- 01Machiavelli’s reputation and literary character
- 02The Prince and its enduring political truths
- 03Translation principles for The Prince
- 04Works of Machiavelli
- 01Dedication to Lorenzo de' Medici
The Prince
by Niccolò Machiavelli · 1532 · 30 chapters · 24/7 tutor
Power, statecraft, and political realism.
30Chapters
54Lessons
141Topics
Certificate of completion included
This course was produced by Cavua from a public-domain text.
Skills this course leaves you with.
- Explain Machiavelli's main arguments about power and political rule
- Differentiate hereditary, mixed, civil, and ecclesiastical principalities
- Analyze how military force, alliances, and fortune affect political stability
- Assess the role of cruelty, mercy, fear, and love in maintaining authority
- Interpret Machiavelli's advice on keeping faith, avoiding hatred, and gaining renown
- Apply political realism concepts to historical examples discussed in the text
About The Prince.
The Prince is a short handbook Niccolò Machiavelli wrote in 1513, after losing his post in the Florentine government, on how a new ruler wins power and keeps it. Its 26 chapters move from kinds of states, to armies, to how a prince should behave, to a closing call to free Italy. Read it as an argument about what actually works in politics, check each claim against the historical example Machiavelli gives, and keep asking whom the book is really for.
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) served the Florentine Republic for fourteen years as a senior official and diplomat, meeting Cesare Borgia, the king of France and the pope on missions. When the Medici family returned to power in 1512 he lost his post, and in 1513 he was imprisoned and tortured on suspicion of conspiracy before being released. Retired to his farm outside Florence, he wrote The Prince that year and dedicated it to Lorenzo de' Medici, most readers agree in the hope of returning to public service. It circulated in manuscript and was printed only in 1532, after his death.
It is still read because it says plainly what earlier advice books for rulers avoided: that a ruler who tries to be good in everything will come to ruin among so many who are not. That claim made "Machiavellian" a byword for cunning, and the Catholic Church placed the book on its Index of Prohibited Books in 1559. Students of politics, history and leadership return to it because its questions, about power, reputation, force and luck, have not gone away.
What the book is really about.
Five themes organize the book. Each is tied to particular chapters, so cite chapter numbers whenever you write about one.
Questions to ask as you read.
- 1Is The Prince political analysis, advice for one ruler, or a job application?
- 2Why does Machiavelli hesitate to call Agathocles' success virtù?
- 3Why does Cesare Borgia fail if, as Machiavelli says, he did almost everything right?
- 4Does Machiavelli separate politics from morality, or propose a different morality for rulers?
- 5What limits does chapter 17 put on the advice to be feared rather than loved?
- 6How does chapter 9, on the people and the nobles, change the picture of Machiavelli as a friend of tyrants?
- 7Can a ruler change with the times, as chapter 25 says he should, or is character fixed?
- 8Does the patriotic final chapter belong with the analysis before it?
- 9How should The Prince be read alongside Machiavelli's republican Discourses on Livy?
- 10Rousseau called it a book for republicans. Is that reading convincing?
- 11Which of its rules would a modern leader still follow, and which would backfire?
Curriculum
The full table of contents.
Every chapter, every lesson, every topic — laid out before you enroll. Click any chapter to expand it.
- Chapters
- 30
- Lessons
- 54
- Topics
- 141
- 01The Prince
- 01Kinds of principalities and modes of acquisition
- 01Hereditary states and their stability
- 01Difficulties of new principalities
- 02Holding acquired dominions of the same country and language
- 01Holding newly acquired states with different customs and laws
- 02Colonies versus garrisons
- 03Balancing local powers and foreign threats
- 01Roman policy in annexed countries
- 02France and Louis as a counterexample
- 01Louis XII’s entry into Italy through Venetian ambition
- 02Louis’s strategic mistakes in Italy
- 01Louis XII's mistakes in Italy
- 02The rule against empowering rivals
- 01Two kinds of principalities
- 02The Turk and the King of France
- 03Holding conquered states after victory
- 01Three ways to hold annexed free cities
- 02Why free cities must be ruined
- 03Holding cities accustomed to princes
- 01Ability and fortune in new principalities
- 02Examples of founders who rose by their own arms
- 03Difficulties of introducing a new order
- 04Armed prophets versus unarmed prophets
- 05Hiero the Syracusan as a lesser example
- 01Princes raised by good fortune
- 02Francesco Sforza and Cesare Borgia
- 01Cesare Borgia's solid foundations
- 02Weakening the Orsini and Colonna factions
- 01Ramiro d'Orco's harsh rule in Romagna
- 02The duke's political consolidation and future precautions
- 01Cesare Borgia's consolidation of power
- 02Alexander VI's death and the duke's ruin
