One of history￯﾿ﾽs greatest political philosophers, Niccol￯﾿ﾽ Machiavelli is notorious for his treatise The Prince, which has become a cornerstone of modern political theory. Written in 1513 and published in 1532, after Machiavelli￯﾿ﾽs death, The Prince immediately provoked controversy that has continued unabated to this day.

Defining human nature as inherently selfish, Machiavelli proposes that social conflict and violence are natural phenomena that help determine the ablest, most versatile form of government. Asserting that idealism has no place in the political arena, The Prince primarily addresses a monarch￯﾿ﾽs difficulties in retaining authority. Considered the first expression of political realism, it has often been accused of advocating a political philosophy in which "the end justifies the means." Indeed the emphasis in The Prince on practical success, at the expense even of traditional moral values, earned Machiavelli a reputation for ruthlessness, deception, and cruelty. Many scholars contend, however, that the author￯﾿ﾽs pragmatic views of ethics and politics reflected the realities of his time, as exemplified by the Medici family of Florence.

Debates about Machiavelli￯﾿ﾽs theories are as lively today as they were 450 years ago, but no one questions the importance of his fundamental contribution to Western political thought. This newly translated edition also includes Machiavelli￯﾿ﾽs Letter to Francesco Vettori, The Life of Castruccio Castracani, and excerpts from the Discourses on Livy.
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Includes an index


Introduction and Notes by Wayne A. Rebhorn
Celanese Centennial Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, Wayne A. Rebhorn has written extensively on Renaissance literature in English, Italian, French, Spanish, and Latin, on authors from Boccaccio through More and Shakespeare down to Milton. Among his recent books are The Emperor of Men￯﾿ﾽs Mind: Literature and the Renaissance Discourse of Rhetoric (1995), and Renaissance Debates on Rhetoric (2000).

Niccol￯﾿ﾽ Machiavelli was born May 3, 1469, in Florence. In 1498, Machiavelli was installed in the newly elected city government, which he served in various capacities of power for fourteen years. Machiavelli￯﾿ﾽs fortunes changed in 1512, when Spain invaded Italy and dismantled the republic of Florence. In early 1513, Machiavelli was imprisoned, tortured, and eventually pardoned on the condition that he withdraw to his villa in Percussina. It was there, cut off from Florence￯﾿ﾽs political milieu, that he wrote The Prince, as well as his other enduring political works, The Art of War and Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy.


"Machiavelli is asking over and over the same questions: why are we Italians so weak, so much unlike our Roman ancestors? Why have we become the prey of the larger states around us? And how can we remedy this situation? What sort of state and what sort of ruler will allow us not just to maintain our independence, but perhaps to regain some of the glory of ancient Rome?"￯﾿ﾽfrom the Introduction by Wayne A. Rebhorn