Strauss's effort here is to demonstrate that Machiavelli based his notions of goodness, virtue and governance in the "effectual truth" of all things, in the empirical realm, not in the abstract realm of eternal verities. This is the last of Machiavellis major works. But when they perish, there is no longer any power to hold the atoms of the soul together, so those atoms disperse like all others eventually do. Cesare was imprisoned but managed to escape to Spain where he died in 1507. It may be that a problem with certain male, would-be princes is that they do not know how to adopt feminine characteristics, such as the fickleness or impetuosity of Fortune (e.g., P 25). Machiavel et nous. In, Ascoli, Albert Russell, and Angela Matilde Capodivacca. Niccol Machiavelli, The Prince. But what exactly is this imprint? Human life is thus restless motion (D 1.6 and 2.pr), resulting in clashes in the struggle to satisfy ones desires. There has also been recent work on the many binaries to be found in Machiavellis workssuch as virtue / fortune; ordinary / extraordinary; high / low; manly / effeminate; principality / republic; and secure / ruin. Touching rather than seeing might then be the better metaphor for the effectual truth (see P 18). Two Versions of Political Philosophy: Teleology and the Conceptual Genesis of the Modern State. In, Spackman, Barbara. War and Foreign Affairs in Machiavellis, Lynch, Christopher. Scholars thus remain divided on this question. Necessity might be a condition to which we must submit ourselves. A second way of engaging this question is to examine the ways in which Machiavelli portrays fortune. That notion was contrasted to the imagination of the thing that led to making a profession of good, from which he drew a moral lesson for the prince or indeed for man as such: You will come to ruin if you base yourself on what should be done . At times, he suggests that virtue can resist or even control fortune (e.g., P 25). One of the ironies surrounding Machiavelli is that there has never been anything resembling a Machiavellian school of thought. Bacon, Descartes, Spinoza, Bayle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Smith, Montesquieu, Fichte, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche number among those whose ideas ring with the echo of Machiavellis thought. The lines between these two forms are heavily blurred; the Roman republic is a model for wise princes (P 3), and the people can be considered a prince (D 1.58). 2015] B. REAKING . On this point, it is also worth noting that recent work has increasingly explored Machiavellis portrayal of women. What Im putting forward as my own interpretation of The Prince is that the treatise was doomed from the beginning to the same sorry failure as Borgias political career. Books 5, 6, 7, and 8 concern Florences history against the background of Italian history. Niccol Machiavelli: A Portrait. In, Barthas, Jrmie. What Im trying to suggest is that realism itself is doomed to a kind of fecklessness in the world of reality, while the real powerthe real virtuous powerseems to be aligned with the faculty which Machiavelli held most in contempt, namely the imagination. Machiavelli regularly encourages (or at least appears to encourage) his readers to imitate figures such as Cesare Borgia (P 7 and P 13) or Caesar (P 14), as well as certain models (e.g., D 3.33) and the virtue of the past in general (D 2.pr). He was not a product of his time, but the father of ours. Machiavelli wrote a Dialogue on Language in which he discourses with Dante on various linguistic concerns, including style and philology. It is typically retained in English translations. This image uses language similar to the description of successful princes in the very same chapter (as well as elsewhere, such as P 19 and 20). Considered an evil tract by many, modern philosophers now regard The Prince as the first modern work of political science. Other possibilities include women who operate more indirectly, such Epicharis and Marciathe respective mistresses of Nero and Commodus (D 3.6). The action of the Art of War takes place after dinner and in the deepest and most secret shade (AW 1.13) of the Orti Oricellari, the gardens of the Rucellai family. Niccol Machiavelli. The first edition was published in 1521 in Florence under the title Libro della arte della Guerra di Niccol Machiavegli cittadino et segretario fiorentino. During the revolt of the Orsini, Borgia had deployed his virtuecunning and deceitto turn the tide of his bad fortune. Kevin Honeycutt How Does Inflation Change Consumer Behavior? In The Prince, he says: I judge that it might be true (iudico potere essere vero) that fortune governs half our actions and leaves the other half, or close to it, for us to govern (P 25; compare FH 7.21 and 8.36). Even more famous than the likeness to a river is Machiavellis identification of fortune