in Romania and performing very valiantly in all those Wars Of Tancred one of the Princes of those Normans were born several Sons among which William call'd Ferabar and Roberto call'd Guiscardo were two William arriv'd to be Prince and the Tumults in Italy were in some measure compos'd But the Saracens having Sicily intire and daily invasions made upon Italy William entred into Confederacy with the Princes of Capua and Salerno and with Milorcus a Grecian who by the Emperour of Greece was deputed Governour of Puglia and Calabria to invade Sicily and in case of Victory it was agreed among them that both Prey and Countrey should be equaly divided The Enterprize was prosperous they beat the Saracens drove them out of the Countrey and possess'd it when they had done But Milorcus causing more Forces to be transported privately out of Greece seiz'd the Island for the Emperour and divided only the Spoil William was not a little disgusted but reserving his indignation for a more Convenient time he departed out of Sicily with the Princes of Capua and Salerno who having taken their leaves of him to return to their Homes in stead of marching to Romania as he pretended to them he fac'd about with his Army towards Puglia surpriz'd Melfi and behav'd himself so well against the Forces of the Emperour that he made himself Master of most part of Puglia and Calabria which Provinces at the time of Nicolas II. were Govern'd by his Brother Roberto and because he had afterward great Contention with his Nephews about the inheritance of those States he made use of the Pope's mediation who readily comply'd being desirous to oblige Roberto that he might defend him against the German Emperour and the people of Rome and it afterwards happen'd as we have said before that at the instance of Gregory VII he forc'd Enrico from Rome and suppress'd the Sedition of the Inhabitants Robert was succeeded by two of his Sons Roger and William to their Inheritance they annexed the City of Naples and all the Countrey betwixt it and Rome besides that they subdu'd Sicily of which Roger was made Lord. But William going afterwards to Constantinople to marry that Emperour's Daughter Roger took advantage of his absence seiz'd upon his Contrey and elated by so great an acquest caus'd himself first to be call'd King of Italy but afterwards contenting himself with the Title of King of Puglia and Sicily he was the first that gave Name and Laws to that Kingdom which to this day it retains though many times since not only the Royal Bloud but the Nation has been changed for upon failure of the Norman Race that Kingdom devolv'd to the Germans from them to the French from the French to the Spaniards and from the Spaniards to the Flemens with whom it remains at this present Urban II. though very odious in Rome was gotten to be Pope but by reason of the dissentions there not thinking himself secure in Italy he remov'd with his whole Clergy into France Having assembled many people together at Anvers he undertook a Generous Enterprize and by a learned Oration against the Infidels kindled such a fire in their minds they resolv'd upon an Expedition into Asia against the Saracens which Expedition as all other of the same nature was call'd afterwards Crociate because all that went along in it carry'd a red Cross upon their Arms and their Cloths The Chief Commanders in this Enterprize were Gottofredi Eustachio Alduino di Buglione Earl of Bologna and Peter the Hermit a man of singular veneration both for his prudence and piety Many Princes and Nations assisted with their Purses and many private men serv'd as Voluntiers at their own Charges So great an influence had Religion in those days upon the Spirits of Men incourag'd by the Example of their several Commanders At first the Enterprize was very successfull all Asia minor Syria and part of Egypt fell under the power of the Christians during which War the Order of the Knights of Ierusalem was instituted and continued a long time in Rhodes as a Bulwark against the Turks Not long after the Order of the Knights Templers was founded but it lasted not long by reason of the dissoluteness of their Manners At sundry times after these things upon sundry occasions many accidents fell out in which several Nations and particular men signaliz'd themselves There were ingag'd in this Expedition the Kings of England and France the States of Pisa Venice and Genoa all behaving themselves with great bravery and sighting with variety of Fortune till the time of Saladine the Saracen but his Courage and Virtue improv'd by intestine differences among the Christians robb'd them of the glory they had gain'd at the first and chased them out of a Countrey where for Ninety years they had been so honourably and so happily plac'd After the death of Pope Urban Pascal II. was chosen to succeed him and Enrico IV. made Emperour who coming to Rome and pretending great friendship to the Pope took his advantage clapt both him and his Clergy in Prison and never discharg'd them till they had impowr'd him to dispose of the Churches in Germany as he pleas'd himself About this time Matilda the Countess died and gave her Patrimony to the Church After the deaths of Pascal and Enric many Popes and many Emperours succeeded till the Papacy fell to Alexander III. and the Empire to Frederick Barbarossa a Swede The Popes of those days had many Controversies with the people of Rome and the Emperours which till the time of Barbarossa rather increas'd than otherwise Frederick was an excellent Soldier but so haughty and high he could not brook to give place to the Pope Notwithstanding he came to Rome to be Crown'd and return'd peaceably into Germany But that humour lasted but little for he return'd shortly into Italy to reduce some Towns in Lombardy which denied him obedience In this juncture Cardinal di S. Clemente a Roman born dividing from Pope Alexander was made Pope himself by a Faction in the Conclave Frederick the Emperour being then incamp'd before Crema Alexander complain'd to him of the Anti-Pope Frederick reply'd That they should both of them appear personally before him and that then hearing faithfully what each of them could say he should be better able to determine which was in the right Alexander was not at all satisfied with the Answer but perceiving the Emperour inclining to the Adversary he Excommunicated him and ran away to King Philip of France For all that Frederick prosecuted his Wars in Lombardy took and dismantled Milan Which put the Cities of Verona Padua and Venice upon a Confederacy for their Common defence In the mean time the Anti-Pope died and Frederick presum'd to Create Guidâ— of Cremona in his place The Romans taking advantage of the Pope's absence and the Emperour's diversion in Lombardy had re-assum'd something of their former Authority and began to require Obedience in the
Prelats and reduce it to its primitive liberty hoping if he effected it he should be call'd either the Father or the Restorer of his Country His great hopes and encouragement in this enterpâ—ize was deduc'd from the iniquity and ill lives of the Prelates which were highly displeasing both to the Barons and People of Rome But his greatest confidence was grounded upon certain verses of Petrarch's in that Canto which begins Spirito Gentile c. The verses are these Sopra ill monte Tarpeio Canzon vedrai Un Cavalier ch' Italia tutta honora Pensoso piu d' altrui che di se stesso Stephano was of opinion that Poets were many times inspir'd and had perfect and divine inflations from above So that he concluded what Petrarch had prophesied in that Canto would certainly come to pass and he did not know any man fitter than himself to accomplish it in respect of his eloquence and learning and favour and friends Having taken up this fancy he could not contain himself but his words gesture and manner of living discover'd him and render'd him suspicious to the Pope who to secure himself against his plots confin'd him to Bologna and sent instructions to the Governor to have an eye over him every day But Stephano was not to be discouraged by one disaster it rather animated him in his design in so much that with the greatest caution he could he continued his practices with his friends and now and then would steal to Rome and back again with such expedition as he would be sure to present himself before the Governor at that time he was to appear But afterwards having drawn in as many as he thought necessary for his work he resolved to proceed to action without farther delay and sent to his correspondents in Rome that at a prefix'd time a splendid supper should be prepar'd all the conspirators to be invited to it and each of them have private orders to bring his Confident along with him and he promised to be there himself precisely at the time All things were ordered exactly to his directions and he himself was punctually with them for as soon as supper was ready and serv'd up to the Table he presented himself amongst them in a Robe of cloth of Gold his collar and other ornaments about him to give him Majesty and reputation and having embrac'd all the Conspirators in a long oration he exhorted them to be couragious and dispose themselves chearfully in so glorious an enterprize Then he appointed the way ordering one of them to seize the Popes Palace the next morning and the other to run about the streets and excite the People to Arm. But his Conspiracy coming to the ear of the Pope some say by the treachery of his confederats others by his being seen in the Town which way soever it was the Pope caus'd him and the greatest part of his Comerads to be apprehended the very same night after supper and put to death as they deserved This was the end of that enterprize and though among some People perhaps his intention might be commended yet his judgment must necessarily be blam'd for such attempts may have some shadow of glory in the contrivance but their execution is certain destruction The War in Tuscany had continued about a year and in the spring 1453 both Armies had taken the field when in relief of the Florentines Alexandro Sforza the Dukes Brother arriv'd with a supply of 2000 Horse by which the Florentine Army being much encreas'd and the Kings Army become inferior in number the Florentines thought fit to recover what they had lost and with little labour took some of their Towns again after which they encamped at Foiano which by the carlesness of the Commissaries was sack'd so that the inhabitants being dispers'd they were hardly got to inhabite there again and when they did come it was not without great exemptions and reward The Castle of Vada also was retaken for the Enemy perceiving they could not hold it they set it on fire and departed Whilst the Florentine Army was imploy'd in this manner the King of Aragons Army not having the courage to come near them were retreated towards Sienna from whence they made frequent excursions into the Country about Florence where they made great hububs committed many outrages and brought great terror upon the People Nor was the King defective in contriving other ways of assaulting his Enemies dividing their forces or detracting from their reputation Gherardo Gambatorti was at that time Lord of Valdibagno This Gherardo and his Ancestors had always been in the Florentine service either as hired or recommended Alfonso was tampering with this Gherardo to deliver up his territory to him and he promis'd to give him an equivalence in the Kingdom of Naples This transaction was not so private but they had news of it in Florence and an Embassador was dispatch'd to remember him of his own and his predecessors obligations to that State and to admonish him to presevere in his amity with them as they had constantly done Gherardo pretended to be surpriz'd at what the Embassador told him swore a thousand oaths that never any such wickedness enter'd into his thoughts proffer'd to have gone in person to Florence and resided there to secure them of his fidelity but being unhappily indispos'd himself his Son should go a long with him and remain there as a perpetual Hostage His proffers and his imprecations together made the Florentines believe that Gherardo was honest and his accuser the Knave in which opinion they acquiesced But Gherardo went on with the King and rather with more eagerness than before and when all was agreed Alfonso sent Fryer Puccio a Knight of Ierusalem to take possession of the Castles and Towns which belong'd to Gherardo But Bagno retaining its affection to Florence promis'd obedience to the Kings Commissary with no little regret Puccio was in possession of almost all that State only the Castle of Corzano was behind which was likewise to be deliver'd When Gherardo made this surrender among the rest of his own creatures about him there was one Antonio Gualandi a Pisan a young Gentleman and brave and one that highly detested this treachery in Gherardo Pondering with himself the situation of the place the number of the Garison the dissatisfaction he observed both in their gestures and looks and finding Gherardo at the Gate ready to introduce the Enemy he convey'd himself betwixt the Castle and Gherardo and taking his opportunity with both his hands thrust him away and then causing the wicket to be shut he exhorted the guards to stand faithfully to the Florentines against so false and so flagitious a Man the report of this action arriving at Bagno and the Towns which were about it they unanimously took Arms against their new Masters and setting up the Florentine colours upon the walls they drove them all out of that Country this news coming to Florence they immediately clap'd
their differences with the Pope Siena being free they delivered from their apprehensions of the King by the Duke of Calabria drawing away with his Army out of Tuscany and the War continuing with the Turks they pressed the King so hard to the restitution of such places as the Duke of Calabria at his departure had committed to the keeping of the Sanesi that he began to fear the Florentines might desert him and by making War upon the Sanesi hinder the assistance which he expected from the Pope and the rest of the Princes of Italy whereupon he caused them all to be delivered and by several new favours reobliged the Florentines to him from whence we may observe that it is interest and necessity not their hands or their words which make Princes keep their promises These Castles being restored and the new League confirmed Lorenzo de Medici gained greater reputation than the War first and after the peace when they were jealous of the King had taken from him For at that time there wanted not those who calumniated him openly as one who to preserve himself had sold his Country and as by the War they had lost their Towns by the peace they should lose their liberty But when the Towns were restored and honorable peace concluded with the King and the City returned to its ancient reputation the People who are generally greedy to talk and judge of things more by the success than the Counsel changed their note presently and cryed up Lorenzo to the skies as one who had gained more by his management in that peace than their ill fortune had got them by the War and that his prudence and judgment had done what all the Armies and power of their Enemies could not This descent of the Turks defer'd the War which the Pope and the Venetians upon provocation of that peace had designed against them but as the beginning of the Turkish invasion was unexpected and produced much good so the end of it was unlooked for and the occasion of much mischief for Mahomet the Grand Signore died suddenly and difference arising betwixt his Sons those who were landed in Puglia being abandoned by their Lord came to an agreement with the King of Naples and delivered up Otranto into his hands This fear therefore being removed which kept the Pope and the Venetians quiet every one began to be apprehensive of new troubles On the one side the Pope and the Venetian were in League and with them Genoesi Sanesi and other lesser Potentates On the other side were the Florentines the King of Naples the Duke of Milan and with them the Bolognesi and several other little States The Venetian had a design upon Ferrara they thought they had reason enough to attempt it and hopes enough to carry it The reason was because the Marquess had declared himself obliged no longer to receive either their Visdomine or their falt for by compact after 70 years that City was to be exempt both from the one and the other to which the Venetians replyed that so long as he retained the Polesine so long he was to receive the Visdomine and the Salt but the Marquess refusing they thought they had just occasion to take Arms and their opportunity was convenient seeing the Pope in such indignation both against the Florentines and King to oblige him the more Count Girolamo being by accident at Venice was honorably treated made a Gentleman of that City and had all the priviledges and immunities of a Citizen conferred upon him which is a particular favour and shows always the great esteem they bear to the Person which receives it In preparation for this War they laid new taxes upon their subjects and for their General they had chosen Roberto da San Severino who upon some difference betwixt him and Lodovick Duke of Milan fled to Tortona and having made some tumults there he got off to Genoa from whence he was invited by the Venetians and made General of their Army The news of these preparations coming to the ears of the League they prepared themselves accordingly The Duke of Milan chose Federigo Lord of Urbin for his General The Florentines Costanzo di Pesaro and to sound the Pope and discover whether these proceedings of the Venetians were by his consent King Ferrando sent the Duke of Calabria with his Army to quarter upon the Tronto and desired leave of his Holiness that they might pass thorow his territories from thence into Lombardy to the relief of the Marquess which being absolutely denied the Florentines and King thinking that a sufficient declaration of his mind resolved to attempt it by force and try if that they could make him their friend or at least give him such impediments as should hinder his supplying of the Venetians who had already taken the field invaded the Marquess overrun most of the Country and clap'd down with their Army before Figarolo a Castle of great importance to the affairs of that Prince The King and the Florentines having in the mean time concluded to fall upon the Pope Alfonso Duke of Calabria marched his Army towards Rome and by the help of the Collennesi who were joyned with him in opposition to the Orsini who sided with the Pope he committed great spoils all over that Country On the other side the Florentines under the command of Nicolo Vitelli assaulted the City of Castello took it turned out Lorenzo who had kept it for the Pope and gave it to Nicolo as Prince the Pope was at this time in very great anxiety Rome was full of factions within and the Enemy in the Country without Nevertheless like a couragious Prince resolved to overcome not to yield to his Enemies he entertained for his General Roberto da Rimino and inviting him to Rome where he had assembled all the forces he could make he represented how great an honor it would be to him if he could rescue the Church from the calamities which were upon it and that not only himself and his successors but God Almighty would reward him Roberto having taken a view of his Army and all the Magazines he persuaded the Pope to raise him what foot he could more which was done with great diligence and expedition The Duke of Calabria was all this while forraging about that Country and making his inroads to the very walls of the City which netled and provoked the Citizens so as many of them came freely and offered their service to remove them which Roberto with many thanks and great expressions of kindness accepted The Duke understanding their preparations thought fit to draw farther off from the City supposing that Roberto would not venture to follow him at any distance from the Town besides he had some expectation of his Brother Federigo who was to come to him with fresh supplies from his Father Roberto finding himself equal in Horse and superior in foot drew his Army out of the Town and directing towards the Enemy he encamped within two
his design to Eight of his principal intimates amongst whom Don Michael and Monsignor d' Euna were two and appointed that when Vitellozzo Pagolo Ursini the Duke de Gravina and Oliverotto should come to meet him two of his Favourites should be sure to order it so as to get one of the Ursini betwixt them assigning every couple his man and entertain them till they came to Sinigaglia with express injunction not to part with them upon any terms till they were brought to the Dukes Lodgings and taken into Custody After this he ordered his whole Army Horse and Foot which consisted of 2000 of the first and 10000 of the latter to be ready drawn up upon the banks of the Metauro about five miles distant from Fano and to expect his arrival Being come up to them upon the Metauro he commanded out two hundred Horse as a Forlorn and then causing the Foot to march he brought up the Reer himself with the remainder Fano and Sinigaglia are two Cities in la Marca seated upon the bank of the Adriatick Sea distant one from the other about 15 miles so that travelling up towards Sinigaglia the bottom of the Mountains on the right hand are so near the Sea they are almost wash'd by the water at the greatest distance they are not above two miles The City of Sinigaglia from these Mountains is not above a flight shot and the Tide comes up within less than a Mile By the side of this Town there is a little River which runs close by the wall next Fano and is in sight of the Road So that he who comes to Sinigaglia passes a long way under the Mountains and being come to the River which runs by Sinigaglia turns on the left hand upon the bank which within a bow shot brings him to a Bridge over the said River almost right against the Gate before the Gate there is a little Bourg with a Market-place one side of which is shouldred up by the bank of the River The Vitelli and Ursini having concluded to attend the Duke themselves and to pay their personal respects to make room for his Men had drawn off their own and disposed them into certain Castles at the distance of six miles only they had left in Sinigaglia Oliveretto with a party of about 1000 Foot and 150 Horse which were quartered in the said Bourg Things being in this order Duke Valentine approached but when his Horse in the Van came up to the Bridge they did not pass but opening to the right and left and wheeling away they made room for the Foot who marched immediately into the Town Vitellozzo Pagolo and the Duke de Gravina advanced upon their Mules to wait upon Duke Valentine Vitellozzo was unarm'd in a Cap lin'd with green very sad and melancholy as if he had had some foresight of his destiny which considering his former courage and exploits was admired by every body And it is said that when he came from his house in order to meeting Duke Valentine at Sinigaglia he took his last leave very solemnly of every body He recommended his Family and its fortunes to the chief of his Officers and admonished his Grand-children not so much to commemorate the fortune as the magnanimity of their Ancestors These three Princes being arrived in the presence of Duke Valentine saluted him with great civility and were as civilly received and each of them as soon as they were well observed by the persons appointed to secure them were singled and disposed betwixt two of them But the Duke perceiving that Oliveretto was wanting who was left behind with his Regiment and had drawn it up in the Market-place for the greater formality he wink'd upon Don Michael to whom the care of Oliveretto was assign'd that he should be sure to provide he might not escape Upon this intimation Don Michael clap'd spurs to his Horse and rid before and being come up to Oliveretto he told him it was inconvenient to keep his Men to their Arms for unless they were sent presently to their quarters they would be taken up for the Dukes wherefore he persuaded him to dismiss them and go with him to the Duke Oliveretto following his Counsel went along with him to the Duke who no sooner saw him but he call'd him to him and Oliveretto having paid his Ceremony fell in with the rest Being come into the Town and come up to the Duke's Quarters they all dismounted and attended him up where being carried by him into a private Chamber they were instantly Arrested and made Prisoners The Duke immediately mounted and commanded their Soldiers should be all of them disarmed Oliveretto's Regiment being so near at hand were plundered into the bargain The Brigades which belong'd to Vitelli and Ursini being at greater distance and having notice of what had hapned to their Generals had time to unite and remembring the Discipline and Courage of their Masters they kept close together and marched away in spight both of the Country people and their Enemies But Duke Valentine's Soldiers not content with the pillage of Oliveretto's Soldiers fell foul upon the Town and had not the Duke by the death of several of them repressed their insolence Sinigaglia had been ruined The night coming on and the tumults appeased the Duke began to think of his Prisoners resolved Vitellozzo and Oliveretto should die and having caused them to be guarded into a convenient place he commanded they should be strangled but they said nothing at their deaths that was answerable to their lives for Vitellozzo begged only that the Pope might be supplicated in his behalf for a plenary indulgence Oliveretto impeached Vitellozzo and lay'd all upon his back Pagolo and the Duke de Gravina were continued alive till the Duke had information that his Holiness at Rome had seized upon the Cardinal Orsino the Arch-bishop of Florence and Messer Iacopo da Santa Croce upon which News on the 18th of Ianuary they also were both strangled in the Castle of Piene after the same manner THE STATE OF FRANCE IN An Abridgment written by Nicolo Machiavelli Secretary of FLORENCE THE Kings and Kingdom of France are at this time more rich and more powerful than ever and for these following Reasons First The Crown passing by succession of Blood is become rich because in case where the King has no Sons to succeed him in his paternal Estate it falls all to the Crown and this having many times hapned has been a great corroboration as particularly in the Dutchy of Anjou and at present the same is like to fall out to this King who having no Sons the Dutchy of Orleans and State of Milan his hereditary Countries are like to devolve upon the Crown So that at this day most of the good Towns in France are in the Crown and few remaining to particular persons A second great Reason of the strength of that King is That whereas heretofore France was not entire but subject to
several great Barons who were able not only to expostulate but to contend with the King as the Dukes of Guienn and Burbon did formerly the said Barons are now most obsequious and dutiful A third reason is because formerly all the neighbouring Princes were ready upon every occasion to invade the Kingdom of France the Dukes of Burgundy Britannie Guienne or Flanders being always tempting them thereunto and giving them access passage and reception as it hapned when the English had Wars with France by their Confederacy with the Duke of Britagne they got admission into that Country and gave the King of France his hands full and in like manner the Duke of Burgundy was as troublesom by means of the Duke of Bourbon But now Britagne Guienne the Bourbonois and greatest part of Burgundy being united to that Crown and very loyal and faithful Those neighbouring Princes do not only want their old Confederates to invite and assist them but they have them for their Enemies so that the King of France is more strong and his Adversaries more weak Another reason may be That at this day the richest and most potent of the Barons are of the Blood Royal so that upon defect of those who are before them the Crown may come to them upon which score they are firm to it hoping that some time or other it may fall either to them or their posterity whereas to mutiny or oppose it might prejudice their succession as it hapned to this King Lewis when he was taken in the Battel of Britagne where in favour of the said Duke of Britagne he was personally in Service against the French Upon the death of King Charles the Crown being legally in Lewis it was disputed whether that fault and defection of his should not be a bar to his succession and had it not been that he was very rich by means of his frugality and able to bear the Port of that Dignity at his own expence and the next Heir Monsigneur d' Angolisme an Infant he had lost it but for these reasons and some favour which he had besides Lewis was created King The last reason is because the States of the Barons in France are not divided among the Heirs as in Germany and several parts of Italy but descend still to the Eldest Son who are the right Heirs and the younger Sons are left by some little assistance from their Elder Brothers to shift for themselves whereupon they betake themselves generally to the Wars endeavouring to advance themselves that way and raise themselves fortunes and hence it is the Frenchmen at Arms are better at this day and stand fair for preferment The French Infantry cannot be good for it being long since they had any War they must needs want experience Besides in the Country the Towns are full of Tradesmen and Mechanicks all of them so curb'd and cow'd by the Nobless that they are grown pusillanimous and base and therefore the King of France having found them unfit makes no use of them in his Wars unless it be of his Gascoigns who are something better than the rest and the reason is because bordering upon the Spaniards they are constantly upon duty or communicate something of their Nature But for some years since they have shown themselves better Theives than Soldiers nevertheless in defending and assaulting of Towns they do well enough but in the field they are but indifferent quite contrary to the Germans and Swizzers who are not to be dealt with in the field but in storming or defending a Town they are good for nothing and I suppose it proceeds from hence that they cannot in both cases keep the same order which they observe in the field Wherefore the King of France makes use of Switzers and Lanzknights because his men at Arms dare not rely upon his Gascoignes in time of Service And if his Foot were as good as his Men at Arms no doubt but the King of France would be able to defend himself against all the Princes in Europe The French are naturally more fierce and hot than dexterous or strong and if resisted handsomly in their first charge they slacken and cool and grow as timerous as Women They are likewise impatient of distress or incommodity and grow so careless by degrees that 't is no hard matter finding them in disorder to master and overcome them And of this Experience has been many times had in the Kingdom of Naples and last of all at Farigliano where they were twice as many as the Spaniards and it was expected every hour when they should have swallowed them up Nevertheless because winter came on and the weather grew bad they began to straggle into the Neighbouring Towns where they might be at more ease and thereby leaving their Camp weak and out of order the Spaniards fell upon them and beat them beyond all expectation And it would have been the same with the Venetians who had never lost the Battel of Vaila had they forborn following the French example but for ten days But the fury of Bartolmeo d' Alviano was too hot for them The same hapned again to the Spaniards at Ravenna who might have certainly ruined the French in respect of their ill Government and want of provisions which were intercepted on that side towards Ferrara by the Venatians and towards Bologna by the Spaniards themselves but by the rashness of some and the indiscretion of others the French got the Victory and though as it was it was bloody enough yet it had been much more had the strength of either Army consisted in the same kind of men but the French force lying in his Men at Arms and the Spaniards force in their Foot the slaughter was the less He therefore who would conquer the French must be sure to preserve himself against their first impetus and attack and in so doing he shall be sure to prevail for Caesar's character of them is true At first they are more than Men at last less than Women France in respect of its greatness and the convenience of its Rivers is opulent and rich for their Commodities and labour are worth little or nothing by reason of the scarcity of Money among the people which is so great it is with difficulty that they are able to raise so much as will pay the impositions of their Lords though they are generally but small the reason is because every body gathers to sell as he has occasion and no body can stay to finish his harvest as it should be So that if there should be any body which is seldom seen so rich as to be a bushel of Corn beforehand every body having of their own there would be no body to buy it and the Gentlemen of what they receive of their Tenants except it be for cloths spend little or nothing For Cattle and Poultry and Fish and Venison they have enough of their own so that all the Mony comes into the hands of the Lords and
doubtless at this time they are exceedingly rich for the people are so poor he that has but a Floren believes himself a Prince The Prelates of France carry away â…– of the Revenue of that Kingdom because there are several Bishops who have Temporal as well as Spiritual Revenues who having provisions enough of their own to keep their houses spend not one farthing of their income but hoard it up according to the Natural covetousness of the Prelates and Religious and that which accrews to the Chapters and Colledges is laid out in Plate and Jewels and Ornaments for the decoration of their Chappels so that betwixt what is laid out upon their Churches and what is laid up by the Prelates their money and their movables is of an immense value In all Counsels for the Government and Administration of the affairs of that Kingdom the Prelates are always the greatest number the other Lords not regarding it so much as knowing the execution must come thorow their hands so that both sides are contented one to ordain the other to execute though there are many times some of the ancienter and more experienced Souldiers taken in to direct the Prelates in such things as are out of their sphear The Benefices in France by virtue of a Custom and Law derived anciently from the Popes are conferred by the Colledges insomuch as the Canons when their Arch-Bishop or Bishop dies calling an Assembly to dispose of their Benefices to them that are thought most worthy whence it comes that they are frequently divided among themselves because as many are prefer'd by favour and bribery as by piety and worth and it is the same with the Monks in the election of their Abbots The other inferior Benefices are in the Gift of the Bishops If the King at any time would intrench upon this Law and choose a Bishop at his own pleasure he must do it by force for they will deny him possession and though perhaps it be forc'd that King is no sooner dead but his Bishop shall be sure to be dispossessed and another put in his place The French are naturally covetous and desirous of other peoples goods which they will lavish and squander as prodigally as their own a French-man shall cheat or rob you and in a breath meet and eat and spend it as merrily with you as you could have done your self which is contrary to the humour of the Spaniard for if he gets any thing of you you must look for nothing again The French are in great fear of the English for the great inroads and devastations which they have made anciently in that Kingdom insomuch that among the common people the name of English is terrible to this day those poor wretches not being able to distinguish that the French are otherwise constituted now than they were then for that now they are Armed good Souldiers and united having possession of those States upon which the English did formerly rely as the Dutchy of Burgundy and the Dutchy of Britagne and on the other side the English are not so well disciplin'd for 't is so long since they had any War there is not a man of them living who ever look'd an enemy in the face and besides there is no body left to joyn with them if they should land but only the Arch-Duke They are afraid likewise of the Spaniards by reason of their sagacity and vigilance But when-ever that King invades France he does it with great disadvantage for from the place from whence he must march to that part of the Piraneans by which he must pass into France the distance is so great and the Country so barren that every time the Spaniards attempt any such thing either by the way of Perpignan or Gehenna they must needs be much incommoded not only for want of supplies but for want of victuals to sustain them in so tedious a march because the Country behind them is scarce habitable for its fertility and that which is inhabited has scarce wherewithal for the Inhabitants so that in these respects towards the Piraeneans the French are in little apprehension of the Spaniard Of the Flemmings the French likewise are in no fear for by reason of the coldness of their Country they do not gather enough for their own subsistance especially of Corn and Wine with which they are forced to supply themselves out of Burgundy Piccardy and other places in France Moreover the people of Flanders live generally of their own manufacture which they vend at the Fairs in France that is at Paris and Lyons for towards the Sea-side they have no utterance for any thing and towards Germany 't is the same for there are more of their Commodities made than in Flauders so that when ever their Commerce with the French is cut off they will have no where to put off their Commodities nor no where to supply themselves with victuals so that without irresistible necessity the Flemmings will never have any controversie with the French But of the Swizzers the French are in no little fear by reason of their vicinity and the sudden incursions to which they are subject from them against which it is impossible to make any competent provision in time because they make their depredations and incursions with more ease and dexterity than other Nations in respect that they have neither Artillery nor Horse but though the French have Towns and Countries very near them yet being well fortified and mann'd the Swizzers never make any great progress Besides the disposition of the Swiss is apter to battel and fighting in the field than to the storming or defending of Towns and it is very unwillingly if ever the French come to cope with them upon the Frontiers for having no foot that is able to bear up with the Swizzers their Men at Arms without Foot can do nothing moreover the Country is so qualified that there is not room enough for the Men at Arms and Cavalry to draw up and manage to advantage and the Swizzers are not easily tempted from their borders into the plain nor to leave such strong and well provided Towns as I mentioned before upon their backs left by them their supplies should be intercepted and perhaps their retreat be obstructed On the side towards Italy they are in no fear in respect of the Apenine Mountains and the strong places which they have at the foot of them so that who-ever invades the Dominion of France in those parts must be sure to overcome or by reason of the barrenness of the Country about he will hazard to be famished or compelled to leave those Towns behind him which would be madness or to attaque them at disadvantage which would be worse so that on the side of Italy they are in no danger for the resons abovesaid and moreover there is not a Prince in Italy able to undertake him nor are the Italians now in such unity as in the days of the Romans Towards the South the Kingdom of
1700000 men Their Lodgings are appointed by the Harbingers according to every mans office and usually the richest men quarter the greatest Courtiers and that neither the Lodger nor Landlord may have reason to complain the Court has appointed a rate or rule to be observed generally for all people and that is a sous or penny a day for their Chamber in which there is to be bed and chairs and stools and all things that are necessary There is an allowance likewise of two pence a day to every man for linen as towels and napkins and for vinegar and verjuice their linen is to be changed at least twice every week but there being great plenty in that Country they change oftner as Lodgers desire it besides which they are obliged to keep their beds made and their chambers swept and clean There is allowance likewise of two pence a day for the standing of every man's horse they are not bound to provide any thing for them only to keep their stalls clean and carry out the dung Some there are who pay less as their Landlords are good natured or they can make any shift but this is the ordinary rule of the Court. The English Title to the Crown of France upon my best inquiry I find to be thus Charles the sixth of France married his lawful Daughter Katharine to Henry the fifth Son and Heir to Henry the fourth King of England In the articles of Marriage no notice being taken of Charles the seventh who was afterwards King of France besides the Dower that was given with Katharine Charles the sixth Father to the said Katharine instituted Henry the fifth of England his Son in Law and to be married to the said Katharine Heir to that Kingdom of France and in case the said Henry should die before the said Charles and the said Henry leave Sons that were legitimate behind him that then the Sons of the said King Henry should succeed to the said Kingdom of France upon the death of the said Charles the sixth which was contrary to Law because Charles the seventh was prejudiced thereby and was afterwards of no validity or effect against which the English pretend that Charles the seventh was illegitimate The Arch-Bishopricks in England are two The Bishopwricks two and twenty and The Parishes 52000. THE STATE OF GERMANY IN An Abridgment written by Nicolo Machiavelli Secretary of FLORENCE OF the power of Germany no body can doubt because it a bounds so exceedingly in Men and Money and Arms. As to its wealth there is not a Free Town in the whole Country but has a publick stock aforehand of its own and some say Argentina Strasburg alone has a Million of Florens constantly in bank The reason of their opulence is because they have nothing to exhaust them but their Fortifications and furnishing their Magazines for reparations and recruits cost them but little In the latter they have a very good way for they have always in their publick Stores Meat and Drink and Firing for a Twelve-month Besides to entertain the industry of their people they have wherewithal to set the poor on work in case of any Siege a compleat year together so as they may subsist upon their own labour without being burthensom to the Town Their Souldiers are but little expence to them for they are always well arm'd and well exercised and on their Festival days instead of the Common recreations one takes his Musket another his Pike one one sort of Arms another another and practising among themselves they grow very ready and dexterous and after they are arrived at some degree of perfection they have certain Honours and Salaries conferred upon them which is the greatest part of their charge So that in every free Town the publick Treasury is rich The reason likewise why the private persons are rich is this because they live with great parsimony and indeed little better than if they were poor for they are at no expence in their Clothes their Buildings nor the furnishing of their Houses If they have bread and flesh and any thing to keep them from the cold they are well enough and he that wants them is contented and makes some shift or other without them Two Florens will serve them in Clothes ten years and according to his degree every man lives at this rate they do not trouble themselves for every thing they want but only for those things that are absolutely necessary and by that means their necessities are much fewer than ours The result of which Custom is this their Mony goes not out of their County they contenting themselves with their own Native productions whil'st in the mean time every man is permitted to bring in what Treasure he pleases into Germany to purchase their Commodities and Manufactures which in a manner supplies all Italy and their gain is so much the more by how much a small part of the profit of their labours recruits them with Materials for new Thus do they live at liberty and enjoy their own humors for which reason they will not be got to the Wars but upon extraordinary pay and that will not do it neither unless they be commanded by their own Magistrates Wherefore an Emperor has need of more Mony than another Prince because if men be in a good condition already they are not easily allured to the Wars As things stand now the free States must unite with the Princes before any great exploit can be undertaken by the Emperor or else they must enterprize it themselves which they would be able to do But neither the one nor the other desires the greatness of the Emperor for if ever he should get those Free States into his hands he should be strong enough to overpower the Princes and reduce them to such a degree of subjection that he would manage them as he pleased himself as the Kings of France have done formerly in that Country and particularly King Lewis who by force of Arms and the cutting off some few Persons brought them to their present obedience The same thing would happen to the States if the Princes should be cajoled they would lose their freedoms be wholly at the disposition of the Emperor and be forced to be satisfied with what he would vouchsafe to afford them The distance and division betwixt the free States and the Princes is supposed to proceed from the different humors in that Country which in general are two The Swissers are become Enemies to all Germany and the Princes to the Emperor It may seem strange perhaps that the Swissers and free States should be at variance and enmity seeing the preservation of their liberty and securing themselves against the Princes is the common interest of both But their discord is from this that the Swissers are not only Enemies to the Princes but to all Gentlemen whatever and in their Country they have neither the one nor the other but live without distinction of persons unless in their Magistrates in
close to the short Swords of the Enemy and may be wounded both themselves and Horses in those disarmed places and it is in the power of every Foot man to pull them off on their Horses and rip their Guts out when they have done and then as to the manage of their Horses they are too heavy to do any thing at all Their Foot are very good and very personable men contrary to the Swiss who are but small rough hewn and not handsome at all But they arm themselves unless it be some few only with a Pike and a Sword that they might be the more dexterous and nimble and light and their saying used to be that they arm themselves no better because they feared nothing but the Artillery against which no Breast-plate or croslet or Gorget would secure them other weapons they despise for it is said their order is so good and they stand so firm to one another 't is impossible to break into them nor come near them if their Pikes be long enough They are excellent in a Field sight but for the storming of a Town they are good for nothing and but little to defend one and generally where the Men cannot keep their old orders and manage themselves with room enough they are worth but little Of this experience has been seen where they have been engaged with the Italians or assaulted any Town as at Padua where they came off very ill though on the other side in the Field they had done well enough For in the Battel of Ravenna betwixt the French and the Spaniards if it had not been for their Lanceknights the French had been beaten for whil'st the Men at Arms were confronted and engaged with one another the Spanish had the better of the French and had disordered their Gascoigns so that had not the Germans came in and relieved them they had been utterly broken and the same was seen lately when the Spanish King made War upon the French in Guienna the Spaniards were more fearful of a Body of 10000 German Foot which the King of France had in his Service than all the rest of his Army therefore they declined coming to a Battel with all the Art they could use THE DISCOURSES OF Nicholas Machiavel UPON THE FIRST DECADE OF TITUS LIVIUS Faithfully Englished LONDON Printed for Iohn Starkey Charles Harper and Iohn Amery in Fleetstreet 1680. NICOLO MACHIAVELLI TO ZANOBI BUOND ELMONTI And COSIMO RUCELLAI I Send you a Present which though not answerable to my obligations is doubtless the greatest that Nicolo Machiavelli was able to send having expressed in it whatever I know or have learned by a long practice and continued reading of the affairs of this World than which neither you nor any body else being to expect more I am not to be blamed if my Present be no better You may complain indeed of the poverty of my parts my narrations being so poor and of the weakness of my judgment having perhaps mistaken in many places of my Discourses if so I know not which of us is less obliged to the other I to you for having forced me to write against my own inclination or you to me for having perform'd it no more to your satisfaction Accept it then in the same manner as things are accepted from friends among whom the intention of the giver is always more considered than the quality of the gift and believe that as oft as I think of it I am satisfied in this that however I have been mistaken in many other circumstances I have done wisely in this having chosen you above all others for the dedication of my Discourses both because in not doing it I should have shewn my self in some measure ingrateful for the benefits received and in doing it I have transgressed the common custom of Authors who for the most part direct their Works to some Prince and blinded with ambition and avarice applaud and magnifie him for all the virtuous qualities when perchance they ought rather to have reproached him with all the vices imaginable To avoid that error I have made choice not of those who are actually Princes but of such as by their infinite good parts do merit to be so not of those who are actually able to advance me to Honours Employments and Wealth but to those who though unable would do it if they could for to judge right men are rather to esteem those in whose nature than those in whose power it is to be liberal and those who understand how to govern a Kingdom than those who do govern it without that understanding Accordingly Authors do commend Hiero the Syracusan though but a private person above Perseus of Macedon though a great King because to Hiero there was nothing wanting to be an Excellent Prince but a Principality and Perseus had nothing but a Kingdom to recommend him to be King Accept then whether it be good or bad what you commanded your selves and if you be so far in an error as to approve my opinions I shall not fail to pursue the rest of my History as I promised in the beginning Farewel THE DISCOURSES OF Nicholas Machiavel CITIZEN and SECRETARY OF FLORENCE Upon The First Decade of TITVS LIVIVS TO ZANOBIVS BONDE MONTVS AND COSIMVS RVCELLAIVS LIBER I. COnsidering with my self what honour is given to Antiquity and how many times passing by variety of instances the fragment of an old Statue has been purchased at an high rate by many people out of curiosity to keep it by them as an ornament to their house or as a pattern for the imitation of such as delight in that art and with what industry and pains they endeavour afterwards to have it represented in all their buildings On the other side observing the most honourable and heroick actions describ'd in History perform'd by Kingdoms and ancient Common-wealths by Kings great Captains Citizens Legislators and others which have not only tired but spent themselves in the service of their Country are rather admir'd than imitated and indeed so far shun'd and declin'd in all places there is scarce any impression or shadow to be seen in this age of the virtue of our ancestors I could not at the same time but admire and lament it and the more by how much I observed in all civil and personal controversies in all diseases incident to mankind recourse is continually had to such judgments and remedies as have been derived to us by our predecessors for to speak truth the Civil Law is nothing but the sentence and determination of their fore-Fathers which reduc'd into order do shew and instruct our present Lawyers which way to decide nor is the art of the Physitian any thing more than ancient experience handed down to our times upon which the Practiser of our age founds all his method and doctrine Nevertheless in the ordering of Commonwealths in the conservation of their several members in the Government of Kingdoms in the regiment of armies in
