feat_summary_path: finished_summaries/cliffnotes/The Prince/section_4_part_0.txt
feat_book_id: The Prince.chapter 6
feat_summary_id: chapter 6
feat_summary: {"name": "Chapter 6", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201108110625/https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/p/the-prince/summary-and-analysis/chapter-6", "summary": "The difficulty a new prince will have will depend on his ability. Private citizens become princes either through luck or through ability, but it is best not to trust luck. Those who become prince through their own strength have difficulty gaining power, but keep it easily. Establishing new states is always troublesome, because everyone who was happy under the old order will oppose change, and most people will not support new things until they have seen them work. The question is whether innovators must rely on others in order to succeed, or whether they can rely on their own forces. Armed prophets succeed, but unarmed prophets must fail. The people are fickle, and when they no longer believe in you, you must force them to believe.", "analysis": "Chapter 6 elaborates on a theme begun in Chapter 5--that of personal ability. The Italian word Machiavelli uses is virtu, which does not have an exact English equivalent. He uses this word to mean many things, but usually not \"virtue,\" which in English implies goodness and moral behavior. Virtu is closer in meaning to the Latin word for masculine strength, virtus, from which English gets the word \"virility.\" Exactly what Machiavelli means by virtu is a subject of debate among scholars. Virtu can be ability, skill, energy, forcefulness, strength, ingenuity, courage, or determination. Virtu is the quality that distinguishes successful princes--or more accurately, successful innovators and conquerors. The examples Machiavelli provides are all legendary founders of great civilizations. When they found opportunities, they had the virtu to make the most of them. Machiavelli makes a point of observing, however, that virtu without opportunity to use it is wasted, but without virtu, opportunity is wasted. The other theme of this chapter concerns the use of force. Machiavelli assumes that force or violence is an integral part of the state, and a ruler cannot do without it as a tool of government. He observes that after your followers lose faith in your innovative schemes, you must force them to have faith, or at least, to act as if they do by obeying you. His comment about unarmed prophets is based on the meteoric rise and fall of Savonarola, whose career Machiavelli had observed, and whose failure had led to the reestablishment of the Florentine republic in which Machiavelli served. Glossary Moses prophet and lawgiver who led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, as recounted in the Biblical book of Exodus. Cyrus \"the Great,\" founder of the Persian Empire, beginning with his conquest of the Medes . Romulus with his brother Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. Theseus legendary hero of Athens who killed the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster, in the Labyrinth of Crete. Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola . Dominican monk, charismatic preacher, and reformer.  Hiero also called Hieron II, King of Syracuse . He was made commander of the Syracusan army and was so successful that he was elected king by the citizens."}
text: Let no one be surprised if, in speaking of entirely new principalities
  as I shall do, I adduce the highest examples both of prince and of
  state; because men, walking almost always in paths beaten by others, and
  following by imitation their deeds, are yet unable to keep entirely to
  the ways of others or attain to the power of those they imitate. A wise
  man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate
  those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal
  theirs, at least it will savour of it. Let him act like the clever
  archers who, designing to hit the mark which yet appears too far
  distant, and knowing the limits to which the strength of their bow
  attains, take aim much higher than the mark, not to reach by their
  strength or arrow to so great a height, but to be able with the aid of
  so high an aim to hit the mark they wish to reach.
  
  I say, therefore, that in entirely new principalities, where there is
  a new prince, more or less difficulty is found in keeping them,
  accordingly as there is more or less ability in him who has acquired
  the state. Now, as the fact of becoming a prince from a private station
  presupposes either ability or fortune, it is clear that one or other
  of these things will mitigate in some degree many difficulties.
  Nevertheless, he who has relied least on fortune is established the
  strongest. Further, it facilitates matters when the prince, having no
  other state, is compelled to reside there in person.
  
  But to come to those who, by their own ability and not through fortune,
  have risen to be princes, I say that Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, Theseus,
  and such like are the most excellent examples. And although one may not
  discuss Moses, he having been a mere executor of the will of God, yet
  he ought to be admired, if only for that favour which made him worthy to
  speak with God. But in considering Cyrus and others who have acquired or
  founded kingdoms, all will be found admirable; and if their particular
  deeds and conduct shall be considered, they will not be found inferior
  to those of Moses, although he had so great a preceptor. And in
  examining their actions and lives one cannot see that they owed anything
  to fortune beyond opportunity, which brought them the material to mould
  into the form which seemed best to them. Without that opportunity their
  powers of mind would have been extinguished, and without those powers
  the opportunity would have come in vain.
  
  It was necessary, therefore, to Moses that he should find the people of
  Israel in Egypt enslaved and oppressed by the Egyptians, in order that
  they should be disposed to follow him so as to be delivered out of
  bondage. It was necessary that Romulus should not remain in Alba, and
  that he should be abandoned at his birth, in order that he should become
  King of Rome and founder of the fatherland. It was necessary that Cyrus
  should find the Persians discontented with the government of the Medes,
  and the Medes soft and effeminate through their long peace. Theseus
  could not have shown his ability had he not found the Athenians
  dispersed. These opportunities, therefore, made those men fortunate,
  and their high ability enabled them to recognize the opportunity whereby
  their country was ennobled and made famous.
  
