Caput tertium: Artes pacis.
Knowing the Land and Its People
A prince must first learn to know his own domain through geography, history, and personal survey, just as a doctor must understand the body before healing it.
Although ancient writers long ago divided the whole art of governing a state into two branches — peace and war — the first and foremost concern of a prince's education must be the principles by which times of peace are wisely managed. It is here that every manly effort should be made, so that there may never be any need for the defenses of war. On this point, it seems the prince should be taught above all to know his own domain. He will achieve this chiefly through three things: geography, history, and frequent firsthand survey of regions and cities. Let him therefore be eager to learn, above all, the location, origin, character, institutions, customs, laws, annals, and privileges of regions and cities. No one can heal a body unless it has been understood. No one properly cultivates a field he does not know. A tyrant, for his part, takes the most diligent care of these things — but it is the mind, not the task itself, that distinguishes a good prince. A doctor examines the condition of the body so that he may more easily help it; a poisoner examines it too, but so that he may more surely kill.
Loving the People as a Father Loves His Household
The prince must love his realm as a good farmer loves his ancestral estate, winning genuine goodwill through virtue rather than through spells or manipulation.
Next, he should love the region he governs and feel about it the way a good farmer feels about his family's land, or a good man about his own household. Above all, he should be eager to leave it in better shape than he found it, to whoever comes after him as his successor. If he has children, let fatherly devotion move him to do this for his sons; if not, let devotion to his country move him to do it for the prince. And let him hold up before himself, again and again, the examples of those who stirred love for their own people — like torches lighting the way. Let him remember that a kingdom is nothing more than a vast body, of which he himself is one distinguished member — and that those who have entrusted all their fortunes, who have entrusted their very safety to the trustworthiness of one person, deserve his favor. Let him often bring to mind the examples of those who cared more about the welfare of their own citizens than about their own lives. And finally, let him remember that a prince cannot harm the republic without harming himself. Then he should work by every means to be loved by his own people in return — but in such a way that he loses none of his authority among them. And some people try to win goodwill for themselves through spells and magical rings — most foolishly, since no spell is more effective than virtue itself, than which nothing can be more lovable. And just as virtue in itself is truly good and immortal, so for a person it produces a goodwill that is true and immortal.
The Love-Charm of Deserving Well
The surest way to be loved is to love first, drawing citizens to oneself by the same path God uses: truly deserving well through good service.
The closest love-charm to this end — that one who longs to be loved in return should love — is that by the same path he should draw his own citizens to himself by which God draws all people to himself: namely, by truly deserving well through good service.123
The False Goodwill of Bribes and Indulgence
Those who win popular favor through bribes, banquets, and flattery deceive themselves, producing only a fleeting and corrupt approval that ultimately destroys both prince and people.
And those people are deceived who win over the hearts of the crowd for themselves through bribes, banquets, and wicked indulgence. And by these methods a certain popular favor is prepared rather than genuine goodwill — but that favor is neither true nor lasting.4 Meanwhile the people's corrupt desire is fed, which — as tends to happen — has grown boundless, and now thinks nothing is enough. It grows restless unless it is answered in every craving. And that amounts to corrupting your people, not winning them over.5 And by these methods the prince commonly gains influence among the people — just as foolish husbands often do, who wheedle their wives' love with flatteries, gifts, and fawning attentions, when they ought to have earned it by virtue and good deeds.6 In the end it comes about that they are not even loved, and instead of being regarded as sensible and well-mannered, they are considered disdainful and intractable — instead of compliant, they're seen as complaining and loud. Or what tends to happen with certain petty women who strive to drive their own husbands to love them by poisons — so that they regard the sane as insane.7
Presenting a Prince Worthy of Love
Let the people grow accustomed to the best things, and let the prince show forth what is best; those who begin to love by judgment will love for a long time.
First, let a wife learn how and by what claims her husband is to be loved; then let him show himself to be the kind of man who rightly can be loved. In the same way, let the people grow accustomed to the best things, and let the Prince show forth what is best. They will love for a long time who have begun to love by judgment.
Winning Hearts Through Wise Associates and Native Roots
The prince should surround himself with the best men, be born and raised among his people, and avoid foreign marriages, since shared birth and upbringing naturally foster mutual goodwill.