under the same Laws and restrictions As the people of Rome were whilst their Commonwealth was incorrupt and they were found neither to be insolent in authority nor slavish in their subjection but by their Laws and their Magistrates they kept up their dignity with honour And if at any time necessity required that they should appear against the power of any particular person they did it effectually as in the cases of Manlius the Decem-viri and others who designed to enslave them On the other side when it was for the interest of the Publick they were as obsequious and dutiful to the Dictators and Consuls as they had been obstinate before Nor was their regret for Manlius when he was dead at all to be admired it was the memory of his virtues that caused it which are commendable even among Enemies The same thing might have hapned to the best of Princes for all writers agree that virtue is laudable wheresoever it is to be found And I am of opinion that could Manlius have been raised again and presented to them in the height of their sadness they would have served him as before discharged him of his imprisonment but condemned him to death Nor are Princes and those held very wise exempt from this kind of inconstancy They have put many to death and lamented them afterwards as Alexander for Clito and other of his friends and Herod for Mariamnes But what Titus Livius says of this subject is not intended of a multitude regulated by Laws as the Romans were but a loose and disorderly multitude like the people of Syracuse who behaved themselves like mad-men and committed the same faults that Herod and Alexander had committed before them The multitude therefore is no more to be accused of fury and inconstancy than a Prince for they are both subject to extravagance when they have no Laws nor no rules to restrain them And of this besides what I have said there are many examples not only among the Roman Emperors but among other Princes and Tyrants which have been guilty of more giddiness and inconstancy than any multitude whatever I conclude therefore against the common opinion that the people are no more light ingrateful nor changeable than Princes but that both of them are equally faulty and he that should go about to excuse the Princes would be in a very great error for a people which governs by Law and is well ordered shall be as stable as wise and as grateful as a Prince and perhaps more though he be never so wise And on the other side a dissolute and irregular Prince shall be more mutable imprudent and ingrateful than any multitude whatever and that not so much from any diversity in his Nature for they are much at one and if there be any excellence 't is on the side of the people as from their greater or lesser respect to the Laws under which they are to live And he who shall consider the people of Rome will find that for 400 years together they hated the very name of a King were ambitious of honour and studious exceedingly for the good of their Country as may be justified by many examples If it be objected that the Romans were ingrateful to Scipio I refer them to what I proved so largely before that the people are less ingrateful than Princes And as to prudence and constancy I affirm They have much the advantage and are more wise more steddy and more judicious than Princes for which reason the voice of the people is resembled to the voice of God because by some occult and singular quality it does often presage things that are wonderful and relating to their own welfare or calamity In giving their judgment about dubious things you shall seldom find them mistake if at any time two eminent Orators equally excellent in their profession do controvert and discourse a thing pro and con before them they will assuredly take the most rational side which shows they are no less capable of truth than other people And if in matters of honour or enterprize which carry an appearance of publick utility they be sometimes mistaken as is said before the Princes are more by reason of their passions and perturbations of mind to which they are much more obnoxious than the people In the election of Magistrats they are more dexterous and judicious than Princes nor shall the people be ever persuaded to advance a corrupt and infamous man which among Princes is easie and common If it takes a disgust or abhorrency to any thing 't is not readily removed but sticks by them for several ages which among Princes is not so both which points may be evicted by the people of Rome who in so many hundred years and so many elections of Consuls and Tribunes never made four elections that they repented of afterwards and for the name of a King they abhorred it so perfectly that no virtue no former Service to his Country could excuse any man whom they suspected to aspire to it It is evident likewise that those Cities which are governed by the people have enlarged their Territories in a short time and extended their Empire farther than those who have been subject to Princes as Rome after the expulsion of Kings and Athens after they had rescued themselves from the tyranny of Pisistrates which can proceed from nothing but that the Government by a free State is intrinsically better than the Government by a Prince Nor can Livy's expression about the levity of the Syracusans oppose my opinion for let all the good and ill qualities of the Prince and people be compared and it will be found That the people are less extravagant and more honourable of the two And if in the instituting of good Laws the ordaining of new Statutes and the making new Orders for civil conversation and Society Princes have the better yet the people preserving and executing them better than they are doubtless as worthy of praise as the Founders themselves To be short Principalities and Republicks have both of them subsisted several years and both of them had occasion to be regulated and reformed for a Prince that is licentious and does what he has a mind to has a mind to that which does him hurt and is a weak man for his pains and the people which takes the same liberty is as mad on the other side And if the comparison be made betwixt mix'd Principalities that are circumscribed and bounded by Laws and popular Governments under the same tyes and restrictions the people will be found more virtuous than the Princes but if it be betwixt loose and dissolute Governments both of the one kind and the other the errors on the side of the Princes will appear more great more numerous and more incapable of redress for in popular tumults a sober man may interpose and by fair words reduce them to reason but to an enraged Prince who dares intercede or what remedy is there to repair to but
THE WORKS OF THE FAMOUS Nicholas Machiavel CITIZEN and SECRETARY OF FLORENCE WRITTEN Originally in ITALIAN and from thence newly and faithfully Translated into ENGLISH LONDON Printed for Iohn Starkey Charles Harper and Iohn Amery at the Miter the Flower-de-Luce and the Peacock in Fleetstreet 1680. LICENSED Febr. 2. 1674. THE SEVERAL TREATISES Contained in this BOOK 1. THe History of Florence 2. The Prince 3. The Original of the Guelf and Ghibilin Factions 4. The Life of Castruccio Castracani 5. The Murther of Vitelli c. by Duke Valentino 6. The State of France 7. The State of Germany 8. The Discourses on Titus Livius 9. The Art of War 10. The Marriage of Belphegor a Novel 11. Nicholas Machiavel's Letter in Vindication of Himself and his Writings THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER Concerning the following LETTER Courteous Reader IT hath been usual with most of those who have Translated this Author into any Language to spend much of their time and paper in taxing his impieties and confuting his errors and false principles as they are pleased to call them if upon perusal of his Writings I had found him guilty of any thing that could deceive the simple or prejudice the rest of Mankind I should not have put thee to the hazard of reading him in thy own Language but rather have suffered him still to sleep in the obscurity of his own than endanger the world but being very well assured of the contrary and that the Age will rather receive advantage than damage by this Publication I did yet think that it was fit to say something in a Preface to vindicate our Author from those Slanders which Priests and other byass'd Pens have laid upon him but still I thought that it might prove a bold and presumptuous undertaking and might excite laughter for a person of my small parts and abilities to Apologize for one of the greatest Wits and profoundest Judgments that ever lived amongst the Moderns In this perplexity I had the good fortune to meet with this Letter of his own writing which hath delivered me from those scruples and furnished me with an opportunity of justifying this great person by his own Pen. Receive then this choice Piece with benignity it hath never before been published in any Language but lurk'd for above 80 years in the private Cabinets of his own Kindred and the Descendents of his own admirers in Florence till in the beginning of the Pontisicat of Vrbane the 8th it was procured by the Jesuits and other busie-bodies and brought to Rome with an intention to divert that wise Pope from his design of making one of Nicholas Machiavel's Name and Family Cardinal as notwithstanding all their opposition he did not long after When it was gotten into that City it wanted not those who had the judgment and curiosity to copy it and so at length came to enjoy that priviledge which all rare Pieces even the sharpest Libels and Pasquils challenge in that Court which is to be sold to Strangers one of which being a Gentleman of this Country brought it over with him at his return from thence in the year 1645. and having translated it into English did communicate it to divers of his friends and by means of some of them it hath been my good fortune to be capable of making thee a present of it and let it serve as an Apology for our Author and his Writings if thou thinkest he need any I must confess I believe his Works require little but rather praise and admiration yet I wish I could as well justifie one undertaking of his not long after the writing of this Letter for we find in the Story of those times that in the Month of August following in the same year 1537. this Nicolo Machiavelli except there were another of that name was committed Prisoner to the Bargello amongst those who were taken in Arms against Cosimo at the Castle of Montemurli notwithstanding all his Compliments in this Letter to that Prince and profess'd Obligations to him if this be so we must impute it to his too great zeal to concur with the desires of the universality at that time in restoring the liberty of their Country which hath so far dazel'd the judgments even of great and wise men that thou â—eest many grave Authors amongst the Ancients have even commended and deified the ingratitude and Treachery of Brutus and Cassius But certainly this crime of his would have been much more unpardonable if he had lived to see his own Prophesie fulfilled in the Persons and Descendents of this great Cosimo for there was never any succession of Princes since the world began in which all the Royal vertues and other qualities necessary to those who rule over men were more eminently perspicuous than in every individual of this line so that those people have as little cause as ever any had to lament the change of their Government their great Dukes having been truly Fathers of their Country and treated their Subjects like Children though their power be above all limitation above all fundamental Laws but they having no Law are a Law to themselves I cannot chuse but instance in some few of their benefits to their people first the making the River Arno Navigable from Pisa to Florence in a year of Dearth that so the Poor might be set on work and have Bread and the Traffick of both Cities infinitely facilitated their making at their own charge a Canal from Livorne to Pisa their erecting at Pisa a famous University paying the Professors who are eminent for Learning and discharging all other incidencies out of their own Revenue besides the raising stately Buildings for Schools and Libraries their founding a renowned Order of Knighthood and keeping the Chapter in the same City and ordering a considerable number of Knights constantly to reside there both which were intended and performed by them to encrease the concourse and restore the wealth to the once opulent Inhabitants of that place Their new Building fortifying and enfranchizing Livorne that even by the abolishing their own Customs they might enrich their Subjects and make that Port as it now is the Magazine of all the Levant Trade And lastly Their not having in 140 years ever levyed any new Tax upon their people excepting in the year 1642. to defend the Liberties of Italy against the Barbarini These things would merit a Panegyrick if either my parts or this short Advertisement would admit it I shall conclude then after I have born a just and dutiful testimony to the merits of the Prince who now governs that State in whom if all the Princely vertues and endowments should be lost they might be found and restored again to the world As some ingenious Artists in the last Age retrieved the Art of Sculpture by certain bas relievos remaining on some Pillars and Walls at Rome The Prudence Magnanimity Charity Liberality and above all the Humanity Courtesie and Affability of this Prince though they exceed my
expressions yet they are sufficiently known not only to his own Subjects the constant objects of his care and goodness but even to all Strangers more particularly to our Nation he having undertaken a troublesome Journey to visit this Kingdom and to make it witness and partaker of his transcendent generosity and bounty which he hath continued ever since as can be testified by all who have had the honour to wait upon him in his own Country or the good fortune but to see him in ours I my self who have been so happy to be admitted into his presence and have been honoured since in having his Highness my customer for many choice Books to encrease not his knowledge for that is beyond receiving any addition by Books but his curiosity and his Library do think my self bound in Duty to take this poor opportunity of testifying my gratitude and devotion to this excellent Prince As to this Letter I have nothing more to say but that thou mayest see how right this Author was set in Principles of Religion before he could have the information which we have had since from the Pens of most learned and rational Controversists in those points and therefore thou maist admire the sagacity of his Judgment Read him then and serve God thy King and thy Country with the knowledge he will teach thee Farewel NICHOLAS MACHIAVEL'S LETTER TO ZANOBIVS BVONDELMONTIVS IN VINDICATION Of himself and His WRITINGS THE Discourse we had lately dear Zenobio in the delightful Gardens of our old deceased Friend Cosimo Rucellai and the pressing importunity of Guilio Salviati that I would use some means to wipe off the Many aspersions cast upon my Writings gives you the present trouble of reading this Letter and me the pleasure of writing it which last would be infinitely greater if I were not at this day too old and too inconsiderable and by the change of our Government wholly uncapable of performing either with my brain or my hand any further service to my Country for it hath ever been my opinion that whosoever goes about to make men publickly acquainted with his actions or apologize to the world for imputatâ—ons laid upon him cannot be excused from vanity and impertinence except his parts and opportunities be such as may enable him to be instrumental for the good of others and that he cannot atchieve that excellent end without justifying himself from having any indirect and base ones and procuring trust from men by clearing the repute of his justice and integrity to them But although this be far from my case yet I have yielded you see to the entreaty of Guilio and the rest of that Company not only because I am sufficiently both by the restraint of our Press and the discretion of the person I write to assured that this Letter will never be made publick but for that I esteem it a Duty to clear that excellent Society from the Scandal of having so dangerous and pernicious a person to be a member of their conversation for by reason of my Age and since the loss of our Liberty and my sufferings under that Monster of lust and cruelty Alexander de Medeci set over us by the Divine vengeance for our sins I can be capable of no other design or enjoyment than to delight and be delighted in the company of so many choice and virtuous persons who now assemble themselves with all security under the happy and hopeful Reign of our new Prince Cosimo and we may say that though our Common-wealth be not restored our slavery is at an end and that he coming in by our own choice my prove if I have as good Skill in Prophesying as I have had formerly Ancestor to many renowned Princes who will govern this State in great quietness and with great clemency so that our Posterity is like to enjoy case and security though not that greatness wealth and glory by which our City hath for some years past even in the most factious and tumultuous times of our Democracy given Law to Italy and bridled the ambition of foreign Princes But that I may avoid the Loquacity incident to old men I will come to the business If I remember well the exceptions that are taken to these poor things I have published are reducible to three First That in all my Writings I infinuate my great affection to the Democratical Government even so much as to undervalue that of Monarchy in respect of it which last I do not obscurely in many passages teach and as it were perswade the People to throw off Next That in some places I vent very great impieties slighting and villifying the Church as Author of all the misgovernment in the world and by such contempt make way for Atheism and Prophaneness And Lastly That in my Book of the Prince I teach Monarchs all the execrable Villanies that can be invented and instruct them how to break faith and to oppress and enslave their Subjects I shall answer something to every one of these and that I may observe a right method will begin with the first Having lived in an Age when our poor Country and Government have suffered more changes and revolutions than ever did perhaps befall any people in so short a time and having had till the taking of Florence my share in the managing of affairs during almost all these alterations sometimes in the quality of Secretary of our City and sometimes employed in Embassages abroad I set my self to read the Histories of Ancient and Modern times that I might by that means find out whether there had not been in all Ages the like vicissitudes and accidents in State affairs and to search out the causes of them and having in some sort satisfied my self therein I could not abstain from scribling something of the too chief kinds of Government Monarchy and Democracy of which all other forms are but mixtures and since neither my Parts nor Learning could arrive to follow the steps of the Ancients by writing according to Method and Art as Plato Aristotle and many others have done upon this Subject I did content my self to make slight observations upon both by giving a bare Character of a Prince as to the Monarchical frame and as to the popular chusing the perfectest and most successful of all Governments of that kind upon earth and in my Discourses upon it following the order of my Author without ever taking upon me to argue problematically much less to decide which of these two Govâ—rnments is the best if from my way of handling matters in my discourses upon Livy and from those incomparable virtues and great Actions we read of in that History and from the observations I make men will conclude which is I must confess my opinion that the excellency of those Counsels and Atchievements and the improvement which Mankind and as I may so say humane nature it self obtained amongst the Romans did proceed naturally from their Government and was but a plain effect and
and indifference not espousing the heady opinions of any much less their passions and animosities I never sided with any Party further than that the Duty of my charge obliged me to serve the prevailing Party when posses'd of the Government of our City this I speak for those changes which happened between the flight of the said Piero de Medici and the horrid Parricide commited by Clement the 7th upon his indulgent Mother joyning with his greatest enemies and uniting himself with those who had used the most transcendent insolence to his own person and the highest violence and fury the Sun ever saw to his poor Courtiers and Subjects that so accompanied he might sheath his Sword in the bowels of his own desolate Country At that time and during that whole Seige I must confess I did break the consines of my Nutrality and not only acted as I was commanded barely but rouz'd my self and stir'd up others haraunging in the Streets places of the City the People to defend with the last drop of their blood the Walls of their Country and the Liberty of their Government taking very hazardous Journey to Ferruccio and then into the Mugello and other parts to bring in Succours and Provisions to our languishing City and acting as a Soldier which was a new profession to me at the age of above sixty when others are dispensed from it For all which I had so entire a satisfaction in my mind and conscience that I am perswaded this cordial made me able to support the sufferings which befell me after our Catastrophe and to rejoyce in them so far that all the malice and cruelty of our enemies could never draw one word from me unsutable to the honour I thought I merited and did in some sort enjoy for being instrumental to defend as long as it was possible our Altars and our Hearths But all that I have undergone hath been abundantly recompenced to me by the favour and courtesie of the most excellent Signior Cosimo who hath been pleased to offer me all the preferments the greatest ambition could aspire to which I did not refuse out of any scruple to serve so incomparable a Prince whose early years manifest so much Courage Humanity and Prudence and so Fatherly a care of the publick good but because I was very desirous not to accept of a charge which I was not able to perform my years and infirmities having now brought me to a condition in which I am fitter to live in a Cloyster than a Palace and made me good for nothing but to talk of past times the common vice of old Age So that I did not think it just or grateful to reward this excellent person so ill for his kindness as to give him a useless Servant and to fill up the place of a far better This is all I think fit to say of this matter I chuse to address it to you Zenobio for the constant friendship I have ever entertained with you and formerly with your deceased Father the companion of my Studies and ornament of our City And so I bid you farewel The first of April 1537. THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE CONTAINING An account of the Heroick Enterprizes Publick and Private Transactions with the Civil Dissentions Changes and Alterations in that GOVERNMENT ALSO AN Account of the Affairs of ITALY and the Actions Designs and contrivances of most of the PRINCES and STATES therein IN Eight Books By NICOLAS MACHIAVEL LONDON Printed for Iohn Starkey Charles Harper and Iohn Amery at the Miter the Flower-de-Luce and the Peacock in Fleetstreet 1680. THE EPISTLE TO CLEMENT VII BEing commanded by your Holiness whilst in a private condition to writ the History of Florence I addressed my self to it with all the art and diligence wherewith nature and experience had enduced me Having deduc'd it to the times in which upon the death of Magnifico Lorenzo de Medici the whole form and model of Italy was altered and being to describe the height and importance of what followed in a loftier and more vigorous stile I judged it best to reduce what I had written till those times into one Volume and present it to your Holiness that you might at least have a taste of the fruit you had sown your self and of my labour and cultivation In the perusal of this work your Holiness will see first to what ruine and convulsions our Country was exposed for many ages by the variations of Governments after the declension of the Roman Empire in the West You will see how your Predecessors the Venetians the Kingdom of Naples and the Dukedom of Milan took their turns of Empire and Soveraignty in this Province You will see your own Country refusing obedience to the Emperors by reason of the divisions and those divisions continuing till under the protection of your Family it began to settle into a Government And because it was your Holiness particular command that in my character of your Ancestors I should avoid all kind of flattery truepraise not being morepleasing to you than counterfeit is ungrateful fearing in my description of the bounty of Giovanni the wisdom of Cosimo the courtesie of Piero the magnificence and solidity of Lorenzo I may seem to have transgressed your holiness direction I do most humbly excuse my self both in that and whatever else in my descriptions may appear unfaithful to your holiness dissatisfaction for finding the memoirs and relations of those who in sundry Ages made any mention of them full of their commendations I must either present them as I found them or pass them by as if I envied them And if as some write under their great and egregious exploits there was always some latent and ambitious design contrary to the interest and liberty of the publick I know nothing of it and am not bound to relate it for in all my narrations I never desired to cloak or palliate a dishonourable action with an honourable pretence nor to traduce a good action tho to a contrary end But how far I am from flattery is to be seen in the whole course of my History especially in my speeches and private discourses which do plainly and without reservation describe with the sentences and order of their language the dignity and humour of the persons I avoid likewise in all places such words as are impertinent to the verity or reputation of history so that no man who considers my writings impartially can charge me with adulation especially if he observes how little or nothing I have said of your holiness own Father whose life was too short to discover him to the world I too downright to expatiate upon it Nevertheless had he done nothing more but given your holiness to the world that very thing outweighs all the actions of his Ancestors shall leave more ages of honour to his family than his malevolent fortune took years from his life I have endeavored Most Holy Sir as far as might be done without blemish
to the truth to please all people and it may so fall out I have pleased no body If it should I should not wondder seeing in my judgment it is impossible to write any thing of our own times without offence to several Yet I come forth cheerfully into to the field hoping that as I am honoured and employed by your holiness goodness I shall be defended by your holiness judgment and then with the same confidence courage as I have writ now I shall pursue my engagements if my life lasts your holiness continues amongst us The Author's INTRODUCTION WHen I first took upon me to write the History of Florence and its transactions both at home and abroad I thought to have begun at the year 1434 at which time the Family of the Medici exalted by the merits of Cosimo his father Giovanni was in greater authority that any other in that City believing that Messer Leonardo d' Arezzo and Messer Poggio two excellent Historians had given particular description of all the passages before But upon diligent perusal of their writings to inform my self of their orders and methods that thereby my own might have better approbation I found that in their narratives of the Florentine Wars and foreign negotiations they had been accurate enough but in their civil dissentions their intrinsick animosities and in the effects which followed them they were either totally silent or where any thing was mentioned it was with such brevity and abruptness as could yield neither profit nor recreation to the reader Which I conceive they did either out of an opinion that they were inconsiderable and unworthy to be transmitted to Posterity or else they apprehended a necessity of reflecting upon some great persons whose family would be disobliged thereby both which arguments if I may speak it without offence are beneath the grandeur and magnanimity of a great person For if any thing in History be delightfull or profitable it is those particular descriptions if any thing be usefull to such Citizens as have the Government in their hands it is such as represents the feuds and dissentions in the Cities that thereby they mâ—â—be enabled to maintain their own unity at other peoples expence if the example of any Common-wealth moves a man certainly that which is written of ones own makes a much stronger impression and if the factions of any State were ever considerable the factions in Florence were not to be pretermitted the greatest part of other States have not had above one which sometimes has advanced aud sometimes ruined the Government but Florence has had many divisions Everybody knows how in Rome after the expulsion of their King there arose division betwixt the Nobles and the people which continued till one of them was oppressed So it was in Athens and all the Commonwealths which flourished in those times but in Florence the first dissention was betwixt the Nobles the next betwixt the Nobles and Citizens and then betwixt the Citizens and the Plebs in all which one was no sooner superior but it divided again and the effects of those divisions were Murders and Banishments and dispersion of families such as never occurr'd in any City that can be remembred And truly in my judgment nothing demonstrates the power of our City so much as the consequences of those divisions which were enough to have subverted and destroyed any other in the world But ours grew still greater thereby so remarkable was the courage of the Citizens and so efficacious their industry for the advancement of their Country that those few which surviv'd the miseries of their Predecessors did more by their constancy courage towards the advancement of their interest than the malignity of those accidents could do to depress it And doubtless had Florence been so happy after it had freed it self from the Empire to have assum'd such a form of Government as would have preserv'd it in unity I know not any commonwealth either ancient or modern that would have exceeded it or have been comparable to it either in riches or power For it is observable after the Ghibilins were driven out of the Town in such numbers as all Tuscany and Lombardy were full of those exiles the Guelfs and such as were left behind in the expedition against Arezzo which was the year before the battle of Campaldino were able to drawout of their own Citizens 1200 Horse and 12000 Foot And afterwards in the war against Philippo Visconti Duke of Milan being to try their fortune rather withtheir riches than their arms which at that time were very much weakened in five years space which was the length of that war the Florentines expended five millions and 500000 Florens and when that War was composed to ostentate and publish the power of that Commonwealth they marched out with an army and besieged Lucca I do not see therefore for what reason these divisions should not be worthy of relation and if those Noble Authors were restrained by fear of offending the memory of such as they were to speak of they were mightily out and seem not to have understood the ambition of mankind and their desire to have the names of themselves and ancestors transmitted to Posterity nor did they remember that many people not having opportunity to make themselves eminent by good and laudable acts have endeavoured to compass it by any way how scandalous and ignominious soever Neither did they consider that the actions which carry greatness along with them as those of Governments and States what ends soever they have and which way soâ—ever they are described do still leave more honour than infamy to their Family the consideration of which things prevailed with me to alter my design and to begin my History from the very foundation of the City and because it is not my intention to transcribe what has been done before by other people I shall relate such things only as occurr'd within the City to the year 14â—4 mentioning the accidents abroad only so far as will be necessary for the intelligence of the other after which year I shall give a particular description both of the one and the other Besides for the better and more lasting understanding of this History before I treat of Florence I shall discourse of the means by which Italy fell under the dominion of those Potentates which govern'd it at that time all which shall be comprehended in my four first Books the first shall give a short recital of all transactions in Italy from the dissolution of the Roman Empire to the year 1434. The second shall give an account of all affairs from the foundation of the City of Florence to the end of the War against the Pope which commenc'd upon the expulsion of the Duke of Athens the third shall conclude with the death of Ladislaus King of Naples and in the fourth we shall end with the year 1434 from whence afterwards to our present times we shall give a particular
time Iohn XXII was created Pope in whose Papacy the Emperour ceased not to persecute the Guelfs and the Church but King Robert and the Florentines interposing in their defence great Wars ensued in Lombardy under the Conduct of the Visconti against the Guelfs and against the Florâ—ntines in Tuscany by Castruccio di Lucca And because the Family of the Visconti were the Original of the Dukedom of Milan one of the five Principalities that govern'd all Italy afterwards I think it not amiss to deduce it a little higher After the League amaong the Cities in Lombardy which I have mentioned before for their mutual defence against Frederick Barbarossa Milan being rescued from the ruine that impended to revenge it self of the injuries it had receiv'd enter'd into that Confederacy which put a stop to the Emperours career and preserv'd the Churches interest in Lombardy for a while In the process of those Wars the Family of the Torri grew very powerful increasing daily more and more while the Emperour's Authority was small in those parts But Frederick II. arriving in Italy and the Ghibilin Faction by the assistance of Ezelino prevailing it began to dilate and spread it self in all the Cities and particularly in Milan the Family of the Visconti â—iding with that party drove the Family of the Torri out of that Town But long they were not banish'd for by an accord made betwixt the Emperour and Pope they were restor'd Afterwards when the Pope remov'd with his Court into France and Arrigo of Luxemburg came to Rome to be Crown'd he was receiv'd into Milan by Maffeo Visconti the Head of that House and Guido della Torre the Chief of the other Yet how kindly soever they carry'd it outwardly Masseo had a secret design by the Emperour 's being there to drive out the Torri believing the Enterprize the more practicable because Guido was of the Enemies Faction He took the advantage of the peoples complaints against the behaviour of the Germans incouraging them slily to take Arms and rescue themselves from their barbarous servitude Having dispos'd things as he desired he caused a tumult to be raised by one of his Confidents upon which the whole Town was to be in Arms and pretendedly against the Germans The Tumult was no sooner begun but Maffeo his Sons Servants and Partizans were immediately in Arms and ran to Arrigo assuring him that Tumult was raised by the Torri who not content with their private Condition took that occasion to ruine him as an Enemy to the Guelfs and make themselves Princes of that City But he desired him to be secure for they and their party would not fail to defend him when ever he requir'd it Arrigo believed all to be true that Maffeo had told him joyned his Forces with the Visconti fell upon the Torri who were dispersed up and down the City to suppress the Tumult killed those of them which they met banished the rest and seized their Estates So that Maffeo Visconti made himself Prince After him there succeeded Galeazo and Aza and after them Luchino and Iohn who was afterwards Arch-Bishop of that City Luchino died before him and left two Sons Barnardo and Galeazo Galeazo dying not long after left one Son called Giovan Galeazo Conti di Vertu who after the death of the Arch-Bishop killed his Unkle Barnardo made himself Prince and was the first that took upon him the Title of Duke of Milan He left two Sons only Philip and Giovan Maria Angelo who being slain by the people of Milan the Government remain'd wholly to Philip. He dying without issue Male the Dukedom was translated from the House of the Visconti to the Sforza's but of the manner and occasions of that hereafter To return therefore where I left Lewis the Emperour to give reputation to his party and to be formally Crown'd came into Italy and being at Milan to drain the City of its Money he pretended to set them at Liberty and clap'd the Visconti in Prison Afterwards by the Mediation of Castruccio da Luca he releas'd them march'd to Rome and that he might more easily disturb the tranquillity of Italy he made Piero della Carvaro Anti-Pope by whose reputation and the interest of the Visconti he presum'd he should be able to keep under both the Tuscans and Lombards But Castruccio died in the nick and his death was the Emperours ruine for Pisa and Lucca rebelled out of hand The Pisans took the Anti-pope and sent him Prisoner to the Pope into France so that the Emperour despairing of his Affairs in Italy he left them all as they were and retired into Germany He was scarce gone before Iohn King of Bohemia came into Italy with an Army being invited by the Ghibilins in Brescia and possest himself both of that City and Bergamo The Pope however he dissembled it was not averse to his coming and therefore his Legat at Bologna favoured him privately looking upon him as a good Antidote against the Emperours return These under-hand practices chang'd the Condition of Italy for the Florentines and King Robert perceiving the Legat a favourer of the Ghibilin Faction turn'd Enemies to all people that profess'd themselves their Friends In so much as without respect to either Ghibilins or Guelfs many Princes associated with them among the rest were the Families of the Visconti Scala Philippo di Gonsaga of the House of Mantua the Families of Carara and Este whereupon the Pope Excommunicated them all The King apprehensive of their League return'd home to reinforce himself and coming back with more Force into Italy found his Enterprize very difficult notwithstanding so that growing weary of the business though much to the dissatisfaction of the Legat he return'd into Bohemia leaving Garrisons only in Modena and Reggio recommending Parma to the Care of Marsilio and Piero de Rossi who were eminent men in that City As soon as he was departed Bologna enter'd into the Confederacy and the Colleagues divided the four Towns that were remaining to the Church among themselves Parma to the Scali Reggio to the Gonzagi Modena to the Esti and Luca to the Florentines But many differences follow'd upon that division which for the greatest part were compos'd afterwards by the Venetians And now I speak of the Venetians it may appear indecorous to some people that among all the occurrences and revolutions in Italy I have deferr'd speaking of them notwithstanding their Government and Power places them above any other Republick or Principality in that Countrey That that Exception may be remov'd and the occasion appear it will be necessary to look back for some time to make their Original conspicuous and the reasons for which they reserv'd themselves so long from interposing in the Affairs of Italy Attila King of the Hunni having besieg'd Aquilegia the Inhabitants after a generous defence being reduc'd to distress and despairing of Relief conveighing their Goods as well as they could to certain Rocks in that point of
accident drowned His death was a great prejudice to the affairs of the Queen who thereupon would have run great hazard of being droven out of her Kingdom had not her loss been supplyed by Philip Visconti Duke of Milan who forced Alphonso back again into Arragon But Braccio not at all discouraged at Alphonso's departure continued War upon the Queen and besieged Aquila The Pope looking upon Braccio's greatness as a diminution to the Church entertained Francisco the Son of Sforza into his pay who marching with an Army to the relief of Aquila ingaged Braccio routed his Army and slew him Of Braccio's party there remained only Otho his Son from whom the Pope took Perugia but left him the Government of Montone But he also was not long after slain in Romania in the Florentine assistance so that of all those who fought under the Discipline of Braccio Nicholas Piccinino was the man now of greatest reputation Being come thus near with our Narrative to the times we designed that which remains being considerable in nothing but the Wars which the Florentines and the Venetians had with Philip Duke of Milan of which our Relation shall be particular when we come to treat of Florence we shall forbear to enlarge any farther and only in short reduce it to Memory in what state and posture Italy then stood with its Princes and Armies Among the principal States Queen Giovanna held the Kingdom of Naples La Marca the Patrimony and Romagna Part of their Towns belonged to the Church part to their particular Governours or others which had Usurped them as Ferrara Modena Reggio to the Family of the Esti Faenzi to the Manfredi Imola to the Alidosi Furli to the Ordelaffi Rimini and Pesaro to the Malatesti and Camerino to the House Varana Lombardy was divided part under Duke Philip and part under the Venetian All the rest who had had any soveraignty or principality in those parts being extinct except only the House of Gonzagua which governed in Mantua at that time Of Tuscany the greatest part was under the Dominion of the Florentine Lucca only and Siena lived free under their own Laws Lucca under the Guinigi and Siena of it self The Genoueses being free sometimes sometimes under the Authority of the French and sometimes of the Visconti they lived without any great reputation and were reckoned among the meaner and most inconsiderable states of that Countrey Their principal Potentates were not themselves in Command but their Armies managed by their Generals Duke Philip consined himself to his Chamber and not being to be seen his Wars were manag'd by Commissioners The Venetians altering their Scene and making War by Land they disbarqued that Army which had made them so glorious by Sea and according to the Custom of their Countrey gave the Command of it to other people The Pope being a Religious person and Giovanna Queen of Naples a woman were not so proper to Command in person and therefore did that by necessity which others did by indiscretion The Florentines were under the same necessity for their frequent divisions having exhausted their Nobility and the Government of the City remaining in the hands of such as were bred up to Merchandize in their Wars they were forc'd to follow the fortune and direction of strangets So that the Armies all Italy over were in the hands of the smaller Princes or such as had no Soveraignty at all Those smaller Princes embracing those Commands not from any impulse or stimulation of Glory but to live plentifully and safe The others Education having been small not knowing what other course to take they took up Arms hoping thereby to gain either Honour or Estate Among these the most eminent were Carmignuola Francisco Sforza Nicholo Piccinino brought up under Braccio Agnolo della Pergola Lorenzo and Micheletto Attenduli Il Tartaglia Giaccopaccio Ceccolino da Perugia Nicolo da Tolentino Guido Torello Antonio dal Ponte ad Hera and many others With these may be reckon'd those Princes which I have mention'd before to which may be added the Barons of Rome the Orsini Colonnesi and other Lords and Gentlemen of the Kingdom of Lombardy who depending upon the Wars had setled a kind of a League and Intelligence betwixt themselves model'd it with that artifice and temporized so exactly that most commonly who ever were Enemies both sides were sure to be losers By this means the Art of War became so mean and unserviceable every little Officer that had but the least spark of Experience could have easily corrected it Of these lazy Princes and their despicable Officers shall be the subject of my ensuing discourse but before I come to it it will be necessary according to my promise at first to deduce Florence from its Original and give every one a clear prospect what was the State of that City in those times and by what means it arriv'd at it thorough the imbroilments of a thousand years in which Italy was involv'd THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE Book II. AMong the great and admirable orders of former Kingdoms and Common-wealths though in our times it is discontinued and lost it was the Custom upon every occasion to build new Towns and Cities and indeed nothing is more worthy and becoming an excellent Prince a well-disposed Common-wealth nor more for the interest and advantage of a Province than to erect new Towns where men may cohabit with more Convenience both for Agriculture and Defence For besides the Beauty and Ornament which follow'd upon that Custom it render'd such Provinces as were Conquer'd more dutiful and secure to the Conquerour planted the void places and made a commodious distribution of the people upon which living regularly and in order they did not only multiply faster but were more ready to invade and more able for defence But by the negligence and omission of Common-wealths and Principalites this method being at present disused the Provinces are become weaker and some of them ruin'd For as I said before it is this order alone that secures a Countrey and supplies it with people The security consists in this that in a new Conquer'd Country a Colony placed by Authority is a Fortress and Guard to keep the Natives in obedience neither without this can a Province continue inhabited or preserve a just distribution of the people because all places being not equally fertile or healthful where it is barren they desert where unwholsome they die and unless there be some way to invite or dispose new men to the one as well as the other that Province must fail the abandoning some places leaving them desolate and weak and the thronging to others making them indigent and poor And forasmuch as these inconveniences are not to be remedied by Nature Art and Industry is to be apply'd and we see many Countreys which are naturally unhealthful much better'd by the multitude of Inhabitants the Earth being purify'd by their Tillage and the Air by their Fires which Nature alone would never have
