The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli Directions: Students will need to use the questions in this packet as a study guide in order to prepare for the exam that they will take in the second week of the school year. The exam will be the first major grade that students receive for the year. The exam will consist of approximately 30 multiple choice questions over the content of the text as well as situational material where the students will have to apply the principles from the text in answering the questions. I will be checking my school email (ccolby@willisisd.org) throughout the summer and will respond to emails at the earliest convenience. Page 1 of 5
Niccolo Machiavelli is one of the most significant political philosophers in history. He gained his significance because of this single short piece of literature; The Prince. His work, The Prince, represents the turning point in political thought for Western cultures. The impact of this single work is so important because for the first time in the history of man and the theories on how a country should be ruled Machiavelli looked at the way things really work and not how they should ideally work. More simply stated; he saw things for what they were and not what they wished it could be. He represented a transition from a world where people believed everything was determined by God or fate to one where the actions of man are the main determiner of the outcomes of events. He drew very heavily from his own life experiences. He had been a government official in the late 15 th and early 16 th Century in his home of Florence, Italy and had seen much of the world through his diplomatic travels across Europe. Italy was a puzzle of interlocking independent city-states that were often at war with each other to gain dominance over the peninsula. Even the pope, Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), was using his influence and his own military power led by his son, Cesare Borgia, and the assistance of France and Spain at different times to gain control over Italy by uniting all of the city-states under one leader. After Florence fell to the Medici and Pope Julius II Machiavelli was exiled and then imprisoned under suspicion. After his release he longed to become involved in politics again and wrote several plays and theoretical essays. The best known of these is The Prince. Written as a gift to Lorenzo di Medici; the ruling member of the Medici family; he had hoped it would ingratiate him to the Medici by giving them real world advice on how a successful ruler should lead and what mistakes he should avoid. You may be familiar with the phrase The end justifies the means. In modern terms a person would say Do whatever it takes to get what you want. This is taken from Machiavelli, but does not accurately state what he was saying. According to Machiavelli, a leader must do whatever needs to be done to preserve his rule for the good of the country; sometimes this might include a little violence, but never more than is necessary. You will notice several themes through the reading. While the style of writing is somewhat dated they still come through clearly. Don t violate the property rights of the people. Make yourself respected by surrounding yourself with strong individuals who will tell you what you need to hear. Only do as much harm as is necessary for the good of the country, and no more. And, finally, men must either be made happy or crushed completely. These are some of the central ideas of Machiavelli s philosophy of leadership. Niccolo Machiavelli was not without his own belief in fate though. In the end, he says that fate is like a body of water which can be dammed up but at some point, no matter the best efforts of a leader, it may overflow and change the course of events. Machiavelli was ridiculed because of his belief that it was not God who caused a king or ruler to succeed or fail, but it was actually the actions of that ruler. This kind of view that holds man as the central actor in the determination of history is often referred to as humanism. His biggest critics argued that he had violated Christianity by making the ethics and morality of leadership subjective to the situation. He has been called the devil and many other names, but the fact of the matter is that he is simply a man who chose to view the world as it really was and to give advice to leaders who have to work within those boundaries. Page 2 of 5
