The Prince
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~50,700 words · 241 passages
Cite this work
- APAMachiavelli. (n.d.). The Prince. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/machiavelli/the-prince
- MLAMachiavelli. "The Prince." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/machiavelli/the-prince.
- ChicagoMachiavelli. The Prince. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/machiavelli/the-prince.
What it is about
A short manual on how political power is seized and kept, written by looking at what rulers actually do rather than at what they ought to do.
Context and history
Written in 1513, the year the Medici returned to Florence, stripped Machiavelli of every office, imprisoned him and had him tortured. He composed it in forced retirement in the countryside, dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici, trying to win back a place in politics. It was not published until 1532, five years after his death, and in 1559 it went onto the Index of Forbidden Books. His name became an adjective: few books have been so widely read by those in power and so widely condemned in public.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
CHAPTER I. HOW MANY KINDS OF PRINCIPALITIES THERE ARE, AND BY WHAT MEANS THEY ARE ACQUIRED CHAPTER II. CONCERNING HEREDITARY PRINCIPALITIES CHAPTER III. CONCERNING MIXED PRINCIPALITIES CHAPTER IV. WHY THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS, CONQUERED BY ALEXANDER, DID NOT REBEL AGAINST THE SUCCESSORS OF ALEXANDER AT HIS DEATH CHAPTER V. CONCERNING THE WAY TO GOVERN CITIES OR PRINCIPALITIES WHICH LIVED UNDER THEIR OWN LAWS BEFORE THEY WERE ANNEXED CHAPTER VI. CONCERNING NEW PRINCIPALITIES WHICH ARE ACQUIRED BY ONE’S OWN ARMS AND ABILITY CHAPTER VII. CONCERNING NEW PRINCIPALITIES WHICH ARE ACQUIRED EITHER BY THE ARMS OF OTHERS OR BY GOOD FORTUNE CHAPTER VIII. CONCERNING THOSE WHO HAVE OBTAINED A PRINCIPALITY BY WICKEDNESS CHAPTER IX. CONCERNING A CIVIL PRINCIPALITY CHAPTER X. CONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH THE STRENGTH OF ALL PRINCIPALITIES OUGHT TO BE MEASURED CHAPTER XI. CONCERNING ECCLESIASTICAL PRINCIPALITIES CHAPTER XII. HOW MANY KINDS OF SOLDIERY THERE ARE AND CONCERNING MERCENARIES CHAPTER XIII. CONCERNING AUXILIARIES, MIXED SOLDIERY, AND ONE’S OWN CHAPTER XIV. THAT WHICH CONCERNS A PRINCE ON THE SUBJECT OF WAR CHAPTER XV. CONCERNING THINGS FOR WHICH MEN, AND ESPECIALLY PRINCES, ARE PRAISED OR BLAMED CHAPTER XVI. CONCERNING LIBERALITY AND MEANNESS CHAPTER XVII. CONCERNING CRUELTY AND CLEMENCY, AND WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO BE LOVED THAN FEARED CHAPTER XVIII. CONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH PRINCES SHOULD KEEP FAITH CHAPTER XIX. THAT ONE SHOULD AVOID BEING DESPISED AND HATED CHAPTER XX. ARE FORTRESSES, AND MANY OTHER THINGS TO WHICH PRINCES OFTEN RESORT, ADVANTAGEOUS OR HURTFUL? CHAPTER XXI. HOW A PRINCE SHOULD CONDUCT HIMSELF SO AS TO GAIN RENOWN CHAPTER XXII. CONCERNING THE SECRETARIES OF PRINCES CHAPTER XXIII.
Themes in this work
Quotes
“Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.”
“A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline.”
“Men are so simple, and so subject to present necessities, that he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.”