WHAT THE DUTIES OF A PRINCE ARE WITH REGARD TO THE MILITIA
A Prince should therefore have no other aim or thought, nor take up
any other thing for his study, but war and its order and discipline,
for that is the only art that is necessary to one who commands, and
it is of such virtue that it not only maintains those who are born
princes, but often enables men of private fortune to attain to that
rank. And one sees, on the other hand, that when princes think more of
luxury than of arms, they lose their state. The chief cause which makes
any one lose it, is the contempt of this art, and the way to acquire
it is to be well versed in the same. Francesco Sforza, through being
well armed, became, from a private position, Duke of Milan; his sons,
through wishing to avoid the fatigue and hardship of war, from dukes
became private persons. For among other evils caused by being disarmed,
it renders you contemptible; which is one of those disgraceful things
which a prince must guard against, as will be explained later. Because
there is no comparison whatever between an armed man and a disarmed
one; it is not reasonable to suppose that one who is armed will obey
willingly one who is unarmed; or that any unarmed man will remain
safe among armed servants. For one being disdainful and the other
suspicious, it is not possible for them to act well together. And
yet a prince who is ignorant of military matters, besides the other
misfortunes already mentioned, cannot be esteemed by his soldiers, nor
have confidence in them. He ought, therefore, never to let his thoughts
stray from the exercise of war; and in peace he ought to practise it
more than in war, which he can do in two ways: both by action and by
study. As to action, he must, besides keeping his men well disciplined
and exercised, engage continually in hunting, and thus accustom his
body to hardships; and on the other hand learn the nature of the
land, how the mountains rise, how the valleys are disposed, where the
plains lie, and understand the nature of the rivers and swamps, and
to this he should devote great attention. This knowledge is useful in
two ways. In the first place, one learns to know one's country, and
can the better see how to defend it. Then by means of the knowledge
and experience gained in one locality, one can easily understand
any other that it may be necessary to venture on, for the hills and
valleys, plains and rivers of Tuscany, for instance, have a certain
resemblance to those of other provinces, so that from a knowledge of
the country in one province one can easily arrive at a knowledge of
others. And that prince who is lacking in this skill is wanting in the
first essentials of a leader; for it is this which teaches how to find
the enemy, take up quarters, lead armies, arrange marches and occupy
positions with advantage. Philopœmen, prince of the Achæi, among other
praises bestowed on him by writers, is lauded because in times of peace
he thought of nothing but the methods of warfare, and when he was in
the country with his friends, he often stopped and asked them: If the
enemy were on that hill and we found ourselves here with our army,
which of us would have the advantage? How could we safely approach
him maintaining our order? If we wished to retire, what ought we to
do? If they retired, how should we follow them? And he put before them
as they went along all the cases that might happen to an army, heard
their opinion, gave his own, fortifying it by argument; so that through
these continued cogitations there could never happen any incident when
leading his armies for which he was not prepared. But as to exercise
for the mind, the prince ought to read history and study the actions
of eminent men, see how they acted in warfare, examine the causes of
their victories and losses in order to imitate the former and avoid the
latter, and above all, do as some eminent men have done in the past,
who have imitated some one, who has been much praised and glorified,
and have always kept their deeds and actions before them, as they say
Alexander the Great imitated Achilles, Cæsar Alexander, and Scipio
Cyrus. And whoever reads the life of Cyrus written by Xenophon, will
perceive in the life of Scipio how gloriously he imitated him, and how,
in chastity, affability, humanity, and liberality Scipio conformed to
those qualities of Cyrus described by Xenophon.
A wise prince should follow similar methods and never remain idle in
peaceful times, but by industry make such good use of the time as may
serve him in adversity, so that when fortune changes she may find him
prepared to resist her blows.