First of all, then, whoever wants to be loved by his own people should present them with a prince who deserves to be loved. Beyond that, it will help considerably to follow a method by which he can more easily win his way into everyone's hearts. This should be the prince's first concern: that those who are the best think well of him, and that he be approved by those whom everyone else approves. Let him make these men his close companions, let him call them into his counsel, let him honor them with distinctions, and let him allow them to have great influence in his court. In this way it will come about, to great advantage, that everyone thinks as well as possible of the prince — who is the source of all goodwill. I have known princes who were not so bad in themselves, yet who came into public hatred for no other reason than that they allowed too much license to those about whom the whole populace felt deeply ill — the people judging the character of princes by the character of their associates. Indeed, I would wish the prince had been born and raised among those he is going to rule, because friendship takes root and grows together most naturally whenever goodwill has its beginning in nature itself. The common people both shudder at and hate good things they don't know, while on the other hand, familiar bad things are sometimes actually loved. This arrangement will bring a twofold advantage: for the prince will be more warmly disposed toward his own people, and will altogether care more for their welfare; and the people will favor him more wholeheartedly, and will more willingly acknowledge him as their own prince. And for this reason I do not equally approve of the marriages now being arranged between princes and foreign nations, especially with distant ones.
Cultivating Goodwill Across Cultural Boundaries
When a prince rules among foreign peoples, he must strengthen goodwill through mutual service and cultural adaptation, following the examples of Mithridates, Alexander, and Alcibiades.
Birth and native land carry great power for winning goodwill, serving as a kind of shared guardian spirit for both ruler and people. A good measure of this goodwill is bound to be lost when the mixing together of marriages blurs that genuine, native affection. But where nature has laid the foundation of mutual love, there it's fitting to strengthen and deepen it by every other means as well; and where that's not the case, one must work all the harder so that goodwill is forged through mutual services, worthy customs, and favor. But the same thing that happens in marriages — that at first the wife defers to her husband, and the husband yields a little and accommodates his wife's temperament, until, each coming to know the other, friendship gradually grows — the same approach is fitting for a prince brought in from elsewhere. Mithridates had learned the languages of all the nations he ruled — said to have numbered twenty-two in all. Alexander the Great, living among however barbarous nations, at first imitated their dress and customs, by this means insinuating himself into their goodwill. The same thing is praised in Alcibiades.
The Danger of Absence and the Duty of Presence
Nothing alienates a people more than a prince's prolonged absence abroad, which breeds resentment over taxation and neglect, as the example of Philip shows.
Nothing alienates the people's spirit from the prince quite so much as the prince's delighting in activity abroad, because the people see themselves as neglected by the one they most want to care for them. Then when revenue is demanded, since it's consumed elsewhere, the people think it's lost to them; they don't see the tax as given to the prince but as plunder thrown before strangers. So there's nothing more troublesome or destructive to the fatherland, and nothing more dangerous to the prince, than long journeys abroad — especially if they're prolonged. For that situation, in everyone's judgment, both took Philip from us and damaged his territory no less than the war now waged for so many years against the Gelrii.
The Prince Among His People
Like the king bee who stays at the center of the swarm, a prince should always move among his own people.
Just as the king among bees is surrounded in the middle of the column and never rushes forward anywhere, so it is fitting for a prince always to move about among his own.8
Escaping Hatred and Contempt
Following Aristotle, Erasmus teaches that hatred and contempt overthrow rulers; the prince must therefore avoid cruelty and rapacity while cultivating mercy, courtesy, fairness, and kindness.
There are two things above all, as Aristotle hands down in the Politics, that overthrow rulers: hatred and contempt. Goodwill is the opposite of hatred; authority is the opposite of contempt. So it will be the prince's careful task to observe the means by which these are fostered, and to avoid those. Hatred is kindled by cruelty, violence, insults, moroseness, difficulty, and rapacity. And hatred is aroused more easily than, once aroused, it is ever appeased. Therefore, by every means a good prince must be on guard, lest he lose the love of his own people on any occasion. Believe me, whoever is abandoned by the people's favor is stripped of a great bodyguard. On the other hand, the goodwill of the people is won by these qualities — to put it briefly, by those qualities that are furthest removed from tyranny: mercy, courtesy, fairness, civility, and kindness.
The Virtues That Win the People
Kindness, clemency, and courtesy are the qualities that stir duty, invite reform, and soften hatred, making them the most effective tools for winning lasting popular goodwill.
Kindness stirs people to do their duty, especially once they've seen that there's a reward with the prince for those who deserve well of the common good. Clemency invites those who are ill at ease with themselves to a better fruitfulness, as long as it holds out hope of pardon to people who are eager to make up for the failures of their past life with new acts of service — and in the meantime, it's welcome even to those of the most blameless character, as they contemplate human nature itself. Courtesy everywhere either produces love or at least softens hatred — but in a great prince, it's by far the most welcome thing of all to the people.