with the chief of the Ghibilines and determin'd to take that back again by force from the people which so unadvisedly they had given With which design having assembled the several Companies in their Arms and the XXXVI Reformatori with them causing a suddain Alarm to be brought in the Reformatori being frighted and retiring to their Houses the Ensigns of the several faculties were display'd and several Armed men behind them immediately understanding that Count Guido and his party were at St. Iohns they made a stand at St. Trinita and chose Giovanni Soldanieri for their Captain The Count on the other side hearing where they had posted advanced against them and the people not declining they met in a place which is now call'd Loggia dei Tornaquinci where the Count was worsted and most of his party slain Being off of his mettle and fearful the Enemy would assault him in the night and cut his Throat his Men being cow'd and unable to defend him without considering other remedy he resolv'd to preserve himself by flying rather than by fighting and accordingly contrary to the perswasion of the Heads of the Ghibilines he retired to Prato with what men he had left When he found himself safe and his fear over he became sensible of his Errour and being desirous to have repair'd it next morning at break of day he drew out his Men march'd back to Florence designing to recover that Honourably which he had so Scandalously lost but he found himself mistaken for though it might have cost the people hot water to have expell'd him they found it no hard matter to keep him out when he was gone insomuch that being repuls'd he drew off with great sorrow and shame to Casentino and the Ghibilines return'd to their Houses The people being Conquerours out of affection to all such as had a love for their Countrey they resolv'd to reunite the City once more and call'd home all their Citizens which were abroad as well Ghibilines as Guelfs Hereupon the Guelfs return'd after six years banishment the Ghibilines late attempt was pardoned and they receiv'd back again but yet they continued odious both to the people and Guelfs the last not being able to extinguish the memory of their banishment nor the first to forget their Tyranny and insolence when the Government was in their hand so that their animosity was deposited neither on the one side nor the other Whil'st the affairs of Florence were in this posture a report was spread that Corradine Nephew to Manfredi was coming with Forces out of Germany to Conquer the Kingdom of Naples upon which the Ghibilines conceiv'd fresh hopes of recovering their Authority and the Guelfs being no less solicitous for their security begg'd the assistance of King Charles in case Corradine should come Charles having comply'd and his Forces upon their March the Guelfs became so insolent and the Ghibilines so timorous that two days before the French Army arriv'd the Ghibilines fled out of the City without staying to be expell'd The Ghibilines departed the Florentines new Modell'd their City choosing Twelve principal Magistrates to continue in Authority only for two Months not under the title of Antiani but Ruoni-huomini Next to them they constituted a Councel of 80 Citizens which they call'd La Credenza after which 180 were chosen out of the people which with the Credenza and the 12 Buoni-huomini were call'd the General-Councel besides which they erected another Councel consisting of 120. both Citiziens and Nobles which Councel was to consummate and ratifie whatever was debated or resolv'd in the rest Having setled their Government in this manner and by new Laws and Election of Magistrates of their own party fortifi'd themselves against the Machinations of the Ghibilines the Guelfs confiscated the Ghibilines Estates and having divided them into three parts one was assign'd to publike uses another given to their Magistrates and Captains and the third distributed among the Guelfs to recompense the damage they had receiv'd The Pope to preserve Tuscany to the Faction of the Guelfs made King Charles Imperial Vicar of that Province By this method the Florentines having maintain'd their honour and reputation abroad by their Arms and at home by their Laws they remain'd firm and secure in the mean time the Pope dyed and after a two years vacancy and a tedious dispute Gregory X. was elected who being at the time of his Election and a long while before in Syria and by consequence ignorant of the humours of the Factions he carry'd not himself with that caution towards them as his Predecessors had done But in his way to France being arriv'd at Florence he thought it the Office of a good Pastor to endeavour to compose their differences and prevail'd with them to receive Commissioners from the Ghibilines to negotiate the manner of their return but though their Peace was made and all particulars concluded the Ghibilines were too jealous to accept them and refus'd to come back The Pope imputed the fault to the City and excommunicated it in his passion under which censure it continued whil'st he lived but after his death when Innocent V. was created it was taken off Innocent V. was succeeded by Nicholas III. of the house of the Orsini and because the Popes were alwayes jealous of any great power in Italy though rais'd by the favour of the Church and constantly endeavour'd to depress it great troubles and frequent variations ensued for the fear of a Person grown Potent to any degree was the advancement of another less powerful than he who growing powerful by his preferment as his Predecessor had done became formidable like him and that fear was the occasion of his debasement This was the cause that Kingdom was taken from Manfredi and given to Charles This was the reason that Charles became terrible afterwards and his ruine was conspir'd for Nicholas III. mov'd by the considerations aforesaid prevail'd so that Charles by the Emperours means was remov'd from the Government of Tuscany and Latino the Popes Legat sent thither in his place by Commission from the Emperour Florence at this time was in no very good condition for the Guelfish Nobility being grown insolent and careless of the Magistrates several Murders and other violences were daily committed the Malefactors passing unpunish'd by the favour and protection of the Nobles To restrain these insolencies it was thought good by the Heads of the City to recall those who were banished which gave opportunity to the Legate to reunite the City and to the Ghibilines to return whereupon instead of XII Governours which they had before they were increas'd to XIV VII of each party their Government to be Annual and their Election by the Pope Two years Florence remain'd under this Form till Martino a Frenchman was created Pope who restor'd to King Charles whatever Authority Pope Nicholas had taken from him So that Florence being again in Commotion the Citizens
Countrey against the commotion of his Friends he resolved to give way to their Envy and Banish himself from that City which he had preserv'd from the Tyranny of the Nobility by his own danger and charge The Nobility after his departure to recover their dignity which they conceived lost by the dissentions among them united and apply'd themselves by two of their Number to the Senate or Segnoria which they judg'd to be their friends to intreat them to mitigate in some measure the acerbity of those Laws which were made against them which demand was no sooner known but the people fearing the Signoria should comply began immediately to tumultuate and betwixt the ambition of the one and suspicion of the other they fell soon after to blows The Nobility stood upon their Guards in three places at St. Iohn's in the Mercato nuovo and the Piazza de Mozzi under three Commanders Forese Adinari Vanni de Mozzi and Geri Spini The people were not got together under their Ensigns in great Numbers at the Senator's Palace which at that time not far from St. Pruocolo and because the people were jealous of the Signori they deputed six Citizens to share with them in the Government In the mean time while both parties were preparing for the Combat some both of the Nobility and Commons with certain Religious persons of good Reputation interpos'd themselves remonstrating to the Nobility that the Honour they had lost and the Laws made against them were occasioned by their arrogance and ill Government that now to take Arms and betake themselves to force for the recovery of what was lost by their own dissention and ill-management would be the ruine of their Countrey and a detriment to themselves That they should consider in number riches and malice they were much inferiour to the people That that Nobility they so vainly affected by which they thought to advance others when they came to sight would prove but a meer Title and Name unable to defend them against the advantages which their Enemies had over them To the people it was represented imprudence to drive things too far and make their Adversaries desperate For he that hopes no good fears no ill That it ought to be considered their Nobility were they which had gain'd so much Honour to their City in its Wars and were not therefore in justice to be used at that rate That they could be content to have the Supream Magistacy taken from them and endure it patiently but they thought it unreasonable and insupportable to be at every bodies mercy as their new Laws rendered them and subject to be driven out of their Countrey upon every Cappriccio That it would be well to mitigate their fury and lay down their Arms rather than to run the hazard of a Battel by presumption upon their Numbers which had many times fail'd and been worsted by the less The people were divided in their Judgments some were for ingaging as a thing some time or other would necessarily be and better now than to deser till their Enemies were more powrful and if it could be imagined the mitigation of the Laws would content them they should be mitigated accordingly but their insolence and pride could never be laid by till by force they were constrain'd to 't To others more moderate and prudent it appeared that the alteration of the Laws would not signifie much but to come to a Battel might be of very great importance and their Opinion prevailing it was provided that no accusation should be admitted against a Nobleman without necessary testimony Though upon these terms both parties laid down their Arms yet their jealousies of one another were mutually retain'd and they began again to fortifie on both sides The People thought sit to re-order the Government and reduc'd their Signori to a less number as suspecting some of them to be too great favouers of the Nobility of whom the Mansini Magalotti Altoviti Peruzzi and Cerretani were the chief Having setled the State in this manner in the year 1298. for the greater Magnificence and Security of their Signori they founded their Palace and made a Piazza before it where the houses of the Uberti stood formerly About the same time also the Foundation of the Prisons were laid which in few years after were finished Never was this City in greater splendor nor more happy in its condition than then abounding both in men riches and reputation They had 3000. Citizens in the Town â—it to bear Arms and 70000. more in their Territory All Tuscany was at its devotion partly as subjects and partly as friends And though there were still piques and suspicions betwixt the Nobility and the People yet they did not break out into any ill effect but all lived quietly and peaceably together and had not this tranquillity been at length interrupted by dissention within it had been in no danger from abroad being in such terms at that time it neither feared the Empire nor its Exiles and could have brought a force into the Field equivalent to all the rest of the States in Italy But that diseasâ— from which ab extra it was secure was ingendred in its own bowels There were two Families in Florence the Cerchi and the Donati equally considerable both in numbers riches and dignity being Neighbours both in City and Countrey there happened some exceptions and disgust betwixt them but not so great as to bring them to blows and perhaps they would never have produc'd any considerable effects had not their ill humours been agitated and fermented by new occasion Among the chief Families in Pistoia there was the Family of the Cancellieri It happened that Lore the Son of Gulielmo and Geri the Son of Bertaccio fell out by accident at play and passing from words to blows Geri received a slight wound Gulielmo was much troubled at the business and thinking by excess of humility to take off the scandal he increased it and made it worse He commanded his Son to go to Geri's Fathers house and demand his pardon Lore obey'd and went as his Father directed but that act of humanity did not at all sweeten the acerbity of Bertaccio's mind who causing Lore to be seiz'd by his servants to aggravate the indignity he caused him to be led by them into the stable and his hand cut off upon the Manger with instruction to return to his Father and to let him know That wounds are not cured so properly by words as amputation Gulielmo was so enraged at the cruely of the fact as he and his friends immediately took Arms to revenge it and Bertaccio and his friends doing as much to defend themselves the whole City of Pistoia was engaged in the quarrel and divided into two parties These Cancellieri being both of them descended from one of the Cancellieri who had two Wives one of them called Bianca that party which descended from her called it self Bianca and the other in
opposition was called Nera In a short time many conflicts happened betwixt them many men killed and many houses destroyed Not being able to accommodate among themselves though both sides were weary they concluded to come to Florence hoping some expedient would be found out there or else to fortifie their parties by the acquisition of new friends The Neri having had familiarity with the Donati were espoused by Corso the head of that Family The Bianchi to support themselves against the accession of the Donati fell in with Veri the chief of the Cerchi a man not inferiour to Corso in any quality whatever The malignity of this humour being brought hither from Pistoia began to revive the old quarrel betwixt the Cerchi and Donati in such manner that the Priori and other Principal Citizens began to apprehend they should fall together by the ears and the whole City come to be divided Hereupon they applyed themselves to the Pope desiring he would interpose his Authority to asswage those differences which were too great for their private power to compose The Pope sent for Veri and prest him earnestly to a reconciliation with the Donati Veri seemed to be surprised at his importunity pretended he had no prejudice to them at all and because reconciliation presupposed a quarrel there being nothing of the latter he thought there was no necessity of the first So that Veri returning from Rome without any other conclusion the Malevolence increas'd and every little accident as it happened afterwards was sufficient to put all in confusion In the Moneth of May several Holidays being publickly celebrated in Florence certain young Gentlemen of the Donati with their friends on Horseback having stopt near St. Trinity to see certain Women that were Dancing it fell out that some of the Cerchi arrived there likewise with some of their friends and being desirous to see as well as the rest not knowing the Donati were before they spurr'd on their horses and justled in among them The Donati looking upon it as an affront drew their Swords the Cerchi were as ready to answer them and after several cuts and slashes given and received both sides retir'd This accident was the occasion of great mischief the whole City as well People as Nobility divided and took part with the Bianchi and Neri as their inclinations directed them The chief of the Bianchi were the Cerchi to whom the Adimari the Abbati part of the fosinghi the Bardi Rossi Frescobaldi Norli Mannilli all the Mozzi the Scali Gerrardinâ— Cavalcanti Matespini Bestichi Giandionati Vecchietti and Arriguelzi joyn'd themselves with these sided several of the populace and all the Ghibiline faction in Florence so that in respect of their Numbers they seem'd to have the whole Government of the City The Donati on the other side were heads of the Neri and follow'd by all the rest of the before mentioned Nobility who were not ingag'd with the Bianchi and beside them all the Parzi Bisdonini Manieri Bagnâ—sit Tornaquinci Spini Buondelmonti Gianfigliazzi and Brunelteschi Nor did this humour extend it self only in the City but infected the whole Countrey In so much that the Captains of the Arts and such as favour'd the Guelfs and were Lovers of the Commonwealth very much apprehended least this new distraction should prove the ruine of the City and the restauration of the Ghibilins Whereupon they sent to the Pope beseeching him to think of some remedy unless he had a mind that City which had been always a bulwark to the Church should be destroy'd or become subject to the Ghibilins To gratifie their request the Pope dispatch'd Matteo d' Aquasparta a Portugal Cardinal as his Legate to Florence who sinding the party of the Bianchi obstinate and untractable as presuming upon the advantage of their Numbers he left Florence in an anger and interdicted them so that the Town remained in more confusion aâ— his departure than he found it All parties being at that time very high and dispos'd to mischief it happen'd that several of the Cerchi and Donati meeting at a Burial some words pass'd betwixt them and from words they proceeded to blows but no great hurt done for that time Both sides being returned to their houses the Cerchi began to deliberate how they might fall upon the Donati and in Conclusion they went in great numbers to attack them but by the Courage of Corso they were repell'd and several of them Wounded Hereupon the City fell to their Arms the Laws and the Magistrates were too weak to contest with the fury of both parties The wisest and best Citizens were in perpetual fear The Donati and their friends having less force were more anxious and solicitous of their safety to provide for it as well as was possible At a meeting of Corso with the heads of the Neri and the Captain of the Arts it was concluded that the Pope should be desired to send them some person of the Blood Royal to reform their City supposing that way the most probable to suppress this Bianchi The Assembly and their resolution was notify'd to the Priori and aggravated against the Adverse party as a Conspiracy against their Freedom Both factions being in Arms Dante and the rest of the Signori taking Courage with great Wisdome and prudence causing the people to put themselves in Arms by Conjunction of several out of the Countrey they forc'd the heads of both parties to lay down their Arms confin'd Corso Donati and several of the faction of the Neri to their houses and that their proceedings might seem impartial they committed several of the Bianchi who afterwards upon plausible pretences were dismiss'd Corso and his accomplices were discharg'd likewise and supposing his Holiness to be their friend took a journey to Rome to perswade him personally to what by Letters they had begg'd of him before There happen'd to be at the Popes Court at that time Charles de Valois the King of France his brother call'd into Italy by the King of Naples to pass over into Sicily The Pope upon the importunity of the Florentine Exiles though sit to send him to Florence to remain there till the season of the year serv'd better for his transportation Charles arrived and though the Bianchi who had then the Supremacy were jealous of him yet being Patron of the Guelfs and deputed thither by the Pope they durst not oppose his coming but on the Contrary to oblige him they gave him full Authority to dispose of the City as he pleased Charles was no sooner invested with his Authority but he caus'd all his friends and Partizans to Arm which gave the people so great a jealousie that he would Usurp upon their Liberties that they also put themselves in Arms and stood ready every man at his door to resist any such attempt The Cerchi and the chief of the Bianchi having had the Government in their hands and managed it proudly were become generally odious which gave incouragement to Corso and the
of the Common-wealth but the promotion and advancement of their Enemies quite contrary to what they designed Uguccione therefore being one of the Senate to put an end to those inconveniences which he by accident had created obtain'd a new Law that to the six Captains three more should be added two of them to be chosen out of the inferior Mechanicks and prevail'd that the Ghibilins should not be convicted but by 24 of the Guelfs deputed particularly to that office For the time these Laws in some measure tempered the exorbitance of the Captains so as their admonitions lost much of their terror and if any they were but few that were admonished Notwithstanding the emulation betwixt the Albizi and Ricci continued their leagues practices and consultations going on with more eagerness as their fury suggested In this distraction the City continued from the year 1366 to the year 1371 at which time the Guelfs recovered their power In the Family of the Buondelmonti there was a Gentleman called Benchi who for his Gallantry in the Wars against the Pisans was prefer'd to be one of the people and by that means qualified to be a Senator But when he expected to be admitted into the Senate a Decree was made that no person of Noble Extraction that was become one of the people should be received into the Senate This Decree was highly offensive to Benchi who upon consultation with Piero de gli Albizi resolv'd with his admonitions to depress the meaner sort of the people and make themselves Governors of the City And indeed by his influence upon the Nobility and Piero's upon the wealthiest of the Citizens the Faction of the Guelfs began to grow more considerable for with their new models and regulations they ordered things so that the Captains and 24 Citizens were wholly at their disposing their admonitions exercised with as much audacity as formerly and the house of the Albizi being head of that Faction increased exceedingly The Ricci in the mean time were not behind hand in using all their interest and friends to obstruct their designs so that every one lived in great apprehension as fore-seeing their destruction was approaching Whereupon many Citizens out of affection to their Country assembled in S. Piero Scheraggio and having discoursed of their disorders among themselves they went afterwards to the Senate to whom one of the most eminent among them made this harrangue Most Magnificent Lords we have many of us doubted whether to assemble by private order though upon publick occasion might not be offensive and render us remarkable for our presumption and punishable for our ambition But when we considered that daily without the least caution or regard many Citizens do meet and confer not for any benefit to the Common-wealth but in pursuit of their own private designs We presum'd that if they were permitted to meet and Conspire against the peace of their Country without displeasure to your Lordships those whose design was nothing but its preservation and prosperity needed not to fear your reproof If therefore we have not incurr'd your Lordships disfavour we are not much solicitous what others judge of us because we find they are as indifferent what we think of them The love we bear to our Country most Magnificent Lords was that which assembled us at first and now presents us before you to remonstrate our distractions which though too great encrease daily upon our hands and to offer our utmost assistance to remove them How difficult soever their Enterprise may appear we cannot despair of success if laying aside private respects you would be pleased with publick force to exert your authority The corruption of their Cities in Italy has vitiated ours for since Italy freed it self from the yoke of the Empire all the Towns wanting their former restraint â—lew out into extreams and ordain'd Laws and Governors not as free men but as people divided into Factions From this Fountain all our miseries all our disorders do spring In the first place no friendship nor integrity is to be found among the Citizens unless among those whose wickedness makes them faithful having been formerly engaged together in some villainous action either against their Neighbour or Country Religion and the fear of God is utterly extinguished Promises and Oaths are binding no farther than they are profitable and used not for a tye but a snare and as a means to facilitate their cheats which are always more honourable by how much their success is less difficult and dangerous Hence it is that vitious and mischievous men are commended for their industry and good men which are innocent and quiet are reckoned for sots And certainly as there is no sort of corruption but may be found in Italy so there are no sort of people more unhappily adapted to receive it The young men are idle the old men lascivious all sexes all ages all places full of licentious brutality above the correction of the Laws Hence springs that avarice among the Citizens and that ambition not of true glory but of dishonourable preferment which being accompanied with hatred enmity schism and dissention are commonly followed by executions banishments affliction of good men and exaltation of evil for good men depending upon their innocence and not looking abroad for any thing extroardinary either to advance or defend themselves do too often miscarry without either and become the sad objects of the cruelty of Usurpers This creates inclination to parties and increases their power ill people siding for covetousness ambition revenge or some other sinister end and good people for fear and that which renders our condition more deplorable is to behold the Contrivers and Ring-leaders of all as if a word could make them innocent and consecrate the iniquity of their actions guilding or rather decking over their ill designs with some Illustrious Title for being all enemies to liberty let them pretend as they please either to defend an Optimacy or Populacy the result must be destruction for the fruit they expect from their Victory is not the honour of having delivered their Country but the satisfaction of having mastered their enemies and usurped the dominion to themselves and being arrived at that height what is there so unjust what is there so cruel what is there so ravenous as they Hence-forward Laws are made not for publick benefit but their private advantage hence-forward War and peace and Amity is concluded not for common honour but particular humor And if the other Cities of Italy are repleat with these disorders ours is much more Our Laws our Statutes and Civil Ordinances are made according to the ambition and capricio of the Conqueror and not according to the true interest of people that would be free whence it follows that one Faction is no sooner extinguished but another succeeds for that City which would maintain it self by Faction rather than by Law can never be quiet when one party prevails and depresses its rival beyond the power
to the Magistrate that Gionnozza da Salerno with the assistance of all those who were banished was to march down with his Army against Florence and that several in the City had ingaged to take Arms in his behalf and to deliver up the Town Upon this information many were accused in the first place Piero de gli Albizi and Carlo Strozzi were named and after them Capriano Mangioni Iacopo Sacchetti Donato Barbadori Philippo Strozzi and Giovanni Anselmi all which were secured except Carlo Srozzi who escaped and that no-body might dare to take Arms for their rescue the Senate deputed Tomaso Srozzi and Benedetto Alberti with a competent number of Souldiers to secure the City The Prisoners being examined and their charge and answer compared they were found not Guilty and the Captain refused to condemn them hereupon those who were their enemies incensed the people so highly against them that in a great fury they forced the Captain to condemn them Neither could Piero de gli Albizi be excused either for the greatness of his Family or the antiquity of his Reputation he having a long time been the most feared and the most reverenced Citizen in Florence Whereupon either some of his true friends to teach him moderation in the time of his greatness or some of his enemies to check and alar'm him with the unconstancy of fortune at a great Treat which he had made for several of the Citizens sent him a salver of Comfits among which a nail was privately conveyed which being discovered in the dish and viewed by the whole Table it was interpreted as an admonishment to him to fix the wheel of his fortune for being now at the height if its rotation continued he must of necessity fall to the ground which interpretation was verified first by his fall and then by his death After this execution the City remained full of confusion both Conquerors and Conquered being affraid but the saddest effects proceeded from the jealousie of the Governors every little accident provoking them to new injuries against the Citizens by condemning admonishing or banishing them the Town to which may be added the many new Laws and Ordinances which they made to fortifie their authority which were executed with great prejudice to all such as were suspected by their party for by them 66 were commissioned with the assistance of the Senate to purge the Common-wealth of such people as they thought dangerous to the State These Commissioners admonished 39 Citizens several of the Populace and debased many of the Nobles and to oppose themselves more effectually against foreign invasions they entertained into their pay an English man called Iohn Aguto and excellent Officer and one who had commanded in Italy for the Pope and other Princes a long time Their alarms from abroad were caused by intelligence that Carlo Durazzo was raising several Companies for the invasion of the Kingdom of Naples and the Florentine Exiles joyned with him in the Expedition but to obviate that danger they provided not only what force but what mony was possible and when Carlo came with his Army to Arrezzo the Florentines being ready with fourty thousand Florines to receive him he promised he would not molest them After he had received their money he proceeded in his enterprise against Naples and having taken the Queen he sent her Prisoner into Hungary His Victory there suggested new jealousie into the Governors of Florence they could not imagine their money could have greater influence upon the King than the friendship his Family had long maintained with the Faction of the Guelfs who were undone by him Apprehensions increasing at this rate enormities increased with them which were so far from extinguishing their fears that they were exceedingly multiplied and the greater part of the City were in great discontent To make things worse the insolence of Giargio Scali and Tomaso Strozzi were added who being grown more powerful than the Magistrate every one feared lest by their conjunction with the Plebeians they should be ruined Nor did this Government seem violent and tyrannical to good men only but to the seditious and debauched for this arrogance of Giorgio's being some time or other of necessity to have an end it happened that Giovanni di Cambio was accused by one of his acquaintance for practising against the State but upon examination Cambio was found innocent by the Captain and the Judge gave sentence that the Informer should suffer the same punishment which should have been inflicted on the other had his charge been made good Giorgio interposed with his intreaties and authority to preserve him but not prevailing he and Tomaso Strozzi with a number of arm'd men rescued him by force plundered the Captains Palace and forced him to hide himself This action made the whole City detest him put his enemies upon contriving his destruction and Plotting which way they might redeem the City out of his hands and the Plebeians who for three years together had had the command of it To this design the Captain gave the opportunity for the tumult being appeased he went to the Senate and told them That he had chearfully accepted the Office to which they had elected him presuming he had served Persons of Honour and Equity who would have taken Arms to have promoted and vindicated Iustice rather than to have obstructed it but his observation and experience had acquainted him with the Governors of the City and their manner of conversation that dignity which so willingly he had taken up for the benefit of his Country to avert the danger and detriment impending he was as ready to lay down The Captain was sweetned by the Senate and much confirmed by a promise made to him of reparation for what he had suffered already and security for the future Hereupon several of them consulting with such of the Citizens as they thought greatest lovers of their Country and least suspicious to the state it was concluded that they had now a fair opportunity to redeem the City of the clutches of Giorgio and his Plebeians most people having alienated their affections from him upon his last insolence and the best way would be to improve it before they had time to reconcile for they knew the favour of the people was to be lost and gained by the least accident in the World For the better conduct of their affairs it was thought necessary that Benedetto Alberti should be drawn into the Plot without whose concurrence the enterprize would be dangerous This Benedetto was a very rich man courteous sober a true lover of his Country and one infinitely dissatisfied with the irregularity of their ways so that it was no hard matter to persuade him to any thing that might contribute to the ruine of Giorgio for that which had made him before an enemy to the Popular Nobility and the faction of the Guelfs was the insolence of the one and the tyranny of the other and afterwards finding the heads of the multitude no
better than they he forsook them likewise and all the misdemeanors and impieties which were committed after that were done without his approbation or consent so that the same reasons which inclined him to the people at first the same reasons impelled him now to desert them Having brought Benedetto and the heads of the Arts to their Lure in this manner and furnished themselves with Arms they seized upon Giorgio but Tomaso escaped The next day after he was apprehended Giorgio was beheaded with so great terror and consternation to his party that they were so far from endeavouring his rescue that all of them crowded in to behold his execution Being brought to die before those people who had so lately adored him he complained of the iniquity of his fortune and the malignity of those Citizens who by their injury and justice had constrained him to side with a multitude which was not capable either of gratitude or fidelity and discovering Benedetto in the midst of the Guards he said And can you Benedetto consent that this wrong should be done to me Were you in my place I assure you I would not suffer it but let me tell you this day is the last of my misfortunes and the first of yours After which lamenting his unhappiness in having committed his fortunes and life to the constancy of the people which is shaken by every rumor or accident or conceit he laid down his head and it was cut off in the midst of his armed and insulting enemies after him several of his confederates were executed and their bodies dragged about the streets by the people His death put the whole City into commotion for at his execution many Citizens had put themselves into Arms in favour of the Senators and the Captain of the people and some upon the dictates of their own private ambition and revenge The City being full of various humors every one had his private design which all desired to compass before they laid down their arms The ancient Nobility called Grandi could not brook that they were deprived of publick imployments and therefore set all their wits upon the tenters to recover what they had lost and arm'd upon pretence of re-investing the Captains of the Arts with their original authority The popular Nobility and the greater Arts were disgusted that the Government should be communicated to the inferior Arts and the lowest sort of the people On the other side the inferior Arts were disposed to augment not detract from their authority and the meaner sort of people were as tender and jealous of loosing their Colledges which distractions caused the City to tumultuate several times in one year sometimes the Nobility sometimes the better Trades sometimes the lesser sometimes the common people and sometimes altogether betaking to their Arms in several parts of the Town upon which many skirmishes and rencounters happened betwixt them and the Guards of the Palace the Senators contending sometimes and sometimes complying as they judged most likely to remedy those inconveniences so that after two Treaties and several Balia's created for the reformation of the City after many mischiefs and troubles and dangers they came to an agreement That all who had been imprisoned after Salvestro de Medici was made Gonfaloniere should be discharged That all dignities and pensions conferred by the Balia LXXVIII should be taken away That their honours should be restored to the Guelfs That the two new Arts should be deprived of their Incorporation and Governors and all their members and dependents disposed into the old Companies as formerly That the Gonfaloniere di Giustitia should not be elected by the lesser Arts and whereas before they had the disposition of half they should hereafter be capable but of a third part of the Offices of the City and the best of them too to be put out of their power so that the popular Nobility and the Guelfs reassumed the whole Gâ—vernment and the Commons were absolutely dispossessed after they had held it from the year 1378 to 1381. Nor was this Magistracy less injurious towards the Citizens nor less grievous in its principles than the Government of the people many of the popular Nobility who had been eminent defenders of the people interest being clap'd in prison with great numbers of the chief of the Plebeians Among which Michaele Lando was one nor could the many good Offices which he had done in the time of his authority protect him from the rage of that parry when the licentious and unrestrained multitude ruined the City so little was his Country thankful for all his great actions Into which error because many Princes and Common-wealths do frequently fall it happens that men terrified by such examples before they can be made sensible of their Princes ingratitude do fall into their displeasure These slaughters and these exilements had always and did then displease Benedetto Alberti and he both publickly and privately condemn'd them Whereupon the Government were fearful of him as believing him one of the Plebeians principal friends and one who had consented to the death of Giorgio Scali not out of any disapprobation of his conduct but that he might remain alone in authority after him By degrees his words and demeanor came to be suspicious and the party that was uppermost watch'd him very narrowly to find out some occasion to send him after Giorgio Things being in this posture at home no great action happened abroad that little which did happen was occasioned more by fear of what they might than from any prejudice that was actually sustain'd Lodovico d' Angio coming into Italy about that time to drive Carlo Durazzo out of the Kingdom of Naples and repossess the Queen Giovanna The passage of this Prince put the Florentines into no little distraction Carlo upon the old score of amity desired their assistance Lodovico like those who seek new friendships demanded their neutrality The Florentines that they might please both parties if possible to comply with Lodovico and supply Carlo discharged Aguto from their service and recommended him to Pope Urban who was a professed enemy to Carlo which artifice was easily discovered by Lodovico and he thought himself much injured thereby While the War continued in Puglia betwixt Lodovic and Charles supplies were sent out of France to reinforce Lodovico which Forces being arrived in Tuscany were conducted to Arezzo by those who were banished out of that Town where they removed all those who were of Charles his party and just as they design'd the same measures against Florence as they had taken against Arezzo Lodovic died and the affairs of Puglia and Tuscany followed his fate for Charles secur'd himself of his Kingdom which he thought he had lost and the Florentines who were not sure to defend their own bought Arezzo of those who had kept it for Lodovic Charles having secured himself of Puglia departed for Hungaria which Kingdom was by inheritance descended to him leaving his Wife behind him
in Puglia with Ladislao and Giovanna two of his children as shall be shewn more fully Carlo possessed himself of Hungary but died shortly after hower his Conquest of that Country was so grateful an exploit to the Florentines that never greater expressions of joy were made for any victory of their own as appeared as well by publick as private magnificence many Families keeping open houses and feasting exceedingly but none with that pomp and extravagance as the Family of the Alberti the provision and ostentation of whose entertainments were fitter for the condition of a Prince than for a private person Which extravagance gained him much envy and that being seconded by a jealousie in the Government that Benedetto had designs against it was the occasion of its destruction for they could not be safe whilst they thought it might fall out every day that he reconciling himself with the people might turn them out of the City as he pleased Things being at this uncertainty it happened that he being Gonfaloniere delle Compagnie his Son in Law Philippo Magalotti was made Gonfaloniere di Giustitia which accident redoubled the apprehension of the Governors as thinking Benedetto grew upon them so fast their authority must of necessity decline but desirous to remedy it what they could and if possible without a tumult they encouraged Bese Magalotte his enemy and competitor to acquaint the Senate that Philippo not being of age for the execution of that Office he could not nor ought not enjoy it and the cause being heard in the Senate Philippo was adjudged incapable of that Dignity and Bardo Mancini succeeded in his place a person fiercely against the faction of the people and a perfect enemy to Benedetto Having entred upon his Office he called a Balia for reformation of the State which Balia inprisoned Benedetto Alberti and banished all the rest of his Family only Antonio was excepted Before he was carried away Benedetto called all his friends together to take his leave of them and finding them sad and the tears in their eyes he spake to them as follows You see Gentlemen in what manner fortune has ruin'd me and threatned you I do not wonder at it nor indeed ought it to be strange to you seeing it so happens always to them who among ill men are studious of being good or sollicitous of sustaining that which all people are desirous to pull down The love to my Country associated me first with Salvestro de Medici and the same love divided me afterwards from Giorgio Scali it is nothing but that and the injustice of their proceedings which have made me hate those who are now at the Stern who as they have had no-body that could punish them so they are desirous to leave no-body to reprehend them I am content with my banishment to free them of the fear they have conceived not only of me but of all that are sensible of their Tyranny and injustice For my self I am not so much concern'd the honours conferred upon me when my Country was free I can quietly relinquish whilst it is in servitude and bondage and the memory of my past condition will give me more pleasure than the infelicity of my present can give me regret My greatest affliction will be to consider my Country is become a prey to particular men and exposed to their insolence and rapine it troubles me likewise for you lest those evils which this day are consummated in me and but commencing in you should prove greater detriment to you than they have done to me however comfort your selves bear up against any misfortune and carry your selves so that if things happen adversly as doubtless they will it may appear to all people that you were innocent and that they succeeded without the least fault or contribution of yours Afterwards to give as great testimony of his virtue abroad as he had done at home he went to the Sepulchre of our Saviour and in his return back died at Rhodes His bones were brought back to Florence and buried with great solemnity by those very people who pursued him whilst he was living with all the calumny and injustice imaginable nor were the Alberti the only sufferers in these distractions many Families beside that were admonished and imprisoned Among the rest there were Piero Benini Matteo Alderotti Giovanni e Francesco del Bene Giovanni Benchi Andrea Adimari and with them several of the lesser Artificers Among them which were admonished were the Covoni the Benini the Rinucoi the Formiconi the Corbizi the Manelli and the Alderotti The Balia was by custom created for a precise time and being now in the execution of these Citizens who were fairly elected having done what they could for the satisfaction of the State they desired to lay down though their time was not critically expir'd which the people understanding many of them ran with their Arms to the Palace crying out there were several more to be admonished and several more to be imprisoned before they renounced The Senate was much displeased but entertained them with fair promises till they had fortified themselves so as they were able to make them lay by those Arms for fear which in their rage they had taken up nevertheless to comply in some proportion with the fierceness of the humour and lessen the Authority of the Plebeian Artificers it was ordered that whereas the third part of the Offices of the City were in their hands before they should now be reduced to a fourth part only and that there might always be two of the most trusty and faithful persons to the State in the Senate authority was given to the Gonfaloniere di Giustitia and four other Citizens to put a certain number of select mens names into a purse out of which at every meeting of the Senate two were to be drawn Affairs thus setled in the year 1381 the City continued quiet within till 1393 in which year Giovan Galeazzo Visconti called the Comte di Vertu took his Uncle Barnabo prisoner and made himself by that Master of all Lombardy This Comte di Vertu had an opinion he could make himself King of Italy by force as easily as he had made himself Duke of Milan by fraud so that in the year 1390 he began a War upon the Florentines which though prosecuted with variety of fortune on both sides yet the Duke was many times in danger to have ruined Florence and doubtless had ruined it had not it been prevented by his death However their defence was couragious as might be expected from a Republick and the end of the War less unhappy than the course of it had been dreadful for when the Duke had taken Bologna Pisa Perugia and Siena and prepared a Crown to be crowned King of Italy in Florence he died in the nick and his death permitted him not to taste the pleasures of his past Victories nor the Florentines to feel the calamities which would have followed
him they proposed it to their brethren who were all of opinion that innovations are not to be attempted where the success is doubtful and the danger inevitable Whereupon Donato having tryed all ways in vain in his passion caused it to be told them that seeing they would not permit the City to be reformed by fair means it should be done by foul which words being highly resented the Senate communicating the whole business with the principal Governors cited Donato who upon his appearance being confronted and convicted by the person to whom he dilivered his message he was committed to custody and confined to Barlette With him were imprisoned Alamanno and Antonio de Medici with all which were descended of Alamanno's Family and several others of the more inferior Arts that were in reputation with the people All these things happened within two years after Maso had reassumed the Government The City remaining in this posture many discontents at home and many exiles abroad there chanc'd to be at Bologna among the banished men Piccho Cavicciulli Tomaso de Ricci Antonio de Medici Benedetto de gli Spini Antonio Girolami Christofano di Carlone with two more of inferior condition all of them young brisk and disposed to encounter any difficulty that hindred their return to their Country To these it was privately signified by Piggiello and Baroccio Cavicciulli who at the same time were admonished in Florence that if they would come into the Town they would convey them into an house from whence they might kill Maso de gli Albizi and call the people to Arms who being discontented would be easily provoked and the rather because they would be headed by the Ricci Adimari Medici Menelli and several other considerable Families Allured by these hopes on the fourth of August 1397 they arrived privately in Florence and being disposed of according to agreement they sent out to observe the motions of Maso by whose death they presumed they should raise a tumult among the people Maso was gone out and by accident in an Apothecary's shop not far from San Piero Maggiore the messenger that was to set him seeing of him there repaired immediately to his Comrades to give them information who taking their swords ran directly to the place but he was gone Not at all discouraged with their first miscarriage they turned towards the old Market where they killed one of their adversaries Upon which a great noise being raised and a clamor of the people crying out Arm Liberty Arm let the Tyrants die they marched towards the new Market where near the Calimara they slew another and so going forward with the same shout and out-cry no-body taking Arms they stopped in the Loggia della Nighitosa and mounting there upon the highest place they could find the multitude being round about them but come rather to stare than assist they exhorted them to take Arms and free themselves from a bondage which so highly they abhorr'd they assured them the complaints and lamentations of such as were oppressed in the City had moved them to endeavour their liberty and not any private injury to themselves that they were sensible they had the prayers of many good people that God would give opportunity to their designs Had they had an Head to have commanded them it was believed they would have succeeded at any time but now occasion was offered and they had Captains enough to conduct them they stood gaping upon one another expecting like sots till those persons who endeavoured their freedom were knock'd on the head and their slavery redoubled They could not likewise but marvel that they who upon the least injury were heretofore ready to take Arms should not stir now upon so great and numerous provocations but suffer so many of their Citizens to be banished and admonished when it was in their power to restore the one to their Country and the other to their Offices These words how true soever moved not the multitude in the least either because they were affraid or else because the death of the two persons which were killed had made the murderers odious so that the founders of the tumult perceiving that neither words nor actions would work any thing understanding too late how dangerous it is to enterprize the liberty of a people that are resolved to be slaves and despairing of success they retreated into the Church of S. Reparata not to secure their lives but to protract their deaths Upon the first noise of this tumult the Senate had arm'd and caused the Palace to be shut up but when they heard what the business was who were the Authors and what was become of them they took courage and commanded the Captain with what Fortes he could get to go and apprehend them which was no hard matter to perform for the Church-doors being broken open and part of them slain the rest were taken prisoners who upon examination confessed nothing but that Baroccio and Piggiello Cavicciulli were the only incendiaries and they were both of them killed After this accident there happened another of greater importance About this time as we said before the City had Wars with the Duke of Milan who finding open force was not like to prevail applyed himself to artifice and by the help of the Florentine exiles of which Lombardy was full he procured a treaty with several in the Town in which it was concluded that at a certain day from the nearest places to Florence they could contrive the greatest part of the Exiles which were able to bear Arms should pass by the river Arnus into the City and then joyning suddenly with their friends within should run to the Palace of the Senate and other houses of the chief Officers and having slain them model and reform afterwards as they pleased Among the Conspirators in the Town there was one of the Ricci called Samminiato who as it falls out in most plots where few are not sufficient and many not secure seeking for a companion found an informer for imparting the business to Salvestro Cavicciulli whose own injuries as well as his relations might have made him more faithful he post-poning his future hopes to his present fear discovered all to the Senate Whereupon Samminiato being seized they extorted the whole process of the Conspiracy but of his accomplices no-body was taken but one Tomaso Davisi who coming from Bologna not knowing what was happened in Florence was apprehended by the way before he got thither all the rest upon the imprisonment of Samminiato fled away in great fear and dispersed Samminiato and Tomaso being punished according to the quality of their offence a new Balia was made of several Citizens and authority given them to inquire farther after delinquents and to secure the State This Balia proclaimed Rebels 6 of the Family of the Ricci 6 of the Alberti 2 of the Medici 3 of the Scali 2 of the Strozzi Bindo Altoviti Bernardo Adimari and several others of meaner condition
