arieties of principalities; and more specifically, the problems of maintaining power in a newly acquired nation. Examples of how state leaders of the past and present dealt with new conquests imply that a person must be ruthlessly despotic besides being cleverly magnanimous to hold blemished humanity in check. Caesar Borgia is presented as a model prince, whose tactics of force and fraud enabled him to maintain territories originally secured by way of the influence of his father, Pope Alexander VI. Borgia's eventual failure is attributed to bad fortune, which can befall anyone.
In later chapters, Machiavelli speaks of the character of the ruler, for whom power is the most important value. Machiavelli asserts the following concepts: (1) Cruelty is sometimes mercy in disguise; (2) It is much safer to be feared than loved; and (3) A wise leader avoids flatterers and sycophants.
Machiavelli concludes his book by encouraging the rulers of Italy to unite and expel the barbarians, who are overrunning the land. The territorial imperative is certainly at work in Machiavelli. As it has been since the first human tribes walked this earth, ter
...