Avoiding Contempt Through Sobriety and Vigilance
Contempt is bred by luxury, lust, and folly; authority is gained through prudence, integrity, and temperance, and the prince must live so that his example teaches frugality rather than crime.
Contempt is drawn in most of all by the pursuit of pleasures — lust, drunkenness, banqueting, gambling, fools, and buffoons — and then by folly and sloth. And by these different qualities authority is gained — namely, by prudence, integrity, temperance, sobriety, and vigilance. By these things, then, let the Prince commend himself, if he truly wishes to be powerful in authority among his own people. But some people absurdly believe they should be considered great among their own if they display themselves as loudly and lavishly as possible — through noise, splendor, and luxury. After all, who considers a Prince great because he's adorned with gold or jewels, when everyone knows he has only as much as he wants? And in the meantime, what else does he display but the ruin of his own citizens — this luxury of his, sustained at their expense? In short, what else does he teach his people by this example except a breeding ground for every kind of crime? This is how a good Prince should carry himself, this is how he should live — so that from his life the other nobles and citizens may be able to take an example of frugality and sobriety.
Guarding Speech and Public Conduct
The prince must conduct himself blamelessly at home and be seen in public only doing what serves the common good, taking greatest care that his words display a mind worthy of a prince.
Let him conduct himself at home in such a way that he cannot be caught by anyone's intervention. And out in public it's not fitting for the prince to be seen anywhere unless he's always doing something that serves the public good. The mind of the prince is known more surely from his speech than from his clothing. Whatever has been received from the prince's mouth spreads among the crowd. Therefore the greatest care is needed so that the things he says smack of virtue, and display a mind worthy of a good prince.
Delegating Blame and Claiming Credit
Following Aristotle's counsel, the prince should delegate unpopular tasks to others while claiming benefits for himself, giving favors quickly and with warmth, refusing gently, and punishing with visible reluctance.
And don't overlook Aristotle's advice on this point: a prince who wants to escape the hatred of his own people and cultivate goodwill should delegate to others the things that are likely to stir resentment, and do the things that win approval himself. In this way a great deal of the envy will fall on those through whom affairs are managed, especially if they have also at other times been disliked by the people. Again, when benefits are bestowed, the full credit will belong to the one prince alone. I'll add this too: the credit of a favor is doubled if it's given quickly, eagerly, and on your own initiative, and if it's presented with warm words of recommendation. But if something must be refused, let it be done gently and calmly. If something must be punished, reduce somewhat the penalty prescribed by the laws, and impose the punishment in such a way that it's clear the prince was reluctant to go this far.
The Prince's Household and the Danger of Wicked Counselors
The prince must ensure that his entire household shares his virtue, since the crimes of wicked counselors reflect back on him, and many tyrants are worse than one.
And it's not enough for the Prince to show upright and uncorrupted character to the commonwealth in his own person alone. No less effort must be made to ensure that, as far as possible, he has his entire household — nobles, friends, servants, teachers — all like himself. These are the Prince's own members, and the hatred stirred up by their crimes flows back onto the Prince himself. But that is very difficult, someone will say. It will be easier if he takes care to choose the best men into his household, and then if he makes sure they understand that what most pleases the Prince is what most serves the people's interest. Otherwise it often happens that, with the Prince neglecting or even conniving at such matters, the most wicked men exercise tyranny against the common people under the Prince's authority, and while they seem to be conducting his business, they bring the worst counsel to his name. Otherwise, the condition of a commonwealth is more tolerable where the Prince himself is bad than where the Prince's friends are bad. We can somehow bear a single tyrant. Since the people can easily satisfy the greed of one man, and with little trouble satisfy the desire of one man, and it's possible to satisfy the cruelty of one man — but to satisfy so many tyrants is the heaviest burden of all.
Shunning Innovation and Governing Gradually
The prince must avoid all unnecessary innovation, since even improvements offend by their novelty; what can be borne should be tolerated or redirected, and what cannot must be corrected gradually and skillfully.
Every innovation, as far as it can be avoided, must be shunned by the prince. For even if something is changed for the better, the very novelty itself causes offense. Nor has the condition of the commonwealth, or the public custom of the city, or laws once received ever been changed without upheaval. So if anything will be of such a kind that it can be borne, it should not be made into an innovation; but it will be fitting either to tolerate it, or to redirect it skillfully to a better use. On the other hand, if anything will be of such a kind that it cannot be tolerated, it must be corrected — but by skill and gradually.
