In Niccolo Machiavelli's the Prince, he is conveying to the reader and also to the Medici family, his views on how Princes should run their states. As one gets further into the reading they will find the Machiaveli's ideal Prince is a harsh and fierce individual that must be able to execute actions that might .
be considered intolerable, but however, must be done in order to ensure an effective rule. He begins by discussing Hereditary states. Hereditary states are states that are ruled for many years by an already established family. During his discussion of these types of states, he concludes that it is easier for a prince to prosper in this setting as opposed to a principality. .
He continues that when a prince comes to be in a hereditary state he only had to maintain previous habits and simply make them apply to present times, which is easy since his subjects are already loyal to the existing family. He then begins to explain the down side princes face while trying to maintain rule over principalities and so forth. Most of his instructions are self explanatory and he writes them as if they are common knowledge. His instructions consist of, usings ones own troops, siding with the general people more than the nobles, inducting fear along with belief in its people but also avoid being despised and hated. He also thought that honesty should always be overlooked if it would benefit his throne. The prince should be a good negotiator, cool, calm, appear trustworthy, but also ruthless and place more importance upon the result than the action. .
His ideal ruler is a mix of the many he mentions including Ferdinand of Argon, Alexander the Great, certain Roman Emperors, and Cesare Borgia . He had a strong dislike for the previous Italian princes. The fact Machiaveli has taken the time to write this book leads me to believe that Italy was in desperate times. Its faith was up in the air and a certain individual decided to express his opinions as well as concern.
