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Casey Marshall
Mr. Barone
Period 4
8 May 2015
Some Day My Prince Will Come
Niccol Machiavelli, an Italian diplomat and author, is considered by most as the Father
of Modern Political Theory. He wrote the iconic book The Prince, inspiring numerous politicians
and leaders around the world. Also, he had many effective ideas having to do with war. Although
Machiavelli was not nearly as famous when he was alive as he is now, he still had quite the
impact on society.
The Prince is a handbook for ruthless politicians and leaders, saying that one must do
whatever possible to stay in power and how to do so. At this point one may note that men must
either be pampered or annihilated. They avenge light defenses; they cannot avenge severe ones;
hence, the harm one does to a man must be such as to obviate any fear of revenge.
(Machiavelli). This quote explains that feelings of compassion and pity are useless and mean
nothing. This quote gives one an excellent look on how Machiavelli acted as a politician because
he knew that to maintain power, one must throw all morals and feelings of compassion out the
window. To most people, The Prince is a critique of traditional moral norms and ideologies
regarding the exercise of power. Niccol Machiavelli argues that a ruler should not care about
these norms (or laws in general) and should only be concerned with authority and power, which
are equal, and war (Niccol Machiavelli-Biography). It is said that ruthless leaders such as
Mussolini, Napoleon, and Stalin have been hugely influenced by the works of Machiavelli.
Machiavelli was known as an avid supporter of a leader knowing how to run a military.
He wrote a book called Dellarte delle Guerra, also known as The Art of War, describes his view
on the military. In this work, the only political work published during his lifetime, he essentially
gives instructions on how to acquire and maintain military force and argues that the liberty of a
state (and of its citizens) requires the military preparedness of the citizens (Niccol
Machiavelli-Biography). Machiavelli was known to have wanted a citizen-militia. Machiavelli,

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himself was part of a Florentine militia in 1512 to stop the Medici family from getting their
power back. He was also responsible for the reorganization of the republics military defense. He
had very strong beliefs about how a ruler should be completely focused on war and nothing else.
A prince should therefore have no other aim or thought, nor take up any other thing for his
study but war and its organization and discipline, for that is the only art necessary to one who
commands (Machiavelli).
Machiavelli is one of the most influential people from the Renaissance, mostly because of
his legendary book The Prince and his loud thoughts and opinions on war. Knowing how many
leaders have been influenced by Machiavelli, one can safely say that he is an iconic diplomat and
writer.

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Work Cited
"Niccol Machiavelli - Biography." Niccol Machiavelli. Web. 7 May 2015.
Machiavelli, Niccolo. Art of War. U of Chicago, 2003. Print.
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Floating, 2008. Print.

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