So that

those who make laws prudently having recognized the defects of each, (and)

avoiding every one of these forms by itself alone, they selected one (form) that

should partake of all, they judging it to be more firm and stable, because when

there is in the same City (government) a Principality, an Aristocracy, and a

Popular Government (Democracy), one watches the other.[1]

Among those who have merited more praise for having similar constitutions is

Lycurgus, who so established his laws in Sparta, that in giving parts to the

King, the Aristocracy, and the People, made a state that endured more than eight

hundred years, with great praise to himself and tranquillity to that City. The

contrary happened to Solon who established the laws in Athens, (and) who by

establishing only the Popular (Democratic) state, he gave it such a brief

existence that before he died he saw arise the tyranny of Pisistratus: and

although after forty years his (the tyrants) heirs were driven out and liberty

returned to Athens, for the Popular state was restored according to the

ordinances of Solon, it did not last more than a hundred years, yet in order

that it be maintained many conventions were made by which the insolence of the

nobles and the general licentiousness were suppressed, which had not been

considered by Solon: none the less because he did not mix it (Popular state)

with the power of the Principate and with that of the Aristocracy, Athens lived

a very short time as compared to Sparta.

But let us come to Rome, which, notwithstanding that it did not have a Lycurgus

who so established it in the beginning that she was not able to exist free for a

long time, none the less so many were the incidents that arose in that City

because of the disunion that existed between the Plebs and the Senate, so that

what the legislator did not do, chance did. For, if Rome did not attain top

fortune, it attained the second; if the first institutions were defective, none

the less they did not deviate from the straight path which would lead them to

perfection, for Romulus and all the other Kings made many and good laws, all

conforming to a free existence. But because their objective was to found a

Kingdom and not a Republic, when that City became free she lacked many things

that were necessary to be established in favor of liberty, which had not been

established by those Kings. And although those Kings lost their Empire for the

reasons and in the manner discussed, none the less those who drove them out

quickly instituted two Consuls who should be in the place of the King, (and) so

it happened that while the name (of King) was driven from Rome, the royal power

was not; so that the Consuls and the Senate existed in forms mentioned above,

that is the Principate and the Aristocracy. There remained only to make a place

for Popular government for the reasons to be mentioned below, the people rose

against them: so that in order not to lose everything, (the Nobility) was

constrained to concede a part of its power to them, and on the other hand the

Senate and the Consuls remained with so much authority that they were able to

keep their rank in that Republic. And thus was born (the creation) of the

Tribunes of the plebs,[2] after which creation the government of that Republic

came to be more stable, having a part of all those forms of government. And so

favorable was fortune to them that although they passed from a Monarchial

government and from an Aristocracy to one of the People (Democracy), by those

same degrees and for the same reasons that were discussed above, none the less

the Royal form was never entirely taken away to give authority to the

Aristocracy, nor was all the authority of the Aristocrats diminished in order to

give it to the People, but it remained shared (between the three) it made the

Republic perfect: which perfection resulted from the disunion of the Plebs and

the Senate, as we shall discuss at length in the next following chapters.

CHAPTER III

WHAT EVENTS CAUSED THE CREATION OF THE TRIBUNES OF THE PLEBS IN ROME, WHICH MADE

THE REPUBLIC MORE PERFECT

As all those have shown who have discussed civil institutions, and as every

history is full of examples, it is necessary to whoever arranges to found a

Republic and establish laws in it, to presuppose that all men are bad and that

they will use their malignity of mind every time they have the opportunity; and

if such malignity is hidden for a time, it proceeds from the unknown reason that

would not be known because the experience of the contrary had not been seen, but

time, which is said to be the father of every truth, will cause it to be

discovered. It seemed that in Rome there was a very great harmony between the

Plebs and the Senate (the Tarquins having been driven out), and that the nobles

had laid aside their haughtiness and had become of a popular spirit, and

supportable to everyone even to the lowest. This deception was hidden, nor was

the cause seen while the Tarquins lived, whom the nobility feared, and having

fear that the maltreated plebs might not side with them (the nobles) they

behaved themselves humanely toward them: but as soon as the Tarquins were dead,

and that fear left the Nobles, they begun to vent upon the plebs that poison

which they had kept within their breasts, and in every way they could they

offended them: which thing gives testimony to that which was said above that men

never act well except through necessity: but where choice abounds and where

license may be used, everything is quickly filled with confusion and disorder.

It is said therefore that Hunger and Poverty make men industrious, and Laws make

them good. And where something by itself works well without law, the law is not

necessary: but when that good custom is lacking, the law immediately becomes

necessary. Thus the Tarquins being dead through fear of whom the Nobles were

kept in restraint, it behooved them (the Nobles) to think of a new order, which

would cause the same effect which the Tarquins had caused when they were alive.

And therefore after many confusions, tumults, and dangers of troubles, which

arose between the Plebs and the Nobility, they came for the security of the

Plebs to the creation of the Tribunes, and they were given so much preeminence

and so much reputation, that they then should always be able to be in the middle

between the Plebs and the Senate, and obviate the insolence of the Nobles.

CHAPTER IV

THAT DISUNION OF THE PLEBS AND THE ROMAN SENATE MADE THAT REPUBLIC FREE AND

POWERFUL

I do not want to miss discoursing on these tumults that occurred in Rome from

the death of the Tarquins to the creation of the Tribunes; and afterwards I will

discourse on some things contrary to the opinions of many who say that Rome was

a tumultuous Republic and full of so much confusion, that if good fortune and

military virtu had not supplied her defects, she would have been inferior to

every other Republic.

I cannot deny that fortune and the military were the causes of the Roman Empire;

but it indeed seems to me that this would not happen except when military

discipline is good, it happens that where order is good, (and) only rarely there

may not be good fortune accompanying. But let us come to the other particulars

of that City. I say that those who condemn the tumults between the nobles and

the plebs, appear to me to blame those things that were the chief causes for

keeping Rome free, and that they paid more attention to the noises and shouts

that arose in those tumults than to the good effects they brought forth, and

that they did not consider that in every Republic there are two different

viewpoints, that of the People and that of the Nobles; and that all the laws

that are made in favor of liberty result from their disunion, as may easily be

seen to have happened in Rome, for from Tarquin to the Gracchi which was more

than three hundred years, the tumults of Rome rarely brought forth exiles, and

more rarely blood. Nor is it possible therefore to judge these tumults harmful,

nor divisive to a Republic, which in so great a time sent into exile no more

than eight or ten of its citizens because of its differences, and put to death

only a few, and condemned in money (fined) not very many: nor can a Republic in

any way with reason be called disordered where there are so many examples of

virtu, for good examples result from good education, good education from good

laws, and good laws from those tumults which many inconsiderately condemn; for

he who examines well the result of these, will not find that they have brought

forth any exile or violence prejudicial to the common good, but laws and

institutions in benefit of public liberty. And if anyone should say the means

were extraordinary and almost savage, he will see the People together shouting

against the Senate, The Senate against the People, running tumultuously

throughout the streets, locking their stores, all the Plebs departing from Rome,

all of which (things) alarm only those who read of them; I say, that every City

ought to have their own means with which its People can give vent to their

ambitions, and especially those Cities which in important matters, want to avail

themselves of the People; among which the City of Rome had this method, that

when those people wanted to obtain a law, either they did some of the things

mentioned before or they would not enroll their names to go to war, so that to

placate them it was necessary (for the Senate) in some part to satisfy them: and

the desires of a free people rarely are pernicious to liberty, because they

arise either from being oppressed or from the suspicion of going to be

oppressed. And it these opinions should be false, there is the remedy of

haranguing (public assembly), where some upright man springs up who through

oratory shows them that they deceive themselves; and the people (as Tullius

Cicero says) although they are ignorant, are capable of (appreciating) the

truth, and easily give in when the truth is given to them by a trustworthy man.

One ought therefore to be more sparing in blaming the Roman government, and to

consider that so many good effects which came from that Republic, were not

caused except for the best of reasons: And if the tumults were the cause of

creation of Tribunes, they merit the highest praise, for in addition to giving

the people a part in administration, they were established for guarding Roman

liberty, as will be shown in the next chapter.

CHAPTER V

WHERE THE GUARDING OF LIBERTY IS MORE SECURELY PLACED, EITHER IN THE PEOPLE OR

IN THE NOBLES; AND WHICH HAVE THE GREATER REASON TO BECOME TUMULTUOUS EITHER HE

WHO WANTS TO ACQUIRE OR HE WHO WANTS TO MAINTAIN

Among the more necessary things instituted by those who have prudently

established a Republic, was to establish a guard to liberty, and according as

this was well or badly place, that freedom endured a greater or less (period of

time). And because in every Republic there exists the Nobles and the Populace,

it may be a matter of doubt in whose hands the guard is better placed. And the

Lacedemonians, and in our times the Venetians, placed it in the hands of the

Nobles, but that of Rome was placed in the hands of the Plebs. It is necessary

therefore to examine which of the Republics had made the better selection. And

if we go past the causes and examine every part, and if their results should be

examined, the side of the Nobles would be preferred since the liberty of Sparta

and Venice had a much longer life than that of Rome: And to come to the reasons,

I say (taking up first the part of the Romans) that thing (liberty) which is to

be guarded ought to be done by those who have the least desire of usurping it.

And without doubt, if the object of the Nobles and of the Ignobles (populace) is

considered, it will be seen that the former have a great desire to dominate, and

the latter a desire not to be dominated and consequently a greater desire to

live free, being less hopeful of usurping it (liberty) than are the Nobles: so

that the People placed in charge to guard the liberty of anyone, reasonably will

take better care of it; for not being able to take it away themselves, they do

not permit others to take it away.

On the other hand, he who defends the Spartan and Venetian arrangement, says

that those who placed that guardianship in the hands of the Powerful (Nobles),

made two good points: The one, that they satisfy more the ambitions of those who

playing a greater part in the Republic, (and) having this club in their hands,

have more reason to be content; the other, that they take away a kind of

authority from the restless spirit of the People which is the cause of infinite

discussions and troubles in a Republic, and apt to bring the Nobility to some

(act of) desperation which in times may result in some bad effects. And they

give for an example this selfsame Rome, where the Tribunes of the Plebs having

this authority in their hands, (and) the having of one Consul from the Plebs was

not enough for them (the People), but that they wanted to have both (the Consuls

from the Plebs). From this they afterward wanted the Censure, the Praetorship,

and all the other ranks of the Empire (Government) of the Republic. Nor was this

enough for them, but urged on by the same fury they began in time to idolize

those men whom they saw adept at beating down the Nobility: whence arose the

power of Marius and the ruin of Rome.

And truly whoever should discuss well both of these things could be in doubt as

to what kind of men may be more harmful to the Republic, either those who desire

to acquire that which they do not have, or those who desire to maintain the

honors already acquired. And in the end whoever examines everything skillfully

will come to this conclusion: The discussion is either of a Republic which wants

to create an Empire, as Rome, or of one which is satisfied to maintain itself.

In the first case it is necessary for it to do everything as Rome did; in the

second, it can imitate Venice and Sparta, for those reasons why and how as will

be described in the succeeding chapter.

But to return to the discussion as to which men are more harmful in a Republic,

either those who desire to acquire, or those who fear to lose that which they

have acquired, I say that when Marcus Menenius had been made Dictator, and

Marcus Fulvius Master of the cavalry, both plebeians, in order to investigate

certain conspiracies that had been formed in Capua against Rome, they were also

given authority by the people to be able to search out who in Rome from ambition

and by extraordinary means should endeavor to attain the Consulate and other

houses (offices) of the City. And it appearing to the Nobility that such

authority given to the Dictator was directed against them, they spread the word

throughout Rome that it was not the Nobles who were seeking the honors for

ambition, or by extraordinary means, but the Ignobles (Plebeians) who, trusting

neither to their blood (birth) nor in their own virtu, sought to attain those

dignities, and they particularly accused the Dictator: And so powerful was this

accusation, that Menenius having made a harangue (speech) and complaining of the

calumnies spread against him by the Nobles, he deposed the Dictatorship, and

submitted himself to that judgement (of himself) which should be made by the

People: And then the cause having been pleaded, he was absolved; at which time

there was much discussion as to who was the more ambitious, he who wanted to

maintain (his power) or he who wanted to acquire it, since the desires of either

the one or the other could be the cause of the greatest tumults. But none the

less more frequently they are caused by those who possess (power), for the fear

of losing it generates in them the same desires that are in those who want to

acquire it, because it does not seem to men to possess securely that which they

have, unless they acquire more from others. And, moreover, those who possess

much, can make changes with greater power and facility. And what is yet worse,

is that their breaking out and ambitious conduct arouses in the breasts of those

who do not possess (power) the desire to possess it, either to avenge themselves

against them (the former) by despoiling them, or in order to make it possible

also for them to partake of those riches and honors which they see are so badly

used by the others.

CHAPTER VI

WHETHER IT WAS POSSIBLE TO ESTABLISH A GOVERNMENT IN ROME WHICH COULD ELIMINATE

THE ENMITY BETWEEN THE POPULACE AND THE SENATE

We have discussed above the effects which were caused by the controversies

between the People and the Senate. Now these having continued up to the time of

the Gracchi, where they were the cause of the loss of liberty, some might wish

that Rome had done the great things that she did without there being that enmity

within her. It seems to me therefore a thing worthy of consideration to see

whether in Rome there could have been a government (state) established that

could have eliminated the aforementioned controversies. And to desire to examine

this it is necessary to have recourse to those Republics which have had their

liberty for a long time without such enmities and tumults, and to see what

(form) of government theirs was, and if it could have been introduced in Rome.

For example, there is Sparta among the ancients, Venice among the modern, (both)

having been previously mentioned by me. Sparta created a King with a small

Senate which should govern her. Venice did not divide its government by these

distinctions, but gave all those who could have a part in the administration (of

its government) the name of Gentlemen: In this manner, chance more than prudence

gave them (the Venetians) the laws (form of Government), for having taken refuge

on those rocks where the City now is, for the reasons mentioned above many of

the inhabitants, as they had increased to so great a number, with the desire to

live together, so that needing to make laws for themselves, they established a

government, (and) came together often in councils to discuss the affairs of the

City; when it appeared to them that they had become numerous enough for existing

as a commonwealth, they closed the path to all the others who should newly come

to live there to take part in their government: And in time finding in that

place many inhabitants outside the government, in order to give reputation to

those who were governing, they called them Gentlemen, and the others Popolari.

This form (of Government) could establish and maintain itself without tumult,

because when it was born, whoever then lived in Venice participated in that

government, with which no one could complain: Those who came to live there

later, finding the State firm and established did not have cause or opportunity

to create a tumult. The cause was not there because nothing had been taken from

them. The opportunity was not there because those who ruled kept them in check

and did not employ them in affairs where they could pick up authority. In

addition to this, those who came to inhabit Venice later were not very many, or

of such a great number that these would be a disproportion between those who

governed and those who were governed, for the number of Gentlemen were either

equal to or greater than the others: so that for these reasons Venice could

establish that State and maintain it united.

Sparta, as I have said, being governed by a King and limited Senate could thus

maintain itself for a long time because there being few inhabitants in Sparta,

and the path having been closed to those who should want to live there, and the

laws of Lycurgus having acquired such reputation that their observance removed

all the causes for tumults. They were able to live united for a long time, for

Lycurgus had established in Sparta more equality of substance and less equality

in rank, because equal poverty existed here and the Plebs were lacking ambitious

men, as the offices of the City were extended to few Citizens, and were kept

distant from the Plebs, nor did the Nobles by not treating them badly ever

create in them the desire to want them. This resulted from the Spartan Kings,

who, being placed in that Principate and living in the midst of that Nobility,

did not have may better means of maintaining their office, than to keep the

Plebs defended from every injury: which caused the Plebs neither to fear nor to

desire authority, and not having the dominion, nor fear of it, there was

eliminated the competition which they might have had with the Nobility, and the

cause of tumults, and thus they could live united for a long time. But two

things principally caused this union: The one, the inhabitants of Sparta were

few, and because of this were able to be governed by a few: The other, that not

accepting outsiders in their Republic, they did not have the opportunity either

of becoming corrupt or of increasing so much that they should become

unsupportable to those few who governed her.

Considering all these things, therefore, it is seen that it was necessary that

the legislators of Rome do one of two things in desiring that Rome be as quiet

as the above mentioned Republic, either not to employ the Plebs in war like the

Venetians, or not to open the door to outsiders like the Spartans, But they did

the one and the other, which gave the Plebs strength and increased power and

infinite opportunities for tumults. And if the Roman State had come to be more

tranquil, it would have resulted that she would have become even more feeble,

because there would have been cut off from her the means of being able to attain

that greatness which she achieved. So that Rome wanting to remove the causes for

tumults, would also take away the causes for expansion. And as in all human

affairs, those who examine them will indeed see that it is never possible to

avoid one inconvenience but that another one will spring up. If therefore, you

want to make a people numerous and armed in order to create a great Empire, you

will make it of a kind that you are not able afterward to manage it in your own

way: if you keep them either small or disarmed in order to be able to manage

them, (and), if you acquire other dominion, you will not be able to hold them,

or you will become so mean that you will become prey to whoever assaults you.

And therefore, in every one of our decisions, there ought to be considered where

the inconveniences are less, and then take up the better proceeding, for there

will never be formed anything entirely clear of suspicion. Rome could therefore,

like Sparta, have created a Prince for life, and established a limited Senate;

but desiring to build a great Empire, she could not, like Sparta, limit the

number of her Citizens: which, in creating a King for life and a small number in

the Senate, would have been of little benefit in connection with her unity. If

anyone therefore should want to establish a new Republic, he should have to

consider if he should want it to expand in dominion and power as did Rome, or

whether it should remain within narrow limits. In the first case, it is

necessary to establish it as Rome, and to give place to tumults and general

dissensions as best he can; for without a great number of men, and (those) well

armed, no Republic can ever increase, or if it did increase, to maintain itself.

In thy second case he may establish her as Sparta and Venice: but because

expansion is the poison of such Republics, he ought in every way he can prevent

her from making acquisitions, for such acquisitions, based on a weak Republic,

are entirely their ruin, as happened to Sparta and Venice, the first of which

having subjected almost all of Greece, showed the weakness of its foundation

with the slightest accident; for when there ensued the rebellion of Thebes

caused by Pelopidas, the other cities also rebelling, ruined that Republic

entirely.

Similarly Venice having occupied a great part of Italy, and the greater part

(obtained) not by war but by money and astuteness, when it came to make a test

of her strength everything was lost in one engagement. I believe then that to

create a Republic which should endure a long time, the better way would be to

organize internally like Sparta, or like Venice locate it in a strong place, and

of such power that no one should believe he could quickly oppress her: and on

the other hand, it should not be so powerful that she should be formidable to

her neighbors, and thus she could enjoy its state (independence) for a long

time. For there are two reasons why war is made against a Republic: The one, to

become lord over her: the other, the fear of being occupied by her. These two

means in the above mentioned manner almost entirely removed (the reasons for

war), for it is difficult to destroy her, being well organized for her defense,

as I presuppose, it will rarely or never happen that one can design to conquer

her. If she remains within her limits, and from experience it is seen that there

is no ambition in her, it will never happen that someone for fear of her will

make war against her: and this would be so much more so if there should be in

her constitution or laws (restrictions) that should prohibit her expansion. And

without doubt I believe that things could be kept balanced in this way, that

there would be the best political existence, and real tranquillity to a City.

But all affairs of men being (continually) in motion and never being able to

remain stable, it happens that (States) either remain stable or decline: and

necessity leads you to do many things which reason will not lead you to do; so

that having established a Republic adept at maintaining itself without

expanding, and necessity should induce her to expand, her foundations would be

taken away and her ruin accomplished more readily. Thus, on the other hand, if

Heaven should be so kind that she would never have to make war, the languidness

that should arise would make her either effeminate or divided: which two

together, or each one by itself, would be cause of her ruin. Not being able,

therefore, (as I believe) to balance these things, and to maintain this middle

course, it is necessary in organizing a Republic to think of the more honorable

side, and organize her in a way that if necessity should induce her to expand,

she may be able to preserve that which she should have acquired. And to return

to the first discussion, I believe it is necessary to follow the Roman order and

not that of any other Republic (because I do not believe it is possible to find

a middle way between one and the other) and to tolerate that enmity that should

arise between the People and the Senate, accepting it as an inconvenient

necessity in attaining the Roman greatness. Because in addition to the other

reasons alleged, where the authority of the Tribunes is shown to be necessary

for the guarding of liberty, it is easy to consider the benefit that will come

to the Republic from this authority of accusing (judiciary), which among others

was committed to the Tribunes, as will be discussed in the following chapter.

CHAPTER VII

HOW MUCH THE FACULTY OF ACCUSING (JUDICIARY) IS NECESSARY FOR A REPUBLIC FOR THE

MAINTENANCE OF LIBERTY

No more useful and necessary authority can be given to those who are appointed

in a City to guard its liberty, as is that of being able to accuse the citizen

to the People or to any Magistrate or Council, if he should in any way

transgress against the free state. This arrangement makes for two most useful

effects for a Republic. The first is, that for fear of being accused, the

citizens do not attempt anything against the state, and if they should (make an)

attempt they are punished immediately and without regard (to person). The other

is, that it provides a way for giving vent to those moods which in whatever way

and against whatever citizens may arise in the City. And when these moods do not

provide a means by which they may be vented, they ordinarily have recourse to

extra ordinary means that cause the complete ruin of a Republic. And there is

nothing which makes a Republic so stable and firm, as organizing it in such a

way that changes in the moods which may agitate it have a way prescribed by law

for venting themselves. This can be demonstrated by many examples, and

especially by that of Coriolanus, which Titus Livius refers to, where he says

that the Roman Nobility being irritated against the Plebs, because it seemed to

them the Plebs had too much authority concerning the creation of the Tribunes

who defended them, and Rome (as happened) experiencing a great scarcity of

provisions, and the Senate having sent to Sicily for grain, Coriolanus, enemy of

the popular faction, counselled that the time had come (to be able) to castigate

the Plebs and take away authority which they had acquired and assumed to the

prejudice of the Nobility, by keeping them famished and not distributing the

grain: which proposition coming to the ears of the people, caused so great an

indignation against Coriolanus, that on coming out of the Senate he would have

been killed in a tumultuary way if the Tribunes had not summoned him to appear

and defend his cause. From this incident there is to be noted that which was

mentioned above, that it is useful and necessary for a Republic with its laws to

provide a means of venting that ire which is generally conceived against a

citizen, for if these ordinary means do not exist, they will have recourse to

extraordinary ones, and without doubt these produce much worse effects that do

the others. For ordinarily when a citizen is oppressed, even if he has received

an injustice, little or no disorder ensues in the Republic, because its

execution is done by neither private nor foreign forces which are those that

ruin public liberty, but is done by public force and arrangement which have

their own particular limits, and do not transcend to things that ruin the

Republic.

And to corroborate this opinion with examples, among the ancient ones I want

this one of Coriolanus to be enough, on which anyone should consider how much

evil would have resulted to the Roman Republic if he had been killed in the

tumults, for there would have arisen an offense by a private (citizen) against a

private (citizen); which offense generates fear, fear seeks defense, for this

defense partisans are procured, from the partisans factions arise in the City,

(and) the factions cause their ruin. But the matter being controlled by those

who had authority, all those evils which could arise if it were governed by

private authority were avoided. We have seen in our time that troubles happened

to the Republic of Florence because the multitude was able to give vent to their

spirit in an ordinary way against one of her citizens, as befell in the time of

Francesco Valori, who was as a Prince in that City (and) who being judged

ambitious by many, and a man who wanted by his audacity and animosity to

transcend the civil authority, and there being no way in the Republic of being

able to resist him except by a faction contrary to his, there resulted that he

(Valori) having no fear except from some extraordinary happening, began to

enlist supporters who should defend him: On the other hand, those who opposed

him not having any regular way or repressing him, thought of extraordinary ways,

so that it came to arms. And where (if it were possible to oppose him, Valori,

by regular means) his authority would have been extinguished with injury to

himself only, but having to extinguish it by extraordinary means, there ensued

harm not only to himself, but to many other noble citizens. We could also city

in support of the above mentioned conclusion the incident which ensued in

Florence in connection with Piero Soderini, which resulted entirely because

there was not in that Republic (means of making) accusations against the

ambitions of powerful citizens: for the accusing of a powerful one before eight

judges in a Republic is not enough; it is necessary that the judges be many

because the few always judge in favor of the few. So that if such a means had

been in existence, they would have accused him (Soderini) of evil while yet

alive, and through such means without having the Spanish army (called) to come

in, they would have given vent to their feelings; or if he had not done evil

they would not have had the audacity to move against him, for fear that they

would be accused by him: and thus both sides would have ceased having that

desire which was the cause of the trouble.

So that this can be concluded, that whenever it is seen that external forces are

called in by a party of men who live in a City, it can be judged to result from

its bad organization because there did not exist within that circle of

arrangements, a way to be able without extraordinary means to give vent to the

malignant moods that arise in men, which can be completely provided by

instituting accusations before many judges and giving them reputation

(authority). These things were so well organized in Rome that in so many

discussions between the Plebs and the Senate, neither the Senate nor the Plebs

nor any particular citizen, ever attempted to avail (himself) of external force,

for having the remedy at home it was not necessary to go outside for it. And

although the above examples are amply sufficient to prove this, none the less I

want to refer to another recital by Titus Livius in his history, which refers to

there having been in Chiusi (Clusium), at that time a most noble City of

Tuscany, one Lucumones who had violated a sister of Aruntes, and Aruntes not

being able to avenge himself because of the power of the violator, went to seek

out the French (Gauls) who then ruled in that place which today is called

Lombardy, and urged them to come to Chiusi with arms in hand, pointing out to

them how they could avenge the injury he had received with advantage to

themselves: but if Aruntes could have seen how he could have avenged himself by

the provisions of the City, he would not have sought the barbarian forces. But

just as these accusations are useful in a Republic, so also are calumnies

useless and harmful, as we shall discuss in the next chapter.

CHAPTER VIII

AS MUCH AS ACCUSATIONS ARE USEFUL TO A REPUBLIC, SO MUCH SO ARE CALUMNIES

PERNICIOUS

Notwithstanding that the virtu of Furius Camillus when he was liberating (Rome)

from the oppression of the French (Gauls) had caused the Roman citizens to yield

him (top honors) without appearing to them to have lost reputation or rank, none

the less Manlius Capitolinus was not able to endure that so much honor and glory

should be bestowed on him; for it seemed to him he had done as much for the

welfare of Rome by having saved the Campidoglio (Capitol), he had merited as

much as Camillus, and as for other warlike praises he was not inferior to him.

So that filled with envy, he was not able to sow discord among the Fathers

(Senators) he turned to the Plebs, sowing various sinister opinions among them.

And among other things he said was, that the treasure which had been collected

(together) to be given to the French (Gauls), and then was not given to them,

had been usurped by private citizens: and if its should be recovered it could be

converted to public usefulness, alleviating the plebs from tribute or from some

private debt. These words greatly impressed the Plebs, so that Manlius begun to

have concourse with them and at his instigation (created) many tumults in the

City: This thing displeased the Senate and they deeming it of moment and

perilous, created a Dictator who should take cognizance of the case and restrain

the rashness of (Manlius); whereupon the Dictator had him summoned, and they met

face to face in public, the Dictator in the midst of the Nobles and Manlius in

the midst of the Plebs. Manlius was asked what he had to say concerning who

obtained the treasure that he spoke about, for the Senate was as desirous of

knowing about it as the Plebs: to which Manlius made no particular reply, but

going on in an evasive manner he said, that it was not necessary to tell them

that which they already knew, so that the Dictator had him put in prison. And it

is to be noted by this text how detestable calumnies are in free Cities and in

every other form of government, and that in order to repress them no arrangement

made for such a proposition ought to be neglected. Nor can there be a better

arrangement to putting an end to these (calumnies) than to open the way for

accusations, for accusations are as beneficial to Republics as calumnies are

harmful: and on the other hand there is this difference, that calumnies do not

need witnesses nor any other particular confrontation to prove them so that

anyone can be calumniated by anyone else, but cannot now be accused, as the

accuser has need of positive proof and circumstances that would show the truth

of the accusation. Men must make the accusations before the Magistrates, the

People, or the Councils: calumnies (are spread) throughout the plaza and

lodgings (private dwellings). These calumnies are practiced more where

accusations are used less and where Cities are less constituted to receive them.

An establisher of a Republic therefore ought so to organize it that it is

possible to accuse every citizen without any fear and without any suspicion: and

this being done, and well carried out, he should severely punish the

calumniators, who cannot complain if they are punished, they having places open

to them to hear the accusations of those who had caluminated them in private.

And where this part is not well organized great disorders always follow, for

calumnies irritate but do not castigate citizens, and those who have been

irritated think of strengthening themselves, easily hating more than fearing the

things that are said against them.

¶ This part (as has been said) was well organized in Rome, and has always been

poorly organized in our City of Florence. And as in Rome this institution did

much good, at Florence this poor order did much evil. And whoever reads the

history of this City, will see how many calumnies have been perpetrated in every

time against those citizens who occupied themselves in its important affairs. Of

one, they said he had robbed money from the Community; of another, that he had

not succeeded in an enterprise because of having been corrupted; and of yet

another, because of his ambitions had caused such and such inconvenience. Of the

things that resulted there sprung up hate on every side, whence it came to

divisions, from divisions to Factions (Sects), (and), from Factions to ruin. If

in Florence there had been some arrangement for the accusation of citizens and

punishment of calumniators, there would not have occurred the infinite troubles

that have ensued, for those Citizens who had been either condemned or absolved,

could not have harmed the City, and there would have been a much less number

accused than there had been calumniated, as it could not have been (as I have

said) as easy to accuse as to calumniate any one. And among the other things

that some citizens might employ to achieve greatness have been these calumnies,

which employed against powerful citizens who opposed his ambition, did much for

them; for by taking up the past of the people, and confirming them the opinion

which they had of them (the nobles), he made them his friends.

And although we could refer to many examples, I want to be content with only

one. The Florentine army which was besieging Lucca was commanded by Messer

Giovanni Guicciardini, their Commissioner. It was due either to his bad

management or his bad fortune, that the fall of that City did not ensue. But

whatever the case may have been, Messer Giovanni was blamed, alleging he had

been corrupted by the Lucchesi: which calumny, being favored by his enemies,

brought Messer Giovanni almost to the last desperation. And although, to justify

himself because there was no way in that Republic of being able to do so. From

which there arose great indignation among the friends of Messer Giovanni, who

constituted the greater part of the nobility, and (also) among those who desired

to make changes in Florence. This affair, both for this and other similar

reasons, grew so, that there resulted the ruin of the Republic.

Manlius Capitolinus was therefore a calumniator and not an accuser; and the

Romans showed in this case in point how the calumniators ought to be punished.

For they ought to be made to become accusers, and if the accusation proves true

either to reward them or not punish them; but if it does not prove true, to

punish them as Manlius was punished.

CHAPTER IX

HOW IT IS NECESSARY FOR ONE MAN ALONE IN DESIRING TO ORGANIZE A NEW REPUBLIC TO

REFORM ITS INSTITUTIONS ENTIRELY OUTSIDE THE ANCIENT ONES

And it may appear perhaps to some that I have gone too far into Roman history,

not having yet made any mention of the organizers of this Republic, or of

(having regard for) her institutions, her religion, and her military

establishment. And therefore, not wanting to keep in suspense the minds of those

who want to understand these matters, I say, that many perhaps should judge it a

bad example that the founder of a civil society, as Romulus was, should first

have killed his brother, then have consented to the death of Titus Tatius, a

Sabine, who had been chosen by him to share the Kingdom; because of which it

might be judged that the citizens could, from ambition and the desire to rule,

with the authority of their Prince, attack those who should be opposed to their

authority. Which opinion would be correct, if the object he had in mind in

causing that homicide should be considered. But this must be assumed, as a

general rule, that it never or rarely occurs that some Republic or Kingdom is

well organized from the beginning, or its institutions entirely reformed a new,

unless it is arranged by one (individual only): rather it is necessary that the

only one who carries it out should be he who on whose mind such an organization

depends. A prudent Organizer of a Republic, therefore, who has in mind to want

to promote, not himself, but the common good, and not his own succession but his

(common) country, ought to endeavor to have the authority alone: and a wise

planner will never reprimand anyone for any extraordinary activity that he

should employ either in the establishment of a Kingdom or in constituting a

Republic. It is well then, when the deed accuses him, the result should excuse

him; and when it is good, as that of Romulus, he will always be excused; for he

ought to be reprehended who is violent in order to destroy, and not he who does

so for beneficial reasons. He ought, however, to be so prudent and wise that the

authority which he has assumed, he will not leave to his heirs (or) any other:

for men being more prone to evil than to good, his successor could employ for

reasons of ambition that which should be employed for virtuous reasons by him.

In addition to this, even if one is adept at organizing, the thing organized

will not endure long if its (administration) remains only on the shoulders of

one individual, but it is good when it remains in the care of many, and thus

there will be many to sustain it. As the organization of anything cannot be made

by many because of the diverse opinions that exist among them, yet having once

understood this, they will not agree to forego it. And that Romulus merited to

be excused for the death of his brother and that of his companion, and that what

he had done he did for the common good and not for his own ambition, is shown by

his immediate institution of a Senate with which he should consult, and

according to the opinions of which he would make his decision. And whoever

considers well the authority which Romulus reserved for himself, will see that

he did not reserve anything else other than the command of the army when war was

decided upon, and of convening the Senate. This was seen at that time when Rome

became free after the driving out of the Tarquins, where there was no other

innovation made on the ancient institutions except that in place of an

hereditary King there should be two Consuls (elected) each year. Which gives

testimony that all the institutions at the origin of that City were more in

conformity with a free and civil society than with an absolute and tyrannical

one.

Infinite examples could be given in corroboration of the things mentioned above,

such as Moses, Lycurgus, Solon, and other founders of Kingdoms and Republics,

who were able to formulate laws for the common good (only) by assigning the

(necessary) authority to themselves: but I want to omit these as they are

already well known. I will refer only to one not so well known, but which should

be given consideration by those who desire to be institutors of good laws,

(and), this is that of Agis, King of Sparta, who desiring to bring the Spartans

back to those limits which the laws of Lycurgus had delimited for them, (and),

it seeming to him that by deviating in part from them his City had lost much of

that ancient virtu, and consequently her power and dominion, was at once killed

by Spartan Ephors as a man who wanted to become a Tyrant. But Cleomenes

succeeding him in the Kingdom, there arose in him the same desire from (reading)

the records and writings of Agis that he found, in which his thoughts and

intentions were seen, (and) he recognized that he could not render this good to

his country, unless he should become alone in authority, as it seemed to him he

would not be able because of the ambitions of men to provide the good for the

many against the desires of the few: and seizing a convenient opportunity had

all the Ephors killed and those who could oppose him: after which he completely

restored the laws of Lycurgus. This decision helped to revive Sparta and give to

Cleomene that reputation which was (equal) to that of Lycurgus, if it had not

been for the power of Macedonia and the weakness of the other Greek Republics.

For after this establishment (of the laws) he was soon assaulted by the

Macedonians, and finding that by herself (Sparta) was inferior in strength, and

not having anyone to whom he could have recourse, he was defeated, and his plans

(no matter how just and laudable) remained incompleted. Considering all these

things, therefore, I conclude that to establish a Republic it is necessary that

one must be alone, and Romulus merits to be excused and not censured for the

death of Remus and of Tatius.

CHAPTER X

AS MUCH AS THE FOUNDERS OF REPUBLICS AND KINGDOMS ARE LAUDABLE, SO MUCH ARE

THOSE OF A TYRANNY SHAMEFUL

Among all men who have been praised, the most lauded are those who are heads and

establishers of Religion. Next after them are those who have founded Republics

or Kingdoms. After these are celebrated those who have commanded armies, (and)

who have enlarged the (territory) of their Kingdom of those of their country. To

these should be added men of letters, and because these are of many fields, they

are celebrated according to their degree (of excellence). To other men, the

number of whom is infinite, some degree of praise is given to them as pertain to

their art and profession. On the other hand, those men are infamous and

destroyers of Religion, dissipators of Kingdoms and Republics, enemies of virtu,

of letters, and of every other art which brings usefulness and honor to human

generations (mankind), such as are the impious and violent, the ignorant, the

idle, the vile and degraded. And no one will ever be so mad or so wise, so

wicked or so good, that selecting between these two kinds of men, does not laud

what is laudable, and censure what is censurable. None the less, however, nearly

all men deceived by a false good or a false glory allow themselves to drift

either voluntarily or ignorantly into the ranks of those who merit more censure

that praise. And being able to establish either a Kingdom or a Republic with

eternal honor to themselves, they turn to Tyranny, nor do they see because of

this action how much fame, how much glory, how much honor, security, and

tranquil satisfaction of the mind, they lose; and how much infamy, disgrace,

censure, danger, and disquiet, they incur. And it is impossible that those who

live as private individuals in a Republic, or who by fortune or virtu become

Princes, if they read the history and the records of ancient events, would do

well living as private citizens in their country to live rather as a Scipio than

a Caesar; and those who are Princes, rather as Agesilaus, Timoleon, and Dion,

than as Nabis, Phalaris, and Dionysius, because they will see these (latter) to

be thoroughly disgraced and those (former) most highly praised. They will also

see that Timoleon and the others had no less authority in their country than had

Dionysius and Phalaris, but they will see that they had had greater security for

a longer time. Nor is there anyone who deceives himself by the glory of Caesar,

he being especially celebrated by writers, for those who praised him were

corrupted by his fortune and frightened by the long duration of the Empire

which, ruling under his name did not permit that writers should talk of him

freely. But whoever wants to know what the writers would have said of him

freely, let him observe what they say of Cataline. And so much more is Caesar to

be detested, as how much more is he to be censured for that which he did, than

he who (just) intends to do evil. He will also see how Brutus was extolled with

so many praises; so that not being able to censure him (Caesar) because of his

power they extolled his enemy. Let he who has become a Prince in a Republic also

consider how much more praise those Emperors merited who, after Rome became an

Empire, lived under the laws (and) as good Princes, than those who lived an in a

contrary manner; and he will also see that it was not necessary for the

praetorian soldiers or the multitudes of the legions to defend Titus, Nerva,

Trajan, Hadrai Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, and Marcus (Aurelius), because their

customs, the good will of the people, and the love of the Senate would defend

them. He will also see that the Eastern and Western armies were not sufficient

to save Caligula, Nero, Vitellius, and so many other wicked emperors, from those

enemies which their bad customs and evil lives had raised up against them.

