Machiavelli Influence On The Prince

Machiavelli once said ‘Because men are wretched creatures who would not keep their word to you, you need not keep your word to them’. Machiavelli is seen in history as one of the most influencing men of all time. Matter a fact, “the name Machiavelli was a synonym for the devil” (Barnett page 6). Machiavelli established a lot of this reputation from his work The Prince, it was written in 1513-1514. But, a lot people thought that he was misunderstood considering he wrote many books and people focus mostly on one. Second you must take the time period into thought and realize how the world was about 500 years ago.
Niccolo Machiavelli was meant for politics. He first started working as a secretary for the Second Chancery in Florence at the age of 29. Working this job for 14 years allowed him to obtain a lot of experience and learn the ways of power politics. However when Florence fell under Papal control, Machiavelli lost his job and was arrested and tortured because he was a Florentine Republic supporter. After losing his job he never came back to political office again; he instead pursued the art of writing.
The Prince was Machiavelli’s most debatable and talked about work, and it is very much deserving. In his book he talked about; in order for a prince to be successful he will need to learn to be a great liar and deceiver. He

said a “successful political statesmen must learn when and how to act in an immoral and dishonest way” (Barnett page 7). Another component from The Prince is that Machiavelli understood that in order for a leader to be affective and successful, the people must fear him and fear the thought of punishment. These extreme views are what have damaged Machiavelli’s name to this day.
A lot of historians believe there is a further meaning behind The Prince than what shows at a glance.

An 18thcentury historian named William Enfield proposed that The Prince was a mockery to the political leaders at the time. This possibly could be true considering that Machiavelli was not a fan of the government after they tossed him in jail and tortured him. Another theory is that; The Prince was a shot to win back the rulers favor. Some historians say if this theory is turns out to be true; what Machiavelli wrote is not essentially what he believes, just an attempt to impress his bosses and possibly a try to move back into

politics.
By looking into Machiavelli’s Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius we are able to gain a little more knowledge about his political philosophy. Many connections are found between the Discourses and The Prince. But the most important thing in interpreting both of these works is understanding how each of these were written. Throughout these times, political conflict often involved more and more violence compared to todays society. With that being said, Machiavelli was speaking to both the military as well as politicians.
It is often forgotten what kind of man Machiavelli really was. People forget that he always messed with people’s minds, keeping his readers’ thoughts mixing as a way to entertain himself. It is nearly impossible to totally comprehend and fully interpret The Prince without reading and researching all of his other works. This is what makes him one of the most fascinating and skilled writers in history.