- 03Borgia as a model for new princes
- 01Election of Julius the Second
- 01Agathocles of Syracuse and the use of wickedness
- 02Proper and improper use of severities
- 03How a usurper should inflict injuries and benefits
- 01How civil principalities arise
- 02Winning and keeping the people
- 03Dangers of passing to absolute rule
- 01Measuring princely strength by self-reliance
- 02Fortified cities and German examples
- 03Holding citizens steadfast during siege
- 01Nature of ecclesiastical principalities
- 02How the papacy gained temporal power in Italy
- 03Alexander VI and Julius II strengthen the Church
- 01Good laws and good arms
- 02Mercenary arms and their dangers
- 03Italian mercenary captains and the decline of infantry
- 01Auxiliary forces and their dangers
- 02Cesare Borgia, Hiero, and David as examples of rejecting foreign arms
- 03France, Rome, and the case for one’s own forces
- 01War as the prince's chief study
- 02Military exercise through action and local knowledge
- 03Historical examples and imitation of great captains
- 01Rules of conduct for princes
- 02Virtue, vice, and preserving the state
- 01Liberality, taxation, and the danger of becoming hated
- 02When liberality is useful to princes and commanders
- 03Why meanness is the safer reputation
- 01Clemency, cruelty, and the new prince
- 02Why it is safer to be feared than loved
- 03Avoiding hatred while inspiring fear
- 01Keeping faith and using force
- 02Appearing virtuous while acting as needed
- 03Public reputation and the example of Ferdinand of Aragon
- 01Avoiding hatred and contempt
- 02Conspiracies and popular goodwill
- 03France’s institutions and royal security
- 01Roman emperors as examples of princely danger
- 02Marcus, Pertinax, and Alexander
- 01Alexander's goodness and despised rule
- 02Commodus, Severus, Antoninus Caracalla, and Maximinus
- 03Severus's fox-and-lion strategy
- 04Antoninus's military virtues
- 01Antoninus, Commodus, and Maximinus as examples of hatred and contempt
- 02Princes, soldiers, and the exception of the Turk and the Soldan
- 01Hatred and contempt among emperors
- 02Different models for new and established princes
- 01Disarming subjects and arming new subjects
- 02Factions in tributary cities
- 03Fostering enmity and winning over the distrusted
- 04Fortresses as security and liability
- 01Great enterprises and remarkable deeds
- 02Choosing sides in conflicts
- 03Patronage, public entertainments, and civic courtesy
- 01Choosing capable and faithful servants
- 02Testing and rewarding secretaries
- 01Avoiding flatterers through selective counsel
- 02A prince's own wisdom and control of advisers
- 01Causes of the Italian princes' losses
- 02Philip of Macedon as a counterexample
- 03Princes' sloth and self-reliance
- 01Fortune’s share in human affairs
- 02Adapting conduct to the times
- 03Pope Julius II as an impetuous ruler
- 04Why audacity masters fortune
- 01Italy’s need for a liberator
- 02Italian arms and the case for a new infantry
- 03Appeal to the Medici and Petrarch’s prophecy
- 01The Duke Valentino's campaign against Bologna
- 02The meeting at Magione and anti-ducal alliance
- 03The seizure of San Leo and Urbino's revolt
- 01Florentine support and the first reconciliation
- 02Peace terms with the Vitelli and Orsini
- 03Move to Cesena and the Sinigalia proposal
- 01The duke’s invitation and preparations
- 02The geography and approach to Sinigalia
- 03The rebel leaders’ dispositions in the city
- 01Seizure of Sinigalia and capture of the captains
- 02Disarming the Orsini and Vitelli troops
- 03Strangling Vitellozzo, Oliverotto, and the Orsini
- 01Castruccio's foundling origins and upbringing
- 02Training under Messer Francesco Guinigi
- 03Alliance with Uguccione and the fall of Giorgio degli Opizi
- 01Florentine advance into Lucca
- 02Castruccio's battle formation and victory
- 03Uguccione's jealousy after the victory
- 01Release from prison and expulsion of Uguccione
- 02Military recovery of rebel towns in Lunigiana
- 03Castruccio made lord of Lucca
- 04Alliance with Frederick of Bavaria
- 01Lucca rebellion and Stefano di Poggio's intervention
- 02Peace with Florence and the fortress in Lucca
- 03Castruccio's seizure of Pistoia
- 01Castruccio’s return to Pistoia and the choice of Serravalle
- 02The surprise attack and Florentine rout at Serravalle
- 01Castruccio’s preparations at Fucecchio
- 02The battle across the Arno
- 01Castruccio’s fatal fever after victory
- 02Final counsel to Pagolo Guinigi
- 03Death, burial, and Pagolo’s losses
- 04Castruccio’s character and sayings
- 01Witty and weighty sayings
- 01Public domain cover art note
01How many chapters are in the Prince course?
The Prince course has 30 chapters, each with its own lessons and topics.
02How many lessons are in the Prince course?
There are 54 lessons across the course, and you can ask your 24/7 tutor about any of them.
03Can I see what the Prince course covers before I start?
Yes. The full curriculum is listed on this page, beginning with "THE MAN AND HIS WORKS".
04Do I get a certificate for the Prince course?
Yes. Finishing the course earns a personal Cavua certificate of completion.
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