# 4. A Prince cannot Live Securely in a Principality while those are Alive who have been despoiled of it

The death of Tarquinius Priscus at the hands of the sons of Ancus, and the death of Servius Tullius at the hands of Tarquin the Proud, show how difficult and dangerous it is to deprive anyone of his kingdom and to leave him alive even though one try to win him over by benefits. Tarquinius Priscus was clearly led astray because, aware that he had a juridical right to the kingdom which he had obtained through the gift of the people confirmed by the senate, he did not believe that the sons of Ancus could be so indignant as not to rest content with that with which all Rome was content. And Servius Tullius was mistaken, because he thought he could be conferring on them fresh benefits win over the sons of Tarquin.

The first case is, therefore, a warning to all princes that they can never live secure in their principality so long as those live who have been despoiled of it. The second is a reminder to all potentates that old injuries are never cancelled by new benefits, least of all when the benefits are of less importance than the injuries previously inflicted. Undoubtedly Servius Tullius was far from prudent in thinking that the sons of Tarquin would be content to be his sons-in-law when in their opinion they ought to have been his king. The passion for ruling is, moreover, so great that it not only enters the breasts of those who have a claim to the kingdom but also into the breasts of those who have not. This was so in the case of the wife of the younger Tarquin, Servius’ daughter, who, impelled by this mad passion, thought so little of her duty to her father that she incited her husband to take both his life and his kingdom, so much more highly did she fancy herself as a queen than as the daughter of a king.

If, then, Tarquinius Priscus and Servius Tullius lost their kingdoms through not knowing how to secure themselves against those whose kingdom they had usurped, Tarquin the Proud lost his through not observing the institutions made by its former kings, as will be shown in the next chapter.