And if the history of those men should be well considered, it would be very

instructive to any Prince in pointing out to him the way to glory or censure, to

security or fear. For of the twenty-six who were Emperors from Caesar to

Maximinius, sixteen were murdered. Ten died in a natural way; and if among those

who were murdered there may have been some good men, such as Galba and Pertinax,

they were killed by that corruption that his predecessors had left among the

soldiers. And if among those who died in a natural way there were some wicked,

such as Severns, it resulted from their very great good fortune and virtu, which

two things are found together in few men. He will also learn from this lesson of

history how a good Kingdom can be organized, for all, except Titus, were bad:

(and) those who succeeded by adoption were all good, such as were those five

from Nero to Marcus (Aurelius). And when the Empire became hereditary, it came

to ruin. Let a Prince therefore place himself in the times of Nero and Marcus,

and let him compare them with those which preceded and followed (that period)

and afterward let him select in which (of the two) he would want to be born and

in which he would want to reign. For in those times governed by good (Emperors),

he will see a Prince secure in thy midst of secure citizens, he will see the

world full of peace and justice, he will see the Senate with its authority, the

Magistrates with their honor, rich citizens enjoying their wealth, nobility and

virtu exalted, he will see every quiet and good; and on the other hand (he will

see) every rancor, every license, corruption, and ambition extinct; he will see

that golden era where everyone can hold and defend whatever opinion he wishes:

In the end, he will see the triumph of the world, the Prince full of reverence

and glory, the people full of love and security. Then if he will consider the

sorrowful times of the other Emperors, he will see the atrocities from war,

discords from seditions, cruelty in peace and war, so many Princes slain by the

sword, so many civil wars, so many foreign wars, Italy afflicted and full of new

misfortunes, her Cities ruined and sacked: He will see Rome burned, the Capitol

of its citizens destroyed, the ancient temples desolate, ceremonies corrupted,

the City full of adulterers: he will see the sea full of exiles, the shores full

of blood. He will see innumerable cruelties take place in Rome, and nobility,

riches, honors, and above all virtu, accounted capital crimes. He will see

informers rewarded, servants corrupted against the masters, freemen against

their patrons, and those who should lack enemies, oppressed by friends. And he

will also recognize very well what obligations Rome, Italy, and the world owed

to Caesar. And without doubt (if he was born of man), he would be dismayed at

every imitation of those evil times, and burning with an immense desire to

follow the good. And truly, a Prince seeking the glory of the world ought to

desire to possess a corrupt City, not to spoil it entirely like Caesar, but to

reorganize it like Romulus. And truly the heavens cannot give man a greater

opportunity for glory, nor could man desire a better one. And if to want to

organize a City well, it should be necessary to abolish the Principate, he who

had failed to (give her good laws) should merit some excuse. But he does not

merit any excuse who can hold the Principate and organize it. And in sum, let he

to whom the heavens gives the opportunity consider that there are two ways: The

one which will make him live securely and render him glorious after his death,

the other which will make him live in continual anxiety and after death leave of

himself an eternal infamy.

CHAPTER XI

OF THE RELIGIONS OF THE ROMANS

Although Rome had Romulus as its original organizer and, like a daughter, owed

her birth and education to him, none the less the heavens, judging that the

institutions of Romulus were not sufficient for so great an Empire, put it into

the breasts of the Roman Senate to elect Numa Pompilius as successor to Romulus,

so that those things that he had omitted, would be instituted by Numa. Who,

finding a very ferocious people and wanting to reduce them to civil obedience by

the acts of peace, turned to religion as something completely necessary in

wanting to maintain a civilization, and he established it in such a manner that

for many centuries there never was more fear of God than in that Republic, which

facilitated any enterprise which the Senate or those of great Roman men should

plan to do. And whoever should discuss the infinite actions of the people of

Rome (taken) all together, and of many Romans (individually) by themselves, will

see that those citizens feared much more the breaking of an oath than the laws,

like those men who esteem more the power of God than that of man, as is

manifestly seen in the examples of Scipio and of Manlius Torquatus, for after

the defeat that Hannibal had inflicted on the Romans at Cannae, many citizens

had gathered together (and) frightened and fearful (and) had agreed to abandon

Italy and take themselves to Sicily: when Scipio heard of this, he went to meet

them, and with bared sword in hand he constrained them to swear not to abandon

their country. Lucius Manlius, father of Titus Manlius, who was later called

Torquatus, had been accused by Marcus Pomponius, a Tribune of the Plebs: and

before the day of judgment arrived, Titus went to meet Marcus, and threatening

to kill him if he did not swear to withdraw the accusation against his father,

constrained him to swear, and he (Marcus) from fear of having sworn withdrew the

accusation from him (Lucius). And thus those citizens whom (neither) the love of

their country and of its laws could keep in Italy, were kept there by an oath

that they were forced to take, and the Tribune put aside the hatred that he had

for his father, the injury that his son had done him, and his honor, in order to

obey the oath taken; which did not result from anything else than from that

religion which Numa had introduced in that City. And whoever considers well

Roman history will see how much Religion served in commanding the armies, in

reuniting the plebs, both in keeping men good, and in making the wicked ashamed.

So that if it were discussed as to which Prince Rome should be more obligated,

Romulus or Numa, I believe that Numa would (rather) attain the higher rank; for

where Religion exists it is easily possible to introduce arms, but where there

are arms and not religion, it (religion) can only be introduced there with

difficulty. And it is seen that for Romulus to institute the Senate and to make

the other civil and military arrangements, the authority of God was not

necessary, but it was very necessary for Numa, who pretended he had met with a

Nymph who advised him of that which he should counsel the people; and all this

resulted because he wanted to introduce new ordinances and institutions in that

City, and was apprehensive that his authority was not enough. And truly there

never was any extraordinary institutor of laws among a people who did not have

recourse to God, because otherwise he would not have been accepted; for they

(these laws) are very well known by prudent men, but which by themselves do not

contain evident reasons capable of persuading others. Wise men who want to

remove this difficulty, therefore, have recourse to God. Thus did Lycurgus, thus

Solon, thus many others who had the same aims as they.

¶ The Roman people, therefore, admiring his (Numa's) goodness and prudence,

yielded to his every decision. It is indeed true that those times were full of

Religion, and those men with whom he (Numa) had to work were coarse (which) gave

him great facility to pursue his designs, being able easily to impress upon them

any new form. And without doubt whoever should want to establish a Republic in

the present era, would find it more easy to do so among men of the mountains

where there is no civilization, than among those who are used to living in the

City, where civilization is corrupt, as a sculptor more easily extracts a

beautiful statue from crude marble than of one badly sketched out by others.

Considering all this I conclude therefore, that the Religion introduced by Numa

was among the chief reasons for the felicity of that City, for it caused good

ordinances, good ordinances make good fortune, and from good fortune there

arises the happy successes of the enterprises. And as the observance of divine

institutions is the cause of the greatness of Republics, so the contempt of it

is the cause of their ruin, for where the fear of God is lacking it will happen

that that kingdom will be ruined or that it will be sustained through fear of a

Prince, which may supply the want of Religion. And because Princes are short

lived, it will happen that that Kingdom will easily fall as he (Prince) fails in

virtu. Whence it results that Kingdoms which depend solely on the virtu of one

man, are not durable for long, because that virtu fails with the life of that

man, and it rarely happens that it is renewed in (his) successor, as Dante

prudently says:

Rarely there descends from the branches (father to son) Human probity, and

this is the will (of the one) who gives it, because it is asked alone from

him.

The welfare of a Republic or a Kingdom, therefore, is not in having a Prince who

governs prudently while he lives, but one who organizes it in a way that, if he

should die, it will still maintain itself. And although crude men are more

easily persuaded by new ordinances and opinions, yet it is not impossible

because of this to persuade civilized men, (and) who presume themselves not to

be crude. The people of Florence did not seem either crude or ignorant, none the

less Brother Girolamo Savonarola was persuaded that he talked with God. I do not

want to judge whether that was true or not, because one ought not to talk of so

great a man except with reverence. But I may well say that an infinite (number)

believed him without they having seen anything extraordinary which would make

them believe, because his life, the doctrine, the subjects he took up were

sufficient to make them have faith. Let no one be dismayed, therefore, if he is

not able to attain that which had been attained by others, for men (as was said

in our preface) are born, live, and die, always in the same way.

CHAPTER XII

OF HOW MUCH IMPORTANCE SHOULD BE GIVEN RELIGION; AND HOW ITALY, BECAUSE THE

MEDIUM OF THE ROMAN CHURCH WAS LACKING, WAS RUINED

Those Princes or those Republics that want to maintain themselves uncorrupted,

have above everything else to maintain uncorrupted the servances of Religion,

and hold them always in veneration. For no one can have a better indication of

the ruin of a province than to see the divine institutions held in contempt.

This is easy to understand, when it is known upon what the Religion of the

fatherland is founded; for every Religion has the foundation of its existence on

some one of its principal institutions. The life of the Gentile Religion was

founded upon the responses of the Oracles and upon the tenets of the Augurs and

Aruspices; all their other ceremonies, sacrifices, rites, depended on these. For

they readily believed that that God who could predict your future good or evil,

should also be able to concede it to you. From this arose their temples, their

sacrifices, their supplication, and all the other ceremonies venerating him; for

the Oracle of Delphi, the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, and other celebrated Oracles

kept the world in admiration and devotion. As soon as these began to speak in

the manner of the Potentates, and this falsity was discovered by the people, men

became incredulous and disposed to disturb every good institution. The Princes

of a Republic or a Kingdom ought therefore to maintain their Republic's

religions, and in consequence well and united. And therefore they ought in all

things which arise to foster it (even if they should judge them false) to favor

and encourage it: and the more prudent they are, and the more they understand

natural things, so much more ought they to do this. And because this practice

has been observed by wise men, there has arisen the beliefs in the miracles that

are celebrated in Religion, however false; for the prudent ones have increased

(their importance) from whatever origin they may have derived and their

authority gives them credence with the people. There were many of these miracles

in Rome, and among others was that (which occurred) when the Roman soldiers were

sacking the City of Veienti, some of whom entered the Temple of Juno, and,

standing in front of her statue, and saying "WILL YOU COME TO ROME?", it

appeared to some that she had made a sign (of assent), and to others that she

had said yes. For these men, being full of Religion, (which T. Livius

demonstrated) when they entered the Temple went in without tumult and completely

devoted and full of reverence, seemed to hear that response to their question

which perhaps they had presupposed: which opinion and belief was favored and

magnified by Camillus and by the other Princes of the City.

If the Princes of the Republic had maintained this Christian religion according

as it had been established by the founder, the Christian States and Republics

would have been more united and much more happy than they are. Nor can any

greater conjecture be made of its decline, than to see that those people who are

nearer to the Church of Rome, the head of our Religion, have less Religion. And

whoever should give consideration to its foundations, and observe how much

different present usage is from them, should judge that without doubt her ruin

or flagellation (chastisement) is near. And because some are of the opinion that

the well-being of Italian affairs depend on the Church of Rome, I want to

discuss those reasons against them that occur to me, and I will present two most

powerful ones, which according to me are not controvertible. The first is, that

by the evil example of that court, this province has lost all devotion and all

Religion: so that it brings (with it) infinite troubles and infinite disorders;

for where there is Religion every good is presupposed, so too where it is

lacking the contrary is presupposed. We Italians therefore have this obligation

with the Church and with the Priests of having become bad and without Religion;

but we also have a greater one, which is the cause of our ruin. This is that the

Church has kept and still keeps this province (country) of ours divided: and

Truly any country never was united or happy, except when it gave its obedience

entirely to one Republic or one Prince, as has happened to France and Spain. And

the reason that Italy is not in the same condition, and is not also governed by

one Republic or one Prince, is solely the Church, for having acquired and held

temporal Empire, she has not been so powerful or of such virtu that she was able

to occupy the rest of Italy and make herself its Prince. And on the other hand,

she has not been so weak that the fear of losing her dominion of temporal things

has made her unable to call in a power that could defend her against those who

had become too powerful in Italy, as was seen anciently by many experiences,

when through the medium of Charles the Great she drove out the Lombards who

already were the kings of almost all Italy, and when in our times she took away

the power of Venetians with the aid of France; afterwards she drove out the

French with the aid of the Swiss. The church therefore not being powerful

(enough) to occupy Italy, and not having permitted that another should occupy

her, has been the cause why she (Italy) has not been able to be united under one

head, but has been under so many Princes and Lords, from which there has

resulted so much disunion and so much weakness, that she became prey not only to

the powerful Barbarians, but to anyone who should assault her. This we other

Italians owe to the Church of Rome, and to none others. And anyone who should

want to observe the truth of this more readily through experience, should need

to be of such great power that he should be sent to live at the Roman Court,

with all the power it has in Italy, over the towns of the Swiss, who today are

the only People who live accordingly to ancient customs both as far as Religion

and military institutions (are concerned) and he would see that in a little time

the evil customs of that Court would cause more disorders in that province

(country) than could spring up from any other incident in any other time.

CHAPTER XIII

HOW THE ROMANS SERVED THEMSELVES OF RELIGION TO ESTABLISH THE CITY AND TO CARRY

OUT THEIR ENTERPRISES AND STOP TUMULTS

And it does not appear to me outside my purpose to refer to some examples where

the Romans served themselves of Religion in order to reorganize the City and to

further their enterprises. And although there are many in (the writings of)

Titus Livius, none the less I want to content myself with these. The Roman

people having created the Tribunes with Consular Power, and all but one

(selected from the) Plebs, and pestilence and famine having occurred there that

year, and certain prodigies coming to pass, the Nobles used this occasion of the

creation of the new Tribunes, saying that the Gods were angered because Rome had

ill-used the majesty of its Empire, and that there was no other remedy to

placate the Gods than by returning the election of the Tribunes to its own

(original) place; from which there resulted that the Plebs frightened by this

Religion created all the Tribunes from the (class of the) Nobles.

¶ It was also seen at the capture of the City of the Veienti, that the Captains

of the armies availed themselves of Religion to keep them disposed to an

enterprise, when lake Albano had risen astonishingly that year, and the soldiers

being weary from the long siege (and) wanted to return to Rome, the Romans

insinuated that Apollo and certain other (oracles) had given replies that that

year the City of the Veienti should be captured when Lake Albano should

overflow: which event made the soldiers endure the weariness of the war and the

siege, being taken by this hope of capturing the town, and they remained content

to pursue the enterprise so much that Camillus who had been made Dictator

captured that City after it had been besieged for ten years. And thus Religion

well used was helpful both in the capture of that City and for the restoration

of the Tribuneships to the Nobility, that without the said means either would

have been accomplished only with difficulty.

¶ I do not want to miss referring to another example to this purpose. Many

tumults had arisen in Rome caused by Terentillus the Tribune, (because of) his

wanting to promulgate a certain law for the reasons which will be given in their

place below: and among the first remedies that were used by the Nobility was

Religion, of which they served themselves in two ways. In the first, they caused

the sibylline books to be exhibited, and to give a reply to the City, that

through the medium of civil sedition, there was impending that year the danger

of (the City) losing its liberty; which thing (although it was discovered by the

Tribunes) none the less put so much terror into the breasts of the Plebs that it

cooled (their desire) to follow them. The other mode was when one Appius

Erdonius with a multitude of bandits and servants numbering four thousand men

occupied the Campidoglio (Capitol) by night, so that it was feared that the

Equians and Volscians, perpetual enemies of the Roman name, should have come to

Rome and attacked her; and the Tribunes because of this did not cease insisting

in their pertinacity of promulgating the Terentillan law, saying that that fear

was fictitious and not true; (and) one Publius Rubetius, a grave citizen of

authority, went out from the Senate, (and) with words partly lovingly and partly

menacing, showed them (the people) the danger to the City and the

unreasonableness of their demands, so that he constrained the Plebs to swear not

to depart from the wishes of the Consul. Whence the Plebs, forced to obey,

reoccupied the Campidoglio: but the Consul Publius Valerius being killed in that

attack, Titus Quintius was quickly made Consul, who in order not to allow the

Plebs to rest, or to give them time to think again of the Terentillan law,

commanded them to go out from Rome and go against the Volscians, saying that

because of that oath they had taken not to abandon the Consul they were

obligated to follow him: to which the Tribunes opposed themselves saying that

that oath was given to the dead Consul and not to him. None the less Titus

Livius shows that the Plebs for fear of Religion wanted more readily to obey the

Consul than believe the Tribunes, saying in favor of the ancient Religion these

words: "He feared that the age had not yet come, when the Gods were to be

neglected, nor to make interpretations of their oaths and laws to suit

themselves." Because of which thing, the Tribunes, apprehensive of their losing

all their liberty, made an accord with the Consul to remain in obedience to him

and that for one year there should be no discussion of the Terentillan law and

the Consuls, on the other hand, should not draw on the Plebs for war outside (of

Rome). And thus Religion enabled the Senate to overcome that difficulty which

without it, they could never overcome.

CHAPTER XIV

THE ROMANS INTERPRETED THE AUSPICES ACCORDING TO NECESSITY, AND WITH THEIR

PRUDENCE MADE A SHOW OF OBSERVING RELIGION, EVEN WHEN THEY WERE FORCED NOT TO

OBSERVE IT, AND IF ANYONE RECKLESSLY DISPARAGED IT THEY PUNISHED HIM

The Auguries not only ((as was discussed above)) were the foundation in good

part of the ancient Religion of the Gentiles, but they were also the causes of

the well-being of the Roman Republic. Whence the Romans cared more for this than

any other institution, and used it in their Consular Comitii, in starting their

enterprises, in sending out their armies, in fighting engagements, and in every

important activity of theirs, whether civil or military: and they never would go

on an expedition unless they had persuaded the soldiers that the Gods promised

them the victory. And among the Aruspices there were in the armies certain

orders of Aruspices which they called Pollari (guardians of the Sacred Fowls).

And anytime they were ordered to fight an engagement with the enemy they desired

these Pollari make their Aruspices; and if the fowls pecked away, they fought

with a good augury: if they did not peck away, they abstained from battle. None

the less, when reason showed them that a thing ought to be done, not

withstanding the Aruspices should be adverse, they did it anyway: but then they

turned these (aruspices) with conditions and in such a manner so adeptly, that

it should not appear they were doing so with disparagement to their Religion:

which method was used by Consul Papirus in a most important battle which he

waged against the Samnites, which afterward left them entirely weak and

afflicted. For Papirus being in the field encountered the Samnites, and as

victory in battle appeared certain to him, and because of this wanting to come

to an engagement, he commanded the Pollari that they make their Aruspices: but

the fowls did not peck away, and the Prince of the Pollari seeing the great

disposition of the army to fight and the thoughts to win which were in the

Captain and all the soldiers, and in order not to take away this opportunity

from the army of doing well, reported to the Consul that the Aruspices were

proceeding well, so that Papirus ordered out his squadrons; but some of the

Pollari having told certain soldiers that the fowls had not pecked away, they in

turn told it to Spurius Papirus nephew of the Consul; and when he reported this

to the Consul, he (the Consul) quickly replied that he should attend to doing

his duty well, and that as to himself and the army the Aruspices were correct,

and if the Pollarius had told a lie, it would come back on him to his prejudice.

And so that the result should correspond to the prognostication, he commanded

his legates that they should place the Pollari in the front ranks of the battle.

Whence it resulted that in going against the enemy, a Roman soldier drawing a

dart by chance killed the Prince of the Pollari: which thing becoming known, the

Consul said that every thing was proceeding well and with the favor of the Gods,

for the army through the death of that liar was purged of every blame and of

whatever anger (the Gods) should have had against him. And thus by knowing well

how to accommodate his designs to the Aruspices, he (Papirus) took steps to give

battle without his army perceiving that he had in any part neglected the

institutions of their Religion.

Appius Pulcher acted in a contrary fashion in Sicily in the first Punic war; for

wanting to give battle to the Carthaginian army, he caused the Pollari to make

Aruspices, and when they reported to him that those fowl did not peck away, he

said "Let us see if they would drink," and had them thrown into the sea: whence

that giving battle he lost the engagement; for which he was condemned at Rome,

and Papirus honored, not so much for the one having lost and the other having

won, but because the one had gone against the Aruspices in a prudent manner, and

the other fearfully. Nor did this method of making Aurispices have any other

object than to have the soldiers go into battle with confidence, from which

confidence almost always victory resulted. Which institution was not only used

by the Romans, but by those outsiders; of which it seems to me proper to adduce

an example in the following chapter.

CHAPTER XV

HOW THE SAMNITES HAD RECOURSE TO RELIGION AS AN EXTREME REMEDY FOR THE THINGS

AFFLICTING THEM

The Samnites having been routed many times by the Romans, and having lastly been

defeated in Tuscany, and their armies destroyed and Captains killed, and their

allies such as the Tuscans, French (Gauls), and Umbrians having also been

defeated, so that "They were not able to continue any longer with their own men

or with those from outside, yet would not abstain from the war, and instead of

giving up the unsuccessful defense of liberty, they would undertake one more

attempt at victory before being overcome". Whence they decided to make one last

try: and since they knew that to want to win it was necessary to induce

obstinacy into the courage of the soldiers, and that to induce it there was no

better means than Religion, they decided to repeat their ancient sacrifices

through the medium of Ovius Paccius their Priest, who arranged it in this form:

that a solemn sacrifice being made, (and), in the midst of the slain victims and

burning altars make all the heads of the army swear never to abandon the fight;

then they summoned the soldiers one by one and in the midst of those altars and

surrounded by many centurions with bared swords in their hands, they made them

first swear that they would not reveal the things they saw or heard, then with

execrable phrases and words full of terror they made them swear and promise the

Gods that they would go readily wherever the Emperor should command them, and

never to flee in battle, and to kill whomever they should see fleeing; which

oath if not observed would be visited on the head of his family and on his

descendants. And some of them being frightened, (and) not wanting to swear, were

quickly put to death by the centurions: so that the others who followed,

terrified by the ferocity of the spectacle, all swore. And in order to make this

gathering of theirs more imposing, there being forty thousand men there, they

dressed half of them in white clothes with crests and plumes on the helmets, and

thus arrayed they took position at Aquilonia: Papirius came against them, who in

encouraging his soldiers said, "Those crests cannot inflict wounds, and paint

and gilding keep Roman javelins from transfixing shields". And to weaken the

opinion that his soldiers had of the enemy because of the oath they had taken,

he said that it (the oath) was to inspire fear, and not courage, in those (who

had taken it), for it made them at the same time fear their own Citizens, their

Gods, and their enemies. And coming to the fight, the Samnites were defeated;

for the virtu of the Romans, and the fear conceived from the past routs overcame

whatever obstinacy they were able to assume by virtu of their Religion and by

the oath they had taken. None the less it is seen that they (the Samnites) did

not appear to have any other refuge, nor try other remedies to be able to revive

hope and reestablish their lost virtu. Which fully testifies how much confidence

can be obtained by means of Religion well used. And although this part might

perhaps be rather placed among affairs of outside (peoples), none the less as

this refers to one of the most important institutions of the Republic of Rome,

it has appeared to me proper to commit this in this place so as not to divide

this material and have to return to it many times.

CHAPTER XVI

A PEOPLE ACCUSTOMED TO LIVING UNDER A PRINCE, IF BY SOME ACCIDENT BECOMES FREE,

MAINTAINS ITS LIBERTY WITH DIFFICULTY

Many examples derived from the records of ancient history will show how

difficult it is for a people used to living under a Prince to preserve their

liberty after they had by some accident acquired it, as Rome acquired it after

driving out the Tarquins. And such difficulty is reasonable; because that people

is nothing else other than a brute animal, which ((although by nature ferocious

and wild)) has always been brought up in prison and servitude, (and) which later

being left by chance free in a field, (and) not being accustomed to (obtain)

food or not knowing where to find shelter for refuge, becomes prey to the first

one who seeks to enchain it again. This same thing happens to a people, who

being accustomed to living under governments of others, not knowing to reason

either on public defense or offense, not knowing the Princes or being known by

them, return readily under a yoke, which often times is more heavy than that

which a short time before had been taken from their necks: and they find

themselves in this difficulty, even though the people is not wholly corrupt; for

a people where corruption has not entirely taken over, cannot but live at all

free even for a very brief time, as will be discussed below: and therefore our

discussions concern those people where corruption has not expanded greatly, and

where there is more of the good than of the bad (spoiled). To the above should

be added another difficulty, which is that the state which becomes free makes

enemy partisans, and not friendly partisans. All those men become its enemy

partisans who avail themselves of the tyrannical state, feeding on the riches of

the Prince, (and) who when they are deprived of the faculty of thus availing

themselves, cannot live content, and some are forced to attempt to reestablish

the tyrancy so as to recover their authority. It does not ((as I have said))

acquire friendly partisans, for a free society bestows honors and rewards

through the medium of honest and predetermined rules, and outside of which does

not honor or reward anyone; and when one receives those honors and rewards as

appears to them he merits, he does not consider he has any obligation to repay

them: in addition to this that common usefulness which free society brings with

it, is not known by anyone ((while he yet possesses it)), which is to be able to

enjoy his own possessions freely without any suspicion, not being apprehensive

of the honor of his womenfolk, or that of his children, and not to fear offer

himself; for no one will ever confess himself to have an obligation to one who

only does not offend him.

Thus ((as was said above)) a free state that has newly sprung up comes to have

enemy partisans and not friendly partisans. And wanting to remedy this

inconvenience and these disorders which the above mentioned difficulties bring

with them, there is no remedy more powerful, nor more valid, healthy, and

necessary than (was) the killing of the sons of Brutus, who, as history shows,

together with other Roman youths were induced to conspire against their country

for no other reason than because they could not obtain extraordinary advantages

for themselves under the Consuls as under the Kings; so that the liberty of that

people appeared to have become their servitude. And whoever undertakes to govern

a multitude either by the way of liberty (Republic) or by the way of a

Principate, and does not make sure of those who are enemies of that new

institution, establishes a short lived state. It is true that I judge those

Princes unfelicitous who, to assure their state when the multitude is hostile,

have to take extraordinary means; for he who has only a few enemies can easily

and without great scandals make sure of them, but he who has the general public

hostile to him can never make sure of them, and the more cruelty he uses, so

much more weak becomes his Principate; so that the best remedy he has is to seek

to make the People friendly. And although this discussion departs from that

written above, in speaking of a Prince here and of a Republic there, none the

less in order not to have to return again to this matter I want to speak a

little more.

A Prince, therefore, wanting to gain over to himself a people who are hostile to

him ((speaking of those Princes who have become Tyrants in their country)), I

say that they ought first to look into that which the people desire, and he will

find they always desire two things: the one, to avenge themselves against those

who are the cause of their slavery: the other, to regain their liberty. The

first desire the Prince is able to satisfy entirely, the second in part. As to

the first, there is an example in point. When Clearchus, Tyrant of Heraclea, was

in exile, a controversy arose between the people and the Nobles of Heraclea,

(and) the Nobles seeing themselves inferior, turned to favor Clearchus, and

conspiring with him they placed him in opposition to the disposition of the

people of Heraclea, and (thus) took away the liberty from the people. So that

Clearchus finding himself between the insolence of the Nobles, whom he could not

in any way either content or correct, and the rage of the People who could not

endure having lost their liberty, he decided suddenly to free himself from the

nuisance of the Nobles, and to win the people over to himself. And on this,

taking a convenient opportunity, he cut to pieces all the Nobles, to the extreme

satisfaction of the People. And thus, in this way, he satisfied one of the

desires people had, that is, to avenge themselves. But as to the desire of the

people to regain their liberty, the Prince, not being able to satisfy it, ought

to examine what are the reasons that make them desire to be free, and he will

find that a small part of them desire to be free in order to command, but all

the others, who are an infinite number, desire liberty also as to live in

security. For in all Republics in whatever manner organized, there are never

more than forty or fifty Citizens of a rank to command, and because this number

is small, it is an easy matter to assure oneself of them, either by taking them

out of the way, or by giving them a part of so many honors as, according to

their condition, ought in good part to content them. The others, to whom it is

enough to live in security, are easily satisfied by creating institutions and

laws which, together with his power, gives realization to the general security

of the people. And when a Prince does this, and the people see that no one

breaks such laws by accident, they will begin in a very short time to live in

security and contentment. In example for this, there is the Kingdom of France,

which lives in security from nothing else other than those Kings being bound by

an infinite number of laws in which the security of his people is realized. And

whoever organized that state wanted that those Kings should do ((in their own

way)) with the arms and the money as they wanted, but should not be able to

dispose of any other thing otherwise than by the laws that were ordained. That

Prince, therefore, or that Republic, that does not secure itself at the

beginning of its state, should assure itself at the first opportunity, as the

Romans did. And he who should allow this to pass will repent too late of not

doing that which he ought to have done. The Roman people, therefore, being not

yet corrupted when they recovered their liberty, were able to maintain it, after

the sons of Brutus were put to death and the Tarquins destroyed, with all those

remedies and institutions which have been discussed at another time. But if that

people had been corrupted, there never would have been found valid remedies, in

Rome or elsewhere, to maintain it (their liberty), as we shall show in the next

chapter.

CHAPTER XVII

A CORRUPT PEOPLE COMING INTO THEIR LIBERTY CAN MAINTAIN ITSELF FREE ONLY WITH

THE GREATEST DIFFICULTY

I judge that it was necessary that Kings should be eliminated in Rome, or (else)

that Rome would in a very short time become weak and of no valor; for

considering to what (degree of) corruption those Kings had come, if it should

have continued so for two or three successions, (and) that that corruption which

was in them had begun to spread through its members; (and) as the members had

been corrupted it was impossible ever again to reform her (the state). But

losing the head while the torso was sound, they were able easily to return to a

free and ordered society. And it ought to be presupposed as a very true matter

that a corrupted City which exists under a Prince, even though that Prince with

all his lives (family) may be extinguished, can never become free; and that

rather it should happen that one Prince destroy the other, for (these people)

will never be settled without the creation of a new Lord, who by his goodness

together with his virtu will then keep them free: but that liberty will last

only during his life time, as happened at different times in Syracuse to Dion

and Timoleon, whose virtu while they lived, kept that City free: but when they

died, it returned to the ancient Tyranny. But there is no more striking example

to be seen than that of Rome, which after the Tarquins had been driven out, was

able quickly to resume and maintain that liberty; but after the death of Caesar,

Caligula, and Nero, and after the extinction of all the line of Caesar, she

could not only never maintain her liberty, but was unable to reestablish it. And

so great a difference in events in the same City did not result from anything

else other than (the fact that) the Roman People in the time of Tarquin was not

yet corrupt, and in the latter time (Caesar's) it became very corrupt. For to

keep her sound and disposed to keep away from Kings at that time, it was enough

to make them swear that they should never consent that any of them should ever

reign in Rome; but in the time of the other (Caesar) the authority of Brutus

with all the Eastern legions was not enough to keep her disposed to want to

maintain that liberty which he, in imitation of the first Brutus, had restored

to her. Which resulted from that corruption which the party of Marius had spread

among the people, at the head of which was Caesar, who was able so to blind the

multitude that they did not recognize the yoke which they themselves were

placing on their necks.

And although this example of Rome is to be preferred to any other example, none

the less on this proposition I want to refer to people known before our times. I

say, therefore, that no incident ((although grave and violent)) can ever restore

Milan or Naples to freedom, because those people are entirely corrupt. Which was

seen after the death of Filippo Visconti, who, wanting to restore liberty to

Milan, did not know how and could not maintain it. It was therefore a great good

fortune for Rome that no sooner had these Kings become corrupt than they were

driven out, and that before their corruption should pass into the vitals of that

City; which corruption was the cause of the infinite tumults which took place in

Rome ((men having good intentions)) (and which) did no harm, but rather

benefited the Republic. And this conclusion can be drawn, that where the people

is not corrupted, tumults and other troubles do no harm; but where corruption

exists, well ordered laws are of no benefit, unless they are administered by one

who, with extreme strength, will make them be observed until the people become

good (cured); I do not know if this ever happened, or whether it be possible

that it could happen; for it is seen ((as I have said a little above)) that a

City coming to decadence because of the corruption of its people, if it ever

happens that she is raised up again, it happens through the virtu of one man who

is then living, and not by the virtu of the general public, that the good

institutions are sustained: and as soon as such a one is dead, they will return

to their pristine habits, as happened at Thebes, which by the virtu of

Epaminondas, while he was alive, was able to maintain the form of a Republic and

Empire, but after his death returned to its first disorders: the reason is this,

that one man cannot live so long that the time will be enough to bring a City

back to good habits which for a long time has had evil habits. And if one of

very long life or two continuous successors of virtu do not restore it (the

state), so one which lacks them ((as was said above)) is quickly ruined, unless

it should be made to be restored through many dangers and much bloodshed. For

such corruption and little inclination for a free society result from an

inequality that exists in that City; and wanting to bring them to equality, it

is necessary to use the most extraordinary means, which few know or want to use,

as will be described in more detail in another place.

CHAPTER XVIII

IN WHAT WAY IN A CORRUPT CITY A FREE STATE CAN BE MAINTAINED, IF THERE IS ONE

THERE, OR IF NOT, HOW TO ESTABLISH IT

I believe it is not outside the purpose of this discussion, nor too distant from

that written above, to consider whether a free State can be maintained in a City

that is corrupted, or, if there had not been one, to be able to establish one.

On this matter I say that it is very difficult to do either one or the other:

and although it is almost impossible to give rules ((because it will be

necessary to proceed according to the degrees of corruption)), none the less, as

it is well to discuss every thing, I do not want to omit this. And I will

presuppose a City very corrupt, where such difficulties come to rise very fast,

as there are found there neither laws or institutions that should be enough to

check a general corruption. For as good customs have need of laws for

maintaining themselves, so the laws, to be observed, have need of good customs.

In addition to this, the institutions and laws made in a Republic at its origin

when men were good, are not afterward more suitable, when they (men) have become

evil. And if laws vary according to circumstances and events in a City, its

institutions rarely or never vary: which results in the fact that new laws are

not enough, for the institutions that remain firm will corrupt it. And in order

to make this part better understood, I will tell how the Government was

established in Rome, or rather the State, and the laws with which afterwards the

Magistrates restrained the Citizens. The institution of the State included the

authority of the People, the Senate, thy Tribunes, the Consuls, method of

seeking and creating Magistrates, and the method of making laws. These

institutions were rarely or never varied by events. The laws that restrained the

Citizens varied, such as was the law of the Adulterers, the Sumptuary, that of

Ambition, and many others, according as the Citizens from day to day became

corrupt. But the institutions of the State becoming firm, although no longer

good for the corrupt (people), those laws that were changed were not enough to

keep men good, but would have been of benefit if with the changes of the law the

institutions should have been modified.

And that it is true that such institutions in a City that had become corrupt

were not good, is expressly seen in these two principal points. As to the

creation of the Magistracies and the laws, the Roman People did not give the

Consulship and other high offices of the City, except to those who asked for

them. In the beginning these institutions were good because no one asked for

these (offices) except those Citizens who judged themselves worthy, and having a

refusal was ignominious: so that in order to judge himself worthy every one

worked well. However, this system became pernicious in a corrupt City, for it

was not those who had more virtu, but those who had more power, who asked for

the Magistracies, and the less powerful ((no matter of how much virtu))

abstained from asking from fear. This evil did not come on suddenly, but by

degrees, as happens with all other evils: for the Romans having subjugated

Africa and Asia, and reduced almost all of Greece to their obedience, had become

assured of their liberty, nor did they seem to have more enemies who should give

them fear. This security, and this weakness of her enemies, caused the Roman

people no longer to regard virtu in bestowing the Consulship, but graciousness,

drawing to that dignity those who knew better how to handle men, not to those

who knew better how to conquer their enemies: afterwards they descended from

those who had more graciousness to give it to those who had more power. So that

because of the defects of such institutions, the good were entirely excluded

from everything. A Tribune or some other Citizen could propose a law to the

people on which every Citizen could speak in favor or against it before it

should be adopted. This institution was good when the Citizens were good, for it

was always well that anyone who intended some good for the public was able to

propose it, and it was well that everyone could speak his thoughts on it, so

that the people, having listened to all sides, could then select the best. But

when the Citizens had become bad such institutions became the worst, for only

the powerful proposed laws, (and) not for the common liberty, but for their own

power, and everyone for fear of them was not able to speak against them: so that

the people came to be deceived or forced into deciding their own ruin.

It was necessary, therefore, if Rome wanted to maintain herself free in her

corruption, that she should have made new institutions, just as she had made new

laws in the process of her existence, for other institutions and modes of living

ought to be established in a bad people as well as in a good one, nor can the

form be the same in a people entirely different. But because these institutions

when they are suddenly discovered no longer to be good have to be changed either

completely, or little by little as each (defect) is known, I say that both of

these two courses are almost impossible. For in the case of wanting to change

little by little a prudent man is required who sees this evil from a distance

and at its beginning. It is easily probable that no one such as these springs up

in a City: and even if one should spring up he is never able to persuade others

of that which he intends; for men living in one manner, do not want to change,

and the more so as they do not see the evil face to face, but being shown to

them as (mere) conjecture.

As to changing these institutions all at once when everyone recognizes they are

not good, I say that the defect which is easily recognized is difficult to

correct, for to do this it is not enough to use ordinary means, as ordinary

means are bad, but it is necessary to come to the extraordinary, such as

violence and arms, and before anything else to become Prince of that City, and

to be able to dispose of it as he pleases. And as the re-organization of the

political life of a City presupposes a good man, and the becoming of a Prince of

a Republic by violence presupposes a bad man; for because of this it will be

found that it rarely happens that a (good) men wants to become Prince through

bad means, even though his objectives be good; or that a bad one, having become

Prince, wants to work for good and that it should enter his mind to use for good

that authority which he had acquired by evil means. From all the things written

above, arises the difficulty or impossibility of maintaining a Republic in a

City that has become corrupted, or to establish it there anew. And even if it

should have to be created or maintained, it would be necessary to reduce it more

to a Royal State (Monarchy) than to a Popular State (Republic), so that those

men who because of their insolence cannot be controlled by laws, should be

restrained by a Power almost Regal. And to want to make them become good by

other means would be either a most cruel enterprise or entirely impossible; as I

said above this is what Cleomenes did, who for wanting to be alone (in the

Government) killed the Ephors, and if Romulus for the same reasons killed his

brother and Titus Tatius, the Sabine, and afterwards they used their authority

well, none the less, it ought to be noted that one and the other of these men

did not have their subjects stained with that corruption of which we have

discussed in this chapter, and therefore they could desire (good), and desiring

it, conform their designs accordingly.

CHAPTER XIX

A WEAK PRINCE WHO SUCCEEDS AN EXCELLENT PRINCE CAN BE MAINTAINED, BUT ANY

KINGDOM CANNOT BE MAINTAINED IF A WEAK ONE IS SUCCEEDED BY ANOTHER WEAK ONE

In considering the virtu and the mode of proceeding of Romulus, of Numa, and of

Tullus, the first three Kings of Rome, it will be seen that Rome was favored by

the greatest good fortune, having the first King most ferocious and warlike, the

next quiet and religious, the third similar in ferocity to Romulus, and a

greater lover of war than of peace. For it was necessary in Rome that in the

beginning there should spring up an Organizer of civil institutions, but it then

indeed was necessary that the other Kings should reassume the virtu of Romulus,

otherwise that City would have become effeminate and prey to her neighbors.

