Born into an established Florentine family in the late 1400's, Machiavelli enjoyed an affluent life. His father, a Florentine lawyer, provided his son with an adequate education from scholars and humanists. By learning to write and speak well, Machiavelli was able to communicate both intelligently and critically by analyzing complex ideas. Possibly encouraged and pushed by his, Niccolo achieve the best education in his time. From his

of obligation which, since men are a sorry lot, is broken on every occasion

Niccolo ' s father encourage him to succeed in school but he strongly persuaded him into politics. Although he came from an established family in Florence, Italy, his father’s powerful friends helped establish Niccolo in a position of the Florentine government. His first government job was secretary to the Council of Ten, an artery of Florentine's government that had responsibility for war and diplomacy. Here Niccolo received his education on practical political affairs. By discovering his love for the militia, and recognizing early his devotion to defend the city, he took charge of hiring mercenaries to defend his city. Machiavelli worked hard for the government by using powerful negotiations with many foreign leaders to assist his city. Acquiring adequate education from his earlier years, Machiavelli was able to serve his city and government as a better diplomat. Later, he earned the position of organizing and training Florentine militias.

Machiavelli identifies the importance of history and man’s morality; however, he continues to measure a ruler’s success on how his qualities help him achieve his goals. These qualities show the following dichotomy; generosity verses meanness, cruelty verses mercifulness, disdained verses hatred, and keeping promises verses keeping to your faith. Machiavelli' s ruler must teat his people and allies with much respect. His ruler must rule generously, but at the same time he needs to protect his reputation by being firm in making his decisions that are best for his people. Niccolo exemplifies this by using Pope Julius II as an example. Julius took advantage of his reputation for generosity in order to win his election, however, he imposed heavy taxes on his people to win a war (Machiavelli 49-50). If Julius did not invest so much time in a false appearance, he could have redeemed himself rather then becoming a mean and hurtful prince. In the Machiavelli tradition, Cesare Borgia was labeled as cruel but fortunately his cruelty helped restore Romagna. Another important quality a ruler needs to accomplish is keeping faith with the world around him. His virtue must never lack integrity and he must rule from the heart by living right by his faith. Setting good examples for his people eliminates his image of a man with a dark soul. In order for this to take place, rulers must be concern with keeping the state from corruption. Machiavelli shows a ruler as a "Jackel and Hyde". The reader concludes that a ruler must be cruel in punishment but as long as he is compassionate and keeping his people in a safe and peaceful environment, then he will be an effective ruler.

age of seven being sent to his first teacher. At eleven, his father

Machiavelli expression shows that man's nature is such that it never cha

Some topics in this essay:
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