with femininity. At least two of these virtues are mentioned in later chapters of The Prince. If Machiavelli did in fact intend there to be a third part, the suggestion seems to be that it concerns affairs conducted by private counsel in some manner. The suggestion seems to be that Machiavelli throughout the text variously speaks to one or the other of these vantage points and perhaps even variously speaks from one or the other of these vantage points. In other words, Machiavelli seems to allow for the possibility of women who act virtuously, that is, who adopt manly characteristics. He associates both war and expansion with republics and with republican unity; conversely, he associates peace and idleness with republican disunity (D 2.25). Machiavellis Unchristian Charity., Pesman, Roslyn. An Exhortation to Penitence unsurprisingly concerns the topic of penitence; the sincerity of this exhortation, however, remains a scholarly question. Which title did Machiavelli intend: the Latin title of De Principatibus (Of Principalities); or the Italian title of Il Principe (The Prince)? Machiavellis preference is presumably because of Xenophons teaching on appearances. Machiavelli and Marietta would eventually have several children, including Bernardo, Primerana (who died young), an unnamed daughter (who also died young), Baccina, Ludovico, Piero, Guido, and Totto. They engage in a sword fight and Cornwall gets wounded by the servant before Regan stabs the servant from behind and kills him. This is a prime example of what we call Machiavellis political realismhis intention to speak only of the effectual truth of politics, so that his treatise could be of pragmatic use in the practice of governing. However, Machiavelli regularly alters or omits Livys words (e.g., D 1.12) and on occasion disagrees with Livy outright (e.g., D 1.58). Machiavelli distinguishes the humors not by wealth or population size but rather by desire. And the fact remains that reality cannot be seduced by realism, only by trans-realism, if I may use a word that denotes more than fantasy, utopianism, intuitionism, or religious supernaturalism. It is written in prose and covers the period of time from the decline of the Roman Empire until the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent in 1434. Some scholars point to Machiavellis use of mitigating rhetorical techniques and to his reading of classical authors in order to argue that his notion of virtue is in fact much closer to the traditional account than it first appears. In October 1517, Martin Luther sent his 95 Theses to Albert of Mainz. In August 1501 he was married to Marietta di Ludovico Corsini. In his major works, Machiavelli affords modern historians scant attention. He did write an Exhortation to Penitence (though scholars disagree as to his sincerity; compare P 26). The implication seems to be that other (more utopian?) Given that Machiavelli talks of both form and matter (e.g., P 6 and D 1.18), this point deserves unpacking. One way to address this question is to begin with Chapter 15 of The Prince, where Machiavelli introduces the term. Whats brilliant about this action for Machiavelli is the way Borgia manages not only to exercise power but also to control and manipulate the signs of power. Relevant!! Observing Borgia and his methods informed Machiavellis emerging principal theories of power and politics. In this passage, Machiavelli is addressing the typically Machiavellian question of whether it is better for a prince to be feared or to be loved: In sum, human beings are wretched creatures, governed only by the law of their own self-interest. posted on March 3, 2023 at 6:58 pm. 5.0 out of 5 stars The few must be deferred, the many impressed or How I learned to live with the effectual truth. At least at first glance, it appears that Machiavelli does not believe that the polity is caused by an imposition of form onto matter. Rousseau and Spinoza in their own respective ways also seemed to hold this interpretation. The claim is that they are just as important as his political work. Juvenal is quoted three times (D 2.19, 2.24, and 3.6). Luther boasted that not since the Apostles had spoke so highly of temporal government as he. Its like Cornwall. Machiavellis wit and his use of humor more generally have also been the subjects of recent work. The Prince was not even read by the person to whom it was dedicated, Lorenzo de Medici. This susceptibility extends to self-deception. Machiavelli, Piero Soderini, and the Republic of 1494-1512. In, Pocock, J. G. A. But what was most important was gloria, ones glory and reputation (or lack thereof) for greatness. Machiavelli The first and most persistent view of Machiavelli is that of a teacher of evil. Dec. 9, 2013. Regarding Machiavellis poetry and plays, see Ascoli and Capodivacca (2010), Martinez (2010), Kahn (2010 and 1994), Atkinson and Sices (2007 [1985]), Patapan (2003), Sullivan (2000), and Ascoli and Kahn (1993). This phrase at times refers literally to ones soldiers or troops. And his only discussion of science in The Prince or the Discourses comes in the context of hunting as an image of war (D 3.39). Those interested in this question may find it helpful to begin with the following passages: P 6, 7, 11, 17, 19, 23, and 26; D 1.10-12, 1.36, 1.53-54, 2.20, 3.6 and 3.22; FH 1.9, 3.8, 3.10, 5.13, 7.5, and 7.34; and AW 6.163, 7.215, 7.216, and 7.223. This might hold true whether they are actual rulers (e.g., a certain prince of present times who says one thing and does another; P 18) or whether they are historical examples (e.g., Machiavellis altered story of David; P 13). Machiavelli in political thought from the age of revolutions to the present. In, Benner, Erica. It also made belief in the afterlife mandatory. Let and D 1.10). 1 The Passion of Duke Valentino: Cesare Borgia, Biblical Allegory, and The Prince 21. The Histories has received renewed attention in recent years, and scholars have increasingly seen it as not merely historical but also philosophicalin other words, as complementary to The Prince and the Discourses. From there, Machiavelli wrote a letter to a friend on December 10 that year, describing his daily routine: He spent his mornings wandering his woods, his afternoons gambling in a local tavern. Few scholars would argue that Machiavelli upholds the maximal position, but it remains unclear how and to what extent Machiavelli believes that we should rely upon fortune in the minimal sense. The Medici coat of arms can be seen all over the buildings of Florence. One of the interlocutors of the Art of War is Bernardos grandson, Cosimo Rucellai, who is also one of the dedicatee of the Discourses. Niccol di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (/ m k i v l i / MAK-ee--VEL-ee, US also / m k-/ MAHK-, Italian: [nikkol mmakjavlli]; 3 May 1469 - 21 June 1527), was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher and historian who lived during the Renaissance.He is best known for his political treatise The Prince (Il Principe), written around 1513 but not published until 1532. However, he is most famous for his claim in chapter 15 of The Prince that he is offering the reader what he calls the "effectual truth" (verit effettuale), a phrase he uses there for the only time in all of his writings . Although he studied classical texts deeply, Machiavelli appears to depart somewhat from the tradition of political philosophy, a departure that in many ways captures the essence of his political position. But this subject matter appears to be exhausted as early as Chapter 7. These desires are inimical to each other in that they cannot be simultaneously satisfied: the great desire to oppress the people, and the people desire not to be oppressed (compare P 9, D 1.16, and FH 3.1). Machiavelli claimed that by going to the effectual truth of politics (rather than the imagination of it), he had departed from the writings of others. In other words, members of this camp typically claim that Machiavelli presents the same teaching or vision in each book but from different starting points. Machiavelli spent the rest of his life working. In the middle ofThe Prince he declares: I depart from the orders of others, also emphasizing his originality. Machiavelli and Gender. In, Tarcov, Nathan. In 1520, Machiavelli published the Art of War, the only major prose work he would publish during his lifetime. Advice like this, offered by Niccol Machiavelli in The Prince, made its author's name synonymous with the ruthless use of power. But all philosophers are to some degree in conversation with their predecessors, even (or perhaps especially) those who seek to disagree fundamentally with what has been thought before. Ficino became a priest in 1473, and Lorenzo later made him canon of the Duomo so that he would be free to focus upon his true love: philosophy. Machiavelli makes a remark concerning military matters that he says is "truer than any other truth" (D 1.21). The episode is probably apocryphal. me. It was probably written in the early 1520s. Regardless, what follows is a series of representative themes or vignettes that could support any number of interpretations. Apostolic Palace, Vatican City. Philosophers disagree concerning his overall intention, the status of his sincerity, the status of his piety, the unity of his works, and the content of his teaching. In order to provide a point of entry into this problem, it would be helpful to offer a brief examination of three rival and contemporary positions concerning Machiavellis republicanism. In November 1498 he undertook his first diplomatic assignment, which involved a brief trip to the city of Piombino. Chapter 6 of The Prince is famous for its distinction between armed and unarmed prophets. Unlike Augustine, however, he rarely (if