The rewards of this policy are many. First, it is always more beneficial to rally a people around a common aversion than around a common love. Men seek fellowship with those who share their aggression, and nothing serves that common desire more than a single enemy. No one would be foolish to claim that anything more than their loathing of French and Spanish invaders holds the loose confederation of Florentine cities together. If a foreign threat can unite these factious peoples, imagine how well a state would maintain its unity if there were a common enemy within. Second, as long as the people direct their venom toward a small group, they will have no cause to vent their aggression on the leaders within the separate realms. Fear of popular uprising, or even of high levels of dissatisfaction, will become things of the past. Keep the people preoccupied and they will have little concern for the power that is theirs to wield. And third, any malcontent may be branded a member of the outcast group, whether he be one or not. It is then easy enough to dispose of him, as long as the people believe he is a threat to the security of the state.
Perhaps most important, this malice knows no limits and can ultimately take the people beyond their own borders. There will come a time when the tide of men’s hatred runs dry within the state, when all members of the odious sect have been eliminated. At that moment, the demagogue (through pamphlets, agitators, and the like) may invent a new threat in the guise of yet another group; or, more prudently, he may determine that the threat has merely stolen away to another state, one which therefore needs cleansing.
How perfectly suited to human nature is this tactic. Men are wretched creatures, pompous, weak, and greedy, with less reason than brutish desire to guide them in their wayward lives. Allow them their aggression and they will cause little harm. Limit the reach of their claws, however, and they will destroy everything about them. So the demagogue must focus that aggression, unleash it beyond the state, and in so doing enhance the state. Expansion, fed by hatred, is the surest means to security.
It should be clear that the group accused of endangering stability is but an invention of the Overseer and the Prefects. No single sect could possibly determine the life or death of a state. But reality is not a concern for those who seek a well-ordered realm. All that is necessary is that they convince the people that the peril is real. And where better to teach the people how to direct their hatred than in a school that claims to fight moral corruption? What, then, should be the lessons? Cultivate distrust, and the people will seek out those who pose even the smallest threat to the state. Cultivate righteousness, and the people will attack all enemies with vigor. Cultivate simple answers and aggression, and the people will vanquish evil beyond their own walls, feeding power’s lust for conquest in the name of virtue. In that way, education and aggression work hand in hand to assure stability.
XVI. WHY THE STATE MUST BE THE ONLY COMPETITOR
To build from chaos in the economic realm requires almost no contact with the people. Instead, the Prefect here must, for a time, take full control of all commerce, trade, and exchange. The people will offer little resistance. Ill at ease from the sudden explosion of chaos, and well directed by the demagogue, they will recognize and accept the need for drastic measures. Only the economist will stand as an incorruptible force. Furthermore, as long as food appears on their plates, the people will consent to all efforts to cleanse the state of corruption. All lands will become the jurisdiction of the state. All guilds will yield power to the state. Those who resist will find themselves labeled enemies, a name to which the people will not take kindly.
If any doubt that one man, with the people’s consent, may seize considerable authority in a single economic area, think only of the upstart Henry in England. It is no secret that he intends to take all Church lands within that realm for himself should Rome not resolve to his liking the question of his divorce of Catherine. This king well knows that the people will pose no obstacle to his desires, for he has convinced them that he is ridding England of a corrupt institution; that is, the most sacred, holy Catholic Church. Even the threat of excommunication is no match for his heretical designs and his people’s prideful sanctimony.
Overarching control is thus vital if the economist is to use the institutions of trade and commerce in the service of the other two realms. Equally important, as enterprises come under the command of the Prefect, so the state as a whole will become like a single trader, with the full force of the state’s economic power behind it during negotiations with others. The state will then find expansion an easy task. In time, the economist may delegate control of the realm to smaller traders, manufacturers, and the like. But should he desire fuller control in the future, he need only raise the specter of corruption by the outcast sect in order once again to restore control to his own hands. Thus will expansion and stability reflect well the natural ebb and flow of commerce and trade.
In short, to build from chaos requires ample control within each of the realms. To eliminate enemies and foster a pointed hatred is to control the political realm; to remove all competition within the state so as to dominate competition with those in other states is to control the economic realm; and to cultivate aggression and righteousness through education is to control the social realm. Expansion will be the natural outgrowth of such control and will ensure long-lasting stability.
XVII. THE MILITARY
I would do no disservice to the enterprise of this small book were I now to conclude, well satisfied that I have offered both in ideas and in practice the means to secure a stable state. Yet there remain two topics that demand more ink. The first is the military, to which Messer Niccolò devotes almost half of his small tract. Whether he is condemning the use of mercenaries or extolling the virtù of one of his many heroes, Messer Niccolò describes statecraft in terms of military preparedness and cunning. Indeed, he claims that states need only have good arms and good laws to achieve stability. And this may be true. He offers myriad examples of the proper and ill-use of military men in securing boundaries, establishing empires, and so forth. He therefore insists that the art of war (and thus the control of the military) rests firmly in the hands of the prince.