concluded abroad the War was transplanted and broke out at home The Grandees of the City could not digest the Catasto and not seeing any way of suppressing it they contriv'd ways of incensing the people against it that they might have more Companions to oppose it They remonstrated therefore to the Officers for collection that they were to search and Catastat the goods of the Neighbouring Towns lest any of the Florentine goods should be conveyed thither Whereupon all that were Subjects to that City were requir'd to bring In Inventories of their goods within a certain time But the Volterrani complaining to the Senate incensed the Officers so highly they put eighteen of them in Prison This action provok'd the Volterrani exceedingly but the regard they had for their Prisoners kept them at present from any commotion About this time Giovanni de Medici fell Sick and finding his Sickness to be mortal he call'd his Sons Cosimo and Lorenzo to him and said I suppose the time that God and Nature allotted me at my Birth is now expir'd I die contented leaving you rich and healthful and honourable if you follow my footsteps and instruction and indeed nothing makes my Death so easie and quiet to me as the thought that I have been so far from injuring or disobliging any Person that I have done them all the good offices I was able and the same course I recommend to you For matter of Office and Government if you would live happy and secure my advice is you accept what the Laws and the people confer upon you that will create you neither envy nor danger for 't is not what is given that makes men Odious but what is usurp'd and you shall always find greater number of those who encroaching upon other peoples interest ruine their own at last and in the mean time live in perpetual disquiet With these arts among so many factions and enemies I have not only preserv'd but augemented my reputation in this City if you follow my example you may maintain and increase yours But if neither my example nor persuasion can keep you from other ways your ends will be no happier than several others who in my memory have destroy'd both themselves and their Families Not long after he died and was infinitly lamented by the greatest part of the City as indeed his good qualities deserv'd for he was charitable to the height not only relieving such as he ask'd but preventing the modesty of such as he thought poor and supplying them without it He loved all People the good the Commended the bad he Commiserated He sought no Office and went through them all He never went to the Palace but invited He was a lover of Peace and an Enemy to War He reliev'd those who were in adversity and those who were in prosperity he assisted He was no friend to publick extortion and yet a great argumenter of Common Stock Courteous in all his imployments not very eloquent but solid and judicious His complexion appear'd melancholy but in company he was pleasant and facetious He died rich especially in Love and Reputation and the inheritance of all descended upon his Son Cosimo The Volterrani were weary of their Imprisonment and to recover their liberties promis'd to condescend to what was requir'd Being discharg'd and return'd to Volterra the time for the new Priori's entrance into the Magistracy arriv'd and one Giusto a Plebeian but a Man of good interest among them was chosen in the place Having been one of those who were imprison'd at Florence he had conceiv'd a mortal hatred against the Florentines and it was much increas'd by the instigation of one Giovanni a Person of Noble extraction who being in Authority with him at the same time persuaded him that by the authority of the Priori and his own interest he would stir up the People to rescue themselves from their dependance upon Florence and afterwards make himself Prince upon this incouragement Giusto took Arms possess'd himself of the Town imprison'd the Florentine Governor and by consent of the people made himself Lord. The news of these revolutions in Volterra was not at all pleasing to the Florentines But their peace being made with the Duke and their Articles sign'd they thought they had leisure enough to recover that Town and to lose no time they made Rinaldo de gli Albizi and Palla Strozzi Commissioners and sent them thither out of hand Guisto suspecting the Florentines would assault him sent to Sienna and Lucca for relief The Siennesi refus'd him alledging they were in League with the Florentine and Pagolo Guinigi who was then Lord of Lucca to reingratiate with the people of Florence whose favour he had lost in their Wars with the Duke not only deny'd his assistance to Giusto but sent his Embassador Prisoner to Florence The Commissioners to surprize the Volterrani before they were aware assembled what strength they had of their own rais'd what foot they could in the lower Val d' Arno and the territory of Pisa and march'd towards Volterra Giusto discourag'd neither by the desertion of his Neighbours nor the approach of the Enemy rely'd upon the situation and strength of the Town and prepar'd for his defence There was at that time in Volterra one Arcolano a Brother of that Giovanni who had persuaded Giusto to take the Government upon him a Person of good credit among the Nobility This Arcolano having got several of his Confidents together he remonstrated to them how God Almighty by this accident had reliev'd the necessities of their City for if they would take Arms with him remove Giusto from the Government and deliver all up to the Florentines they should not only have their old priviledges confirm'd but be themselves made the chief Officers of the Town Having consented to the design they repair'd immediatly to the Palace where Giusto resided and leaving the rest below Arcolano with three more went up into the dining-room where they found him with other Citizens they pretended to speak with him about business of importance and having in the variety of their discourse drill'd him to another Chamber Arcolano and his accomplices fell upon him with their Swords but they were not so nimble but Giusto had the opportunity to draw his and wound two of them before he fell himself yet his destiny being unavoidable he was kill'd and thrown out into the Palace yard Wherupon those who were Confederate with Arcolano taking Arms they deliver'd up the Town to the Florentine Commissioners who were not far off with their Army The Commissioners march'd directly into the Town without any Capitulation so that then the condition of the Volterrani was worse than before for among other things a great part of their Country was dismembred and the Town it self reduc'd to a Vicariata Volterra being in this manner lost and recover'd at the same time there had been no danger of new War had not the ambition of some
this City diffuse the story of our sufferings all over Italy we have waved â—nd declin'd it thinking it unjust to asperse so Noble so Charitable a Common-wealth with the cruelty and dishonour of a Barbarous Citizen whose insatiable avarice had we known or could have but suspected before we had try'd it we would have strain'd and and forc'd our selves to have gorg'd it though indeed it has neither bounds nor bottom and by that means if possible preserv'd part of our Estates by sacrificing the rest But that being too late we have address'd our selves most humbly to your Lordships begging that ye should releive the infelicity of your Subjects that other People may not by our president be terrifi'd or discourag'd from committing themselves under your Empire and Dominion If the infinite and unsupportable injuries we have suffer'd be too weak or few to procure your compassion yet let the fear of God's displeasure prevail whose Temples have been plundr'd and burn'd and his People betraid in the very bowles of his Churches And having said thus they threw themselves before them upon the ground yelling and imploring that they might be reposess'd of their Estates and their Country and that their Lordships would take care seeing their reputation was irrecoverable that at least the Wives might be restored to their Husbands and the Children to their Parents The cruelty and inhumanity of his behaviour having been understood before and now particularly related by the sufferers themselves wrought so highly upon the Magistrates that immediately they Commanded Astorre back from the Army casheir'd him and made him afterwards incapable of any Command They caus'd inquisition likewise to be made after the goods of the Saravezesi such as were found were restor'd what could be found was repriz'd afterwards by the City as opportunity was offer'd Rinaldo de gli Albizi was accus'd on the other side for managing the War not so much for the publick profit of his Country as for his own it was objected against him that from the very hour of his Commission he laid aside all thoughts of reducing Lucca and design'd no farther than to plunder the Country to fill his own pastures with other Peoples Cattel and furnish his own houses with other Peoples goods That his own Bokty and his Officers being too little to satisfie him he barter'd and bought the plunder of his common Soldiers and of a General made himself a Merchant These calumniations being come to his ears netled his honest but haughty mind more perhaps than a wise Man would have suffer'd them to do However they disturb'd him so that in a rage both against Magistrate and City without expecting or so much as desiring leave he return'd upon the spur to Florence presented himself before the Ten and told them That he now found how difficult and dangerous it was to serve an unconstant People and a divided City the one entertain'd all reports and believ'd them The other punish'd what was amiss condemn'd what was uncertain but rewarded nothing that was done well So that if you overcome no body thanks you if you mistake every body blames you if you miscarry every body reproaches you either your friends persecute you for emulation or your Enemies for Malice However for his part he had never for fear of Scandal or imputation omitted any thing which he judg'd might be of certain advantage to his Country But that now indeed the baseness of the calumnies under which at present he lay had master'd his patience and chang'd his whole Nature Wherefore he beg'd the Magistrates would for the future be more ready to justifie their officers that they might act with more alacrity for the good of their Country And that seeing in Florence no Triumph was to be expected that they at least would concern themselves so far as to secure them from obloquy He admonish'd them likewise to reflect that they themselves were officers of the same City and by consequence every hour lyable to such slanders as may give them to understand how great trouble and disquiet honest Men conceive at such false accusations The Ten endeavour'd to pacifie him as much as the time would allow but transfer'd his command upon Neri di Gino and Alamanno Salviati who instead of rambling and harrasing the Country advanced with their Army and block'd up the Town The season being cold the Army was lodg'd at Capanole the new Generals thinking the time long had a mind to be nearer and encamp before the Town but the Souldier objected the ill weather and would not consent though the Ten sent them positive orders to that purpose and would not hear of excuse There was at that time resident in Florence a most excellent Architect call'd Philip the the Son of Brunelesco of whose Workmanship this City is so full that after his Death he deserv'd to have his statute set up in Marble in the principal Church of the Town with an inscription under it to testifie his great excellence to the Reader This Philip upon consideration of the banks of the River Scrchio and the situation of the Town had found out a way to drown it This invention he imparted to the Ten and so convinc'd them that by their order experiment was to be made which was done but it turn'd more to the prejudice of our camp than to the detriment of the Town For the Lucchesi perceiving the design heighten'd and strengthned their banks one that part where the river was to overflow and afterwards taking their opportunity one night they brake down the sluice which was made to turn the water upon them so that their banks being firm and high and the banks towards the plain open it overflowed their Camp and forc'd them to remove This design miscarrying the Ten call'd home their Commissioners and sent Giovanni Guiccardini to command the Army in their stead who clap'd down before the Town and straiten'd it immediately Finding himself distress'd the Governor of the Town upon the incouragement of Antonio dell Rosso a Sienese who was with him as resident from the Town of Sienna sent Salvestro Trenta and Lodovico Bonvisi to the Duke of Milan to desire he would relieve him Finding him cold in the business they entreated him privately that he would at least send them supplies and promis'd him from the People that as soon as they were arriv'd they would deliver both Lord and Town into their hands assuring him that if this resolution were not suddenly taken their Lord would surrender it to the Florentines who had tempted him with several fair proffers The fear of that made the Duke lay aside all other respects wherefore he caus'd the Conte Francesco Sforza his General publickly to desire leave to march with his forces into the Kingdom of Naples and having obtain'd it he went with his Troops to Lucca notwithstanding the Florentines upon notice of his transaction sent to the Conte Boccaccinor Alamanni their friend to prevent it Francesco having
gli Albizi Ridolfo Peruzzi Nicolo Barbadori Palla Strozzi and so great a number of other Citizens that there was scarce a Town in Italy but had some of their exiles besides several which were banish'd into foreign Countries So by this and such accidents as these Florence was impoverish'd in its wealth and industry as well as inhabitants The Pope beholding the destruction of those Men who by his intercession had laid down their Arms was much troubled complained heavily to Rinaldo of their violence exhorted him to patience and to expect submissively till his fortune should turn To whom Rinaldo made this answer The smal confidence they had in me who ought to have beleiv'd me and the too great conâ—idence I had in you has been the ruine of me and my party But I hold my self more culpable than any body for believing that you who had been driven out of your own Country could keep me in mine Of the vicissitudes and uncertainty of fortune I have had experience enough I have never presum'd in its prosperity and adversity shall never deject me knowing that when she pleases she can take about and indulge me if she continues her severity and never smiles upon me more I shall not much value it esteeming no great happiness to live in a City where the Laws are of less authority than the passions of particular men For might I have my choice that should be my Country where I may securely enjoy my fortune and friends not that where the first is easily sequester'd and the latter to preserve his own Estate will forsake me in my greatest necessity To wise and good men 't is always less ungrateful to hear at a distance than to be a spectator of the miseries of his Country and more honorable they think to be an honest Rebel than a servile Citizen Having said thus he tooke his leave of the Pope and complaining often to himself of his own Counsels and the cowardice of his friends â—in great indignation he left the City and went into banishment On the otherside Cosimo having notice of his restauration return'd to Florence where he was received with no less ostentation and triumph than if he had obtain'd some extraordinary Victory so great was the concourse of people and so high the demonstration of their joy that by an unanimous and universal concurrence he was saluted The Benefactor of the people and the Father of their Country THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE Book V. GOvernments in the variations which most commonly happen to them do proceed from order to confusion and that confusion afterwards turns to order again For Nature having fixed no sublunary things as soon as they arrive at their achme and perfection being capable of no further ascent of necessity they decline So on the other side when they are reduced to the lowest pitch of disorder having no farther to descend they recoil again to their former perfection good Laws degenerating into bad customs and bad customs ingendring good Laws For virtue begets peace peace begets idleness idleness mutiny and mutiny destruction and then vice versa that ruine begets Laws those Laws virtue and virtue begets honour and good success Hence it is as wise men have observed that Learning is not so ancient as Arms and that in all Provinces as well as Cities there were Captains before Philosophers and Souldiers before Scholars For good and well conducted Arms having gotten the victory at first and that victory quiet The courage and magnanimity of the Souldier could not be depraved with a more honourable sort of idleness than the desire of learning nor could idleness be introduced into any well-governed City by a more bewitching and insinuating way This was manifest to Cato when Diogenes and Carneades the Philosophers were sent Embassadors from Athens to the Senate who observing the Roman youth to be much taken with their doctrine and following them up and down with great admiration foreseeing the ill consequences that honest laziness would bring upon his Country he obtain'd a Law that no Philosopher should be admitted into Rome All Governments therefore do by these means some time or other come to decay and when once at the lowest and mens sufferings have made them wiser they rebound again and return to their first order unless they be supprest and kept under by some extraordinary force These vicissitudes and revolutions first by means of the Tuscans and then of the Romans kept Italy unsettled and rendered it sometimes happy and sometimes miserable and although nothing was afterwards erected out of the Roman ruines comparable to what was before which nevertheless might have been done with great glory under a virtuous Prince yet in some of the new Cities and Governments such sprouts of Roman virtue sprung up that though they did not usurp upon one another yet they lived so amicably and orderly together that they not only defended themselves but repelled the Barbarians Among these Governments was the Florentine though perhaps inferior in circumference of territory yet in power and authority equal to any of them for being seated in the heart of Italy rich and ready upon all occasions they defended themselves bravely when ever they were invaded or brought the victory to their allies where-ever they sided If therefore by reason of the courage of those new Principalities the times were not altogether quiet yet the severity of the War did not make them insupportable For that cannot be called Peace where the Governments clash and invade one another nor that War in which no men are slain no Towns pillaged nor no Government destroyed The Wars of those times were begun without fear carried on without danger and concluded without detriment Insomuch that that virtue which used to be extinguisht in other Provinces by means of a long peace was spent and exhausted in Italy by the faintness of the war as will be more conspicuous by our description of the occurrences betwixt 1434 and 1494. In which it will appear how at length a new way was opened to the excursions of the Barbarians and Italy relapsed into its old servitude and bondage And if the actions of our Governors both at home and abroad be not to be read as the actions of our Ancestors with so much wonder and admiration of their courage and grandeur Yet in other respects they may seem as considerable seeing how many Noble and great people have been restrained and kept under by their Arms how weak and ill managed however And though in our description we make no mention of the fortitude of the Souldier the conduct of the Captains nor the love of the Citizen towards his Country yet we shall discover what cheats what cunning and what arts were used by both Princes Souldiers and Citizens to preserve a reputation which they never deserved And this perhaps may be as worthy our knowledg as the wisdom and conduct of old for if the examples of Antiquity do teach us what to follow our
more modern transactions will tell us what to avoid Italy by those who commanded it was reduced into such a condition that when by agreements of the Princes a Peace was made up it was presently interrupted by those who had Arms in their hands so that they neither gained honour by their Wars nor quiet by their Peace A Peace being concluded betwixt the Duke of Milan and the League in the year 1433 the Soldiers unwilling to disband turned the War upon the Church These Souldiers were at that time of two Factions the Braccescan and the Sforzescan Faction Of this latter Conte Francesco the son of Sforza was Captain the first was commanded by Nicolo Piccinino and Nicolo Forte Braccio To these two parties all the rest of the Souldiers in Italy joyned themselves Of the two Sforza's party was most considerable as well for the courage of their Conte as for a promise the Duke of Milan had made him to give him in Marriage a natural daughter of his called Madona Bianca the probability of which alliance gained him great reputation After the Peace of Lombardy was concluded both these parties upon several pretended occasions turned their Arms against Eugenius the Pope Nicolo Forte Braccio was moved by an old animosity Braccio had always retained to the Church The Conte was spurr'd on by his ambition Nicolo assaulted Rome and the Conte possessed himself of la Marca whereupon the Romans to evade the War turned Eugenius out of Rome who fled to Florence though with no little danger and difficulty Being arrived there upon consideration of the danger he was in and that he was deserted by all the Princes who reâ—used upon his score to take up those Arms again which so lately and so willingly they laid down made his Peace with the Conte and gave him the Signorie of la Marca though the Conte had added insolence to his usurpation and in his Letters to his Agents dated them in Latin as they do frequently in Italy Ex Girifalco nostro Firmiano invito Petro Paulo But not contented with the Grant of that Country he would needs be created Gonfaloniere of the Church and the Pope condescended so much â—id his Holiness perfer an ignominious Peace before dangerous War The Conte upon these terms became a friend to the Pope and converted his Arms against Nicolo Forte Braccio betwixt whom for many Months together several accidents happened in the territory of the Church so that which side soever prevailed the Pope and his Subjects suffered more than those that managed the War At length by the mediation of the Duke of Milan an agreement in the nature of a Truce was concluded betwixt them by which both of them remained Masters of several Towns in the Patrimony of the Church The War was in this manner extinguished in Rome but it brake out again presently in Romagna by the means of Battista da Canneto who had caused certain of the Family of the Grifoni in Bologna to be assassinated and drove out the Pope's Governor and many others which he suspected to be his enemies to keep by force what he had got by surprize he address'd himself to Philippo for aid and the Pope to countermine him and revenge the injuries he had received applied to the Venetian and Florentine Both parties being supplied there were two great Armies in Romagna of a sudden Philp's Auxiliaries were commanded by Nicolo Piccinino The Venetian and Florentine by Gattamelata and Nicolo da Tolentino Not far from Imola they came to a Battel in which the Venetians and Florentines were defeated and Nicolo da Tolentino sent Prisoner to the Duke where he died in a few days either by Poison or grief The Duke being either impoverished by the War or apprehending this Victory would quiet the League followed not his advantage but gave the Pope and his Confederates opportunity to recruit who choosing the Conte Francesco for their General they sent him to drive Forte Braccio out of the Lands of the Church and to try if they could put an end to that War which they had begun in favour of the Pope The Romans seeing his Holiness in the field again and his Army considerable they desired to be reconciled and having concluded the terms they received a Governor from him Among other Towns Nicolo Forte Braccio had possessed himself of Fiboli Montefiasconi the City of Castello and Ascesi not being able to keep the field Nicolo was retreated into this latter Town and besieged by the Conte The siege proving long by the braveness of Nicolo's defence the Duke began to cast about and consider he must either hinder the League from carrying the Town or look to himself as soon as it was taken To give the Conte therefore diversion he commanded Nicolo Piccinino by the way to Romagna to pass into Tuscany whereupon the League judging the defence of Tuscany of more importance than the reducing of Ascesi they sent to the Conte to stop Piccinino's passage who was at that time with his Army at Furli Upon these orders the Conte raised his siege and marched with his Forces to Cesena having left the War of la Marca and the care of his own affairs to the management of his Brother Lione Whilst Piccinino was labouring to pass and Francesco to obstruct him Nicolo Forte Braccio fell upon Lione and with great honour to himself took him Prisoner plundered his people and following his blow took several Towns in la Marca at the same excursion This news was very unwelcome to the Conte who gave all his own Country for lost nevertheless leaving part of his Army to confront Piccinino he marched himself against Forte Braccio with the rest forc'd him to an engagement and beat him In which defeat Forte Braccio was hurt taken prisoner and died of his wounds This Victory recovered all that Nicolo Forte Braccio had taken from him and forced the Duke of Milan to desire a peace which he obtained by the mediation of Nicolo da Esti Marqeuss of Ferrara by which it was agreed that the Towns which the Duke had got in Romagna should be restored and his Forces withdrawn into Lombardy and Battista da Caneto as it happens to those who owe their dominion to the courage or power of other people as soon as the Duke's Forces were drawn off despairing to remain in Bologna upon his own legs quitted the Town and left it to re-admit its old Governor Antonio Bentivogli who was chief of the contrary party All these things succeeded during the banishment of Cosimo upon whose return those persons who were active in his restauration and those who had suffered more than ordinarily before concluded without regard to any body else to secure themselves of all the Offices in the State The Senate which succeeded for the months of November and December not satisfied with what their predecessors had done in favour of their party they lengthned the time changed the places of several
to purpose and recommend what is to be debated and resolved upon by the Magistrates in the Council In the same City there are many Noble Families so mighty and potent they are not without difficulty to be brought to any obedience to the Magistrate Of all those Families the Tregosi and Adorni are most powerful and wealthy and from them spring all the divisions of the City and all the contempt of the Laws for differing perpetually among themselves and pretending both to the Dogeship they are not contented to have it fairly decided but came many times to blows by which as one is set up the other is always depressed and sometimes it fals out that that party which is over-power'd and unable to carry that Office otherwise calls in foreign assistance and prostitutes that Government which they cannot enjoy themselves to the dominion of a stranger By this means it comes often to pass that they who have the Government in Lombardy have the command of Genoa likewise as it happened at the time when Alphonso was taken prisoner Among the principal Citizens of Genoa who caused that City to be delivered into the hands of the Duke Francisco Spinola was one who not long after he had been very active to enslave his Country became suspected to the Duke as it often happens in those cases Francisco being highly dissatisfied left the Town and by a kind of voluntary exile had his residence at Caietta being there at that time when the engagement was with Alphonso and having behav'd himself very well in it he presumed he had again merited so much favour from the Duke as to be permitted to live quietly in Genoa but finding the Duke's jealousie to continue as not believing he that had betrayed his Country could ever be true to him he resolved to try a new experiment to restore his Country to its liberty and himself to his honour and security at once believing no remedy could be administred so properly to his fellow Citzens as by the same hand which gave them their wound Observing therefore the general indignation against the Duke for having delivered the King he concluded it a convenient time to put his designs in execution and accordingly he communicated his resolutions with certain Persons which he had some confidence were of the same opinion and encouraged them to follow him It happened to be S. Iohn Baptist's day which is a great Festival in that City when Arismino a new Governor sent them from the Duke made his entry into Genoa Being entred into the Town in the Company of Opicino his predecessor in the Government and other considerable Citizens Francisco Spinola thought it no time to protract but running forth Armed into the streets with such as were before privy to his design he drew them up in the Piazza before his house and cryed out Liberty Liberty 'T is not to be imagined with what alacrity the people and Citizens ran to him at that very name insomuch that if any out of interest or other consideration retain'd an affection for the Duke they were so far from having time to arm and make defence they had scarce leisure to escape Arismino with some of the Genoeses of his party fled into the Castle which was kept for the Duke Opicino presuming he might get thither fled towards the Palace where he had 2000 men at his command with which he supposed he might not only be able to secure himself but to animate the people to a defence but he reckoned without his Host for before he could reach it he was knock'd on the head torn in pieces by the multitude and his members drag'd about the Streets After this the Genoeses having put themselves under new Magistrates and Officers of their own the Castle and all other posts which were kept for the Duke were reduced and the City perfectly freed from its dependance on the Duke these things thus managed though at first they gave the Princes of Italy occasion to apprehend the growing greatness of the Duke yet now observing their conclusion they did not despair of being able to curb him and therefore notwithstanding their late League with him the Florentines Venetians and Genoeses made a new one among themselves Whereupon Rinaldo de gli Albizi and the other chief Florentine Exiles seeing the face of affairs altered and all things tending to confusion they conceived hopes of persuading the Duke to a War against Florence and going upon that design to Milan Rinaldo accosted the Duke as followeth If we who have been formerly your Enemies do now with confidence supplicate your assistance for our return into our own Country neither your Highness nor any body else who considers the Progress of humane affairs and the volubility of fortune ought at all to be surprized seeing both of our pass'd and present actions of what we have done formerly to your self and of what we intend now to our Country we can give a clear and a reasonable account No good man will reproach another for defending his Country which way soever he defends it Nor was it ever our thoughts to injure you but to preserve our Country which will be evident if you consider how in the greatest stream of our victories and success we no sooner found your Highness dispos'd to a peace but we readily embraced it and pursued it with more eagerness than your self so that as yet we are not conscious to our selves of any thing that may make us doubt of your favour Neither can our Country in justice complain that we are now pressing and importuning your Highness to imploy those Arms against it when we have obstinately oppos'd them before in its defence for that Country ought equally to be beloved by all which is equally indulgent to all and not that which despising the rest advances and admires only a few No-body maintains it unlawful in all cases to bear Arms against ones Country Cities are mix'd bodies yet have they their resemblance with natural bodies and as in these many diseases grow which are not to be cur'd without violence so in the other many times such inconveniences arise that a charitable and good Citizen would be more criminal to leave it infirm than to cure it though with amputation and the loss of some of its members What greater distemper can befal a politick body than servitude And what more proper remedy can be applyed than that which will certainly remove it Wars are just when they are necessary and Arms are charitable when there is no other hopes left to obtain justice I know not what necessity can be greater than ours nor what act of charity more commendable than to wrest our Country out of the jaws of slavery Our cause then being both just and charitable ought not to be slighted either by us or your Highness though it were only in compassion But your Highness has your particular provocation besides the Florentines having had the confidence after a peace
Grecians condescended and complyed with the Church and Bishop of Rome The peace betwixt the Lucchesi and the Florentines and betwixt the Duke and the Conte being concluded it was thought no hard matter to put an end to the Wars of Italy especially in Lombardy in Tuscany for the War in the Kingdom of Naples betwixt Rinato di Angio and Alphonso d' Aragona was hardly to be compos'd but by the ruine of one of them and though the Pope was discontented for the loss of so many Towns and the ambition of the Duke and Venetian was sufficiently known yet it was suppos'd necessity would force the one of lay down and weariness the other but they were out in their conjectures for neither Duke nor Venetian could be persuaded to be quiet but on the contrary they took Arms afresh and Lombardy and Tuscany was filled again with their Hostilities The ambitious and haughty mind of the Duke could not brook that the Venetians should keep Bergamo and Brescia and the rather because he observ'd them always in Arms perpetually making incursions all over his Country in which he thought he should not only restrain them but recover all he had lost when ever the Pope the Florentines and the Conte should desert them he designed therefore to take Romagna from the Pope supposing when he had gained that it would not be in his Holiness Power to offend him and the Florentines seeing the fire at their own doors would not stir for fear of themselves or if they did they could not assault him conveniently The Duke understood likewise how angry the Florentines were with the Venetians about the business of Lucca and upon that score concluded them the less likely to take up arms for the Venetians and as to Conte Francesco he did not doubt his new amity and the hopes of his marriage would keep him quiet and safe To prevent Scandal and give less occasion to any Body to stir having oblig'd himself by his Articles with the Conte not to meddle with Romagna he caus'd Nicolo Piccinino to take the enterprize upon himself and fall upon it as of his own ambition and avarice Nicolo at the time of the treaty betwixt the Duke and the Conte was in Romagna and by the Dukes direction shew'd himself much dissatisfied at his agreement with his implacable adversary the Conte Whereupon he retired with his Army in great discontent as was pretended to Camurata a Town betwixt Furli and Ravenna and fortified himself as if he designed to make good that Quarter till he could find some better entertainment and the report of his disgust being spread all over Italy Nicolo took order to have his services and the Dukes ingratitude remonstrated to the Pope and that though by the enterest of two of the principal Generals he had got all the forces of Italy under his command yet if his Holiness would say the word he could contrive things so that one of them should become his enemy and the other unserviceable for if he would provide him with monies and supply him with Men he would fall upon the Towns which the Conte had usurped from the Church and by giving the Conte imployment for the preservation of his own Countries render him incapable of being subservient to the ambition of the Duke The Pope believing what he said to be rational and true sent him 5000 Ducats besides large promises of provision for himself and his Children and though many times he was admonished to have a care of being deceived yet he would never suspect nor admit one word to the contrary The City of Ravenna was at that time commanded for the Church by Ostasio da Polenta Nicolo conceiving it no time to protract his Son Francesco having plunder'd and sack'd Spoleto to the great satisfaction of the Pope resolved to attack Ravenna either thinking the enterprize easie in it self or else holding private intelligence with Ostasio the Governour which soever it was he had not invested it many days before it was surrendered upon articles and that being taken Bologna Imola and Furli followed in a short time and that which was most strange was that of twenty strong holds which in those parts were garison'd by the Pope there was not any one but submitted to Nicolo and not contented with these affronts to his Holiness he added contumely to his injustice and writ the Pope word that he had us'd him according to his deserts for having impudently endeavoured to interrupt the old friendship betwixt him and the Duke and fill'd all Italy with letters that he abandoned the Duke and sided with the Venetian Having possess'd himself of Romagna he left it to the Government of his Son Francesco and passing himself with the greatest part of his Army into Lombardy he joyned the rest of the Dukes forces assaulted the Country of Brescia and in a short time brought it under subjection and when he had done so laid siege to the City the Duke desirous that the Venetians might be exposed excused himself to the Pope the Florentines and the Conte pretending that what was done by Nicolo in Romagna if it were contrary to their capitulations was no less contrary to his inclinations suggesting privately that when time and opportunity contributed he would make him sensible of his disobedience the Florentines and the Conte gave no great credit to what he said believing as was true that it was nothing but artifice to keep them in suspence till he conquered the Venetians who supposing themselves able alone to contend with the Duke were too proud to desire assistance of any body but with their Captain Gatamelato would wage War with him by themselves The Conte Francesco desired by permission of the Florentines that he might have gone to the relief of King Rinato had not the accidents in Romagna and Lombardy diverted him and the Florentines for the old friendship betwixt them and France would have willingly consented and the Duke would have assisted Alphonso for the kindness he had expressed to him in his former distress but both the one and the other had too much imployment at home to concern themselves in any differences abroad the Florentines seeing Romagna over-run and the Venetians baffled by the Duke apprehending their own by the calamity of their Neighbours desired the Conte to come into Tuscany that they might consider of some way to obstruct the Dukes forces which were then much stronger than ever they had been adding withal that if their insolence was not suddenly restrained there was no state in Italy but would feel the incovenience The Conte knew well enough the apprehension of the Florentines was but reasonable yet his desire that his marriage with the Dukes daughter might proceed kept him in suspence and the Duke perceiving his mind kept him up with reiterated hopes if he stir'd not against him for the young Lady was now of age to have it consummated and many times the Treaty was so far advanced that all
't is impossible old love or inveterate hatred can ever be expung'd let the new injuries or endearments be as many as they will we are and have been assured that in this War we might have stood neuter with great favour from the Duke and no danger to our selves for though by your expulsion he had made himself Master of Lombardy yet there would be enough left in Italy to secure us seeing envy is always concomitant with power one encreases with the other and where envy is War and distraction must follow We were not insensible likewise by declining this War how great charges and danger we should have avoided and how easily by our stirrings we may transplant into Tuscany but all these discouragments have been overrul'd by our affection of the state and we resolved to assist you with the same vigour as we would defend our selves to this end most Noble Lords my Masters judging it necessary above all things to relieve Verona and Brescia and imagining that impossible but by the conduct of the Count they sent me first to him to persuade his passing into Lombardy to which your Lordship knows he would never be oblig'd and to try the same arguments with him as wrought upon us as he is invincible in Arms so he is not to be out done in courtesie and that frankness and Generosity which he saw us practise towards you he has endeavoured to exceed he understood very well how much he should leave Tuscany expos'd by his departure but observing how we postponed our own safety to yours he very generously has promised to do the same and prefers your interest before his own My business here is to proffer you the Count at the head of 7000 Horse and 2000 Foot ready to receive your Orders and seek out the Enemy as you please to direct My request therefore is and it is the request of my Masters and his own that as he has exceeded the number which he was obliged to bring in to your service so you would enlarge your reward that neither he may repent of his enterprize nor we be sorry we persuaded him These words of Neri's were heard with as much attention by the Senate as if they had been delivered from an Oracle and so much was the auditory revived thereby they had not patience to let their Duke reply according to custom but rising all of them upon their feet with their hands lifted up and tears in their eyes they gave the Florentines thanks for the good office they had done them and him for the diligence and dexterity of his dispatch promising that no time should ever obliterate it not only in their own hearts but in the hearts of their posterity and that their Country and themselves would always be at the service of the Florentines But the transport being over they fell into serious debate about the way the Count was to take that bridges and all other conveniences might be provided four ways there were before them One from Ravenna along the shore but that lying most upon the Sea and the Fens was not approved the next was the direct way but obstructed by a Castle called the Ucellino which was garrison'd by the Duke and to be taken before they could pass and that could not be done in a short time without great difficulty and to be long about it would frustrate their relief in another place which required all possible expedition The third way was by the forest of Lugo but the Po being over-flown that was unpassable The fourth was thorow the Country of Bologna over the bridges at Puledrano Cento and Picue and so by Finale and Bondeno to Ferrara from whence partly by water and partly by land they might pass into the Country of Padua and joyn with the Venetian Army this way also had its difficulties and they were liable to be impeded by the Enemies Army yet being chosen as the best notice was given to the Count who departing with all imaginable speed arrived in the Country of Padua on the 20th of Iune the arrival of so great a Captain in Lombardy revived the whole Government of Venice and whereas before they were almost desperate of their safety they began now to take courage and expect new conquests upon the Enemy The first thing the Count attempted was the relief of Verona to prevent which Nicolo marched with his Army to Soave a Castle betwixt the Country of Vicensa and Verona there he entrenched throwing up a ditch from Soave to the marches of Adice The Count finding himself obstructed thorow the plain resolv'd to march over the mountains to Verona presuming that Nicolo would either believe he could not pass that way by reason of its steepness and cragginess or let him pass so before he believed it that it would be too late to interrupt him Wherefore taking eight days provision along with him he march'd his Army over the Mountains and at Soave came down into the plains And though Nicolo had thrown up some works to incommode him yet they were too weak to give him a stop Nicolo finding the Enemy pass'd beyond his imagination and fearing to be forced to an engagement upon some disadvantage he drew off to the other side of the Aldice and the Count without farther obstacle marched into Verona Having overcome the first difficulty and relieved Verona the next thing the Count was to attempt was to succour Brescia That City is seated so near the Lake di Garda that though it was blocked up by land yet the Lake was open and they could supply themselves with provisions Upon that consideration the Duke had put what force he could upon the Lake and in the beginning of his designs had secured all the Towns which were capable of supplying them by the benefit of the Lake The Venetians had Gallies likewise upon the Lake but they were not strong enough to encounter the Dukes The Count thought it necessary with his Army to Land to give the Venetian Gallies some advantage upon the Water and therefore he concluded to attempt some of those Towns which lay conveniently for the famishing of Brescia he clap'd down therefore with his Army before Bandolino a Castle standing upon the Lake hoping if he took that the rest would surrender But in that enterprize his fortune deceived him for most of his Men falling sick he was forced to raise the siege and remove his Army to Zemo a Castle belonging to the Veronesi where the air was more healthful and the Country more plentiful The Count retired Nicolo not to slip the opportunity of making himself Master of the Lake left his Camp at Vegasio and with a select party went to the Lake where joyning with the rest he fell so furiously upon the Venetian Squadron that he broke it quite and took most of them Prisoners Upon this Victory most of the Castles upon the Lake surrender'd to the Duke The Venetians startled at this defeat and fearing left the