ever) upbraids such behavior, and he furthermore does not seem to believe that any redemption of wickedness occurs in the next world. Martialing Machiavelli: Reassessing the Military Reflections., Lukes, Timothy J. The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bacon's Essays and Wisdom of the Ancients, by Francis Bacon This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts o A second, related aim is to help readers do so in the secondary literature. (Was Cesare Borgia's sister Lucrezia political pawn or predator?). Seventeenth-century philosophers such as Benedict Spinoza defended it. As we learn from the aforementioned letter to Vettori, Machiavelli had originally intended to dedicate The Prince to Lorenzo the Magnificents son, Giuliano. Regarding the Art of War, see Hrnqvist (2010), Lynch (2010 and 2003), Lukes (2004), and Colish (1998). Government means controlling ones subjects (D 2.23), and good government might mean nothing more than a scorched-earth, Tacitean wasteland which one simply calls peace (P 7). Many of the successful and presumably imitable figures in both The Prince and the Discourses share the quality of being cruel, for example. It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong. Advice like this, offered by Niccol Machiavelli in The Prince, made its authors name synonymous with the ruthless use of power. For example, it may be the case that a materially secure people would cease to worry about being oppressed (and might even begin to desire to oppress others in the manner of the great); or that an armed people would effectively act as soldiers (such that a prince would have to worry about their contempt rather than their hatred). Although Machiavelli studied ancient humanists, he does not often cite them as authorities. All three were drawn deep into Italian affairs. Butters (2010), Cesati (1999), and Najemy (1982) discuss Machiavellis relationship with the Medici. In the Florentine Histories and in the only instance of the word philosophy (filosofia) in the major works, Machiavelli calls Ficino himself the second father of Platonic philosophy (secondo padre della platonica filosofia [FH 7.6]; compare FH 6.29, where Stefano Porcari of Rome hoped to be called its new founder and second father [nuovo fondatore e secondo padre]). Shakespeares plays are filled with famous Machiavellian villainsLady Macbeth, Iago, Edmund. He implies that the Bible is a history (D 2.5) and praises Xenophons life of Cyrus as a history (P 14; D 2.13, 3.20, 3.22, and 3.39). The first camp takes The Prince to be a satirical or ironic work. Why Machiavelli Still Matters. Soderini (e.g., D 1.7, 1.52, 1.56, 3.3, 3.9, and 3.30) allowed Machiavelli to create a Florentine militia in 1505-1506. Those interested in the Italian scholarship should begin with the seminal work of Sasso (1993, 1987, and 1967). Ascoli, Albert Russell, and Victoria Kahn, eds. It is worth noting that Machiavelli writes on ingratitude, fortune, ambition, and opportunity in I Capitoli; notably, he omits a treatment of virtue. Think of King Lear, for example. And he suggests that there are rules which never, or rarely, fail (e.g., P 3)that is, rules which admit the possibility of failure and which are thus not strictly necessary. Citations to the Art of War refer to book and sentence number in the Italian edition of Marchand, Farchard, and Masi and in the corresponding translation of Lynch (e.g., AW 1.64). Connell (2013) discusses The Princes composition. In 1520, Machiavelli wrote a fictionalized biography, The Life of Castruccio Castracani. He knew that his father could die at any moment, and he had even made contingency plans for that eventuality, but he could not predict that precisely at the moment his father would die, he too would fall sick and be on the verge of death. One cannot call it virtue to keep to a life of crime constantly; to slaughter the senators and the rich; to betray ones friends; to be without faith, without mercy, without religion. The root human desire is the very natural and ordinary desire to acquire (P 3), which, like all desires, can never be fully satisfied (D 1.37 and 2.pr; FH 4.14 and 7.14). In the Discourses, Moses is a lawgiver who is compelled to kill infinite men due to their envy and in order to push his laws and orders forward (D 3.30; see also Exodus 32:25-28). Machiavelli and the Modern Tyrant. In, Saxonhouse, Arlene W. Machiavellis Women. In, Scott, John T., and Vickie B. Sullivan. Machiavelli and the Foundations of Modernity: A Reading of Chapter 3 of, Tarcov, Nathan. Some examples are: the importance of ones own arms (AW 1.180; P 6-9 and 12-14; D 2.20); modern misinterpretations of the past (AW 1.17; D 1.pr and 2.pr); the way that good soldiers arise from training rather than from nature (AW 1.125 and 2.167; D 1.21 and 3.30-9); the need to divide an army into three sections (AW 3.12ff; D 2.16); the willingness