by Joshua Simmet

Created on: January 28, 2010

In 1513 Italian philosopher and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli completed his most well remembered work; Il Principe or The Prince, a treatise on the proper way that he believed a ruler of a monarchy or dictatorial state should act. The book was not actually published for another 19 years in 1532 which was actually five years after his death. The Prince effectively set up the principles for modern philosophy, despite a belief among some academics that the entire treatise is a work of satire.

The Prince is organized into 26 chapters that detail the ways to maintain, run, and keep a principality. The first few chapters outline the different types of principalities, hereditary principalities that have been in under control of one family for a couple hundred years, and new principalities which were recently acquired through force or revolution. Next Machiavelli goes on to describe why the Kingdom of Darius did not rebel against the successor of Alexander the Great. The next four chapters deal with how to rule a principality that has been acquired through either arms or good fortune, and the different ways to deal with them, such as how to govern a state that lived under its own laws before it was acquired. The next several chapters concern the different types of principalities; civil and ecclesiastical and how to measure the strength of a state. The remaining 15 chapters deal with soldiery, defense and the level of respect, love and hate directed at the ruler, or Prince, which is what Machiavelli used to describe the rulers in the treatise. The final chapter deals with Machiavelli’s way of liberating Italy from barbarians.

The range of topics that Machiavelli covers is spread to involve all possible aspects of the act of governing a state. From the different strategies of defense and military actions to how a prince should avoid and deal with flatterers, Machiavelli takes all of those and defines precisely how they should be dealt with with one simple governing principle; Might Makes Right. While he never actually uses that particular phrase in The Prince, that is more or less the message that can be taken away. If a ruler or state has the power to do something, than they have the right to do so. Now, if The Prince is indeed a work of political satire, than Machiavelli is saying that the belief that “Might Makes Right” is a folly of leaders that will usually end with them deposed or deceased.

One of the most important parts of a

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