Yet Messer Niccolò seems strangely unaware that without so appealing and cunning a figure to lead them, armies tend to become roving bands of cutthroats and drunkards who would as soon defile the daughter of an ally as that of an enemy. He seems equally reluctant to admit that soldiers are averse to good sense and are more inclined to follow the vainglorious than the shrewd. This last is what makes them dangerous. For there need be only one man within their ranks who displays a capacity to lead, and they will feed his ambition until there is nothing but rubble on which to stand. And worse, let there be two such men, and the state must suffer the slow death of civil war. In short, military men are no different from other men, save that they wield deadly weapons and threaten all with their pride and vanity.
A word of advice, then. Beware of soldiers. Use them only as tools, because they have neither the wit nor the endurance for the building of states. If they once believe that they have the power, little will keep them from destroying the state. The army must, therefore, be like a handmaiden to those who control the realms. Do not be afraid to destroy those within it who begin to amass too great a following or who show any signs of ambition.
XVIII. THE LAW
Our final topic is the second part of Messer Niccolò’s precept for stability: the law. I save it till the last because I do not believe it contributes to the welfare of states as much as those who have come before me claim. For the most part, they conclude that the law protects the people and enlarges freedom. But freedom is a dangerous weapon in the hands of a people. The mob cannot distinguish between license and liberty, more often than not taking freedom to be the first, and, in so doing, dragging the state into anarchy. For that reason, the law must work to limit freedom. Accepting this as the law’s purpose will prove no difficulty once educational institutions begin to produce young men who share the Overseer’s vision a
nd who consider a passion for stability more inspiring than some hollow desire for liberty or the like. But in the early stages of the new state, the aim of law will not be joined so easily to the character of men. The difficulty will arise because the people, as they have been taught, will believe that stability derives from law. This is a false belief the new state must quickly correct.
Law is a reflection of men’s wills. Nothing more. There is no supreme precept in this world that determines the rights or wrongs of any act. Punishment alone establishes the justice of all actions. Thus both law and penalty are arbitrary, because they are created to suit political, economic, and social expediency. Laws are no more trustworthy than the men who create them, and stability can never rest on human caprice.
But do not take the laws from the people. The laws are like a well-worn blanket in which the people wrap themselves. Grant them their childish sanctuary; speak highly of laws, enact new ones from time to time, repeal the old, and always let the people believe that they have the laws to thank for the state’s well-being. Furthermore, it is best to keep the laws simple. What to do; what not to do. What punishment; what reward. Let the people see that without the laws, they themselves would be forced to order the state, set limitations on actions, control those around them. They will gladly leave responsibility with the law so as to keep their lives as simple as possible. And in granting the laws authority, the mob yields all power to the Overseer and Prefects. Men seek to avoid complexity whenever possible. Let the law cater to that desire.
This last is a lesson that extends beyond the law. In all things, a state should look to simplify, and, in so doing, to make men more docile. As things become less complex, so, too, will men. Imagination, always a danger to a state, will cease to provoke. Let men become dull with passion (a passion conceived and promoted by the Overseer and the Prefects), and they will lose all desire to challenge authority. In education, teach men to be simple; clog their thoughts with rudiments (hatred is the most diverting) so that they will cease to develop their own ideas. Once leaders drive invention and ingenuity from men’s hearts and minds, the people can pose no threat to stability.
XIX. THE IDEAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT
Thus far, I have made every effort to avoid the fanciful advice offered by those who have written before me. Nowhere have I explained how states ought to direct themselves, nor how men ought to act. I have chosen the more honest, if bleaker, path so that my words may be of some use to men who seek supremacy in a real world, and not in some land of fantasy. Why, then, do I now claim that I can describe the ideal form of government? Such things are not for men with practical goals.
The reason is simple. For those who still question the usefulness of the three realms, who cannot see why chaos is essential in creating stable government, and who deny the need to expand through aggression and machination, my conclusions will seem unattainable. Truly, the government of which I speak is only possible if all three realms work together in perfect harmony. Then and only then will true supremacy produce a government that on the surface appears to cater to the caprices of men’s desires without giving up any of its authority. Republic, tyranny, democracy—these names are meaningless save for the comfort they offer the hearts and minds of men.
I also use the word ideal for another reason. Nowhere in these pages do I describe how a particular state may put these words into practice. Nowhere do I recommend the period of tutelage under which each Prefect will develop his skills. Nowhere do I name the exact area in commerce, or the exact political failure that will send the old regime into ruin. And nowhere do I describe the course of study to be taught in the schools. The words hatred, expansion, aggression, and machination have provided the only detail. But why? Because circumstances must dictate the policies chosen, because each state requires a different target of hatred, because the most susceptible areas within commerce and trade vary among states, because expansion sets its own direction, and because power follows its own whims.