strange and the sence so implicite and abstruse that nothing could be made out of it yet that obscurity considered with its directions to an Enemy alarmed his Holiness so as he resolved to secure him The care of his apprehension he committed to Antonio Rido da Padoua whom he had made Governor of the Castle of Rome Antonio as soon as he had his orders was ready to execute them and expected an opportunity The Patriarch had resolved to pass into Tuscany and having fixed upon the next day for his departure from Rome he sent to the Governor that he would be upon the bridge next morning at a precise hour for he had something to discourse with him Antonio thought now his opportunity was come ordered his People as he thought convenient and at the time appointed was ready expecting the Patriarch upon the Bridge which was to be drawn up or let down as occasion required The Patriarch was punctual and came exactly at his time and Antonio entertaining him a while upon the bridge gave a sign and on a sudden the bridge was pulled up and the Patriarch in the Castle so that of the General of an Army he became a Prisoner in a moment The People which were with him began to swagger at first but understanding afterwards it was his Holinesses direction they were pacified and quiet and the Governor of the Castle comforting him with fair words and giving him hopes of a better condition the Patriarch replyed that great Persons were not secured to be discharged again that those who deserved to be seized did not deserve to be dismissed and it was his own case for he died in Prison not long after and Lodovico Patriarch of Aquileia was made General of the Pope's Army in his place who though before he could not be engaged in the Wars betwixt the Duke and the League yet then he was persuaded and promised to be ready for the defence of Tuscany with 4000 Horse and 2000 Foot Being delivered from this danger there was another of no less importance and that was their fear of Nicolo upon the confusion of affairs in Lombardy and the differences betwixt the Venetians and the Count for better information the Florentines sent Neri the Son of Gino Capponi and Guiliano d' Anazenti to Venice as also to settle the prosecution of the War for the next year commanding Neri upon the resolution of the Venetians to repair to the Count to found his and exhort him to such courses as should be necessary for the security of the League these Embassadors were scarce got onward on their way as far as Ferrara before they had the news that Piccinino had passed the Po with 6000 Horse Thereupon they made what haste was possible and being come to Venice they found that Senate very positive to have Brescia relieved at that very time not being as they said able to attend any better nor their state to put out any Fleet so that without present supply they would be forced to surrender which would compleat the Dukes successes and be the loss of all their Territories by Land finding them so perverse Neri went to Verona to hear what arguments the Count could produce to the Contrary who with good reasons made it out to him that to endeavour the relief of Brescia in that juncture would be not only ineffectual at present but much to their prejudice afterwards for considering the season of the year and situation of the Town nothing could be done he should only harrass and disorder his Men so as when a proper time for action should come he should be forced to draw of to Verona to supply himself with what the Winter had consumed and what was necessary for their future support so that all the time that was fit for action would be spent in marching backward and forward To adjust these things Orsalto Iustiniani and Giovan Pisani were sent to Verona to the Count by whom it was concluded after much dispute that the Venetians for the ensuing year should give the Count 80000. Ducats and 40. a piece to the rest of his Army That he should march forth with his whole Army and fall upon the Duke endeavouring by some smart impression upon his Country to make him recal Nicolo out of Lombardy After which conclusion they returned to Venice but the Venetians the sum being thought very great went on but slowly with their preparations Nicolo Piccinino proceeded however was got already into the Country of Romagna and tampered so successfully with the Sons of Pandolfo Malatesta that they deserted the Venetians and took up Arms under the Duke this news was unpleasing at Venice but at Florence much more because that way they thought to have given Nicolo a stop But the Malatesti being in Rebellion the Florentines were not a little dismaid especially fearing that their General Piero Giampagolo Orsino who was then in the territories of the Malatesti might be defeated and they by consequence disarmed these tidings were also no small trouble to the Count who began to apprehend if Nicolo passed into Tuscany he might be in danger of losing La Marca and disposed to secure his own Country if he could he came to Venice and being introduced to the Duke he declared to him that his passage into Tuscany would be convenient for the League for the War was to be carried on where the General and Army of the Enemy was and not among their private and particular Towns and Garisons because their Army once beat there is an end of the War but though their Garrisons be taken and their Towns reduced if their Army be intire they should be never the nearer but the War as it does many times happen would break out more severely Assuring them that La Marca and all Tuscany would be lost if Nicolo was not briskly opposed which being lost no remedy could be expected in Lombardy but if it might he did not understand how he could with any excuse abondon his own Subjects and friends for coming into Lombardy a Prince he should be loth to leave it as a private Captain To this the Duke of Venice replyed that it was manifest and nothing more certain that if he left Lombardy and passed the Po with his Army all their territories upon Land would be lost and that it would be to no purpose to consume more mony in defending it For he can be no wise Man who endeavours to defend that which he is sure to lose and he no fool who chuses to lose his Country alone rather than his Country and Mony too and if the loss of their affairs should follow it would then be clear enough how much it imported the reputation of the Venetians to protect Romagna and Tuscany But the whole Senate was against his opinion believing if he succeeded in Lombardy he should be sure every where else and that could be no hard task that State upon Nicolo's departure being left weak and infirm
to any which demanded it and although he ende avoured by all means to conceal his preparation for War yet the Embassadors found him a juggler and peceived several of his practices against their State With the Duke therefore they renewed their League procured an amity with the Genoeses compos'd the differences about the reprisal and many other things which had formerly obstructed it they tryed all ways to frustrate or break the Treaty and they went so far as to supplicate the great Turk to banish all Florentines out of his Country but that Emperour would not hearken The Florentine Embassadors were prohibited entrance into the Dominions of the Venetian because forsooth they were in League with the King of Aragon and could not send any Embssâ—â—aes without his participation The Siennesi received their Embassadors treated them well lest they should be overrun before the League could relieve them and therefore they thought it best to collogue and lull those Arms a sleep which they were not able to resist It was conjectured then that the Venetian and King both sent Embassadors to justifie the War but the Venetian Embassador being refus'd likewise to be admitted into the territories of Florence the King 's denied to do that office alone and the whole Embassie came to nothing by which the Venetians found themselves us'd with the same rudeness and contempt which not many months before they had exercis'd upon the Florentines In the midst of these apprehensions the Emperour Federigo 3. pass'd into Italy to be crown'd and on the 30th of Ianuary 1451 enter'd into Florence with an equipage of 1400 Horse He was honorably entertain'd there by the Senate and continued with them to the 6th of February upon which day he departed for Rome in order to his coronation where having performed that ceremony and celebrated his nuptials with the Empress which was come thither by Sea he departed again for Germany returned by Florence where all the old honors were retreated and having been oblig'd in his passage by the Marquess of Ferrara he gave him a grant of Modena and Reggio as a reward But the Florentines were not by all those solemnities diverted from their preparations for their own reputation and the terror of their Enemies the Duke and they had enter'd into a League with France which with great joy and ostentation they publish'd all over Italy In the month of May 1452 the Venetians not thinking it fit to dissemble any longer invaded the territories of the Duke of Milan by the way of Lodi with 16000 Horse and 6000 Foot whilst at the same time the Marquess of Monferrat upon some designs of his own or the stimulation of the Venetians assaulted him on the other side by the way of Alexandria The Duke had got an Army together of 18000 Horse and 3000 Foot with which after he had furnish'd Alexandria and Lodi with strong Garisons and fortified all places where the Enemy might offend him he fell into the Country of Brescia where he did great mischief to the Venetians both parties plundring the Countries and burning such Towns as were not able to defend themselves but the Marquess of Monferrat being defeated not long after by the Garison at Alexandria the Duke was at more leisure to infest and make his inroads into the Countries of the Venetian Whilst the War was carried on in Lombardy in this manner with various but inconsiderable accidents the Wars in Tuscany was commenced betwixt the King of Aragon and the Florentines and manag'd with as little ardour and success as the other Ferrando a natural Son of Alfonso's march'd into Tuscany with 12000 Men under the command of Federigo Lord of Urbin His first enterprize was to assault Faiano in Valdisciana for the Siennesi being their friends they enter'd that way into the Florentine dominions the Castle was weak the walls but indifferent the Garison but small yet those they had within it were valiant and faithful the whole number which were sent for the security of that place not exceeding 200. Before this Castle Ferrando encamped and either their courage was so little without or theirs so great within that it took him up 36 days before he could master it Which time gave the Florentines great convenience of providing other places of higher importance and drawing their force together and disposing them into better order than otherwise they could have done This Castle being taken the Enemy march'd into Chianti where they attempted two little Towns which were held by a few private Citizens and were repuls'd Leaving them they remov'd to Castellina a little Castle upon the confines of Chianti and sate down before it This Castle was about ten miles from Sienna weak in its works but weaker in its situation yet in neither so weak as the courage of the assailants for after 44 days seige and all the art and force they could use they were glad to draw off and leave the Castle as they found it So little formidable were the Armies in those days and so inconsiderable the Wars that those places which are now deserted as impossible to be kept were then defended as if they had been impossible to have been taken Whilst Ferrando was with his Army in Chianti he made many incursion into the Country of Florence running up with his parties within six miles of the Town to the great terror and detriment of their subjects who having got together about 8000 Souldiers under the Command of Astorre de Faenza and Gismondo Malatesta held off from the Enemy towards the Castle of Colle being unwilling to come to a Battel because they knew if they lost not their Army there was no danger of the War for the little Castles which should be taken would be restored upon the peace and the great Towns were secure the King had likewise a Fleet of about twenty Vessels Gallies and Foists in the Sea of Pisa which Fleet whilst La Castellina was assaulted by Land was imploy'd by the King to batter the Castle of Vada that stood upon the Sea and they did it so effectually that in a short time by the inadvertency of the Governor they got it into their hands from whence afterwards they ran over the whole Country thereabouts but those excursions were presently restrain'd by certain Florentine Souldiers which were sent to Campiglia The Pope in the mean time concerned himself no farther than to mediate an accord But though he was so tender in engaging abroad in any action of War he found himself at home in no little danger There was at that time in Rome a person call'd Stephano Porcari a Citizen born of good extraction and learning but most eminent for the Generosity of his mind This Stephano was ambitious as most are which are desirous of Glory to perform or at least attempt some thing that might make him memorable to posterity And nothing occur'd so honourably to his thoughts as to deliver his Country from the insolence of the
Cosimo said the Pope was an old Man but he had begun an enterprize as if he had been a Boy To the Venetian Embassadors who came to Florence with the Embassadors of Alfonso to complain of that Commonwealth putting his hat off to them he demanded the colour of his hair they told him it was gray he replyed in time your Senators will be of the same colour Not many hours before his death his Wife seing him shut his eyes enquired why he did so and he told her to use them Some Citizens after his return complaining to him that the City would be depopulated and God Almighty offended if he banished so many wealthy and Religious Men he told them the City had better be depopulated than destroyed That two yards of Cloth were enough to keep a Man from the cold and that States were not to be preserved by the beads a Man carried in his hand These last expressions gave his Enemies occasion to calumniate him as a person that was a greater lover of himself than his Country and one that took more care of this World than the next Many other of his wise sayings might be inserted but being unnecessary they are omitted Cosimo was likewise a great lover and advancer of learned Men upon which score he entertained in Florence Argiropolo a Grecian as learned as any in his time that by him the youth of Florence might be instructed in the Greek tongue and in several of his Tenets He entertained likewise in his House Marcileo Ficino a great Patron of the Platonick Philosophy whom he loved so entirely and that he might follow his studies with more convenience he gave him a house near his own Palace at Caraggi So that his prudence his beneficence his success and his way of living made him be belov'd and feared among the Citizens and much esteemed by all Princes of Europe Whereby he left such a foundation to his posterity that by their virtue they might equal him by their fortune transcend him and obtain as much honor as he had in Florence in all the Cities and Countries of Christendom Nevertheless towards the latter end of his days he had several afflictions he had but two Sons Piero and Giovanni of which Giovanni the most hopeful dyed and Piero who survived was infirm and by the weakness of his body unfit either for publick or private business so that after the death of his Son causing himself to be carried about his house he sighed and said this house is too big for so small a Family It troubled him also that he had not in his judgment enlarged the dominion of the Florentine state nor added to it empire any considerable acquest and it s troubled him the more for that he found himself cheated by Francesco who when he was but Count had promis'd him as soon as he had made himself Master of Milan to employ his Arms against Lucca in the behalf of the Florentines but his mind chang'd with his fortune and having got to be the Duke of Milan had a desire to enjoy in peace what he had obtained by War so that after his elevation he never medled in foreign concerns nor made any more Wars than were necessary for his own defence which was a great disturbance to Cosimo who now discerned he had been at great pains and expence to advance a Man who was both false and ingrateful He perceived likewise that in respect of his age and the infirmities of his body he was not able to apply himself to publick or private business as he was wont and he saw both the one and the other decline the City going to wrack by the dissentions of the Citizens and his fortune by his Ministers and Sons These considerations gave him no little disquiet towards his end yet he died full of Glory and renown all the Cities and Princes of Christendom sent their compliments of condolency to his Son Piero the whole City attended his Corps with great solemnity to the Grave and by publick decree it was inscrib'd upon his Tomb Padre della Patria If in my description and character of Cosimo I have rather followed the example of those who have written the lives of Princes than of an Historian it is not to be admir'd He was a person extraordinary in our City and I thought my self obliged to give him a more than ordinary commendation during the time that Italy and Florence were in the condition aforesaid Lewis King of France was infested with a furious War which his Barons at the instigation of Francis Duke of Britan and Charles Duke of Burgundy had rais'd This War lay so heavy upon him he could not assist Giovanni in his designs upon Genoa and Naples but believing he had need enough of all the supplies he could get he call'd back his forces and Savona being at that time in the hands of the French he ordered it to be delivered to the Count and left him if he pleas'd to pursue the enterprize against Genoa the Count was easily persuaded to a thing so much to his advantage so that by the reputation of his amity with the French King and the assistance given him by the Adorni he possess'd himself of Genoa and in gratitude to the French King sent him a supply of 1500 Horse into France under the Command of his eldest Son Galeazzo by this means Ferrando of Aragon and Francesco Sforza remain'd at quiet the one Duke of Lombardy and Lord of Genoa the other King of the whole Kingdom of Naples and having contracted alliances together and married their Children the one to the other they began to consider how they might secure their states to themselves whilst they lived and to their heirs when they were dead In order to this it was thought necessary the King should make sure of such of his Barons as had sided against him in his Wars with Giovanni d' Angio and the Duke should endeavour to extirpate all that had been favourers of the Bracci who were mortal Enemies to the said Duke and at that time in great reputation under the conduct of Giacopo Piccinino For Giacopo being the greatest Captain in Italy and having no Soveraignty of his own it concerned all who had any to have an eye over him and more especially the Duke who thought he could not enjoy his Dominion safely himself nor leave it to his Sons whilst Giacopo was living Hereupon the King with all industry endeavoured an accord with his Barons used all possible art to reconcile himself to them and he succeeded with much difficulty for they found that whilst they were in Wars with the King they must certainly be ruined but by accommodation of their differences and trusting themselves to him there was only a hazard and because Men do always avoid those evils with more readiness which are most certain Princes do easily deceive such as are not able to contend The Barons seeing nothing before them but destruction if they continued the
your Father resenting the injury done to him above any danger of my own I lost my Country and escaped narrowly with my life In Cosimo's days I refused no opportunity of honoring your family and since he died I have entertained none to offend it True it is the weakness of your complexion aud the minority of your Sons gave some kind of disquiet and I was willing our Country might be put in such a posture as to subsist after your Death what ever I have done was only to that end not against you so much as for the benefit of my Country if that was an errour I am sorry for it and do hope the innocence of my intention and the service of my former actions may attone it nor can I fear but I shall find mercy in a Family which has had so long experience of my fidelity or that one single fault will be able to extinguish so many obligations Piero having received this Letter by the same hand returned him this answer Your smiling at that distance is the reason I weep not where I am were you so merry in Florence I should be more melancholy at Naples I grant you have been a well wisher to my Father and you confess he gratified you for it so that if there be obligation on any side 't is on yours because deeds are more valuable than words and if you have been already rewarded for your good actions it 's but reasonable you should be punished for your evil your pretence of love to your Country cannot excuse you for no body but will believe the Medici as great lovers and propagators of their Country as the Acciaivoli Live therefore where you are in dishonor since you had not the discretion to live honorably here Agnolo upon the receipt of this letter desparing of Pardon removed his quarters to Rome wher associating with the Archbishop and the rest of the exiles they consulted what was the best way of lessening the reputation of the Medici which at that time was tottering in Rome and gave Piero no small trouble to sustain it but by the assistance of his friends they failed of their design Diotisalvi and Nicolo Soderini on the other side used all possible diligence to provoke the Venetian Senate against their Country supposing its Government being new and ungrateful to many People the first invasion would shake it and that it would not be able to stand There was at that time in Ferrara Giovan Francesco the Son Palla Strozzi who in the revolutions in 34 was banished with his Father out of Florence this Giovanni was a Man of great credit and reputed as rich a Merchant as any in the City These new Rebels insinuating with him persuaded him how easie it would be to recover their Country when ever the Venetians would undertake it and they doubted not but they would undertake it if part of the charge could be defrayed otherwise it was not to be expected Giovanni was willing to revenge the injuries he had received believed what they said and promised to assist with all the Mony he could make upon which Diotisalvi and Soderini addressed themselves to the Doge Complained to him of their Banishment which they pretended was for no other cause but that they were desirous their Country might be governed by the Laws and the Magistrats not a few of their Grandees have the poweâ— to put them in execution Upon this account it was that Piero de Medici and his followers having been used to a tyrannical way had taken arms by an artifice disarmed them by a cheat and banished them by a fallacy and as if this were not enough God Almighty must be brought in and made an accessary to their cruelty whilst in a solemn Procession and the sacred exercise of their devotion many Citizens who upon faith given that they should be safe had remained behind were seized secured tortured and executed a thing of most execrable and nefarious example To revenge the inhumanity of those actions and avert the judgments which they would otherwise pull down upon their Country they knew not where to apply themselves with more hopes then to that illustrious Senate which having done so much for the preservation of their own liberty must need have some compassion for such as lost have theirs They beseeched them therefore as free-men to assist them against their Tyrants as merciful against the merciless and remember them how the Family of the Medici had defeated them of Lombardy when Cosimo contrary to the inclinations of all the rest of the City assisted Francesco against them so that if the equity of their cause did not move them the justice of their own indignation might provoke them These last words prevailed so far upon the Senate that thy resolved Bartolomeo Coligni their General should fall upon the Dominion of the Florentines and to that purpose their Army being drawn together with all possible speed and Hercules da Esti being sent by Borso Duke of Ferrara joyned himself with them Their first enterprize was upon the Town of Doadola which the Florentines being in no order they burned and did some mischeif in the Country about it But the Florentines as soon as Piero had banished the adverse party had entred into a new League with Galezzo Duke of Milan and Ferrando King of Naples and entertained Federigo Count of Urbin for their General so that being fortified by such friends they did not much value their Enemies for Ferrando sent his Son Alfonso and Galeazzo came in person both of them with considerable forces to their relief and all of them together made a head at Castracaro a Castle belonging to the Florentines at the bottom of the Alps which descend out of Tuscany into Romagna In the mean time the Enemy was retired towards Imola so that betwixt the one and the other according to the custom of those times there happened several light skirmishes but no besieging nor storming of Towns nor no provocation to a battle on either side both parties keeping their tents and staring one upon another with extraordinary cowardize This manner of proceeding was not at all pleasing to the Florentines who found themselves engaged in a War which was like to be expensive and no profit to be expected insomuch that the Magistrats complained of it to those Citizens which they had deputed as commissaries for that expedition who replyed That Galeazzo was wholly in the fault and that having more Authority than experience he knew not how to make any advantagious resolution nor would he believe them which were able to instruct him and that therefore it was impossible whilst he was in the Army that any great action should be atchieved Hereupon the Florentines addressed themselves to the Duke and let him know That he had done a great honor and it had been much for their advantage in coming personally to their assistance for his very name and reputation had made their Enemies retire
and offices and emoluments with which heretofore a much greater number was satisfied It is not enough to have the forfitures and confiscations of your Enemies divided among you it is not enough that exempting your selves you load and oppress the rest with taxes and appropriate them to your own private uses when they come in but you must abuse and afflict your neighbours with all the circumstances of injury you rob them of their Estates you sell them justice you abhor the Laws you oppress the peaceable and exalt the insolent I did not think there had been such examples of rapine and violence in all Italy as I find in this City Has this City given us the Authority to Subvert it Has it given us preheminence to destroy it Has it honored us to afflict it I do profess by the Faith of an honest Man and declare here publickly to you all that if you persist in these courses and force me to repent of my Victory I will order things so that you shall have but little comfort in abusing it The Citizens replyed modestly at that time but not a jot reformation whereupon Piero sent privatly to Agnolo Acciaivoli to meet him at Cafaggiolo where they had long discourse about the condition of the City and it is not doubted but if he had lived he would have recalled his Enemies to have restrained the exorbitances of his friends but death would not suffer it for after great conflicts both in his body and mind in the 53 year of his age he died his virtue and his bounty could not be perfectly conspicuous to his Country being eclipsed by his Father who died not long before him and these few years he survived were wholly taken up either by his own sickness or the dissention of his friends He was enterred in the Temple of San. Lorenzo near his Father and his exequies performed with a Pomp proportionable to his quality and deserts He left behind him two Sons Lorenzo and Guiliano pregnant and hopefull enough of themselves but the tenderness of their age was that which made every body apprehensive Among or rather above the principal of that Government was Thomaso Soderini whose prudence and authority was not only eminent in Florence but in the Courts of all the princes of Italy after the death of Piero Tomaso had the respect of the whole City most of the Citizens flocking to his House as their Chief and many Princes directed their correspondencies to him but he being wise and sensible of his own fortune and the fortunes of his Family refused their correspondence received none of their letters and let the Citizens know it was not upon him but the Medici they were obliged to attend and that his actions might quadrate with his exhortations having called all the chief families together in the Convent of S. Antonio he brought in Lorenzo and Guiliano de Medici amongst them where after a long and solid discourse about the condition of that City Italy and the several principalities within it he concluded that if ever they would live happily and in peace secure against foreign invasion and dissention at home it was necessary to continue their observance to the family of the Medici and to give those young Gentlemen the Authority of their predecessors for Men are not troubled at the promotion of ancient familes but upstarts as they are suddenly advanced are suddenly forsaken and it has been always found more easie to preserve a family in power where time has worn out his Enemies than to raise a new one which will unavoidably be subject to new emulations after Tomaso had spoke Lorenzo began and though but young delivered himself with so much gravity and composedness that he gave them great hopes of his future abilities and before they parted both of them were perfectly adopted Not long after they were installed in the dignities of their Father entertained as Princes of the Government and Tomaso appointed their chief Mininister by which means they lived quiety for a while both abroad and at home without the least prospect or apprehension of troubles but on a sudden a new tumult unexpectedly arose to desturb them and given them a hint of their following miseries Among the Families which suffered with Luca Pitti and his party was the Family of the Nardi Salvestro and his brothers the chief of that house were first banished and then upon the War with Bartolomeo Coglione proclaimed rebels Among the Brothers there was one of them called Bernardo a brisk and couragious youth who not being able to subsist abroad by reason of his poverty and having no hopes of returning by reason of the peace resolved to attempt something that might be an occasion of reviving the War ai slight and inconsiderable beginning producing great effects many times because People are generally more prone to assist and improve a commotion than to contrive and begin it Bernardo had good acquaintance in Prato and in the Country about Pistoia but more especially with the Palandre which though a Country family was numerous and brought up like the rest of the Pistolesi in arms and in blood He knew they were highly discontented as having been ill used in the time of the Wars by the Magistrats in Florence he knew likewise the disgusts of the Pratisi the pride and rapacity of their Government and some body had told him how ready they were for any practice against the State so that from all these circumstances he conceived hopes by debauching of Prato of kindling such a fire in Tuscany as by supplying it by fewel they should not be able to extinguish he communicated his design with Diotisalvi and inquired of him in case Prato should be surprized what assistance he could procure him from the Princes of Italy Diotisalvi looked uppon the business as desperate and almost impossible however seeing the part he was to bear in it was secure enough and that the experiment was to be made at another Mans cost he encouraged him to go on and promised him assistance from Bologna and Ferrara if he could but secure the Town for a fortnight Bernardo tickled with his promises and persuading himself his success would be good conveyed himself privatly to Prato and imparting his designs to some persons he found them readily disposed the same compliance and alacrity he found in the Palandre and having agreed with them both of the time and the place he sent the news immediatly to Diotisalvi The Potesta or Governor of Prato at that time was Cesare Pretucci who being put in by them preserved it for the Florentines The Governors of such Towns had a custom to keep the keys of the castle themselves yet especially where there was no jealousie if any of the Town desired to go in or out in the night they were so civil as to suffer them Bernardo understanding the custom came himself and the Palandre with about a hundred armed Men and lay close near the
their followers to secure themselves of the palace took them along with him and being come to the Palace he left some of his company below with orders upon the first noise above stairs that they should seize upon the Gate whilst he and the rest of the Perugians went up into the Castle Finding the Senate was risen by reason it was late after a short time he was met by Cesare Petrucci the Gonfaloniere di Giustitia so that entring further with him and some few of his crew he left the rest without who walking into the Chancery by accident shut themselves in for the lock was so contriv'd that without the key it was not easily to be opened either within or without The Archbishop being entred with the Gonfaloniere pretending to impart some great matter to him from the Pope he accosted him in so confused and distracted a way the Gonfaloniere from the disorder both of his looks and expressions began to suspect sprung from him out of the Chamber with a great cry and finding Giacopo di Poggio he caught him by the hair of the head and delivered him to one of the Sergeants the noise running immediately to the Senators with such arms as they had about them they set upon the Conspirators and all them who went up with the Archbishop part being shut up and part unable to defend themselves were either kill'd or thrown alive out of the windows Of this number the Archbishop the two other Salviati and Giacopo di Poggio were hang'd Those who were left below had forc'd the Guards and Possessed themselves of the Gate insomuch that the Citizens which upon the first alarm had run into the Castle were not able to assist the Senate either with their counsel or Arms. Francesco de Pazzi in the mean time and Bernardo Bandini seeing Lorenzo escaped and one of themselves upon whom the hopes of that enterprize did principally depend most grievously wounded they were much dismaid Bernardo concluding all lost thinking to provide for his safety with the same courage as he had injured the Medici he made his escape Francesco being returned to his house tried if he could get on Horseback for orders were as soon as the fact was committed to gallop about the Town and excite the People to liberty and arms but finding he could not ride by reason of the deapness of his wound and the great quantity of blood which he had lost he desired Giacopo to do that office for him and then stripping he threw himself upon the bed Giacopo though an ancient Man and not versed in such kind of tumults to try the last experiment of his fortune he got on Horseback and with about an hundred Horse well armed and formerly prepared he marched towards the Palace caying out Liberty liberty to the People as he went along but some of them being deafned by their obligations to the Medici and the rest not desirous of any change in the Government none of them came in The Senators who were on the top of the Palace and had secured themselves as well as they could threw down stones upon their heads and frighted them with threats as much as possible Giacopo was in great confusion and knew not what to do when his cousin Giovanni Saristori coming to him and reproaching him by what was done already advised him to go home to his house and be quiet assuring him there were other Citizens who would be as careful of the People and their liberties as he Being therefore utterly destitute of all hopes Lorenzo alive Francesco wounded and no body appearing for him he resolved to save himself if he could and marched out of Florence with his Party at his heels and went towards Romagna In the mean time the whole City was in Arms and Lorenzo surrounded by a strong Party of armed men was reconveyed to his Palace The Senats Palace was recovered and all those who had possess'd it were either taken or killed The name of the Medici was with great acclamation cryed about the City and the members of those who were slain were either dragged or carried upon the point of their swords about the streets every body with great anger and cruelty persecuting the Pazzi Their houses were all broken up by the People Francesco naked as they found him in his bed was hurried out of his house to the Palace and hanged up by the Bishop and his Bretheren Yet with all their contumely by the way and all their affronts when he came there they could not provoke him to give them one word only he looked grim and fixed his eyes upon every one that abused him and without any other complaint he silently expired Guglielmo de Pazzi Brother-in-Law to Lorenzo was preserved in his house both out of respect to his innocence and the intercession of Bianca his Wife There was not a Citizen in all the City but went either armed or disarmed to Lorenzo in this exigence and proffered him both themselves and their fortunes so great was the kindness and interest which that family by their prudence and liberality had gained in the People Whilst this business happend Rinato di Pazzi was retired to his Country house intending to disguise himself and and escape if he could but he was discovered apprehended by the way and brought back again to Florence Giacopo was taken likewise passing the Alps for the Alpigines hearing what happened in Florence seeing him pass that way they persued took him and returned him to Florence nor could he prevail with them though several time he mades it his earnest request to kill him by the way Four days after this accident Giacopo and Rinato were condemned and put to Death bâ—t among all who were executed and they were so many that the streets and high ways were full of their limbs none was so much lamented as Rinato for he was always esteemed an honest good Man not guilty of that pride and arrogance which was observed in the rest of his family And that this story might not pass without an extraordinary instance of the fury of the People Giacopo who was buried at first in the Sepulchre of his Fathers afterwards was torn from thence as an excommunicated Person dragged out of the walls of the City and thrown into a hole and being taken up again his body was drawn in the same halter with which he was hanged naked about the streets and having no place allowed it to be quiet at land was at last thrown into the Arnus A great example of the inconstancy of fortune to see a person of his wealth and authority pulled so ignominiously in pieces and ruined with so many circumstances of contempt They spake indeed of his vices and of a strange propensity in him to swearing and play above the degree of the most profligate person but those infirmities were abundantly recompensed in his charity and benificence for he was a great reliever of the poor and endow'd several places of devotion
of Roberto da Rimino who since the death of Count Carlo was the chief and best reputed officer among them knowing what it was that set the Enemy agog they resolved to attend him and coming to a Battel not far from the Lake in the very place where Hannibal gave the Romans that memorable defeat the Popes Army was routed The news of this victory was extreamly welcome in Florence both to the Magistrates and People and it would have been great honor and advantage to that enterprize had not disorders in the Army at Poggibonzi spoiled all and the victory over the one Camp been interrupted by a mutiny in the other for that Army having got much plunder in the Country of Sienna when they came to divide there fell out great difference betwixt the Marquess of Ferrara and the Marquess of Mantoâ—a so that they came to blows and did one another what mischief they were able The Florentines finding no good was to be expected from them together consented that the Marquess of Ferrara with his forces might march home by which means the Army being weakned without a head and very disorderly the Duke of Calabria being with his Army not far from Sienna took a resolution of falling upon them but the Florentines hearing of his advance not trusting to their Arms their numbers which was much greater than the Enemy nor the situation of their Camp which were very strong without expecting their coming or seeing so much as the face of their Enemy as soon as they preceived the dust they fled and left their Amunition and Carriages and Artillery behind them and so cowardly and poor spirited that Army was become that the turning of a horses head or tail gave either victory or defeat This Rout filled the King's Souldiers with prize and the Florentines with fear for that City was not only afflicted with War but with so violent a pestilence that most of the inhabitants were forced to leave the Town and betake themselves to the Country This overthrow was rendred more terrible by sickness for those Citizens who had Estates in the Val di Pisa and the Val Delsa being driven thither and secure were forced upon this rout to hurry back again to Florence as well as they could and that not only with their goods and their Children but with all their families and dependants for every hour they were afraid the Enemy would have presented himself before the Town They who had the administration of the War being sensible of these disorders commanded their Army which was victorious in Perugia that leaving their designs there they should march into the Val Delsa and oppose themselves against the Enemy who since their last victory over-run that whole Country And though that Army had so straitned Perugia it was every hour expected to surrender yet the Florentines chose rather to defend themselves than to gain upon any body else and raising their siege they were conducted to S. Cassiano a Castle about eight miles from Florence as the only place where they might lie secure till the other Army was rallied and brought to them The Enemy on the other side being at liberty in Perugia upon the withdrawing of the Florentines took heart and made their inroads daily into the countries of Arezzo and Cortona and the other Army which under the command of the Duke of Calabria had routed them at Poggibonzi took Poggibonzi and Vico pillaged Certaldo made great spoil and got great prize in that Country after they sat down before Colle which in those times was looked upon as extraordinary strong and being well man'd and provided with all things it was hoped it might entertain the Enemy till their Armies could be united The Florentines having joyned all their forces at S Cassiano and the Enemy proceeding very fiercely in their leaguer they resolved to march towards them and post themselves as near them as they could supposing they should thereby not only encourage the Garison to defend themselves but make the Enemy more cautious in all his attacks Hereupon they removed from S. Cassiano and encamped at S. Giminiano about five miles from Colle from whence with their Horse and the lightest of their foot they daily molested the Dukes Camp but this was not enough for the Garison in Colle for wanting all things that were necessary they surrendered the 13 of November to the great displeasure of the Florentines but the great joy of the Enemy especially the Siennesi who besides their common hatred to Florence had a particular quarrel against this Town Winter was now at the height the season unfit for War and the Pope and King to give them hopes of peace or to enjoy their victory quietly themselves offered a truce for three Months to the Florentines and allowed them ten days for an answer which proffer was accepted but as a wound is more painful when cold than when 't is first given this small repose gave the Florentines greater sence of the miseries which they had endured insomuch as they began to talk freely and upbraid one another by the miscarriages in the War charging one another with the greatness of the expence and the inequality of their taxes and these exprobrations were not only in the streets and among the ordinary sort of People but even in their conventions and publick counsels in which one of them took the confidence to tell Lorenzo to his face that the City was weary and would have no more War and that therefore he should bethink himself of peace upon which Lorenzo discerning the necessity advised with such of his friends as he judged most faithful and able and it was concluded by all that seeing the Venetians were cold and uncertain the Duke young and imbroiled in new troubles at home their best way would be to seek out for new alliance and try what that would contribute to their success Their great scruple was into whose arms they should cast themselves whether into the Popes or the King 's of Naples and upon serious debate it was resolved into the King's as a person of more stability and likely to yield them better protection in regard of the shortness of the Popes lives and the changes upon their successions For the small fear the Church has of any Prince and the small regard it has of any body else in all its resolutions causes that no secular Prince can repose any intire confidence or communicate freely in his affairs with any of the Popes for the that associats with him in war and in dangers may perhaps have a companion and a sharer in his Victories but in his distress he shall be sure to be alone his holiness being still brought off by his speritual influence and authority It being therefore determined more profitable to reconcile with the King there could be no way thought of so likely as by Lorenzo himself for by how much the more that King had tasted of his liberality by so much the more
they thought it probable he might succeed Lorenzo embracing the motion and having prepared for his journey committed the City and Government to Tomaso Soderini at that time Gonfaloniere di Gustitia and left Florence in the beginning of December Being arrived at Pisa in his way he writ to the Senate and gave them an account of his design and the Senate in honor to him and that he might treat with more reputation made him Embassador for the People of Florence and gave him authority to conclude with him according to his own judgment and discretion About this time Signore Roberto da Santo Severino joyning with Lodovico and Ascanio for their brother Sforza was dead they invaded the State of Milan in hopes to have re-invested themselves having possess'd themselves of Tortona and Milan and the whole State being in Arms the Dutchess was advised to compose her civil dissentions to restore the Sforzi and receive them into the Government again Her great Councellor in this was Antonio Tassino a Ferrarese who though meanly extracted being come to Milan was preferred to be Chamberlain both to the Duke and the Dutchess this Antonio for the comliness of his person or some other secret excellence after the Dukes death grew into great favour with the Dutchess and in a manner governed the whole State which was very unpleasing to Cecco a Man of great prudence and long experience in publick affairs insomuch that he used all his interest both with the Dutchess and the rest of the Governors to clip the wings of his authority remove him Antonio having notice of his design to countermine him and have some body near which might be able to defend him he advis'd the Dutchess to restore the Sforzi and the Dutchess following his persuasion invited them back again without communicating with Cecco upon which he is reported to have told her that she had done a thing which would cost him his life and deprive her of the Government And so afterwards it fell out for Cecco was put to death by Lorenzo and Tassino turned out of Milan which the Dutchess took in such dudgeon that she forsook the Town and left the Government of her Son to his unckle Lodovico which act of her's in leaving that whole Dutchy to the Government of Lodovico was the ruine of Italy as shall be shown in its place Lorenzo de Medici was in his journey towards Naples and the truce betwixt the parties in a very fair way when on a sudden beyond all expectation Lodovico Fregoso having intelligence in Serezana surprized the Town and made all prisoners whom he found any ways affected to the Florentines This accident was highly resented by the Governors of Florence for they imagined it done by the order of Ferrando and therefore complained heavily to the Duke of Calabria who was with his Army at Sienna that whilst they were in Treaty they should be assaulted so treacherously but the Duke assured them by Letters and an Embassy on purpose that what had passed was done without either his consent or his Fathers However the affairs of the Florentines were judged in a very ill condition their treasure being exhausted their Prince in the hands of the King an old War on Foot with the Pope and the King a new War commenced with the Genoeesi and no friends to support them for they had no hopes of the Venetian and of the State of Milan they had more reason to be afraid it was so various and unstable the only hope remaining to the Florentines was in Lorenzo's address to the King Lorenzo arrived at Naples by Sea was honorably received both by the King and the whole City and though the War was begun for no other end but to ruine him yet the greatness of his Enemies did but add to his Grandeur for being brought to his audience he delivered himself so handsomly and discoursed so well of the condition of Italy of the humors of all the Princes and People therein and gave so good account of what was to be dreaded by War and what was to be hoped for by peace that the King admired the greatness of his mind the dexterity of his wit the solidity of his judgment more now than he had wondered before how he could alone sustain so great an invasion insomuch that he doubled his respects towards him and began to think it his interest much more to make him his friend than to continue him his Enemy Nevertheless upon sundry pretences and fetches he kept him in dispence from December to March not only to satisfie himself in a farther experience of Lorenzo but to inform himself of the infidelity of Florence for that City was not without those who would have been glad the King would have kept him and handled him as Giacopo Piccinino was handled These People began to complain and spake ill of him all over the Town to oppose themselves publickly in the Councils against any thing that was moved in favour to Lorenzo and gave out generally where ever they came that if the King kept him much longer at Naples they would alter the Government so that the King forbore to dispatch him for some time in expectation of a tumult But finding all quiet and no likelyhood of any such thing on the 6 of March 1479 he dismissed him having first presented him so nobly and treated him so honorably that they had made a perpetual League and obliged themselves mutually for the preservation of one anothers Dominions If therefore Lorenzo was great when he went from Florence he was much greater when he returned and was received with a joy and acclamation in the City sutable to his quality and the recency of his deserts who had ventred his own life so frankly to procure peace to his Country Two days after his arrival the Articles of Peace were published by which both the State of Florence and King had particularly obliged themselves to a common defence that such Towns as were taken from the Florentines during the War if in the King's power should be restored that the Pazzi which were prisoners at Volterra should be discharged and a certain sum of mony payed to the Duke of Calabria for a prefixed time This Peace was no sooner published but the Pope and the Venetians were infinitly offended the Pope thinking himself neglected by the King and the Venetians by the Florentines for both one and the other having been partners in the War they took it unkindly to be left out of the Peace Their displeasure being reported and believed at Florence it was presently apprehended that the effect of this peace would be a greater War Hereupon the Governors of the State began to think of contracting the government and reducing it into a lesser number of Ministers appointing a Council of 70 Citizens to transact such affairs as were of principal importance This new Constitution settled the minds of those who were desirous of innovation and to give
