HOW A PRINCE MUST ACT IN ORDER TO GAIN REPUTATION
Nothing causes a prince to be so much esteemed as great enterprises
and setting a rare example. We have in our own day Ferdinand, King of
Aragon, at present King of Spain. He may almost be termed a new prince,
because from a weak king he has become for fame and glory the first
king in Christendom, and if you regard his actions you will find them
all very great and some of them extraordinary. At the beginning of
his reign he assailed Granada, and that enterprise was the foundation
of his state. At first he did it leisurely and without fear of being
interfered with; he kept the minds of the barons of Castile occupied in
this enterprise, so that thinking only of that war they did not think
of making innovations, and he thus acquired reputation and power over
them without their being aware of it. He was able with the money of
the Church and the people to maintain his armies, and by that long war
lay the foundations of his military power, which afterwards has made
him famous. Besides this, to be able to undertake greater enterprises,
and always under the pretext of religion, he had recourse to a pious
cruelty, driving out the Moors from his kingdom and despoiling them.
No more admirable or rare example can be found. He also attacked
under the same pretext Africa, undertook his Italian enterprise, and
has lately attacked France; so that he has continually contrived great
things, which have kept his subjects' minds uncertain and astonished,
and occupied in watching their result.
And these actions have arisen one out of the other, so that they have
left no time for men to settle down and act against him. It is also
very profitable for a prince to give some rare examples of himself in
the internal administration, like those related of Messer Bernabò of
Milan, when it happens that some one does something extraordinary,
either good or evil, in civil life, and to take a means of rewarding
or punishing him which will be much talked about. And above all a
prince must endeavour in every action to obtain fame for being great
and excellent. A prince is further esteemed when he is a true friend
or a true enemy, when, that is, he declares himself without reserve in
favour of some one against another.
This policy is always more useful than remaining neutral. For if two
neighbouring powers come to blows, they are either such that if one
wins, you will have to fear the victor, or else not. In either of these
two cases it will be better for you to declare yourself openly and make
war, because in the first case if you do not declare yourself, you will
fall a prey to the victor, to the pleasure and satisfaction of the one
who has been defeated, and you will have no reason nor anything to
defend you and nobody to receive you. For, whoever wins will not desire
friends whom he suspects and who do not help him when in trouble, and
whoever loses will not receive you as you did not take up arms to
assist his cause. Antiochus went to Greece, being sent by the Ætoli
to expel the Romans. He sent orators to the Achæi who were friends of
the Romans to encourage them to remain neutral, on the other hand the
Romans persuaded them to take up arms on their side. The matter was
brought before the council of the Achæi for deliberation, where the
ambassador of Antiochus sought to persuade them to remain neutral, to
which the Roman ambassador replied: "As to what is said that it is best
and most useful for your state not to meddle in our war, nothing is
further from the truth; for if you do not meddle in it you will become,
without any favour or any reputation, the prize of the victor." And it
will always happen that the one who is not your friend will want you
to remain neutral, and the one who is your friend will require you to
declare yourself by taking arms. Irresolute princes, to avoid present
dangers, usually follow the way of neutrality and are mostly ruined
by it. But when the prince declares himself frankly in favour of one
side, if the one to whom you adhere conquers, even if he is powerful
and you remain at his discretion, he is under an obligation to you and
friendship has been established, and men are never so dishonest as to
oppress you with such ingratitude.
Moreover, victories are never so prosperous that the victor does not
need to have some scruples, especially as to justice. But if he to whom
you adhere loses, you are sheltered by him, and so long as he can, he
will assist you; you become the companion of a fortune which may rise
again. In the second case, when those who fight are such that you have
nothing to fear from the victor, it is still more prudent on your part
to adhere to one; for you go to the ruin of one with the help of him
who ought to save him if he were wise, and if he conquers he rests
at your discretion, and it is impossible that he should not conquer
with your help. And here it should be noted that a prince ought never
to make common cause with one more powerful than himself to injure
another, unless necessity forces him to it, as before said; for if he
wins you rest at his discretion, and princes must avoid as much as
possible being at the discretion of others. The Venetians united with
France against the Duke of Milan, although they could have avoided that
union, and from it resulted their own ruin. But when one cannot avoid
it, as happened to the Florentines when the pope and Spain went with
their armies to attack Lombardy, then the prince ought to join for the
above reasons. Let no state believe that it can follow a secure policy,
rather let it think that all are doubtful. This is found in the nature
of things, that one never tries to avoid one difficulty without running
into another, but prudence consists in being able to know the nature of
the difficulties, and taking the least harmful as good. A prince must
also show himself a lover of merit, and honour those who excel in every
art. Moreover he must encourage his citizens to follow their callings
quietly, whether in commerce, or agriculture, or any other trade that
men follow, so that this one shall not refrain from improving his
possessions through fear that they may be taken from him, and that one
from starting a trade for fear of taxes; but he should offer rewards to
whoever does these things, and to whoever seeks in any way to improve
his city or state. Besides this, he ought, at convenient seasons of the
year, to keep the people occupied with festivals and spectacles; and
as every city is divided either into trades or into classes, he ought
to pay attention to all these things, mingle with them from time to
time, and give them an example of his humanity and magnificence, always
holding firm, however, the majesty of his dignity, which must never be
allowed to fan in anything whatever.