Question #1. Chapter 2. Machiavelli says that no matter how strong a leader s army may be it is essential that in entering a new Province you should have the good will of its inhabitants. Explain his reasoning behind why the strength of the army matters little in comparison to the good will. Question #2. Chapter 2. What are the two things that a new prince must do if he means to keep a state he just conquered? Explain why he must do these things. What is the danger of not doing them? Question #3. Chapter 2. In one of his key statements, Machiavelli says men are either to be kindly treated, or utterly crushed. While this seems like two extremes; what is his reasoning behind this method of ruling a conquered land? Question #4. Chapter 3. What were the methods used by the Romans, described by Machiavelli, used to keep power over the nations they conquered? And how did having Roman rulers that lived in these conquered lands help them keep control? Question #5. Chapter 6. When Machiavelli advises the ruler to follow in the footsteps of others and says that the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great he goes on to describe how even if they fail at being just like the greats they still succeed. Explain his reasoning and the significance. Question #6. Chapter 8. Machiavelli very clearly distinguishes here between well employed or good and ill-employed or bad cruelties that may be done. Tell me how he distinguishes between these two and then tell me in your own words what this means. Finally, give me some examples that he uses to show the difference. Question #7. Chapter 8. Explain the manner in which Machiavelli believes that injuries should be inflicted and benefits should be conferred upon the people. Describe how it benefits or hurts the leader. Question #8. Chapter 9. Describe the differences in a princedom of a man who is made Prince by the favour of nobles and one who is made Prince by the popular support. Identify the struggles and advantages of both. Question #9. Chapter 12 and 13. What does Machiavelli mean by mercenaries and auxiliary forces? Why does Machiavelli so disdain the use of mercenaries or auxiliary military forces? Explain his view of them and why. What is his preference over these kinds of forces and why? Page 3 of 5
Question #10. Chapter 15.Why does Machiavelli believe that it is better to follow the real truth of things in his writing than an imaginary view of them? What is he talking about? What is the difference and why does it matter? Question #11. Chapter 15. In Machiavelli s view, how does he think about the necessity of a ruler engaging in virtues and vices? Explain why he feels the way he feels? Question #12. Chapter 16. What is the benefit and danger of the virtue of liberality or being giving to the people? What is the benefit and danger of the vice of miserliness or being stingy? Explain. Question #13. Chapter 17. Machiavelli states, that it is more merciful for a Prince to [stop] disorder by a very few single examples of cruelty than have too great of leniency? Explain his thought process. How can it be more merciful for a leader to be cruel than lenient? Question #14. Chapter 17. In one of his most famous quotes, Machiavelli says here that it is far safer to be feared than loved. Explain why this is. Question #15. Chapter 17. Machiavelli differentiates though between fear and hate. He says that the leader must inspire fear but only in ways that escape hate. Explain the difference and describe what kind of things might inspire hate against a leader. Why is this so dangerous? Question #16. Chapter 17. Upon whom does being loved and being hated depend on when in the role of the leader? Question #17. Chapter 18. What does Machiavelli mean by keep faith when talking about the relationship of the leader to the people? Why did the Greeks use Chiron the Centaur as a mentor for training Achilles? Question #18. Chapter 18. Describe and explain the reference Machiavelli makes to how a leader must both be like a fox and like a lion. Question #19. Chapter 18. Explain the significances of his statement Every one sees what you seem, but few know what you are, and these few dare not oppose themselves to the opinion of the many who have the majesty of the state to back them up. What does he mean? How can we relate this to modern elections or leadership positions in politics? Page 4 of 5
Question #20. Chapter 18. In the most known, and misinterpreted, part of the whole text Machiavelli describes by what standard the means (methods) of a Prince will be judged honourable. What determines whether or not the masses judge the methods of a Prince to be honourable? Why? Question #21. Chapter 19. What is the best way, according to Machiavelli, for the Prince to not have to fear conspiracies against his reign/leadership? Question #22. Chapter 20. What is the best fortress that a leader can have? What is the consequence for a leader who has made his subjects hate him? Question #23. Chapter 21. Machiavelli says that a leader should strive by all his actions to inspire a sense of greatness and goodness and then goes on to say later that he ought to entertain the people with festivals and shows and show attention to the various societies and guilds (professional associations). Analyze these pieces of advice and relate this to the way that presidential elections work and how other elected officials act in the modern world. Question #24. Chapter 22 and 23. What kind of individuals should a leader choose to be his advisors and ministers (department heads)? Explain the characteristics of the people with which he should surround himself. What kind of advice should he seek and avoid? Question #25. Chapter 25. Finally, how does Machiavelli think of fate; or as he calls it Fortune. What role does it play, if any? Describe. Page 5 of 5