Machiavelli's Cruelty

It is through the cruelty presented in works such as The Prince that has led to the disdain for the term Machiavellian. It has become synonymous with the ideas of duplicity in diplomacy, with little regard to the effects on morality. However, The Prince is not necessarily a treatise desiring violence and cruelty, but a document founded upon the ideas of pragmatism. To Machiavelli, the use of cruelty is not meant to be done for the sake of cruelty itself, but for the ideas of cruelty being well used. Its central doctrine is the idea that the ends justify the mean. Machiavelli’s dream is not for an unjust dictatorship, but for the glory of Italy. Cruelty well used has the greatest efficacy of not only a unified, but strong Italy. Machiavelli’s
To Machiavelli, it is often to destroy or to be destroyed. This idea starts early in chapter III, but is broadened in chapter V. It is here that Machiavelli really shows a nonchalant attitude to violence and what it brings. With respect to cities accustomed to living free, Machiavelli is acceptable to the idea of complete and utter destruction. It is because, in nations of liberty, the people are hard to forget their freedom. Later in the work, Machiavelli will reference times in which a state had to destroy another to bring order to the region. One of his examples is that of Rome having to act aggressively in Greece after first having attempted to establish oligarchical systems. Thus, his example shows that it is necessary to root out liberty to create order. Furthermore, Machiavelli continues to show an acceptance of destruction with respect to cities accustomed to living under a prince. He emphasizes the importance of destroying a bloodline for the necessity of securing the new state. It is not simply the violent tendency that Machiavelli shows (with respect to war and destruction) that emphasize the ideas of cruelty, but his lack of attention to the moral implications of said violence in these
When discussing the roman emperors in chapter XIX, Machiavelli gives examples of unruly cruelty exceeding the needs of a ruler. One prime example is Antoninus Caracalla, whose great cruelty led him to become so hated and feared that he was killed by a centurion among his own army. Instead of consistent, and overzealous cruelty, Machiavelli attempts to give a structure to the use of cruelty. His examples of Agathocles and Liverotto in Chapter VIII (while full of cruelty), puts a great credence on cruelty well used. Instead of acting as Antoninus did, Machiavelli says that if cruelty is a necessity to security, then one should contemplate all the offenses necessary and then execute them all at a singular stroke and then refrain from further injuries of cruelty upon others. This is so that while a prince may act with a cruel intention, his cruelty is limited to a single incident and can be forgotten. He can move forward in the security of the state and establishment of