# Chapter 4 Chapter I I. Prince chs.r beginning,2 begin- ning and 8 beginning. 2. Discourses I 17,49,55 (21I),I 2 beginning.Numbers in parentheses indicate the pages of the edition of Machiavelli's Opere edited by F. Flora and C.Cordié(Arnoldo Mon- da o 1h4 - D5ic. there are only 2 chapters of 142 which contain only modern examples (I 27 and 54) whereas in the Prince there are 8 chapters of 26 which contain only modern examples.Conversely there is no chapter in the Prince which contains only ancient examples where- as there are at least 6o chapters in the Discourses which contain only ancient examples. 4. Discourses I pr,55(213),II 4 towards the end,I5 end,33 end. 5. Discourses I pr.Cf.,apart from the numerous chapter headings in which both republics and princes are mentioned,especially I 16(138-I39), I 24(300-301),III r towards the end, 3- 46..Prince chs.3,5,9(3I),Io(35), I2,I 3 towards the end,I7( 54),2I (7I-72). 7. La Mandragola III 2; Prince ch. 25 (heading and beginning);Dis- courses I 38 towards the end,56,II 5,III r beginning,6(346),30(41o), 3I(413). 8.Fl orentine Histories VII 6. 9. Prince chs.3(6),10(35-36); Discourses I I2,57,58,III 8,36 near the beginning."Nature"is mentioned in only one chapter heading in the two books,in Discourses III 43,which is the 136th chapter of the book.—At the beginning of the first chapter of the Prince Machiavelli gives a divi- 》302《 sion of“all states,all dominions”into principalities and republics.“All states, all dominions”comprise more than the principalities and republics "of which there exists memory”-ch.4 (13) 一；they include also the imagi- nary principalities and republics of which he speaks in ch.I5:the proof of their essentially imaginary charac- ter is in fact a most important part of the argument of the Prince. ro. Prince chs.3(8-9),7(20),25 beginning; Discourses I pr.,II pr. (228),5,II r beginning,43 begin- ning. II. Discourses III 35 beginning. I2.E.g.,I 40,III 6,8.Cf.note 5 above. 13. Prince chs.6 and I3. 14. Cf.Discourses II pr. (230) with I 9. 15.Cf.note 3 above. 16.Di scourses I 58 end;Prince ch. 18 toward the end. I7.In the Epistle Dedicatory to the Discourses Machiavelli substitutes “long practice”for “long experience” which he had used in the Epistle Dedicatory to the Prince:Machia- velli's practice was "republican”; ex- perience could have been acquired by an onlooker.In the Epistle Dedi- catory to the Prince Machiavelli merely alludes to his practice:he re- fers to the many discomforts and perils under which he had acquired hi 8exsre.s II 18(28r).As for "rules”and“general rules,"cf. Prince chs.3(II,I3),9(33)and 23 towards the end,with Discourses I 9(II9), 18 near the beginning,III 22(393), Cf.Art of War I(463)and VII (612). I9.Cf.Discourses I 4,12,4I,II ro, 17,III 3, 4. 20. Discourses I 8(II7),II(I27), 45(I92),53(206),II 5(247),III 27 (404),29 end,30(41o),43(436). 2I.Discourses I 44(I9o),46(I93), II 16(27I-272),18(28o). 22. Cf. the letter to Vettori of De- NOTES cember I0,I513 with Prince chs.6 and 14(the greatest examples or the most exalted examples are ancient ex- amples).Cf.the reference to “an- cients and moderns”in the Epistle Dedicatory to the Prince. 23. Prince ch.I9 end;Discourses I 9(120),58(220).Cf. Florentine Historie s III 6. 24.Cf. Prince ch.2 and the remark about the virtue of the hereditary right of Marcus Aurelius and Com- modus in ch.I9 with Discourses I 2 (99),Io(I23),I9-20. 25. Cf.Pr ince ch. I9 and Discourses I 10:see especially in Prince ch.I9 the characteristic phrase Voglio mi basti near the beginning of the discus- sion of the Roman emperors:Machia- velli draws our attention to the arbi- trary character of his selecting these particular emperors. 