Riassunto
Riassunto di The Prince
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love history or philosophy and anyone who wants to understand how power works in politics, business or office life.
Che cos’è questo libro
The Prince is a short book of advice on how to win power and keep it. It was written by Niccolò Machiavelli, a Florentine official who lost his post when the Medici family returned to rule Florence in 1512. He wrote it in 1513 from his small farm outside the city, and he meant it as a gift to a Medici ruler, hoping it would show his skill and win him work again. It was printed only in 1532, five years after his death.
The book is made of twenty-six short chapters. It runs from the kinds of states there are, to how they are won, to how soldiers, advisers and reputation decide a ruler's fate. It ends with a passionate call to free Italy from foreign armies. Machiavelli draws on ancient history and on the Italy he had seen himself, with its tiny states, hired armies and constant invasions.
What do you gain from it? A clear, unsentimental way of thinking about power, which readers have both admired and feared for five centuries. You will meet its main ideas in the author's own order, and you will see why the word Machiavellian entered the language. Let us begin with the problem every ruler faces first, which is how a state is won and held.
In questo riassunto
- 1Every state is held in its own wayFree
- 2New rulers rise by skill or by luck
- 3Win the people, not just the nobles
- 4Own your army or lose your state
- 5A ruler must always study war
- 6Be feared and generous with care
- 7Appear faithful but keep your freedom
- 8Avoid hatred and contempt above all
- 9Fortune rules half, so act with boldness
Punto chiave 1 di 9
Every state is held in its own way
Machiavelli opens by sorting states into kinds. Some are republics and some are principalities, and he says at once that his subject is principalities. He divides these into hereditary ones, where a family has ruled for generations, and new ones, which a ruler has just seized or inherited by chance. Each kind, he says, asks for a different kind of care.
The hereditary state is the easiest to hold. People are used to the family, and a ruler of ordinary skill can stay in place unless some unusual force removes him. Even if he is driven out, he can return at the first misstep of the usurper. Long rule also dulls memory of the old quarrels that change brings.
The hard cases are the mixed principalities, where a ruler adds a new territory to an old one. Machiavelli uses the King of France and his failed attempts on Italy as a lesson. He argues that the people of a conquered land welcome a new master in hope of a better life, then turn against him when the hope fades. A conqueror also makes enemies of everyone he harmed on the way in, while his friends expect more than he can give.
So what should a conqueror do? Machiavelli advises that the new ruler go and live in the conquered land, or plant colonies there, because colonies are cheap and injure only a few. He should protect the weaker neighbours, weaken the strong ones, and keep out any powerful foreigner. He cites the Romans, who sent colonists, held the lesser powers close and crushed the greater ones before they grew.
He also asks how Alexander the Great's heirs kept his empire after his early death. His answer depends on how the land was governed before, whether by one king and his servants or by a king among old noble families. A state ruled by one master is hard to conquer but easy to hold once taken. A state full of nobles is easy to enter but hard to keep. The lesson for today is to study the structure of what you are taking on before you act.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 50,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 3 h 20 min
- Listening time5 h 35 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about The Prince
What is The Prince about?
It is a short political treatise on how to gain, hold and lose power. Machiavelli covers kinds of states, armies, reputation, advisers and the role of luck, using examples from ancient history and from the Italy of his own day.
Why was The Prince written?
Machiavelli wrote it in 1513, after losing his post in Florence when the Medici returned. He dedicated it to a Medici ruler, hoping to show his knowledge of government and win a new position.
What does Machiavellian mean?
The word describes someone who is cunning, deceitful or willing to use any means to gain power. It comes from the reputation of The Prince, though scholars debate whether Machiavelli himself meant to teach such conduct.
Is it better to be feared or loved, according to Machiavelli?
He says a ruler should want both, but since they rarely go together, it is safer to be feared. The ruler must still avoid being hated, because hatred makes a ruler weak and invites conspiracy.