The Prince

16.43 MB·English

by  Niccolo Machiavelli

m
a
“To investigate the imaginative leaps of so agile and incisive a mind as
Machiavelli’s one needs as much commentary about history, political theory, c n m
iccolò achiavelli
sources, and language as possible. I have gradually come to realize that h
readers who remain unaware of these topics frequently finish reading The
i
Prince,put down their copies, and wonder what the shouting was all about.” a
Thus commented eminent Machiavelli scholar James B. Atkinson thirty years v
ago in justifying what remains today the most informative English-language e
edition of Machiavelli’s masterpiece available. l
l
“This edition of The Princehas three distinct and disparate objectives: to i
provide a fresh and accurate translation; to analyze and find the roots of
Machiavelli’s thought; and to collect relevant extracts from other works by p The
Machiavelli and some contemporaries, to be used to illuminate and explicate
r prince
the text. The objectives are all reached with considerable and admirable
skill. The reader senses Professor Atkinson’s empathy and feeling for even
i
the tiniest movements in Machiavelli’s mind. Professor Atkinson has done a
T
great service to students and teachers of Machiavelli, who should certainly nh
welcome this as the most useful edition of The Princein English.”
e
—MARIODOMANDI,Italica,1978
c
“I still consider Atkinson’stranslation of The Princethe best of the many out
there, especially with its extensive and extraordinarily valuable commentary.” e
—JOHNM. NAJEMY,Professor of History, Cornell University, 2007
j
a
m
JAMESB. ATKINSON’S(and David Sices’) The Sweetness of Power: Machiavelli’s
“Discourses” and Guicciardini’s“Considerations”and Machiavelli and His Friends: e T
s r
Their Personal Correspondenceare published by Northern Illinois University Press. a Translated, with
b n
Their Comedies of Machiavelliis published by Hackett Publishing Company. . s Introduction and Notes, by
a l
a
t t j b a
k e ames . tkinson
d
i
n b
y
s
ISBN-13: 978-0-87220-919-0 o
90000 n
hackett
9FnL1000000 780872 209190 0919
Th0
Princ0

NICCOLO
MACHIAVELLI
Th0
'PrinC0
TRANSLATED, WITH
INTRODUCTION
AND NOTES, BY
James 13. JItkinson
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Indianapolis/Cambridge
Copyright © 1976 by The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.
Reprinted 2008 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

All rights reserved

13 12 11 10 09 08 1 2 3 4 5 6

For further information please address

Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 44937
Indianapolis, IN 46244-0937

www.hackettpublishing.com

Cover design by Abigail Coyle
Printed at Edwards Brothers, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Machiavelli, Niccolò, 1469–1527.
[Principe. English]
The prince/Niccolò Machiavelli ; translated, with introduction and
notes, by James B. Atkinson.
p.cm.
Originally published: Indianapolis : Bobbs-Merrill, 1976, in series,
The library of liberal arts ; LLA-172.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-87220-919-0 (pbk.)
ISBN-13: 978-0-87220-920-6 (cloth)
1. Political science—Early works to 1800. 2. Political ethics. I.
Atkinson, James B., 1934- II. Title.
JC143.M3813 2008
320.1—dc22