26.Cf.Nabis in Prince ch.9 and Discourses I 1o,40;Petrucci in Prince ch.20 and Discourses III 6;Caesar in Prince ch.16 and Discourses I I0,37; King David in Prince ch.I3 and Dis- courses I 25-26.As for Agathocles,cf. Prince ch.8 with Justinus XXII r.In describing Agathocles and Liverotto in the Prince (ch.8),Machiavelli tacitly describes them in the way in which Aristotle explicitly describes tyrants:Machiavelli only tacitly de- scribes them as tyrants. 27. Discourses I 40,III 6,8. 28.Cf.especially Prince ch.26 be- ginning,with the parallel in Dis- courses III 34(420). 29. Prince chs .8, 9,I9; Discourses III 6(345);Justinus XXIII 2.—In the first chapter of the Prince he men- tions as examples only Milan and Naples;in ch.23 Milan and Naples prove to be the outstanding examples of principalities lost in Machiavelli's time. 30.Cf.P rince ch.I9(59-6o)where Machiavelli speaks of a conspiracy which happened "within the memory of our fathers”with Discourses III 6 (343)where he speaks of the con- NOTES spiracy of the Pazzi which took place "in our times."Cf.likewise the praise in the Prince,loc. cit.,of the French kingdom with the blame of all mod- ern monarchies in the Art of War I (458-459). 3I. Prince ch .5 end; Discourses II 6(345,351-352); Florentine His- tories VII 33 · 32. Princ e chs.6 (19) and 18; Discourses III 35 beginning; Floren- tine Histories VI 17. Cf.Pr ince ch.3 (a remark made by Machiavelli to a French Cardinal)a nd ch.7(a re- mark made by Cesare Borgia to Machiavelli)with Discourses II 16 (a remark made only in Machiavelli's presence). 33.Discourses II 1o.Machiavelli could have quoted an explicit state- ment of Livy(IX 40.6)in support of his opinion about money.If some- one would object that this statement is made, not by Livy, but by a Livian character,I would refer him to Dis- courses III I2 toward the end, where Machiavelli ascribes to Livy an ex- pression used by a Livian character. 34.In ch.7 of the Prince Cesare Borgia had come to sight as the model of a new prince;in ch.II he is re- vealed to have been a mere tool of Pope Alexander VI, his father (cf. Discourses III 29). 35. Florentine Histories V1:letters and philosophy belong to “decent leisure.”This“ decent leisure” whose beneficiaries while giving occasion to persecution ,abhor persecution,seems to be the pagan counterpart of the “ambitious leisure” characteristic ,ac- cording to Machiavelli,of "many Christian countries and states”(Dis- co sn i r. ).in this connection the similar phrasing of the charge against Caesar in Di scourses I ro (I24)and of the charge against the Church in I 12(I30): the“obligations”which Italy has against Caesar and against the Church. 37. Discourses II pr.(227),23 (298), 》303《 III 2. 38. Discourses I pr.,II 2(238),III 35(42I-422); Prince ch.6(I9). 39. Discourses II 29:"Fortuna some- times blinds the minds of men”; the expression used in III 48 “the desire to conquer blinds the minds of men” might by itself remind the reader of II 29 where Machiavelli gives a con- tradictory explanation of the same event as in III 48.(III 48 is the 52nd chapter of the series of chapters which begins after II 29). 40.Letter to Vettori of April 29, 1513(beginning).Cf. Art of War V (564-565)and VII(606-607). 41.Letter to Guicciardini of May I7,I52I.Cf. Discourses I 13 end with III 40-42. 42.Machiavelli indicates the diffi- culty by saying in I 28:"he then, who will consider as much as has been said,"(i.e ., he who disregards, among other things,the Decemvirate) will agree with Machiavelli's explana- tion. 43.Discourses I₂(10o)and 5(I05- ro6).-In Discourses I 20 Machiavelli says that since the Roman consuls owed their office to free votes,"they were always most excellent men." This is again a temporary overstate- ment of the goodness of the Roman republic;it is tacitly contradicted later on(cf.I 24 end,50,53,III 17, to say nothing of I 35 beginning). 一 Cf4.4th iicrrsenstenc of I1I(I403,20,25- 26,58(217),II pr.(228). 45.Cf.note I9 above. 