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Review of The Prince
Ah, "The Prince," by Machiavelli.
The single most infamous -- rather than simply being famous -- political book in history.
While it seems an unlikely source book for gamer's, the book actually provides interesting insights in to the necessities of political expediency rather than the niceties of political ideology.
"It is better to be feared than loved because men love at their convenience and fear at the convenience of the prince." -Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince.
"The Prince" has gained it's wicked reputation because it focuses on the practical problems a monarch faces in staying in power, rather than fanciful ideas about the foundation of political and moral authority. It is a sometimes witty but consistently an expression of real politick -- governmental policy based on maintaining and retaining power rather than pursuing ideals.
To understand the book, something must be said of the context in which it was composed.
Machiavelli (1469-1527) was born in Florence, and Italian city. In addition to the usual harsh standard of living and endless violence of the time, Italy was also in terrible political upheaval. Four dominant city-states divided the once mighty heart of the Roman Empire. Each of the city-states was always at the mercy of some foreign government or power.
When Machiavelli was at the age of 25, the former rulers of Florence -- the Medici family -- were temporarily deposed. Machiavelli himself worked for the new government for a time. When the Medici family returned to power in 1512, he was one of the people rounded up, tortured and imprisoned. It was shortly after his release that he composed "The Prince."
Machiavelli composed "The Prince" to gain himself a job with the Medici family.
"For one can say this generally of men; that they are ungrateful, fickle, pretenders and dissemblers, evaders of danger, eager for gain..." -Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince.
"The Prince" starts with the description of the two principal types of governments: monarchies and republics. The focus in Machiavelli's work is on monarchies.
The middle of the book holds the most provocative and controversial parts of the work. In chapter 15 Machiavelli writes about what a monarch must have to remain in power – this includes principles of honesty, generosity, fairness, of religious faith and mercy in only appearance. Actually having any of these characteristics will contribute to the downfall of a monarchy, because they are weaknesses the prince's enemies will exploit.
By comparison, certain vices will help strengthen a monarch's hold on power. Actually being cruel, brutal, stingy, without any religious faith and frequently dishonest keeps the enemies of the monarch off balance and weak. Such characteristics do not over tax the monarch's power.
In Chapter 19 it is written that the prince must avoid doing things that will cause him to be hated, such as by not confiscating property, not appearing greedy or wishy-washy and encouraging the soldiers to rape and defile women.
Machiavelli also encourages those who have newly acquired their power to betray those who have helped support them and to embrace their former enemies.
Virtue -- in "The Prince" -- means ability, strength, skill at arms and dealing with people. It does not mean moral excellence in the traditional sense of the term.
In essence, a successful prince -- or leader of men -- will be able to define their own morality and ethics once they acquire and keep power. To do this -- to acquirer and keep power -- they must have means ability, strength, skill at arms to dealing with people.
The book concludes with an encouragement for a prince to unite Italy, by some means.
"And so he needs to have a spirit disposed to change as the winds of fortune and variations of things command him, and as I said above, not depart from good when possible, but know how to enter into evil, when forced by necessity." -Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince.
In contemporary times, the term Machiavellian is interchangeable with evil, corrupt and manipulative politics. It goes hand-in-hand with every complaint people have about those in positions of power. It is also thought of the principally be a subtle art.
None of these notions is entirely accurate.
The book actually calls for a leader to be adaptive, reading that those who do not change as fortune bids will loose their power.
Likewise, it pays attention to realities and requirements of maintaining power. This means following expediency at the sake of ideology, not just to spite ideology. Only when they are reasonably secure in the power can a prince afford to pursue ideology and then never at the expense of there own power. To do so would spell their own doom and undo any work they have accomplished.
While the book encourages one to be bold, it also calls for balance. It is good to be feared, but do not go so far as to be hated. If someone fears you, they will probably do as you instruct. If they hate you, they are willing to suffer just to thwart you.
In addition, the book encourages reads that most of this -- except for deception -- must done more or less openly. Public executions, readily visible cruelties and acts of brutality are not only acceptable, but if used properly, very helpful.
No where does Machiavelli encourage cruelty for the sake of cruelty, brutality for the sake of brutality, deception for the sake of deception or evil for the sake of evil.
In the end, Machiavelli seems to draw the conclusion that mean are not so much lead as they are driven. Therefore, the behavior he encourages in princes is a strategy by which princes can move people to do and be where they want them.
"...he should appear all mercy, all faith, all honesty, all humanity, all religion." -Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince.
The book is not flawless – there is no book that is flawless.
The edition reviewed here is one for college study. However, it includes no biography of Machiavelli or any commentary on the times in which he lived. As such, it is very difficult to try to understand the work in it is original context. For example, when Machiavelli writes about getting rid of allies and embracing former enemies he is telling the Medici to toss out the Spanish -- who helped them take Florence -- and to hire him. Without the understanding of the context, it is east to fall into the trap of simply assuming Machiavelli was writing about extolling the virtues of evil political power.
The translation is also at times difficult follow. Some passages must be read twice to understand them.
"A prudent lord, therefor, cannot observe faith (keeping his word), nor should he..." -Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince.
Beyond being a good read just to see what everyone is talking about, "The Prince" can help gamers in a campaign.
A good grasp on how politics work cannot but help in games that involve more than slaughtering monsters. Such an understanding helps if they are working for a prince, working with a prince, or are a prince.
White Wolf's World of Darkness is practically dedicated to the book – it deeply colors all of the game lines and settings.
These kinds of politics have nearly as much presence in the ShadowRun setting as they do in the World of Darkness setting.
If the characters want to establish their own hold in the Forgotten Realms -- the standard fantasy world by which all other fantasy worlds are judged -- an appreciation of how the Harpers work is invaluable. This is to say nothing of understanding the bloodlines of such groups as the Zhentarium, Knights of the Shield and so forth.
Machiavellian politics snuck into Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and as such have a presence in the RPG based upon that program.
The watch words are "watch your back and keep and eye on the door," because leadership – be it the characters or non-playing characters – will bloody their hands to get and hold onto power.
While it can be argued that races such as elves, or setting such as the Forgotten Realms, would never use such politics because they are not human, are it is not Earth, – the thing to remember is that all DM's are human and all the settings and races were created by and are depicted by humans.
"The Prince" is a very human book.
Besides, reading this book should help adventuring groups understand how to be feared rather than hated and how to use brutality well -- nuances lost on must such groups.
Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)