2007040890

e-ISBN: 978-1-60384-043-9 (e-book)
TO
J\l{y J\l{other and 'Father
AND TO
~tarr
Pigli questa piccolo dono
can quello animo
che io 10 mando
Contents
Preface ix
Abbreviations Used in This Work XII
Introduction
1. Machiavelli's Life and the History of Florence 2
2. Machiavelli's Uses of the Past: Ancient History 31
3. Machiavelli's Uses of the Past: Contemporary History
37
4. Machiavelli's Conceptual Framework 57
5. Method and Style: The Creative Machiavelli 78
Th0 Trinc0
Dedicatory Letter 93
1. The Various Kinds of Princedoms and How They May
Be Acquired 97
2. Concerning Hereditary Princedoms 99
3. Concerning Mixed Princedoms 103
4. Why the Kingdom of Darius, Conquered by
Alexander, Did Not Rebel Against Alexander's
Successors After His Death 127
5. How One Should Govern Cities or Princedoms That
Lived Under Their Own Laws Before They Were
Conquered 137
6. Concerning New Princedoms Acquired by One's Own
Arms and Virtu 143
7. Concerning New Princedoms Acquired by Other
Men's Armed Forces and Fortune 155
8. Concerning Those Who Became Princes Through
Iniquity 177
9. Concerning the Civil Princedom 191
10. How the Strength of Any Princedom Ought To Be
Assessed 203
11. Concerning Ecclesiastical Princedoms 211
12. Concerning the Various Kinds of Armies and
Mercenaries 219
13. Concerning Troops That Are Auxiliary,
Those That Are Mixed, and Those
That Are A Prince's Own 235
14. What a Prince Should Do About
Military Affairs 247
15. Concerning Matters for Which Men, and Particularly
Princes, Are Praised or Blamed 255
16. Concerning Generosity and Frugality 261
17. Concerning Ruthlessness and Compassion:
Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared,
or Feared Than Loved 269
18. How Princes Should Keep Their Word 279
19. How To Avoid Contempt and Hatred 287
20. Whether Fortresses and Sundry Other
Resources Used Regularly by Princes Are Useful
or Useless 317
21. How a Prince Should Act to Obtain Prestige 331
22. Concerning the Prince's Confidential Staff 343
23. How To Avoid Flatterers 349
24. Why Italian Princes Have Lost Their States 355
25. The Power of Fortune in Human Affairs and How
She Can Be Countered 361
26. An Exhortation to Seize Italy and Free Her From the
Barbarians 373
Appendices
A. Textual Variants 387
B. Passages From Other Works
Relevant to The Prince 392
Index 417
Jv1aps
Italy xxi
Florentine Territory, 1494 xxii
PrefacG
As I studied, then taught, The Prince I became convinced that an
adequately annotated edition is necessary for a more complete under
standing of Machiavelli's mind and art. But what is "adequate" is not
easy to settle upon. I long admired the edition of L. Arthur Burd, pub
lished by the Clarendon Press in 1891. More recent scholarship has
advanced ourknowledge ofmany particularsand made moreconvinc
ing cases for interpreting specific points, but Burd's historical informa
tion is basic to any reading of the text in a proper perspective. When
I began work on the present edition, however, Burd's edition was out
of print (it has subsequently been reprinted by the Oxford University
Pressin 1968).Anotheredition in Englishthatattemptstoset The Prince
in a historical context is that done by Allan H. Gilbert, now reprinted
byHendricksHouse.Twoeditionsin Italianwerealsopotential models.
In 1931 Luigi Russo published an annotated edition which has been
reprinted at leastthirteen times. Given my own predilections, his com
ments-about Machiavelli's place in the history of philosophy, his use
of language, and his effective combination of style and method-are
particularly helpful. By far the most balanced edition of The Prince,
however, isthatofGennaroSasso, publishedfirstin 1963and reprinted
several times. In innumerable acknowledged and unacknowledged
ways, Sasso's edition has influenced mine. Sometimes my notes refer
explicitlyto specific interpretivepointsthatare his. Butthisdevice isan
extremelyinsufficientindexofmydependenceon hisjudgment, knowl
edge, and discrimination; even the most casual comparison of our
editions will uncover numerous silent borrowings. Although in some
cases I have decided to modify or to disagree with his positions, Ican
but heartilyrecommend his edition, supplemented by his solid studyof
Machiavelli's political thought (Naples, 1958). One feature I have
adopted from theabove editions, plus the one by Chabod upon which
I have based my text, is the incorporation of quotations from Ma
chiavelli's contemporaries, such as Guicciardini, Commynes, Giovio,
and Nerli. The value of these citations seems to me to lie in the sense
ix PREFACE