Machiavelli: The Prince (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)

This New Edition Of The Acclaimed Translation Of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince -- Revised For The First Time After 30 Years -- Includes A Rewritten And Extended Introduction By Quentin Skinner. Niccolò Machiavelli Is Arguably The Most Famous And Controversial Figure In The History Of Political Thought. The Prince Remains His Best-known Work, And Throws Down A Challenge That Subsequent Writers On Statecraft And Political Morality Have Found Impossible To Ignore. Quentin Skinner's Introduction Offers A Lucid Analysis Of Machiavelli's Text Both As A Response To The World Of Florentine Politics And As A Critical Engagement With The Classical And Renaissance Genre Of Advice-books For Princes. This Edition Also Features An Improved Timeline Of Key Events In Machiavelli's Life, Helping The Reader Place The Work In The Context Of Its Time, In Addition To An Enlarged And Fully Updated Bibliography.-- Introduction -- Dedicatory Letter: Niccolò Machiavelli To His Magnificence Lorenzo De' Medici. How Many Kinds Of Principality There Are, And By What Means They Are Acquired ; Hereditary Principalities ; Mixed Principalities ; Why The Kingdom Of Darius, Which Alexander Occupied, Did Not Rebel Against His Successors After Alexander's Death ; By What Means Cities Or Provinces That Lived Under Their Own Laws Before They Were Occupied Ought To Be Administered ; New Principalities Acquired By One's Own Arms And Ability ; New Principalities Acquired Through The Arms And Fortune Of Others ; Those Who Become Rulers Through Crime ; The Civil Principality ; In What Ways The Strengths Of All Principalities Should Be Measured ; Ecclesiastical Principalities ; How Many Kinds Of Soldiers There Are, And Mercenary Troops ; Auxiliaries, Mixed Troops And One's Own Troops ; How A Ruler Should Act Concerning Military Matters ; The Things For Which Men, And Especially Rulers, Are Praised Or Blamed ; Liberality And Parsimony ; Cruelty And Mercifulness; And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Or Feared, Or The Contrary ; In What Way Rulers Should Keep Their Promises ; How Contempt And Hatred Should Be Avoided ; Whether Building Fortresses, And Many Other Things That Rulers Frequently Do, Are Useful Or Useless ; What A Ruler Should Do In Order To Be Thought Outstanding ; On Those Whom Rulers Employ In Secret Matters ; How Flatterers Should Be Shunned ; Why The Rulers Of Italy Have Lost Their States ; How Much Control Fortune Has Over Human Affairs, And By What Means She Should Be Resisted ; An Exhortation To Seize Possession Of Italy And Assert Her Liberty From The Barbarians -- Appendices. Machiavelli ; Edited By Quentin Skinner, Barber Beaumont Professor Of The Humanities, Queen Mary University Of London And Russell Price, Senior Lecturer In Politics, University Of Lancaster, 1933-2011. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Translated From The Italian By Russell Price. Cover 1 Half-title page 3 Series page 4 Title page 5 Copyright page 6 Contents 7 Editorial Note 10 Introduction 12 Principal Events in Machiavelli’s Life 29 Bibliographical Note 32 Translator’s Note 38 Note on the Text 42 Maps 43 The Prince 45 Dedicatory Letter: Niccolò Machiavelli to His Magnificence Lorenzo de’ Medicia 47 Chapter I How Many Kinds of Principality There Are, and by What Means They Are Acquired 49 Chapter II Hereditary Principalities 50 Chapter III Mixed Principalities 50 Chapter IV Why the Kingdom of Darius, Which Alexander Occupied, Did Not Rebel against His Successors after Alexander’s Death 59 Chapter V By What Means Cities or Provinces that Lived under Their Own Laws before They Were Occupied Ought to Be Administered 61 Chapter VI New Principalities Acquired by One’s Own Arms and Ability 63 Chapter VII New Principalities Acquired through the Arms and Fortune of Others 66 Chapter VIII Those Who Become Rulers through Crime 73 Chapter IX The Civil Principality 77 Chapter X In What Ways the Strengths of All Principalities Should Be Measured 81 Chapter XI Ecclesiastical Principalities 83 Chapter XII How Many Kinds of Soldiers There Are, and Mercenary Troops 85 Chapter XIII Auxiliaries, Mixed Troops and One’s Own Troops 90 Chapter XIV How a Ruler Should Act Concerning Military Matters 94 Chapter XV The Things for Which Men, and Especially Rulers, Are Praised or Blamed 97 Chapter XVI Liberality and Parsimony 98 Chapter XVII Cruelty and Mercifulness; and Whether It Is Better to Be Loved than Feared, or the Contrary 100 Chapter XVIII In What Way Rulers Should Keep Their Promises 103 Chapter XIX How Contempt and Hatred Should Be Avoided 106 Chapter XX Whether Building Fortresses, and Many Other Things That Rulers Frequently Do, Are Useful or Useless 114 Chapter XXI What a Ruler Should Do in Order to Be Thought Outstanding 118 Chapter XXII On Those Whom Rulers Employ in Secret Matters 121 Chapter XXIII How Flatterers Should Be Shunned 123 Chapter XXIV Why the Rulers of Italy Have Lost Their States 124 Chapter XXV How Much Control Fortune Has over Human Affairs, and by What Means She Should Be Resisted 126 Chapter XXVI An Exhortation to Seize Possession of Italy and Assert Her Liberty from the Barbarians 129 Appendix A Letters Relevant to The Prince 134 Appendix B Notes on the Vocabulary of The Prince 142 Biographical Notes 158 Index of Subjects 188 Index of Proper Names 195 The Prince (Italian: Il Principe [il ˈprintʃipe]; Latin: De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of The Prince is of accepting that the aims of princes – such as glory and survival – can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends. From Machiavelli's correspondence, a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities). However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. This was carried out with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII, but "long before then, in fact since the first appearance of The Prince in manuscript, controversy had swirled about his writings". Although The Prince was written as if it were a traditional work in the mirrors for princes style, it was generally agreed as being especially innovative. This is partly because it was written in the vernacular Italian rather than Latin, a practice that had become increasingly popular since the publication of Dante's Divine Comedy and other works of Renaissance literature. This new edition of the acclaimed translation of Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince - revised for the first time after thirty years - includes an extended and rewritten introduction by Quentin Skinner, an improved timeline of key events in Machiavelli's life, and a fully updated bibliography.