46.Cf.letter to Vettori of January I3,I514 with Florentine Histories VIII 36. 47.Nietzsche ,Froehliche Wissen- schaft, aph. I. 48.These remarks are,of course, quite insufficient for the full inter- pretation of Discourses III 18.Since we do not intend to give a full in- terpretation of this chapter or of any other chapter (for considering the interdependence of all chapters, 》304《 this could only be done in a com- mentary consisting of many volumes), we merely note that the parallelism of the four examples(twice an an- cient example is followed by a mod- ern example)conceals the fact that the fourth example is in a class by itself,since no error whatsoever was committed in the event with which it deals.Of the first three examples, two are pagan and one is Christian, the latter being in the center.In the Roman examples,the Romans errone- ously believed that they had been defeated(in the first example,the Romans despair of their salvation but in the third example the Romans while erroneously believing that they had lost,believe correctly that by withdrawing to very nearby hills they will be temporarily secure);the mod- erns,on the other hand,believe er- roneously in victory or even in false news about victory.In the second and fourth examples,the alleged victory is explicitly stated to have been an- nounced either orally or in writing. 49.Plato, Rivals I33 d8-el (cf. I34C I-5). 50.As regards the pre-history of Art v. s,3,Persecution and 5I. Discourses I I2(262):le ra- gioni are distinguished from le cose dette;the arguments from authority were called ragioni near the begin- ning of the chapter.The argument taken from the poetic fables is fol- lowed immediately by an argument taken from“modern judgments.” 52.This step is prepared by II 16 (27I)where Machiavelli refers twice to “Tuscan”equivalents of Latin ex- pressions. 53. Discourses II 8(253). Cf.O pere II 517. 54.See the very favorable judg- ment on Caesar in Discourses I 52 and in Prince ch.I4(Caesar“an ex- cellent man”).Cf.the analysis of Manlius'policy in the light of the distinction between corrupt and un- NOTES corrupt cities(Discourses III 8)with the different analysis in Discourses I 8. ..Cf..aDlcous 9 d 2F-. tuna)with the repetition in IIIr(ex- trinsic accident);also cf.I 58(the people are wiser than a prince)with the explicit re-examination of the the- sis of that chapter in III 34(the important qualification "when peoples can be advised as princes are ad- vised").=What is true of the discus- sion of founders in Discourses I,ap- plies also to the other chief subject of that Book,namely,religion (cf. I 9 beginning).Religion is discussed explicitly in I II-I5; it is taken up in a more or less disguised way first in I 19-24,then in I 28-32,and finally in I 46-59,the section devoted to the multitude or plebs;for,according to Machiavelli,the multitude as distin- guished from“princes”is the home of religion(cf. Prince ch.I8 toward the end).The primary subject of I I9-24 is Tullus Hostilius who is the counterpart of the religious Numa Pompilius and who is described,in contrast with the“weak king”Numa, as a man of outstanding virtue and as "most prudent."After having over- stated the prudence of Tullus in order to underline the contrast with Numa, he reduces this praise to reasonable proportions in I 22-24.The primary subject of I 28-32 is gratitude;as re- gards the relation of gratitude and religion,cf. Machiavelli's Esortazione al a7p.eonuzreOpeIrIe II 28o(r3-1830)4;c)f.III 20(388)and 21(390). 