Setting the Right Goal for the Commonwealth
The prince must aim not merely to preserve but to improve the commonwealth, measuring its happiness by justice and temperance rather than wealth, and guarding against the false names of happiness, freedom, and equality.
It matters enormously what goal the person who holds the office of prince sets for himself; for if he has aimed too poorly, he will inevitably stray entirely from the necessary path. Therefore the highest resolve of a good prince ought to be this: not only to protect the commonwealth's present well-being, but to make it more flourishing than he received it. Moreover, since there are three kinds of goods — to speak in the manner of the Peripatetics — namely, goods of the mind, goods of the body, and external goods, care must be taken that the account of these is not held in reverse order, so that the happiness of the state is measured above all by those external goods. For these external things are not to be pursued in any other way than insofar as they pertain to goods of the mind and body. That is, let him judge his citizens to be most happy not if he has them very rich or in the best bodily health, but if he has them most just and most temperate; if they are as little greedy as possible; if they are as little fierce or factious as possible; if they are as harmonious as possible. Care must also be taken on this point, lest he be deceived by the false names of the most beautiful things — and it is indeed from this source that nearly every evil in the world abounds and springs forth. For it is not true happiness when a people dissolves into idleness and luxury; nor is it true freedom where each person is permitted to do whatever he pleases. Nor is it slavery to live according to the prescription of honorable laws, nor is the commonwealth tranquil when the people comply with every nod of the prince, but rather when good laws are obeyed and a prince who governs well is heeded according to the dictate of the laws. Nor is equality the same reward for all, the same right, the same honor for everyone; on the contrary, this is sometimes the greatest inequality.
The Chief Hope: Educating the Young
The chief hope of the commonwealth lies in the proper upbringing of children, who should be formed from the start in Christ, sound learning, and wholesome civic principles under the best teachers.
A prince about to take up the reins of power must be warned, above all else, that the chief hope of the commonwealth lies in the proper upbringing of children — a point Xenophon wisely made in his Education of Cyrus. An untrained age is receptive to whatever discipline it receives. Therefore, from the very first, care must be given to public and private schools and to the training of girls, so that under the best and most incorruptible teachers they may at once imbibe both Christ and sound learning, along with wholesome principles of public life. In this way it will come about that there will be no need for many laws or punishments, since citizens will of their own accord willingly follow what is right.
The Transformative Power of Education
Education has such force that a well-trained person becomes almost divine, while a badly educated one degenerates into a savage beast; therefore nothing matters more to a prince than having the best citizens.
Education has such great force that, as Plato wrote, a person properly trained becomes a kind of divine being, while on the contrary, one badly educated degenerates into a kind of most savage beast. Nothing matters more to a prince than to have the best possible citizens.
Habituating the People to the Best
People must grow accustomed to the best things from the start, for habit is second nature; if the people resist, the prince must yield temporarily and gradually lead them by artful means, like wine slowly seizing the veins.
So effort must be made to get people accustomed to the best things right from the start, because any music is sweetest to those who are already used to it. And there's nothing harder than tearing a person away from things that long habit has made second nature.9 None of this will be exceedingly difficult, however, if the prince himself pursues what is best. It savors of tyranny — no, it's flattery — to handle the common people the way beast-handlers handle some monstrous beast: their first concern is to observe what entices it or provokes it, then they stir it or soothe it as seems convenient, as Plato solemnly said.10 For that is to abuse the people's affections, not to look out for them. But if the people prove unmanageable and resist their own good, then you must yield for the time being and gradually lead them toward your purpose, whether by some artful device or by a wholesome pretense.11 Just as wine, when it is drunk, at first yields, until gradually, having seeped into the veins, it seizes the whole person into its power.
Steadfastness Amid the Storms of Affairs
When storms of affairs and public opinion compel the prince to yield, he must nevertheless keep resisting as far as he can and try another way, never abandoning his purpose.
And if sometimes the storms of affairs and public opinion draw the Prince somewhat away from his purpose, and he is compelled to serve the time, he will nevertheless not stop resisting as far as he can, and because one method has not succeeded, he will try another way.1213
Read the original Latin
Iam tametsi prisci Scriptores uniuersam administrandae Reipublicae rationem, in duplices artes secuerunt, pacis et belli, et prior et praecipua cura debet esse Principis instituendi in his rationibus, quae ad pacis tempora sapienter moderanda pertinent, quibus hoc pro uirili conandum est, ne belli muniis umquam sit opus. Qua quidem in re uidetur illud in primis docendus Princeps, ut ditionem suam norit: Id quod tribus rebus potissimum consequetur, Geographia, Historia, et crebra regionum et urbium lustratione. Studeat igitur in primis, regionum ac ciuitatum situm, originem, ingenium, instituta, consuetudines, leges, annales ac priuilegia cognoscere. Nemo potest mederi corpori, nisi cognito. Nemo recte colit agrum, quem non nouit. Atque haec quidem diligentissime curat Tyrannus, sed animus non res distinguit bonum Principem. Inquirit corporis rationem Medicus, quo facilius subueniat, inquirit et ueneficus, sed quo certius occidat.
