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An Analysis Of Machiavelli's The Prince

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Machiavelli, The Prince

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Introduction The book the Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli is an Italian piece of art that depicts the political class of Italy and how they interact to ensure democracy and workability in the state. The prince although written in the traditional aspects of Italy governance, it is believed to be the works of modern philosophy and political environment in which truth is more ideal than any abstract ideals. Machiavelli in his book is seen to distinguish authorities that hold power over the people as either republics or principalities. The principalities authorities were those believed to inherit authority from one generation …show more content…

The author suggests that, first it is necessary to destroy their principalities so as to have full claim to the authority, second, those in authority should go there in persons or deploy a puppet regime so as to stake their claim for the cities. Finally, they can decide to allow them to continue living under their norms and laws, but come up with a government made up of minimal people who will ensure the state is in harmony with the authority at the realm. Machiavelli gave example of the Spartans and the Romans in their quest to rule over Athens and Thebes, and Capua, Carthage, and Numantia respectively failed due to the way they wanted to exert their authority over them. Thus, they were forced to destroy them to have hold over them. The author identifies the best way to have a hold over a state/city is by destroying them, rather than letting it destroy your …show more content…

He argues that a good and strong princedom is one that can sufficiently battle out with any military power in the battle fields without relaying to allies. A good prince is one with a good war plan and who understands the war terrains. More so, he should not be over generous to his subjects as this may cause greed which may lead to exhaustion of resources. A prince should exhibit a love-fear kind of attributes, as it is better to be feared than loved but should exhibit caution with interfering with his subject 's properties. A prince should keep his words and avoid contradicting aspects in his reign so as to have respect among his subjects. Machiavelli noted that prince who engages in huge feats is truly honored, and their legacy stands. He gave an example of King Ferdinand of Spain who won great battles, amassed territories and kept his subjects busy to avoid

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