Whence it can be noted that a successor not having as much virtu as the first,

is able to maintain a State which was erected by that man before him and can

enjoy his labors; but if it happens either that his life is a long one, or that

after him there should not spring up another who should reassume the virtu of

the first one, that Kingdom of necessity will be ruined. And so, on the

contrary, if two, one after the other, are of great virtu, it will often be seen

that they achieve most great things and that they will rise with their fame to

the heavens. David without doubt was a man most excellent in arms, in doctrine,

and in judgment, and so great was his virtu, that having conquered and beaten

down all his neighbors, he left a peaceful Kingdom to this son Solomon, which he

was able to preserve with the arts of peace and of war, and he was able happily

to enjoy the virtu of his father. But he could not thus leave it to his son

Rehoboam, who not being like his grandfather in virtu, or like his father in

fortune, remained heir to the sixth part of the Kingdom only with great effort.

Bajazet, Sultan of the Turks, although he was more a lover of peace than of war,

was able to enjoy the efforts of his father Mahomet, who having like David

beaten his neighbors, left him a firm Kingdom and capable of being preserved

easily with the arts of peace. But if his own son Soliman, the present lord, had

been like his father and not his grandfather, that Kingdom would have been

ruined: but it was seen that this man was to surpass the glory of his

grandfather.

I say, therefore, through these examples, that it is possible for a weak Prince

succeeding an excellent one to preserve any Kingdom, even if it should not be as

that of France, which is maintained by its ancient institutions: and those

Princes are weak who are not able to endure war. I conclude, therefore, with

this discussion that the virtu of Romulus was so great, that it was able to give

time to Numa Pompilius to be able to rule Rome with the arts of peace; but he

was succeeded by Tullus, who by his ferocity reassumed the reputation of

Romulus; after whom there followed Ancus, so gifted by nature that he was able

to use peace and endure war. And first he addressed himself to want to hold the

ways of peace, but he soon knew that his neighbors judging him effeminate

esteemed him little, so that he decided that if he wanted to maintain Rome he

needed to turn to war and imitate Romulus, and not Numa. Let all the Princes who

have a State take example from this, that he who imitates Numa may keep it (the

State) or not keep it, according as the times and fortune may turn his way; but

he who imitates Romulus, and is like him armed with prudence and weapons, will

keep it in any case, unless it is taken from him by an obstinate (and) excessive

force. And certainly it can be though that, if Rome had not by chance had as her

third King a man who had not known how to recover with arms her reputation, she

would never then have been able, except with the greatest difficulty, to gain a

foothold, nor to achieve the results that she did. And thus as long as she lived

under Kings, she was subject to these dangers of being ruined under a weak or

bad King.

CHAPTER XX

TWO CONTINUOUS SUCCESSIONS OF PRINCES OF VIRTU ACHIEVE GREAT RESULTS; AND THAT

WELL ORGANIZED REPUBLICS OF NECESSITY HAVE SUCCESSIONS OF VIRTU; THEREFORE THEIR

ACQUISITIONS AND EXPANSIONS ARE GREAT

After Rome had driven out her Kings, she was no longer exposed to those perils

which were mentioned above, resulting from a succession of weak or bad Kings;

for the highest (authority) was vested in the Consuls, who came to that Empire

not by heredity or deceit or violent ambition, but by free suffrage, and were

always most excellent men, from whose virtu and fortune Rome had benefited from

time to time, (and) was able to arrive at her ultimate greatness in as many

years as she had existed under her Kings. For it is seen that two continuous

successions of Princes of virtu are sufficient to acquire the world, as was (the

case of) Philip of Macedonia and Alexander the Great. A Republic ought to be

able to do so much more, having the means of electing not only two successions,

but an infinite number of Princes of great virtu who are successors one after

the other: which succession of virtu is always well established in every

Republic.

CHAPTER XXI

HOW MUCH BLAME THAT PRINCE AND REPUBLIC MERIT WHO LACK THEIR OWN ARMS

Present Princes and modern Republics, who lack their own soldiers in regard to

defense and offense, ought to be ashamed of themselves and to think from the

example of Tullus that such a defect exists not because of the lack of men

suitable for the military, but that by their own fault they have not known how

to make soldiers of their men.[3] For Tullus, after Rome had been at peace forty

years, did not find a man ((when he succeeded to the Kingdom)) who had ever been

in war. None the less, planning to make war, he did not think of availing

himself of the Samnites, or of the Tuscans, or of others who were accustomed to

bear arms, but as a most prudent man decided to avail himself of his own people:

And such was his virtu that he was able quickly to make excellent soldiers under

his own government. And there is nothing more true than that (truth), if there

are no soldiers where there are men, this results from the defect of the Prince,

and not from any local or natural defect: of which there is a very recent

example: For everyone knows that in recent times the King of England assaulted

the kingdom of France, and did not take as soldiers any other than his own

people: and because that Kingdom had been for more than thirty years without

making war, he did not have either soldiers or a Captain who had ever fought:

none the less, he did not hesitate with them to assault a Kingdom full of

Captains and good armies, which had been continually under arms in the wars in

Italy. All of which resulted from that King being a prudent man and that Kingdom

well organized, that in time of peace did not neglect the arrangements of war.

The Thebans, Pelopidas and Epaminondas, after having liberated Thebes, and

rescued her from the servitude of the Spartan Empire, finding themselves in a

City accustomed to servitude, and in the midst of an effeminate people, did not

hesitate ((so great was their virtu)) to put them under arms and with them go to

meet the Spartan armies in the field and conquered them: and whoever writes

says, that these two in a short time showed that men of war were born not only

in Lacedemonia, but in every other place where men are born, as long as there

was to be found one man who should know how to train them in military service,

as is seen (in the case) of Tullus who knew how to train the Romans. And Virgil

could not express this thought better, and with other words shows how he adhered

to that, when he said: "And Tullus made of These men soldiers".

CHAPTER XXII

WHAT IS TO BE NOTED IN THE CASE OF THE THREE ROMAN HORATII AND OF THE THREE

ALBAN CURATII

Tullus, King of Rome, and Metius, King of Alba, agreed that that people should

be lord of those whose above mentioned three men should overcome (those of) the

others. All the Alban Curatii were killed, (and) there remained only one of the

Roman Horatii alive, and because of this Metius, King of the Albans, with his

subjects, remained subject to the Romans. And when that Horatius returned as

conqueror to Rome, meeting his sister who was married to one of the three dead

Curatii, and who was weeping over the death of her husband, he killed her.

Whence that Horatius, because of this crime, was placed on trial and after much

deliberation was freed, more because of thy prayers of his father than because

of his own merits. Here three things are to be noted. One, that one should never

risk all his fortune with only part of his forces. Next, that in a well

organized City, the demerits (crimes) are never rewarded with merits. The third,

that proceedings are never wise where one ought to be doubtful of their

observance. For being in servitude means much to a City, that it ought never to

be believed that any of those Kings or of those People should be content that

three of their Citizens should make them subject, as is seen Metius wanted to

do, who although immediately after the victory of the Romans confessed himself

conquered and promised obedience to Tullus, none the less, in the first

expedition in which they were to come against the Veienti, it is seen that he

sought to deceive them, as one who sees too late the imprudence of the

proceeding undertaken by him. And because this third point has been talked about

much, we will talk only of the other two in the following two chapters.

CHAPTER XXIII

THAT ONE OUGHT NOT TO PUT IN PERIL ALL HIS FORTUNE AND ALL HIS FORCES; AND

BECAUSE OF THIS THE GUARDING OF PASSES IS OFTEN HARMFUL

It was never judged (to be) a wise proceeding to put into peril all of one's

fortune or all of one's forces. This may be done in many ways. One is to do as

Tullus and Metius did when they committed all the fortune of their country and

the virtu of so many men, as both of these had in their armies, to the virtu and

fortune of three of their Citizens, which came to be only a minimum part of the

forces of each of them. Nor did they see that because of this proceeding all the

labors that their ancestors had endured in the establishment of the Republic in

order to have it exist free a long time, and to make her Citizens defenders of

their liberty, were as it were made in vain, it being in the power of so few to

lose it. Which action (on the part) of those Kings could not be considered

worse. This error is also almost always committed by those who ((seeing the

enemy)) plan to hold different places and guard the passes. For almost always

this decision will be damaging unless you can thus conveniently keep all your

forces (there) in that difficult place. In this case such a procedure is to be

taken: but being in a rugged place and not being able to keep all your forces

there, the procedure is damaging. I am made to think thusly by the example of

those who, when they are assaulted by a powerful enemy, and their country being

surrounded by mountains and rugged places, never tried to combat the enemy in

the passes and in the mountains, but have gone out to meet them in front of

these, or when they did not wish to do that, have awaited him behind these

mountains in easy and not-rugged places. And the reason was, as it were, as

alleged before; for many men cannot be brought to the guarding of rugged places,

not only because it is not possible to live there a long time, but also because

being in narrow places capable of (admitting) only a few, it is not possible to

sustain an enemy who comes in a large body to hurl himself at you: And it is

easy for the enemy to come in large numbers, because his intention is to pass

and not stop, while to him who awaits him (the enemy) it is impossible to wait

with large numbers, having to quarter himself for a longer time ((not knowing

when the enemy may attempt to pass)) in narrow and sterile places, as I have

said. Having therefore lost that pass that you had presupposed to hold, and in

which your people and the army had trusted, there will very often enter in the

people and the rest of the forces so much terror that, without being able to

test the virtu of those remaining, they are lost; and thus you have lost all

your fortune with only part of your forces.

Everyone knows with how much difficulty Hannibal crossed the Alps which divide

Lombardy from France, and with how much difficulty he crossed those which divide

Lombardy from Tuscany; none the less, the Romans awaited him first on the Ticino

and afterwards on the plains of Arezzo; and they wanted rather that their army

should be consumed by the enemy in places where they themselves could conquer,

than to lead it over the Alps to be destroyed by the malignity of the site. And

whoever reads all the histories attentively will find very few Captians of virtu

to have held similar passes and for the reasons mentioned, and because they

cannot close them all, the mountains being like the fields and having roads not

only well known and frequented, but many other which, if not known to outsiders,

are well known to the people of the country, with whose aid you will always be

brought to any place against the wishes of whoever opposes you. Of this a most

recent example in the year one thousand five hundred fifteen (1515) can be

cited. When Francis King of France planned to cross into Italy in order to

recover the State of Lombardy, the greater foundation of those who opposed his

enterprise was that the Swiss would stop him in the mountain passes. And as was

seen from this experience, that foundation of theirs was vain, for that King,

leaving aside two or three places guarded by them (Swiss), came by another

unknown road, and was already in Italy before they were aware of it. So that,

frightened, they retreated to Milan, and all the people of Lombardy adhered to

the French forces, having been proved wrong in their opinion that the French

would be held in the mountains.

CHAPTER XXIV

WELL ORGANIZED REPUBLICS ESTABLISH REWARDS AND PENALTIES FOR THEIR CITIZENS, BUT

NEVER COMPENSATE ONE (AT THE EXPENSE) OF THE OTHER

The merits of Horatius had been very great, having by his virtu conquered the

Curatii. None the less such a homicide displeased the Romans so much, that he

was brought to trial for his life, notwithstanding that his merits were so great

and so recent. Which thing, to whoever should consider it only superficially,

would seem to be an example of the ingratitude of the people. None the less,

whoever should examine it closer, and with better consideration will look for

what the orders of the Republic ought to be, will blame that people rather for

having absolved him than for having wanted to condemn him: and the reason is

this, that no well-ordered Republic ever cancels the misbehavior of its citizens

by their merits; and having rewarded one for having acted well, if that same one

afterwards acts badly, it castigates him without having regard to any of his

good actions. And if these orders are well observed, a City will exist free for

a long time; if otherwise, it will quickly be ruined. For if to a citizen who

has done some eminent work for the City, there is added to his reputation of

that which he acquired, and audacity and confidence of being able to do some

wrong without fear of punishment, he will in a short time become so insolent as

to put an end to all civil law. But wanting that the punishment for evil actions

be feared, it is very necessary to observe rewarding good, as is seen was done

by Rome. And although a Republic may be poor and can give only a little, it

ought not to abstain from giving that little, because every little gift given to

someone in recompense for a good deed, no matter how big (the deed), will always

be esteemed very greatly by whoever receives it as an honorable thing. And the

history of Horatius Codes and that of Mutius Scaevola are well known; how one

held back the enemy on a bridge until it was cut, (and) the other burned his

hand having erred in wanting to murder Porsenna, King of the Tuscans. For these

two eminent deeds two measures of land were given to each of those men by the

public. The history of Manlius Capitolinus is also well known. For having saved

the Campidoglio from the Gauls who were besieging it, this man was given a small

measure of flour by those who had been besieged inside with him, which reward

((according to the value that was then current in Rome)) was great and of

quality; (but) when Manlius afterward, either from envy or from his evil nature,

moved to raise up sedition in Rome, and seeking to gain over the People to

himself, he was, without regard to any of his merits, thrown precipituously from

that Campidoglio which he had previously with so much glory saved.

CHAPTER XXV

WHOEVER WANTS TO REFORM AN ANCIENT STATE INTO A FREE CITY, SHOULD RETAIN AT

LEAST A SHADOW OF THE ANCIENT FORMS

He who desires or wants to reform the State (Government) of a City, and wishes

that it may be accepted and capable of maintaining itself to everyone's

satisfaction, it is necessary for him at least to retain the shadow of ancient

forms, so that it does not appear to the people that the institutions have been

changed, even though in fact the new institutions should be entirely different

from the past ones: for the general mass of men are satisfied with appearances,

as if it exists, and many times are moved by the things which appear to be

rather than by the things that are. The Romans knew this necessity in the

beginning of their free existence, (and) for this reason, had in place of one

King created two Consuls, (and) did not want them to have more than twelve

Lictors so as not to exceed the number that ministered to the Kings. In addition

to this, an annual sacrifice was made in Rome, which could not be done except by

the King in person, and as the Romans wishing that the People should not desire

any of the ancient things because of the absence of the King, created a chief

for the said sacrifice, whom they called the King of sacrifice, and placed him

under the high priest. So that the people through this means came to be

satisfied with that sacrifice and never to have reason, for lack of them, to

desire the return of the King. And this ought to be observed by all those who

want to abolish an ancient (system of) living in a City and bring it to a new

and more liberal (system of) living. For as new things disturb the minds of men,

you ought to endeavor that these changes retain as much as possible of the

ancient (forms); and if the magistrates change both in number and in authority

and in duration (of term) from the ancients, the names at least ought to be

retained. And this ((as I have said)) ought to be preserved by whoever wants to

organize an absolute power into a Republic or a Kingdom; but he who wants to

establish an absolute power, which by authors is called a Tyranny, ought to

change everything, as will be mentioned in the following chapter.

CHAPTER XXVI

A NEW PRINCE IN A CITY OR PROVINCE TAKEN BY HIM OUGHT TO ORGANIZE EVERYTHING

ANEW

Whoever becomes Prince either of a City or a State, and more so if his

foundations are weak, and does not want to establish a civil system either in

the form of a Kingdom or a Republic, (will find) the best remedy he has to hold

that Principality is ((he being a new Prince)) to do everything anew in that

State; such as in the City to make new Governors with new titles, with new

authority, with new men, (and) make the poor rich, as David did when he became

King, who piled good upon the needy, and dismissed the wealthy empty-handed. In

addition to this he should build new Cities, destroy old ones, transfer the

inhabitants from one place to another, and in sum, not to leave anything

unchanged in that Province, (and) so that there should be no rank, nor order,

nor status, nor riches, that he who obtains it does not recognize it as coming

from him; he should take as his model Philip of Macedonia, father of Alexander,

who, by these methods, from a petty King became Prince of Greece. And those who

write of him tell how be transferred men from Province to Province, as the

Mandrians (Shepherds) move their sheep. These methods are most cruel and hostile

to every system of living, not only Christian, but human, and should be avoided

by every man; and he should want rather to live as a private individual than as

a King at the (expense of the) ruin of men. None the less, he who does not want

to take up the first path of good, must, if he wants to maintain himself, follow

the latter path of evil. But men take up certain middle paths which are most

harmful, for they do not know how to be entirely good or entirely bad, as the

following chapter will show by example.

CHAPTER XXVII

VERY RARELY DO MEN KNOW HOW TO BE ENTIRELY GOOD OR ENTIRELY BAD

When Pope Julius II in the year one thousand five hundred and five (1505) went

to Bologna to drive the house of Bentivogli out of that State, of which they had

held the Principate (of that State) for a hundred years, he wanted also to

remove Giovanpagolo Baglioni from Perugia, of which he was Tyrant, (and) to be

the one who planned to eliminate all the Tyrants who were occupying the lands of

the Church. And having arrived at Perugia with this purpose and decision known

to everyone, he did not wait to enter in that City with his army that was

protecting him, but entered unarmed, notwithstanding that Giovanpagolo was

inside with large forces that he had gathered for defense. And thus, brought by

that fury which governed all his actions, with only his simple guard he placed

himself in the hands of the enemy, whom he then carried off with him, leaving a

governor in that City who should administer it for the Church. The temerity of

the Pope and the cowardice of Giovanpagolo were noted by the prudent men who

were with the Pope, nor could they understand whence it happened that he

(Baglioni) did not with his perpetual fame attack his enemy at once and enrich

himself with booty, there being with the Pope all the Cardinals with their

valuables. Nor could it be believed that he abstained either from goodness or

that his conscience restrained him; for no regard of piety could enter in the

heart of a riotous man, who had kept his sister, and had put to death his

cousins and nephews in order that he could reign there: but it is concluded that

men do not know how to be entirely bad or perfectly good, and that when an evil

has some greatness in it or is generous in any part, they do not know how to

attempt it. Thus Giovanpagolo, who did not mind being publicly (called)

incestuous and a parricide, did not know how, or to say more correctly, did not

dare ((even having a justifiable opportunity)) to make an enterprise where

everyone would have admired his courage and which would have left an eternal

memory of himself, being the first who would have shown the Prelates how little

esteemed are they who live and reign as they do, and would have done an act, the

greatness of which would have overcome every infamy and every danger that could

have resulted from it.

CHAPTER XXVIII

FOR WHAT REASONS THE ROMANS WERE LESS UNGRATEFUL TO THEIR CITIZENS THAN THE

ATHENIANS

Whoever reads of the things done by Republics will find in all of them some

species of ingratitude against their citizens, but he will find less in Rome

than in Athens, and perhaps in any other Republic. And in seeking the reasons

for this, speaking of Rome and Athens, I believe it was because the Romans had

less reason to suspect their citizens than did the Athenians. For in Rome

((discussing the time from the expulsion of the Kings up to Sulla and Marius))

liberty was never taken away from any of its citizens, so that in that (City)

there was no great reason to be suspicious of them, and consequently (no cause)

to offend them inconsiderately. The very contrary happened in Athens, for her

liberty having been taken away by Pisistratus in her most florid time and under

the deception of goodness, so soon then as she became free, remembering the

injuries received and her past servitude, she became a harsh avenger not only of

the errors of her citizens, but even the shadow of them. From which resulted the

exile and death of so many excellent men: From this came the practice of

ostracism and every other violence which that City at various times took up

against her Nobility. And it is very true what these writers say of that Civil

Society, that when they have recovered their liberty, they sting their people

more severely than when they have preserved it. Whoever would consider,

therefore, what has been said, will not blame Athens for this, nor praise Rome,

but he will blame only the necessity resulting from the difference of events

which occurred in those Cities. For whoever will consider things carefully, will

see that if Rome had had her liberty taken away as it was in Athens, Rome would

not have been any more merciful toward her citizens than was the latter. From

which a very real conjecture can be made of that which occurred after the

expulsion of the Kings against Collatinus and Publius Valerius, of whom the

first ((although he was found in liberating Rome)) was sent into exile for no

other reason than for having the name of the Tarquins, and the other having only

given suspicion by building a house on Mount Celius, was also made to be an

exile. So that it can be judged ((seeing how severe Rome was in these two

suspicions)) that she would have been ungrateful as Athens was, if she had been

offended by her citizens as she was in her early times and before her expansion.

And so as not to have to return again to this matter of ingratitude, I shall say

that which will occur in the following chapter.

CHAPTER XXIX

WHICH IS MORE UNGRATEFUL, A PEOPLE OR A PRINCE

It appears to me apropos of the above written matter to discuss with example who

practiced this ingratitude more, a People or a Prince. And to discuss this part

further, I say that this vice of ingratitude arises either from avarice or from

suspicion: For when a People or a Prince has sent out one of its Captains on an

important expedition, where that Captain ((having won)) has acquired great

glory, that People or that Prince is bound in turn to reward him: and if in

place of a reward they, moved by avarice, either dishonor or offend him, not

wanting ((held back by this cupidity)) to take the trouble, they make an error

that has no excuse, but will leave behind for them an eternal infamy. Yet many

Princes are found who err in this way. And Cornelius Tacitus tells the reason in

this sentence; An injury is more apt to be repaid than a benefit, where

gratitude is onerous and exultation is had in revenge. But when they do not

reward one; or ((to say it better)) they offend one, moved not by avarice, but

by suspicion, then both the People and Prince merit some excuse. And much is

read of this ingratitude shown for such reasons, for that Captain who by his

virtu has conquered an Empire for his Lord, overcoming the enemy and filling

himself with glory and his soldiers with riches, of necessity acquires so much

reputation with his soldiers, with his enemies, and with the Prince's very own

subjects, that that victory can be distasteful to that Lord who had sent him.

And because the nature of men is ambitious and suspicious, and puts no limits on

the fortune of anyone, it is not impossible that the suspicion which is suddenly

aroused in the Prince after the victory of his captain, may not by itself have

been increased by some of his actions or expressions made insolently. So that

the Prince cannot think otherwise than to secure himself: and to do this thinks

of either having him die or taking away from him that reputation which he gained

among his army and the people, and with all industry show that the victory was

not due to the virtu of that (Captain), but by chance and cowardice of the

enemy, or by the wisdom of other Captains who had been with him in that action.

After Vespasian, while in Judea, was declared Emperor by his army, Antonius

Primus, who was to be found with another army in Illyria, took his side, and

came into Italy against Vitellius who reigned in Rome, and with the greatest

virtu routed two armies of Vitellius and occupied Rome, so that through the

virtu of Antonius, Mutianus, who had been sent by Vespasian, found everything

achieved and all difficulties overcome. The reward which Antonius received was

that Mutianus took away from him the command of the army, and little by little

reduced his authority in Rome to nothing: so that Antonius went to find

Vespasian who was yet in Asia, by whom he was received in such a fashion, that

in a brief time, having been reduced to no rank, died almost in despair. And

histories are full of such examples.

In our own times anyone now living knows with what industry and virtu Gonsalvo

Ferrante, fighting in the Kingdom of Naples for Ferrando King of Aragon against

the French, had conquered and won that Kingdom, and was rewarded for his victory

by Ferrando, who departed from Aragon and came to Naples, where he first took

away from him the command of the armed forces, then took away from him the

fortresses, and then took him with him to Spain, where in a short time he died

unhonored.

And this suspicion, therefore, is so natural in Princes that they cannot defend

themselves against them, and it is impossible for them to show gratitude toward

those who, by victory under their ensigns, have made great conquest. And if a

Prince cannot defend himself from them, is it not a miracle or something worthy

of greater consideration, that a people does not also defend itself; for a City

which exists free has two objectives, one conquering, the other maintaining

itself free, and it happens that because of excessive love for both of these it

makes errors. As to the errors made in conquering, they will be spoken of in

their proper place. As to the errors made in maintaining itself free, among

others they are those of offending those Citizens whom it ought to reward, and

of having suspicion of those in whom it ought to have confidence. And although

these things in a Republic already corrupted cause great evils, and which many

times rather leads to tyranny, as happened in Rome under Caesar who took by

force that which ingratitude denied him, none the less in a Republic not yet

corrupted they are the cause of great good, and make for a longer free

existence, maintaining itself because the fear of punishment makes men better

and less ambitious.

It is true that among all the people who ever had an Empire for reasons

discussed above, Rome was the least ungrateful, for it can be said there is no

other example of her ingratitude than that of Scipio; for Coriolanus and

Camillus were both made exiles because of the injuries that the one and the

other had inflicted on the Plebs: But he one was never pardoned for having

always preserved a hostile spirit against the People: the other was not only

recalled (from exile), but for the rest of his life was adored as a Prince. But

the ingratitude shown to Scipio arose from a suspicion that the Citizens begun

to have of him that was never had of others, which (suspicion) arose from the

greatness of the enemy that Scipio conquered, from the reputation which that

victory in such a long and perilous war had given him, from the rapidity of it,

from the favor which his youth, his prudence, and his other memorable virtues

had acquired for him. These were so many, that for no other reason, the

Magistrates of Rome feared his authority, which displeased intelligent men as

something unheard of in Rome. And his manner of living appeared so extraordinary

that Cato the elder, reputed a saint, was the first to go against him, and to

say that a City could not be called free where there was a Citizen who was

feared by the Magistrates. So that if the people of Rome in this case followed

the opinion of Cato, they merit the excuse that I said above was merited by

those People and those Princes who, because of suspicion, are ungrateful.

Concluding this discourse, therefore, I say that using this vice of ingratitude

for either avarice or suspicion, it will be seen that the People never use it

from avarice, and from suspicion much less than do Princes, having less reason

for suspicion, as will be told below.

CHAPTER XXX

WHAT MEANS A PRINCE OR A REPUBLIC OUGHT TO USE TO AVOID THIS VICE OF

INGRATITUDE, AND WHAT THAT CAPTAIN OR THAT CITIZEN OUGHT TO DO SO AS NOT TO BE

TOUCHED BY IT

A Prince, to avoid the necessity of having to live with suspicion or to be

ungrateful, ought to go on his expeditions in person, as those Roman Emperors

did in the beginning, as does the Turk in our times, and as those of virtu have

done and still do. For winning, the glory and the conquests are all theirs: and

when they do not ((the glory belonging to others)) it does not appear to them to

be able to use that conquest unless they extinguish that glory in others which

they have not known how to gain for themselves, and to become ungrateful and

unjust is without doubt more to their loss than to their gain. But when either

through negligence or little prudence they remain idle at home and send a

Captain, I have no precept to give them, then, other than that which they know

by themselves. But I will say to that Captain, judging that he will not be able

to escape the stings of ingratitude, that he must do one of two things: either

immediately after the victory he must leave the army and place himself in the

hands of the Prince, guarding himself from any insolent and ambitious act, so

that he (the Prince) despoiled of every suspicion has reason either to reward

him or not to offend him, or if he does not please to do this, to take boldly

the contrary side, and take all those means through which he believed that that

conquest is his very own and not of his Prince, obtaining for himself the good

will of his soldiers and of the subjects, and must make new friendships with his

neighbors, occupy the fortresses with his men, corrupt the Princes (Leaders) of

his army, and assure himself of those he cannot corrupt, and by these means seek

to punish his Lord for that ingratitude that he showed toward him. There are no

other ways: but ((as was said above)) men do not know how to be all bad, or all

good. And it always happens that immediately after a victory, he (a Captain)

does not want to leave his army, is not able to conduct himself modestly, does

not know how to use forceful ends (and) which have in themselves something

honorable. So that being undecided, between the delays and indecision, he is

destroyed.

As to a Republic wishing to avoid this vice of ingratitude, the same remedy

cannot be given as that of a Prince; that is, that it cannot go and not send

others on its expeditions, being necessitated to send one of its Citizens. It

happens, therefore, that as a remedy, I would tell them to keep to the same

means that the Roman Republic used in being less ungrateful than others: which

resulted from the methods of its government, for as all the City, both the

Nobles and Ignobles (Plebeians) devoted themselves to war, there always sprung

up in Rome in every age so many men of virtu and adorned with various victories,

that the People did not have cause for being apprehensive of any of them, there

being so many and one guarding another. And thus they maintained themselves

wholesome and careful not to show any shadow of ambition, nor give reason to the

People to harm them as ambitious men; and if they came to the Dictatorship, that

greater glory derived rather from their laying it down. And thus, not being able

by such methods to generate suspicion, they did not generate ingratitude. So

that a Republic that does not want to have cause to be ungrateful ought to

govern as Rome did, and a Citizen who wants to avoid its sting ought to observe

the limits observed the limits observed by the Roman Citizens.

CHAPTER XXXI

THAT ROMAN CAPTAINS WERE NEVER EXTRAORDINARILY PUNISHED FOR ERRORS COMMITTED;

NOR WERE THEY YET PUNISHED WHEN, BY THEIR IGNORANCE OR BAD PROCEEDINGS

UNDERTAKEN BY THEM, HARM ENSUED TO THE REPUBLIC

The Romans were ((as we discussed above)) not only less ungrateful than other

Republics, but were even more merciful and considerate in punishing their

Captains of the armies than any other. For if their error had been from malice,

they castigated them humanely: if it was through ignorance, they did not punish

them but rewarded and honored them. This manner of proceeding was well

considered by them, for they judged that it was of great importance to those who

commanded their armies to have their minds free and prompt and without any

outside regard as to how they took up their duties, that they did not want to

add anything, which in itself was difficult and dangerous, believing that if

these were added no one would be able to operate with virtu. For instance, they

sent an army into Greece against Philip of Macedonia, and into Italy against

those people who first overcame them. This Captain who was placed in charge of

such an expedition would be deeply concerned of all the cares that go on behind

those activities, which are grave and very important. Now, if to such cares

should be added the many examples of the Romans who had been crucified or

otherwise put to death for having lost the engagement, it would be impossible

for that Captain, among such suspicions, to be able to proceed vigorously.

Judging, therefore, that the ignominy of having lost would be a great punishment

for such a one, they did not want to frighten him with other greater penalties.

As to errors committed through ignorance, here is an example. Sergius and

Virginius were besieging Veii, each in charge of part of the army, of which

Sergius was on the side whence the Tuscans could come, and Virginius on the

other side. It happened that Sergius being assaulted by the Faliscans among

other people, preferred being routed and put to flight before sending to

Virginius for help: And on the other hand, Virginius waiting for him (Sergius)

to be humiliated, would rather see the dishonor of his country and the ruin of

the army, than to succor him. A truly bad case, and worthy to be noted, and of

creating a poor conjecture of the Roman Republic, if both of them had not been

castigated. It is true that where another Republic would have punished them with

a capital penalty, it (Rome) punished them with a monetary fine. Which was done,

not because their errors merited greater punishment, but because the Romans

wanted in this case, for the reasons already mentioned, to maintain their

ancient customs.

As to errors (committed) through ignorance, there is no more striking example

than that of Varro, through whose temerity the Romans were routed at Cannae by

Hannibal, where that Republic was brought in danger of its liberty, none the

less because it was ignorance and not malice, they not only did not castigate

him, but honored him, and on his return to Rome, the whole Senatorial order went

to meet him, (and) not being able to thank him for the battle, they thanked him

for returning to Rome and for not having despaired of Roman affairs.

When Papirus Cursor wanted to have Fabius put to death for having, against his

command, combatted with the Samnites, among the other reasons which were

assigned by the father of Fabius against the obstinacy of the Dictator was this,

that in any defeat of its Captains, the Roman People never did that which

Papirus in victory wanted to do.

CHAPTER XXXII

A REPUBLIC OR A PRINCE OUGHT NOT TO DEFER BENEFITING MEN IN THEIR NECESSITY

Although the Romans succeeded happily in being liberal to people, yet when

danger came upon them from Porsenna coming to assault Rome in order to restore

thy Tarquins, the Senate apprehensive of the plebs who might want to accept the

Kings than to sustain a war, in order to assure themselves (of the plebs),

relieved them of the salt gabelle and all other taxes, saying that the poor did

much for the public benefit if they reared their children, and that because of

this benefice that people should submit itself to endure siege, famine, and war:

let no one who trusts in this example defer in gaming the people over to himself

until the time of danger, for it will not succeed for him as it succeeded for

the Romans; for the people in general will judge not to have gotten that benefit

from you, but from your adversaries, and becoming afraid that once the necessity

is past, you would take back from them that which by force you gave them, they

will have no obligation to you. And the reason why this proceeding turned out

well for the Romans was because the State was new, and not yet firm, and that

the people had seen that other laws had been made before for their benefit, such

as that of the appeal to the Plebs: so that they could persuade themselves that

that good which was done, was not caused so much by the coming of the enemy as

much as the disposition of the Senate to benefit them: In addition to this the

memory of the Kings, by whom they had been ill-used and injured in many ways,

was fresh. And as similar occasions rarely occur, so it rarely occurs that

similar remedies do good. Therefore Republics as well as Princes ought to think

ahead what adversities may befall them, and of which men in adverse times they

may have need of, and then act toward them as they might judge necessary

((supposing some case)) to live. And he who governs himself otherwise, whether

Prince or Republic, and especially a Prince, and then on this fact believes that

if danger comes upon him, he may regain the people for himself by benefits,

deceives himself, because he not only does not assure himself, but accelerates

his ruin.

CHAPTER XXXIII

WHEN AN EVIL HAS SPRUNG UP EITHER WITHIN A STATE OR AGAINST A STATE, IT IS A

MORE SALUTARY PROCEEDING TO TEMPORIZE WITH IT THAN TO ATTACK IT RASHLY

The Roman Republic growing in reputation, strength, and empire, its neighbors

which at first had not thought how much harm that new Republic would be able to

bring to them, commenced ((but too late)) to recognize their error, and wanting

to remedy that which at first they had not remedied, they (arranged) for forty

peoples (tribes) to conspire against Rome: whence the Romans among the usual

remedies made by them in urgent perils, wanted to create a Dictator, that is, to

give power to one man who, without any consultation, should be able to decide,

and without any appeal should be able to execute his decisions: This remedy

which formerly was useful and a means of overcoming imminent perils, was also

always most useful in all those incidents which sprung up at any time against

the Republic in the expansion of the Empire. On which subject it will first be

discussed, that when an evil springs up either within a Republic or against a

Republic, whether from intrinsic or extrinsic causes, and has become so great

that it begins to make (everyone) afraid, it is a much more safe procedure to

temporize with it than to try to extinguish it. For almost always those who try

to crush it, make its force greater, and make that evil which is suspected from

it to be accelerated. And incidents similar to these arise more frequently in a

Republic from intrinsic and extrinsic causes, as it often occurs that it allows

a Citizen more power than is reasonable, or the corrupting of a law is begun

which is the nerve and life of a free society: and this error is allowed to run

so far, that it is a more harmful procedure to want to remedy it than to let it

go on. And it is so much more difficult to recognize these evils when they first

arise, as it seems more natural to men always to favor the beginning of things:

And such favors are accorded more to those accomplishments which have in them

some virtu or are done by young men, than to any other thing: for if some young

noble is seen to spring up in a Republic who has in him some extraordinary

virtu, the eyes of all the Citizens begin to turn toward him, and they agree

without regard (to consequences) to honor him: so that if there is any stitch of

ambition in him, the assemblage of favors which nature and these incidents give

him, he will soon come to a place that when the Citizens see their error, they

will have few remedies to stop him, and they wanting so much to employ that

which they have, do nothing other than to accelerate his power.

Of this many examples can be cited, but I want to give only one of our City (of

Florence). Cosimo De'Medici, from whom the house of Medici in our City owed the

beginning of its greatness, came into such reputation by the favor which his

prudence and the ignorance of the other Citizens gave him, that he begun to

bring fear to the State, so that the other Citizens judged it dangerous to

offend him and still more dangerous to allow him to go on. But Niccolo Da Uzzano

living in those times, who was held to be a man most expert in civil affairs,

and having made the first error in not recognizing the dangers that could arise

from the reputation of Cosimo, never permitted while he lived that a second

(error) be made, that is, that it should be attempted (to want) to destroy him,

judging that such an attempt would be the ruin of their State, as in fact was

seen after his death; for those Citizens (who remained) not observing these

counsels of his, made themselves strong against Cosimo and drove him out of

Florence. Whence there resulted that, his party resentful of this injury, a

little later called him back and made him Prince of the Republic, to which rank

he could never have ascended without that manifest opposition. This same thing

happened in Rome to Caesar who was favored by Pompey and the others for his

virtu; which favor a little while later was converted to fear: to which Cicero

gives testimony, saying that Pompey had too late begun to fear Caesar. Which

fear caused them to think of remedies, and the remedies they took accelerated

the ruin of the Republic.

I say, therefore, that since it is difficult to recognize these evils when they

spring up, this difficulty caused by the deception which things give in the

beginning, it is the wiser proceeding to temporize with them when they are

recognized than to oppose them. For by temporizing with them, they will either

extinguish themselves, or the evil will at least be deferred for a longer time.

And Princes ought to open their eyes to all these things which they plan to do

away with, and be careful by their strength and drive not to increase them

instead of decreasing them, and not believe that by blowing at a thing, it can

be done away with, or rather to suffocate the plant by blowing on it. But the

force of the evil ought to be well considered, and when they see themselves

sufficient to oppose it, to attack it without regard (to consequences),

otherwise they should let it be, and in no way attempt it. For it will happen as

was discussed above, and as it did happen to the neighbors of Rome, to whom

after Rome had grown so much in power, it was more salutary to seek to placate

her and hold her back with methods of peace, than with methods of war to make

her think of new institutions and new defenses. For their conspiracy did nothing

other than to make them united, more stalwart, and to think of new ways by which

in a short time they expanded their power: Among which was the creation of a

Dictator, by which new institution they not only overcame the imminent dangers,

but was the cause of obviating infinite evils in which, without that remedy,

that Republic would have been involved.