the Daughter of Giovanni Bentivogli Prince of Bologna this Lady being jealous or upon some other ill usage from her husband or else ill natur'd of her self had her Husband in such contempt that she contrived to take away both his Authority and Life and one day counterfeiting her self sick she laid her self upon the bed and having hid some of her Comerads in her Chamber she ordered when Galeotto came to visit her they should rush upon him and kill him This Lady had communicated her design to her Father who was well enough contented hoping when his Son-in-Law was dead he might set up for himself The time agreed upon for the Execution being come Galeotto as he was accustomed came to see his Wife and having discoursed with her a while the Conspirators rushed forth and killed him before he could make any defence Upon his death a great tumult was raised and the Lady with one of her little Children called Astorre was forced to betake herself to the Castle The people took arms Giovan Bentivogli with a Bergamese who had been an officer under the Duke of Milan having got some forces together marched into Faenza where Antonio Boscoli the Commissary of Florence was resident at that time and having assembled all the chief of that party they were in great argument about the Government of the Town when the inhabitants of the Val di Lamona had taken the alarm and being got together in a throng they fell upon Giovami and the Bergamese they cut one of them to pieces and took the other prisoner and calling out upon Astorre and the Florentines they delivered the City to the conduct of the Commissary This accident being known in Florence was highly displeasing to every Body nevertheless they caused Giovanni and his Daughter to be set at liberty and took upon themselves the care of Astorre and the City by univeral consent of the whole People After the Wars betwixt the greater Princes were composed besides these there happened many tumults in Romagna la Marca and Siena which being of no great moment I think it supperfluous to recount them True it is troubles in Siena after the end of the War and the Duke of Calabria's leaving those parts in the year 1488 were more frequent than else where and after several variations sometimes the people sometimes the Nobility having the predominance at length the Nobility prevail'd and of them the persons of greatest authority were Pandolfo and Giacopo Petrucci who one of them for his conduct and the other for his courage were made as it were Princes of that City But the Florentines from the end of the War against Serazana to the year 1492 in which Lorenzo died lived in great felicity For Lorenzo having by his great interest and prudence procured peace all over Italy he applied himself to enlarging the Grandeur of the City and of his own Family and first he married his eldest Son Piero to Alfonsina the Daughter of Cavaliere Orsimo his second Son Giovanni he advanced to be a Cardinal which having no president was the more remarkable for he was but 13 years old at the time of his promotion for his third Son Giuliano who was very young he could make no extraordinary provision because he lived not long after but his Daughters were disposed of very well one of them was married to Giacopo Salvati another to Francesco Cibo a third to Piero Ridolfi the fourth which he had married to Giovanni de Medici to keep his Family united died In his private affairs especially in merchandizing he was very unfortunate for by reason of the exorbitance of his officers who all of them lived like Princes much of his fortune was wasted and squandered insomuch that he was constrained to be beholding to the State for great sums of mony That he might be no longer lyable to the malignity of fortune he left his trading and fell a purchasing land as a surer and more durable way In the Countries of Prato Pisa and the vale he bought such possessions as for the revenue and magnificence of the Houses were fitter for a King than a private person After this he beautified and enlarged the City and because there were many places uninhabited he appointed new streets and caused new houses to be erected to fill them which was not only an augmentation but a great Ornament to the City That he might live quietly at home and in time of War keep his Enemies at a distance he fortified the Castle of Firezuolo which stands towards Bologna in the middle of the Alps. Towards Siena he began to repair Poggio Imperial and make it very strong towards Genoa he secured that passage by the reducation of Pietra Santa and Serezana with good stipends and Pensions he confirmed his friends the Baglioni in Perugia the Vitelli in the City of Castello in Faenza he had a particular Government all which were as so many Bulwarks to keep the Enemy from Florence In times of peace he caressed the City with feasting and plays and tournaments and representations of ancient triumphs to delight and entertain the People his only design being to see them pleased the City suppplied and the Nobles respected he was a great lover of Artists and favourer of learned Men of which Agnola da montepulciano Christofano Laudini and Demetrius the Greek can give ample testimony the Count Giovanni della Mirandola a person almost defied for his literature left all the other parts of Europe which he had travelled and moved by Lorenzo's magnificence fixt his residence at Florence In Architecture Musick and Poesy he delighted exceedingly Many poetical compositions with several of his comments upon them are still to be seen And that the Florentine youth might be encouraged to study he erected an University in Pisa and hired the best Scholars in Italy to read to them he built a Monastery not far from Florence on purpose for Frier Mariano da Chinazano an Augustine Monk and one which he esteemed an excellent Preacher He was greatly beloved both of God and fortune for all his designs came to a good end and all his Enemies miscarried for besides the Pazzi he was set upon to have been killed by Battista Frescobaldi in the Carmine and by Baldinotto da Pistoia at his Country House but both of them failed and were justly punished with all their confederats The excellence of his conversation the eminence of his wisdom and the happiness of his fortune made him honorable not only in Italy but in all the Courts of the world Mathias King of Hungary gave many testimonies of his affection the Soldan by his Embassadors and presents visited and presented him The great Turk delivered Bernar do Bandini into his hands who had murdered his Brother Giulian all which rendered him highly venerable in Italy and he added to his reputation every day by his prudence In his discourse he was eloquent and facetious in his resolutions wise in his executions quick and
the longest It prevents much trouble likewise when the Prince having no better residence elsewhere is constrained to live personally among them But to speak of such who by their Virtue rather than Fortune have advanced themselves to that Dignity I say that the most renowned and excellent are Moses Cyrus Romulus Theseus and the like And though Moses might be reasonably excepted as being only the Executioner of God's immediate Commands yet he deserves to be mention'd if it were only for that Grace which render'd him capable of Communication with God But if we consider Cyrus and the rest of the Conquerors and Founders of Monarchies we shall find them extraordinary and examining their Lives and Exploits they will appear not much different from Moses who had so incomparable a Master for by their Conversations and Successes they do not seem to have received any thing from fortune but occasion and opportunity in introducing what forms of Government they pleas'd and as without that occasion the greatness of their Courage had never been known so had not they been magnanimous and taken hold of it that occasion had hapned in vain It was necessary therefore for Moses that the people of Israel should be in captivity in Egypt that to free themselves from bondage they might be dispos'd to follow him It was convenient that Romulus should be turned out of Albo and exposed to the wild beasts when he was young that he might afterwards be made King of Rome and Founder of that great Empire It was not unnecessary likewise that Cyrus should â—ind the Persians mutining at the Tyranny of the Medes and that the Medes should be grown soft and effeminate with their long peace Theseus could never have given proof of his Virtue and Generosity had not the Athenians been in great troubles and confusion These great advantages made those great persons Eminent and their great Wisdom knew how to improve them to the reputation and enlargement of their Country They then who become great by the ways of Virtue as the Princes abovesaid do meet with many difficulties before they arrive at their ends but having compass'd them once they easily keep them The difficulties in the acquisition arise in part from new Laws and Customs which they are forc'd to introduce for the Establishment and security of their own dominion and this is to be considered that there is nothing more difficult to undertake more uncertain to succeed and more dangerous to manage than to make ones self Prince and prescribe new Laws Because he who innovates in that manner has for his Enemies all those who made any advantage by the Old Laws and those who expect benefit by the new will be but cool and luke-warn in his defence which luke-warmness proceeds from a certain awe for their adversaries who have their old Laws on their side and partly from a natural incredulity in mankind which gives credit but slowly to any new thing unless recommended first by the experiment of success Hence it proceeds that the first time the adversary has opportunity to make an attempt he does it with great briskness and vigour but the defence is so tâ—pid and faint that for the most part the new Prince and his adherents perish together Wherefore for better discussion of this case it is necessary to inquire whether these innovators do stand upon their own feet or depend upon other People that is to say whether in the conduct of their afâ—airs they do make more use of their rhetorick than their Arms. In the first case they commonly miscarry and their designs seldom succeed but when their expectations are only from themselves and they have power in their own hands to make themselves obeyed they run little or no hazard and do frequently prevail For further eviction the Scripture shows us that those of the Prophets whose Armes were in their hands and had power to compel succeeded better in the reformations which they designed whereas those who came only with exhortation and good language suffer'd Martyrdom and Banishment because besides the reasons above said the People are unconstant and susceptible of any new Doctrine at first but not easily brought to retain it so that things are to be ordered in such manner that when their Faith begins to stagger they may be forc'd to persist Moses Cyrus Theseus and Romulus could never have made their Laws to have been long observed had they not had power to have compelled it as in our days it happen'd to Frier Ierome Savanorola who ruined himself by his new institutions as soon as the People of Florence began to desert him for he had no means to confirm them who had been of his opinion nor to constrain such as dissented Wherefore such persons meet with great difficulty in their affairs all their dangers are still by the way which they can hardly overcome but by some extraordinary virtue and excellence nevertheless when once they have surmounted them and arrived at any degree of veneration having supplanted those who envyed their advancement they remain puissant and firm and honorable and happy I will add to these great examples another perhaps not so conspicuous but one that will bear a proportion and resemblance with the rest and shall satisfie me for all others of that nature It is of Hiero of Syracuse who of a private person was made Prince of that City for which he was beholding to fortune no further than for the occasion because the Syracusans being under oppression chose him for their Captain in which command he behav'd himself so well he deserved to be made their Prince for he was a person of so great virtue and excellence that those who have writ of him have given him this Character that even in his private condition he wanted nothing but a Kingdom to make him an admirable King This Hiero subdued the old Militia established a new renounced the old Allies confederated with others and having friends and forces of his own he was able upon such a foundation to erect what fabrick he pleas'd so that though the acquisition cost him much trouble he maintain'd it with little CHAP. VII Of new Principalities acquired by accident and the supplies of other People THey who from private condition ascend to be Princes and meerly by the indulgence of fortune arrive without much trouble at their dignity though it costs them dear to maintain it meet but little difficulty in their passage being hurried as it were with wings yet when they come to settle and establish then begins their misery These kind of Persons are such as attain their dignity by Bribes or concession of some other great Prince as it hapned to several in Greece in the Cities of Ionia and upon the Hellespont where they were invested with that power by Darius for his greater security and Glory and to those Emperours who arrived at the Empire by the corruption of the Souldiers These persons I say subsist wholly upon the pleasure
the minds of the Commons is above all things to endeavour to ingratiate with the People which will be as the other if he undertakes their protection And Men receiving good Offices where they expected ill are indear'd by the surprize and become better affected to their Benefactor than perhaps they would have been had he been made Prince by their immediate favour There are many ways of insinuating with the People of which no certain rule can be given because they vary according to the diversity of the subject and therefore I shall pass them at this time concluding with this assertion that it is necessary above all things that a Prince preserves the affections of his people otherwise in any Exigence he has no refuge nor remedy Nabides Prince of the Spartans sustained all Greece and a Victorious Army of the Romans and defended the Government and Country against them all and to do that great action it was sufficient for him to secure himself against the Machinations of a few whereas if the People had been his Enemy that would not have done it Let no man impugn my opinion with that old saying he that builds upon the People builds upon the sand That is true indeed when a Citizen of private Condition relies upon the people and persuades himself that when the Magistrate or his Adversary goes about to oppress him they will bring him off in which case many presidents may be produced and particularly the Gracchi in Rome and Georgio Scali in Florence But if the Prince that builds upon them knows how to command and be a man of Courage not dejected in adversity nor deficient in his other preparations but keeps up the spirits of his people by his own Valour and Conduct he shall never be deserted by them nor find his foundations laid in a wrong place These kind of Governments are most tottering and uncertain when the Prince strains of a sudden and passes as at one leap from a Civil to an absolute power and the reason is because they either command and act by themselves or by the Ministry and Mediation of the Magistrate In this last case their authority is weaker and more ticklish because it depends much upon the pleasure and concurrence of the Chief Officers who in time of adversity especially can remove them easily either by neglecting or resisting their Commands nor is there any way for such a Prince in the perplexity of his affairs to establish a Tyranny because those Citizens and Subjects who used to exercise the Magistracy retain still such power and influence upon the people that they will not infringe the Laws to obey his and in time of danger he shall always want such as he can trust So that a Prince is not to take his measures according to what he sees in times of peace when of the Subjects having nothing to do but to be governed every one runs every one promises and every one dyes for him when death is at a distance but when times are tempestuous and the ship of the State has need of the help and assistance of the Subject there are but few will expose themselves And this experiment is the more dangerous because it can be practised but once So then a Prince who is provident and wise ought to carry himself so that in all place times and occasions the People may have need of his administration and Regiment an ever after they shall be faithful and true CHAP. X. How the strength of all principalities is to be computed TO any man that examines the nature of principalities it is worthy his consideration whether a Prince has power and territory enough to subsist by himself or whether he needs the assistance and protection of other People To clear the point a little better I think those Princes capable of ruling who are able either by the numbers of their men or the greatness of their wealth to raise a compleat Army and bid Battel to any that shall invade them and those I think depend upon others who of themselves dare not meet their Enemy in the field but are forced to keep within their bounds and defend them as well as they can Of the first we have spoken already and shall say more as occasion is presented Of the second no more can be said but to advise such Princes to strengthen and fortifie the Capital Town in their Dominions and not to trouble himself with the whole Country and whoever shall do that and in other things manage himself with the Subjects as I have described and perhaps shall do hereafter shall with great caution be invaded for men are generally wary and tender of enterprizing any thing that is difficult and no great easiness is to be found in attacking a Town well fortified and provided where the Prince is not hated by the People The Towns in Germany are many of them free though their Country and district be but small yet they obey the Emperor but when they please and are in no awe either of him or any other Prince of the Empire because they are all so well fortified every one looks upon the taking of any one of them as a work of great difficulty and time their Wals being so strong their Ditches so deep their works so regular and well provided with Cannon and their stores and Magazines always furnish'd for a Twelvemonth Besides which for the aliment and sustenance of the People and that they may be no burthen to the publick they have work-houses where for a year together the poor may be employed in such things as are the Nerves and life of that City and sustain themselves by their labour Military Discipline and Exercises are likewise much request there and many Laws and good Customs they have to maintain them A Prince then who has a City well fortified and the affections of his people is not easily to be molested and he that does molest him is like to repent it for the affairs of this world are so various it is almost impossible for any Army to lie quietly a whole year before a Town without interruption If any objects that the people having houses and possessions out of the Town will not have patience to see them plundered and burned and that Charity to themselves will make them forget their Prince I answer that a wise and dexterous Prince will easily evade those difficulties by encouraging his Subjects and persuading them sometimes their troubles will not be long sometimes inculcating and possessing them with the cruelty of the Enemy and sometimes by correcting and securing himself nimbly of such as appear too turbulent and audacious Moreover the usual practice is for the Enemy to plunder and set the Country on fire at their first coming whil'st every man's spirits is high and fixed upon defence so that the Prince needs not concern himself nor be fearful of that for those mischiefs are pass'd and inconveniencies received and when the People in three or
qualified like ours in Italy and finding that he could neither continue not discharge them securely he ordered things so that they were all cut to pieces and then prosecuted the War with his own Forces alone without any foreign assistance To this purpose the Old Testament affords us a figure not altogether improper When David presented himself to Saul and offered his Service against Goliah the Champion of the Philistius Saul to encourage him accoutred him in his own Arms but David having tryed them on excused himself pretending they were unfit and that with them he should not be able to manage himself wherefore he desired he might go forth against the Enemy with his own Arms only which were his Sling and his Sword The sum of all is the Arms of other people are commonly unfit and either too wide or too strait or too cumbersom CHARLES VII the Father of Lewis XI having by his Fortune and Courage redeem'd his Country out of the hands of the English began to understand the necessity of having Soldiers of his own and erected a Militia at home to consist of Horse as well as Foot after which his Son King Lewis cashiered his own Foot and took the Swissers into his pay which error being followed by his Successors as is visible to this day is the occasion of all the dangers to which that Kingdom of France is still obnoxious for having advanced the reputation of the Swisses he vilified his own people by disbanding the foot entirely and accustoming his Horse so much to engage with other Soldiers that fighting still in Conjunction with the Swissers they began to believe they could do nothing without them Hence it proceeds that the French are not able to do any thing against the Swisses and without them they will venture upon nothing So that the French Army is mix'd consists of Mercenaries and Natives and is much better than either Mercenaries or Auxiliaries alone but much worse than if it were entirely Natural as this Example testifies abundantly for doubtless France would be insuperable if Charles his Establishment was made use of and improv'd But the imprudence of Man begins many things which favouring of persent good conceal the poyson that is latent as I said before of the Hectick Feaver wherefore if he who is rais'd to any Soveraignty foresees not a mischief till it falls upon his head he is not to be reckoned a wise Prince and truly that is a particular blessing of God bestowed upon few people if we reflect upon the first cause of the ruine of the Roman Empire it will be found to begin at their entertaining the Goths into their Service for thereby they weakened and enervated their own Native courage and as it were transfused it into them I conclude therefore that without having proper and peculiar forces of his own no Prince is secure but depends wholly upon fortune as having no Natural and intrinsick strength to sustain him in adversity and it was always the opinion and position of wise Men that nothing is so infirm and unstable as the name of Power not founded upon forces of its own those forces are composed of your Subjects your Citizens or Servants all the rest are either Mercenaries or Auxiliaries and as to the manner of Ordering and Disciplining these Domesticks it will not be hard if the Orders which I have prescribed be perused and the ways considered which Philip the Father of Alexander the Great and many other Princes and Republicks have used in the like cases to which Orders and Establishments I do wholly refer you CHAP. XIV The duty of a Prince in relation to his Militia A Prince then is to have no other design nor thought nor study but War and the Arts and Disciplines of it for indeed that is the only profession worthy of a Prince and is of so much importance that it not only preserves those who are born Princes in their patrimonies but advances men of private condition to that Honorable degree On the otherside it is frequently seen when Princes have addicted themselves more to delicacy and softness than to Arms they have lost all and been driven out of their States for the principal things which deprives or gains a man authority is the neglect or profession of that Art Francesco Sforza by his Experience in War of a private person made himself Duke of Milan and his Children seeking to avoid the fatigues and incommodities thereof of Dukes became private Men for among other evils and inconveniences which attend when you are ignorant in War it makes you contemptible which is a scandal a Prince ought with all diligence to avoid for reasons I shall name hereafter besides betwixt a potent and an impotent a vigilant and a negligent Prince there is no proportion it being unreasonable that a Martial and Generous person should be subject willingly to one that is weak and remiss or that those who are careless and effeminate should be safe amongst those who are Military and Active for the one is too insolent and the other too captious ever to do any thing well together so that a Prince unacquainted with the Discipline of War besides other infelicities to which he is expos'd cannot be beloved by nor confident in his Armies He never therefore ought to relax his thoughts from the Exercises of War not so much as in time of Peace and indeed then he should employ his thoughts more studiously therein than in War it self which may be done two ways by the application of the body and the mind As to his bodily application or matter of action besides that he is obliged to keep his Armies in good Discipline and Exercise he ought to inure himself to sports and by Hunting and Hawking and such like recreation accustom his body to hardship and hunger and thirst and at the same time inform himself of the Coasts and situation of the Country the bigness and elevation of the Mountains the largeness and avenues of the Vallies the extent of the Plains the Nature of the Rivers and Fens which is to be done with great curiosity and this knowledge is useful two ways for hereby he not only learns to know his own Country and to provide better for its defence but it prepares and adapts him by observing their situations to comprehend the situations of other Countries which will perhaps be necessary for him to discover For the Hills the Vales the Plains the Rivers and the Marshes for Example in Tuscany have a certain similitude and resemblance with those in other Provinces so that by the knowledge of one we may easily imagine the rest and that Prince who is defective in this wants the most necessary qualification of a General for by knowing the Country he knows how to beat up his Enemy take up his quarters March his Armies Draw up his Men and besiege a Town with advantage In the Character which Historians give of Philopomenes Prince of Achaia one of his
great Commendations is that in time of peace he thought of nothing but Military affairs and when he was in Company with his Friends in the Country he would many times stop suddenly and expostulate with them if the Enemy were upon that Hill and our Army where we are which would have the advantage of the ground How could we come at them with most security if we would draw off how might we do it best Or if they would retreat how might we follow so that as he was travelling he would propose all the accidents to which an Army was subject he would hear their opinion give them his own and reinforce it with arguments and this he did so frequently that by continual practice and a constant intention of his thoughts upon that business he brought himself to that perfection no accident could happen no inconvenience could occur to an Army but he could presently redress it But as to the exercise of the mind a Prince is to do that by diligence in History and solemn consideration of the actions of the most Excellent Men by observing how they demean'd themselves in the Wars examining the grounds and reasons of their Victories and Losses that he may be able to avoid the one and imitate the other and above all to keep close to the Example of some great Captain of old if any such occurs in his reading and not only to make him his pattern but to have all his actions perpetually in his mind as it was said Alexander did by Achilles Caesar by Alexander Scipio by Cyrus And whoever reads the life of Cyrus written by Xenophon will find how much Scipio advantaged his renown by that imitation and how much in modesty affability humanity and liberality he framed himself to the description which Xenophon had given him A wise Prince therefore is to observe all these rules and never be idle in time of peace but employ himself therein with all his industry that in his adversity he may reap the fruit of it and when fortune frowns be ready to defie her CHAP. XV. Of such things as render Men especially Princes worthy of blame or applause IT remains now that we see in what manner a Prince ought to comport with his Subjects and friends and because many have writ of this subject before it may perhaps seem arrogant in me especially considering that in my discourse I shall deviate from the opinion of other Men. But my intention being to write for the benefit and advantage of him who understands I thought it more convenient to respect the essential verity than the imagination of the thing and many have fram'd imaginary Commonwealths and Governments to themselves which never were seen nor had any real existence for the present manner of living is so different from the way that ought to be taken that he who neglects what is done to follow what ought to be done will sooner learn how to ruine than how to preserve himself for a tender Man and one that desires to be honest in every thing must needs run a great hazard among so many of a contrary Principle Wherefore it is necessary for a Prince that is willing to subsist to harden himself and learn to be good or otherwise according to the exigence of his affairs Laying aside therefore all imaginable notions of a Prince and discoursing of nothing but what is actually true I say that all Men when they are spoken of especially Princes who are in a higher and more eminent station are remarkable for some quality or other that makes them either honorable or contemptible Hence it is that some are counted liberal others miserable according to the propriety of the Tuscan word Misero for Quaro in our language is one that desires to acquire by rapine or any otherway Misero is he that abstains too much from making use of his own some munificent others rapacious some cruel others merciful some faithless others precise One poor spirited and effeminate another fierce and ambitious one courteous another haughty one modest another libidinous one sincere another cunning one rugged and morose another accessible and easie one grave another giddy one a Devote and another an Atheist No man I am sure will deny but that it would be an admirable thing and highly to be commended to have a Prince endued with all the good qualities abovesaid but because it is impossible to have much less to exercise them all by reason of the frailty and crossness of our Nature it is convenient that he be so well instructed as to know how to avoid the scandal of those Vices which may deprive him of his State and be very cautious of the rest though their consequence be not so pernicious but where they are unavoidable he need trouble himself the less Again he is not to concern himself if run under the infamy of those Vices without which his Dominion was not to be preserved for if we consider things impartially we shall find some things in appearance are virtuous and yet if pursued would bring certain destruction and others on the contrary that are seemingly bad which if followed by a Prince procure his peace and security CHAP. XVI Of Liberality and Parsimony TO begin then with the first of the above-mentioned qualities I say it would be advantagious to be accounted liberal nevertheless liberality so used as not to render you formidable does but injure you for if it be used virtuously and as it ought to be it will not be known nor secure you from the imputation of its contrary To keep up therefore the name of liberal amongst men it is necessary that no kind of luxury be omitted so that a Prince of that disposition will consume his revenue in those kind of expences and be obliged at last if he would preserve that reputation to become grievous and a great exactor upon the people and do whatever is practicable for the getting of Money which will cause him to be hated of his Subjects and despised by every body else when he once comes to be poor so that offending many with his liberality and rewarding but few he becomes sensible of the first disaster and runs great hazard of being ruined the first time he is in danger which when afterwards he discovers and desires to remedy he runs into the other extream and grows as odious for his avarice So then if a Prince cannot exercise this virtue of liberality so as to be publickly known without detriment to himself he ought if he be wise not to dread the imputation of being covetous for in time he shall be esteemed liberal when it is discovered that by his parsimony he has increased his revenue to a Condition of defending him against any Invasion and to enterprize upon other people without oppressing of them so that he shall be accounted Noble to all from whom he takes nothing away which are an infinite number and near and parsimonious only to such few as he gives
the head of his Army and has a multitude of Soldiers to govern then it is absolutely necessary not to value the Epithet of cruel for without that no Army can be kept in unity nor in disposition for any great act Among the several instances of Hannibal's great Conduct it is one That having a vast Army constituted out of several Nations and conducted to make War in an Enemies Country there never hapned any Sedition among them or any Mutiny against their General either in his adversity or prosperity Which can proceed from nothing so probably as his great cruelty which added to his infinite Virtues rendered him both aweful and terrible to his Soldiers and without that all his Virtues would have signified nothing Some Writers there are but of little consideration who admire his great Exploits and condemn the true causes of them But to prove that his other Virtues would never have carried him thorow let us reflect upon Scipio a person Honorable not only in his own time but in all History whatever nevertheless his Army mutined in Spain and the true cause of it was his too much gentleness and lenity which gave his Soldiers more liberty than was sutable or consistant with Military Discipline Fabius Maximus upbraided him by it in the Senate and call'd him Corrupter of the Roman Militia The inhabitants of Locrus having been plundered and destroyed by one of Scipio's Lieutenants they were never redressed nor the Legat's insolence corrected all proceeding from the mildness of Scipio's Nature which was so eminent in him that a person undertaking to excuse him in the Senate declared that there were many who knew better how to avoid doing ill themselves than to punish it in other people Which temper would doubtless in time have eclipsed the glory and reputation of Scipio had that authority been continued in him but receiving Orders and living under the direction of the Senate that ill quality was not only not discovered in him but turned to his renown I conclude therefore according to what I have said about being feared or beloved That forasmuch as men do love at their own discretion but fear at their Princes a wise Prince is obliged to lay his foundation upon that which is in his own power not what which depends on other people but as I said before with great caution that he does not make himself odious CHAP. XVIII How far a Prince is obliged by his promise HOw Honorable it is for a Prince to keep his word and act rather with integrity than collusion I suppose every body understands Nevertheless Experience has shown in out times That those Princes who have not pinn'd themselves up to that punctuality and preciseness have done great things and by their cunning and subtilty not only circumvented and darted the brains of those with whom they had to deal but have overcome and been too hard for those who have been so superstitiously exact For further explanation you must understand there are two ways of contending by Law and by force The first is proper to Men the second to Beasts but because many times the first is insufficient recourse must be had to the second It belongs therefore to a Prince to understand both when to make use of the rational and when of the brutal way and this is recommended to Princes though abstrusely by ancient Writers who tell them how Achilles and several other Princes were committed to the Education of Chiron the Centaur who was to keep them under his Discipline choosing them a Master half Man and half Beast for no other reason but to show how necessary it is for a Prince to be acquainted with both for that one without the other will be of little duration Seeing therefore it is of such importance to a Prince to take upon him the Nature and disposition of a Beast of all the whole flock he ought to imitate the Lyon and the Fox for the Lyon is in danger of toils and snares and the Fox of the Wolf So that he must be a Fox to find out the snares and a Lyon to fright away the Wolves but they who keep wholly to the Lyon have no true notion of themselves A Prince therefore that is wise and prudent cannot nor ought not to keep his pâ—â—ole when the keeping of it is to his prejudice and the causes for which he promised removed Were men all good this Doctrine was not to be taught but because they are wicked and not likely to be punctual with you you are not obliged to any such strictness with them Nor was their ever any Prince that wanted lawful pretence to justifie his breach of promise I might instance in many modern Examples and shew how many Confederations and Peaces and Promises have been broken by the infidelity of Princes and how he that best personated the Fox had the better success Nevertheless it is of great consequence to disguise your inclination and to play the Hypocrite well and men are so simple in their temper and so submissive to their present necessities that he that is neat and cleanly in his collusions shall never want people to practise them upon I cannot forbear one Example which is still fresh in our memory Alexander VI. never did nor thought of any thing but cheating and never wanted matter to work upon though no man promised a thing with greater asseveration nor confirmed it with more oaths and imprecations and observ'd them less yet understanding the world well he never miscarried A Prince therefore is not obliged to have all the forementioned good qualities in reality but it is necessary he have them in appearance nay I will be bold to affirm that having them actually and employing them upon all occasions they are extreamly prejudicial whereas having then only in appearance they turn to better accompt it is honorable to seem mild and merciful and courteous and religious and sincere and indeed to be so provided your mind be so rectified and prepared that you can act quite contrary upon occasion And this must be premised that a Prince especially if come but lately to the throne cannot observe all those things exactly which make men be esteemed virtuous being oftentimes necessitated for the preservation of his State to do things in humane uncharitable and irreligious and therefore it is convenient his mind be at his command and flexible to all the puffs and variations of his fortune Not forbearing to be good whil'st it is in his choice but knowing how to be evil when there is a necessity A Prince then is to have particular care that nothing falls from his mouth but what is full of the five qualities aforesaid and that to see and to hear him he appears all goodness integrity humanity and religion which last he ought to pretend to more than ordinarily because more men do judge by the eye then by the touch for every body sees but few understand every body sees how you appear
came about that part of them taking one way in their administrations and part of them another in both parties some were happy and some unhappy at last Pertinax and Alexander being but Upstart Princes it was not only vain but dangerous for them to imitate Marcus who was Emperor by right of Succession Again it was no less pernicious for Caracalla Commodus and Maximinus to make Severus their pattern not having force nor vertue enough to follow his footsteps So then if a new Prince cannot imitate the actions of Marcus and to regulate by the example of Severus is unnecessary he is only to take that part from Severus that is necessary to the foundation of his State and from Marcus what is convenient to keep and defend it gloriously when 't is once established and firm CHAP. XX. Whether Citadels and other things which Princes many times do be profitable or dangerous SOme Princes for the greater security of their Dominion have disarmed their Subjects others have cantonized their Countries others have fomented factions and animosity among them some have applyed themselves to flatter and insinuate with those who were suspicious in the beginning of their Government Some have built Castles others have demolished them and though in all these cases no certain or determined rule can be prescribed unless we come to a particular consideration of the State where it is to be used yet I shall speak of them all as the matter it self will endure A wise Prince therefore was never known to disarm his Subjects rather finding them unfurnished he put Arms into their hands for by arming them and inuring them to warlike Exercise those Arms are surely your own they who were suspicious to you become faithful they who are faithful are confirm'd and all your Subjects become of your party and because the whole multitude which submits to your Government is not capable of being armed if you be beneficial and obliging to those you do arm you may make the bolder with the rest for the difference of your behaviour to the Soldier binds him more firmly to your Service and the rest will excuse you as judging them most worthy of reward who are most liable to danger But when you disarm you disgust them and imply a diffidence in them either for cowardize or Treachery and the one or the other is sufficient to give them an impression of hatred against you And because you cannot subsist without Soldiers you will be forced to entertain Mercenaries whom I have formerly described and if it were possible for the said Mercenaries to be good they could not be able to defend you against powerful Adversaries and Subjects disobliged Wherefore as I have said a new Prince in his new Government puts his Subjects always into Arms as appears by several Examples in History But when a Prince conquers a new State and annexes it as a Member to his old then it is necessary your Subjects be disarmed all but such as appeared for you in the Conquest and they are to be mollified by degrees and brought into such a condition of laziness and effeminacy that in time your whole strength may devolve upon your own Natural Militia which were trained up in your ancient Dominion and are to be always about you Our Ancestors and they were esteemed wise men were wont to say That it was necessary to keep Pistoâ—a by factions and Pisa by fortresses and accordingly in several Towns under their Subjection they created and fomented factions and animosities to keep them with more ease This at a time when Italy was unsetled and in a certain kind of suspence might be well enough done but I do not take it at this time for any precept for us being clearly in opinion that the making of factions never does good but that where the Enemy approaches and the City is divided it must necessarily and that suddenly be lost because the weaker party will always fall off to the Enemy and the other cannot be able to defend it The Venetians as I guess upon the same grounds nourished the factions of the Guelfs and the Ghibilins in the Cities under their jurisdiction and though they kept them from blood yet they encouraged their dissentions to the end that the Citizens being employed among themselvs should have no time to conspire against them which as appeared afterwards did not answer expectation for being defeated at Valia one of the said factions took Arms and turned the Venetians out of their State Such methods therefore as these do argue weakness in the Prince for no Government of any strength or consistance will suffer such divisions because they are useful only in time of Peace when perhaps they may contribute to the more easie management of their Subjects but when War comes the fallacy of those Counsels are quickly discovered Without doubt Princes grow great when they overcome the difficulties and impediments which are given them and therefore Fortune especially when she has a mind to exalt a new Prince who has greater need of reputation than a Prince that is old and Hereditary raises him up Enemies and encourages enterprizes against him that he may have opportunity to conquer them and advance himself by such steps as his Enemies had prepared For which reason many have thought that a wise Prince when opportunity offers ought but with great cunning and address to maintain some enmity against himself that when time serves to destroy them his own greatness may be encreas'd Princes and particularly those who are not of long standing have found more fidelity and assistance from those whom they suspected at the beginning of their Reign than from them who at first were their greatest confidents Pandolfus Petrucci Prince of Sienna govern'd his State rather by those who were suspected than others But this is not to be treated of largely because it varies according to the subjects I shall only say this That those Men who in the beginning of his Government opposed him if they be of so such quality as to want the support of other people are easily wrought over to the Prince and more strictly engaged to be faithful because they knew that it must be their good carriage for the future that must cancel the prejudice that is against them and so the Prince comes to receive more benefit by them than by those who serving him more securely do most commonly neglect his affairs And seeing the matter requires I will not omit to remind a Prince who is but newly advanced and that by some inward favour and correspondence in the Country that he considers well what it was that disposed those parties to befreind him if it be not affection to him but Pique and animosity to the old Government it will cost much trouble and difficulty to keep them his friends because it will be impossible to satisfie them and upon serious disquisition Ancient and Modern Examples will give us the reason and we shall find it more easie to
