Machiavelli: The Prince

206 Pages·2019·2.002 MB·English

by  Niccolò Machiavelli, Quentin Skinner, Russell Price

CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE
HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
MACHIAVELLI
The Prince
SecondEdition
This new edition of the acclaimed translation of Niccolò Machiavelli’s
ThePrince–revisedforthefirsttimeafter30years–includesarewritten
and extended introduction by Quentin Skinner. Niccolò Machiavelli is
arguablythemostfamousandcontroversialfigureinthehistoryofpolitical
thought. The Prince remains his best-known work, and throws down
achallengethatsubsequentwritersonstatecraftandpoliticalmoralityhave
found impossible to ignore. Quentin Skinner’s introduction offers a lucid
analysisofMachiavelli’stextbothasaresponsetotheworldofFlorentine
politicsandasacriticalengagementwiththeclassicalandRenaissancegenre
ofadvice-booksforprinces.
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,inadditiontoanenlargedandfullyupdatedbibliography.
Quentin Skinner is the Barber Beaumont Professor of the Humanities at
QueenMaryUniversityofLondon.
Russell Price, who died in 2011, was Senior Lecturer in Politics at the
UniversityofLancaster
CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE
HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
GeneralEditor
QUENTIN SKINNER
Barber Beaumont Professor of the Humanities, Queen Mary
University of London
EditorialBoard
MICHAEL COOK
Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University
GABRIEL PAQUETTE
Dean of the Clark Honors College, University of Oregon
ANDREWSARTORI
Professor of History, New York University
HILDE DEWEERDT
Professor of Chinese History, Leiden University
CambridgeTextsintheHistoryofPoliticalThoughtisfirmlyestablishedas
themajorstudentseriesoftextsinpoliticaltheory.Itaimstomakeavailable
allthemostimportanttextsinthehistoryofpoliticalthought,fromancient
Greecetothetwentiethcentury,fromthroughouttheworldandfromevery
politicaltradition.Allthefamiliarclassictextsareincluded,buttheseries
seeks at the same time to enlarge the conventional canonthrough a global
scope and by incorporating an extensive range of less well known works,
many of them never before available in a modern English edition, and to
presentthehistoryofpoliticalthoughtinacomparative,internationalcon-
text. Where possible, the texts are published in complete and unabridged
form,andtranslationsarespeciallycommissionedfortheseries.However,
where appropriate, especially for non-Western texts, abridged or tightly
focusedandthematiccollectionsareofferedinstead.Eachvolumecontains
a critical introduction, together with chronologies, biographical sketches,
aguidetofurtherreading,andanynecessaryglossariesandtextualapparatus.
Overall,theseriesaimstoprovidethereaderwithanoutlineoftheentire
evolutionofinternationalpoliticalthought.
Foralistoftitlespublishedintheseries,pleaseseeendofbook.
MACHIAVELLI
The Prince
EDITEDBY
QUENTIN SKINNER
BarberBeaumontProfessoroftheHumanities,QueenMaryUniversityofLondon
AND
RUSSELL PRICE
SeniorLecturerinPolitics,UniversityofLancaster1933–2011
UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom
OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,ny10006,USA
477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,vic3207,Australia
314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre,
NewDelhi–110025,India
79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107145863
doi:10.1017/9781316536223
©intheEnglishtranslationandeditorialmatterCambridgeUniversityPress
1988,2019
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firsteditionpublished1988
Thirty-secondprinting2018
Secondeditionpublished2019
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd.PadstowCornwall