CHAPTER XXXIV

THE DICTATORIAL AUTHORITY DID GOOD AND NOT HARM TO THE ROMAN REPUBLIC; AND THAT

THE AUTHORITY WHICH CITIZENS TAKE AWAY, NOT THOSE ARE GIVEN THEM BY FREE

SUFFRAGE, ARE PERNICIOUS TO CIVIL SOCIETY

Those Romans who introduced into that City the method of creating a Dictator

have been condemned by some writers, as something that was in time the cause of

tyranny in Rome; alleging that the first tyrant who existed in that City

commanded her under this title of Dictator, saying if it had not been for this,

Caesar could not under any public (title) have imposed his tyranny. Which thing

was not well examined by those who held this opinion and was believed beyond all

reason. For it was not the name or the rank of Dictator that placed Rome in

servitude, but it was the authority taken by the Citizens to perpetuate

themselves in the Empire (government): and if the title of Dictator did not

exist in Rome, they would have taken another; for it is power that easily

acquires a name, not a name power. And it is seen that the Dictatorship while it

was given according to public orders and not by individual authority, always did

good to the City. For it is the Magistrates who are made and the authority that

is given by irregular means that do injury to Republics, not those that come in

the regular way. As is seen ensued in Rome where in so much passage of time no

Dictator did anything that was not good for the Republic. For which there are

very evident reasons: First, because if a Citizen would want to (offend and )

take up authority in an irregular manner, it must happen that he have many

qualities which he can never have in an uncorrupted Republic, for he needs to be

very rich and to have many adherents and partisans, which he cannot have where

the laws are observed: and even if he should have them, such men are so

formidable that free suffrage would not support them. In addition to this, a

Dictator was made for a (limited) time and not in perpetuity, and only to remove

the cause for which he was created; and his authority extended only in being

able to decide by himself the ways of meeting that urgent peril, (and) to do

things without consultation, and to punish anyone without appeal; but he could

do nothing to diminish (the power) of the State, such as would have been the

taking away of authority from the Senate or the people, to destroy the ancient

institutions of the City and the making of new ones. So that taking together the

short time of the Dictatorship and the limited authority that he had, and the

Roman People uncorrupted, it was impossible that he should exceed his limits and

harm the City: but from experience it is seen that it (City) always benefited by

him.

And truly, among the other Roman institutions, this is one that merits to be

considered and counted among those which were the cause of the greatness of so

great an Empire: For without a similar institution, the Cities would have

avoided such extraordinary hazards only with difficulty; for the customary

orders of the Republic move to slowly ((no council or Magistrate being able by

himself to do anything, but in many cases having to act together)) that the

assembling together of opinions takes so much time; and remedies are most

dangerous when they have to apply to some situation which cannot await time. And

therefore Republics ought to have a similar method among their institutions. And

the Venetian Republic ((which among modern Republics is excellent)) has reserved

authority to a small group (few) of citizens so that in urgent necessities they

can decide on all matters without wider consultation. For when a similar method

is lacking in a Republic, either observing the institutions (strictly) will ruin

her, or in order not to ruin her, it will be necessary to break them. And in a

Republic, it should never happen that it be governed by extraordinary methods.

For although the extraordinary method would do well at that time, none the less

the example does evil, for if a usage is established of breaking institutions

for good objectives, then under that pretext they will be broken for evil ones.

So that no Republic will be perfect, unless it has provided for everything with

laws, and provided a remedy for every incident, and fixed the method of

governing it. And therefore concluding I say, that those Republics which in

urgent perils do not have resort either to a Dictatorship or a similar

authority, will always be ruined in grave incidents. And it is to be noted in

this new institution how the method of electing him was wisely provided by the

Romans. For the creation of a Dictator being of some discredit to the Consuls,

as the Chiefs of the City had to come to the same obedience as others, (and)

wanting that the authority for such election should remain in the consuls,

believing that if an incident should arise that Rome would have need of this

Regal power, by doing this voluntarily by themselves (Consuls), it would reflect

on them less. For the wounds and every other evil that men inflict on themselves

spontaneously and by choice, pain less in the long run than do those that are

inflicted by others. In later times, however, the Romans, in place of a

Dictator, used to give such authority to the Consul, in these words: Let the

Consuls see that the Republic suffers no detriment. But to return to our

subject, I conclude, that the neighbors of Rome seeking to oppress her, caused

her to institute methods not only enabling her to defend herself, but enabling

her with more strength, better counsels, and greater authority to attack them.

CHAPTER XXXV

THE REASON WHY THE CREATION OF THE DECEMVIRS IN ROME WAS HARMFUL TO THE LIBERTY

OF THAT REPUBLIC, NOTWITHSTANDING THAT IT WAS CREATED BY PUBLIC AND FREE

SUFFRAGE

The election of the Ten citizens (Decemvirs) created by the Roman people to make

the laws in Rome, who in time became Tyrants, and without any regard took away

her liberty, appears to be contrary to what was discussed above, that that

authority which is taken by violence, not that which is given by suffrage, harms

the Republics. Here, however, the methods of giving authority and the time for

which it is given, ought to be considered. For when free authority is given for

a long time ((calling a long time a year or more)) it is always dangerous and

will produce effects either good or bad, according as those upon whom it is

conferred are good or bad. And if the authority given to the Ten and that which

the Dictators have are considered, it will be seen beyond comparison that that

of the Ten is greater. For when a Dictator was created there remained the

Tribunes, Consuls, (and) the Senate, with all their authority, and the Dictator

could not take it away from them; and even if he should have been able to remove

anyone from the Consulship, or from the Senate, he could not suppress the

Senatorial order and make new laws. So that the Senate, the Consuls, and the

Tribunes, remaining with their authority, came to be as his guard to prevent him

form going off from the right road. But in the creation of the Ten all the

contrary occurred, for they annulled the Consuls and the Tribunes, and they were

given authority to make laws and do every other thing as the Roman People had.

So that, finding themselves alone, without Consuls, without Tribunes, without

the appeal to the People, and because of this not having anyone to observe them,

moved by the ambitions of Appius, they were able in the second year to become

insolent. And because of this, it ought to be noted that when (we said) an

authority given by free suffrage never harmed any Republic, it presupposed that

a People is never led to give it except with limited powers and for limited

times: but when either from having been deceived or for some other reason it

happens that they are induced to give it imprudently and in the way in which the

Roman people gave it to the Ten, it will always happen as it did to them

(Romans). This is easily proven, considering the reasons that kept the Dictators

good and that made the Ten bad: and considering also how those Republics which

have been kept well ordered have done in giving authority for a long (period of)

time, as the Spartans gave to their King, and how the Venetians give to their

Doges; for it will be seen in both these methods, guardians were appointed who

watched that the Kings (and the Doges) could not ill use that authority. Nor is

it of any benefit in this case that the people are not corrupted, for an

absolute authority in a very brief time corrupts the people, and makes friends

and partisans for itself. Nor is it harmful either to be poor or not to have

relatives, for riches and every other favor quickly will run after power, as we

will discuss in detail in the creation of the said Ten.

CHAPTER XXXVI

CITIZENS WHO HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE HIGHER HONORS OUGHT NOT TO DISDAIN THE LESSER

The Romans had made Marcus Fabius and C. Manlius Consuls, and had won a glorious

engagement against the Veienti and the Etruscans, in which, however, Quintus

Fabius brother of the Consul, who the previous year had himself been Consul, was

killed. Here, then, ought to be considered how much the institutions of that

City were adept at making her great, and how much the other Republics deceived

themselves in deviating (themselves) from her methods. For although the Romans

were great lovers of glory, none the less they did not esteem it a dishonorable

thing to obey presently those whom at another time they had commanded, and to

serve in that army of which they had been Princes. Which custom is contrary to

the opinion, orders, and practices of the Citizen of our times: and in Venice

this error still holds that a Citizen having had a high rank would be ashamed to

accept a lesser, and the City consents to them what she cannot change. Which

thing, however honorable it should be for a private (citizen) is entirely

useless for the public. For a Republic ought to have more hope, and more

confidence in a Citizen who descends from a high rank to govern a lesser, than

in one who rises from a lower rank to govern a higher one. For the latter cannot

reasonably be relied upon unless he is surrounded by men, who are of such

respectability or of such virtu, that his inexperience can be moderated by their

counsel and authority. And if in Rome there had been the same customs as are in

Venice, and other modern Republics and Kingdoms, where he who had at one time

been Consul should never want to enter the army except as Consul, there would

have arisen infinite things prejudicial to a free society, both because of the

errors that new men would make, and because of their ambition which they could

have indulged in more freely, not having men around them in whose presence they

should be afraid to err, and thus they would have come to be more unrestrained,

which would have resulted entirely to the detriment of the public.

CHAPTER XXXVII

WHAT TROUBLES THE AGRARIAN LAW BROUGHT FORTH IN ROME; AND HOW TROUBLESOME IT IS

TO MAKE A LAW IN A REPUBLIC WHICH GREATLY REGARDS THE PAST BUT CONTRARY TO THE

ANCIENT CUSTOMS OF THE CITY

It was the verdict of ancient writers that men afflict themselves in evil and

weary themselves in the good, and that the same effects result from both of

these passions. For whenever men are not obliged to fight from necessity, they

fight from ambition; which is so powerful in human breasts, that it never leaves

them no matter to what rank they rise. The reason is that nature has so created

men that they are able to desire everything but are not able to attain

everything: so that the desire being always greater than the acquisition, there

results discontent with the possession and little satisfaction to themselves

from it. From this arises the changes in their fortunes; for as men desire, some

to have more, some in fear of losing their acquisition, there ensues enmity and

war, from which results the ruin of that province and the elevation of another.

I have made this discussion because it was not enough for the Roman Plebs to

secure themselves from the Nobles through the creation of the Tribunes, to which

(desire) they were constrained by necessity, that they soon ((having obtained

that)) begun to fight from ambition and to want to divide with the Nobles their

honors and possessions, as things more esteemed by men. From this there arose

the plague that brought forth the contentions about the Agrarian law, and in the

end was the cause of the destruction of the Roman Republic. And because

well-ordered Republics have to keep the public (State) rich and its Citizens

poor, it was apparent that there was some defect in that law in the City of

Rome, which either was now drawn in the beginning in such a way that it required

to be redrawn every day, or that it was so long deferred in the making that it

became troublesome in regard to the past, or if it had been well ordered in the

beginning, it had become corrupted in its application. So that whatever way it

may have been, this law could never be spoken of in Rome without that City going

upside down (from turmoil). This law had two principal articles. Through the

first it provided that each Citizen could not possess more than so many jugeri

of land, through the other that the fields which were taken from the enemy

should be divided among the Roman people. This, therefore, came to make two

strong offenses against the Nobles, for those who possessed more land than the

law permitted ((of whom the Nobles were the greater part)) had to be deprived of

it, and by dividing the possessions of the enemy among the Plebs, it deprived

them (Nobles) that means of enriching themselves. Since this offense came to be

against the powerful men, and who thought that by going against it they were

defending the public, whenever ((as I have said)) this was brought up, that City

would go upside-down, and the Nobles with patience and industry temporized,

either by calling out the army, or by having that Tribune who proposed it

opposed by another Tribune, or sometimes by yielding in part, or even by sending

a Colony to that place that was to be distributed, as happened in the

countryside of Antium, about which a dispute spring up from this law; a Colony

drawn from Rome was sent to that place, to whom the said countryside was

assigned. Concerning which Titus Livius used a notable remark, saying that it

was difficult to find in Rome one who would give his name to go to the said

Colony; so much more ready were the Plebs to defend the things in Rome than to

possess them in Antium.

This mood concerning this law thus troubled them for a time, so that the Romans

begun to conduct their armies to the extreme parts of Italy, or outside of

Italy, after which time it appeared that things settled down. This resulted

because the fields that the enemies of Rome possessed being far removed from the

eyes of the Plebs, and in a place where it was not easy to cultivate them,

became less desirable; and also the Romans were less disposed to punish their

enemies in such a way, and even when they deprived them of some land from their

countryside, they distributed Colonies there. So that for these reasons this law

remained, as it were, dormant up to the time of the Gracchi, by whom it being

revived, wholly ruined the liberty of Rome; for it found the power of its

adversaries redoubled, and because of this (revival) so much hate developed

between the Plebs and the Senate, that it came to arms and bloodshed beyond

every civil limit and custom. So that the public Magistrates not being able to

remedy them, nor either faction having further confidence in them, recourse was

had to private remedies, and each of thy factions decided to appoint a chief

(for themselves) who would defend them. In these troubles and disorders the

Plebs came and turned to Marius with his reputations, so that they made him

Consul four times; and with few intervening intervals that his Consulship

continued so that he was able by himself to make himself Consul another three

times. Against which plague thy Nobility, not having any remedy, turned their

favor to Sulla, and having made him Head of their party, arrived at civil war,

and after much bloodshed and changes of fortune, the Nobility remained superior.

Later, in the time of Caesar and Pompey, these moods were revived, for Caesar

making himself Head of the party of Marius, and Pompey of that of Sulla; (and)

coming to arms Caesar remained superior, who became the first Tyrant in Rome, so

that City was never again free.

Such, therefore, was the beginning and the end of the Agrarian law. And although

elsewhere we showed that the enmity in Rome between the Senate and the Plebs

should maintain Rome free, because it gave rise to those laws which favored

liberty, and therefore the result of this Agrarian law may seem different from

such a conclusion, I say that I do not on that account change my opinion, for so

great is the ambition of the Nobles, that if it is not beaten down in various

ways and means in a City, it will soon bring that City to ruin. So that if the

contentions about the Agrarian law took three hundred years in bringing Rome to

servitude, she would perhaps have been brought to servitude much sooner if the

Plebs with this law and their other desires had not always restrained the

ambitions of the Nobles. It is also to be seen from this how much more men

esteem property than honors, for the Roman Nobility, always yielded without

extraordinary trouble to the Plebs in the matter of honors, but when it came to

property, so great was its obstinacy in defending it, that the Plebs in order to

give vent to their appetites had recourse to those extraordinary proceedings

which were discussed above. The movers of these disorders were the Gracchi,

whose intentions should be praised more than their prudence. For to want to

remove an abuse that has grown up in a Republic, and enact a retrospective law

for this, is a badly considered proceeding, and ((as was discussed above at

length)) does nothing else than to accelerate that evil which leads to that

abuse; but by temporizing with it, either the evil comes much later, or by

itself in time ((before its end comes)) it will extinguish itself.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

WEAK REPUBLICS ARE IRRESOLUTE AND DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DECIDE; AND IF THEY TAKE UP

ANY PROCEEDING, IT RESULTS MORE FROM NECESSITY THAN FROM ELECTION

Because of a very great pestilence occurring in Rome, it appeared to the

Volscians and the Equeans that the time had come for them to be able to attack

Rome, these two people raised a large army and assaulted the Latins and the

Ernicians, and their country being laid waste, the Latins and Ernicians were

constrained to make it (to be) known to Rome, and pray that they might be

defended by the Romans, but the Romans being afflicted by the pestilence,

answered them that they should take up the proceeding of defending themselves

with arms, for they were not able to defend them. In which is recognized the

generosity and prudence of that Senate, that in every circumstance they always

wanted to be the one that should be Prince of (make) the decisions which her

subjects had to take; nor were they ever ashamed to decide something contrary to

their mode of living or to other decisions previously made by them, whenever

necessity should compel them. I say this, because at other times the same them,

whenever necessity should compel them. I say this, because at other times the

same Senate had forbidden the said people to arm and defend themselves, so that

to a less prudent Senate it would then have seemed to them a falling from their

dignity to concede to them this defense. But that (Senate) always judged things

as they ought to be judged, and always took the less objectionable proceeding as

the better; for they knew the evil of not being able to defend their subjects,

and they knew also the evil of letting them arm themselves without them (the

Romans), for the reasons given and many others that are understood: none the

less knowing that they (thy Latins and Ernicians) had in any case armed

themselves from necessity, having the enemy upon them, they took the honorable

course and decided to let them do what had to be done with their permission, so

that having once disobeyed from necessity, they might not accustom themselves to

disobeying from choice.

And although this would appear to be a proceeding that every Republic ought to

have taken, none the less weak and ill-advised Republics do not know how to

assume it, nor how to gain honor in a similar necessity. The Duke of Valentino

had taken Faenza and made Bologna submit to his terms. Afterwards wanting to

return to Rome by way of Tuscany, he sent one of his men to Florence to ask

passage for himself and his army. In Florence they consulted how this thing

should be managed, but everyone counselled that it not be conceded to them. The

Roman way was not followed in this, for the Duke being very well armed, and the

Florentines disarmed so that they could not prohibit the passage, it was much

more to their honor that it should appear that he (the Duke) passed with their

permission than by force; for as it was they had nothing but shame, which would

have in part been less if they had managed otherwise. But the worst part that

weak Republics have, is to be irresolute; so that all the proceedings they take

are taken by force, and if anything good should be done by them, they do it by

force and not by their prudence. I want to give two other examples of this which

occurred in our times in the State (Government) of our City in the year one

thousand five hundred (1500).

King Louis XII of France having retaken Milan, wanting to restore Pisa in order

to obtain the fifty thousand ducats that had been promised him by the

Florentines after such restitution, he sent his armies toward Pisa captained by

Monsignor De Beaumont, who, although French, was none the less a man in whom the

Florentines had great confidence. This Captain placed himself and his army

between Cascina and Pisa in order (to go) to assail the walls, where delaying

several days to organize themselves for the capture, Pisan Orators (Ambassadors)

came to Beaumont and offered to give up the City to the French army, with terms

that under the pledge of the King he promise not to put them into the hands of

the Florentines until four months after (the surrender). This proceeding was

completely refused by the Florentines, so that after beginning the siege, it

followed that (he had to raise it and) he had to retire in shame. Nor was the

proceeding refused for any other reason than the mistrust of the faith of the

King, into whose hands they had been forced to place themselves because of their

weak counsel; and on the other hand, while they did not trust him, neither were

they able to see that it would have been easier for the King to restore Pisa to

them after he had gone inside the City, and if he did not restore it to expose

his mind (perfidy); but not having (the City) he could promise it to them and

they would be forced to buy that promise: So that it would have been much more

useful to them to have consented that Beaumont should have taken it (Pisa) under

any promise, as was seen in the subsequent experience in the year MDII (1502)

when Arezzo having rebelled, Monsignor Imbault was sent by the King of France to

the succor of the Florentines with French forces, who, arriving near Arezzo,

soon began to negotiate an accord with the Arentines who were (willing) to give

up the town under certain pledges similar to those (asked) by the Pisans. This

proposal was rejected in Florence: when Monsignor Imbault learned of this, and

it appeared to him that the Florentines little understood him, he began to hold

negotiations for the treaty (of surrender) on his own without the participation

of the Commissioners so that he could conclude it in his own way; and under it,

he entered with his forces into Arezzo, making the Florentines understand that

they were fools and did not understand the things of the world: that if they

wanted Arezzo, they should let the King know, who was much better able to give

it to them with his forces inside that City rather than (with them) outside. In

Florence they did not cease abusing and censuring the said Imbault, nor did they

stop until they realized that if Beaumont had been like Imbault, they would have

had Pisa as (they had) Arezzo.

And so to return to the subject, irresolute Republics never take up good

proceedings except by force; for their weakness never allows them to decide

where there is any doubt, and if that doubt is not dispelled by some violence

which pushes the, they always remain in suspense.

CHAPTER XXXIX

THE SAME INCIDENTS OFTEN HAPPEN TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE

And it is easily recognized by those who consider present and ancient affairs

that the same desires and passions exist in all Cities and people, and that they

always existed. So that to whoever with diligence examines past events, it is an

easy thing to foresee the future in any Republic, and to apply those remedies

which had been used by the ancients, or, not finding any of those used, to think

of new ones from the similarity of events. But as these considerations are

neglected or not understood by those who govern, it follows that the same

troubles will exist in every time.

The City of Florence, having after the year XCIV (1494) lost part of her Empire,

such as Pisa and other lands, was obliged to make war against those who occupied

them: and because he who occupied them was powerful, there followed that they

spent much in the war without any fruit: from the great spending there resulted

great taxes, from the taxes infinite complaints from the people: and as this war

was managed by a Magistracy of Ten Citizens who were called the "Ten of the

War", the general public begun to hold them in aversion as those who were the

cause of the war, and its expenses, and began to persuade themselves that if the

said Magistracy were remoted, the path for war would be removed: so that if they

had to do it (reappoint the Ten) again, they would allow their (terms) to expire

without making changes and commit their functions to the Signoria. Which

decision was so pernicious that it not only did not end the war as the general

public had persuaded itself it would, but removed those who were managing it

with prudence, and there followed so great disorders that in addition to Pisa,

Arezzo, and many other places were lost: so that the people perceiving their

error, (and) that the cause of the malady was the fever and not the doctor,

re-established the Magistracy of the Ten.

This same mood had arisen in Rome against the (name of the) Consuls; for that

people, seeing one war arise from another, and not ever being able to have any

repose, where they should have believed it had arisen from the ambition of

neighbors who wanted to oppress them, they thought it had arisen form the

ambition of the Nobles, who, being unable to castigate the Plebs within Rome

where they were defended by the power of Tribunate, wanted to lead them outside

Rome (where they were) under the Consuls in order to oppress them, (and) where

they would not have any aid: And because of this, they thought that it was

necessary either to remove the Consuls or somehow to regulate their power, so

that they should not have authority over the People either at home or abroad.

The first who tried (to introduce) this law was one Terentillus, a Tribune, who

proposed that there ought to be created (a Council of) five men who should

examine the power of the Consuls and to limit it. This greatly excited the

Nobility, as it appeared to them the majesty of the Empire would decline

completely, so that no rank in that Republic would remain to the Nobility. None

the less, so great was the obstinacy of the Tribunes that the dignity of the

Consuls was extinguished: and after some other regulations they were finally

content rather to create Tribunes with Consular power than to continue the

Consuls, holding so much more in hatred their dignity than their authority. And

thus they continued for a long time, until they recognized their error and

returned to the Ten as the Florentines (did), (and) also re-established the

Consuls.

CHAPTER XL

THE CREATION OF THE DECEMVIRATE IN ROME, AND WHAT IS TO BE NOTED IN IT; AND

WHERE IT WILL BE CONSIDERED AMONG MANY OTHER THINGS HOW A REPUBLIC CAN BE SAVED

OR RUINED BECAUSE OF SIMILAR ACCIDENTS

As I want to discuss in detail the incidents that arose in Rome because of the

creation of the Decemvirate, it does not appear to me superfluous to narrate

first all that ensued because of such creations, and then to discuss those parts

which are notable (actions) in it, which are many and (worthy) of much

consideration, both by those who want to maintain a Republic free as well as by

those who should plan to subjugate her. For in such a discussion will be seen

the many errors made by the Senate and the Plebs prejudicial to liberty, and the

many errors made by Appius, Chief of the Decemvirate, prejudicial to that

Tyranny which he had intended to have established in Rome. After much discussion

between the People and the Nobility concerning the adoption of new laws in Rome

through which the liberty of that State should be firmly established, by

agreement they sent Spurius Posthumus with two other Citizens to Athens for

copies of those laws that Solon gave to that City, so as to be able to base the

(new) Roman laws upon them. These men having gone and returned, they arrived at

the appointing of the men who should examine and establish the said laws, and

they created the Decemvir (Ten Citizens) for a year, among whom Appius Claudius,

a sagacious but turbulent man, was appointed. And in order that they might

create such laws without any regard (to authority), they removed all the other

Magistracies from Rome, and particularly the Tribunes and the Consuls, and also

took away the appeal to the people: so that this new Magistracy (of the Ten)

became absolute Princes (Masters) of Rome. Next Appius took over to himself all

the authority of his other colleagues because of the favor he exercised toward

the Plebs; for he had made himself so popular with his demonstrations, that it

seemed a wonder that he should have so readily taken on a new nature and new

genius, having before that time been held to be a cruel persecutor of the Plebs.

These Ten conducted themselves civilly, not having more than ten Lictors who

walked before the one who had been placed in charge over them. And although they

had absolute authority, none the less, having to punish a Roman Citizen for

homicide, they cited him before (the sight of) the People and made them judge

him.

They (The Ten) wrote the laws on ten tablet, and before confirming them exposed

them to the public, so that all could read and discuss them, and so that they

might know if there was any defect in order to be able to amend them before

confirming them. Upon this Appius caused a rumor (to be spread) throughout Rome,

that, if to these ten tablets there were to be added two others, perfection

would be given to them, so that this opinion gave the People the opportunity to

reappoint the Ten for another year: to which the People willingly agreed, as

much so as not to reappoint the Consuls, as also because they hoped to remain

without Tribunes, who were the judges of their causes, as was said above.

Proceedings being taken, therefore, to re-establish it (The Ten), all the

Nobility moved to seek these honors, and among the first was Appius: and he

showed so much humanity toward the Plebs in asking for it, that he begun to be

suspected by his companions: For they could not believe so much graciousness

could exist with so much haughtiness. And being apprehensive of opposing him

openly, they decided to do it by artifice: and although he was the youngest of

them all, they gave him the authority to propose the future Ten to the People,

believing that he would observe the limitations of the others of not proposing

himself, it being an unaccustomed and ignominious thing in Rome. He in truth

changed the impediment into an opportunity, and nominated himself among the

first, to the astonishment and displeasure of all the Nobles. He then nominated

nine others to his liking. Which new appointments made for another year, begun

to show their error to the People and to the Nobility. For Appius quickly put an

end to his alien character, and begun to show his innate haughtiness, and in a

few days he filled his colleagues with his own spirits. And in order to frighten

the people and the Senate, in place of the twelve Lictors, they created one

hundred and twenty. For some days the fear was equal (on both sides), but then

they begun to disregard the Senate and beat the Plebs, and if any beaten by one

(Decemvir) appealed to another, he was treated worse in the appeal than he had

in the first instance. So that the Plebs recognizing their error began, full of

affliction, to look to the Nobles, And to capture the aura of liberty, where

they had feared servitude, to which condition they had brought the Republic. And

this affliction was welcome to the Nobility, That likewise weary of the present,

they desired the Consuls. The days that ended the year had come: the two tables

of the laws were made, but not published. From this, the Ten took the

opportunity to continue their Magistracy, and begun to retain the State through

violence and make satellites of the Noble youth, to whom they gave the

possessions of those they had condemned: By which gifts these youths were

corrupted, and preferred their license to their complete liberty.

It happened at this time that the Sabines and Volscians moved war against the

Romans, from the fear of which the Ten Began to discuss the weakness of their

State, for without the Senate they could not wage war, and to assemble the

Senate seemed to them they would lose their State. But being compelled to they

took up this last proceeding, and assembling the Senate, many of the Senators

spoke against the haughtiness of the Ten, and in particular Valerius and

Horatius: and their authority would have been entirely extinguished except that

the Senate, because of envy of the Plebs, was unwilling to show its authority,

thinking that if the Ten resigned the magistracy voluntarily, it would be

possible that the Tribune of the Plebs might be re-established. Deciding on war,

therefore, they sent out two armies, led in part by the said Ten. Appius

remained to govern the City: whereupon it happened that he became enamorated of

Virginia, and wanting to take her off by force, her father Virginius killed her

in order to save her from him: whence tumults ensued in Rome and in the armies,

which, having come together with the remnants of the Roman Plebs, went to Mount

Sacer, where they stayed until the Ten resigned the Magistracy and the Tribunes

and Consuls were re-established, and Rome restored to the form of its ancient

liberty.

It is to be noted from this text, therefore, that the evil of creating this

Tyranny first arose in Rome for the same reasons that give rise to the greater

part of Tyrannies in Cities: and this (results) from the too great desire of the

people to be free, and from the too great desire of the Nobles to dominate. And

if they do not agree to make a law in favor of liberty, but one of the parties

throws its (influence) in favor of one man, then a Tyranny quickly springs up.

The People and the Nobles of Rome agreed to create the Ten, and create them with

such authority, from the desire which each of the parties had, one to extinguish

to Consular office, the other (to extinguish that of) the Tribunate. The Ten

having been created, it seemed to the Plebs that Appius had come to (the side

of) the People and should beat down the Nobles, (and) the People turned to favor

him. And when a People is led to commit this error of giving reputation to one

man because he beats down those whom he hates, and if this man is wise, it will

always happen that he will become Tyrant of that City. For (together) with the

favor of the People he will attend to extinguishing the Nobility, and after they

are extinguished he will turn to the oppression of the People until they are

also extinguished; and by the time the People recognize they have become

enslaved, they will not have any place to seek refuge. This is the path all

those have taken who established Tyrannies in Republics: and if Appius had taken

this path, his tyranny would have taken on more vitality and would not have been

overthrown so readily. But he did everything to the contrary, nor could he have

governed more imprudently, that in order to hold the tyranny he made enemies of

those who had given it to him and who could maintain it for him, and made

friends of those who were not in accord to give it to him and could not maintain

it for him; and he lost those who were his friends, and sought to have as

friends those who could not be his friends; for although the Nobles desired to

tyrannize, yet that part of the Nobility which finds itself outside of the

Tyrancy is always hostile to the Tyrant; nor can he ever win them all over to

him because of the great ambition and avarice that exists in them, the Tyrant

not having riches and honors enough to be able to satisfy them all. And thus

Appius in leaving the People and attaching himself to the Nobles, made a most

obvious error, both for the reasons mentioned above, and because, in wanting to

hold a thing (government) by force, the one who does the forcing needs to be

more powerful than he who is forced. Whence it arises that those Tyrants who

have the general public as friends and the Nobles as enemies, are more secure,

because their violence is sustained by a greater force than that of those men

who have the People as an enemy and the Nobility as a friend. For with that

favor (of the people) the internal forces are enough to sustain him, as they

were enough for Nabis, Tyrant of Sparta, when Greece and the Roman People

assaulted him; who, making sure of a few Nobles, and having the People as a

friend, he defended himself with them; which he could not do if he had them as

an enemy. But the internal forces of the other rank not being enough because

there are few friends within it, he must seek (aid) outside. And this may be of

three kinds; the one, foreigners as satellites who would guard your person;

another, to arm the countryside (and) have them perform the duty that the Plebs

should do; the third, to ally oneself with powerful neighbors who would defend

you. Whoever has these means and observes them well, although he has the People

as his enemy, is able in some way to save himself. But Appius could not

accomplish this winning of the countryside over to himself, the countryside and

Rome being one and the same thing, and he did not know how to do what he might

have done; so that he was ruined at the outset. The Senate and the People made

very great errors in this creation of the Decemvirs; for although in that

discussion made above of the Dictator, that those Magistrates that are

self-constituted, not those whom the People create, are harmful to liberty; none

the less the People ought, when they create the Magistrates, do it in such a way

that they should have some regard to becoming bad (abusing their power). But

where they should have proposed safeguards for maintaining them good, the Romans

removed them, (and) only created the Magistracy (of Ten) in Rome and annulled

all the others because of the excessive desire ((as we said above)) that the

Senate had to extinguish the Tribunes, and the Plebs to extinguish the Consuls;

this blinded them so that they both contributed to such disorders. For men, as

King Ferrando said, often act like certain smaller birds of prey, in whom there

is so much desire to pursue their prey to which nature incites them, that they

do not observe another larger bird which is above them about to kill them.

It is to be recognized through this discussion, therefore, as we proposed in the

beginning, the error which the Roman people made in wanting to save their

liberty, and the errors of Appius in wanting to seize the Tyrancy.

CHAPTER XLI

TO JUMP FROM HUMILITY TO PRIDE AND FROM MERCY TO CRUELTY WITHOUT PROFITABLE

MEANS, IS AN IMPRUDENT AND USELESS THING

In addition to other means ill-used by Appius in order to maintain his tyranny,

that of jumping from one quality to another was of no little moment. For his

astuteness in deceiving the Plebs by simulating to be a man of the People was

well used: those means were also well used in which he caused the Ten to be

reappointed: that audacity in nominating himself against the expectation of the

Nobility was also well used: the naming of colleagues suitable to him was also

well used: but in doing this ((according as was said above)) what he did was not

well used in changing his nature so quickly, and from being a friend showing

himself to be the enemy of the Plebs, from being humane to being haughty, from

easy (of access) to difficult; and to do this so very readily, that without any

excuse everyone should know the falseness of his spirit. For whoever at one time

has appeared to be good and wants for purposes of his own to become bad, ought

to do it by proper means (gradually), and in a way that they should be conducive

to the opportunities, so that before his changed nature takes away old favors

from him, it may give him some new ones that his authority may not be

diminished; otherwise, finding himself discovered and without friends, he will

be ruined.

CHAPTER XLII

HOW EASILY MAN MAY BE CORRUPTED

It should be noted also in the matter of the Decemvirate how easily men are

corrupted and make themselves become of a contrary nature, even though (they

are) good and well educated; (and), considering how those youths whom Appius had

chosen to surround him begun, for the little advantages that followed from it,

to be friendly to that tyranny, and that Quintus Fabius, one of the number of

the second Ten, being a very good man, (but) blinded by a little ambition and

persuaded by the malignity of Appius, changed his good habits into the worst,

and became like, him. Which, if well examined, the Legislators of Republics or

Kingdoms will more promptly restrain human appetites and take away from them the

hope of being able to err with impunity.

CHAPTER XLIII

THOSE WHO COMBAT FOR THEIR OWN GLORY ARE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SOLDIERS

From the above written treatise it also is to be considered what a difference

there is between a contented army which combats for its own glory, and that

which is ill disposed and which combats for the ambitions of others. For where

the Roman armies were usually victorious under the Consuls, they always lost

under the Decemvirs. From this example there can be recognized part of the

reasons of the uselessness of mercenary soldiers, who have no other reason which

keeps them firm but a small stipend which you give to them. Which reason is not,

and can never be, enough to make them faithful, nor so much your friends that

they be willing to die for you. For in those armies where there is not that

affection toward the man for whom they combat which makes them become his

partisans, there can never be so much virtu which would be enough to resist even

an enemy of little virtu. And because this love cannot arise in any contest

except from his own subjects, it is necessary in wanting to keep a State, or to

want to maintain a Republic or a Kingdom, that he arm himself with his own

subjects, as is seen to have been done by all those others who, with their

armies, have made great advances. The Roman armies under the Ten had the same

virtu as before: but because there was not in them the same disposition, they

did not achieve their usual results. But as soon as the Magistracy of the Ten

was extinguished and they begun to fight as free men, that same spirit returned

in them, and consequently their enterprises had their happy endings according to

their ancient custom.

CHAPTER XLIV

A MULTITUDE WITHOUT A HEAD IS USELESS, AND ONE OUGHT NOT TO THREATEN FIRST, AND

THEN SEEK AUTHORITY

Because of the incident of Virginia the Roman Pleb was led armed to the sacred

mountain (Mons Sacer). The Senate sent its Ambassadors to ask by what authority

they had abandoned their Captains and retired to the Mountains. And so much was

the authority of the Senate esteemed that, the Plebs not having their chiefs

among them, no one dared to reply. And T. Livius says that they did not lack

material to reply, but they did lack someone who should make the reply. Which

thing demonstrates in point the uselessness of a multitude without a head. This

disorder was recognized by Virginius, and by his order twenty military Tribunes

were created who would be their chiefs to reply to and convene with the Senate.

And having requested that (the Senators) Valerius and Horatius should be sent to

them, to whom they would tell their wants, they (the Senators) would not turn to

go unless the Ten first had resigned their Magistracy: and having arrived on the

mountain where the Pleb was, these things were demanded of them, that they

wanted the re-establishment of the Tribunes of the Plebs, (and) that an appeal

to the people from every Magistracy should be allowed, and that all of the Ten

should be given up to them as they wanted to burn them alive. Valerius and

Horatius lauded the first of their demands: they censured the last as impious,

saying; You condone cruelty, yet fall yourselves into cruelty, and counselled

them to leave off making mention of the Ten, and to attend to taking from them

their authority and power, and that afterwards there would not be lacking the

means of satisfying them (their vengeance). From which it is recognized openly

how foolish and little prudent it is to ask for a thing, and to say at first, I

want to do evil with it: for one ought not to show his mind, but to want in

every way to seek to obtain that which he desires. For it is enough to ask from

one his arms, without saying I want to kill you with them; for when you have the

arms in your hands then you will be able to satisfy your appetite.

CHAPTER XLV

IT IS A BAD EXAMPLE NOT TO OBSERVE A LAW THAT HAS BEEN MADE, AND ESPECIALLY BY

THE AUTHOR OF IT; AND IT IS MOST HARMFUL TO RENEW EVERY DAY NEW INJURIES IN A

CITY AND TO THE ONE WHO GOVERNS IT

The accord having taken place and Rome restored to its ancient form, Virginius

cited Appius before the People to defend his cause. He complied accompanied by

many Nobles. Virginius commanded that he be put in prison. Appius begun to shout

and appeal to the People. Virginius said that he was not worthy of having that

(right of) appeal which he had destroyed, nor to have as defender that People

whom he had offended. Appius replied that they (the People) had no (right) to

violate that appeal which they had established with so much desire. He was

incarcerated, however, and before the day of judgment (came) he killed himself.

And although the wicked life of Appius should merit every punishment, none the

less it was little consistent to violate the laws, and more so one recently

made. For I do not believe there is a worse example in a Republic than to make a

law and not to observe it, and much more when it is not observed by those who

made it.

Florence, after ninety four (1494), having had its State (Government)

reorganized with the aid of Brother Girolamo Savonarola ((whose writings show

the doctrine, prudence, and the virtu of his spirit)) and among other provisions

for the security of the Citizens having had a law enacted which enabled an

appeal to the People from the verdicts which the (Council of) Eight and the

Signoria should give in cases affecting the State ((which passage took more time

and was attained with the greatest difficulty)); it happened that a little after

the confirmation of this (law), five Citizens were condemned to death by the

Signoria on account of (acts against) the State, and when they wanted to appeal,

they were not permitted to do so and the law was not observed. Which took away

from the Brother more reputation than any other incident; for if that (right of)

appeal was useful, he should have had it observed: if it was not useful, he

ought not to have had it passed. And so much more was this incident noted,

inasmuch as the Brother, in so many preachings that he made after that law was

broken, never condemned those who broke it, or excused them, as one who did not

want to condemn a thing that suited his purpose, yet was not able to excuse it.

This, having uncovered his ambitions and partisan spirit, took away his

reputation and caused him many troubles.

A State also offends greatly when every day it renews in the minds of its

Citizens new moods because of new injuries which it inflicts on this one and

that one, as happened in Rome after the Decemvirate. For all of the Ten and

other Citizens were accused and condemned at different times, so that a great

fright existed in the Nobility, judging that there would never be an end to such

condemnations until all the Nobility was destroyed. And great evils would have

been generated in that City, if it had not been foreseen by the Tribune Marcus

Duellius, who issued an edict that for one year it would not be licit to cite

anyone or to accuse any Roman Citizen; this reassured all the Nobility. Here it

is seen how harmful it is to a Republic or to a Prince to keep the minds of

their subjects in a state of fear by continuing penalties and suspended

offenses. And without doubt no more pernicious order can be held; for men who

begin to be apprehensive of having done a capital evil, will secure themselves

from perils in every way, and become more audacious and have less regard in

attempting new things. It is necessary, therefore, either never to offend any

one or to make the offense at a stroke, and afterwards to reassure men and give

them cause to quiet and firm the spirit.

