The Prince By Machiavelli

Machiavelli’s work, The Prince, is often claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy. The Prince was written as a guide for ruling and how to rule successfully. Through the clear and simple dialect, Machiavelli is able to compose understandable advice on how to have a fruitful reign. To fully support his ideas, Machiavelli uses Cesare Borgia’s rule as the prime example. Cesare Borgia’s rule is considered successful in the eyes of Machiavelli. This paper will outline Machiavelli’s points to being a successful ruler through the reign of Cesare Borgia.
Machiavelli’s The Prince, is a work in which Machiavelli describes the qualities and actions he believed a prince must have in order to be considered successful and to maintain power.
According to Machiavelli, “They do not know how to hold and they cannot hold that rank: they do not know how, because if one is not a man of great ingenuity and virtue, it is not reasonable, that having always lived in private fortune, he should know how to command…” (Machiavelli 26). To Machiavelli, a good ruler does not need luck because they have the ability to control their own luck. Machiavelli further states that those who do rise to power through luck will not be able to maintain their position for long. However, Machiavelli recognizes Cesare and two other major leaders and states that after “Cesare Borgia, called Duke Valentino by the vulgar, acquired his state through the fortune of his father and lost it through the same, notwithstanding the fact that he made use of every deed and did all those things that should be done by a prudent and virtuous man to put his roots in the state that the arms fortune of others had given him.” (Machiavelli 26-27). While Cesare’s rise to power can be mostly attributed to his father, he manages to maintain that power through his skill and ability to be a successful and influential leader. In many ways, Machiavelli praises Cesare for all that he is able to accomplish with the unlikely odds that he starts his rule
In Machiavelli's version of politics, anything goes; in fact, warfare, manipulation, and murder were encouraged. Machiavelli uses Cesare Borgia’s actions as a prime example of how to rule. At the beginning of Cesare's rule of Romagna, he is challenged with the task of continuing to expand the empire, but “after the duke had acquired Romagna and beaten down the Colonna, two things prevented him from maintaining that and going further ahead…” (Machiavelli 28). These two things being that his army appeared unfaithful and that he was also relying on Orsini arms. The Colonna and Orsini were noble families of Rome who could potentially threaten Cesare’s rule. He began to attempt to weaken both families by bribing the men with government positions and higher rewards. After accomplishing this, he then killed any member of the family left that posed a threat to his rule. Machiavelli agrees with Caesar's actions because he eliminated those that threatened him, but only when necessary. By disposing of his enemies, Cesare’s followers feared him and his power, which is a desirable trait according to Machiavelli.
Cesare’s next move was to appoint someone with the ability to reduce Romagna: “To peace and obedience to a kingly arm. So he put there Messer Remirro de Orco, a cruel and ready man, to whom he gave the fullest power.” (Machiavelli 29). Although Remirro