It is an ideal because no one, including myself, can foresee the demands of the future within the three realms. But take note. I do not call it an ideal because it cannot be won. What I have written can lead men and states to stability. Whether those men have the skill and courage to read the circumstances of their times and act accordingly is all that stands now between ideal and reality.
XX. AN EXHORTATION TO ACTION
Yet I wonder now whether the time has arrived to create a new state, and whether a few men might attempt to launch so magnificent a change. It is too true that fear has infested activism, indulgence has replaced direction, and empathy has diluted everything. And still I most assuredly answer yes. Never before has so much conspired to offer so propitious a setting and so great an impetus for a change in the wielding of power. In the very presence of this Luther indicates how easily men may be led to abandon all that is dear to them in the name of some unknown and untried authority. Use this renegade German, most holy of Fathers, as a symbol of corruption; show him as the canker that will destroy all of Europe; destroy him and his followers and, in so doing, set power free so that it may explore and conquer as it wills.
The destruction of this Luther, though, must come only as the culmination of the endeavor, the final moment before chaos may come to the light. Let other, smaller instances of destruction pave the way so that his death will sound the clarion cry for all those ready to step beyond the corrupted world he has inspired. Let the chaos build, event to event, until they rise together and strike fear and uncertainty into the people’s hearts. One tiny eruption matters for naught. One on top of another, on top of another—that is something of true worth; that is something that, over a period of several months, will be sure to bring chaos. Remember, too, dear Father, these tremors need not be of real moment. Their genuine effect is of little consequence so long as their perceived threat is vast.
I cannot claim with certainty that my scheme is infallible, but the short schedule I offer below is one such way to bring about the chaos that is so vital to the capture of true supremacy. I ask only that you read it, and hope that it may inspire you to your greatest exploits.
i. Do not be afraid to destroy that which you hold most dear. The Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiore must be the first to fall victim. It is a symbol of your strength, of the will of our Father Christ, and thus stands as a bulwark of our faith. Let the people believe this Luther is responsible, that he is the threat. They will respond accordingly.
ii. The Spanish Ambassador must fall next. Charles will see this as an intrigue and it will raise the spectre of war. A people fearful for their own survival will embrace whatever security you may offer.
iii. The ports at Civitavecchia and Portopisano must meet with disaster; only in this way will the merchant trade be brought to its knees. At the same time, the Pazzi Bank must be taken to ruin—mismanagement is the surest course, and there are those whom I have placed at your disposal within the Pazzi family who are willing and eager to serve that end. You need only call upon them.
iv. You must threaten a second expulsion of the Jews from Rome, set them as a pariah on which all may focus their hatred. But do not expel them. Allow them to remain so that the people’s aggression may fester. When the time comes, you will make examples of them in public festivals.
v. Permit several wells within Rome and Florence to be infested with contagion. This must endure only for a short period, but it is essential to make the threat of plague very real. Bad health and chaos go hand in hand.
These are but the beginning, most Holy Father. Indeed, it is best to try a first trial of conjecture by experience, some few incidences within one city of worth— Venice is perhaps the wisest choice—to ensure that the climate is rip for the chaos. Once tried, let go the reins and allow chaos her way with the continent.
I have kept the other events on the schedule with me so that we may together conceive and execute this most daring of plans. Do not chastize me for keeping them hidden. A poor man must keep somethin
g for himself. I shall remind you, though, that the final act will be the death of the Devil himself, this Luther who stands between mankind and salvation. It is the schedule I have devised that will make that possible.
There are those who stand ready to rule the three realms; those I have trained to understand the subtleties within each realm and to look to you as their guide, their Lord, their Overseer in the days to come. Let them be your servants. Let them remove the pestilence and use this Luther as an excuse to alter the very nature of supremacy. These men, once boys without vision and passion, now realize that the realms are everywhere the same—in every town, every city, every nation. Let them grant you command of them all.
God has conferred upon you an opportunity in the guise of a religious monster. He offers you this sacrifice so that you may exert your will and share in His glory. None would deny the righteousness of your actions were you to act now, swiftly, and with the vengeance such evil inspires. Power claws at the door, ready to leap forward and swallow up this demon. God Himself offers you the key to set power free. Take it, my Lord, and create for our Savior a world of perfect order and stability here on earth.
* Although Machiavelli does not expressly detail this transition, Eisenreich is right to conclude that to make such an argument is perhaps the surest way to find consistency between Machiavelli’s Prince and Discourses.
*This was by far the most difficult term in the translation. Eisenreich uses the words communitas and humanitas, sometimes together, often interchangeably when describing this realm. It is difficult to believe that he would have recognized this as a “social sphere” in the modern sense, but he is certainly hinting at it. I have chosen the word social because it seems to capture the expansiveness of his usage. Moreover, the term is consistent with the realm he describes—one where educational and cultural manipulation take place. That the term as we know it only appears in works of political philosophy 250 years later should only confirm Eisenreich’s extraordinary talents as a student of statecraft.
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