CHAPTER XLVI

MEN JUMP FROM ONE AMBITION TO ANOTHER, AND FIRST THEY SEEK NOT TO BE OFFENDED,

THEN TO OFFEND OTHERS

The Roman People having recovered their liberty, (and) having returned to their

original rank, and having obtained even greater reputation from the many new

laws made in corroboration of their power, it appeared reasonable that Rome

would for some time become quiet. None the less from experience the contrary was

seen, for every day new tumults and new disorders sprung up. And as Titus Livius

most prudently renders the cause whence this arose, it does not appear to me

outside my purpose to refer in point to his words, where he says that the People

or the Nobility always increased their haughtiness when the other was

humiliated; and the Plebs remaining quiet within bounds, the young Nobles began

to offend them; and the Tribunes were able to make few remedies, because they

too were violated. The Nobility, on the other hand, although it seemed to them

that their young men were too ferocious, none the less took care to see that if

(the law) should be transgressed, it should be transgressed by their own and not

by the Plebs. And thus the desire of defending liberty caused each to prevail

(raise itself) in proportion as they oppressed the other. And the course of such

incidents is, that while men sought not to fear, they begun to make others fear,

and that injury which they ward off from themselves, they inflict on another, as

if it should be necessary either to offend or to be offended. From this may be

seen one way among others in which Republics ruin themselves, and in what way

men jump from one ambition to another, and how very true is that sentence which

Sallust placed in the mouth of Caesar, That all evil examples have their origin

in good beginnings. Those ambitious Citizens ((as was said before)) who live in

a Republic seek in the first instance not to be able to be harmed, not only by

private (citizens), but even by the Magistrates: in order to do this, they seek

friendships, and to acquire them either by apparently honest means, or by

supplying them money or defending them from the powerful: and as this seems

virtuous, everyone is easily deceived and no one takes any remedy against this,

until he, persevering without hindrance, becomes of a kind whom the Citizen

fear, and the Magistrates treat with consideration. And when he has risen to

that rank, and his greatness not having been obviated at the beginning, it

finally comes to be most dangerous in attempting to pit oneself against him, for

the reasons which I mentioned above concerning the dangers involved in abating

an evil which has already grown much in a City; so that the matter in the end is

reduced to this, that you need either to seek to extinguish it with the hazard

of sudden ruin, or by allowing it to go on, enter into manifest servitude,

unless death or some accident frees you from him. For when the Citizens and the

Magistrates come to the above mentioned limits and become afraid to offend him

and his friends, it will not take much effort afterwards to make them judge and

offend according to his will. Whence a Republic, among its institutions, ought

to have these, to see that its Citizens under an aura of good are not able to do

evil, and that they should acquire that reputation which does good and not harm

to liberty, as will be discussed by us in its proper place.

CHAPTER XLVII

MEN, ALTHOUGH THEY DECEIVE THEMSELVES IN GENERAL MATTERS DO NOT DECEIVE

THEMSELVES IN THE PARTICULARS

The Roman People ((as was said above)) having become annoyed with the Consular

name, and wanting to be able either to choose as Consuls men of the Plebs, or to

limit their authority, the Nobility in order not to discredit the Consular

authority by either change, took the middle course, and were content that four

Tribunes with Consular power be created, who could come from the Plebs as well

as from the Nobles. The Plebs were content with this, as it seemed to them to

destroy the Consulship and give them a part in the highest ranks. From this a

notable case arose, that when it came to the creation of these Tribunes, and

they could have selected all Plebs, the Roman people chose all Nobles. Whence

Titus Livius says these words: The results of this election show how different

minds are when in contention for liberty and for honors, differing according to

certain standards when they (have to) make impartial judgments. And in examining

whence this can happen, I believe it proceeds from men deceiving themselves in

general matters, (and) not so much in particular matters. As a general thing, it

appeared to the Roman Pleb that it merited the Consulship because they were the

majority in the City, because they bore more of the danger in war, (and) because

they were the ones who with their arms maintained Rome free and made it

powerful: and this desire seeming to them to be reasonable ((as has been said)),

they turned to obtain this authority by whatever means. But when they had to

make a judgment of their particular men, recognized their weaknesses, and judged

that none of them should merit that which all together it seemed to them they

merited. So that ashamed of them (their own), they had recourse to those who

merited it. Of which decision Titus Livius, deservingly admiring it, said these

words: Where is there now this modesty and equity, and this loftiness of spirit,

which once pervaded all the people?

In corroboration of this there can be cited another notable example which ensued

in Capua after Hannibal had defeated the Romans at Cannae: while all Italy was

aroused by this defeat, Capua was still in a state of tumult because of the

hatred that existed between the People and the Senate: and Pacovius Calanus

finding himself at that time in the supreme Magistracy, and recognizing the

peril to which that City was exposed because of the tumults, endeavored through

his rank to reconcile the Plebs with the Nobility: and having come to this

decision, he had the Senate assemble, and narrated to them the hatred which the

People had against them, and the dangers to which they were exposed of being

killed by them, if the City was given up to Hannibal, as the power of the Romans

was afflicted: afterwards he added that if they wanted to leave the managing of

this matter to him, he would do so in a way that they would be united together;

but, as he wanted to do so, he would lock them inside the palace, and by

seemingly giving the people the power to castigate them he would save them. The

Senate yielded to this thought, and he called the people to talk to them; and

having shut up the Senate in the palace, (and) said to them that the time had

come to be able to subdue the haughtiness of the Nobility and avenge themselves

for the injuries received from them (the Senate), having them all shut up under

his custody: but because he believed they would not want their City to remain

without a government, it would be necessary ((if they wanted to kill the old

Senators)) to create new ones. And, therefore, he had put all the names of the

Senators into a bourse and would begin to draw them in their presence, and that

one after another of those drawn would die after they should find his successor.

And beginning to draw one, at his name, there was raised a very great noise,

calling him haughty, cruel and arrogant: but when Pacovius requested that they

make the exchange, the haranguing completely stopped: and after some time one of

the Plebs was nominated, at whose name some begun to whistle, some to laugh,

some to speak ill in one way and some in another: and thus there followed one

after the other, that all those who were named were judged by them unworthy of

the Senatorial rank: so that Pacovius taking this occasion said: Since you judge

that this City would be badly off without a Senate, and you cannot agree to make

the exchange of Senators, I think it would be well if you reconciled together,

because the fear in which the Senators have been has so humbled them that you

will now find in them that humanity which you seek for elsewhere. And they

agreeing to this, there ensued the union of these orders, and they discovered,

when they were constrained to come to the particulars, the deception.

After one thousand four hundred fourteen (1414) when the Princes of the City had

been driven from Florence, and no other government having been instituted, but

rather a certain ambitious license, and public affairs going from bad to worse,

many of the populari seeing the ruin of the City and not understanding the

cause, they blamed the ambitions of some powerful one who would feed the

disorders in order to be able to make a State to his own liking and take away

their liberty: and there were those who went through the loggias and the plazas

speaking ill of many Citizens, and threatening them that if they should ever

find themselves (members) of the Signoria, they would uncover this deceit of

theirs and would castigate them. It often happened that ones like these did

ascend to the supreme Magistracy, and when they had risen to that position and

saw things more closely, they recognized whence disorders arose, and the dangers

that hung over them, and the difficulty of remedying them. And seeing that the

times and not the men were causing the disorders, they quickly were of another

mind and acted otherwise, because the knowledge of things in particular had

taken away that deception which, in the general consideration, they had

presupposed. So that those who at first ((when he was a private citizen)) heard

him speak, and afterwards saw them remain quiet in the supreme Magistracy,

believed that this resulted not by the more real knowledge of things, but from

their having been perverted and corrupted by the Nobles. And as this happened to

many men and many times, there arose among them a proverb, which said: These men

have one mind in the plaza and another in the palace. Considering, therefore,

all that has been discussed, it is seen that the quickest possible way to open

the eyes of the People, is by finding a way ((seeing that a generality deceives

them)) in which they should have to descend to particulars, as did Pacovius in

Capua and the Senate in Rome. I believe also that it can be concluded that no

prudent man ought ever to disregard popular judgment in particular matters,

(such as) the distribution of dignities and honors, for in this only the People

do not deceive themselves, and if they do some times, it will be rare when they

deceive themselves more often than do the few men who have to make such

distributions. Nor does it seem to me to be superfluous to show in the following

chapter the order which the Senate held in order to deceive the People in its

distributions.

CHAPTER XLVIII

WHOEVER WANTS A MAGISTRACY NOT TO BE GIVEN TO A VILE OR WICKED ONE, WILL HAVE IT

ASKED BY A MAN MORE VILE AND MORE WICKED, OR BY ONE MORE NOBLE AND MORE GOOD

When the (Roman) Senate became apprehensive that the Tribunes with Consular

power should be created from plebeian men, they took one of two courses: either

they caused the more reputable men of Rome to be designated, or by suitable

means they (surely) corrupted some sordid and most ignoble Plebeians, who mixed

with the plebeians of better quality who usually asked for these offices, so

that even they should ask for them. This latter course caused the Plebs to be

ashamed of themselves to give it to the latter, and the first (course) made them

ashamed to take it away from the former. All of which confirms the proposition

of the preceding discussion, where it is shown that the people deceive

themselves in general matters, but they do not deceive themselves in particular

matters.

CHAPTER XLIX

IF THOSE CITIES WHICH HAD THEIR BEGINNING FREE AS ROME, HAVE HAD DIFFICULTY IN

FINDING LAWS THAT WOULD MAINTAIN THEM, THOSE THAT HAD THEIR BEGINNING IN

SERVITUDE HAVE ALMOST AN IMPOSSIBILITY

How difficult it is in establishing a Republic to provide all those laws that

should maintain her free, is very well shown by the progress of the Roman

Republic, which notwithstanding that it was established with many laws, first by

Romulus, and afterwards by Numa, by Tullus Hostilius, and by Servius, and lastly

by the Ten Citizens created for such a purpose, none the less in managing that

City new needs were always discovered and it was necessary to create new

ordinances; as happened when they created the Censors, who were one of those

provisions that aided in keeping Rome free during the time she existed in

liberty. For having become arbiters of the customs of Rome, they were the most

potent cause why the Romans had retarded the further corruption of themselves.

In the creation of this Magistracy they indeed made one error at the start,

creating them for five years: but a short time later it was corrected by the

prudence of the Dictator Mamercus, who, through new laws, reduced the said

Magistracy to eighteen months: which the Censors who were then (aging) in office

took so badly, that they deprived Mamercus from (treating with) the Senate:

which thing was greatly censured both by the Plebs and the Fathers: and as

history does not show whether Mamercus was able to defend himself against this,

it must be assumed either that history is defective, or that the institutions of

Rome in this part were good; for it is not well that a Republic should be so

constituted that a Citizen in order to promulgate a law conforming to a free

society could be oppressed without any remedy.

But returning to the beginning of this discussion I say, that for creating such

a new Magistracy it ought to be considered that, if those Cities which had their

beginnings in liberty but become corrupt by themselves, like Rome, have great

difficulty in finding good laws for maintaining themselves free, it is not to be

wondered at if those which had their beginnings in servitude find it, not

difficult, but impossible ever to organize themselves so that they are able to

live securely and quietly; this, as is seen, happened to the City of Florence

which, for having had its beginnings subject to the Roman Empire, and having

always existed under the government of others, remained subject for a long time

and without any thought to (freeing) itself: afterward when the opportunity

arrived for her to breathe free, she began to make her institutions, which being

mixed with ancient ones that were bad, could not be good: and thus she had gone

on managing herself for two hundred years of which there exists a true record,

without ever having a State (Government) by which she could truly be called a

Republic. And these difficulties which existed in her, have always existed in

those Cities that have had beginnings similar to hers. And although many times

ample authority was given by public and free suffrage to a few Citizens to be

able to reform her, yet they have never organized her for the common good, but

always in favor of their own party: which made not for order, but for major

disorders in that City. And to come to some particular example I say, that among

other things that have to be considered by an establisher of a Republic is to

examine into whose hands he places the authority of blood (death) over its own

Citizens. This was well constituted in Rome, for there one could ordinarily

appeal to the People; and even if an important event should occur where the

deferring of an execution through the medium of an appeal should be dangerous,

they had recourse to the Dictator, who executed it immediately: to which refuge

they never had recourse except in necessity. But Florence and other Cities born

as she was ((in servitude)) had this authority placed in a foreigner, who, sent

by a Prince performed such an office. When they afterwards came into liberty,

they kept this authority in a foreigner, whom they called Captain. Which

((because he was able easily to be corrupted by powerful Citizens)) was a

pernicious thing. But afterwards changing itself through the changes of

governments which they organized, they created the Eight Citizens who should

perform the office of that Captain. Which arrangement from bad became worse, for

the reasons mentioned at other times, that the few were always ministers of the

few and more powerful (citizens).

The City of Venice is guarded from that (abuse), which has (a Council) of Ten

Citizens who are able to punish any Citizen without appeal. And as this was not

enough to punish the powerful even though they had the authority, they

established (the Council) of Forty: And in addition the Council of the Pregadi

((which is the highest council)) had the power to castigate them. So that

lacking an accuser, there was not lacking a judge to keep powerful men in check.

It is no wonder, therefore, seeing that in Rome (laws) were made by herself with

many prudent men, new causes sprung up every day for which she had to make new

laws to maintain her free existence, which, if, in other Cities which had

disordered beginnings, such difficulties sprung up, they could never reorganize

themselves.

CHAPTER L

A COUNCIL OR MAGISTRATE OUGHT NOT TO BE ABLE TO STOP THE ACTIVITIES OF A CITY

When T. Quintus Cincinnatus and Gnaius Julius Mentus were Consuls in Rome, being

disunited, they stopped all the activities of that Republic. When the Senate saw

this, they advised the creation of a Dictator, in order that he do that which,

because of their (Consuls) discords, they could not do. But the Consuls

disagreeing on every other thing, were in accord only on this: not to want to

create a Dictator. So that the Senate not having any other remedy had recourse

to the aid of the Tribunes, who, with the authority of the Senate, forced the

Consuls to obey. Here first is to be noted the usefulness of the Tribunes, who

were not only useful in restraining the ambitions which the powerful had against

the Plebs, but also that which they employed among themselves. The other, that

there ought never to be established in a City the ability of a few to interrupt

any of its decisions which are ordinarily necessary in maintaining the Republic.

For instance, if you give authority to a Council to make a distribution of

honors and offices, or to a Magistracy the administration of a business, it is

proper either to impose on them the necessity that they must do it in any case,

or to arrange that if they did not want to do it themselves, that another can

and ought to do it: otherwise this constitution would be defective and

dangerous, as was seen it was in Rome, if the authority of the Tribunes could

not have been opposed to the obstinacy of those Consuls.

In the Venetian Republic, the grand Council distributes the honors and offices.

It sometimes happened that the general public, either from contempt or from some

false suggestions, did not create the successors to the Magistrates of the City

and to those who administered their outside Empire. This resulted in a very

great disorder, because suddenly both the subject lands and the City itself

lacked their legitimate judges, nor could they obtain anything if the majority

of that council were not satisfied or deceived. And this inconvenience would

have brought that City to a bad end if it had not been foreseen by the prudent

Citizens, who taking a convenient opportunity made a law that all the

Magistrates who are or should be inside or outside the City should never vacate

their offices until exchanges with their successors were made. And thus was

removed from that council the evil of being able with peril to the Republic to

stop public activities.

CHAPTER LI

A REPUBLIC OR A PRINCE OUGHT TO FEIGN TO DO THROUGH LIBERALITY, THAT WHICH

NECESSITY CONSTRAINS THEM

Prudent men always make the best of things in their actions, although necessity

should constrain them to do them in any case. This prudence was well employed by

the Roman Senate when they decided that a public stipend be given to the

fighting men, it having been the military custom of they maintaining their own

selves. But the Senate seeing that war could not be made for any length of time

in this manner, and, because of this, they could neither besiege towns nor lead

armies to a distance, and judging it to be necessary to be able to do the one

and the other, decided that the said stipends be given: but they did it in such

a way that they made the best of that which necessity constrained them to do;

and this present was so accepted by the Plebs, that Rome went upside down with

joy; for it seemed to them to be a great benefit which they never hoped to have,

and which they would never have sought by themselves. And although the Tribunes

endeavored to cancel this decree, showing that it was something that aggravated

and not lightened the burden ((it being necessary to impose tributes to pay this

stipend)), none the less they could not do much to keep the Plebs from accepting

it: which was further increased by the Senate by the method by which they

assigned the tributes, for those that were imposed on the Nobles were more

serious and larger, and the first (required) to be paid.

CHAPTER LII

TO REPRIMAND THE INSOLENCE OF A POWERFUL ONE WHO SPRINGS UP IN A REPUBLIC, THERE

IS NO MORE SECURE AND LESS TROUBLESOME WAY THAN TO FORESTALL HIM THOSE WAYS BY

WHICH HE COMES TO POWER

It will be seen from the above written discourse, how much credit the Nobility

had acquired with the Plebs because of the demonstrations made to their benefit,

both by the stipends ordered, as well also as the method of imposing the

tributes. If the Nobility had maintained themselves in this order they would

have removed every cause for tumult in that City, and this would have taken away

from the Tribunes that credit which they had with the Plebs, and consequently

their authority. And, truly, there cannot exist in a Republic, and especially in

those that are corrupt, a better method, less troublesome and more easily

opposed to the ambitions of any Citizen, than to forestall him those ways by

which he observes to be the paths to attain the rank he designates. Which

method, if it had been employed against Cosimo De'Medici, would have been a much

better procedure for his adversaries than to have driven him out of Florence:

for if those Citizens who were competing against him had taken his style of

favoring the People, they would have succeeded without tumult and without

violence in drawing from his hands the arms which he availed himself of most.

Piero Soderini had made a reputation for himself in the City of Florence alone

by favoring the General Public; this among the People gave him the reputation as

a lover of liberty in the City. And certainly it would have been an easier and

more honest thing for those Citizens who envied him for his greatness, (and)

less dangerous and less harmful to the Republic, for them to have forestalled

him in the ways by which he made himself great, than to want to oppose him in

such a way that with his ruin, all the rest of the Republic should be ruined;

for if they had taken away from his hands those arms which made him strong

((which they could have done easily)) they could have opposed him in all the

councils and all the public deliberations boldly and without suspicion. And if

anyone should reply that if those Citizens who hated Piero made an error in not

forestalling him the ways with which he gained reputation for himself among the

People, Piero also made an error in not forestalling him those ways by which his

adversaries made him be feared: for which Piero merits to be excused, as much

because it was difficult for him to have done so, as also because it was not

honest for him: For the means with which he was attacked were to favor the

Medici, with which favors they beat him and, in the end, ruined him. Piero,

therefore, could not honestly take up this part in order that he could destroy

that liberty by his good name, to which he had been put in charge to guard:

Moreover, these favors not being able to be done suddenly and secretly, would

have been most dangerous for Piero; for whenever he should be discovered to be a

friend of the Medici, he would have become suspect and hated by the People:

whence there arose more opportunities to his enemies to attack him than they had

before.

In every proceeding, therefore, men ought to consider the defects and perils

which it (presents), and not to undertake it if it should be more dangerous than

useful, notwithstanding the result should conform to their decision: for to do

otherwise in this case it would happen to them as it happened to Tullius

(Cicero), who, wanting to take away the favors from Marcantonio, increased them

for him: for Marcantonio having been judged an enemy of the Senate, and having

gathered together that great army in good part from the soldiers who had been

followers of Caesar's party, Tullius, in order to deprive him of those soldiers

advised the Senate to give authority to Octavian and send him with the army and

the Consuls against him (Antony) and join the latter (Octavian), and thus

Marcantonio remaining bereft of favor, would easily be destroyed. Which (thing)

turned out to the contrary, for Marcantonio won over Octavian to himself, who,

leaving Tullius and the Senate, joined him. Which (thing) brought about the

complete destruction of the party of the Aristocracy (Patricians). Which was

easy to foresee, and that which Tullius advised should not have been believed,

but should have kept account always that name which, with so much glory, had

destroyed his enemies and acquired for him the Principality of Rome, and they

ought never to have believed they could expect anything from his supporters

favorable to liberty.

CHAPTER LIII

THE PEOPLE MANY TIMES DESIRE THEIR RUIN, DECEIVED BY A FALSE SPECIES OF GOOD:

AND HOW GREAT HOPES AND STRONG PROMISES EASILY MOVE THEM

After conquering the City of the Veienti, there entered into the Roman People

the idea that it would be a useful thing for the City of Rome if one half of the

Romans should go and live at Veii, arguing that because that City was rich in

countryside, full of buildings, and near to Rome, it could enrich the half of

the Roman Citizens and not disturb any civil activities because of the nearness

of the location. Which thing appeared to the Senate and the wiser Romans so

useless and so harmful, that they said freely they would rather suffer death

than consent to such a decision. So that this subject coming up for debate, the

Plebs were so excited against the Senate that it would have come to arms and

bloodshed if the Senate had not made itself a shield of some old and esteemed

Citizens, reverence for whom restrained the Plebs so that they did not proceed

any further with their insolence. Here, two things are to be noted. The first,

that many times, deceived by a false illusion of good, the People desire their

own ruin, and unless they are made aware of what is bad and what is good by

someone in whom they have faith, the Republic is subjected to infinite dangers

and damage. And if chance causes People not to have faith in anyone ((as occurs

sometimes, having been deceived before either by events or by men)), their ruin

comes of necessity. And Dante says of his proposition in the discussion he makes

in De Monarchia (On Monarchy), that the People many times shout, Life to their

death and death to their life. From this unbelief it sometimes happens in

Republics that good proceedings are not undertaken, as was said above of the

Venetians who, when assaulted by so many enemies could not undertake a procedure

of gaining some of them over to themselves by giving to them things taken from

others; because of this war was moved against them and a conspiracy of (other)

Princes made against them, before their ruin had come.

Considering therefore what is easy and what is difficult to persuade a People

to, this distinction can be made: either that which you have to persuade them to

represents at first sight a gain or a loss, or truly it appears a courageous or

cowardly proceeding: and if, in the things that are placed in front of the

people, there is seen a gain even though it is concealed under a loss, and if it

appears courageous even though it is hidden beneath the ruin of the Republic, it

will always be easy to persuade the multitude to it: and thus it will always be

difficult to persuade them of those proceedings where either some usefulness or

loss is apparent, even though the welfare and benefit (of the Republic) were

hidden under it. This that I have said is confirmed by infinite examples, Roman

and foreign, modern and ancient.

For, from this, there arose the evil opinion that sprung up in Rome of Fabius

Maximus, who could not persuade the Roman people that it was useless to that

Republic to proceed slowly in that war, and to sustain the attack of Hannibal

without engaging in battle, because that people judged this proceeding cowardly,

and did not see what usefulness there should be in that, and Fabius did not have

sufficient cause to demonstrate it to them: and the People are so blinded on

these ideas of bravery, that although the Roman People had made that error of

giving authority to the Master of the horse of Fabius to enable him to engage in

battle, even though Fabius did not want to, and that because of this authority

the Roman camp would have been broken up except for the prudence of Fabius which

remedied it; this experience was not enough for them, for they afterwards made

Varro Consul, not for any of his merits but for having promised throughout all

the plazas and public places of Rome to rout Hannibal anytime he should be given

the authority. From this came the battle and defeat of Cannae, and almost caused

the ruin of Rome. I want to cite on this proposition another Roman example.

Hannibal had been in Italy eight or ten years, had filled this province with

killings of Romans, when M. Centenius Penula came to the Senate, a very base man

((none the less he had some rank in the military)), and offered them that if

they gave him authority to be able to raise an army of volunteers in any place

in Italy he wished, he would in a very short time give them Hannibal, either

taken or dead. The demands of this man appeared foolish to the Senate: none the

less thinking that if they should deny him this, his request would be later

known by the People, that there might arise some tumult, envy, and ill will

against the Senatorial order, they conceded it to him; desiring rather to put in

danger all those who followed him than to cause new indignation to spring up

among the People, knowing how much a like proceeding would be accepted and how

difficult it would be to dissuade them. This man, therefore, with an unorganized

and undisciplined multitude went to meet Hannibal, and he no sooner had come to

the encounter than he, with all his followers, were routed and killed.

In Greece in the City of Athens, Nicias, a most serious and prudent man, never

could persuade that people that it would not be good to go and assault Sicily,

so that this decision taken against the will of the wise caused the complete

ruin of Athens. When Scipio was made Consul and desired the province of Africa,

he promised to everyone the ruin of Carthage; when the Senate did not agree to

this because of the verdict of Fabius Maximus, he threatened to bring it before

the People, as he very well knew that such decisions were liked by the People.

On this proposition an example can be given of our own City, as it was when

Messer Ercole Bentivogli, commander of the Florentine forces, together with

Antonio Giacomini, after having defeated Bartolomeo D'Alvino at San Vincenti,

went to besiege Pisa: which enterprise was decided upon by the People on the

brave promises of Messer Ercole, although many of the wise Citizens censured it:

none the less there was no remedy, being pushed by that desire of the general

public which was based on the brave promises of the commander.

I say, therefore, that there is no easier way to ruin a Republic where the

People have authority, than to involve them in a brave enterprise: because where

the People are of any importance, they will always accept them, nor will there

be anyone of contrary opinion who will know any remedy. But if the ruin of the

City results from this, there also and more often results the ruin of the

particular Citizens who are in charge of such enterprises: for the People having

expected victory, if defeat comes, they do not blame fortune or the impotence of

those who commanded, but their wickedness and ignorance, but most of the times

they either kill or imprison them, or exile them, as happened to infinite

Carthaginian Captains and to many Athenians. Nor do any victories that they

might have had in the past benefit them, because they are all cancelled by the

present defeat, as happened to our Antonio Giacomini, who, not having conquered

Pisa as he promised and the People expected, fell into such popular disgrace

that, notwithstanding his past infinite good works, he (was allowed to) live

more because of the humanity of those who had authority who defended him from

the People than for any other reason.

CHAPTER LIV

HOW MUCH AUTHORITY A GREAT MAN HAS IN RESTRAINING AN EXCITED MULTITUDE (MOB)

The second notable item mentioned in the text of the above chapter is, that

nothing is so apt to restrain an excited multitude (mob) as the reverence

(inspired) by some man of gravity and authority who encounters them; and not

without reason Virgil says:

When they saw a man of grave aspect and strong with merit

They became silent, and stood with eager ears.

Therefore, he who is in charge of an army, or he who finds himself in a City

where a tumult has arisen, ought to present himself there with as much grace and

as honorably as he can, attiring himself with the insignia of his rank which he

holds in order to make himself more revered. A few years ago Florence was

divided into two factions, who called themselves, thusly, the Frateschi

(Brotherly) and Arrabiati (Angered); and coming to arms, the Frateschi were

defeated, among whom was Pagolantonio Soderini, a Citizen greatly reputed in

those times; and during those tumults the People went armed to his house to sack

it, Messer Francesco, his brother, then Bishop of Volterra and today Cardinal,

by chance found himself in the house; who, as soon as he heard the noise and saw

the disturbance, dressed himself in his most dignified clothes and over them put

on his Episcopal surplice, and went to meet those armed ones, and with his

person and his words stopped them: which (thing) was talked about and celebrated

throughout the City for many days.

I conclude, therefore, that there is no sounder or more necessary remedy to

restrain an excited multitude than the presence of a man who by his presence

appears and is revered. It is seen, therefore, ((to return to the preceding

text)) with how much obstinacy the Roman Plebs accepted that proceeding of going

to Veii because they judged it useful, but did not recognize the danger that

existed underneath this; and that the many tumults which arose there would cause

troubles, if the Senate with serious men (and) full of reverence had not

restrained their fury.

CHAPTER LV

HOW EASILY THINGS ARE MANAGED IN THAT CITY WHERE THE MULTITUDE IS NOT CORRUPT,

AND THAT WHERE THERE IS EQUALITY A PRINCIPALITY CANNOT BE ESTABLISHED, AND WHERE

THERE IS NONE A REPUBLIC CANNOT BE ESTABLISHED

Although above there has been much discussed that which is to be feared or to be

hoped for in corrupt Cities, none the less it does not seem to me outside this

subject to consider a decision of the Senate concerning the vow that Camillus

had made to give the tenth part of the plunder of the Veienti to Apollo: which

plunder having come into the hands of the Roman Pleb, and being unable otherwise

to review the account of it, the Senate made and edict that everyone should

present to the Republic the tenth part of that which they had plundered. And

although such a decision was not put into effect, the Senate afterwards having

taken other ways and means for satisfying Apollo in fulfillment for the Pleb,

none the less from such decisions it is seen how much the Senate confided in

them (the People), and how they judged that no one would not present exactly all

that which was commanded of them by the edict. And on the other hand, it is seen

how the Pleb did not think of evading the edict in any part by giving less than

they ought, but to relieve themselves of this by showing open indignation. This

example, together with many others that have been recited above, show how much

goodness and religion there was in that People, and how much good there was to

be hoped for from them. And, truly, when this goodness does not exist, no good

is to be hoped for, as can be hoped for in those provinces which, in these

times, are seen to be corrupt, as is Italy above all others, even though France

and Spain have their part of such corruption. And, if in those provinces, there

are not seen as many disorders as arise in Italy every day, it derives not so

much from the goodness of the people ((which in good part is lacking)) as from

having a King who keeps them united, not only by his virtu, but by the

institutions of those Kingdoms which are yet unspoiled.

In the province of Germany this goodness and this religion is seen to exist in

great (measure) in those People, which makes for the existence of many Republics

in freedom, and they so observe the laws that no one from inside or outside

dares to attack them. And that this is true that in their kingdom there yet

exists a good part of that ancient goodness, I would like to give an example

similar to that given above of the Senate and the Roman Pleb. When it occurred

in those Republics that they had to spend any quantity of money for public

account, those Magistrates or Councils who had the authority imposed on all the

inhabitants of the City (a tax) of one or two percent of what each one had of

value. And such decision being made in accordance with the laws of the land

everyone presented himself before the collectors of this impost, and first

taking an oath to pay the right sum, he threw into a box provided for that

purpose that which it appeared to him according to his conscience he ought to

pay: to which payment there was no witness other than he who paid. From which it

can be conjectured how much goodness and how much religion still exists in those

people. And it ought to be noted that every one paid the true amount, for if it

had not been paid, the impost would not have yielded that amount which they had

planned in accordance with previous ones that had been taken, and if they had

not yielded (this amount), the fraud would be recognized, and if it had been

recognized other means than this would have been taken. Which goodness is much

more to be admired in these times as it is very rare; rather, it is seen to be

remaining only in that province: which result from two things; the one, that

they do not have great commerce with their neighbors, for others have not come

to their homes nor have they gone to the homes of others, but have been content

with those goods, live on those foods, clothe themselves with the wool which the

country provides, which has taken away any reason for intercourse and

(consequently) the beginning of any corruption: hence they have not been able to

take up the customs of the French, of the Spanish, or of the Italians, which

nations all together are the corrupters of the world. The other cause, is that

that Republic, whose political existence is maintained uncorrupted, does not

permit that any of its Citizens to be or live in the manner of a Gentleman,

instead maintain among themselves a perfect equality, and are the greatest

enemies of those Lords and Gentlemen who are in that province: and if, by

chance, any should come into their hands, they kill them as being Princes of

corruption and the cause of every trouble.

And to clarify what is (meant by) this name of Gentleman, I say that those are

called Gentlemen who live idly on the provisions of their abundant possessions,

without having any care either to cultivate or to do any other work in order to

live. Such as these are pernicious to every Republic and to every Province: but

more pernicious are those who, in addition to the above mentioned fortune, also

command castles, and have subjects who obey them. Of these two sorts of men, the

Kingdom of Naples, the Lands of Rome, the Romagna, and Lombardy, are full. From

which it happens that there never has been a Republic in those provinces, nor

any political existence (system), because such kinds of men are all enemies of

every civil society. And in provinces so constituted, to want to introduce a

Republic would be impossible. But only an arbiter (monarch) would recognize it,

and he would have no other means but to establish a Kingdom: the reason is this,

that when the body of people is so corrupted that the laws are not sufficient to

restrain it, there needs to be established there that superior force, which is

the Royal hand that, with absolute and full power, places a restraint to the

excessive ambitions and corruption of the Powerful. This (cause) is verified by

the example of Tuscany, where one sees in a small extent of land there have

existed for a long time three Republics, Florence, Siena, and Lucca; and

although the other Cities of that Province are in a way subject to these, yet,

by their spirit and their institutions, it is seen that they maintain, or

attempt to maintain, their liberty: all of which arises from there not being any

lords of castles in that province, and few or no Gentlemen: but there exists so

much equality, that it would be easy for a prudent man who had knowledge of

ancient civilizations, to introduce a civil government there. But its

misfortunes have been so great, that up to these times not any one has come

forth who has been able to or known how to do it.

From this discussion, therefore, this conclusion is drawn, that he who would

want to establish a Republic where there are many Gentlemen, cannot do so unless

first he extinguishes them all; and that he who would want to establish a

Kingdom or a Principality where there is great equality, will never be able to

do so unless he withdraws from that equality many of the ambitious and unquiet

spirits, and makes them Gentlemen in fact and not in name, giving them castles

and possessions, as well as giving them aid of men and money, so that surrounded

by these he can through them maintain his power, and they through his support

can maintain their ambitions, and the others constrained to endure that yoke

which force and nothing else could make them endure. And, because of this, there

being a proportion of those who force and those who are forced, each man will

remain firm in his rank. And as the establishing of a Republic in a province

better adapted to being a Kingdom, or to establishing a Kingdom in one better

adapted to being a Republic, is a matter for one who in brains and authority is

rare, there have been many who have wanted to do so, but few only who have known

how to bring it about. For the greatness of the undertaking in part frightens

them and in part stops them, so that they fail in the very beginning. I believe

that this opinion of mine, that a Republic cannot be established where there are

Gentlemen, appears contrary to the experience of the Venetian Republic, in which

none could have any rank except those who were Gentlemen. To which it is

answered that this example does not oppose it, for the Gentlemen in that

Republic are more so in name than in fact, as they do not have great incomes

from possessions, their riches being founded on commerce and movable property:

and, in addition, none of them have castles or any jurisdiction over men; but in

them that name of Gentleman is a name of dignity and reputation, without being

based on those things on which men are called Gentlemen in other Cities. And as

other Republics have all their divisions (of classes) under various names, so

Venice is divided into Gentlemen and Popolari, and wants that the former can

have all the honors, from which all others are entirely excluded. This does not

cause disorders in those towns for the reasons mentioned at other times.

Republics, therefore, can be established where a great equality exists or can be

established, and, on the contrary, a Principality can be established where a

great inequality exists; otherwise they will lack proportion and have little

durability.

CHAPTER LVI

BEFORE GREAT EVENTS OCCUR IN A CITY OR A PROVINCE, SIGNS COME WHICH FORETELL

THEM, OR MEN WHO PREDICT THEM

Whence it arises I do not know, but from ancient and modern examples it is seen

that no great event ever takes place in a City or a Province that has not been

predicted either by fortune tellers, by revelations, by prodigies, or by other

celestial signs. And in order for me not to go distant from home in proving

this, everyone knows how the coming of King Charles VIII of France into Italy

was predicted by Brother Girolamo Savonarola, and how in addition to this it was

said throughout Italy that at Arezzo there had been seen in the air men-at-arms

battling together. In addition to this, everyone knows how, before the death of

Lorenzo De'Medici the elder, the Duomo was hit in its highest part by a bolt

from the skies which very greatly damaged that edifice. Also everyone knows how,

a little while before Piero Soderini, who had been made Gonfalonier for life by

the Florentine people, had been driven out and deprived of his rank, the palace

was struck in the same manner by a (lightning) stroke. I could cite other

examples in addition to these, which I will omit to avoid tedium. I shall

narrate only that which T. Livius tells of before the coming of the French

(Gauls) to Rome, that is, how one Marcus Creditus, a Pleb, reported to the

Senate that, passing at midnight through the Via Nova (New Road), he had heard a

voice louder than human which admonished him that he should report to the

Magistrates that the Gauls were coming to Rome. The cause of this I believe

should be discussed and interpreted by a man who has knowledge of natural and

supernatural things, which I have not. But it could be, as some Philosophers

hold, that this air being so full of spirits, having an intelligence which by

natural virtu foresee future events, and having compassion for men, so that they

can warn them by such signs to prepare for defense. But, however it may be, such

is the truth, (and) that always after such incidents there follows things

extraordinary and new in the provinces.

CHAPTER LVII

TOGETHER THE PLEBS ARE STRONG, DISPERSED THEY ARE WEAK

There were many Romans ((after the ruin of their country had ensued because of

the passage of the Gauls)) who had gone to live at Veii contrary to the

constitution and orders of the Senate, which, in order to remedy this disorder,

commanded through its public edicts that everyone within a certain time and

under certain penalties should return to inhabit Rome. Which edict at first was

made light of by those against whom it was made, but afterwards when the time

came for obeying it, they all obeyed. And Titus Livius said these words, From

being ferocious when together, fear made them individually obedient. And truly

this part of the nature of the multitude cannot be better shown than by this

sentence. For the multitude many times is audacious in speaking against the

decision of their Prince: but afterwards, when they see the penalty in sight,

not trusting one another, they run to obey. So that it is certainly to be seen

that whatever may be said of a People about their good or bad disposition, ought

not to be held of great account, if you are well prepared to be able to maintain

your authority if they are well disposed, and if they are ill-disposed, to be

able to provide that they do not attack you. This refers to those evil

dispositions which the People have from causes other than their having lost

either their liberty or their Prince much loved by them, but who is still

living: for the evil dispositions that arise from these causes are formidable

above every thing, and have need of great remedies to restrain them: their

indispositions from other (causes) are easily managed if they do not have Chiefs

to whom they have recourse, for, on the one hand, there is nothing more

formidable than a multitude loose and without a Head, and on the other hand,

there is nothing weaker, because whenever they have arms in their hands it is

easy to subdue them, if you have a shelter which enables you to avoid their

first attack: for when their spirits are cooled down a little, and each one sees

that he has to return to his house, they begin to be distrustful of themselves,

and to think of their individual safety either by fleeing or surrendering

themselves. A multitude so excited, therefore, in wanting to escape these

perils, has promptly to make a Head among themselves, who would control it, keep

it united, and think of its defense, as the Roman plebs did when, after the

death of Virginius, they departed from Rome, and to save themselves created

twenty Tribunes from among themselves: and if they do not do this, it will

always happen as T. Livius said in the above written words, that all together

they are strong, but when each one then begins to think of his own peril, they

become vile and weak.

CHAPTER LVIII

THE MULTITUDE IS WISER AND MORE CONSTANT THAN A PRINCE

Nothing is more vain and more inconstant than the multitude, so our T. Livius

and all other Historians affirm. For it often occurs in narrating the actions of

men to observe the multitude to have condemned some one to death, and that same

(multitude) afterwards weeping and very much wishing him back; as is seen the

Roman people did in the case of Manlius Capitolinus, who, having condemned him

to death, afterwards most earnestly desired him back. And the words of the

author are these: As soon as they knew there was no peril from, they desired to

have him back. And elsewhere, where he tells of the incidents which arose in

Syracuse after the death of Hieronymus, nephew of Hiero, says: It is the nature

of multitude, either to serve humbly, or to dominate haughtily. I do not know,

in wanting to defend a thing which ((as I have said)) is accused by all writers,

if I were to undertake a cause so hard and full of difficulty, that I would have

either to abandon it in shame, or to go on with it burdensomely. But however it

may be, I do not judge, or will ever judge, it to be a defect to defend any

opinion with arguments, without wanting to employ either authority or force.