to adapt to enemy orders (AW 4.9ff; P 14; D 3.39); the importance of inspiring ones troops (AW 4.115-40; D 3.33); the importance of generating obstinacy and resilience in ones troops (AW 4.134-48 and 5.83; D 1.15); and the relationship between good arms and good laws (AW 1.98 and 7.225; P 12). We first hear of it in Machiavellis 10 December 1513 letter to his friend, Francesco Vettori, wherein Machiavelli divulges that he has been composing a little work entitled De Principatibus. Leaders should achieve and encourage to serve something larger than themselves, but Machiavelli's prince seeks only to preserve power for himself. Machiavelli may have received a substantial part of his classical education from Adriani and was likely familiar with Adrianis lectures, at least. It remains unclear what faith (fide) and piety (or mercy, piet) mean for Machiavelli. Three times in the Prince 25 river image, fortune is said to have impetus (impeto); at least eight times throughout Prince 25, successful princes are said to need impetuosity (impeto) or to need to be impetuous (impetuoso). The lengthiest discussion of Savonarola is Machiavellis 9 March 1498 letter to Ricciardo Becchi. In general, between 1515 and 1527, Machiavelli turned more consciously toward art. Harvey Mansfield reveals the role of sects in Machiavelli's politics, his advice on how to rule indirectly, and the ultimately partisan character of his . In his response to Machiavelli, Vespucci suggests that a wise man can affect the influence of the stars not by altering the stars (which is impossible) but by altering himself. He grew up in a family reduced to penury, was raped by a schoolmaster, was promiscuously bisexual and also, as befits a Renaissance man, an accomplished . The demands of a free populace, too, are very seldom harmful to liberty, for they are . Over the next decade, he would undertake many other missions, some of which kept him away from home for months (e.g., his 1507 mission to Germany). A strength of this interpretation is the emphasis that it places upon tumults, motion, and the more decent end of the people (P 9; see also D 1.58). All exception and no rules: Machiavelli and the dark arts of leadership Portrait of Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), Santi di Tito (1536-1603)/Palazzo Vecchio (Palazzo della Signoria) Florence, Italy/Bridgeman Art Library One of the peculiarities of political thought at the present time is that it is fundamentally hostile to politics. And the other is, of course, Cornwall, Regans husband. To expand politics to include the world implies that the world governs politics or politics governs the world or both. Three of Machiavellis comedies have survived, however. In March 1499, he was sent to Pontedera to negotiate a pay dispute involving the mercenary captain, Jacopo dAppiano. It was probably written in 1519. Honoring Quotes Page 12. 398 Copy quote. Great Old School and freshly prepared Italian food. During this period, there were many important dates during this period. Scholars are divided on this issue. The six. Some scholars have emphasized the various places where Machiavelli associates Christianity with the use of dissimulation (e.g., P 18) and fear (e.g., D 3.1) as a form of social control. Machiavelli was 24 when the friar Girolamo Savonarola (above, circa 15th-century coin) expelled the Medici from Florence in 1494. Reviewed in the United States on 30 November 2008. So, at a young age, Machiavelli was exposed to many classical authors who influenced him profoundly; as he says in the Discourses, the things that shape a boy of tender years will ever afterward regulate his conduct (D 3.46). Book 7 concerns issues regarding armament, such as fortifications and artillery. Recent work has also highlighted stylistic resonances between Machiavellis works and De rerum natura, either directly or indirectly. Plebeians, who did not possess as much wealth or family heritage as patricians, could still attain prominence in the Roman Republic by acquiring glory in speeches (e.g., Cicero) or through deeds, especially in wartime (e.g., Gaius Marius). Machiavelli frequently returns to the way that necessity binds, or at least frames, human action. Others take a stronger line of interpretation and believe that effects are only effects if they produce actual changes in the world of human affairs. But even though 500 years have passed, and the world is a very different place, "The Prince" somehow feels as relevant as ever in modern culture and politics. In 1527, Clement refused Henry VIIIs request for an annulment. That the book has two purported titlesand that they do not translate exactly into one anotherremains an enduring and intriguing puzzle. In the history of European or world politics, he is not nearly as important as someone like Rousseau, for instance, who in many ways laid the ideological foundation for the French