Niccolò Machiavelli: The Prince (1513)
Explanation and Analysis of the Document
The Prince is not a long book. It has twenty-six chapters that are compact and clearly written; however, it is not thoroughly systematic. It was based upon study of modern events and ancient history from which the author drew political lessons. The selection is from Chapters XIV to XIX.
Chapter XIV: That Which Concerns a Prince on the Subject of the Art of War
In this chapter, Machiavelli discusses war as the central subject of study for a prince, stating, “A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline.” Machiavelli reasons that wars have usually been waged by princes; war enabled them to win and keep kingdoms—or to lose them. He points out that princes who submersed themselves in pleasure rather than war often lost power and adds that history contains many stories of kingdoms and empires that were conquered by battle-hardened invaders. Ineptitude in...