and fia il combatter Corto Che l' antico valore Ne ' gl' Italici curr ' non e ancor morto Virtue shall arm 'gainst rage and in short sight Prove th' Roman Valour 's not extinguish'd quite The Original of the words Guelf and Ghibilin so much mentioned in History THese two Factions so famous in History were eminent in Italy two ages before Castruccio was born Machiavel in his Treatise of the Wars of that Country affirms that Pistoia was the first place where those names of distinction were used but the account wherewith the publick Libraries supply me runs thus These two words Guelf and Ghibilin deduce their original from a schism which molested the Church in the year 1130. by the competition of two Popes Innocent 11. and Anaclet the greatest part of Christendom acknowledged Innocent who was particularly supported by the Emperors of the West Anaclet the anti-Pope had persuaded into his interests Roger Comte de Naples and Sicily a martial Prince and descended from the Normans who had conquered that Country The pretence of this double Election having kept a War on foot eight years together which was still favourable to Roger the Emperor Conrad the third march'd himself at the head of an Army of Germans into Italy leaving his Grand-son Prince Henry to come after Roger to oppose him with men of his own Nation allured to the defence of his Countries Guelf Duke of Bavaria During the course of this War which began in the year 1139. it hapned sometimes that the Emperors Army was commanded by the said Prince Herny who was brought up in a Village in Germany called Ghibilin whose situation being very pleasant made the very name of it â—ear to him One day the Armies being drawn up and ready to engage the Bavarians to encourage their Comrades cryed out in their language a Guelf a Guelf and the Emperors Troops being at the same time as well disposed to their General to comply with the kindness he had for that place cryed out on the other side a Ghibilin a Ghibilin These words seemed barbarous to the Italians that were with Roger who came to Guelf to know what they meant He told them the Pope's Party were intended by the word Guelf and the Emperors by the word Ghibilin from that time those names grew so common in both Armies that by them they answered their Who goes there and they were given to the Italians according to their several sides 'T is true at first they were used to discriminate only Anaclet's Party from the Emperors but afterwards Roger having vanquished and taken prisoner Pope Innocent as the price of his liberty he oblig'd him to erect the Countries of Naples and Sicily into Kingdoms by which treaty Roger being taken off from the interest of the anti-Pope and engaging entirely with the Church he affix'd the name of Guelf to the Pope's Party and confirm'd the name Ghibilin to the Faction of the Emperor The Italians would fain have the credit of the Etymology themselves and by a certain gingling of words and that mightily strain'd would have Guelf deriv'd from Guardatori di fe because forsooth 't is they who defend the Faith of the Church and that by corruption the word Ghibilin was form'd from Guida belli that is Guidatori di Bataglia a great Title and sutable to the Majesty of the Empire Be it which way it will these two Factions were in the height of their emulation two hundred years after that is to say about the year 1320. which was very near the time that Castruccio was in his prosperity And in Europe the face of affairs stood thus The Popes driven from Rome by the violence of the Emperors of the West had transferred the Holy Chair to Avignon in France In the year 1320. it was possessed by Iohn XXII a Prince of himself firm and entire but one who by the precipitate counsels of other people had excommunicated the Emperor Lewis of the house of Bavaria and been too busie with his fulminations against five more Princes of Italy who being treated by him like Tyrants confederated against him their names were Castruccio Sovereign of Lucca Scaliger Lord of Verona the Marquess d' Esti Lord of Ferrara and Visconti and Gonzague the first Sovereign of Milan and the other of Mantoua which created troubles to Italy The Empire of the East was at that time torn and distracted by the ambition of the Paliologi and others whilst in the mean time the Sultan Orchan son of Ottoman swept away Lycaonia Phrygia and all the Coast of the Hellespont from the Greeks The Empire of the West was then in dispute betwixt Frederick of Austria and Lewis of Bavaria whom Machiavel by mistake or inadvertency has called Frederick Lewis after long and bloody Wars overcome his Competitor and made several Voyages into Italy to invigorate and reinforce Castruccio and the Ghibilins France was governed by Philip le Long who at the solicitation of Pope Iohn passed an Army into Italy to the relief of the Guelfs which Army was commanded by Philip de Valois afterwards King but his Expedition did not answer expectation for either the cunning or bribes of the Ghibilins had dispelled the storm which our preparations threatned upon Lombardy or our Forces were recalled upon some secret apprehension of a fourth War with the English or by the vast projects of a fifth Expedition to the Holy Land Spain was divided into five Kingdoms each of which had its peculiar King four of them were Christians and one a Mahumetan Navar had the same King with France Philip the Long found a way to extend the Salick Law into that Country and defeat his Niece Iane of France Daughter of Lewis Hutin of both Kingdoms at once Alphonso XI as Mariana calls him the XII as Garibay had at that time the Scepter of Castile but his minority transferr'd the Conduct of Affairs into the hands of the two Infanti Don Pedro and Don Iohn insomuch as by the jealousie and division betwixt the two Regents that Kingdom was exposed to such disorders as are inseparable from the minority of a Prince At length the two Infanti were slain in the year 1320. in a Fight which their rashness caused them to lose to the Mores under the walls of Granada Arragon was in obedience to Don Iacques the second of that name He was Brother to Fredrick who reigned in Sicily to the prejudice of Robert a Prince of the House of Anjou This Robert was King of Naples sided with the Guelfs and leagued himself sundry times with the Florentines against Castruccio Iames King of Aragon designing to establish himself in Italy and judging that the Conquests which he mediated upon the Isles of Corsica and Sardinia depended much upon the Concord of his Subjects at home He caused a General Assembly of his Estates to be held in the year 1320. in which was concluded the Union of the Kingdoms of Aragon and Valentia with the Principality
the Infant was no less affected with wonder and compassion than his Sister before him Debating with themselves what course was to be taken it was concluded to bring it up Anthony being a Priest and she having no children They christened it Castruccio by the name of their Father and look'd to it as carefully as it had been their own Castruccio's graces encreased with his years and his wit was so pregnant they put him to nothing but he took it very well Anthony designed him for a Priest and to resign his Canonship and other Benefices one day and according to that design he gave him education but he could not find that Castruccio had inclination to that kind of life on the contrary he perceived his natural disposition tending quite another way In short Castruccio was scarce 14 years old but abating by little and little of his awe and respects to Antonio and Dianora he began to neglect his Studies to devote himself to Arms and taking great delight in wrestling and running and such violent exercises his mettle was so well suted with the strength of his body that none of his companions were able to cope with him He troubled himself very little with reading unless it were such things as might instruct him for War or acquaint him with the great actions of some eminent Commander which did not only disquiet Antonio but afflicted him There was at that time in Lucca a Gentleman called Francisco of the House of the Guinigi a handsom man very rich and remarkable for many good qualities which recommended him to one of the first ranks in the Town He had born Arms all his life long and for the most part under the Viscontis Dukes of Milan He had with them engaged for the Ghibilins and the City of Lucca look'd upon him as the very life of their party It was at the time when these two great Factions the Guelfs and the Ghibilins shared all Italy betwixt them divided the Popes and the Emperors engaged in their different interests the Inhabitants of the same Town and the members of the same Family Francisco accompanied usually by persons of Quality of his Cabal walk'd often before the place of St. Michael not far from the Palace of the Podestat or Governor In that Market-place he tooke notice of Castruccio who was often times playing there amongst his School-fellows and Comrades He observed the youth always prescribed such sports to the rest as he had chosen on purpose to prepare him for the War Francisco could easily perceived how much the agility of Castruccio advanced him above his Companions and he as easily perceived that he assumed an authority over them and that they on their part paid him a reverence and such a one as was accompanied with kindness and zeal Francisco took a great fancy to the boy inquited what he was and being informed by some who were by he had a months mind to have him himself calling him to him one day he ask'd him if he did not prefer a Gentlemans Family where he might learn to ride the great Horse and exercise his Arms before the Cloister of a Church-man where he must spin out his days in idleness and melancholy He no sooner mentioned Horses and Arms but Castruccio was ready to have leap'd out of his skin but recollecting himself a sentiment of modesty kept him from answering till the fine words of Francisco having given him more confidence he told him that if he had the liberty of choosing he had rather a thousand times be employed as a Gentleman than in the way for which he was design'd His resolution was so pleasing to Francisco that not long after he made a visit to Antonio and begg'd Castruccio of him in so pressing and yet so civil a manner that Antonio finding it impossible to master the natural inclinations of the youth delivered him to Francisco By this means Castruccio changed his Education and 't is not to be beleived with what easiness he improved in those exercises which are fit for a Gentleman to learn It was to be admired with what address and vigor he mounted his horse with what grace he managed his launce and with what comeliness his sword and this his dexterity distinguished him so highly from the croud of his companions that it would have been imprudence in any one of them to have contended with him either at the Barrieri or Iusts To all these advantages he had an engaging way with him that obliged where-ever he came his actions and his words seemed premedtiate and studied so careful and so regular he was lest he should say or do any thing that might any ways offends He carried himself always with respect to his superiors with modesty to his equals and with civility and complaisance to those who were beneath him so that these good qualities did not only gain him the affection of Francisco's whole Family but the love and esteem of the whole City of Lucca he was eighteen years old when the Faction of the Guelfs drove the Ghibilins out of Pania Visconti Prince of Milan a zealous Partizan of the Ghibilins solicited Succours from Francisco Guinigi who casting his eyes upon Castruccio as the first mark of his affection made him Lieutenant of a Company of Foot and marched with him to Visconti The first Campania this new Lieutenant made put him into such reputation that he eclipsed the glory of all the rest who served in that War He gave so great and so many testimonies both of his courage and conduct that his fame was spread all over Lombardy When also he came back to Lucca and observed the Town had doubled the respect which they had for him before he applyed himself to make new friendships and to that purpose made use of all the courtesie and insinuation that is necessary in that case Not long after Francesco Guinigi fell sick and finding himself near his end having but one Son of about 13 years of age called Pagolo he sent for Castruccio and committed the tuition of his Son and the management of his Estate into his hands and having gently remembred Castruccio that he was the Person who raised him he begg'd that he would shew the same generosity towards Pagolo as he had done towards him and if any thing was due to the bounty of the Father to return it upon his Son He fancied he discerned in the countenance of Castruccio all the marks and indications of a generous mind and died without being disturbed with the least suspicion of his ingratitude The trust and his administration of so great an Estate made Castruccio more considerable than before but they created him likewise some enemies and lessened the affection which some had had for him for knowing him to be of an enterprizing spirit many began to fancy his designs were tyrannical and to oppress the liberty of his Country The Signeur Giorgio Opizi chief of the Guelfs Faction in Lucca was the most to be
time otherwise there was great danger of a General destruction Resolving therefore to desire aid of the Florentines and to continue their amity with the Bentivogli they sent Embassadors to both promising their assistance to the one and begging the assistance of the other against the Common Enemy This Dyet was quickly nois'd all over Italy and such of Duke Valentine's Subjects as were discontented among whom were the Urbinati began to hold up their heads and hope for a revolution While the people were in this suspence certain of the Inhabitants of Urbino laid a plot to suprize the Castle of San. Leo which at that time was kept for the Duke and the manner was thus The Governor of the Castle was busie in repairing it and mending the fortifications to which purpose having commanded great quantities of Timber to be brought in the Conspirators contrived that certain of the biggest pieces should be laid as by accident upon the bridge which they knew could not be cran'd up without a great deal of difficulty whil'st the Guards were employed in hoysting the Timber they took their opportunity seized upon the Bridge and then upon the Castle which was no sooner known to be taken but the whole Country revolted and called in their old Duke yet not so much upon the surprize of that Castle as their expectations from the Dyet at Magione by means of which they did not question to be protected The Dyet understanding the revolt of Urbino concluded no time was to be lost and having drawn their Forces together they advanced if any Town was remaining to the Duke to reduce it immediately They sent a new Embassy to the Florentines to solicite their Concurrence against the common Enemy to remonstrate their success and to convince them that such an opportunity being lost was not to be expected again But the Florentines had an old pique to the Vitelli and Ursini upon several accompts so that they did not only not joyn with them but they sent their Secretary Nicolo Machiavelli to the Duke to offer him reception of assistance which he pleased to Elect. The Duke was at Imola at that time in great consternation for unexpectedly on a sudden when he dream'd nothing of it his Soldiers revolted and left him with a War at his Doors and no force to repel it But taking heart upon the Florentine Complement he resolved with the few Forces he had left to protract and spin out the War and by propositions and practices of agreement gain time till he could provide himself better which he did two ways by sending to the King of France and by giving advance Mony to all Men at Arms and Cavalry that would come in Notwithstanding all this the Ursini proceeded and marched on towards Fossombrone where being faced by a party of the Dukes they charged them and beat them The news of that defeat put the Duke upon new Counsels to try if he could stop that humour by any practice of accord and being excellent at dissembling he omitted nothing that might persuade them that they were the Aggressors and had taken up Arms first against him That what was in his hands he would willingly surrender that the Name of Prince was enough for him and if they pleased the Principality should be theirs and he deluded them so far that they sent Signor Pagolo to him to treat about a Peace and in the mean time granted a Cessation of Arms However the Duke put no stop to his recruits but reinforced himself daily with all possible diligence and that his supplies might not be discovered he dispers'd them as they came all over Romagna Whil'st these things were in transaction a supply of 500 Lances arrived to him from France and though by their help he found himself strong enough to confront his Enemy in the field yet he judged it more secure and profitable to go on with the cheat and not break off the Capitulation that then was on foot And he acted it so well that a Peace was concluded their old Pensions confirmed 4000 Duckats paid down a solemn engagement given not to disturb the Bentivogli He made an alliance with Giovanni and declared that he could not and had no power to constrain any of them to come personally to him unless they pleased to do it themselves They promised on their part to restore the Dutchy of Urbino and whatever else they had taken from him to serve him in all his Enterprizes not to make War without his leave nor hire themselves to any body else These Articles being sign'd Guid ' Ubaldo Duke of Urbin fled again to Venice having dismantled all the Castles and strong holds in his Dutchy before he departed for having a confidence in the people he would not that those places which he could not defend himself should be possessed by the Enemy and made use of to keep his friends in subjection But Duke Valentine having finished the agreement and disposed his Army into quarters all over Romagna about the end of November removed from Imola to Cesena where he continued several days in consultation with certain Commissioners sent from the Vitelli and Ursini who were then with their Troops in the Dutchy of Urbino about what new Enterprize they were next to undertake and because nothing was concluded Oliverotto da Ferno was sent to propose to him if he thought good an expedition into Tuscany if not that they might joyn and set down before Sinigaglia The Duke replyed That the Florentines were his Friends and he could not with honour carry the War into Tuscany but their proposal for Sinigaglia he embraced very willingly Having beleaguer'd the Town it was not long before they had News it was taken but the Castle held out for the Governor refused to surrender to any body but the Duke whereupon they intreated him to come The Duke thought this a fair opportunity and the better because he went not of himself but upon their invitation and to make them the more secure he dismissed his French and sent them back into Lombardy only he retained a hundred Lances under the Command of his Kinsman Monsieur de Candale Departing about the end of December from Cesena he went to Fano where with all the cunning and artifice he could use he persuaded the Vitelli and Ursini to stay with the Army till he came remonstrating to them that such jealousies and suspicions as those must needs weaken their alliance and render it undurable and that for his part he was a man who desired to make use as well of the Counsels as the Arms of his Friends And though Vitellozzo opposed it very much for by the death of his Brother he had been taught how unwise it was to offend a Prince first and then put himself into his hands nevertheless persuaded by Paulo Ursino who underhand was corrupted by presents and promises from the Duke he consented to stay Hereupon the Duke upon his departure the 30th of Decemb. 1502. imparted
the most levelling liberty in the world This practice of the Swissers makes all the Gentlemen which are remaining in any of the free Towns afraid of them so that they employ their whole industry in keeping their States at a distance with them and preventing any intelligence betwixt them Moreover all of those States who have been Soldiers and had their Education in the Wars are mortally their Enemies moved thereunto by Emulation and Envy because they themselves are not so famous abroad and their animosity is so great that they never meet in the sield let their numbers be small or great but they fall together by the Ears As to the Enmity betwixt the Princes and the free Towns and the Swissers I need say no more it being so generally known as likewise of the jealousies betwixt the Emperor and the Princes You must understand that the Emperors principal apprehension is of the Princes and not being able to correct them alone he has made use of the assistance of these free States and not long since entertained the Swissers into his allyance by whose means he thought himself in a very good condition So that these common dissentions being considered and the particular piques and suspicions betwixt one Prince and one State and another it is no easie matter to unite the Empire and yet it is necessary it should be united before any great thing can be performed by the Emperor And though he who believes Germany in a condition to do great things because there is visibly no Prince who has the power or indeed the courage to oppose the designs of the Emperor as formerly has been done yet he must know that it is a great impediment to an Emperor not to be assisted by those Princes for though perhaps a Prince dares not contend with him he dares deny him his assistance and if he dares not deny him that he dares break his promise upon occasion and if he dares not do that will at least mak so bold to deferr and delay the performance so long that when his supplies do come they shall do the Emperor no good all which things do infinitely disturb and embarras his designs And this was found to be true when the Emperor would the first time have passed into Italy in spight both of the French and the Venetian in a dyet held at that time in Constance he was promised by the several Free States in Germany a supply of ... thousand Foot and 3000 Horse yet he could never get of them together above 5000 and that because by that time the Forces of one State came up another was ready to depart their time being expired and some sent Mony in lieu upon which score that Enterprize was lost The strength of Germany consists in the free Towns rather than in the Princes for the Princes are of two sorts Temporal and Spiritual The Temporal Princes are brought very low partly by themselves every Principality being cantonized and distributed to several Princes by constitution of their inheritances which are observed very strictly in those Countries and partly having been much weakned by the Emperor and his assistance from the said States so that now the amity of the Temporal Princes is of little importance There are likewise Spiritual Princes whose Territories if not cantonized and divided by those Hereditary Customs are yet so weakned and enervated by the ambition of their own free Towns and the favour that the Emperor showes them that the Electoral Archbishops and the rest have little or no power in the great and chief Towns of their own Dominions from whence it comes to pass that being divided at home they cannot favour the Enterprizes of the Emperor though they would themselves But to come to the Free and the Imperial Towns which are the strength of that Country as being rich and well-govern'd Those Towns for several reasons are grown cooler in the assertion of their Liberties and much more in the acquisition of new and that which they do not desire for themselves they do not care another should have Besides they are so many and every one to be commanded by a General of their own that their supplies when they are disposed to send them come but very slow and when they do come are not so useful as they should be and of this we had an Example not many years since The Swissers invaded the State of Maximilian and Suevia The Emperor contracted with the Free Towns to repell them and they obliged themselves to assist him with an Army of 14000 Men but he never got half of them and the reason was as abovesaid when the Forces of one Town came up another marched off insomuch that the Emperor dispairing of success came to an agreement with the Swissers and left Basil in their possession And if in this case where their own interest was concerned they have acted at this rate it may be guessed how they will behave themselves in the concerns of other men so that all these things laid together though their power be great yet it can turn but to little accompt to the Emperor And the Venetians by their conversation and Commerce with the Merchants of Germany in all their Transactions hitherto with the Emperor have understood him better than any body else and dealt more honourably by him for had they been in any apprehension of his power they would have insisted upon some caution either by way of Mony or Towns and if they had seen any possibility of uniting the whole power of the Empire they would never have opposed it But knowing that to be impossible it made them the more conâ—ident and gave them hopes of success If therefore in a single City the affairs of the multitude are negligently managed in a Province they will be much worse Moreover those little States are sensible that an acquisition in Italy or elsewhere would fall to the Princes and not to them because they might enjoy them personally which could not be done by a Common-wealth and where the reward is like to be unequal people will not willingly be at an equal expence Their power therefore is great but of little importance and he who peruses what has been said before and considers what was been done for several years past will sind how little it is to be rely'd upon The German Men at Arms are well mounted and many of them well enough arm'd but their Horses are heavy and unactive and it is to be observed that in their Encounters with the Italians or French they can do nothing at all not for any fault in the Men but the accoutrement of their Horses for their Saddles being little and weak and without bows every little jostle tumbuls them upon the ground and another of their great disadvantages is that the lower part of their bodies are never arm'd whereby not being able to defend against the first impression in which the excellence of those Soldiers consist they lie exposed upon the
till the time of the Gracchi and were the occasion of the destruction of their liberty it may be demanded whether Rome might not have attained that height of Authority and Grandeur under another form of Government that might have prevented those animosities To resolve this Question it is necessary to look back upon those Republicks whose Fortune it has been to retain their liberty a long time without those inconveniencies to examine what was their form and whether it was practicable in Rome As Examples we may produce Sparta and Venice the first Ancient the latter more modern both mentioned before Sparta was governed by a King and a small Senate Venice did not divide the Government into distinct Names but all who were admitted to the administration were called Gentlemen under one common appellation and that more by accident than any prudence in the Legislator for when to those Rocks upon which that City is now seated many people did repair for the reasons abovesaid in process of time their number encreasing so fast that they could not live peaceably without Laws they resolved to put themselves under some form and meeting often together to deliberate upon that when they found they were numerous enough to subsist by themselves they made a Law to praeclude all new comers from the Government and hinding afterwards their numbers encrease and that there were multitudes of Inhabitants incapable of publick administration in honours to the Governors they called them Gentlemen of Venice and the others but Citizens and this distinction might not only be instituted but continued without tumult because when first introduced all the Inhabitants participating of the Government no body could complain and they who came after finding it firm and established had no reason nor opportunity to disturb it They had no reason because no injury was done them they had no opportunity because the Government restrained them and they were not employed in any thing that might furnish them with authority besides those who came after were not in number disproportionable to the Governors the latter being equally if not more numerous than they for which reasons the Venetians were able not only to erect but maintain their Government a long time without any revolution Sparta being as I said before governed by a King and a small Senate might likewise preserve its Model a long time by reason the Inhabitants were but few strangers excluded and the Laws of Lycurgus established with great veneration so that living by those Laws all occasion of tumult was taken away and they might continue united a long time for though the Offices and Commands were conferred upon a few yet the revenue of the Country being equally distributed the people were not Seditious though they were kept at a distance nor did the Nobility provoke them by any insolence or oppression and this proceeded from the condition of their Kings who being environed by the Nobility had no safer way to secure their dignity than by protecting the people from injustice and violence by which means the fear and the desire of Command being taken from the people the Emulations betwixt them and the Nobility and the occasion of tumultuating ceased so that it was not hard for them to enjoy their tranquillity several Ages Of the length of their tranquillity there were two principal causes First The number of the Spartans being small there was no necessity that their Governors should be many and next no strangers being admitted they were not liable to be corrupted nor to encrease to such a number as might grow insupportable to those few who were under their Government These things being considered it is plain that the Roman Legislators could not have instituted a Commonwealth that should be free from Sedition and Mutiny any other way than by imitating the Venetians and Spartans that is by not employing the people in their Wars like the Venetians nor entertaining Foreiners into their City as the Spartans But the Roman Legislators transgressing in both the people grew strong and by consequence tumultuous and if any way the Government were to be rendered more quiet this in convenience would follow it would be rendered also more weak and all means be taken away that might conduct it to that height of grandeur and authority at which afterwards it arrived so that those applications which prevented the tumults in Rome prevented also its enlargement and the extent of its Empire as it happens in most humane affairs the removal of one inconvenience is the contracting of another For if you arm and adapt a numerous people for the War by their means to enlarge your Territory you put them into a conditon of being unmanageable afterwards and not to be kept down to your Discipline and Government whereas if you keep them disarmed and their number but few though you may make your self Arbitrary you can never continue it for your Subjects will grow so poor spirited and vile you will become a pre to the first man that invades you In all deliberations therefore the inconveniences are to be considered and that resolution prefer'd in which their are fewest for none can be taken that are absolutely free The Romans then in imitation of the Spartans might have set up a King for his life and appointed a little Senate but by so doing they could never have laid the foundation of so vast an Empire for an Elective King and a small Senate would have contributed but little to their unity and peace He then who would set up a new Commonwealth should consider whether he would have it like Rome extend its Dominion and Soveraignty or keep it self within its own bounds without any dilatation In the first case it is necessary to imitate the Romans and give way to the tumults and publick dissentions as well as he can for without his Citizens be numerous and well disciplin'd and arm'd he can never extend his Dominion and if he could it would be impossible to keep it In the second he is to frame to the Model of the Spartans and Venetians but because augmentation of Empire is commonly the destruction of such Commonwealths he is by all possible means to prohibit new acquisitions because depending upon weak Commonwealths they are always destructive and pernicious as experience has shown in the Examples of Sparta and Venice The first having subdued most part of Greece discovered upon a slight accident the weakness of its foundation for the Thebans revolting at the instigation of Pelopidas gave opportunity to other Cities and quite ruined the Government In like manner Venice having conquer'd the greatest part of Italy more by their Mony and Artifice than Arms presuming too much upon their force and coming to a Battel they were worsted and in one day lost all which they had got I should think therefore a Commonwealth that would stand a long time should model it self within according to the Example of Sparta and like Venice seat it self in so strong and
to be praised who lay the foundations of any Republick or Kingdom so they are to be condemn'd who set up a Tyranny AMong all Excellent and Illustrious men they are most praise worthy who have been the chief establishers of Religion and Divine Worship In the second place are they who have laid the foundations of any Kingdom or Commonwealth In the third those who having the Command of great Armies have enlarged their own or the Dominion of their Country In the next Learned Men of all Sciences according to their several studies and degrees and last of all as being infinitely the greatest number come the Artificers and Mechanicks all to be commended as they are ingenious or skilful in their Professions On the other side they are infamous and detestable who are contemners of Religion subverters of Governments Enemies of Virtue of Learning of Art and in short of every thing that is useful and honourable to mankind and of this sort are the prophane the seditious the ignorant the idle the debauched and the vile And although Nature has so ordered it that their is neither wise man nor fool nor good man nor bad who if it were proposed to him which he would choose of these two sorts of people would not prefer that which was to be preferred and condemn the other yet the generality of Mankind deluded by a false impression of good and a vain notion of glory leaving those ways which are excellent and commendable either wilfully or ignorantly wander into those paths which will lead them to dishonour and whereas to their immortal honour they might establish a Commonwealth or Kingdom as they please they run head-long into a Tyranny not considering what fame what glory what affection what security what quiet and satisfaction of mind they part with nor what reproach scandal hatred danger and disquiet they incur It is impossible but all people whether of private condition in the Commonwealth or such as by their Fortune or Virtue have arrived to be Princes if they have any knowledge in History and the passages of old would rather choose if private persons to be Scipio's than Caesar's and if Princes to be Agesilaus Timolion and Dion than Nabis Phalaris or Dionysius because they must find the one highly celebrated and admired and the other as much abhor'd and condemn'd they must find Timoleon and the rest to have as much interest and authority in their Countries as Dionysius or Phalaris had in theirs and much more security Nor let any man deceive himself with Caesar's reputation finding him so exceedingly eminent in History for those who have cryed him up were either corrupted by his fortune or terrified by his power for whil'st the Empire continued it was never permitted that any man should speak any thing against him and doubtless had Writers had their liberty they could have said as much of him as of Cataline and Caesar is so much the worst of the two by how much it is worse to effect and perpetrate an ill thing than to designe it and this they might judge by what is said of his adversary Brutus for not daring to speak downright of Caesar by reason of his power by kind of reverse they magnified his Enemy After Rome also was grown to be an Empire and the Government in the hands of a single person it may be observed how much more happy and secure those Emperors were who lived like good Princes according to the dictate of the Laws than those who lived otherwise for Titus Nerva Trajanus Adrianus Antoninus and Marcus had no need of Praetorian bands nor multitude of Legions to defend them their own excellent deportment the benevolence of the people and the affection of the Senate saved them that charge It will appear likewise how to Caligula Nero Vitellius and several other Tyrannical Emperors their Eastern and Western Armies were not sufficient to secure them against the Enemies which their irregularity and ill manners had contracted The History of which persons if well considered would enable any Prince to distinguish betwixt the ways of Honour and Infamy of Security and Fear For of XXVI Emperors betwixt Caesar and Maximinus XVI were murdered and but X died in their beds and though some of those who were slain might possibly be good as Pertinax and Galba yet they were murdered by reason of the corruption and ill discipline which their Predecessors had left in the Army and if among those who died naturally there were any Tyrannical as Severus it is to be imputed to his great Courage and Fortune which are two things very seldom Concomitant in one man it is legible likewise in the same History upon what Basis and foundation a Monarchy must be built to make it solid and permanent for all those Emperors who succeeded by hereditary right were ill men except Titus only and those who came in by Election were good as Nerva and the four which succeeded him but when the Empire became wholly Hereditary it ran furiously to destruction Let the times therefore from Nerva to Marcus be displayed before your Prince and let him compare them which went before with those which came after and then make his choice when they would have been born or when he would have been Soveraign He will find when good men were at the Helm the Prince safe in the security of his Subjects Peace and Justice flourishing in the world The Senate in Authority The Magistrates in Esteem Rich men enjoying their Estates Nobility and Virtue Exalted and all things quiet and well No rancour No licentiousness No corruption No ambition to be found the times were golden Every man enjoyed his opinion and defended it as he pleased In a word He will find the world triumphing in felicity The Prince happy in the reverence and affection of the people and the people safe in the generosity of their Prince If then the Reigns of the other Emperors be contemplated they will appear full of commotion discord and sedition assassinations in Peace Cruelty in War Many Princes murther'd many Foreign many domestick embroilments All Italy afflicted and all its Cities destroyed Rome burnt The Capitol by its own Inhabitants demolished The ancient Temples desolate Religious Ceremonies prophaned and the whole Citie full of Adulteries The Sea covered with Exiles and the Rocks with blood Infinite Cruelties and Barbarisâ—â—s committed daily in the City And Nobility Riches Honour and especially Virtue grown to be Capital offences Informers and Calumniators will be found to be rewarded Servants instigated against their Masters Children against their Parents and those few who were so unhappy as to have no Enemies to be destroyed by their Friends Then it will appear what mighty obligations Rome and Italy and the whole world had to Caesar and doubtless if the Prince be endued with the lest spark of humanity or good nature he will detest the imitation of the bad and be inflamed with an ardent propensity to the good All which things
considered that Prince certainly which aims at glory and reputation in the world should desire a Government where the manners of his Subjects are corrupted and depraved not to subvert and destroy it like Caesar but to rectifie and restore it like Romulus than which the Heavens cannot confer nor man propose to himself greater honour And if a Prince who would regulate and reform a City cannot do it without depositing his Authority In that case he is excusable in some measure if he dispenses but where he can retain the one and accomplish the other he is altogether unpardonable they therefore to whom the Heavens are so propitious as to present such an opportunity are to consider that they have two ways before them one leading to security whil'st they live and an honourable memory when they are dead the other to continual troubles here and perpetual infamy hereafter CHAP. XI Of the Religion and Ceremonies of the Romans THough Rome should have been founded by Romulus and owe him as his Daughter for her Birth and Education yet the Heavens foreseeing that the Constitutions of Romulus would not be sufficient for so great an Empire put it into the heart of the Roman Senate to create Numa Pompilius for his Successor to the end that what was left defective by the first might be compleated by the latter Numa finding the people martial and fierce and being desirous by the Arts of Peace to reduce them to civil obedience he betook himself to Religion as a thing absolutely necessary to the maintenance of civil policy and he ordered things so that for many ages together never was the fear of God so eminently conspicuous as in that Commonwealth which was a great promotion to whatever was designed either by the Senate or Princes And he who shall peruse the infinite actions of that City collectively or of several Romans in particular will find those Citizens more tender of falsifying an Oath than of violating the Laws judging an offence against God more hainous than an offence against Men and God more able to punish it Of this we have manifest Evidence in the Examples of Scipio and Manlius Torquatus for after the defeat which Hanibal had given the Romans at Cannas the people tumultuating and many of them assembling in great fear to consider of their condition They resolved among themselves to leave Italy and transplant into Sicily Scipio having notice repaired to them immediately and coming in suddenly among them with his Sword drawn he forced them to recant and take a peremptory Oath not to abandon their Country Lucius Manlius Father to Titus Manlius who was afterwards called Torquatus was impeached by Marcus Pomponius a Tribune of the people Before the day arrived for the hearing of the Father the Son coming to the Tribune and threatning to kill him unless he would swear to withdraw his accusation he forced him to his Oath and he performed as he had sworn and so those Citizens who could not be retained by either the love of their Country or Laws were kept at home by an Oath which they took upon force and the Tribune laid by his hatred to the Father passed by the insolence of the Son and neglected the reflection it would have upon his own honour to be punctual in his Oath which proceeded from nothing but those principles of Religion which Nama had distused And surely it will be found by whoever considers the Roman History how useful a thing Religion was to the governing of Armies to the uniting of the people to the keeping men good and to the deterring them from being bad so that should it fall into dispute whether Rome was most obliged to Romulus or Numa I am of opinion Numa would have the preheminence because where Religion is fixed Military Discipline is easily introduced but where Religion is wanting Discipline may be brought in with difficulty but never in perfection It is to be seen likewise that for the constituting a Senate and establishing of Laws both Military and Civil Romulus had no need to pretend Divine Authority but with Numa it was otherwise he was of necessity to pretend to it and thereupon gave out that he had private Conference with a Nymph who dictated to him what he was to prescribe to the people and all was because he had a mind to introduce new Laws and Customs into that City which he thought his own private authority would never effect And certainly never any man brought in new Laws or set up any Doctrine extraordinary but with pretence of Religion because otherwise they would never have been admitted for a man may be wise and know many things are good and yet want reasons and arguments to convince other people wherefore to remove that difficulty prudent men do make that always their pretence and Solon Lycurgus and several others who had the same design practised the same The people then admiring the goodness and wisdom of Numa submitted in all things True it is the devotion of the age and ignorance of the people contributed much for thereby he was able to impress them with what new form he thought good and questionless he that would establish a Commonwealth at this day would find it more easie among the rude people of the Mountains who have not been acquainted with Civility than among such as have been educated in Cities where their civility was corrupted like rude unpolished Marble which is more readily carv'd into a Statue than what has been mangled already by some bungling workman So that all things considered I conclude That the Religion introduced by Numa was one of the first causes of that Cities felicity because Religion produced good Laws good Laws good Fortune and good Fortune a good End in whatever they undertook And as strictness in Divine Worship and Conscience of Oaths are great helps to the advancement of a State so contempt of the one and neglect of the other are great means of its destruction Take away Religion and take away the foundation of Government for though perhaps the goodness and fear of their Prince may sustain it for some time and supply the want of Religion in his subjects yet because he is mortal and possibly but very short lived that Kingdom can hardly out-live the virtue of its Governor Wherefore those States which depend only upon the piety of their Princes are of little duration for commonly one dyes with the other and the virtue of the Father seldom revives in the Son as Dante has said very wisely Rade volte discende per li rami L' tunn ana probitate et questo vuole Quel che la da perche da lai si chiami Virtue 's but seldom to the branches spread He who bestows't has in his wisdom said Let him that wants come to the fountain-head Things being thus it is not sufficient for a Commonweal thor Kingdom to have a Prince who Governs it wisely whil'st he lives but he must lay his foundation so
Authority in Italy into the Territories of the Swizzers who are the only people at this day which live either as to their Ecclesiastical or Military Discipline according to the Model of the Ancients and then he would quickly find that the wickedness and depravity of that Court would produce more confusion and disorder in that Country than ever befell it by any accident before CHAP. XXIII How the Romans pretended Religion many times to regulate their City to prosecute their Wars and to pacifie their tumults ANd I hold it not extravagant to produce two or three Examples in which the Romans made use of their Religion both in the regulation of their City and the prosecution of their Wars and although in Titus Livius they be very frequent yet I shall content my self with these After the people of Rome had created their Tribunes with consular power and all of them except one from among the Plebeans there hapning that year a furious Plague a desperate Famine and other Prodigies besides the Nobility in the next creation of Tribunes took advantage of that occasion and pretended that the Gods were incensed against the people for that they had debased the Majesty of the Empire and that there was no remedy to appease them but to reduce the Election of the Tribunes to its primitive institution upon which the people were so frighted they chose all their Tribunes that year out of the Patricii It was the same case in the taking of Veii The Romans had been before it ten years and no great lekelihood of carrying it but the Tenth the Lake of Albin being miraculously swell'd so as to drown a good part of the Country the great Officers of the Army observing their Soldiers weary of the Siege and impatient to be at home feigning to have consulted the Oracles they pretended that they had received this answer That Veii should be taken that year that Albin overflowed which answer reflecting upon their Devotion the Soldiers reassumed their Courage continued the Siege and Camillus being chosen Dictator carried the Town and thus you may see how the Romans made use of their Religion to encourage their Army against the fatigues and dangers of a tedious Leaguer and to fright the people from entrenching upon the priviledges of the Nobility in the Election of their Tribunes without which pretence it would have been a hard matter to have persuaded either the one or the other There was another example to the same purpose Terentillus a Tribune of the people would needs make a Law which was called Lex Terentilla and shall be mentioned hereafter contrary to the interest and inclination of the Senate The Senate resolved to oppose it and the best means they could think of was pretence of Religion of which they made use two ways they ordered the Books of the Sybils to be look'd over and this answer to be returned That that very year the City would be in great danger of losing its liberty unless civil Sedition was prevented which artifice notwithstanding it was discovered by the Tribunes put the people into such a fright they grew cool in the business and refused to stand by them After this they made use of the same pretence another time Appius Herdonius having got together of Slaves and Exiles to the number of Four thousand men seized upon the Capitol in the night and brought such a terror upon the City it might very well be feared if the Aequi and the Volsci perpetual Enemies to the Romans had taken their opportunity and marched to Rome they would have gone near to have master'd it However the Tribunes persisted and nothing could serve their turns but the Lex Terentilla must be promulged for they affirmed the Stories of being invaded were but suggestions and fallacies and not one word of them true Hereupon one Publius Rubetius a grave Citizen and of good authority among them came forth of the Senate and partly by fair words and partly by foul remonstrating the danger of the City and the unseasonableness of their demands he play'd his part so well that the Constrained the people to take an Oath of fidelity â—o the Consul and in testimony of their integrity the people ran to their Arms and recovered the Capital from Herdonius but Publius Valerius their Consul being slain in the Conflict Titus Quintius was chosen immediately in his place who to keep the populace employed and leave them no time to think of their Law Terentilla Commanded them out of Town forthwith against the Volsci alledging that the Oath which they had taken to be true to the Consul obliged them to follow him and though the Tribunes opposed it and objected that that Oath extended no further than to the Consul that was dead nevertheless Livy tell us that such was the peoples tenderness and veneration for Religion that they chose rather to follow the Consul than to strain and presume upon their Consciences giving this reason for it Nondum haec quae nunc tenet seculum negligentia deûm venerat nec interpretando sibi quisque jusjurandum leges aptas faciebat The neglect of the Gods which has overspread this Age was not then come to that height nor did everyman interpret his Oaths and accommodate his Laws to his own interest and advantage Upon which the Tribunes perceiving their danger and that if they persist they should run a hazard of being utterly extinguished they came to an agreement with the Consul received his Orders obliged themselves not to insist upon the Lex Terentilla for a Twelve-month in case the Consuls for the same time would forbear drawing out the people And thus you see how by pretence of Religion the Senate overcame a difficulty which without it it could never have done CHAP. XIV The Romans were wont to interpret their Auspices with accommodation to their own pleasures and designs and when at any time they were forced to transgress they managed it wisely and pretended to be very precise and if any body rashly despised them he was sure to be punished AMong the Gentiles Auguries were a great part of their Religion as I have said elsewhere and they contributed not a little to the well being of the Roman Common-wealth for which reason the Romans had them in particular care above any other Ordinance and made use of them in the creation of Consuls in the undertaking of Enterprizes in drawing out their Armies in their Battels and Engagements and in every other business of importance whether Military or Civil nor would they ever begin an Expedition till they had possessed the Soldiers that the Gods had promised them success Among the several Orders of Auspices they had one called the Pullarii who were to give their presages before ever they fought with their Enemy If the pullen over which they had inspection Eat it was a good Omen and they might with confidence engage if they did not Eat It was an ill sign and they were obliged to forbear
