The Prince

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION NOTE ON BOOKS LETTER TO THE MAGNIFICENT LORENZO DE' MEDICI I. How many kinds of principality there are and the ways in which they are acquired II. Hereditary principalities III. Composite principalities IV. Why the kingdom of Darius conquered by Alexander did not rebel against his successors after his death V. How cities or principalities which lived under their own laws should be administered after being conquered VI. New principalities acquired by one's own arms and powers VII. New principalities acquired with the help of fortune and foreign arms VIII. Those who come to power by crime IX. The constitutional principality X. How the power of every principality should be measured XI. Ecclesiastical principalities XII. Military organization and mercenary troops XIII. Auxiliary, composite, and native troops XIV. How a prince should organize his militia XV. The things for which men, and especially princes, are praised or blamed XVI. Generosity and parsimony XVII. Cruelty and compassion; and whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse XVIII. How princes should honour their word XIX. The need to avoid contempt and hatred XX. Whether fortresses and many of the other present-day expedients to which princes have recourse are useful or not XXI. How a prince must act to win honour XXII. A prince's personal staff XXIII. How flatterers must be shunned XXIV. Why the Italian princes have lost their states XXV. How far human affairs are governed by fortune, and how fortune can be opposed XXVI. Exhortation to liberate Italy from the barbarians GLOSSARY OF PROPER NAMES