Proximum, ut amet eam regionem cui imperat, nec aliter in eam sit adfectus, quam in auitum fundum bonus agricola, aut in suam familiam uir bonus, et illud in primis studio habeat, ut acceptam reddat meliorem, cuicumque successori traditurus: si liberi sunt, persuadeat patri pietas in filios: sin minus, persuadeat Principi pietas in patriam. Ac sibi subinde ceu faces admoueat ad excitandam in suos caritatem. Cogitet regnum nihil aliud esse quam ingens quoddam corpus, cuius ipse membrum aliquod insigne sit: dignos esse fauore, qui suas fortunas omnes, qui suam incolumitatem unius fidei commiserint. Frequenter ingerat sibi eorum exempla, quibus ciuium suorum commoditas ipsa uita fuit antiquior; postremo fieri non posse, ut Princeps noceat Reipublicae, quin ipse sibi noceat. Deinde modis omnibus dabit operam, ut uicissim ametur a suis, sed ita, ut nihilo secius auctoritate polleat apud eosdem. Ac beneuolentiam stultissime quidam incantamentis et anulis magicis sibi conciliare nituntur, cum nullum sit incantamentum efficacius ipsa uirtute, qua nihil esse potest amabilius, et ut ipsa uere bonum est et immortalis, ita ueram et immortalem comparat homini beneuolentiam.
Proximum huic philtron, ut amet qui cupiat redamari, ut eadem uia sibi adiungat ciues suos, qua Deus sibi conciliat uniuersos, nempe bene merendo.
Falluntur et hi qui largitionibus, epulis, praua indulgentia sibi multitudinis animos conciliant. Et paratur hisce rebus nonnulla popularis gratia potius quam beneuolentia, uerum ea neque uera, neque duratura. Alitur interea mala populi cupiditas, quae posteaquam, ut fit, in immensum increuit, iam nihil satis esse putat: et tumultuatur, nisi per omnia cupiditatibus responsum fuerit: atqui istud est corrumpere tuos, non conciliare. Et his rationibus solet usu uenire Principi in populo, quod stultis maritis solet, qui uxorum amorem quem uirtute et recte factis parare oportuit, blanditiis, muneribus et obsequiis eblandiuntur. Fit enim denique ut nec amentur, et pro frugi ac bene moratis, fastidiosas habeant et intractabiles, pro morigeris querulas et obstreperas. Aut quod euenire solet mulierculis, quae uiros suos ueneficiis ad amorem adigere nituntur, ut pro sanis habeant dementes.
Primum discat uxor, quomodo et quibus nominibus sit amandus maritus, deinde ille talem praestet, qui recte possit amari: Ita populus adsuescat optimis, et Princeps quod optimum est, praestet. Diu diligent, qui iudicio diligere coeperint.
In primis igitur qui uolet amari a suis, eum praestet Principem, qui mereatur amari: deinde nonnihil profuerit tenere rationem, qua commodius irrepat in animos omnium. Hoc primum agat Princeps, ut qui sunt optimi, optime de se sentiant, et ab illis probetur, qui sunt omnibus probati: hos habeat familiares, hos in consilium adhibeat, hos ornet honoribus, hos plurimum apud se ualere patiatur. Ad hunc modum compendio fiet, ut omnes de Principe quam optime sentiant, qui fons est omnis beneuolentiae. Noui Principes per se non ita malos, qui non ob aliud in odium publicum uenerint, nisi quod nimium licere paterentur iis de quibus uniuersa multitudo male sentiebat, ex horum moribus Principum ingenium aestimante populo. Equidem optarim Principem natum et educatum apud eos quibus sit imperaturus, quod optime coeat et coalescat amicitia, quoties a natura proficiscitur initium beneuolentiae. Vulgus et bona ignota horret oditque: contra, mala nota nonnumquam amantur. Ea res geminum adferet commodum: nam et Princeps propensior erit in suos, et omnino magis pro suis habebit, et populus magis ex animo fauebit, et libentius agnoscet suum Principem. Et hac de causa non perinde mihi probantur, receptae iam Principum cum exteris, et maxime cum semotis nationibus affinitates.
