Obtaining and Maintaining Political Power in Machiavelli's The Prince

In 1513, Niccoló Machiavelli wrote a political treatise supplying various method of ways a prince can obtain and maintain his political power. This work of literary art caused tons of controversy and was later forbidden by Pope Clement VIII due to it going against the normal traditional ethics at the time According to Machiavelli, a prince should only be concerned about power and ways leading to the success of their political actions. Modern scholars feel as though the book was not written as a actual guide of how to rule, but more of a satirical work of art on how not to rule over a country. Originally Machiavelli only wrote the letter in hopes of working as an advisor to the Medici family who at the time were ruling over Florence, Italy.

In Chapter 13 of Machiavelli’s The Prince begins with him talking about the military and how mercenaries are much different from auxiliaries. The comparison states that auxiliaries are much more of a danger to the country than a mercenary because auxiliaries come with ulterior motives. Mercenaries are professional soldiers who are hired and paid to serve in a foreign army while an auxiliary is an army is an army employed by a prince in a time of need. Machiavelli warns the dangers of auxiliaries because no matter the outcome of the war, the country receiving the help from the army will have some sort of horrible fate. In the case the country wins the war they are at risk of being captive to the auxiliaries leaving there to a negative consequence no matter what. By Machiavelli telling of the dangers of receiving help from such a negative force he allow his distrust in them to be shown. As a way of trying to get the reader to understand, Machiavelli uses historical examples of people who previous...

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...en he shouldn’t be in the position of being prince. Throughout the entire chapter, Machiavelli repeatedly talks about virtù which is one of the concepts he is known for creating as a theory. The actual word comes from the Latin word virtus which are simply qualities that are found as being charming in a man. Machiavelli caused virtù to become a concept that would be described as being traits that a leader should have in order to maintaining the order in a country and accomplishing great things. Machiavelli also mentions the word fortuna who is actually was the Greek goddess of good luck and fortune in the Roman culture. In the context he uses the word fortuna, he is actually talking about the fate and justice. Unfortunately The Prince shows how the two words are contradictory the two words are to each other because in the right situations virtù triumphs over fortuna.