I say, therefore, the individual men, and especially Princes, can be accused of

that defect which the writers accuse the multitudes; for anyone who is not

controlled by the laws, will make the same errors as a loose multitude. And this

can be easily observed, for there are and there have been many Princes, but of

the good and wise ones there have been only a few, I say, of those Princes who

have been able to break that restraint which could control them; among whom are

not those Kings who arose in Egypt in that ancient period when that province was

governed by laws, nor those who arose in Sparta, nor those who have risen in

France in our times, which Kingdom is more regulated by laws than any other

Kingdom of our times of which there is knowledge. And these Kingdoms which arise

under such constitutions are not to be placed in that number whence the nature

of each man individually has to be considered, and to see if he is like the

multitude; for alongside them there ought to be placed a multitude controlled by

laws in the same way as they (the Kings) were, and the same goodness will be

found in them as we see in (the Kings), and we will see that they serve neither

haughtily nor humbly; as was the Roman People, who while the Republic remained

incorrupt, never served humbly or ruled insolently, but rather with its

institutions and Magistracies held its rank honorably. And when it was necessary

to spring up against a powerful one who was harming them, they did so, as was

seen with Manlius and the Ten, and others who sought to oppress them; and so

also when it was necessary for the public safety to obey the Dictators and

Consuls. And if the Roman People desired Manlius Capitolinus after his death, it

is not to be wondered at, for they desired his virtu, which had been such that

the memory of them brought compassion to everyone, and would have had the power

to cause that same result in any Prince, for it is the verdict of all writers

that virtu is lauded and admired even in ones enemies: and if so much desire

could have restored him, the Roman people would have given him the same judgment

as they did when they took him from prison, a little before they condemned him

to death: and as was also seen of Princes held to be wise, who have had some

persons put to death and then greatly regretted it, as Alexander with Clitus and

his other friends, and Herod with Mariamne: But that which our Historian says of

the nature of the multitude, he does not say of those who were regulated by

laws, such as were the Romans, but of an unbridled multitude, as was that of

Syracuse, which made those errors which infuriated and unbridled men make, and

as Alexander and Herod did in the abovementioned cases.

The nature of the multitude, therefore, is not to be blamed any more than that

of Princes, for they all err equally when they all are able to err without

control. Of which, in addition to what I have said, there are many examples,

both from among the Roman Emperors and from among other Tyrants and Princes,

where so much inconstancy and recklessness of life is observed, as is ever found

in any multitude. I conclude therefore, contrary to the common opinion which

says that the People, when they are Princes, are changeable and ungrateful,

affirming that there are no more of these defects in them than there are in

particular Princes: And to accuse the People and the Princes together can be the

truth; but to except the Princes would be a deception: For a People that

commands and is well organized will be stable, prudent, grateful, and not

otherwise than a Prince, or even better than a Prince, although he be esteemed

wise. And on the other hand, a Prince loosened from the (control) of the laws,

will be ungrateful, inconstant, and more imprudent than a people. And that

difference in their proceedings arises, not from the different nature, ((for it

is the same in everyone, and if there is an advantage for good, it is in the

People)) but from the more or less respect they have for the laws under which

one and the other live. And whoever considers the Roman people will see that for

four hundred years they have been enemies of the name of Royalty and lovers of

glory and of the common good of their country: He will see so many examples

employed by them which testify to the one thing and the other. And if anyone

should allege to me the ingratitude that they (the Roman people) showed against

Scipio, I will reply that which was discussed above at length on this subject,

where it has been shown that people are less ungrateful than Princes. But as to

prudence and stability, I say, that a people is more prudent, more stable, and

of better judgment than a Prince: And not without reason is the voice of the

people like that of God, for a universal opinion is seen causes marvelous

effects in its prognostication, so that it would seem that by some hidden virtu,

evil or good is foreseen. As to the judging of things, it is rarely seen that

when they hear two speakers who hold opposite views, if they are of equal virtu,

they do not take up the the better opinion, and they are capable of seeing the

truth in what they hear. And if ((as has been said above)) they err in things

concerning bravery, or which appear useful, a Prince also errs many times in his

own passions, which are much greater than those of the people. It will also be

seen that in the election of their magistrates, they make by far a better

selection than a Prince, but a people will never be persuaded that it is better

to bring to that dignity a man of infamous and corrupt habits: to which a Prince

may be persuaded easily and in a thousand ways. It will be seen that when a

people begin to hold a thing in horror, they remain in that opinion for many

centuries, which is not seen in a Prince. And on both of these two things, the

testimony of the Roman people will suffice for me, who, in so many hundreds of

years, in so many elections of Consuls and Tribunes, they did not make four

elections of which they had to repent. And ((as I have said)) they held the name

of Royalty in so much hatred, that no obligation to any of its Citizens who

should seize that title would enable him to escape the merited penalty. In

addition to this, it will be seen that the Cities where the people are Princes,

make the greatest progress in the shortest time and much greater than those who

have always been under a Prince, as Rome did after the driving out of the Kings,

and Athens did after they were free of Pisistratus. Which cannot arise except

that those governments of the people are better than those of the Princes.

Nor do I want that there should be opposed to my opinion all that which our

Historian has said in the aforementioned text and in any other; for if there

should be discussed all the disorders of the People, all the disorders of the

Princes, all the glories of the People, all those of the Princes, it will be

seen that the People are far superior in goodness and in glory. And if Princes

are superior to the people in instituting laws, forming civil governments, make

new statutes and ordinances, the People are so much superior in maintaining the

institutions which will add to the glory of those who established them.

And in sum to epilogue this material, I say that the States of the Princes have

lasted a long time, the States of the Republics have lasted a long time, and

both have had need to be regulated by laws; for a Prince who can do what he

wants is a madman, and a People which can do as it wants to is not wise. If,

therefore, discussion is to be had of a Prince obligated by laws, and of a

People unobligated by them, more virtu will be observed in the People than in

Princes: if the discussion is to be had of both loosened (from such control),

fewer errors will be observed in the People than in the Princes, and those that

are fewer have the greater remedies: For a licentious and tumultuous People can

be talked to by a good man, and can easily be returned to the good path: (but)

there is no one who can talk to a Prince, nor is there any other remedy but

steel (sword). From which the conjecture can be made of the maladies of the one

and the other: that if words are enough to cure the malady of the People, and

that of the Prince needs the sword, there will never be anyone who will not

judge that where the greater cure is required, they are where the greater errors

exist. When a People is indeed unbridled, the foolishness that they do is not to

be feared, nor is fear to be had of the present malady, but of that which can

arise, a Tyrant being able to rise up amidst so much confusion. But the contrary

happens in the case of bad Princes, where the present evil is feared, and there

is hope for the future, men persuading themselves that the (termination) of

their lives can make liberty spring up. Thus the difference between the one and

the other is seen, that one concerns things that are, the other of things that

will be. The cruelties of the multitude are (directed) against those whom they

fear will oppose the common good, those of a Prince are (directed) against those

whom he fears will oppose his own good. But the opinion against the People

arises because everyone speaks evil of the people freely and without fear even

while they reign; of the Princes they talk with a thousand fears and a thousand

apprehensions. And it does not appear to me to be outside this subject ((for

this matter draws me there)) to discuss in the following chapter whether

alliances made with a Republic, or those made with a Prince, can be trusted.

CHAPTER LIX

WHICH ALLIANCES OR LEAGUES CAN BE TRUSTED, WHETHER THOSE MADE WITH A REPUBLIC OR

THOSE MADE WITH A PRINCE

As there occurs every day that Princes or Republics make leagues and friendships

between themselves, and also similarly alliances and accords are drawn between a

Republic and a Prince, it appears to me proper to examine whose faith is more

stable, and which ought to be held more in account, that of a Republic or that

of a Prince. In examining everything, I believe that in many cases they are the

same, and in some there is a difference. I believe, therefore, that accords made

by force will not be observed either by a Prince or by a Republic: I believe

that when fear of (losing) the State comes to pass, both will break the faith in

order not to lose it, and will serve you ingratitude. Demetrius, who was called

Conqueror of Cities, had given infinite benefits to the Athenians: it happened

that later, having been routed by his enemies and taking refuge in Athens as a

City friendly and obligated to him, was not received by her: which saddened him

much more than had the loss of his forces and his army; Pompey, having been

routed by Caesar in Thessaly, took refuge in Egypt with Ptolemy, who, in the

past he had reinstated in his Kingdom, but was put to death by him. Which

instances, it is seen, have the same reasons; none the less it was more humanely

employed by a Republic and with less injury, than by the Prince. Where there is

fear, therefore, there will be found in each the same (loss of) faith. And if in

either a Republic or a Prince it is found that they observe the faith even if

ruin may be expected, this also may arise from similar reasons. For it can very

well occur that a Prince, who is a friend of a powerful Prince (and) who may not

then have the opportunity to defend him, can hope that with time he (the latter)

will restore his Principality to him; or believe he will find either faith or

accords with his enemies. Of this kind have been the Princes of the Kingdom of

Naples who have followed the French side. And as for Republics, Saguntum in

Spain was of this kind, which hazarded her own ruin in order to follow the Roman

side, and with Florence in MDXII (1512) in order to follow the French side. And

I believe, taking everything into account, that in such cases where danger is

imminent, there will be found greater stability in the Republics than in

Princes: For even if the Republics had the same spirit and the same wants as

Princes, their movements being slower will always make them take longer to form

resolutions than Princes, and because of this they will be less prompt in

breaking their faith.

Alliances are broken for usefulness. In this, Republics are more careful in the

observance of accords than Princes. And it is possible to cite examples where a

minimum of usefulness has caused a Prince to break his faith, and where a great

usefulness has not caused faith to be broken by a Republic; as was that

proceeding which Themosticles proposed to the Athenians, to whom in his speech

he said he had a counsel that would be of great usefulness to their country, but

could not tell it so as not to disclose it for discovering it would take away

the opportunity of doing it. Whence the people of Athens elected Aristedes to

whom he should confide the matter, and according to which they would later

decide as it might appear to them: whereupon Themosticles showed that the fleet

of all Greece, although they were under their faith, was in such a position that

they could easily win it for themselves or destroy it, which would make the

Athenians the arbiters of that Province. Whence Aristedes reported back to the

people that the proposal of Themosticles was most useful, but most dishonest:

for which reason the people rejected it entirely, which would not have been done

by Philip the Macedonian and the other Princes who had looked for more

usefulness, and who had gained more by breaking the faith than by any other

means.

Of the breaking of pacts because of some cause for non-observance, I will not

speak, as it is an ordinary thing: but I will talk of those that are broken for

extraordinary reasons, where I believe, from the things said, that the people

make fewer errors than Princes, and because of this, they can be trusted more

than Princes.

CHAPTER LX

HOW THE CONSULSHIP AND EVERY OTHER MAGISTRACY IN ROME OUGHT TO BE (BESTOWED)

WITHOUT ANY REGARD TO AGE

And it is to be seen from the course of History that the Roman Republic, after

the Consulship came to the Pleb, admitted all its Citizens (to this dignity)

without regard to age or blood (birth), even though the regard to age never

existed in Rome as they always went to find virtu, whether it was in young men

or old. This is seen from the testimony of Valerius Corvinus who was made Consul

at twenty three years (of age); and Valerius said, talking to his soldiers, that

the Consulship was the reward of virtu, not of blood. Which thing can be much

discussed, whether or not it is well considered. As to blood (birth), this was

conceded because of necessity, and this same necessity which existed in Rome

would also be found in every City that wanted to have the same success as Rome

had, as has been said at another time; for hardships cannot be given to men

without reward, nor can the hope of obtaining the reward be taken away without

peril. And it was proper, therefore, that the plebs should have the hope of

obtaining the Consulship, and that they should nourish this hope for a time,

without attaining it: When afterward the hope was not enough, they had to arrive

at that result (the Consulship). The City that does not admit its Plebs to any

of its glory, can treat them in their own way, as has been discussed elsewhere;

but that City which wants to accomplish that which Rome did, cannot make this

distinction.

And given that it is so (as regards birth), the question of age needs no reply,

rather it is necessarily disposed of; for in electing a young man to a rank

which has need of the prudence of an old man, it happens ((the multitude having

to elect him)) that he should come to that rank through some noble action that

he should make. And when a young man is of such great virtu as to have made

himself known by some notable thing, it would be a very harmful thing if that

City should not then be able to avail itself of him, and that it should have to

wait until he should have aged (and) that age deprive him of that vigor of

spirit and activity of which (at that age) his country should avail itself, as

Rome availed itself of Valerius Corvinus, of Scipio, of Pompey, and of many

other who triumphed when very young.

1. That is, an Executive, a House of Lords or Senate (originally sitting as a

Judiciary), and a Commons or House of Representatives or Legislature each acting

to check and balance the other.

2. A judiciary.

3. Establish a National Army or Militia, rather than rely on Mercenaries.

ON THE FIRST TEN (BOOKS) OF TITUS LIVIUS

TO ZANOBI BUONDELMONTI AND COSIMO RUCELLAI

SECOND BOOK

Men always praise ((but not always reasonably)) the ancient times and find fault

with the present; and they are such partisans of things past, that they

celebrate not only that age which has been recalled to their memory by known

writers, but those also ((being now old)) which they remember having seen in

their youth. And when this opinion of theirs is false ((as it is most of the

times)) I am persuaded the reasons by which they are led to such deception are

various. And the first I believe is that the whole truth which would bring out

the infamy of those times, and they amplify and magnify those others that could

bring forth their glory. Moreover, the greater number of writers so obey the

fortune of the winners that, in order to make their victories glorious, they not

only exaggerate that which is gotten by their own virtu, but they also

exaggerate the actions of the enemies; so that whoever afterwards is born in

either of the two provinces, both the victorious and the defeated ones, has

cause to marvel at those men and times, and is forced summarily to praise and

love them. In addition to this, men hating things either from fear or envy,

these two reasons for hating past events come to be extinguished, as they are

not able to offend or give cause for envy of them. But the contrary happens with

those things that are (presently) in operation and are seen, which because you

have a complete knowledge of them as they are not in any way hidden from you;

and knowing the good together with the many other things which are displeasing

to you, you are constrained to judge the present more inferior than the past,

although in truth the present might merit much more of that glory and fame; I do

not discuss matters pertaining to the arts, which shine so much by themselves,

which time cannot take away or add a little more glory which they merit by

themselves; but I speak of those matters pertinent to the lives and customs of

men, of which such clear evidences are not seen.

I repeat, therefore, that the custom of praising and blaming as mentioned above

is true, but it is not true that you err in doing it. For sometimes of necessity

our judgment is the truth, as human affairs are always in motion, either

ascending or descending. And we see a City or a Province well-organized in its

government by some excellent man, and for a time always progressing toward the

better through the virtu of that organizer. He who is born in that state, and

praises the past more than the present, deceives himself; and his deception is

caused by those things mentioned above. But if they are born in that City or

province after the time when it has begun to descend to its bad times, then he

does not deceive himself. And in thinking of how these things go on, I judge

that the world has always been in the same condition, and that there is as much

good as there is bad in it; but this bad and good vary from province to

province, as is seen by the historian of those ancient Kingdoms which varied

from one another because of the variations in customs, while the world remained

the same: the only difference was, that where virtu first found a place in

Assyria, it then (moved) to Media, afterwards to Persia, and from there came to

Italy and Rome: and if after the Roman Empire no other Empire followed which

endured, and where the world kept together all its virtu, none the less it is

seen to be scattered in many nations where people lived with virtu, as it was in

the Kingdom of the Franks, the Kingdom of the Turks, that of the Soldan (of

Egypt), and today the people of Germany, and before then that Saracen Sect which

accomplished such great things and occupied so much of the world after having

destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire. In all these provinces, therefore, after the

Romans fell, the Sects possessed, and yet possess in part, that virtu which is

desired and lauded with true praise. And whoever is born in them and praises the

times past more than the present, may deceive himself: but whoever is born in

Italy and Greece, and has not become either an Ultramontane in Italy or a Turk

in Greece, has reason to find fault with his times and to praise the others, for

in the past there are many things that make him marvel, but now there is not

anything that will compensate for the extreme misery, infamy, and disgrace in

these times where there is no observance of religion, of laws, or of military

discipline, but are stained by every brutish reasoning. And these vices are even

more detestable as they exist more in those who sit in the tribunals, commanding

everyone, and desiring to be adored.

But returning to our argument, I say that, if the judgment of men is corrupt in

deciding whether the present or the ancient age is better, in those things where

because of their antiquity they cannot have a perfect knowledge as they have of

their own times, the old men ought not to corrupt themselves in judging the

times of their youth and their old age, they having known and seen the latter

and the former equally. Which thing would be true if men throughout all the

periods of their lives had the same judgment and the same appetites. But as

these vary ((although the times do not vary)), things cannot appear the same to

those men who have other appetites, other delights, and other considerations in

their old age than in their youth. For as men wane ((when they age)) in strength

but grow in judgment and prudence, so it is that those things which in their

youth appeared supportable and good, will turn out ((as they grow old))

unsupportable and bad, and where they ought to blame their judgment, they blame

the times. In addition to this, human appetites being insatiable ((because by

nature they have to be able to and want to desire everything, and to be able to

effect little for themselves because of fortune)), there arises a continuous

discontent in the human mind, and a weariness of the things they possess; which

makes them find fault with the present times, praise the past, and desire the

future, although in doing this they are not moved by any reasonable cause. I do

not know, therefore, whether I merit to be numbered among those who deceive

themselves, if in these Discourses of mine I shall laud too much the times of

the ancient Romans and censure ours. And truly, if the virtu that then reigned

and the vice that now reigns should not be as clear as the Sun, I would be more

restrained in talking, being apprehensive of falling into that deception of

which I accuse others. But the matter being so manifest that everyone sees it, I

shall be bold in saying openly that which I learned of those times and these, so

that the minds of the young men who may read my writings can avoid the latter

(evils) and imitate the (virtu) of the former, whenever fortune should give them

the opportunity. For it is the office of a good man to show others that good

which because of the malignity of the times and of fortune, he has not been able

to accomplish, so that ((many being capable)) some of those more loved by Heaven

can accomplish them.

And having in the discourses of the preceding book talked of the decisions made

by the Romans pertinent to the internal affairs of the City, in this (book) we

shall talk of that which the Roman people did pertinent to the aggrandizement of

their Empire.

CHAPTER I

WHETHER VIRTU OR FORTUNE WAS THE GREATER CAUSE FOR THE EMPIRE WHICH THE ROMANS

ACQUIRED

Many (authors), among whom is that most serious writer Plutarch, have had the

opinion that the Roman people in acquiring the Empire were favored more by

Fortune than by Virtu. And among other reasons which he cities, he says that, by

the admission of that people, it can be shown that they ascribed all their

victories to Fortune, as they had built more temples to Fortune than to any

other God. And it seems that Livius joined in this opinion, for he rarely makes

any Roman speak where he recounts (of) Virtu, without adding Fortune. Which

thing I do not in any way agree with, nor do I believe also that it can be

sustained. For if no other Republic will ever be found which has made the

progress that Rome had, then I note that no Republic will ever be found which

has been organized to be able to make such conquests as Rome. For it was the

virtu of the armies that enabled her to acquire that Empire; and the order of

proceeding and her own institutions founded by her first Legislator that enabled

her to maintain the acquisitions, as will be narrated below in further

discussion.

These (authors) also say that the fact of not ever engaging in two most

important wars at the same time was due to the fortune and not the virtu of the

Roman people; for they did riot engage in war with the Latins until they had so

beaten the Samnites that the Romans had to engage in a war in defense of them:

They did not combat with the Tuscans until they first subjugated the Latins, and

had by frequent defeats almost completely enervated the Samnites: So that if

these two powers had joined together ((while they were fresh)), without doubt it

can easily be conjectured that the ruin of the Roman Republic would have ensued.

But however this thing may have been, it never did happen that they engaged in

two most powerful wars at the same time; rather it appeared always that at the

beginning of one the other would be extinguished, or in extinguishing one

another would arise. Which is easily seen from the succession of wars engaged in

by them; for, leaving aside the one they were engaged in before Rome was taken

by the French (Gauls), it is seen that while they fought against the Equii and

the Volscians, no other people ((while these people were powerful)) rose up

against them. When these were subdued there arose the war against the Samnites,

and although before that war was ended the Latin people rebelled against the

Romans with their armies in subduing the insolence of the Latins. When these

were subdued, the war against the Samnites sprung up again. When the Samnites

were beaten through the many defeats inflicted on their forces, there arose the

war against the Tuscans; which being composed, the Samnites again rose up when

Pyrrhus crossed over into Italy, and as soon as he was beaten and driven back to

Greece, the first war with the Carthaginians was kindled: and that war was

hardly finished when all the Gauls from all sides of the Alps conspired against

the Romans, but they were defeated with the greatest massacre between Popolonia

and Pisa where the tower of San Vincenti stands today. After this war was

finished, they did not have any war of much importance for a space of twenty

years, for they did not fight with any others except the Ligurians and the

remnants of the Gauls who were in Lombardy. And thus they remained until there

arose the second Carthaginian war, which kept Italy occupied for sixteen years.

When this war ended with the greatest glory, there arose the Macedonian war;

(and) after this was finished there came that of Antiochus and Asia. After this

victory, there did not remain in all the world either a Prince or a Republic

that could, by itself or all together, oppose the Roman forces.

But whoever examines the succession of these wars, prior to that last victory,

and the manner in which they were conducted, will see mixed with Fortune a very

great Virtu and Prudence. So that if one should examine the cause of that (good)

fortune, he will easily find it, for it is a most certain thing that as a Prince

or a People arrives at so great a reputation, that any neighboring Princes or

Peoples by themselves are afraid to assault him, and he has no fear of them, it

will always happen that none of them will ever assault him except from

necessity; so that it will almost be at the election of that powerful one to

make war upon any of those neighbors as appears (advantageous) to him, and to

quiet the others by his industry. These are quieted easily in part because they

have respect for his power, and in part because they are deceived by those means

which he used to put them to sleep: and other powerful ones who are distant and

have no commerce with him, will look upon this as a remote thing which does not

pertain to them. In which error they remain until the conflagration arrives next

to them, for which, when it comes, they have no remedy to extinguish it except

with their own forces, which then will not be enough as he has become most

powerful.

I will leave to one side how the Samnites remained to see the Volscians and the

Equii conquered by the Romans, and so as not to be too prolix I will make use of

the Carthaginians who were of great power and of great reputation when the

Romans were fighting with the Samnites and Tuscans; for they already held all

Africa, Sardinia and Sicily, and had dominion in part of Spain. Which power of

theirs, together with their being distant from the confines of the Roman people,

caused them never to think of assaulting them, nor of succoring the Samnites and

Tuscans; rather it made them do as is done in any power that grows, allying

themselves with them (the Romans) in their favor and seeking their friendship.

Nor did they see before this error was made, that the Romans having subdued all

the peoples (placed) between them and the Carthaginians, begun to combat them

for the Empire of Sicily and Spain. The same thing happened to the Gauls as to

the Carthaginians, and also to Philip King of Macedonia and to Antiochus; and

everyone of them believed ((while the Roman people were occupied with others))

that the others would overcome them, and then it would be time either by peace

or war to defend themselves from (the Romans). So that I believe that the (good)

Fortune which the Romans had in these parts would be had by all those Princes

who would proceed as the Romans and who would have that same Virtu as they had.

It would be well here in connection with this subject to show the course held by

Roman people in entering the Provinces of others, of which we have talked about

at length in our treatment of Principalities (Treatise on the Prince), for there

we have debated this matter widely. I will only say this briefly, that they have

always endeavored to have some friend in these new provinces who should be as a

ladder or door to let them climb in, both to let them enter and as a means of

keeping it; as was seen, that by means of the Capuans they entered Samnium, by

means of the Camertines into Tuscany, by the Mamertines into Sicily, by the

Saguntines into Spain, by Massinissa into Africa, by the Aetolians into Greece,

by Eumences and other Princes into Asia, and by the Massilians and the Aeduans

into Gaul. And thus they never lacked similar supports, both in order to be able

to facilitate their enterprises of their acquiring provinces and in holding

them. Which those people who observed them saw that they had less need of

Fortune, than those people who do not make good observers. And so as to enable

everyone to know better how much more Virtu enabled them to acquire that Empire

than did Fortune, in the following chapter we will discuss the kind of people

they had to combat and how obstinate they were in defending their liberty.

CHAPTER II

WITH WHAT PEOPLE THE ROMANS HAD TO COMBAT, AND HOW OBSTINATELY THEY DEFENDED

THEIR LIBERTY

Nothing caused so much hard work for the Romans as the overcoming of the

surrounding people and part of the distant Provinces, as the love many people in

those times had for liberty; which they so obstinately defended but they would

never have been subjugated except for the excessive virtu (of the Romans). For,

from many examples, it is known into what dangers they placed themselves in

order to maintain or recover (their liberty), and what vengeance they practiced

against those who had deprived them of it. It is also to be learned from the

lessons of history what injury the people and the City received from such

servitude. And, while in these times there is only one Province of which it can

be said has in it free Cities, in ancient times in all the Provinces there

existed many free people. It will be seen that in those times of which we speak

at present, there were in Italy, from the Alps ((which now divide Tuscany from

Lombardy)) up to the furthest (part) in Italy, many free peoples, such as were

the Tuscans, the Romans, the Samnites, and many other people, who inhabited the

remaining part of Italy. Nor is there ever any discussion whether there was any

King outside those who reigned in Rome, and Porsenna, King of Tuscany, whose

line was extinguished in a manner of which history does not speak. But it is

indeed seen that in those times when the Romans went to besiege Veii, Tuscany

was free, and so much did it enjoy its liberty and so hated the title of Prince,

that when the Veientians created a King for the defense of Veii, and requested

aid of the Tuscans against the Romans, they decided, after much consultation,

not to give aid to the Veientians as long as they lived under the King, judging

it not to be good to defend the country of those who already had subjected

themselves to others. And it is easy to understand whence this affection arises

in a people to live free, for it is seen from experience that Cities never

increased either in dominion or wealth except while they had been free. And

truly it is a marvelous thing to consider to what greatness Athens had arrived

in the space of a hundred years after she had freed herself from the tyranny of

Pisistratus. But above all, it is a more marvelous thing to consider to what

greatness Rome arrived after it liberated itself from its Kings. The cause is

easy to understand, for not the individual good, but the common good is what

makes Cities great. And, without doubt, this common good is not observed except

in Republics, because everything is done which makes for their benefit, and if

it should turn to harm this or that individual, those for whom the said good is

done are so many, that they can carry on against the interests of those few who

should be harmed. The contrary happens when there is a Prince, where much of the

time what he does for himself harms the City, and what is done for the City

harms him. So that soon there arises a Tyranny over a free society, the least

evil which results to that City is for it not to progress further, nor to grow

further in power or wealth, but most of the times it rather happens that it

turns backward. And if chance should cause that a Tyrant of virtu should spring

up, who by his courage and virtu at arms expands his dominion, no usefulness

would result to the Republic but only to be himself; for he cannot honor any of

those citizens who are valiant and good over whom he tyrannizes, as he does not

want to have to suspect them. Nor also can he subject those Cities which he

acquires or make them tributary to the City of which he is the Tyrant, because

he does not help himself in making them powerful, but it will help him greatly

in keeping the State disunited, so that each town and each province should

recognize him. So that he alone, and not his country, profits from his

acquisitions. And whoever should want to confirm this opinion with infinite

other arguments, let him read Xenophon's treatise which he wrote on Tyranny.

It is no wonder, therefore, that the ancient people should have persecuted the

Tyrants with so much hatred and should have loved living in freedom, and the

name of Liberty so much esteemed by them; as happened when Hieronymus, nephew of

Hiero the Syracusan, was killed in Syracuse; that when the news of his death

came to his army, which was not very far from Syracuse, they at first begun to

raise a tumult and take up arms against his killers; but when they heard that

there was shouting of liberty in Syracuse, attracted by the name everyone became

quiet, their ire against the Tyrannicides was quelled, and they thought of how a

free government could be established in that City. It is also no wonder that the

people took extraordinary vengeance against those who deprived them of liberty.

Of which there have been many examples, but I intend to refer only to one which

happened in Corcyra, a City of Greece, in the times of the Peloponnesian war,

where, the Province being divided into two factions, of which the Athenians

followed one, the Spartans the other, there arose then among the many other

Cities a division among themselves, some following (the friendship of) Sparta,

the the others (of) Athens: and it happened in the said City (Corcyra) that the

nobles had prevailed and had taken away the liberty from the people; the

populari (popular party) with the aid of the Athenians recovered its power, and,

having laid hands on the nobility, put them into a prison capable of holding all

of them; from which they took out eight or ten at one time under a pretext of

sending them into exile in different places, but put them to death with

(examples of) extreme cruelties. When the remainder became aware of this, they

resolved if possible to escape that ignominious death, and arming themselves as

(best) as they could, they fought with those who attempted to enter and defended

the entrance to the prison; but when the people came together at this noise,

they pulled down the upper part of that place, and suffocated them in the ruins.

Many other similar notable and horrible cases occurred in the said Province, so

that it is seen to be true that liberty is avenged with great energy when it is

taken away than when it is only threatened (to be taken).

In thinking, therefore, of whence it should happen that in those ancient times

the people were greater lovers of Liberty than in these times, I believe it

results from the same reason which makes men presently less strong, which I

believe is the difference between our education and that of the ancients,

founded on the difference between our Religion and the ancients. For, as our

Religion shows the truth and the true way (of life), it causes us to esteem less

the honors of the world: while the Gentiles (Pagans) esteeming them greatly, and

having placed the highest good in them, were more ferocious in their actions.

Which can be observed from many of their institutions, beginning with the

magnificence of their sacrifices (as compared) to the humility of ours, in which

there is some pomp more delicate than magnificent, but no ferocious or energetic

actions. Theirs did not lack pomp and magnificence of ceremony, but there was

added the action of sacrifice full of blood and ferocity, the killing of many

animals, which sight being terrible it rendered the men like unto it. In

addition to this, the ancient Religion did not beatify men except those full of

worldly glory, such as were the Captains of armies and Princes of Republics. Our

Religion has glorified more humble and contemplative men rather than men of

action. It also places the highest good in humility, lowliness, and contempt of

human things: the other places it in the greatness of soul, the strength of

body, and all the other things which make men very brave. And, if our Religion

requires that there be strength (of soul) in you, it desires that you be more

adept at suffering than in achieving great deeds.

This mode of living appears to me, therefore, to have rendered the world weak

and a prey to wicked men, who can manage it securely, seeing that the great body

of men, in order to go to Paradise, think more of enduring their beatings than

in avenging them. And although it appears that the World has become effeminate

and Heaven disarmed, yet this arises without doubt more from the baseness of men

who have interpreted our Religion in accordance with Indolence and not in

accordance with Virtu. For if they were to consider that it (our Religion)

permits the exaltation and defense of the country, they would see that it

desires that we love and honor her (our country), and that we prepare ourselves

so that we can be able to defend her. This education and false interpretations,

therefore, are the cause that in the world as many Republics are not seen in

them that the people have as much love for liberty now as at that time. I

believe, however, the reason for this rather to be, that the Roman Empire with

its arms and greatness destroyed all the Republics and all civil institutions.

And although that Empire was later dissolved, yet these Cities could not reunite

themselves, nor reorganize their civil institutions, except in a very few places

in that Empire.

But however it was, the Romans found a conspiracy in every smallest part of the

world of Republics very well armed and most obstinate in the defense of their

liberty. Which shows that the Roman people could never have overcome them

without that rare and extreme virtu. And to give an example of one instance, the

example of the Samnites suffices for me, which seems to be a marvelous one. And

T. Livius admits that these (people) were so powerful and their arms so valiant,

that, up to the time of the Consul Papirus Cursor, son of the first Papirus, for

a period of forty six years, they were able to resist the Romans, despite the

many defeats, destruction of Towns, and massacres suffered by their country.

Especially as it is now seen that that country where there were so many Cities

and so many men, is now almost uninhabited: and yet it was so well established

and so powerful, that it was unconquerable except by Roman virtu. And it is an

easy thing whence that order and disorder proceeded, for it all comes from their

then living in freedom and now living in servitude. For all the towns and

provinces which are free in every way ((as was said above)) make the greatest

advances. For here greater populations are seen because marriages are more free

and more desired by men, because everyone willingly procreates those children

that he believes he is able to raise without being apprehensive that their

patrimony will be taken away, and to know that they are not only born free and

not slaves, but are also able through their own virtu to become Princes. They

will see wealth multiplied more rapidly, both that which comes from the culture

(of the soil) and that which comes from the arts, for everyone willingly

multiplies those things and seek to acquire those goods whose acquisition he

believes he can enjoy. Whence it results that men competing for both private and

public betterment, both come to increase in a wondrous manner. The contrary of

all these things happens in those countries which live in servitude, and the

more the good customs are lacking, the more rigorous is the servitude. And the

hardest of all servitudes is that of being subject to a Republic: the one,

because it is more enduring and the possibility of escaping from it is missing:

the other, because the final aim of a Republic is to enervate and weaken ((in

order to increase its own power)) all the other states. Which a Prince who

subjugates you does not do unless that Prince is some barbarous Prince, a

destroyer of countries and dissipater of all human civilization, such as are

oriental Princes: But if he has ordinary human feelings in him, most of the

times he will love equally the Cities subject to him, and will leave them

(enjoy) all their arts, and almost all their ancient institutions. So that if

they cannot grow as if they were free, they will not be ruined even in

servitude; servitude being understood as that in which Cities serve a foreigner,

for of that to one of their own Citizens, we have spoken above.

Whoever considers, therefore, all that which has been said, will not marvel at

the power which the Samnites had while they were free, and at the weakness to

which they came afterwards under servitude: and T. Livius gives testimony of

this in many places, and mainly in the war with Hannibal, where he shows that

when the Samnites were pressed by a legion of (Romans) who were at Nola, they

sent Orators (Ambassadors) to Hannibal to beg him to succor them. Who in their

speech said to him. that for a hundred years they had combatted the Romans with

their own soldiers and their own Captains, and many times had sustained (battle

against) two consular armies and two Consuls; but now they had arrived at such

baseness that they were hardly able to defend themselves against the small Roman

legion which was at Nola.

CHAPTER III

ROME BECAME A GREAT CITY BY RUINING THE SURROUNDING CITIES AND ADMITTING

FOREIGNERS EASILY TO HER HONORS

Crescit interea Roma Albae ruinis. (Rome grew on the ruins of Alba) Those who

plan for a City to achieve great Empire ought with all industry to endeavor to

make it full of inhabitants, for without this abundance of men, one can never

succeed in making a City great. This is done in two ways, by love and by force.

Through love, by keeping the ways open and secure for foreigners who should plan

to come to live there. Through force, by destroying the neighboring Cities and

sending their inhabitants to live in your City. Which was so greatly observed by

Rome, that in the time of the sixth King of Rome, that there lived there eighty

thousand men capable of bearing arms. For the Romans wanted to act according to

the custom of the good cultivator, who, in order to make a plant grow and able

to produce and mature its fruits, cuts off the first branches that it puts out,

so that by retaining that virtu in the roots of that plant, they can in time

grow more green and more fruitful. And that this method of aggrandizing and

creating an Empire was necessary and good, is shown by the example of Sparta and

Athens; which two Republics although well armed and regulated by excellent laws,

none the less did not attain to the greatness of the Roman Empire, and Rome

appeared more tumultuous and not as well regulated as those others. No other

reason can be adduced for this than that mentioned above; for Rome, from having

enlarged the population of the City in both those two ways, was enabled to put

two hundred thousand men under arms, while Sparta and Athens were never able (to

raise) twenty thousand each. Which resulted not from the site of Rome being more

favorable than those of the other, but solely from the different mode of

procedure. For Lycurgus, founder of the Spartan Republic, thinking that nothing

could more easily dissolve its laws than the admixture of new inhabitants, did

everything (he could) so that foreigners would not come to them; and in addition

to not receiving them into their citizenship by marriage, and other commerce

that makes men come together, ordered that in that Republic of his only leather

money should be spent, in order to take away from everyone the desire to come

there in order to bring in merchandise or some arts: of a kind so that the City

could never increase its inhabitants. And because all our actions imitate

nature, it is neither possible nor natural that a slender trunk should sustain a

big branch. A small Republic, therefore, cannot conquer Cities or Republics

which are larger and more valiant than it; and if it does conquer them, it

happens then to them as to that tree that has its branches bigger than its

trunk, which sustains it only with great effort with every little breeze that

blows; such as is seen happened in Sparta, which had conquered all the Cities of

Greece, but as soon as Thebes rebelled, all the others rebelled, and the trunk

remained alone without branches. Which could not have happened to Rome, as it

had its trunk so big that it could sustain any branch. This mode of proceeding

therefore, together with others which will be mentioned below, made Rome great

and most powerful. Which T. Livius points out in two (few) words, when he said:

Rome grew while Alba was ruined.

CHAPTER IV

REPUBLICS HAVE HAD THREE WAYS OF EXPANDING

Whoever has studied the ancient histories finds that Republics had three ways of

expanding. One has been that which the ancient Tuscans observed, of being one

league of many united Republics, where there is not any one before the other

either in authority or in rank. And in acquiring other Cities they made them

associates of themselves, as in a similar way the Swiss do in these times, and

as the Achaens and Aetolians did in ancient times in Greece. And as the Romans

had many wars with the Tuscans ((in order to illustrate better the first

method)) I will extend myself in giving a particular account of them. Before the

Roman Empire, the Tuscans were the most powerful people in Italy, both on land

and on the sea, and although there is no particular history of their affairs,

yet there is some small record and some signs of their greatness; and it is

known that they sent a colony to the sea, above (north of) them, which they

called Adria, which was so noble that it gave a name to that sea which the

Latins also called the Adriatic. It is also known that their arms (authority)

was obeyed from the Tiber up to the foot of the Alps which now encircle the

greater part of Italy; notwithstanding that two hundred years before the Romans

became so powerful that the said Tuscans lost the Dominion of that country which

today is called Lombardy: which province had been seized by the Gauls, who,

moved either by necessity or the sweetness of the fruits, and especially of the

wine, came into Italy under their leader Bellovesus, and having defeated and

driven out the inhabitants of the province, they settled there where they built

many Cities, and they called that Province Gallia from the name they themselves

had, which they kept until they were subjugated by the Romans. The Tuscans,

then, lived in that equality and proceeded in their expansion through the first

method which was mentioned above: and there were twelve Cities, among which were

Clusium, Veii, Fiesole, Arezzo, Volterra, and others like them, which through a

league governed their Empire; nor could they go outside of Italy with their

acquisitions, a great part of which still remained intact (independent), for the

reasons which will be mentioned below.

