The Prince
by Niccolò Machiavelli
The classic treatise on how to tyrannize one’s subjects.
About this book
The Prince is a book that was controversial before it had even been sent to the printer. Written in vernacular Italian instead of Latin, dedicated to a member of one of the most powerful Italian families of the day, and only printed after Machiavelli’s death, this treatise on how to tyrannize effectively was considered shocking even by his contemporaries. The discussion of its morality that continues to this day gives us the modern-day word Machiavellian.
The book is organized into several sections, each one giving direction on the ruthless rule of principalities that Machiavelli based on both reading and personal experience. Despite its controversial nature, The Prince is often cited as one of the first examples of modern philosophical thought, and the “advice” contained within is still quoted as relevant today.
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The Prince · I: How Many Kinds of Principalities There Are, and by What Means They Are Acquired
I
How Many Kinds of Principalities There Are, and by What Means They Are Acquired
All states, all powers, that have held and hold rule over men have been and are either republics or principalities.
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I: How Many Kinds of Principalities There Are, and by What Means They Are Acquired
I
How Many Kinds of Principalities There Are, and by What Means They Are Acquired
All states, all powers, that have held and hold rule over men have been and are either republics or principalities.
Principalities are either hereditary, in which the family has been long established; or they are new.
The new are either entirely new, as was Milan to Francesco Sforza, or they are, as it were, members annexed to the hereditary state of the prince who has acquired them, as was the kingdom of Naples to that of the King of Spain.
Such dominions thus acquired are either accustomed to live under a prince, or to live in freedom; and are acquired either by the arms of the prince himself, or of others, or else by fortune or by ability.
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