Revolution, to say nothing of Marx, whose theories led to concrete social and political transformations in many 20th-century societies. Citations to the Discourses and to the Florentine Histories refer to book and chapter number (e.g., D 3.1 and FH 4.26). One reason for this lacuna might be that Plato is never mentioned in The Prince and is mentioned only once in the Discourses (D 3.6). Niccolo Machiavelli. He was one of the few officials from the republic to be dismissed upon the return of the Medici. Like The Prince, the work is dedicated to a Lorenzoin this case, Lorenzo di Filippo Strozzi, Florentine Patrician. Strozzi was either a friend (as has been customarily held) or a patron (as recent work suggests). Liberality is characterized as a virtue that consumes itself and thus cannot be maintainedunless one spends what belongs to others, as did Cyrus, Caesar, and Alexander (P 17). Philosophy and Religion in Machiavelli. In, Butters, Humfrey. Law and Innovation in Machiavellis, Tarcov, Nathan. For all his foresight, Borgia was not able to foresee that at a crucial moment in his campaign to conquer all of Italy, his father, Pope Alexander VI, would die prematurely. Machiavelli offers a gloss of the story of David and Goliath which differs in numerous and substantive ways from the Biblical account (see I Samuel 17:32-40, 50-51). Machiavellis Afterlife and Reputation to the Eighteenth Century. In, Langton, John, and Mary Dietz. In 1522, Piero Soderini died in Rome. At any rate, how The Prince fits together with the Discourses (if at all) remains one of the enduring puzzles of Machiavellis legacy. A New Argument for Morality: Machiavelli and the Ancients., Mansfield, Harvey C. Machiavelli on Necessity. In, Mansfield, Harvey C. Machiavellis Enterprise. In, Martinez, Ronald L. Comedian, Tragedian: Machiavelli and Traditions of Renaissance Theater. In, McCormick, John P. On the Myth of a Conservative Turn in Machiavellis, Najemy, John A. Most of Machiavellis diplomatic and philosophical career was bookended by two important political events: the French invasion of Italy in 1494 by Charles VIII; and the sack of Rome in 1527 by the army of Emperor Charles V. In what follows, citations to The Prince refer to chapter number (e.g., P 17). And he suggests that to know well the nature of peoples one needs to a prince, and vice versa. But Hegels notion of dialectic was itself substantially beholden to Proclus commentary on the Parmenidesa work which was readily available to Machiavelli through Ficinos translation and which was enormously influential on Renaissance Platonism in general. However, it is not obvious how to interpret these instances, with some recent scholars going so far as to say that Machiavelli operates with the least sincerity precisely when speaking in his own voice. Regarding various other political themes, including republicanism, see McCormick (2011), Slade (2010), Barthas (2010), Rahe (2017, 2008, and 2005), Patapan (2006), Sullivan (2006 and 1996), Forde (1995 and 1992), Bock (1990), Hulliung (1983), Skinner (1978), and Pocock (1975). In this way, Machiavelli is perhaps the forerunner of various modern accounts of substance (e.g., that of Descartes) that characterize the reality of a thing in terms of its independence rather than its goodness. But perhaps the most important and striking speaker is Fabrizio Colonna. After Giulianos death in 1516, the book was dedicated to his successor, the Duke of Urbino Lorenzo deMedici. One of fortunes most important roles is supplying opportunity (e.g., P 6 and 20, as well as D 1.10 and D 2.pr). One possibility is that The Prince is not a polished work; some scholars have suggested that it was composed in haste and that consequently it might not be completely coherent. It is easy to persuade them of something but difficult to keep them in that persuasion (P 6). Machiavellis writings bear the imprint of his age in this regard. There are some other miscellaneous writings with philosophical import, most of which survive in autograph copies and which have undetermined dates of composition. But Cicero is never named in The Prince (although Machiavelli does allude to him via the images of the fox and the lion in P 18-19) and is named only three times in the Discourses (D 1.4, 1.33, and 1.52; see also D 1.28, 1.56, and 1.59). Regarding Machiavellis life, there are many interesting and recent biographies. As with many other philosophers of the modern period, interpretations of Machiavellis religious beliefs can gravitate to the extremes: some scholars claim that Machiavelli was a pious Christian, while others claim that he was a militant and unapologetic atheist. Secondly, Machiavelli says that fortune allows herself to be won more by the impetuous than by those who proceed in a cold or cautious manner. Another way to address this question is to begin with the Dedicatory Letter to The Prince.