The other method is to make them associates; not so closely, however, that the

position of commanding the seat of the Empire and the right of sovereignty

should not remain with you; which method was observed by the Romans. The third

method is to make subjects of them immediately and not associates, as did the

Spartans and Athenians. Of which three methods this last is entirely useless as

is seen was the case in the above mentioned two Republics, which were ruined for

no other reason than from having acquired that dominion which they were unable

to maintain. For to undertake the governing of Cities by violence, especially

those which were accustomed to living in freedom, is a difficult and wearisome

thing. And unless you are armed, and powerfully armed, you cannot either command

or rule them. And to want to be thus established, it is necessary to make

associates of them who would help in increasing the population of your City. And

as these two Cities (Sparta and Athens) did not do either the one or the other,

their method of procedure was useless. And because Rome, which is an example of

the second method, did both things, she therefore rose to such exceeding power.

And as she had been the only one to act thusly, so too she had been the only one

to become so powerful; for she had created many associates throughout all Italy,

who lived with them in many respects equally under the law, but on the other

hand ((as I said above)) she always reserved for herself the seat of Empire and

the right of command, so that these associates of hers came ((without their

being aware of it)) through their own efforts and blood to subjugate themselves.

For as soon as they begun to go beyond Italy with their armies to reduce other

Kingdoms to Provinces, and to make for themselves subjects of those who, having

been accustomed to live under Kings, did not care to be subjects, and from

having Roman governors, and having been conquered by armies under Roman command,

they recognized no one to be superior other than the Romans. So that those

associates of Rome (who were) in Italy found themselves suddenly surrounded by

Roman subjects and pressed by a very large City like Rome: and when they

understood the deceit under which they had lived they were not in time to remedy

it, for Rome had achieved so much authority with the (acquisition) of the

external provinces, and so much power was to be found within themselves, the

City having become greatly populated and well armed. And although these

associates of hers conspired against her in order to avenge the injuries

inflicted on them, they were defeated (in war) in a short time, worsening their

condition; for from being associates they too became their subjects. This method

of proceeding ((as has been said)) had been observed only by the Romans; and a

Republic which wants to aggrandize itself cannot have any other method, for

experience has not shown anything else more certain and more true.

The fore-mentioned method of creating Leagues, such as were the Tuscans,

Achaians, and the Aetolians, and as are the Swiss today, is, after that of the

Romans, the better method; for with it, it is not possible to expand greatly,

but two benefits ensue: the one, that they are not easily drawn into war: the

other, that that which you take you can easily hold. The reason they are not

able to expand is that Republics are not united and have their seats in several

places, which makes it difficult for them to consult and decide. It also makes

them undesirous of dominating, for, as many Communities participating in that

dominion, they do not value much such acquisitions as does a single Republic

which hopes to enjoy it entirely by itself. In addition to this they are

governed by a council, and it follows that they are tardier in every decision

than those which come from those who live in the same circle. It is also seen

from experience that such methods of procedure have a fixed limit, of which

there is no example which indicates it has ever been transgressed; and this

(limit) is the addition of twelve or fourteen communities, beyond which they

cannot go, and as their defending themselves appears to them to be difficult

they do not seek greater dominion, as much because necessity does not constrain

them to have more power, as well as for not recognizing any usefulness in

further acquisitions for the reason mentioned above: for they have to do one of

two things: either to continue making additional associates for themselves, as

this multitude would cause confusion, or they would have to make them subjects

to themselves. And as they see the difficulty of this, and little usefulness in

maintaining it, they see no value in it. When, therefore, they are come to such

a great number that it appears to them they can live securely, they turn to two

things: the one, to take up the protection of others who seek it, and by this

means obtain money from each one, and which they can readily distribute among

themselves: the other, is to become soldiers for others and accept a stipend

from this Prince or that, who hires them for undertaking his enterprises, as is

seen the Swiss do these days, and as one reads was done by the above mentioned

ones. Of which Titus Livius gives testimony, where he tells of Philip, King of

Macedon, coming to negotiate with Titus Quintus Flaminius, and discussing the

accord in the presence of a Praetor of the Aetolians, the said Praetor in coming

to talk with him, was by him reprimanded for avarice and infidelity, saying that

the Aetolians were not ashamed to enlist in the military service for one, and

then also send their men into the service of the enemy, so that many times the

Aetolian ensigns were seen among the two opposing armies. We see, therefore,

that this method of proceeding through leagues has always been the same, and has

had the same results. It is also seen that the method of making (them) subjects

has always been ineffective and to have produced little profit: and when they

had carried this method too far, they were soon ruined. And if this method of

making subjects is useless in armed Republics, it is even more useless in those

which are unarmed, as the Republics of Italy have been in our times.

It is to be recognized, therefore, that the Romans had the certain method, which

is so much more admirable as there was no example before Rome, and there has

been no one who has imitated them since Rome. And as to leagues, only the Swiss

and the league of Swabia are found to be the only ones which imitated them. And

finally of this matter it will be said, so many institutions observed by Rome,

pertinent to the events both internal as well as external, have not only not

been imitated in our times, but have not been taken into account, being judged

by some not to be true, by some impossible, by some not applicable and useless.

So that by remaining in this ignorance we (Italy) are prey to anyone who has

wanted to rule this province. But if the imitation of the Romans appeared

difficult, that the ancient Tuscans ought not to appear so, especially by the

present Tuscans. For if they could not acquire that power in Italy, which that

method of procedure would have given them, they lived in security for a long

time, with very much glory of Dominion and arms, and especially praise for their

customs and Religion. Which power and glory was first diminished by the Gauls,

and afterwards extinguished by the Romans: and was so completely extinguished,

that, although two thousand years ago the power of the Tuscans was great, at

present there is almost no memory. Which thing has made me think whence this

oblivion of things arises, as will be discussed in the following chapter.

CHAPTER V

THAT THE CHANGES OF SECTS AND LANGUAGES, TOGETHER WITH THE ACCIDENT OF DELUGES

AND PESTILENCE, EXTINGUISHED THE MEMORY OF THINGS

To those Philosophers who hold that the World has existed from eternity, I

believe it is possible to reply, that, if such great antiquity was true, it

would be reasonable that there should be some record of more than five thousand

years, except it is seen that the records of those times have been destroyed

from diverse causes: of which some were acts of men, some of Heaven. Those that

are acts of men are the changes of the sects (religion) and of languages.

Because, when a new sect springs up, that is, a new Religion, the first effort

is ((in order to give itself reputation)) to extinguish the old; and if it

happens that the establishers of the new sect are of different languages, they

extinguish it (the old) easily. Which thing is known by observing the method

which the Christian Religion employed against the Gentile (heathen) sect, which

has cancelled all its institutions, all of its ceremonies, and extinguished

every record of that ancient Theology. It is true that they did not succeed in

entirely extinguishing the records of the things done by their excellent men,

which has resulted from their having maintained the Latin language, which was

done by force, having to write this new law in it. For if they could have

written it in a new language, considering the other persecutions they suffered,

none of the past events would have been recorded. And whoever reads the methods

used by Saint Gregory and the other Heads of the Christian Religion, will see

with what obstinacy they persecuted all the ancient memorials, burning the works

of the Poets and Historians, ruining statues, and despoiling every thing else

that gave any sign of antiquity. So that, if to this persecution they had added

a new language, it would have been seen that in a very brief time everything

(previous) would have been forgotten.

It is to be believed, therefore, that that which the Christian Religion wanted

to do against the Gentile sect, the Gentiles did against that which preceded

them. And as these sects changed two or three times in five or six thousand

years, all memory of things done before that time are lost. And if, however,

some signs of it were left, it would be considered a fabulous thing, and not to

be given credence: as happened with the history of Diodorus Siculus, who

although he gives account of forty or fifty thousand years, none the less it is

reputed ((as I believe it is )) a mendacious thing.

As to the causes that come from Heaven, they are those that extinguish the human

race and reduce the inhabitants of parts of the world to a very few. And this

results either from pestilence, or famine, or from an inundation of water; and

the last is the most important, as much because it is the most universal, as

because those who are saved are men of the mountains and rugged, who, not having

any knowledge of antiquity, cannot leave it to posterity. And if among them

there should be saved one who should have this knowledge, he would hide it or

pervert it in his own way in order to create a reputation and name for himself;

so that there remains to his successors only what he wanted to write, and

nothing else. And that these inundations, pestilences, and famines, occur, I do

not believe there is any doubt, not only because all histories are full of them,

but also because the effects of these oblivious things are seen, and because it

appears reasonable they should be; For in nature as in simple bodies, when there

is an accumulation of much superfluous matter, it very often moves by itself and

makes a purgation which is healthy to that body; and so it happens in this

compound body of the human race, that when all the provinces are full of

inhabitants so that they cannot live or go elsewhere in order to occupy and fill

up all places, and when human astuteness and malignity has gone as far as they

can go, it happens of necessity that the world purges itself in one of the three

ways, so that men having been chastised and reduced in number, live more

commodiously and become better. Tuscany, then, was once powerful, as was said

above, full of Religion and Virtu had its own customs and its own national

language; all of which was extinguished by the Roman power. So that ((as was

said)) nothing remained of it but the memory of its name.

CHAPTER VI

HOW THE ROMANS PROCEEDED IN MAKING WAR

Having discussed how the Romans proceeded in their expansion, we will now

discuss how they proceeded in making war, and it will be seen with how much

prudence they deviated in all the actions from the universal methods of others,

in order to make their road to supreme greatness easy. The intention of whoever

makes war, whether by election or from ambition, is to acquire and maintain the

acquisition, and to proceed in such a way so as to enrich themselves and not to

impoverish the (conquered) country and his own country. It is necessary,

therefore, both in the acquisition and in the maintenance, to take care not to

spend (too much), rather to do every thing for the usefulness of his people.

Whoever wants to do all these things must hold to the Roman conduct and method,

which was first to make the war short and sharp, as the French say, for corning

into the field with large armies, they dispatched all the wars they had with the

Latins, Samnites, and Tuscans, in the briefest time. And if all those things

they did from the beginning of Rome up to the siege of the Veienti were to be

noted, it will be seen that they were all dispatched some in six, some in ten,

some in twenty days; for this was their usage. As soon as war broke out, they

went out with the armies to meet the enemy and quickly came to the engagement.

Which, when they won it, the enemy ((so that their countryside should not be

completely laid waste)) came to terms, and the Romans condemned them (to turn

over) lands, which lands they converted into private possessions or consigned

them to a colony, which, placed on the confines of those people, served as a

guard to the Roman frontiers, with usefulness as well to those colonists who

received those fields as to the people of Rome, who, without expense, maintained

that guard. Nor could this method be more secure, more effectual, or more

useful. For, as long as the enemy were not in the fields, that guard was enough;

but as soon as they went out in force to oppress that Colony, the Romans also

came out in force and came to an engagement with them, and having waged and won

the battle, (and), having imposed heavier conditions on them, they returned

home. Thus, little by little, they came to acquire reputation over them and

strength within themselves (their state). And they kept to this method up to the

time of war when they changed the method of proceeding; which was after the

siege of the Veienti, where, in order to be able to wage a long war, they

ordered them to pay their soldiers, (and) which at first ((since it was not

necessary as the wars were short)) they did not pay. And although the Romans

gave them the money, and by virtue of which they were able to wage longer wars,

and to keep them at a greater distance if necessity should keep them in the

field longer, none the less they never varied from the original system of

finishing them quickly, according to the place and time: nor did they ever vary

from sending out of colonies. For, in the first system, the ambition of the

Consuls contributed in making the wars short ((in addition to the natural

custom)), who, being elected for one year, and six months of that year in

quarters, wanted to finish the war in order to (have a) triumph. In the sending

of colonies there was usefulness to them and resultant great convenience. They

(the Romans) made a good distribution of booty, with which they were not as

liberal as they were at first, as much because it did not appear to them to be

so necessary ((the soldiers receiving a stipend)), as also because the booty

being larger, they planned to enrich themselves of it so that the public should

not be constrained to undertake the enterprises with the tributes from the City.

Which system in a short time made their Treasury very rich. These two methods,

therefore, of distributing the booty and of sending of colonies, caused Rome to

be enriched by the wars while other unwise Princes and Republics were

impoverished (by theirs). And these were brought to such limits that a Consul

did not think he could obtain a triumph unless, with his triumph, he could bring

much gold and silver, and every other kind of booty into the Treasury.

Thus the Romans with the above described conditions and by finishing wars

quickly, being satisfied by the length (of the wars) to massacre the enemy, and

by defeating (their armies) and overrunning (their lands), and (making) accords

to their advantage, always became richer and more powerful.

CHAPTER VII

HOW MUCH LAND THE ROMANS GAVE EACH COLONIST

I believe it is very difficult to find out the truth as to how much land the

Romans distributed per colonist. I believe they gave them more or less,

according to the places where they sent the colonies. And I would judge that in

any instance and in all places the distribution was small. First, in order to

send a greater number of men assigned to guard that country: then, as they lived

poorly at home it would not have been reasonable that they should desire that

their men should live too abundantly outside.

And T. Livius says that, after taking Veii, they sent a colony there and

distributed to each three and seven-twelfths (3 7/12) Jugeri of land, which in

our measures are ... (2 2/3 acres). For, in addition to the above written

things, they judged it was not the amount of land, but its good cultivation,

that should suffice. It is necessary also that all the colonies have public

fields where everyone could pasture their beasts, and forests where they could

get wood to burn, without which things a colony cannot organize itself.

CHAPTER VIII

THE REASON WHY PEOPLE DEPART FROM THEIR NATIONAL PLACES AND INUNDATE THE COUNTRY

OF OTHERS

Since there has been discussed above the method of proceeding in war observed by

the Romans and how the Tuscans were assaulted by the Gauls, it does not appear

to me alien to the subject to discuss how two kinds of war are made. One is

waged because of the ambitions of Princes or of a Republic that seek to extend

their Empire, such as were the wars that Alexander the Great waged, and those

that the Romans waged, and those which one power wages against another. While

these wars are dangerous, they never drive all the inhabitants out of a

province, but the obedience of the people is enough for the conqueror, and most

of the times he leaves them to live with their laws, and always with their homes

and possessions: The other kind of war is when an entire people with all their

families are taken away from a place, necessitated either by famine or by war,

and goes to seek a new seat in a new province, not in order to seek dominion

over them as those others above, but to possess it absolutely; and to drive out

or kill its old inhabitants. This kind of war is most cruel and most frightful.

And of these wars Sallust discusses at the end of (the history) of Jugurtha,

when he says that, after Jugurtha was defeated, movements of the Gauls coming

into Italy were heard: where he (also) says that the Roman People had combatted

with all the other peoples only as to who should dominate, but that with the

Gauls they combatted for the (very) existence of each. For to a Prince or a

Republic that assaults a province, it is enough to extinguish only those who

command, but to these entire populations, it behooves them to extinguish

everyone because they want to live on that which the others lived.

The Romans had three of these most perilous wars. The first was when Rome was

taken, which was occupied by those Gauls who had detached Lombardy ((as was

mentioned above)) from the Tuscans and made it their seat: for which Titus

Livius assigns two causes: The first, as was said above, that they were

attracted by the sweetness of the fruits and wines of Italy, which were lacking

in France: The second, that in that Kingdom of Gaul, men multiplied so fast that

they were no longer able to feed them, (and) the Princes decided it should be

necessary that a part of them should go some place to seek a new country. And

having made such a decision, they elected as captains over those who should

depart Bellovesus and Sicovesus, two Kings of the Gauls, of whom Bellovesus went

into Italy and Sicovesus passed into Spain. From the passage of this Bellovesus

there resulted the occupation of Lombardy, and hence the first war that the

Gauls made against Rome. After this came that which they made after the first

Carthaginian war, where they (the Romans) killed over two hundred thousand Gauls

between Piombino and Pisa. The third was when the Teutons and Cimbrians came

into Italy, who having overcome several Roman armies, were defeated by Marius.

The Romans, therefore, won these three most perilous wars. And no little virtu

was necessary to win them; for it is seen that when that Roman virtu was lost

(and), those arms lost their ancient valor, that Empire was destroyed by similar

people, such as were the Goths, Vandals, and the like, who occupied all the

western Empire.

These people go out from their countries ((as was said above)) driven by

necessity; and the necessity arises from famine, or war, and oppression, which

in their own country is experienced by them, so that they are constrained to

seek new land. And these such are sometimes of a great number, and then enter

into the countries of others with violence, killing the inhabitants, taking

possession of their goods, create a new Kingdom, and change the name of the

province, as Moses did, and those people who occupied the Roman Empire. For

these new names that exist in Italy and in the provinces, do not come from

anything else than of having been thus named by the new occupiers, such as is

Lombardy which was called Cisalpine Gaul, France which was called Transalpine

Gaul, and now is called after the Franks, as those people were called who had

occupied it; Slavonia was called Illyria, Hungary Pannonia, England Brittania,

and many other provinces which have changed names, to recount which would be

tedious. Moses also called that part of Syria occupied by him Judea. And as I

have said above that sometimes such people are driven from their own seats

because of war, whence they are constrained to seek new lands, I want to cite

the example of the Maurusians, a most ancient people of Syria, who, hearing of

the coming of the Hebrew people and judging not to be able to resist them,

thought it better to save themselves and leave their own country, than to

attempt to save it and lose themselves; and taking up their families, they went

to Africa where they established themselves after driving out those inhabitants

whom they found in that place. And thus those who were unable to defend their

own country, were able to occupy that of others. And Procopius, who wrote of the

war that Belisarius made against the Vandals, occupiers of Africa, refers to

having read letters written on certain columns in the places that were inhabited

by these Maurusians, which said: We Maurusians here fled from before Jesus the

robber, son of Narva. Whence appeared the reason of their departure from Syria.

These people, therefore, who have been driven out by an extreme necessity are

most formidable, and if they are not confronted by good arms, will never be

checked. But when those who are constrained to abandon their own country are not

many, they are not as dangerous as those people who were discussed, for they are

unable to use as much violence but must employ cunning in occupying some place,

and having occupied it, to maintain themselves by way of friends and

confederates: as is seen was done by Aeneas, and Dido, and the Massalians, and

the like, all of whom were able to maintain themselves, with the consent of

their neighbors.

The great numbers of people that went out, and are going out, are almost all

from the country of Scythia, a cold and poor place, where, because there were a

great number of men and the country of a kind which was unable to feed them,

they are forced to go out, having many things which drive them out and none to

retain them. And if in the past five hundred years it has not occurred that some

of these people have not inundated any country, it arises from several reasons.

The first, the great evacuation which that country made during the decline of

the Empire, when more than thirty tribes left (Scythia). The second is, that

Germany and Hungary, whence also such people went out, have now improved their

country so that they are able to live comfortably, that they are not

necessitated to change places. On the other hand, their men being very warlike

are a bastion in holding back the Scythians, who have the same boundary with

them, from presuming to overcome or pass through them. And often times there

occurred very great movements of Tartars, who were later checked by the

Hungarians and the Poles, and they often boast that if it had not been for their

arms, Italy and the Church would have many times felt the weight of the Tartar

armies. And this I want to be enough concerning the people mentioned.

CHAPTER IX

WHAT CAUSES COMMONLY MAKE WARS ARISE BETWEEN THE POWERFUL

The cause which made war arise between the Romans and the Samnites who were in

league for a long time, is a common cause which arises among all powerful

Principalities. Which cause either arises by chance or is made to arise by those

who desire to set a war in motion. That which arose between the Romans and the

Samnites was by chance, for it was not the intention of the Samnites, in setting

the war in motion against the Sidicians, and afterwards against the Campanians,

to set it in motion against the Romans. But the Campanians being hard pressed

and having recourse to Rome, beyond the thoughts of the Romans and the Samnites,

the Campanians forced the Romans to take them to themselves as subjects of

theirs, so that it appeared to them (the Romans) they could not honorably evade

(the obligation) of defending them, and (hence) take up that war. For it indeed

appeared reasonable to the Romans not to defend the Campanians as friends

against the Samnites, who were their friends, but it seemed to them disgraceful

not to defend them as subjects, even though voluntary ones, judging that if they

did not undertake such defense, it would alienate all those who should plan to

come under their dominion. And as the aim of Rome was Empire and Glory, and not

Quiet, she could not refuse this enterprise.

This same cause gave beginning to the first war against the Carthaginians

because of the defense of the Messenians in Sicily which the Romans undertook,

which was also by chance. But the second war which afterwards arose between them

was not by chance, for Hannibal the Carthaginian Captain assaulted the

Saguntines friends of the Romans in Spain, not to injure them, but to move the

Romans to arms, and to have occasion to combat them and pass into Italy. This

method of kindling new wars has always been customary among Powers, and who have

some respect for the faith (treaties) with others. For if I want to make war

against a Prince, and have between us a signed treaty observed for a long time,

I would assault a friend of his very own with some other pretext and

justification, especially knowing that in assaulting his friend either he would

resent it and I would obtain my intention of making war against him, or if he

did not resent it, his weakness and unfaithfulness in not defending his ally

will take away reputation from him, and to execute my designs more easily.

It ought to be noted, therefore, because of the dedication of the Campanians in

setting the war in motion in the way mentioned above, that the best remedy which

a City has, that is unable to defend itself, but wants to defend itself in

whatever manner against anyone who should assault them: which is to give itself

freely to whomever they design to defend them, as the Campanians did to the

Romans, and the Florentines to King Robert of Naples, who, unwilling to defend

them as friends, defended them afterwards as subjects against the forces of

Castruccio of Lucca who was pressing them hard.

CHAPTER X

MONEY IS NOT THE SINEW OF WAR ALTHOUGH THIS IS COMMON OPINION

Because anyone can commence a war at his pleasure, but cannot so finish it, a

Prince ought before he undertakes an enterprise to measure his forces, and

govern himself in accordance with them. But he ought to have so much prudence as

not to deceive himself of the two forces: and he will deceive himself every time

when he measures it either by his money, or by the location (of his country), or

by good will of his people, while on the other hand he lacks his own arms. For

although the above things will increase his strength, (but) they will not give

it to him, and of themselves are nothing, and will not be of benefit without

trustworthy arms. For without them, great amounts of money will not suffice you,

the strength of the country will not benefit you, and the faith and good will of

men will not endure, as these cannot remain faithful to you if you are not able

to defend them. Every mountain, every lake, every inaccessible place becomes a

plain where strong defenders are lacking. Money alone, also, will not defend

you, but causes you to be plundered more readily. Nor can that common opinion be

more false which says that money is the sinew of war. Which sentence was said by

Quintus Curtius in the war which existed between Antipater the Macedonian and

the King of Sparta, where he narrates that because of a want of money the King

of Sparta was obliged to come to battle and was routed, that if he had deferred

the fight a few days the news of the death of Alexander in Greece would have

arrived, whence he would have remained victor without fighting. But lacking

money, and being apprehensive that, for the want of which, his army would

abandon him, was constrained to try the fortune of battle. So that for this

reason Quintus Curtius affirms money to be the sinew of war. Which opinion is

alleged every day, and acted on by not so prudent Princes to whom it is enough

to follow it: For relying on it, they believe it is enough to have much treasure

to defend themselves, and do not think that if treasure should be enough to win,

that Darius would have vanquished Alexander, the Greeks would have vanquished

the Romans, and in our times Duke Charles would have vanquished the Swiss, and a

few days ago the Pope and the Florentine together would not have had difficulty

in defeating Francesco Maria, nephew of Julius II, in the war at Urbino. But all

the above named were vanquished by those who esteemed not money, but good

soldiers, as the sinew of war.

Among other things that Croesus, King of Lydia, showed to Solon the Athenian was

a countless treasure: and asking what he thought his power to be, Solon answered

that he did not judge him more powerful because of that, because war was made

with iron and not gold, and that someone might come who had more iron than he

and would take it away from him. In addition to this, when, after the death of

Alexander the Great, a great multitude of Gauls passed into Greece and then into

Asia, and the Gauls sent Ambassadors to the King of Macedonia to treat of

certain accords, that King to show his power and to dismay them showed them much

gold and silver: whence those Gauls who had already as good as signed the peace

broke it, so much did the desire grow in them to take away that gold. And thus

was that King despoiled by the very thing that he had accumulated for defense.

The Venetians a few years ago also, having their Treasury full of treasure, lost

the State without being able to be defended by it.

I say, therefore, that gold ((as common opinion shouts)) is not the sinew of

war, but good soldiers; because gold is not sufficient to find good soldiers,

but good soldiers are indeed sufficient to find gold. To the Romans ((if they

had wanted to make war more with money instead of with iron)) it would not have

been enough to have all the treasure of the world, considering the great

enterprises that they made and the difficulties that they had to encounter. But

making their wars with iron, they never suffered from want of gold, because it

was brought, even up to their camps, by those who feared them. And if that King

of Sparta, because of a dearth of money, had to try the fortune of battle, that

which happened to him on account of money many times would have happened for

other causes; for it has been seen that any army lacking provisions, and being

obliged either to die of hunger or to engage in battle, will always take the

side of fighting as being more honorable, and where fortune can in some way

favor you. It has also happened many times that a Captain, seeing succor come to

the army of his enemy, has preferred to come to an engagement with him at once

and try the fortune of battle, rather than wait until he is reinforced and then

have to fight him in any case under a thousand disadvantages. It has also been

seen, how it happened to Hasdrubal when he was assaulted in the Marca (Metaurus

River) by Claudius Nero, together with the other Roman Consul, that a Captain

obliged either to fight or flee, always elects to fight, it seeming to him in

this way, even if most doubtful, to be able to win, but in the other to lose in

any case.

There are many necessities, therefore, which make a Captain choose the side of

coming to battle against his will, among which sometimes it can be the dearth of

money, but not for this ought money to be judged the sinew of war more than

other things which induce men to a similar necessity. Repeating again,

therefore, the sinew of war is not gold, but good soldiers. Money is indeed

necessary in a secondary place, but it is a necessity that good soldiers by

themselves will overcome; for it is impossible that good soldiers will lack

money, as it is for money by itself to find good soldiers. Every history in a

thousand places shows that which we say to be true, notwithstanding that

Pericles had counselled the Athenians to make war with all the Peloponnesus,

showing that they could win that war with perseverance and by the power of

money. And although in that war the Athenians at times had prospered, in the end

they lost, and the good counsels and good soldiers of Sparta were of more value

than the perseverance and the money of Athens. But the testimony of Titus Livius

is more direct than any other, where, discussing if Alexander the Great should

have come into Italy, if he would have vanquished the Romans, he showed three

things to be necessary for war, many and good soldiers, prudent Captains, and

good fortune: where examining whether the Romans or Alexander should have

prevailed in these things, afterwards makes his conclusion without ever

mentioning money. The Campanians had, when they were requested by the Sidicians

to take up arms of them against the Samnites, to measure their power by money

and not by soldiers; for having undertaken the proceeding to aid them, after two

defeats were constrained to make themselves tributaries of the Romans if they

wanted to save themselves.

CHAPTER XI

IT IS NOT A PRUDENT PROCEEDING TO MAKE AN ALLIANCE WITH A PRINCE WHO HAS MORE

REPUTATION THAN POWER

Titus Livius, wanting to show the error of the Sidicians in trusting to the aid

of the Campanians, and the error of the Campanians in believing themselves able

to defend them, could not say it with more forceful words, saying, The

Campanians brought a greater name in aid of the Sidicians, than they did men for

protecting them. Where it ought to be noted that leagues made with Princes who

have neither the convenience of aiding you because of the remoteness of their

location nor the strength to do so because of disorganization or other reasons

of theirs, bring more notoriety than aid to those who trust in them: as happened

in our times to the Florentines, when in one thousand four hundred seventy nine

(1479) the Pope and the King of Naples assaulted them, that being friends of the

King of France derived from that friendship more notoriety than protection; as

also would happen to that Prince who should undertake some enterprise trusting

himself to the Emperor Maximilian, because this is one of those friendships that

would bring to whoever made it more notoriety than protection, as is said in

this treatise of what that of the Campanians brought to the Sidicians.

¶ The Campanians, therefore, erred in this part by imagining themselves to have

more strength than they had. And thus little prudence sometimes does to men, who

not knowing how nor being able to defend themselves, want to undertake

enterprises to defend others; as also the Tarentines did, who, when the Roman

armies encountered the Samnites, sent ambassadors to the Roman Consul to make

him understand that they wanted peace between those two people, and that they

were ready to make war against the one that should refuse peace. So that the

Consul, laughing at this proposition, in the presence of the ambassadors, had

the (bugle) sound for battle and commanded his army to go and meet the enemy,

showing the Tarentines by acts and not words of what a reply they were worthy.

¶ And having in the present chapter discussed the wrong proceedings which

Princes undertake for the defense of others, in the following one I want to talk

of those means they should undertake for their own defense.

CHAPTER XII

IS IT BETTER, FEARING TO BE ASSAULTED, TO CARRY OUT OR AWAIT WAR

I have heard from men much practiced in the things of war some time discuss

whether, if there are two Princes of almost equal strength, if one more stalwart

has declared war against the other, what would be the better proceeding for the

other, either to await the enemy within his own boundaries, or to go out to meet

him in his house and assault him. And I have heard reasons cited on every side.

And those who defend the going out to assault the other, cite the counsel that

Croesus gave to Cyrus when, having arrived at the confines of the Messagates to

make war against them, their Queen Tamiri sent to say that they should select

which of the two proceedings they wanted, either to enter her Kingdom where she

would await him, or that he want her to come out to meet him: And the matter

coming under discussion, Croesus, against the opinion of the others, said that

he would go to meet her, saying that if he should vanquish her at a distance

from her kingdom, he would not be able to take away her kingdom because she

would have time to recover; but if he should vanquish her within her confines he

could follow her in flight and, by not giving her time to recover, could take

away her State from her. He also cites the counsel that Hannibal gave Antiochus

when that king planned to make war against the Romans, where he showed that the

Romans could not be beaten except in Italy, for there the others could avail

themselves of the arms and the wealth of their friends; but whoever would combat

them outside Italy and would leave Italy free to them, he would leave them that

font which would never lack life in supplying strength where it was needed: and

he concluded that Rome could be taken from the Romans easier than the Empire,

and Italy before the other provinces. He also cites Agatocles, who, not being

able to sustain the war at home, assaulted the Carthaginians who were waging it

against him, and reduced them to ask for peace. He cites Scipio, who, to lift

the war from Italy, assaulted Africa.

Those who speak to the contrary say that he who wants to inflict an evil on the

enemy will draw him away from home. They cite the Athenians, who, as long as

they made war convenient to their home, remained superior, but that when they

went a distance with their armies into Sicily, lost their liberty. They cite the

poetic fables where it is shown that Anteus, King of Libya, being assaulted by

Hercules the Egyptian, was insuperable as long as he awaited him within the

confines of his own kingdom, but as soon as he went off a distance, through the

astuteness of Hercules, lost the State and his life. Whence a place is given to

the fable of Anteus who, when (thrown) on the ground, recovered his strength

from his mother which was the earth, and that Hercules, becoming aware of this,

lifted him high (and) off the ground. They also cite modern judges. Everyone

knows that Ferrando, King of Naples, was held to be a most wise Prince in his

time, and when two years before his death, news came that the King of France,

Charles VIII, wanted to come to assault him, after he had made preparations, but

fell sick, and as he was approaching death, among other advices he left to his

son Alfonso, was that he should await the enemy inside the Kingdom, and for

nothing in thy world to withdraw his forces outside of his State, but should

await him entirely within all his borders. Which (advice) was not observed by

him, but sending an army into the Romagna, without a fight, lost it and the

State. In addition to the instances described, the reasons that are cited in

favor of every (both) side are: That he who assaults comes with more spirit than

he who awaits, which makes the army more confident. In addition to this, many

advantages are taken away from the enemy to be able to avail himself of his

resources, (and) he will not be able to avail himself of those from his subjects

who have been plundered; and as the enemy is in his house, the Lord is

constrained to have more regard in extracting money from them and in overworking

them, so that that font comes to dry up, as Hannibal says, which makes him able

to sustain the war. In addition to this, his solders, because they find

themselves in the countries of others, are more necessitated to fight, and that

necessity makes virtu, as we have several times said.

On the other hand, it is said that in awaiting the enemy one waits with many

advantages, for without any inconvenience you can cause great inconveniences of

provisions and of every other thing which an army needs: You can better impede

his designs because of the greater knowledge of the country you have than he:

You can meet him with more strength because of being able to unite (concentrate)

(your forces) easily, while he cannot take his all away from home: You can ((if

defeated)) recover easily, as much because much can be saved of your army having

places of refuge near, as well as reinforcements do not have to come from a

distance, so that you come to risk all your forces but not all your fortune; but

taking yourself to a distance you risk all your fortune but not all your

strength. And there have been some who, in order better to weaken their enemy,

have allowed him to enter several days (march) into their country and to take

many Towns, so that by leaving garrisons everywhere his army is weakened, and

then they are able to combat him the more easily.

But to say now what I think, I believe that this distinction ought to be made:

either I have my country armed like the Romans and as the Swiss have, or I have

it disarmed like the Carthaginians, and as have the Kings of France and the

Italians. In this (latter) case the enemy ought to be kept distant from home,

for your virtu being in money and not in men, whenever that (money) may be

impeded to you, you are lost, and nothing will impede it to you as war at home.

As an example, there are the Carthaginians, who, as long as they were

undisturbed at home with their revenues, could make war against the Romans, but

when they were assaulted (in their own country) they were unable to resist

(even) Agathocles. The Florentines did not have any remedy against Castruccio,

Lord of Lucca, because he waged war against them at home, so that they were

obliged to give themselves ((in order to be defended)) to King Robert of Naples.

But after the death of Castruccio, those same Florentines had the courage to

assault the Duke of Milan in his home (territory) and work to take away his

Kingdom. As much virtu as they showed in distant wars, just so much baseness

(did they show) in nearby ones. But when Kingdoms are armed as Rome was armed

and as the Swiss are, the more difficult are they to overcome the nearer you are

to them. For these bodies (states) can unite more forces to resist an attack

(impetus) than they are able to assault others. Nor am I moved in this case by

the authority of Hannibal, because his passion and his interests make him say

thusly to Antiochus. For if the Romans had experienced in Gaul three such

defeats in so great a space of time as they had in Italy from Hannibal, without

doubt they would have been beaten; for they would not have availed themselves of

the remnants of the armies as they did in Italy, (and) could not have

reorganized them with the same ease, nor could they have resisted the enemy with

that same strength as they were able to. It has never been found that they ever

sent outside armies of more than fifty thousand men in order to assault a

province: but to defend themselves at home against the Gauls after the first

Punic war, they put eighteen hundred thousand men under arms. Nor could they

have put to rout those (Gauls) in Lombardy as they routed them in Tuscany, for

they could not have led so great a force against so great a number of enemies at

so great a distance, nor fight them with such advantage. The Cimbrians routed a

Roman army in Germany; nor did the Romans have a remedy. But when they

(Cimbrians) came into Italy and they (Romans) were able to put all their forces

together, they destroyed them (Cimbrians). The Swiss are. easily beaten when

away from home where they cannot send more than thirty or forty thousand men,

but it is very difficult to beat them at home where they are able to gather

together a hundred thousand.

I conclude again, therefore, that that Prince who has his people armed and

organized for war should always await a powerful and dangerous war (enemy) at

home and not go out to meet it. But that (Prince) who has his subjects unarmed

and the country unaccustomed to war, should always keep it as distant as he can.

And thus one and the other ((each in his own manner)) will defend himself

better.

CHAPTER XIII

THAT ONE COMES FROM THE BOTTOM TO A GREAT FORTUNE MORE BY FRAUD THAN BY FORCE

I believe it to be a most true thing that it rarely or never happens that men of

little fortune come to high rank without force and without fraud, unless that

rank to which others have come is not obtained either by gift or by heredity.

Nor do I believe that force alone will ever be found to be enough; but it will

be indeed found that fraud alone will be enough; as those will clearly see who

read the life of Philip of Macedonia, that of Agathocles the Sicilian, and many

such others, who from the lowest, or rather low, fortune have arrived either to

a Kingdom or to very great Empires. Xenophon shows in his life of Cyrus this

necessity to deceive, considering that the first expedition that he has Cyrus

make against the King of Armenia is full of fraud, and that he makes him occupy

his Kingdom by deceit and not by force. And he does not conclude anything else

from such action except that to a Prince who wants to do great things, it is

necessary to learn to deceive. In addition to this, he made Cyraxes, King of the

Medes, his maternal uncle, to be deceived in so many ways, without which fraud

he shows that Cyrus could not have achieved that greatness he attained. Nor do I

believe anyone will ever be found of such fortune to have arrived at great

Empire only by force and ingenuity, but indeed only by fraud, as did Giovanni

Galeazzo in order to take away the State and Dominion of Lombardy from his uncle

Messer Bernabo. And that which Princes are obliged to do at the beginning of

their expansions, Republics are also obliged to do until they have become

powerful so that force alone will be enough. And as Rome used every means,

either by chance or by election, necessary to achieve greatness, she did not

also hesitate to use this one (fraud). Nor could she, in the beginning, use

greater deceit than to take up the method discussed above by us to make

associates for herself, because under this name she made them her slaves, as

were the Latins, and other surrounding people. For first she availed herself of

their arms to subdue the neighboring peoples and to take up the reputation of

the State: after subduing them, she achieved such great expansion that she could

beat everyone. And the Latins never became aware that they were wholly slaves

until they saw two routs of the Samnites and (saw them) constrained to come to

an accord. As this victory greatly increased the reputation of the Romans with

the distant Princes, who heard the Roman name and not their arms, generating

envy and suspicion in those who saw and felt those arms, among whom were the

Latins. And so much was this envy and so powerful this fear, that not only the

Latins, but the colonies they had in Latium, together with the Associates who

had been defended a short time before, conspired against the Roman name. And the

Latins began this war in the way mentioned above that the greater part of wars

are begun, not by assaulting the Romans, but by defending the Sidicians against

the Samnites, against whom the Samnites were making war with the permission of

the Romans. And that it is true that the Latins began the war because they had

recognized this deceit, is shown by T. Livius through the mouth of Annius

Setinus, a Latin Praetor, who in their council said these words: If even now

under the pretext of equal confederates, we can suffer servitude, etcetera.

It will be seen, therefore, that the Romans in their first expansions did not

also lack using fraud; which has always been necessary for those to use who,

from small beginnings, want to rise to sublime heights, which is less shameful

when it is more concealed, as was this of the Romans.