58.Toward the end of the eighth chapter of the Prince Machiavelli speaks of“cruelty well used”and ex- cuses himself for employing this ex- pression;at the beginning of ch.I7 he speaks of“the bad use of mercy” without excusing himself any further. Toward the end of ch.6,he speaks of Hiero's dissolving the old militia; in ch.I3,he tells us that Hiero had NOTES these soldiers cut to pieces.At the end of ch.I8 he does not yet dare to mention the name of Ferdinand of Aragon;at the beginning of ch.2I he does dare to do so.In ch.3(7), he speaks first of the necessity of extinguishing the “line”of a prince, and thereafter of the necessity of ex- tinguishing his “blood.”Cf.also ch. 4(15)where he replaces“memory” by“blood.”"Blood”is a very deli- cate matter;hence it occurs only once in a chapter heading (Di scourses III 7)and there only in the expres- sion“without 59. Cf.note 6o.Cf.page 32 above. 61.In this connection we may note that Machiavelli distinguishes in Prince ch.3 (I2)between“someone” raising a certain objection and"some others”raising another objection;the first objection is political,the second one is moral. 62. Prince ch.I9(61,62,65,66) and 20(67);cf.Discourses I ro(I23) and 40(187)as well as Art of War I(Opere I 476).The connection be- tween that chapter of the Prince which deals explicitly with crime as a way to princely power (ch.8) and ch.I9 is indicated by the fact that both chapters,and no other chapter, begin with the words Ma perché. Incidentally,there are four chapters of the Prince which begin with Ma (But)whereas no chapter of the Dis- courses begins with that word.The equivalent within the Discourses is the beginning with Ancora che (Al- though)of which we likewise find four cases(Discourses I pr.32,55, III 40): the tempo of the two books is very different.In order to see the special significance of the discussion of Severus,one should also compare Machiavelli's judgment on his appar- ent hero Cesare Borgia with his judg- 》305《 64.Cf. Discourses I 46-47 whose chapter headings begin with“Human beings.” 65. Discourses I 56. 66.Cf. e.g., I ro,II I,8-9,30(3I7), III 6,24-25.Our attention is drawn to the number of chapters of the Discourses by the following striking irregularity:Whereas Books I and II have a preface,Book III does not; the effect or the cause of this irregu- larity is that the Discourses consist of I42 chapters.It was common knowledge that Livy's History con- sisted of 142 books;cf.Petrarca, .ioilade8.r,eas aelmiarmibms,lbrrn- darum liber I.paragraph 18.(I am obliged for this information to Mr. A.H.Mc Donald of Clare College, Cambridge.) 67.I Kings 3.I4;Luke I.53.Cf. Luke I.5I-52 with Aristotle, Politics I314 a I-29 (apud tyrannos autem adulatores bonorati sunt quia humil- iter colloquuntur etc.) 68. Prince chs.6 and 18; Discourses III 30(409).Machiavelli has incor- porated into his books infinitely more of such“judicious readings”of the Bible than is immediately visible.This assertion is not contradicted by the fact that he refers explicitly to the Bible only once.He also refers ex- plicitly to Aristotle only once,and it would be unintelligent to infer from this that he has not given care- ful consideration to Aristotle's doc- trine.Each of the two most authori- tative "texts,"the Bible and Aristotle, is indeed mentioned only once eo nomine. Aristotle is mentioned in Discourses III 26(the only mention of Aristotle is followed by the only quotation from a contemporary prose writer-Biondo-in III 27)and the Bible is mentioned in III 30(the only mention of the Bible is preceded by the only quotation from a contempo- a9r)y. etSvLoraerno ea’cieadvieclil-iinsaIsI that his writings show his learning, 》306《 his prudence,and the virtue of his mind;of King David he says that he was a man most excellent in arms, in learning and in judgment,and be- sides of outstanding virtue:he does not refer to David's writings;cf.Dis- courses I r9 (147) and 45(I92). (Cf. the similarly phrased judgment on NOTES Dante in the Discorso o Dialogo in- torno alla lingua nostra, Opere II 808.) 6g. Discourses III I2 beginning, 70.Di scourses I 1o. 7I. Discourses Ⅱ 3,23,III 1o. 72.Cf.note 54 above.