Magnam uim ad beneuolentiam conciliandam habet genus et patria, et ueluti quidam communis utrisque genius. Huius bonam perire partem necesse est, germanum illum ac natiuum affectum confundente matrimoniorum mixtura. Verum ubi natura mutuae caritatis fecit initium, ibi conueniet eam caeteris item rationibus augere et confirmare: ubi secus est, ibi tanto sollicitius adnitendum, ut mutuis officiis, et moribus fauore dignis, beneuolentia colligatur. Sed quod fit in coniugiis, ut initio uxor obsequatur uiro, et uir nonnihil concedat et indulgeat uxoris ingenio, donec utroque alteri cognito, paulatim coalescat amicitia, idem fieri conuenit in Principe aliunde adscito. Mithridates omnium gentium quibus imperabat, linguas didicerat, quas numero uiginti duas fuisse proditum est. Alexander Magnus apud quantumuis barbaras nationes agens, initio cultum et mores imitabatur, hac uia sese in illorum insinuans beneuolentiam. Idem Laudatum est in Alcibiade.
Nihil aeque multitudinis animum alienat a Principe, quam si foris agere gaudeat, quod negligi uideatur ab eo, cui praecipue uellet esse curae. Tum quod exigitur, quoniam alibi consumitur, perire sibi putat, nec Principi dari uectigal interpretatur, sed alienis praedam obiici. Proinde neque patriae quidquam molestius aut perniciosius, neque Principi periculosius quam longinquae peregrinationes, praesertim si diutinae sint. Nam ea res omnium opinione, et Philippum nobis ademit, et non minus afflixit ditionem illius, quam bellum tot iam annos cum Gelriis gestum.
Ut inter apes Rex medio agmine cingitur, nec usquam prouolat, ut cor in meditullio corporis, ita conuenit Principem semper obuersari inter suos.
Duae potissimum res sunt, ut in Politicis tradit Aristoteles, quae subuertunt imperia, odium et contemtus. Odio opponitur beneuolentia, contemtui auctoritas. Itaque Principis partes erunt diligenter obseruare, quibus haec parentur, illa uitentur. Odium conflatur saeuitia, uiolentia, contumeliis, morositate, difficultate, rapacitate. Et facilius concitatur odium, quam excitatum placetur. Modis omnibus igitur cauendum bono Principi, ne qua occasione a caritate suorum excidat. Crede mihi, magno satellitio nudatur, qui fauore populi destituitur. Contra beneuolentia multitudinis conciliatur his moribus, ut dicam in genere, qui plurimum absint a Tyrannide: clementia, comitate, aequitate, ciuilitate, benignitate.
Benignitas exstimulat ad officium, praesertim si conspexerint iis esse praemium apud Principem, qui de Republica bene mereantur. Clementia, male sibi conscios inuitat ad meliorem frugem, dum ueniae spem ostendit iis qui superioris uitae errata nouis benefactis studeant pensare, grata interim et integerrimis contemplatione naturae humanae. Ciuilitas ubique aut amorem gignit, aut certe lenit odium, uerum ea in magno Principe longe gratissima multitudini.
Contemtus potissimum contrahitur studio uoluptatum, libidinis, uinolentiae, comessationum, aleae, morionum, scurrarum, tum autem stultitia socordiaque. Et his diuersis rebus paratur auctoritas, nimirum, prudentia, integritate, temperantia, sobrietate et uigilantia. His igitur rebus sese commendet Princeps, qui uere cupiat auctoritate pollere apud suos. At ridicule quidam ita se magni habendos credunt apud suos, si strepitu, cultu luxuque sese quam maxime ostentent. Quis enim magnum putat Principem auro aut gemmis ornatum, cui norunt omnes tantum esse quantum uult? Et interim quid aliud ostentat quam calamitatem suorum ciuium, suo dispendio hunc alentium luxum? Denique quid aliud docet hac ratione suos, nisi seminarium scelerum omnium? Sic colatur, sic uiuat bonus Princeps, ut ex huius uita caeteri proceres ac ciues, frugalitatis ac sobrietatis exemplum capere possint.
Sic agat domi, ut nullius interuentu deprehendi possit. Et foris haud decet usquam Principem conspici, nisi semper aliquid agitantem, quod ad publicam faciat utilitatem. Ex oratione certius quam ex amictu Principis animus cognoscitur. Spargitur in uulgus quidquid ab ore Principis fuerit exceptum. Proinde summam oportet esse curam, ut ea quae loquitur uirtutem sapiant, et mentem bono Principe dignam prae se ferant.
