Machiavelli - The Prince: Chapters 1-6

• The book is written to a prince, not a particular prince or a person.

• Machiavelli is the founder of modern political thought

• Hobbes is the founder of modern political philosophy

• Chapter 2:

  • As long as rulers are descended from the same bloodline and are able to actively adapt and confront challenges and difficulties effectively in their reign, then they will have very little difficulty in maintaining their state, in contrast to a "new" state, which lacks that bloodline.

• Reasons for why it is easy to maintain Hereditary principalities

  • The subjects are well adjusted to the past rulers from the same family, and are receptive for the political lineage

• They are disposed to be loyal to the ruling family or leader

• They should just get born in the noble family, and not be a bad leader.

• Chapter 3:

  • The chapter talks about how acquiring new states is easier when their languages, customs, and culture isn't too different from the state that is acquiring it. The little the cultural diversity, the less chances that they may experience any sort of unrest in the acquisition process.

• It also talks about how in order to acquire a very different/disparate state, one has to go and live there in order to get the feel of the internal structure of the state. For instance, if there are any unrests, you are there to analyze and remedy it before it grows big, thereby gaining the trust of the people, and making yourself more accessible to them. A prince's presence there will also prevent other attacking enemies from causing unrest.

  • You don't want to bring the problem to you, but you should bring yourself to it.

• Another better way to hold down or have control of a newly acquired disparate state is to establish colonies, as they are much cheaper to control, and can maintain better control over the state and enforce the prince's rule.

• A person also only offends people who are native to the land, who are poor and more widely dispersed because of the acquisition, and as a result, can do no harm to anyone.

• In contrast, having a military presence in a colony only drains out the new state's taxes and income, and only creates conflict between the man at-arms themselves and the inhabitants of the state.

• Discontent is more widespread due to a military presence as the military would have to move around the state or lodgings, which could disrupt the lives of the inhabitants, fueling discontent.

• A ruler who acquires a disparate state must also overthrow the powerful people in the state and become the head and defender of the state and the neighboring lesser powers, preventing foreign powers from entering it.

• The Romans in particular were great at putting down potential enemies or powers, while also indulging and restricting certain powers to maintain equilibrium

• Refused Achaeans and the Aetolians to expand their states, but indulged them with resources

• Refused Antiochus to hold any states

• Refused to become allies with King Philip of Macedon

• The Romans did what all wise princes should do. They avoided future problems and unrests by fixing the problems that were almost detectable way ahead of time, so that it wasn't too late to fix them.

• They particularly chose to fight a war with both Antiochus and Philip at the same time instead of putting it off, and as the saying goes, with time comes the possibility for both good and evil. As a result, they avoided a war in Italy.

• King Louis was brought into Italy by the Venetians in order for them to gain some land from Louis's Lombardy, in exchange for Louis to rule 2/3's (or 1/3) of Italy. - REVIEW PGS. 14-15 OF THE BOOK

• For Louis, this was a great opportunity because his state was already alienated by the neighbouring states due to the poor reputation of the previous King Charles.

• King Louis' reputation would've been easily maintained if he remained loyal and defensive of the Venetians and the people of Italy, as this would've also helped him to counteract or defend himself or his regime against other stronger rivals, making the people his allies

• Some of the errors King Louis did was:

  • He supported Pope Alexander in acquiring Romagna, thus strengthening the Church

• He divided the Kingdom of Naples with the king of Spain, who presumably turned against him (Brought in a foreigner)  

  • He threw out a loyal Naples king and replaced it with an ambitious king

• He didn't support his allies - the Church and the Venetians -  and sidelined them

• Did not live in or establish colonies in Italy

• All of these ultimately caused the greatness of the Church and Spain, and eventually, Louis lost Lombardy.

• King Louis XII was French, but through conquest, gained a hold on Italy, especially Lombardy. 

• Frederick of Aragon was of Spain, and was invited into Italy to divide and conquer the kingdom of Naples

Chapter 4:

• Kingdom of the Turk: Governed with a single powerful prince/lord, along with his respective servants who are distributed to different units in the Kingdom.

  • Great difficulty in acquiring it, but easy to keep it

  • Everyone is united with the prince, so it is difficult to find malcontents within the kingdom to enlist in a rebellion

• France: A king, but also a multitude of lords governing the state, each with their own subjects. The lords don't owe or support the king in any way necessarily.

• Easy to acquire, but difficult to keep

• You will find barons who will welcome you to invade, so they can derive benefits from it.

• It is hard to seize the Kingdom of the Turks because the whole kingdom is very united, and even the local elites or princes won't support an invading ruler because of this. In other situations, the local elites may desire a change, and may support the invasion, but not in this kingdom

• The cultural and historical ties people have with the past principalities and with past rulers can cause them to rebel against Roman rule, and this "memory" of the past principalities can only be diminished through time.

• When a prince acquires a mixed territory and things go south, such that the acquired territory plunges into economic or political turmoil, the prince is the one to blame, and the population will have a desire to revert back to old times which is that of an older regime/prince.

• The kingdom that Alexander conquered from Darius had ministers loyal to the prince, and so after he conquered it, those ministers just transferred loyalty to Alexander and his advisors.

Chapter 5:

• To acquire a state with its own laws and customs, do the following:

  • Go and live there

  • Ruin it completely

  • Leave them to their own laws, but create an oligarchical structure within to keep them loyal to you

    • The citizens will think they are ruled by another group of citizens, not a foreign leader. And this group is loyal to the prince.

• The Spartans created oligarchical systems in Athens and Thebes, but they lost it. The Romans, however, when they left Greece to be free and live by its laws, they couldn't hold it, and so they destroyed it in order to hold control, and did the same thing in Capua, Carthage, and Numantia

• The most effective ways to hold a state that lived by its own laws is to destroy it or live in it.

Chapter 6: 

• A private person or a common individual who becomes a prince either relies on virtue (skill) or fortune (luck, nobility). Those with virtue are the ones who can hold onto power longer.

• Many great leaders of the past were presented with unique opportunities (fortune/luck) that showcased their virtue and helped them achieve their potential. These opportunities played another crucial role in bringing out their virtue and skill

  • Examples of virtuous leaders: Moses, Theseus, Cyrus, Romulus, and Hiero of Syracruse.

• People with virtue have difficulty in acquiring a state, but once they obtain it, they hold it with ease. This difficulty arises from the need to introduce new orders, laws, and a new political structure, which many people may disagree with.

• Leaders who do acquire new principalities through virtue face several other obstacles:

  • Enemies that oppose reform and represent/affiliate with the old order

  • Weak supporters who are scared of the enemies of the old order and doubtful the new reforms.

• In order to hold a state, one can go about in two ways:

  • Use force to coerce a population into adopting reforms

    • Known to be more effective

• Look for external help in forcing the population to follow reforms

• A leader should also be effective in persuading people to believe something (laws, ideologies) and to also consistently keep them in that state of persuasion.