OF NEW DOMINIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED BY ONE'S OWN ARMS AND POWERS
Let no one marvel if in speaking of new dominions both as to prince
and state, I bring forward very exalted instances, for as men walk
almost always in the paths trodden by others, proceeding in their
actions by imitation, and not being always able to follow others
exactly, nor attain to the excellence of those they imitate, a prudent
man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate
those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their
greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it. He will do like
prudent archers, who when the place they wish to hit is too far off,
knowing how far their bow will carry, aim at a spot much higher than
the one they wish to hit, not in order to reach this height with
their arrow, but by help of this high aim to hit the spot they wish
to. I say then that in new dominions, where there is a new prince,
it is more or less easy to hold them according to the greater or
lesser ability of him who acquires them. And as the fact of a private
individual becoming a prince presupposes either great ability or good
fortune, it would appear that either of these things would mitigate
in part many difficulties. Nevertheless those who have been wanting
as regards good fortune have maintained themselves best. The matter
is also facilitated by the prince being obliged to reside personally
in his territory, having no others. But to come to those who have
become princes through their own merits and not by fortune, I regard
as the greatest, Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, Theseus, and such like. And
although one should not speak of Moses, he having merely carried out
what was ordered him by God, still he deserves admiration, if only
for that grace which made him worthy to speak with God. But regarding
Cyrus and others who have acquired or founded kingdoms, they will all
be found worthy of admiration; and if their particular actions and
methods are examined they will not appear very different from those of
Moses, although he had so great a Master. And in examining their life
and deeds it will be seen that they owed nothing to fortune but the
opportunity which gave them matter to be shaped into the form that they
thought fit; and without that opportunity their powers would have been
wasted, and without their powers the opportunity would have come in
vain. It was thus necessary that Moses should find the people of Israel
slaves in Egypt and oppressed by the Egyptians, so that they were
disposed to follow him in order to escape from their servitude. It was
necessary that Romulus should be unable to remain in Alba, and should
have been exposed at his birth, in order that he might become King of
Rome and founder of that nation. It was necessary that Cyrus should
find the Persians discontented with the empire of the Medes, and the
Medes weak and effeminate through long peace. Theseus could not have
showed his abilities if he had not found the Athenians dispersed.
These opportunities, therefore, gave these men their chance, and their
own great qualities enabled them to profit by them, so as to ennoble
their country and augment its fortunes. Those who by heroic means such
as these become princes, obtain their dominions with difficulty but
retain them easily, and the difficulties which they have in acquiring
their dominions arise in part from the new rules and regulations that
they have to introduce in order to establish their position securely.
It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry
out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than
to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all
those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all
those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising
partly from fear of their adversaries, who have the laws in their
favour; and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly
believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it.
Thus it arises that on every opportunity for attacking the reformer,
his opponents do so with the zeal of partisans, the others only defend
him half-heartedly, so that between them he runs great danger. It is
necessary, however, in order to investigate thoroughly this question,
to examine whether these innovators are independent, or whether they
depend upon others, that is to say, whether in order to carry out
their designs they have to entreat or are able to force. In the first
case they invariably succeed ill, and accomplish nothing; but when
they can depend on their own strength and are able to use force, they
rarely fail. Thus it comes about that all armed prophets have conquered
and unarmed ones failed; for besides what has been already said, the
character of people varies, and it is easy to persuade them of a thing,
but difficult to keep them in that persuasion. And so it is necessary
to order things so that when they no longer believe, they can be made
to believe by force. Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, and Romulus would not have
been able to make their institutions observed for so long had they
been disarmed, as happened in our own time to Fra Girolamo Savonarola,
who failed entirely in his new rules when the multitude began to
disbelieve in him, and he had no means of holding fast those who had
believed nor of compelling the unbelievers to believe. Therefore
such men as these have great difficulty in making their way, and all
their dangers are met on the road and must be overcome by their own
abilities; but when once they have overcome them and have begun to be
held in veneration, and have suppressed those who envied them, they
remain powerful and secure, honoured and happy. To the high examples
given I will add a lesser one, which, however, is to be compared in
some measure with them and will serve as an instance of all such cases,
that of Jerone of Syracuse, who from a private individual became Prince
of Siracusa, without other aid from fortune beyond the opportunity;
for the Siracusans being oppressed elected him as their captain, from
which by merit he was made prince; while still in private life his
virtues were such that it was written of him, that he lacked nothing
to reign but the kingdom. He abolished the old militia, raised a new
one, abandoned his old friendships and formed new ones; and as he had
thus friends and soldiers of his own, he was able on this foundation
to build securely, so that while he had great trouble in acquiring his
position he had little in maintaining it.