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
isbn978-1-107-14586-3Hardback
isbn978-1-316-50926-5Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Contents
EditorialNote pageviii
Introduction x
PrincipalEventsinMachiavelli’sLife xxvii
BibliographicalNote xxx
Translator’sNote xxxvi
NoteontheText xl
Map:NorthernandCentralItaly,c.1500 xli
DedicatoryLetter:NiccolòMachiavellitoHisMagnificence
Lorenzode’Medici 3
I HowManyKindsofPrincipalityThereAre,andbyWhat
MeansTheyAreAcquired 5
II HereditaryPrincipalities 6
III MixedPrincipalities 6
IV WhytheKingdomofDarius,WhichAlexander
Occupied,DidNotRebelagainstHisSuccessorsafter
Alexander’sDeath 15
V ByWhatMeansCitiesorProvincesthatLivedunder
TheirOwnLawsbeforeTheyWereOccupiedOught
toBeAdministered 17
v
Contents
VI NewPrincipalitiesAcquiredbyOne’sOwnArmsand
Ability 19
VII NewPrincipalitiesAcquiredthroughtheArms
andFortuneofOthers 22
VIII ThoseWhoBecomeRulersthroughCrime 29
IX TheCivilPrincipality 33
X InWhatWaystheStrengthsofAllPrincipalitiesShould
BeMeasured 37
XI EcclesiasticalPrincipalities 39
XII HowManyKindsofSoldiersThereAre,andMercenary
Troops 41
XIII Auxiliaries,MixedTroopsandOne’sOwnTroops 46
XIV HowaRulerShouldActConcerningMilitaryMatters 50
XV TheThingsforWhichMen,andEspeciallyRulers,
ArePraisedorBlamed 53
XVI LiberalityandParsimony 54
XVII CrueltyandMercifulness;andWhetherItIsBetter
toBeLovedthanFeared,ortheContrary 56
XVIII InWhatWayRulersShouldKeepTheirPromises 59
XIX HowContemptandHatredShouldBeAvoided 62
XX WhetherBuildingFortresses,andManyOtherThings
ThatRulersFrequentlyDo,AreUsefulorUseless 70
XXI WhataRulerShouldDoinOrdertoBeThought
Outstanding 74
XXII OnThoseWhomRulersEmployinSecretMatters 77
XXIII HowFlatterersShouldBeShunned 79
XXIV WhytheRulersofItalyHaveLostTheirStates 80
XXV HowMuchControlFortuneHasoverHumanAffairs,
andbyWhatMeansSheShouldBeResisted 82
vi
Contents
XXVI AnExhortationtoSeizePossessionofItalyandAssert
HerLibertyfromtheBarbarians 85
AppendixA LettersRelevanttoThePrince 90
AppendixB NotesontheVocabularyofThePrince 98
BiographicalNotes 114
IndexofSubjects 144
IndexofProperNames 151
vii
Editorial Note
When the original version of this edition was published in 1988, the
division of labour between me and my co-editor, Russell Price, was as
follows.IwrotetheIntroduction,andalsocompiledtheBibliographical
NoteandthelistofprincipaleventsinMachiavelli’slife.Thetranslation
wastheworkofRussellPrice,whowasalsoresponsiblefortheannota-
tions to the text, the Appendices, the Biographical Notes and the
Indexes.HeexpressedhisgratitudeinourEditors’NotetoPaoloRossi
forcheckingmostofhistranslation,andtoFrancescoBadolato,Luciano
Cheles and Michael Oakeshott for commenting on particular chapters.
ForfurtheradvicehethankedBrunaIsellaandtheRev.GiovanniRulli,
SJ;andforhelpwithcorrectingtheproofshethankedHarroHöpfl.
ForthisneweditionIhaverewrittentheIntroductionandproduced
a more extensive and up-to-date Bibliography. With an Anglophone
audienceinmindIhaveplacedmymainemphasisonbooksandarticles
in English. I need to stress, however, that some of the best recent
scholarshiponMachiavellihasbeenpublishedinFrenchandespecially
inItalian,andIhaveincludedsomeofthemostimportantoftheseworks.
IammuchindebtedtoJohnMcCormickandPeteStaceyforenlighten-
ingdiscussionsaboutrecenttrendsinthescholarlyliterature.
Russell Price, who died in 2011, never proposed any changes to his
translation,andIhavegenerallyresistedthetemptationtotinkerwithit.
But I need to note two exceptions to this rule. One relates to
Machiavelli’s chapter headings, which appear in Latin in the earliest
manuscriptsofThePrince.SomeofRussell’srenderingsofMachiavelli’s
Latincanonlybedescribedasmisleading,andIhavetriedtoimprove
them. The other exception is due to the fact that some of Russell’s
viii