Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince

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The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, is a general Do’s and Don’ts on how to rule. He employs two main concepts throughout his book, the concept of virtue and the concept of fortune. Virtue, as we presently know, would have the meaning of a good or moral quality, but its used by Machiavelli as having skills, strength, intelligence, and prudence of a ruler. As discussed in lecture by Professor Abbeele, virtue is defined as, “Whatever it takes to stay in power.” According to Machiavelli, a prince who only uses his virtue to rise to power will have success in stabilizing his rule. However, a prince who uses good fortune to rise through the ranks will be reliant on them to maintain it. Fortune, in its present use, is described as luck and opportunity…show more content…
For Machiavelli, Cesare is a prince who lost everything he had because of misfortune, but it is that same reason that he was introduced to power. Through the good fortune of his father, Pope Alexander VI, Cesare was able to conquer the Romagna using the military power of the French king, Louis XII, and of the Orsini family. As Machiavelli has stated, “These persons rely simply on the will and fortune of whoever has granted it to them, and those are two things that are very volatile and unstable, and they neither know how nor are able to maintain that rank.”(Chapter 7). This statement shows that even though Cesare was fortunate enough to get a chance to rule, he will not be able to maintain it as easily as he did. Machiavelli also states, “They do not know how because, if he is not a man of great genius and virtue, it is not reasonable that after always having lived in private fortune a man should know how to command.”(Chapter 7). This quote gives an assertion that Cesare is not fit to rule simply because he may not know how to rule. These statements by Machiavelli are translating into the fall of Cesare’s…show more content…
However, since Cesare didn’t experience the hardships that Sforza went through in order to achieve power, he was not capable of keeping a stable reign. Even with all this evidence that dooms Cesare to fail, he did whatever it took for him to stay in power. Cesare did everything right. He was a virtuous man, but his entire rule was dependent on his father, and when his father died, so did Cesare’s power. He acquired his rule through other arms and fortune, so he had to be more careful trying to ensure he can maintain his power. Cesare tries to get in control by eliminating the other forces. He found a way to weaken the Orsini and Colonna factions by charming the noblemen and giving them exclusive titles. He sets a trap and destroys the Orsinis. He finds a way to deliver peace and unity to his region by appointing Ramiro de Lorqua. However, Cesare later executes de Lorqua to gain favor of the citizens who might have felt opposed feelings towards de Lorqua. Cesare also tries to build his foundation in Rome by killing off the bloodlines of all the noblemen who he had disposed of. He again allures noblemen in Rome to keep the Pope in check. Cesare did all that he could to try to boost his influence over to the College of Cardinals before his father’s death. Due to his
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