  Those who by valorous ways become princes, like these men, acquire
  a principality with difficulty, but they keep it with ease. The
  difficulties they have in acquiring it rise in part from the new rules
  and methods which they are forced to introduce to establish their
  government and its security. And it ought to be remembered that there
  is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or
  more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction
  of a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies
  all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm
  defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises
  partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and
  partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new
  things until they have had a long experience of them. Thus it happens
  that whenever those who are hostile have the opportunity to attack they
  do it like partisans, whilst the others defend lukewarmly, in such wise
  that the prince is endangered along with them.
  
  It is necessary, therefore, if we desire to discuss this matter
  thoroughly, to inquire whether these innovators can rely on themselves
  or have to depend on others: that is to say, whether, to consummate
  their enterprise, have they to use prayers or can they use force? In the
  first instance they always succeed badly, and never compass anything;
  but when they can rely on themselves and use force, then they are rarely
  endangered. Hence it is that all armed prophets have conquered, and the
  unarmed ones have been destroyed. Besides the reasons mentioned, the
  nature of the people is variable, and whilst it is easy to persuade
  them, it is difficult to fix them in that persuasion. And thus it is
  necessary to take such measures that, when they believe no longer, it
  may be possible to make them believe by force.
  
  If Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, and Romulus had been unarmed they could not
  have enforced their constitutions for long--as happened in our time to
  Fra Girolamo Savonarola, who was ruined with his new order of things
  immediately the multitude believed in him no longer, and he had no means
  of keeping steadfast those who believed or of making the unbelievers to
  believe. Therefore such as these have great difficulties in consummating
  their enterprise, for all their dangers are in the ascent, yet with
  ability they will overcome them; but when these are overcome, and those
  who envied them their success are exterminated, they will begin to be
  respected, and they will continue afterwards powerful, secure, honoured,
  and happy.
  
  To these great examples I wish to add a lesser one; still it bears some
  resemblance to them, and I wish it to suffice me for all of a like kind:
  it is Hiero the Syracusan.(*) This man rose from a private station to
  be Prince of Syracuse, nor did he, either, owe anything to fortune but
  opportunity; for the Syracusans, being oppressed, chose him for their
  captain, afterwards he was rewarded by being made their prince. He was
  of so great ability, even as a private citizen, that one who writes
  of him says he wanted nothing but a kingdom to be a king. This man
  abolished the old soldiery, organized the new, gave up old alliances,
  made new ones; and as he had his own soldiers and allies, on such
  foundations he was able to build any edifice: thus, whilst he had
  endured much trouble in acquiring, he had but little in keeping.
  
       (*) Hiero II, born about 307 B.C., died 216 B.C.
  
  
  
  
feat_summary_name: Chapter 6
target: The difficulty a new prince will have will depend on his ability. Private citizens become princes either through luck or through ability, but it is best not to trust luck. Those who become prince through their own strength have difficulty gaining power, but keep it easily. Establishing new states is always troublesome, because everyone who was happy under the old order will oppose change, and most people will not support new things until they have seen them work. The question is whether innovators must rely on others in order to succeed, or whether they can rely on their own forces. Armed prophets succeed, but unarmed prophets must fail. The people are fickle, and when they no longer believe in you, you must force them to believe.
feat_summary_analysis: Chapter 6 elaborates on a theme begun in Chapter 5--that of personal ability. The Italian word Machiavelli uses is virtu, which does not have an exact English equivalent. He uses this word to mean many things, but usually not "virtue," which in English implies goodness and moral behavior. Virtu is closer in meaning to the Latin word for masculine strength, virtus, from which English gets the word "virility." Exactly what Machiavelli means by virtu is a subject of debate among scholars. Virtu can be ability, skill, energy, forcefulness, strength, ingenuity, courage, or determination. Virtu is the quality that distinguishes successful princes--or more accurately, successful innovators and conquerors. The examples Machiavelli provides are all legendary founders of great civilizations. When they found opportunities, they had the virtu to make the most of them. Machiavelli makes a point of observing, however, that virtu without opportunity to use it is wasted, but without virtu, opportunity is wasted. The other theme of this chapter concerns the use of force. Machiavelli assumes that force or violence is an integral part of the state, and a ruler cannot do without it as a tool of government. He observes that after your followers lose faith in your innovative schemes, you must force them to have faith, or at least, to act as if they do by obeying you. His comment about unarmed prophets is based on the meteoric rise and fall of Savonarola, whose career Machiavelli had observed, and whose failure had led to the reestablishment of the Florentine republic in which Machiavelli served. Glossary Moses prophet and lawgiver who led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, as recounted in the Biblical book of Exodus. Cyrus "the Great," founder of the Persian Empire, beginning with his conquest of the Medes . Romulus with his brother Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. Theseus legendary hero of Athens who killed the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster, in the Labyrinth of Crete. Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola . Dominican monk, charismatic preacher, and reformer.  Hiero also called Hieron II, King of Syracuse . He was made commander of the Syracusan army and was so successful that he was elected king by the citizens.