Nec praetereundum est Aristotelis hac in re consilium, ut Princeps qui uolet odium suorum effugere, ac beneuolentiam alere, quae sunt odiosa, deleget aliis, quae plausibilia, per se faciat. Hoc pacto magna pars inuidiae defluet in eos, per quos res administratur, praesertim si fuerint et alias inuisi populo. Rursus in beneficiis solida gratia ad unum Principem pertinebit. Addam et illud, conduplicari beneficii gratiam, si cito, si alacriter, si ultro detur, et si uerbis amicis commendetur. Quod si quid negandum erit, id blande placideque fieri conueniet. Si quid puniendum, minuendum nonnihil de praescripta legibus poena, et ita sumendum supplicium, ut appareat Principem huc inuitum descendisse.
Neque satis est, si Princeps suos unius mores integros et incorruptos praestet Reipublicae. Non minus adnitendum, ut quoad licet, uniuersam suam familiam, proceres, amicos, ministros, magistros sui similes habeat: hi membra sunt Principis, et horum sceleribus conflatum odium in ipsum redundat Principem. At istud difficillimum est, inquiet aliquis. Facilius fuerit, si curet optimos in suam familiam allegere: deinde si fecerit, ut hi intelligant ea maxime placere Principi, quae maxime sint in rem populi: alioqui fit saepenumero, ut negligente aut etiam conniuente ad ea Principe, sceleratissimi homines sub praetextu Principis, tyrannidem exerceant in plebem: et dum uidentur illius agere negotium, pessime consulunt eius nomini. Alioqui tolerabilior est Reipublicae status, ubi Princeps ipse malus est, quam ubi Principis amici mali. Unum Tyrannum utcumque ferimus. Quandoquidem unius auaritiam facile populus explet: unius libidini, non magno negotio fit satis: unius saeuitiam satiare licet, at tot Tyrannos explere grauissimum est.
Omnis nouatio quoad fieri poterit, fugienda Principi. Nam etiam si quid in melius commutetur, tamen ipsa nouitas offendit. Nec umquam sine tumultu commutatus est uel Reipublicae status, uel publica ciuitatis consuetudo, uel leges olim receptae. Proinde si quid erit eiusmodi ut ferri possit, non erit innouandum, sed aut tolerare conueniet, aut commode ad meliorem usum deflectere. Rursum si quid erit eius generis, ut tolerandum non sit, id erit corrigendum, sed arte ac paullatim.
Permagni refert, quem scopum sibi proponat is qui gerit Principatum; nam si parum recte destinarit, tota aberret uia necessum est. Summum igitur boni Principis decretum esse debet, ut non solum tueatur praesentem Reipublicae felicitatem, uerum etiam florentiorem reddat quam acceperit. Caeterum cum tria sint bonorum genera, ut Peripateticorum more loquamur, uidelicet, animi, corporis, et externa, cauendum erit ne horum ratio praepostere habeatur, ut ciuitatis felicitatem externis illis bonis potissimum metiatur. Nam haec quidem non oportet alio pacto comparare, nisi quatenus ad animi corporisque bona pertinent: hoc est, ita demum existimet ciues suos esse felicissimos, non si ditissimos habeat, aut optima corporis ualetudine, sed si iustissimos ac temperatissimos, si quam minime cupidos, si quam minime feroces aut factiosos, si quam maxime concordes. Cauendum et illud, ne pulcerrimarum rerum falsis uocabulis decipiatur, quo quidem e fonte quidquid est malorum in orbe, fere scatet ac proficiscitur. Neque enim uera felicitas est, cum populus otio luxuque diffluit: neque uera libertas, ubi cuique quod libuit, licet. Nec seruitus est, ad legum honestarum praescriptum uiuere, neque tranquilla Respublica cum ad omnem Principis nutum obsecundat populus, sed cum bonis paretur legibus, et Principi bene consulenti iuxta legum dictamen. Nec aequalitas est, idem omnium praemium, idem ius, idem honos: imo haec est nonnumquam summa inaequalitas.
Illud in primis admonendus est Princeps gubernaculis admouendus, praecipuam Reipublicae spem sitam esse in recta educatione puerorum, id quod prudenter docuit Xenophon in Institutione Cyri. Nam rudis aetas ad quamuis disciplinam sequax est. Proinde cum primis habenda cura de ludis publicis ac priuatis, de uirginum institutione, ut statim sub optimis et incorruptissimis praeceptoribus, simul et Christum imbibant, et honestas litteras reique publicae salutares. Hac ratione fiet, ut non sit opus multis legibus, aut suppliciis, nimirum, ciuibus suapte sponte, quod rectum est, sequentibus.