CHAPTER XIV

MEN OFTEN DECEIVE THEMSELVES BELIEVING THAT BY HUMILITY THEY OVERCOME

HAUGHTINESS

Many times it is seen that humility not only does not benefit, but harms,

especially when it is used by insolent men who, either from envy or for other

reasons, have conceived a hatred against you. Of this our Historian gives proof

on the occasion of the war between the Romans and the Latins. For when the

Samnites complained to the Romans that the Latins had assaulted them, the Romans

did not want to prohibit such a war to the Latins, desired not to irritate them;

which not only did not irritate them, but made them become more spirited against

them (Romans), and they discovered themselves as enemies more quickly. Of which,

the words of the aforementioned Annius, the Latin Praetor, in that same council,

attest, where he says: You have tried their patience in denying them military

aid: why do you doubt this should excite them? Yet they have borne this pain.

They have heard we are preparing an army against their confederates, the

Samnites, yet have not moved from their City. Whence is there such modesty,

except from their recognition of both our virility and theirs? It is very

clearly recognized, therefore, by this text how much the patience of the Romans

increased the arrogance of the Latins. And therefore a Prince ought never to

forego his own rank, and ought never to forego anything by accord, wanting to

forego it honorably, unless he is able or believes that he is able to hold it;

for it is almost always better ((matters having been brought to the point where

you cannot forego it in the manner mentioned)) to allow it to be taken away by

force, rather than by fear of force; for if you permit it from fear, you do so

in order to avoid war, but most of the times you do not avoid it, for he to whom

you have from baseness conceded this, will not be satisfied, but will want to

take other things away from you, and he will excite himself more against you

esteeming you less: and on the other hand, in your favor you will find the

defenders more cold, it appearing to them that you are either weak or a coward:

but as soon as you discover the intention of the adversary, if you prepare your

forces, even though they may be inferior to his, he will begin to respect you,

(and) the other neighboring Princes will respect you more, and the desire to aid

you will come to those ((being armed by you)) who, even if you gave yourself up,

would never aid you.

This is what is learned when you have an enemy: but when you have several, to

render to some of them some of your possessions, either to gain him over to

yourself even though war should already have broken out, or to detach your

enemies from the other confederates, is always a prudent proceeding.

CHAPTER XV

WEAK STATES ARE ALWAYS AMBIGUOUS IN THEIR RESOLUTIONS, AND WEAK DECISIONS ARE

ALWAYS HARMFUL

In connection with this same matter and with the origin of the war between the

Latins and the Romans it can be noted, that in all deliberations it is well to

come to the point of what it is to be decided and not to be always ambiguous,

nor to remain uncertain of the matter. Which is manifestly seen in the

deliberation that the Latins held when they thought of alienating themselves

from the Romans. For having foreseen this bad mood that had come upon the Latin

people, the Romans in order to assure themselves of the matter and to see if

they could regain those people to themselves without resorting to arms, made

them understand that they should send eight Citizens to Rome, because they

wanted to consult with them. The Latins, learning of this, and being conscious

of many things done against the wishes of the Romans, called a council to

arrange who should go to Rome and to give them the commission of what they

should say: And while this was deliberated in the councils, their Praetor Annius

said these words: I judge it to be most important for our interest, that we

should think of what we shall do that what we shall say: when we have decided

that, it will be easy to accommodate our words (the details of our counsels) to

our acts. These words without doubt are very true, and ought to be of benefit to

every Prince and every Republic; for words are not made to explain the ambiguity

and incertitude of that which is to be done, but once the mind is fixed, and

that which is to be done decided, it is an easy thing to find the words. I have

the more willingly noted this part, as I have known many such indecisions to

interfere with public actions, with damage and shame to our Republic: And this

will always happen that in doubtful proceedings and where spirit is needed in

making decisions, this ambiguity (indecision) will exist when these

deliberations and decisions have to be made by weak men. Slow and late decisions

are also not less harmful than ambiguous ones, especially when they have to

decide in favor of some friend, for no person is helped by their lateness, and

it injures oneself. Such decisions so made proceed from feebleness of spirit and

strength or from the malignity of those who have to decide, who, moved by their

own passion to want to ruin the State or to fulfill some desire of theirs, do

not allow the deliberations to proceed, but impede and thwart them. For good

citizens ((even though they see a popular fad turning itself into a perilous

course)) never impede deliberations, especially when those matters cannot be

delayed.

After the death of Hieronymus, Tyrant of Syracuse, while the war between the

Carthaginians and the Romans was at its height, a dispute arose among the

Syracusans whether they ought to follow the Roman friendship (alliance) or the

Carthaginian. And so great was the ardor of the parties that they remained

undecided, nor was any action taken, until at last Appolonides, one of the first

men of Syracuse, with a speech (of his) full of prudence, showed that those who

held the opinion to adhere to the Romans were not to be blamed, nor those who

wanted to follow the Carthaginian side; but that it was right to detest that

indecision and tardiness in taking up the proceeding, because he saw surely the

proceeding had been undertaken (the decision made), whatever it might be, some

good could be hoped for. Nor could T. Livius show better than in this case the

damage done by remaining undecided. He shows it also in the case of the Latins,

for the Lavinians seeking their aid against the Romans, they delayed so long in

determining upon it that, when they had just gone out of the gate with forces to

give them succor, the news arrived that the Latins were routed. Whence Milonius,

their Praetor, said: This short march would cost us much with the Roman people:

For if they had decided at once either to help or not to help the Latins, they

would by not aiding them not have irritated the Romans; and by helping them, the

aid being in time, they could by joining forces enable them to win; but by

delaying, they would come to lose in any case, as happened to them.

And if the Florentines had noted this text, they would not have received so much

injury or so much trouble from the French as they had in the passage of King

Louis XII of France to make war against Lodovico, Duke of Milan, in Italy. For

the King when he was considering such a passage sought to make an accord with

the Florentines, and the ambassadors to the King made an accord with him that

they would remain neutral, and that the King after coming into Italy should take

their State under his protection, and gave the City one month to ratify it. This

ratification was delayed by those who, because of little prudence, favored the

affairs of Lodovico, so that the King having already achieved his victory, and

the Florentines then wanting to ratify it, the ratification was not accepted, as

he recognized that the friendship of the Florentines came by force and not

voluntarily. Which cost the City of Florence much money, and was to lose them

the State, as happened to them another time from similar causes. And that

proceeding was so much more damnable because it did not even serve the Duke

Lodovico, who, if he had won, would have shown more signs of enmity against the

Florentines than did the King.

And although above in another chapter I have discussed the evil that results to

a Republic from this weakness, none the less having a new opportunity for a new

incident, I wanted to repeat it, especially as it seems to me a matter that

ought to be noted by Republics similar to ours.

CHAPTER XVI

HOW MUCH THE SOLDIERS IN OUR TIMES ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE ANCIENT ORGANIZATION

The most important engagement ever fought in any war with any nation by the

Roman People, was that which they had with the Latin people during the Consulate

of Torquatus and of Decius. As every reason would have it, just as by the loss

of the battle the Latins became slaves, so too the Romans would have been slaves

if they had not won. And Titus Livius is of this opinion, because on both sides

he makes the armies equal in organization, in virtu, in obstinacy, and in

numbers: the only difference he makes is that the Heads of the Roman army were

of more virtu than those of the Latin army. It will also be seen that in the

managing of this engagement, two incidents arose which had not arisen before,

and that afterwards were rare examples; that of the two Consuls, in order to

uphold the courage of the soldiers and keep them obedient to their command and

more deliberate in action, one killed himself and the other his son. The

equality which Titus Livius says existed in these armies resulted from their

having fought together a long time, having the same language, the same

discipline, and the same arms: For they held to the same manner in the order of

battle, and the organizations and Heads of the organization had the same names:

Being of equal strength and of equal virtu, it was therefore necessary that

something extraordinary should arise which would make one more firm and

obstinate than the other; in which obstinacy victory ((as was said at another

time)) was contained; for so long as that endured in the breasts of those who

combatted, no army will ever turn its back. And as it endured more in the

breasts of the Romans than in the Latins, partly chance and partly the virtu of

the Consuls gave rise that Torquatus had to kill his son and Decius himself.

In demonstrating this equality of strength, T. Livius shows the whole

organization that the Romans had in the armies and in battles. As he has

explained this at length, I will not otherwise repeat it; but I will discuss

only that which I judge to be notable, and that which, because it is neglected

by all Captains of these times, has caused many disorders in armies and battles.

I say, then, that from the text of Livius it is gathered that the Roman armies

were composed of three principal divisions, which in Tuscan can be called Ranks,

and they named the first Astati, the second Principi, the third Triari, and each

of these had its cavalry. In organizing a battle they put the Astati in front,

directly behind in the second line they placed the Principi, and in the same

manner in the third line they placed the Triari. The cavalry of all of these

orders were placed to the right and the left of these three battalions, the

ranks of which cavalry, from their shape and place, they called Alae (Wings),

because they seemed like two wings of that body. They arranged the first ranks

of the Astati, which were in the front and serried in a way that it could strike

or sustain (the attack of) the enemy. The second line of the Principi ((as it

was not the first in combat, but was bound to support the first line when it was

struck or hurled back)), they did not make straight, but maintained its order

open (thin) and of a kind so that it could receive within itself the first line,

without disordering itself, whenever, pushed by the enemy, it should be

necessary for them to retreat. The third line of the Triari was arranged even

more open than the second, in order to receive within itself, if need be, the

first two lines of Principi, and Astati. These three ranks thus deployed kindled

the battle, and if the Astati were forced or overcome, they retreated into the

open ranks of the Principi, and the two ranks being united together into one

body rekindled the battle: if these were also forced or rebuffed, they both

retired into the open ranks of the Triari, and all these ranks becoming one

body, renewed the fight; where, if they were overcome ((for not having further

reinforcements)) they lost the engagement. And as every time that this last rank

of Triari became engaged, the army was in danger, and gave rise to that proverb,

The matter has come to the Triari, which in Tuscan usage means to say, we have

put up the last resource.

The captains of our times, having abandoned entirely the organization and no

longer observing the ancient discipline, have thus abandoned this part which is

not of little importance: for whoever arranges (his army) so as to be able to

reorganize three times in an engagement, must have fortune inimical to him three

times in order to lose, and must have (pitted) against him a virtu three times

as adept to overcome him. But whoever cannot maintain himself against the first

onrush ((as the Christian armies are today)) can lose easily, for every

disorder, every half-way virtu, can take away the victory. And that which

prevents our armies from being able to reorganize three times is to have lost

the manner of receiving one rank into the other. Which arises because at present

engagements are arranged with two defects: either their ranks are formed

shoulder to shoulder, and make their battle line wide in front and thin in

depth, which makes it very weak from having too few men in the depth of the

ranks: or, in order to make it stronger, they reduce the ranks (in width of the

front), in accordance as the Romans did; if the first rank is broken, there not

being an arrangement to be received by the second, they will be entangled all

together, and rout themselves; for if that front rank is pushed back, it will be

hurled on the second; if the second rank wants to go forward, it is impeded by

the first: Whence that the first being hurled upon the second, and the second on

the third, there ensues so much confusion that the slightest accident often

ruins an army.

In the battle at Ravenna, which was ((according to our times)) a very

well-fought engagement, in which the Captain of the French forces, Monsignor De

Foix, was killed, the Spanish and French armies were organized in one of the

above mentioned methods, that is, that the one and the other army came with all

its forces arranged shoulder to shoulder so as to have a wide front and little

depth. And thus they always did when they had a large field as they had at

Ravenna: for recognizing the disorder that is caused in retiring, when they put

themselves all into one rank, they avoid it when they can by making the front

wide, as has been said; but when the country is restricted, they remain in the

disorder described above without thinking of a remedy. In similar disorder the

cavalry rides through the enemy's country, either for plunder or for some other

purpose of war. And at Santo Regolo and elsewhere in the war against Pisa, where

the Florentines were routed by the Pisans in the (time of the) war which existed

between the Florentines and that City because of her rebellion, after the

passage of Charles, King of France, into Italy; that ruin did not result from

anything else than the friendly cavalry, which being in front and repulsed by

the enemy, was thrown back into the Florentine infantry and broke it, whence all

the remaining forces turned back: and Messer Criaco Del Borgo, Head of the

Florentine infantry, has affirmed in my presence many times that he would never

have been routed except for the cavalry of his friends. The Swiss who are

masters of modern war, when they fought for the French, above all things they

take care to put themselves on the side where the friendly cavalry, if it should

be repulsed, will not be hurled back on them.

And although this thing would appear easy to understand and not easy to do, none

the less there has not yet been found any of our contemporary Captains who have

imitated the ancient order and corrected the modem one. And although they also

divide their army into three parts, calling one part the Vanguard, the next the

Battle Corps, and the last the Rearguard, they do not serve themselves of it

other than to command them in their quarters; but in using it, it is a rare

thing ((as was said above)) that they do to unite them all in one body, so that

they all share the same fortune: And as many, to excuse their ignorance, allege

that the violence of the artillery will not allow the same arrangements that the

ancients had to be used in these times, I want to discuss this matter in the

following chapter, and to examine whether the artillery impedes them so that it

is not possible to use the ancient virtu.

CHAPTER XVII

HOW MUCH THE ARMY OUGHT TO ESTEEM THE ARTILLERY IN THE PRESENT TIMES, AND IF

THAT OPINION THAT IS GENERALLY HAD OF IT IS TRUE

In addition to the things written above, in considering how the many field

fights, called in our times by the French word Engagements (Giornate), and by

the Italians Deeds of arms, were fought by the Romans at diverse times, I have

thought upon the general opinions of many, which hold that if artillery had

existed in those days the Romans would not have been permitted to conquer

provinces and make other people tributary to themselves as they did, nor would

they in any way have been able to make such large acquisitions: They say also

that because of these instrument of fire men are not able to use or show their

virtu as they were able to anciently. And a third thing should be added that one

now comes to the joining of battle with more difficulty than formerly, nor is it

possible to maintain the same discipline as in those times, so that in time wars

will be reduced to artillery (exchanges). And as I judge it not to be outside

this subject to discuss whether such opinions are true, and whether artillery

has increased or diminished the strength of armies, and whether it gives or

takes away opportunity to good Captains of acting with virtu.

I shall begin by speaking concerning the first opinion that the ancient Roman

armies would not have made the conquests that they did if artillery had existed:

Upon which in replying, I say that war is made either to defend oneself or to

take the offensive: whence it must first be examined as to which of these two

kinds of war make it (artillery) more useful or more damaging. And although

there is something to say on both sides, none the less I believe that beyond

comparison it does more damage to whoever defends himself than to whoever

attacks. The reason I say this is that he who defends himself is either inside

some fortified place or in a camp within a stockade: and if he is inside a town,

either this town is small as are the greater part of the fortresses, or it is

large: in the first case whoever defends himself is entirely lost, for the

impetus of the artillery is such that a wall has not yet been found which is so

strong that in a few days it will be battered down by it; and if whoever is

inside does not have considerable space for retreat, and (cannot protect

himself) with ditches and earthworks, he is lost, nor can he sustain the attack

of the enemy who would then enter through the breach in the wall: nor will the

artillery he has be of any benefit to him in this, for there is a maxim that

where men attack in mass, the artillery will not stop them; and thus the fury of

the Ultramontanes in the defense of their lands has never been resisted: the

assaults of the Italians are easily resisted, as they go in battle, not in mass,

but in small detachments, which by their own name are called Scaramouches

(skirmishes): and when they deliberately go in this disordered manner into a

breach in a wall where there is artillery, they go to a certain death, for

against them the artillery is of value: but when they go in a dense mass, and

one pushes the other as they come to a break, if they are not impeded by ditches

or earthworks, they enter in every place and artillery will not hold them: and

if some are killed, they cannot be so many that they would impede the victory.

That this is true has been recognized by the many conquests made by the

Ultramontanes in Italy, and especially that of Brescia; for when that land

rebelled against the French, and the fortress being still held by the King of

France, the Venetians, in order to resist the attacks which could come from the

town, had fortified all the road that descends from the fortress to the City

with artillery, placing it in front and on the flanks and in every convenient

place: of which Monsignor De Foix took no account, rather, with his squadron, he

descended on foot, and passing through the midst of it (the artillery) occupied

the City, nor from what was heard had he received any recordable damage. So that

whoever defends himself in a small area ((as was said)) and finding the walls of

his town breached, and does not have space to retreat with earthworks and

ditches, and have to rely on artillery, will quickly be lost.

If you defend a large town and have the convenience of retreating, I none the

less maintain beyond comparison that artillery is more useful to whoever is

outside than to whoever is inside. First, because if you want artillery to harm

those outside, you are necessitated to raise yourself with it above the level of

the surrounding land, for being on the plain, every little embankment and

earthwork that the enemy raises remains secure, and you cannot harm him, so that

by having to raise it and draw it along the aisle between the walls, or in some

other way raise it above the ground, you have two drawbacks: the first, that you

cannot place artillery of the same size and power as those outside can bring to

bear, as you are not able in a small place to handle large things: the other, no

matter how well you can place it, you cannot make those earthworks trustworthy

and secure in order to save the said artillery as those outside can do being on

higher ground, and having that convenience and space which they themselves

lacked: So that it is impossible to whoever defends a town to keep his artillery

in elevated positions when those who are on the outside have plenty and powerful

artillery: and if they have to place it in lower places, it becomes in large

part useless, as has been said. So that the defense of a City is reduced to

defending it with the same (manual) arms as was done anciently, and with small

size artillery: from which little usefulness is derived ((because of the small

size artillery)) unless there is a mine of disadvantages that counterweighs the

advantage (of the artillery): for in respect to that, the walls of the town are

kept low and almost buried in the ditches, so that when the battle comes to hand

to hand fighting, either because the walls are breached or the ditches filled

up, those inside have many more disadvantages than they had before. And

therefore ((as was said above)) these instruments benefit much more whoever

besieges the towns that whoever is besieged.

As to the third case when you are in a camp within a stockade and you do not

want to come to an engagement unless it is at your convenience or advantage, I

say that in this case you do not ordinarily have a better remedy to defend

yourself without fighting than what the ancients had, and some times you may

have greater disadvantage on account of your artillery: For if the enemy turns

on you and has even a small advantage of ground, as can easily happen, and finds

himself higher than you, or that at his arrival you have not yet finished your

earthworks and covered yourself well with them, he quickly dislodges you before

you have any remedy and you are forced to go out of your fortress and come to

battle. This happened to the Spaniards in the engagement at Ravenna, who, being

entrenched between the river Ronco and an earthwork which was built

insufficiently high, and the French having a slight advantage of terrain, were

constrained by the artillery to leave their fortified place and come to battle.

But suppose ((as must often happen)) that the location you have chosen for your

camp is higher than the other side at the (time of) encounter, and that your

earthworks are good and secure, so that owing to the site and your other

preparations, the enemy does not dare to assault you, in this case he will

resort to those means that the ancients resorted to when one, with his army, was

in a position where he could not be attacked, that is, he will overrun the

country, take or besiege lands friendly to you and impede your provisions; so

that you will be forced by some necessity to dislodge him, and come to battle,

where artillery ((as will be mentioned below)) will not be of much use.

Considering, therefore, in what manner the Romans made war, and observing that

almost all their wars were to attack others and not to defend themselves, it

will be seen ((if all the things said above were true)) that they would have had

even greater advantage, and would have made their conquests more easily, if they

should have lived in those times (of the advent of artillery).

As to the second proposition, that men are not able to show their virtu as they

could anciently because of the use of artillery, I say that it is true that

where men have to expose themselves in small groups, that they are exposed to

greater danger than when they had to scale (the walls of) a town or make similar

assaults, where men did not have to act bunched together, but by themselves one

after the other. It is also true that the Captains and Heads of the army are now

subjected to the danger of death than at that time, as they can be reached by

artillery in every place, and it is of no benefit to them to be in the rear

ranks, and protected by their strongest men: None the less it is seen that the

one and the other of these dangers rarely caused extraordinary damages, for well

fortified towns are not scaled, nor do you go to assault them with feeble

attacks, but in wanting to conquer them, the matter is reduced to a siege, as

was done anciently. And even in those places that can be conquered by assault,

the dangers are not much greater now then they were then, for even in that time

there did not lack to the defenders of towns means for throwing (missiles),

which ((if they were not as furious (as cannon) is)) had a similar effect in

killing men. As to the death of Captains and Candottieri, in the twenty four

years in which there have been wars in Italy in recent times, there have been

fewer examples then there were in any ten years time (of war) of the ancients.

For, outside of Count Lodovico Della Mirandola ((who was killed at Ferrara when

the Venetians assaulted that State a few years ago)) and the Duke of Nemours

((who was killed at Cirignuola)), it never happened that any were killed by

artillery, since Monsignor De Foix was killed at Ravenna by steel (sword) and

not by fire. So that if men do not show their virtu individually, it is not the

result of the artillery, but from poor discipline and weakness of the armies,

which, lacking virtu collectively, are not able to show it in the (individual)

parts.

As to the third proposition mentioned by some, that it is no longer possible to

come to hand-to-hand fighting, and that wars will be entirely conducted through

artillery, I say this opinion is entirely false, and will always be so held by

those who would want to manage their armies according to the ancient virtu: For

whoever wants to create a good army must, by real or feigned exercises, accustom

his men to meet the enemy, and to come against him with sword in hand and to

seize him bodily, and he must rely more upon the infantry than on cavalry, for

the reasons which will be mentioned below. And when they rely on infantry and on

the aforementioned means (of training), the artillery will become entirely

useless; for the infantry in meeting the enemy can escape the blows of the

artillery with greater ease than anciently they were able to escape from the

attacks of elephants, from scythed chariots, and other obsolete means of attack

which the Roman infantry had to encounter, (and) against which they always found

a remedy: and they would have found it so much more readily against this

(artillery), as the time in which artillery can harm you is much shorter than

that in which the elephants and chariots could do harm. For these disorganized

you in the midst of battle, while that (the artillery) only impedes you before

the battle; which impediment is easily avoided by the infantry either the nature

of the site covering them or by lying down on the ground during the firing. Even

experience has shown this not to be necessary, especially when defending

themselves from large artillery, which cannot be so (accurately) aimed, (and)

either ((if they are aimed high)) they pass over you, or ((if they are aimed

low)) they do not reach you. Then when you have come with the army to hand to

hand (fighting), this becomes clearer than light that neither the large nor the

small artillery can then harm you. For if he has the artillery in front, you

capture it, and if he has it in the rear, he first harms his friend rather than

you: even on the flank he cannot harm you so, that you cannot go up to capture

them, and the result mentioned above (first) will happen.

Nor is this disputed very much, because the example of the Swiss has been seen,

who in MDXIII (1513) at Novara, without artillery or cavalry, went to encounter

the French army armed with artillery within their fortresses, and routed them

without having any impediment from that artillery. And the reason is ((in

addition to the things mentioned above)) that the artillery, to be well served,

has need to be guarded either by walls, ditches, or earthworks: and that if it

lacks one of these guards, it is captured or becomes useless, as happens in open

field engagements and battles when it is defended only by men. On the flank it

cannot be employed except in that manner that the ancients used their catapults,

which they placed outside of the squadrons, so that they should fight outside of

the ranks, and every time they were pressed by cavalry or others, they took

refuge within the legions. Who employs it otherwise does not understand it well,

and relies on something which can easily deceive him. And if the Turk by means

of artillery gained the victory over the Sofi (Persians) and the Soldan

(Egyptians), it resulted from no other virtu than from the unaccustomed noise

which frightened their cavalry. I conclude, therefore, coming to the end of this

discussion, that artillery is useful in an army when it is mixed with the

ancient virtu, but, without that, it is most useless against a valorous army.

CHAPTER XVIII

THAT BECAUSE OF THE AUTHORITY OF THE ROMANS AND BY THE EXAMPLE OF ANCIENT

ARMIES, THE INFANTRY OUGHT TO BE MORE ESTEEMED THAN CAVALRY

And it can be clearly demonstrated by many arguments and by many examples how

much the Romans in all their military actions esteemed the foot soldier more

than the cavalry, and based all the plans of their forces on them: as is seen by

many examples, and among others that which occurred when they came to battle

with the Latins next to Lake Regillo, where the Roman army already having given

way, made their cavalry descend from their horses in order to succor their foot

soldiers, and by that means renewed the battle and obtained the victory. Where

it is manifestly seen that the Romans had more confidence in their men, when on

foot, than maintaining them on horseback. They used this same means in many

other battles, and they always found it an optimum remedy in their dangers. Nor

is the opinion of Hannibal opposed to this who, when he saw in the engagement at

Cannae that the Consuls made their horsemen descend on foot, making a mock of a

like proceeding, said: Quam malem vinctos mini traderent equites, that is, I

would have more concern if they would give them to me bound. Which opinion,

although coming from the mouth of a most excellent man, none the less if we have

to go back to authority, we ought to believe more if it came from a Roman

Republic and from so many excellent Captains which she produced, than to one

single Hannibal; although even without authorities, there are manifest reasons,

for a man can go into many places on foot where he cannot go on horseback: you

can teach him to preserve the ranks, and should they be broken, how to reform

them, but it is difficult to make horses preserve the ranks, and when they are

disturbed impossible to reform them: in addition to this, it will be found ((as

in men)) that some horses have little spirit and some have much, and many times

it happens that a spirited horse is ridden by a base man, and a timid horse by a

spirited man, and however this disparity arises, uselessness and disorder

result. Well disciplined infantry can easily break the cavalry but only with

difficulty can they be routed by them. Which opinion is corroborated ((in

addition to many ancient and modern examples)) by the authority of those who

make regulations for civil affairs, where they show that at first wars were

begun to be fought by cavalry, because (good) infantry was not yet been

organized: but as soon as this was done, it was quickly recognized how much more

useful these were then cavalry: However, the cavalry is necessary in armies for

reconnaissance, to overrun and plunder the country, and to pursue the enemy when

in flight, and to be a part of the opposition to the cavalry of the adversaries:

but the foundation and the sinew of the army, and that which should be more

esteemed, ought to be the infantry.

And among the faults of the Italian Princes who have made Italy slave to

foreigners, there is none greater than to have taken into little account this

organization (infantry), and to have turned all their attention to mounted

troops. Which error arose from the malignity of the Heads, and from the

ignorance of those who ruled the State: For during the past twenty five years

the Italian military have been brought under men who did not have a State, but

were as Captains (Soldiers) of fortune, whose main thought was how they should

be able to maintain their reputation by their being armed, and the Princes

disarmed. And as a large number of infantry could not continuously be paid by

them, and not having subjects of whom they could avail themselves, and as a

small number would not give them reputation, they turned to keeping cavalry; for

two hundred or three hundred cavalry paid by a Condottiere maintained his

reputation, and the payment was not such that it could not be met by men who had

a State: and so that this should be facilitated and to maintain themselves in

even greater reputation, they took away all the affection for and the reputation

of the infantry, and transferred those to their cavalry; and so greatly

increased this disorder, that the infantry was a minimum part of any of the

largest armies. Which usage ((together with many other disorders that

accompanied it)) made the Italian military so weak, that their province has been

easily trampled on by all the Ultramontanes. This error of esteeming cavalry

more than infantry is shown more openly by another Roman example. The Romans

were besieging Sora, and a squadron of cavalry having gone out from the town to

assault the camp, the Master of the Roman cavalry went to meet it with his

cavalry, and coming breast to breast, chance would have it that in the first

shock the Heads of both armies were killed; and the fight continued none the

less, while (both sides) remained without direction, when the Romans in order to

overcome the enemy more easily, dismounted and forced the cavalry ((if they

wanted to defend themselves)) to do similarly, and with all this the Romans

carried the victory.

This example could not be better in demonstrating how much greater virtu there

is in the infantry than in the cavalry; for if in the other cases the Consuls

made the Roman cavalry dismount, it was to succor the infantry which was

suffering and in need of aid; but in this case they dismounted, not to succor

the infantry, nor to fight with enemy infantry, but a combat of cavalry against

cavalry, (and) not being able to overcome them on horseback, they judged that by

dismounting they would be able more easily to overcome them. I want to conclude,

therefore, that a well organized infantry cannot be overcome without the

greatest difficulty, except by another infantry. Crassus and Marc Anthony

overran the dominion of Parthia for many days with very few cavalry and many

infantry, and encountered innumerable cavalry of the Parthians. Crassus with

part of the army was killed, Marc Anthony saved himself with virtu. None the

less, in this Roman affliction is seen how much the infantry prevailed against

the cavalry; for being in a large country where mountains are rare, rivers

rarer, distant from the sea, and far from all conveniences, none the less, in

the judgment of the Parthians themselves, he saved himself skillfully; nor did

the Parthian cavalry ever dare to try the discipline of his army. If Crassus

were returned to you, whoever examines his actions carefully will see that he

was rather deceived than overpowered, and never in his greatest straits did the

Parthians dare to hurl themselves against him, rather they always went on

flanking him and impeding his provisions, (and) by promising them to him and

then not observing it, they reduced him to the last extremity.

I believe I should have to endure more hard work in persuading (the reader) how

much more superior is the virtu of the infantry than that of the cavalry, except

that there are many modern examples which render the fullest testimony. And it

has been seen how nine thousand Swiss at Novara, mentioned above by us, went out

and attacked ten thousand cavalry and as many infantry, and defeated them, for

the cavalry could not attack them, and the infantry being forces composed for

the most part of Gascons and ill-disciplined, they (the Swiss) esteemed them

little. It has subsequently been seen how twenty six thousand Swiss went to

encounter north of Milan the King of the French, Francis, who had with him

twenty thousand cavalry, forty thousand infantry, and a hundred pieces of

artillery; and if they did not win the engagement, as at Novara, they fought

valiantly for two days, and though they were later routed, half of them were

saved. Marcus Attilius Regulus attempted to resist with his infantry not only

(the attack of) the cavalry, but the elephants: and if his design did not

succeed, yet it not that the virtu of his infantry was not such that he did not

have faith in them believing them capable of overcoming those difficulties. I

repeat, therefore, that to want to overcome a disciplined infantry it is

necessary to oppose them with a better disciplined infantry, otherwise one goes

to a manifest defeat.

In the time of Filippo Visconti, Duke of Milan, about sixteen thousand Swiss

descended into Lombardy, whence the Duke having at that time Carmignuola as his

Captain, sent him with about a thousand cavalry and a few infantry to meet them.

This man, not knowing their method of fighting, went to meet them with his

cavalry presuming to be able to rout them quickly. But finding them immovable,

having lost many of his men, he retired: and being a most valiant man, and

knowing he had to take new proceeding in new events, reorganized his forces and

went to meet them; and on coming to the engagement made all his men at arms

dismount and go on foot, and placing them at the head of the infantry, went to

attack the Swiss, who had no remedy (against them). For the forces of

Carmignuola being on foot and well armored, could easily enter between the ranks

of the Swiss without suffering any injury, and having entered therein could

easily attack them: So that of all that number, there remained only the part

which was saved through the humanity of Carmignuola.

I believe that many recognize this difference in virtu that exists between the

one and the other of these systems, but so great is the infelicity of these

times, that neither the examples of the ancients or the moderns, nor the

confession of error, is enough to cause the modern Princes to re-see things, and

to make them think that to give reputation to the military of a Province or a

State it is necessary to revive these insinuations (of the ancients), to keep

them close to one, to give them reputation, to give them life, so that in return

it may give him life and reputation: And as they deviate from these methods, so

they deviate from the other methods mentioned above: whence there results that

the acquisitions become harmful, not an aggrandizement, to a State, as will be

told below.

CHAPTER XIX

THAT ACQUISITIONS IN REPUBLICS NOT WELL ORGANIZED AND THAT DO NOT PROCEED

ACCORDING TO ROMAN VIRTU, ARE THE RUIN AND NOT THE EXALTATION OF THEM

This opinion contrary to the truth, founded upon those bad examples that have

been introduced by these corrupt centuries of ours, causes men not to think of

deviating from their accustomed habits. Would it have been possible to persuade

an Italian of thirty years ago that ten thousand infantry could have attacked,

in an open plain, ten thousand cavalry and as many more infantry, and with these

not only to fight them, but to defeat them, as is seen in the example at Novara

given by us many times? And although histories are full (of such examples), yet

they would not have believed it; and if they had believed it, they would have

said that in these times one is better armed, and that a squadron of men at arms

would be more adept at charging a rock than a body of infantry: and thus with

these erroneous arguments their judgment was corrupted, nor have they considered

that Lucullus with few infantry routed one hundred and fifty thousand cavalry of

(King) Tigranes, and that among those horsemen was a kind of cavalry entirely

similar to our men at arms. And thus that fallacy was uncovered by the example

of the Ultramontane forces: And as that which is narrated in histories is seen

to be true in regard to infantry, so also ought all the other ancient

institutions to be believed to be true and useful. And if this were believed,

the Republics and Princes would have erred less, would have been stronger in

opposing the attack that might come upon them, they would not have put their

hope in flight, and those who had the government in their hands would have known

better how to direct the manner of aggrandizement or the manner of preservation;

and they would have believed that for the city to increase its inhabitants, to

make associations for themselves and not subjects, to send colonies to guard the

acquired countries, to make capital of the plunder, to subdue the enemy by

incursions and engagements, and by sieges, to keep the public rich, the private

citizen poor, to maintain military exercises with the greatest zeal, these are

the ways to make a Republic great and to acquire Empire. And if these means of

expanding did not please them, they would consider that acquisitions by any

other means are the ruin of a Republic; and they would place a restraint to all

ambition, regulating the internal affairs of the City well with laws and other

customs, prohibiting conquests, and thinking only of defending themselves, and

to keep the defenses well organized; as do the Republics of Germany, who, in

this manner, live and have lived for a long time.

None the less ((as I have said another time when discussing the difference that

existed between being organized for conquest and being organized for

preservation)) it is impossible that a Republic succeeds in remaining quiet and

enjoy its liberty and her limited confines; for even if she does not molest

others, she will be molested: and from being molested there will arise the will

and desire for conquest: and even if she should not have any outside enemies,

she would find some at home, as it appears necessary to occur to all great

Cities. And if the Republics of Germany could live in this fashion, and have

been able to endure a long time, it arises from certain conditions that exist in

that country which are not found elsewhere, without which they could not have

maintained such a manner of living. That part of Germany of which I speak was

subject to the Roman Empire, as was France and Spain: but when the decline of

the Empire came afterwards, and the rule of that Empire reduced in that

Province, the more powerful Cities begun ((according to the weakness or

necessity of the Emperors)) to make themselves free, ransoming themselves from

the Empire by reserving a small annual rent to it: so that little by little all

those Cities which were held directly by the Emperor, and were not subject to

any Prince, ransomed themselves in similar fashion. There occurred in these same

times when these Cities were ransoming themselves, that certain Communities

subject to the Duke of Austria rebelled against him, among which were Fribourg,

the Swiss, and other like, which prospering from the beginning, gradually

expanded little by little, that they did not return under the yoke of Austria,

and became feared by their neighbors; and these are those whom we call Swiss.

And therefore this Province is divided between the Swiss, Republics which they

call Free Towns, Princes, and the Emperor. And the reason that among such a

diversity of forms of government wars do not arise, or if they do arise they do

not last long, is that this shadow of an Emperor, who, although he has no power,

none the less he has so much reputation among them that he is their conciliator,

and with his authority by interposing himself as a mediator, quickly

extinguishes all trouble. And the major and longer wars that have occurred have

been those that took place between the Swiss and the Duke of Austria: and

although for many years past the Emperor and the Duke of Austria have been the

same person, yet he has never been able to overcome the audacity of the Swiss,

where there has never been a means of accord except by force: Nor has the rest

of Germany given him much help, as much because the Communities do not want to

injure those who want to live free as they do, as because those Princes (are

unable to aid him) part of whom cannot because they are poor, part do not want

to because they envy his power. These Communities therefore can live contentedly

with their small dominions because they have no reason ((in respect to the

Imperial authority)) of desiring a greater one: They can live united within

their walls because they have an enemy nearby and who would take the opportunity

to occupy them whenever they should have a discord. If this Province was

constituted otherwise, it would behoove them to seek to expand and break their

quiet existence.

And because elsewhere such conditions do not exist, this way of living cannot be

adopted, and it is necessary either to expand by means of leagues, or to expand

as the Romans did: And whoever governs otherwise seeks not his life, but his

death and ruin, for in a thousand ways and for many reasons, the acquisitions

are harmful; for he may very well extend his Empire, but not power; and whoever

acquires Empire and not power together, comes to ruin. Whoever impoverishes

himself in war cannot acquire power, even though he is victorious, for he puts

in more than he draws out of the acquisitions; as the Venetians and Florentines

have done, who have been much weaker when the one had Lombardy and the other

Tuscany, than they were when the one was content with the (dominion of the) sea,

and the other with six miles of boundaries. For all of this resulted from their

having wanted to acquire but not to have known the means to do so: and they

merit so much more blame as they had less excuse, having seen the methods which

the Romans employed, and having been able to follow their example, while the

Romans, without any example, through their prudence, knew how to find it by

themselves. In addition to this, acquisitions sometimes do no little damage to

any well ordered Republic when they acquire a City or a Province full of luxury,

where those (indolent) habits can be picked up through intercourse they have

with them, as happened to Rome first in the acquisition of Capua, and afterwards

also to Hannibal. And if Capua had been further distant from the City (of Rome),

and if the errors of the soldiers had not have prompt remedy, or if Rome had

been in any part corrupted, that acquisition without doubt would have been the

ruin of the Roman Republic: And Titus Livius bears witness of this with these

words; Capua the instrument of all pleasures, the least conducive to military

discipline, turned the spirit of the military away from the memory of their

country. And truly similar Cities or Provinces avenge themselves against their

conquerors without a fight and without bloodshed; for by transferring to them

their own bad habits they expose them to being conquered by whoever assaults

them. And Juvenal in his Satires could not have better understood this part,

when he says that, because of the acquisitions of foreign lands, foreign customs

had entered the breasts of the Romans, and in exchange for parsimony and other

very excellent virtus, gluttony and luxury dwell there, and will avenge the

conquered world. If, therefore, the conquest was to be pernicious to the Romans

in the times when they proceeded with so much prudence and so much virtu, what

then would it be to those who deviate from their methods? And what would it be,

if in addition to the other errors they make ((which have been discussed at

length above)), they avail themselves of mercenary or auxiliary soldiers? Whence

often those injuries result which will be mentioned in the following chapter.

CHAPTER XX

WHAT PERILS ARE BROUGHT TO THAT PRINCE OR THAT REPUBLIC WHICH AVAILS ITSELF OF

AUXILIARY AND MERCENARY TROOPS

If I had not in another work of mine treated a length of how useless mercenary

and auxiliary troops are, and how useful their own (national troops) are, I

should extend myself in this discourse much more than I will: but having talked

of it at length elsewhere, I shall be brief in this part. Nor did it seem to me

I ought to pass it over entirely, having found