Tantam uim habet educatio, ut Plato scripserit, hominem recte institutum, in diuinum quoddam animal euadere, contra, perperam educatum, in immanissimam quamdam degenerare belluam. Nihil autem magis refert Principis, quam ut ciues suos habeat quam optimos.
Danda erit igitur opera, ut protinus adsuescant optimis, propterea quod quaeuis musica suauissima est adsuefactis. Et nihil est difficilius, quam reuellere hominem ab his quae longo iam usu in naturam abierunt. Nihil autem horum fuerit admodum difficile, si Princeps ipse quae sunt optima sequetur. Tyrannidem sapit, imo sycophanticum est, ita tractare plebem; ut immanem aliquam belluam tractare solent bestiarii, quibus id in primis studio est, ut obseruent, quibus rebus deliniatur, aut irritetur, deinde utcumque commodum uidetur commouent, aut demulcent, ut grauiter dictum est a Platone. Nam istud est abuti plebis affectibus, non illi consulere. Quod si populus erit intractabilis, et suo ipsius bono repugnans, tum aut obsecundandum erit ad tempus, et paullatim ad tuum institutum inducendus, uel arte quapiam, uel fuco salutari. Quemadmodum uinum cum bibitur, primum paret, donec sensim illapsum uenis totum hominem in suum ius rapiat.
Et si nonnumquam negotiorum procellae, et opiniones publicae, Principem nonnihil reuocant ab instituto, cogiturque seruire tempori, tamen haud desinet, quoad potest reniti, et quod hac non successit, alia conari uia.
Notes
- 1 ↩philtron: rare Greek loanword (φίλτρον), literally 'love-charm' or 'love-potion.' Erasmus uses it figuratively here for the most effective means of winning affection. The morphology and gender are uncertain in the Latin transmission.
- 2 ↩ut (tokens 3, 8): both purpose clauses, parallel in structure — 'so that he may love … so that he may join.' The parallel construction favors purpose over result.
- 3 ↩nempe bene merendo: 'namely, by deserving well' — the confirmatory particle nempe sharpens the point. The gerund merendo (from mereo) carries the sense of earning or deserving through virtuous action, not mere charm or manipulation. The analogy is explicit: just as God wins all people to himself through goodness, so should a prince win his citizens.
- 4 ↩gratia rendered as 'favor' here in the political/popular sense (popularis gratia), not in the theological sense of divine grace.
- 5 ↩corrumpere tuos: 'corrupting your people' carries both moral and political force — the prince's indulgence degrades those he governs.
- 6 ↩The analogy between a prince's rule and a husband's marital conduct draws on a common Renaissance mirror-for-princes trope; the moral logic is that both should earn loyalty through merit, not manipulation.
- 7 ↩mulierculis: a diminutive with dismissive force ('petty women' / 'little women'); the tone is rhetorical and illustrative, not a doctrinal statement about women. veneficiis may refer literally to love potions/philtres or figuratively to manipulative arts.
- 8 ↩obuersari (deponent of obuersor) rendered as 'move about' to capture the sense of being present and active among one's people; the form is uncertain and the deponent morphology is not fully secure.
- 9 ↩abierunt: perfect of abeo, here used with in naturam to mean 'have passed into/been absorbed into nature'; rendered 'made second nature' to capture the sense of habit become ingrained.
- 10 ↩The final clause ut grauiter dictum est a Platone is rendered 'as was said solemnly by Plato'; grauiter may carry the sense of 'seriously/weightily' rather than 'solemnly,' but the allusion to Plato's political thought supports the elevated register.
- 11 ↩fuco salutari: literally 'wholesome dye'; rendered 'wholesome pretense' to capture the pragmatic political sense of a beneficial deception or strategic accommodation. The metaphor of dye/coloring is preserved in 'wholesome' modifying a surface-level measure.
- 12 ↩quod rendered as 'because' (causal conjunction) rather than 'that'; the sense is that the prince tries another approach since the first failed.
- 13 ↩seruire tempori rendered 'to serve the time' — i.e., to accommodate present circumstances, a classical idiom meaning to yield to what the moment demands.
The Education of a Christian Prince (Institutio principis Christiani) companion
Erasmus said the prince's day should begin with sacred reading. Yours can too.
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