Lombardy the great objection by those who were against the Expedition was That the Swizzers would obstruct his passage over the Mountains which argument was found idle afterwards for the Kings of France waving two or three places which they had guarded passed by a private and unknown way and was upon their backs in Italy before they perceiv'd him so that being mightily surprized the Enemy quitted his Posts and retired into Italy and all the Lombards submitted to the French they being deceived in their opinion who thought the French were with more Ease and Convenience to be obstructed in the Mountains CHAP. XXIV In well Ordered Governments offence and desert are never set one against the other but he who does well is rewarded and he who does otherwise is punished THE merits of Horatius were very great having by his own single valor and conduct overcome the Curiatii after which he committed a most abominable act in killing his own Sister which Murther was so hainous in the Eyes of the Romans that he was brought to a Trial for his life though his deserts were so fresh and considerable which at first sight seem ingrateful in the people but he who examins it strictly and weighs how necessary and sacred a thing Justice ought to be in every Common-wealth will find them more blameable for discharging than they would have been for condemning him and the reason is because in a well constituted State no man's good actions should indemnisie him for doing ill for punishment being as due to ill actions as rewards are to good having rewarded in a man for doing well he is satisfied for what he did and the obligation discharged so as if afterwards he commits a Crime he is to be punished severely according to the Nature of his offence by the observation of which Orders a City may continue free a long time which otherwise will quickly go to ruine For if a Citizen having perform'd any great Exploit for his Country should expect not only honor and reward for what he has done but priviledge and impunity for any mischief he should do afterwards his insolence would in a short time grow insupportable and inconsistent with Civil Government So then it is very necessary for discouragement from ill actions to recompense good which was the practice in Rome and though where a Common-wealth is poor her tâ—wards cannot be great yet even out of that small stock she is to be punctually grateful for a thing how little soever given in acknowledgment of ones good Service let it be never so great is look'd upon as Honorable and received as a Magnificent reward The Stories of Horatius Cocles and Mutius Scaevola are generally famous Coles with incompâ—rable courage maintained fight against a great body of the Enemy upon the Bridge over Tiber till it was cut behind him and their passage obstructed The other designing against the life of Porsenna King of Tuscany and killing his Secretary by mistake being apprehended and brought before the King to show the courage and constancy of the Romans he thrust his own hand into the fire and burnt it off before his face and how were they gratified marry each of them had two Staiora's which is as much ground as can be sown with two Bushels of Corn. The History of Manlius Capitolinus is no less remarkable Having relieved the Capitol which the French had surprized in the night and beaten them out again his Comerades in requital gave him a certain measure of Flower which as times went then was a mighty reward and esteemed so adequate to the Service that Manlius afterwards either out of ambition or ill nature causing a tumult in Rome and endeavouring to debauch the people his former exploits being as they thought amply rewarded without farther regard to him they threw him headlong down that Capitol which he had so gloriously preserved CHAP. XXV Though it is many times convenient to reform the old Fundamental Customs of a free City yet it is convenient still to retain some shadow and appearance of their ancient ways HE who desires to set up a new form of Government in a Common-wealth that shall be lasting and acceptable to the people is with great caution to preserve at least some shadow and resemblance of the old That the people may if possible be insensible of the innovation for the generality of Mankind do not penetrate so far into things but that outward appearance is as acceptable to them as verity it self For this cause the Romans at the beginning of their liberty when their Kings were expelled thought it expedient to create two Consuls instead of one King assigning them only XII Lictors that their number might not exceed what attended upon the King Besides this there was an anniversary Sacrifice in Rome in which the Ministry of the King was of necessity required To salve that defect the Romans created a chief of the said Sacrifice with the Title of Royal Priest but with subordination to the High Priest by which Artifice the people were satisfied with their Sacrifice and took no occasion to complain for the expulsion of their King He therefore who desires to reform the policy of a State and to introduce a new is to disguise it to the people by the retention at least in appearance of some part of the ancient Customs that may keep them from discerning it and if at any time by accident there be a necessity of changing the power the number and duration of the Magistrates it will be convenient to continue the Name This as I said before is to be observed by any one who would establish an absolute power either in a Republick or Monarchical way but he who would erect such an absolute power as by Authors is called Tyrannies must unravel the whole bottom and innovate all CHAP. XXVI A new Prince in a new Conquest is to make every thing new WHoever makes himself Lord of a City or State and especially if he finds himself weak and suspects his ability to keep it if he intends not to continue the Government in the old way either by Kingship or Common-wealth the best course he can take is to subvert all to turn every thing topsie turvy and make all things as new as himself To alter the Magistracy create new Titles elect new persons confer new Authorities advance the Poor and impoverish the Rich that what is said of David may be said of him Esurientes implevit bonis divites dimisit inanes He filled the hungry with good things and the rich he sent empty away Besides it is his interest to build new Cities to erect new Corporations to demolish and uncharter the old to shift the Inhabitants from one place to another in a word so to toss and transpose every thing that there be no honor nor wealth nor preferment in the whole Province but what is ownable to him And for this he need go no farther than Philip of Macedon Father to Alexander the
of the Nobility for most of them having more Land than was allowed by this Law their fortunes by it were to be confiscated and half of them taken away and then by the distribution of what they should take from the Enemy they should lose all opportunity of enriching themselves for the future which being certainly true and this Law so perfectly pernicious to the interest of the Nobility it was never mentioned by the Tribunes but the Patricii opposed it and with all the eagerness imaginable yet not always by force but sometimes by evasion either commanding out their Armies upon some pretended design or by setting up another Tribune in opposition to him who proposed the Law that thereby they might dissolve it or else by sending new Colonies And so it hapned when the Colony was sent to Antium at the time when the difference was so high betwixt the Patricii and the Agrarians that no other expedient could be found to keep them from blood Livy tells us That there were very few that would list themselves upon that accompt to fill up the number of that Colony so much more did the people prefer an alotment about Rome than in any other place But afterwards the quarrel grew higher and to appease their Seditions the Romans were glad to send their Armies sometimes to the extreamest parts of Italy and sometimes beyond them But afterwards it falling out that the Lands which they took from the Enemy were remote at great distance from Rome and not to be cultivated with any convenience the people grew weary and insisted not so fiercely on their Agrarian Law They began also to be more moderate in those kind of confiscations but when any Country was seized they sent Colonies to plant them With these Arts they skin'd over their animosities till the time of the Gracchi who reviving them again gave occasion to the ruine of their Government for the Nobility having encreased their strength the quarrel advanced so far that they came to blows and the Magistrate being unable to restrain them thâ— fury of the Faction encreasing each party began to look out for a head The people chose Marius and made him four times Consul with some little interval which authority he managed so well to his own advantage that by the power and interest which he had got in that time he made himself thrice Consul afterwards The Nobility having no other remedy against so growing a Plague applyed themselves to Sylla and having made him their chief they fell to down right Wars which were carried on with much blood and variety of fortune till at last the Nobility prevailed The same faction revived again in the days of Caesar and Pompey and was attended by the destruction of the State For Caesar espousing the Marian party and Pompey the Syllan Caesar overcame and was the first that set up a Tyranny in Rome after whose time that City could never recover its liberty This was the beginning and this was the end of the Agrarian Law which may seem to contradict what we have said elsewhere That the discords and enmity betwixt the people and Senate of Rome conduced to the enlargement of their Empire and the conservation of their liberty by giving opportunity for the making of such Laws as were great corroboration to their liberties and freedom but I answer That the effects of the Agrarian Law does not hinder but that what we have said may be true for so great was the ambition of the Nobility that had it not been curb'd and check'd several ways it would have usurped upon the City and got the whole power into its hands And if we observe that the Agrarian dispute was three hundred years together in Rome before it could subvert it we may easily imagine the ambition of the Patricii would have done it much sooner had it not been ballanced and depressed by the people with their Agrarian Laws and some other inventions From whence likewise we may observe that wealth is more estimable among men than honor for when the Patricii were in controversie with the people about Titles and Honor they never went so high as to give them any extraordinary disgust But when their Estates and Fortunes were at stake they defended them with such zeal that they chose rather to put the whole Commonwealth into a flame than to part with them quickly The great authors of that Conflagration were the Gracchi whose good will and intentions towards the people was much more to be commended than their wisdom For to remove an inveterated inconvenience and to that purpose to make a Law with too much retrospection is ill Counsel as I said before and hastens that ruine which it was designed to prevent but with Patience and Compliance the mischief is either delayed or spends it self in time before it does any great hurt CHAP. XXXVIII Weak Commonwealths are generally irresolute and ill advised taking their measures more from Necessity than Election THe Volsci and the Equi understanding that Rome was sadly visited with a Contagion concluded it a fair opportunity to conquer it and having betwixt them raised a powerful Army they invaded the Latini and Hernici over-ran most of their Country and forced them to send to Rome for assistance The Romans returned answer that they should put themselves in Arms and make as good defence as they could for the Sickness was so raging they could give them no relief which shows the generosity and wisdom of that Senate That in all conditions and under the greatest of their Calamities never receded from its Majesty and Grandeur but at all times would have the disposal of the affairs of its Subjects and when necessity required made no scruple to command things contrary to their old ways of proceeding This I say because formerly the Senate had forbidden them to arm upon any occasion whatever and perhaps another Council would have thought it derogatory to their Grandeur to permit them to defend themselves But this Senate was endued with admirable prudence understood how things were to be taken and rejected and of two evils how to make choice of the least It troubled them much that they were not in condition to protect them and it troubled them no less That they would be forced to defend themselves upon their own score without succours from Rome yet finding there was a necessity of it the enemy being at their Gates and threatning them with death they retained their authority and with great gravity sent them word to defend themselves and raise what forces they could This may seem but a common resolution and what any other Commonwealths would have taken as well as that but weak and ill ordered Commonwealths cannot come off with so much honour Duke Valentine having taken Faenza and overrun most part of Bologna demanded passage of the Florentines to march his Army to Rome The Florentine Council met and consulted and there was not one man who thought it convenient to
them to make a Dictator by whom the State might be reformed and their differences composed which had hitherto hindered the reformation But the Consuls how contrary so ever in other things consented not to do it the Senate having no other remedy addressed to the Tribunes who by the Authority of the Senate required and compelled the Consuls to the Creation of a Dictator In which place it is remarkable how beneficial the assistance of the Tribunitial power was not only to defend the people against the insolence of the Nobility but to controul and restrain the emulation and difference among themselves And here it is carefully to be provided in the settlement of a Commonwealth that it be not in the power of a few persons to whom the Government is entrusted to quash or obstruct any Customs or Acts that are necessary to its subsistance For Example If you authorize a Council or any other persons to distribute Honours dispose of Offices or execute any other of your commands you must either lay a strict injunction or necessity upon them to do as you appoint or provide so that if it be neglected by them it may be done by some body else otherwise things are ill managed and the order is defective as is manifest by that example in Rome it the perversness of the Consuls had not been opposed by the Authority of the Tribunes In the Republick of Venice the grand Council or Senate has the distribution of Honours and the Election of Magistrates both abroad and at home and it hapning one time that the Senate either upon some disgust or false suggestion omitted to creat Successors to the Magistrates at home or to their Officers abroad there followed great disorders immediately the Territory and City wanting their lawful judges could have no justice in any thing till the Senate was appeased And this inconvenience would in time have brought the City into an ill condition had it not been prevented by the wisdom of some Citizens who taking the opportunity obtained a Law That there should be no vacancy of Offices either within the City or without but the old Offices should be continued till their Successors were chosen by which Law they deprived that great Council of a power to interrupt the course of Justice which could not have been suffered without hazard to the State CHAP. LI. A Prince or Commonwealth that is constrained to do a thing is to seem to do it frankly and without any compulsion A Wise man orders his affairs so that whatever he does seems rather voluntary and gracious than done by force and compulsion be his necessity of doing it never so great which point of wisdom being well observed by the Romans got them great reputation among the people especially when they decreed stipends to the Soldiers out of the publick Treasury who before were obliged to serve at their own proper charges for seeing their Wars were like to be tedious and their Armies to be carried into far Countries before they could be finished they found neither the first could be continued nor the latter perform'd but at the publick expence wherefore the Senate was forced and necessitated to pay the Soldiers out of the publick stock yet they did it so slyly and with that artifice that though compelled by necessity it was received as a grace and gain'd them exceedingly the affections of the people who had never so much as mention'd it by their Tribunes or thought of it themselves So that never any thing was received with more demonstration of joy But the Tribunes were not so well satisfied but endeavoured to possess the people that it was not an act of that grace as they imagined and that if they looked closely into it it would appear rather a grievance than a benevolence for how was this Mony to be rais'd but by Taxes and Impositions upon the people so that if the Senators were bountiful it was out of other mens purses But all would not do let the Tribunes say as they pleased the people believed themselves highly obliged and then the manner of raising the Mony made it much the more grateful for it was done with more than ordinary equity the greatest part of it being levyed upon the greatest men and the poor favoured as much as was possible CHAP. LII The best and most secure way to repress the insolence of an ambitious and powerful State is to preclude and stop up those ways by which he would come to his greatness BY what has been said before it appears what affection the Senate conciliated among the people not only by the frankness of their bounty but by their kindness in collecting it which order if continued to the people would have prevented all the tumults which hapned afterward in that City and deprived the Tribunes of their great credit and authority And indeed there is not a better or more secure way to suppress the insolence or cross-bite the designs of an ambitious Citizen than to take the same ways to prevent which he takes to advance them which course if it had been followed by the adversaries of Cosimo de Medici would have been much more for their advantage than to have forced him out of the Town For had they applyed themselves to caressing and insinuating with the people which was the way he took to fortifie himself they had disarm'd him without any tumult or violence and taken from him the only arms upon which he depended for his defence About the same time Piero Soderini by his extraordinary beneficence got him self a great interest and reputation among the people and was publickly esteemed the great Champion and Protector of their liberties and doubtless his adversaries who began to grow jealous of his greatness had done much more wisely and honourably and safely to have gone the same way to work and countermined him by their indulgence to the people than to oppose themselves downright and ruine him and their whole Country together for could they by any art or insinuation have gained the affections of the City they had taken from him the only thing upon which he relyed without noise or confusion and they might have opposed in all his counsels without fear of the people if he be urged here that if the Citizens which were enemies to Piero committed an error in not taking the same course to retain as he had done to debauch the people Peter committed the same fault by not making use of the same instruments which his adversaries employed against him it is answered that Soderini indeed might have tryed but he could have done it neither with honour or case for the way that his adversaries took was to set up the Medici by whose assistance they bearded him exceedingly and ruined him at last and it had been dishonourable for Soderini to have deserted the liberties of the people which he had undertaken to defend and gone over to the party of the Medici nor could he have done it so
secretly or suddenly but the people would have smelt it and have turned the violence of their affection into as furious and hatred which would have made his destruction much more easy to his enemies for who-ever was but suspected to be a favourer of the Medici was thought ipso facto an adversary to the people It is necessary therefore in all deliberations to weigh all things to consider what danger and what advantage every thing will yield and make choice of what is least dangerous otherwise it will happen to you as it did to Marcus Tullius who raised and augmented the greatness of Mark Anthony by the same way which he intended for his destruction for when Mark Anthony was declared an enemy by the Senate having a great Army attending him and most of them of Caesar's old Soldiers Cicero to draw them off from him persuaded the Senate to put Octavius at the head of their Army and sent him with the Consuls against Antonius pretending that the very name of Octavius being Nephew to Caesar would bring over all his Unckles party to him whereby Antonius would be so weakned it would be no hard matter to reduce him But it hapned quite contrary for Antonius having gained Octavius to his side they joyned their Forces against Tully and his Senate and ruined their whole Party Which might have been easily foreseen nor ought Cicero so imprudently to have reviv'd the name of Caesar by whom the whole world was brought into servitude and especially Rome nor have persuaded himself that a Tyrant or any of his race would ever restore that liberty which his Predecessor had suppressed CHAP. LIII The people deceived with a false appearance of good do many times desire that which turns to their destruction and how great hopes and large promises do easily debauch them AFter the taking of Veii by the Romans a report being spread of the convenience and pleasantness of the Town and richness of the Country about it the people of Rome began to fancy that it would be much for their advantage to transplant one half of their City aud send them thither to inhabit for there were many fair houses to receive them and it could be no weakning or diminution to Rome seeing the distance betwixt the two Cities was so small Veii would be taken rather for a member of Rome than a distinct and particular City The Senate and graver sort of Citizens had so little inclination to this design that they resolved to die before ever they would consent to it The people were so mad upon it on the other side that when it came to a debat and it was to be resolved what was to be done the dispute was so hot they had proceeded to blows and the whole Town been engaged in blood had not the Senate interposed certain ancient and eminent men who by their interest and veneration among the people defended the blow and appeased them for that time In which passage there are two things considerable the first that the people being deceived with a false imagination of good do many times solicit their own ruine and run the Commonwealth upon infinite dangers and difficulties unless some person in whom they have great confidence strikes in to instruct them which is the good and which is the evil and when by accident it falls out that the people having been formerly deceived either by persons or things cannot repose that confidence in any one then of necessity all goes to wrack and nothing can prevent it to this purpose Dante in his discourse about Monarchy tells us Il popolo molte volte grida Vivala sua morte muoia la sua vita The enraged multitude do often crie Give us our death our life we do defie This incredulity is many times the occasion that good counsels are neglected as it hapned to the Venetians when invaded by several enemies at one time they could not take off any one of them by restoring what they had taken wrongfully from other people which was the occasion of the war and almost of their ruine From whence we may consider the easiness and difficulty of persuading the people and make this distinction if the affair proposed be in appearance either magnanimous or profitable though at the bottom it be never so distructive the people are always easie to be persuaded on the other side if any thing be offered how honourable how useful soever with the least shew or glance of cowardize or inconvenience they are never or with great difficulty to be wrought to it To confirm this we have many examples both modern and ancient in Rome and other places From hence sprang their jealousies against Fabius Maximus who could never beat it into the heads of that City that it was better for their Common wealth to protract and spin out the war than to push things on and bring all to the hazard of a Battel for the people looking upon it as cowardly and base counsel and not discerning the utility at the bottom would by no means admit it and Fabius wanted rhetorick to enforce it upon them and so strangely are they blinded sometimes with their bravery and courage that though the Romans had committed the same error once before and given authority to Fabius his Master of the Horse to fight when he saw occasion whether Fabius would or not which authority had like to have ruined the whole Army had not Fabius with his prudence prevented it yet that experiment doing no good they were guilty again and invested Varro with the same power upon no other account but because he had swagger'd up and down the Town that when-ever they qualified him with such a Commission he would fight Hanibal cut him to pieces they believe what he said give him authority and what followed Why they were beaten at Cannas the Roman Army cut off and the Roman Empire almost extinguished And not unlike this was the example of Marcus Centenius Penula a mean person and considerable for nothing but some small command in the Army who presented himself one day to the Senate and offered if they would give him power to raise an Army of Voluntiers where he pleased all over Italy he would undertake in a short time to beat Hanibal out of it The Senate was sensible the proposition was rash yet considering withal that if they should deny him and report should come of it afterwards to the people it might dissatisfie them beget some tumult in the City and be the occasion of envy and animosity to themselves they granted his request choosing rather to expose all those who were so ill advised as to follow him than run the hazard of new dissentions at home Having got his Commission and afterwards his Men with a confused and disorderly Army he marches against Hanibal and fought him but he failed of his promise for he was killed himself and most of his Forces In Greece in the City of Athens Nicias a
Cities live happily in liberty for they are so careful and studious of their Laws that that very one thing keeps them from servitude and being over-run by their enemies and if any instance be desired of this more than ordinary probity in the Germans I shall produce one not unlike that before betwixt the Senate and the people of Rome It is the custom in those States when they have occasion for mony upon the publick account for the councils and Magistrates in authority to lay a tax of one or two per cent upon all the inhabitants under their jurisdiction according to their respective Estates at the day and place appointed for payment every man appears with his mony and having taken his oath first that the sum he pays is according to the full of his Estate he throws it into a chest provided for that purpose and no notice taken what it is he throws in from whence we may conclude that there is still some sparks left in that people of their old ingenuity and religion nor is it to be doubted but every man pays his due for otherwise the sum would not amount to the imposition nor to what they formerly paid whereby the fraud would be discovered and they become liable to a new tax which integrity and justice is the more admirable in our days because it is to be found no where but in Germany and the reason as I conceive is twofold one because they have had little or no commerce with their neighbours neither trading into foreign parts nor admitting foreigners into theirs contenting themselves with their own diet and clothes and commodities and thereby preventing all occasion of evil conversation which is the corruption of good manners especially among the French the Spaniards and Italians which are wicked enough to debauch the whole World The other reason is because those Commonwealths who have preserved their liberties and kept themselves incorrupt do not suffer any of their Citizens to live high and at the rate of a Gentleman but they live all in an equality and parity as those few Noblemen or Gentlemen who are there are very odious to the people and when-ever any of them fall by accident into their hands they die without mercy as those who are the fountain of all their luxury and the occasion of their scandal I call those Gentlemen who live idly and plentifully upon their Estates without any care or employment and they are very pernicious where-ever they are but above all they are most dangerous who besides their great revenues have their Castellanies their Jurisdictions and their Vassels which pay them fealty and homage of these two sorts the Kingdom of Naples the Territories of Rome Romagna and Lombardy are full for which reason there is no such thing as a free State in all those Countries because the Gentry are mortal enemies to those constitutions and it would be impossible to erect a Republick where they had the dominion if any alteration be to be wrought it is by reducing them into a Monarchy for the matter being so corrupt that the Laws are become ineffectual to restrain them there is a necessity that force be applyed and that by a regal power the licentiousness and ambition of the Grandees be reduced into order this may be illustrated by the example of Tuscany which is a small Territory and yet has three considerable Commonwealths in it as Florence Siena and Lucca and the rest of the Cities of that Province though they depend upon them yet their minds and their laws shew a strange propensity to freedom all which proceeds from the scarcity of Gentry in those parts especially with such power and jurisdiction as aforesaid On the contrary there is so great an equality among them that if a prudent and publick man should happen among them who had any knowledg of that kind of Government he might easily form them into a solid Commonwealth but hitherto it has been their misfortune to have no such man I conclude therefore that he who would establish a Commonwealth where the Country consists most of Gentlemen will find it impossible unless he ruines them first and on the other side he who would set up a Monarchy or Principality where the equality is great must select the most considerable and unquiet amongst them give them Castles and Lands and Preferments and any thing that may oblige them to his side by which means they shall not only maintain the power of their Prince but their own insolence and ambition and the people be forced to submit to a yoke to which nothing else could compel them for whilst there is a due proportion betwixt the Prince and the Subject all things go well and every man enjoys his Estate but to settle a Republick in a Country disposed to Monarchy or to erect a Monarchy where the condition of the people have a tendency to a Commonwealth requires a person of more than ordinary authority and brain Many have tried it but very few have succeeded the greatness and difficulty of the enterprize confounding them so at first that they know not where they are and give over as soon as they have begun But it may be objected that the constitution of the Venetian Government confutes my position That no Commonwealth can be established where the Gentry are considerable for under that State no man is admitted to any office but those who are Gentlemen I answer that the Venetian Gentry are nothing but name for their Lands and Possessions are very few the principal part of their Estates lying in their merchandize and goods besides none of them have any Seigneuries or Jurisdiction over the people so that a Gentleman among them is but a title of honour and preheminence founded upon none of those things which in other places make them so considerable For as in other Commonwealths the Citizens are distinguished into several Orders so Venice is entirely divided into two the Populace and the Gentry the Gentry having or being capable of all honours and employments from which the Populace are utterly excluded which for the reasons abovesaid it has produced no disturbance in that State These things being considered let him who desires to erect a Government settle a Commonwealth where there is a parity among the inhabitants and a Monarchy where there are many great men and the Gentry numerous Otherwise his Government will be incongruous and of little duration CHAP. LVI Great accidents before they happen to any City or Province are commonly prognosticated by some sign or predicted by some men HOw it comes to pass I know not but by ancient and modern example it is evident that no great accident befalls a City or Province but it is presaged by Divination or Prodigy or Astrology or some way or other and that I may not go far for my proof every one knows what was foretold by Frier Girolamo Savonarola before the Expedition of Charles viii into Italy besides which it was
how worthy and honest soever left he should have occasion to suspect them afterwards Nor can he make those Cities which he subdues dependant or tributary to that where he is absolute for 't is not the interest of a Tyrant to make his Subjects powerful or united but to keep them low and divided that every Town every Province may depend wholly upon himself so that the Conquests of an Usurper may turn to his own profit but never to the publick to which purpose many things are very handsomely written by Xenophon in his Treatise of Tyranny and things being thus no body is to admire if our Ancestors had so great a zeal for their liberty and the very name of a Tyrant was so odious to them that when long since news was brought to the Army of the assassination of Hieronymo the Nephew of Hiero of Syracuse and the whole Camp was in an uproar against the Conspirators yet when it was told them that they had proclaimed Liberty and a free Government they laid by their indignation against the Tyrannicids and being pacified with the very name of Liberty fell into consultation how it was to be preserved Nor is it to be wondred at then if their revenge be so violent and extraordinary upon those who would violate it of which though there be many examples I shall instance only in one but that most remarkable and horrid and hapning in Corcirca a City in Greece for all Greece being divided and consisting of two Factions one of them under the protection of the Athenians and the other of the Spartans and in Corcirca the Nobility prevailing and having usurped upon the liberty of the people it hapned that the people being reinforced by the assistance of the Athenians overpowred the Nobility and conquered them again Having restored their liberty and shaked off their servitude they clap'd up all the Nobility in a large prison and bringing them forth by ten at a time as if they were to be banished they put them to death with most exquisite torments which severity coming by degrees to the ears of the remainder they resolved to do what was possible to defend themselves against it upon which they stood upon their guard and would suffer none of the Officers to come in whereupon in a great fury the people ran thither pull'd off the covering of the house where they were and throwing down the walls buried them all in the ruines and of this sort of cruelty there were many other examples in that Province for the people are usually more impetuous in revenging the loss of their Liberty than in defending it But it may not unfitly be admir'd in this place what should be the cause that the ancients should be more zealous for publick liberty than we in our days if my opinion may pass I think it is for the same reason that in those times men were more robust and stronger than now which proceedeth much from the diversity betwixt their Education their Religion and ours for whereas our Religion gives us a just prospect and contemplation of things and teaches us to despise the magnificence and pomp of the World the Ethnicks valued them so highly and believing them their chiefest happiness it made them more fierce and busie to defend them and this may be collected from several of their customs for if the sacrifices in their days be compared with the sacrifices in ours theirs will be found magnificent and horrid ours delicate and neat but neither so magnificent nor cruel They wanted not pomp nor formality in those ceremonies and yet to make them the more venerable and solemn they added blood and slaughter to them offering up infinite numbers of beasts which being slain before the people made them more hard-hearted and cruel Moreover the Religion of the Gentiles did not place their beatitude any where but upon such as were full of worldly glory and had done some great action for the benefit of their Country In our Religion the meek and humble and such as devote themselves to the contemplation of divine things are esteemed more happy than the greatest Tyrant and the greatest Conquerer upon Earth and the summum bonum which the others placed in the greatness of the mind the strength of the body and what-ever else contributed to make men active we have determined to consist in humility abjection and contempt of the World and if our Religion requires any fortitude it is rather to enable us to suffer than to act So that it seems to me this way of living so contrary to the ancients has rendred the Christians more weak and effeminate and left them as a prey to those who are more wicked and may order them as they please the most part of them thinking more of Paradise than Preferment and of enduring than revenging of injuries as if Heaven was to be won rather by idleness than arms but that explication of our Religion is erroneous and they who made it were poor and pusillanimous and more given to their case than any thing that was great for if the Christian Religion allows us to defend and exalt our Country it allows us certainly to love it and honour it and prepare our selves so as we may be able to defend it But that lazy and unactive way of education and interpreting things falsly has been the cause that there are not so many Commonwealths as formerly in the World nor so many Lovers and Champions for their Liberty and yet I believe the greatness of the Roman Empire contributed something by reducing all the free States and Republicks under their Dominion Nevertheless when that great Empire was broken and dissolved very few of those poor States could recover their liberty but when it began first to encrease and extend it self no Country was without them and where-ever the Romans carried their Arms they found little Commonwealths banding and confederating against them and defending their liberties with all imaginable constancy which shews that the Romans were a people of more than ordinary courage or they could never have subdued them The Samnites alone will be example sufficient who as Livy reports were so powerful and so hearty defenders of their liberty that for 46 years together they maintained War with the Romans and though they had received many losses and such devastations had been committed in their Country yet they could never be wholly reduc'd before the Consulship of Papyrius Cursor the Son of the first Papyrius But 't is a spectacle worthy of any mans pity to see a Country so full formerly of brave Cities and brave men and all of them free now desolate and uninhabited and scarce any body left to which condition it could have never been reduced but by the discipline and diligence and courage of the Romans but all this proceeded from diversity of Constitution for all Cities and free States whatsoever encrease not only in riches and authority but in the numbers of their men for who is
Romans had in those times much controversie with the Tuscans and their Confederates I shall enlarge my self something in the explanation of their affairs of which though there be but little Monument in History yet we are assured that before the greatness of the Romans the Tuscans were very powerful both by Sea and by Land of which power it is no small argument their sending a Colony into the Mare superum to a place called Adria which grew so considerable and famous that it denominated that whole Sea and it has been called the Mare Adriaticum ever since It is known likewise that their Empire extended from the Tyber to the foot of the Alps which comprehends the greatest part of Italy at this day though 200 years before the Romans came to any considerable strength the Tuscans received a great defeat by the Gauls who under the Command of Bollovesus either in quest of new quarters or tempted by the pleasantness of the Country having passed the Alps possessed themselves of that Province called Lombardy and gave it the name of Gallia Cisalpina after which they turn'd out the Natives settled themselves there and built several Cities which they enjoyed till in process of time they also were supplanted by the Romans And this was the method of the Tuscans proceeding and the manner of their confederating with their Neighbours which was no less than XII Cities of which Clusium Veii Fesulae Aretium and Volterra were the chief but yet with all their assistance they could not exceed the limits of Italy nor indeed conquer all that for reasons which we shall mention hereafter Another way of extending your Empire is by associating with several Cities but so as that the dignity of the Command the seat of the Empire and the honour of the Enterprize may remain with you which was the way observed by the Romans The third is the way of the Spartans and Athenians who entertained no Confederates but what ever Territories they Conquered they annexed them to their own which way is undoubtedly the worst of the three as appeared by the two said Republicks who were ruined upon no other account but because they had grasped more Dominion than they were able to hold For it is a thing in it self very arduous and difficult to keep a City in subjection by a continued force especially if ever it was free wherefore unless your Citizens be very numerous and your associates very considerable by whose assistance you may be able to keep what you conquer it will never be in your power to enlarge your dominion very much and the Spartans and Athenians miscarrying in their way miscarried likewise in their end and all their great conquest came to nothing The Romans took the second way and succeeded to that vast and extraordinary power by associating equally in many things with many States but reserving always to themselves the Seat of the Empire and the chief command in their Wars by which means it came to pass that their Confederates ere they were aware subjected themselves to the Romans at the expence of their own labour and blood For after they had carried their Arms out of Italy reduced several Kingdoms into Provinces and the Inhabitants being accustomed to live in subjection without much difficulty submitted the Romans bearing the name of the War and the Nations that were conquered knowing nothing of their Allies submitted to their dominion and would own no body else whereby it happen'd that their associates in Italy being over-powred by the multitude of provinces which had submitted to the Romans and by the strength and populousness of Rome began to find their error by degrees but too late and when they had no way left to defend themselves for if any of them conspired they were quickly suppressed and made Subjects of Associates This way of administration and enlarging their Empire was peculiar to the Romans no other people observed it and certainly no betâ—er is to be found The next way of confederating which was practised by the Tuscans Achaians and Aetolians in old time and by the Swizzers of late is the best way next to that of the Romans for though it cannot arrive at any great Empire the Confederacy consisting of so many free Cities which being all to be consulted makes their resolutions very tedious besides the Citizens are not so vigorous in a War where the prize is to be divided into so many parts yet for these reasons it has two advantages of the third First whatever it gains it keeps a long time and loses very hardly and secondly it engages not so rashly in War but enjoys with more ease and felicity the blessings of peace for they are longer in their consultations and debates where there is to be a general Dyet and Convention than where things are to be dispatched within the Walls of one City Besides experience tells us that this way has certain bounds which have not been exceeded by any example we can find For after XII or XIV Cities have confederated they admit no more into the League as holding themselves enough and sufficient for their defence nor are they much solicitous of extending their Empire because they are under no necessity of making themselves stronger and their conquest would be of little advantage to every particular State for they would be forced upon one of these two rocks either to incorporate them into their League and then the multitude would breed confusion or make them their Subjects which they will hardly continue When therefore they are got to such a number in their association as that they seem safe against foreign invasion and strong enough to defend themselves They take one of these two ways either they receive their Neighbour States or Cities into their protection by which means they draw vast sums of Mony sometimes that are easily distributed or else they â—ight for other people and receive pay from this or that Prince as the Swizzers do now and other Nations have done of old To this purpose Titus Livius gives us an account That at a conference betwixt Philip of Macedon and Titus Quintus Flaminius an Aetolian Praetor being present there happening some words betwixt the said Praetor and King Philip King Philip reproached him by the avarice and inconstancy of his Country as a people that were not ashamed to take pay on one side and send supplies to the other by which means it was frequently seen that in both Armies the Aetolian Colours were displayed from whence we may conclude that this way of proceeding by League and Confederacies has been always the same and has had the same effects The third way of subjecting your conquests and annexing them to your own dominions is very incommodious and instable and if it were so to a Commonwealth well constituted and armed it must needs be much worse to a Government that is weak as most of the Italian States are at this day but the Roman way is the best and
dispatched in a short time And whoever considers their Wars from the beginning of Rome to the Siege of the Veientes will find that they were determined in a very short time some in six some in ten and some in twenty days For their Custom was upon the first appearance of a War immediately to draw out their Army and seeking out the Enemy they did what they could to bring him to a Battel having beaten him by reason of the surprize The Enemy that his Country might not wholly be harrassed for the most part proposed an agreement in which the Romans were sure to insist upon some part of their Territory which either they converted to their particular profit or consigned to some Colony which was to be placed there for the security of their Frontiers by which means the wars being ended in a short time their Conquests were kept without any considerable expence for the Colony had that Country for their pay and the Romans had their Colonies for their security Nor could there be any way more advantagious and safe for whilst there was no enemy in the field those guards were sufficient and when any Army was set out to disturb them the Romans were always ready with another in their defence and having fought them they commonly prevailed forced them to harder conditions and returned when they had done by which means they gained daily upon the enemy and grew more powerful at home and in this manner they proceeded till their Leaguer before Veii where they altred their method and allowed pay to their Souldiers for the better continuation of the war whereas before that their wars being short there was no necessity of paying their Armies Nevertheless though they paid their Souldiers from that time and maintained war at greater distance whereby they were obliged to continue longer in the field yet they left not their old custom of dispatching it as soon as they could with respect to the circumstances of place and time for which reason they continued their Colonies and besides their old custom of shortning their wars as much as they were able the ambition of their Consuls contributed exceedingly for their Consulships being but for a year and six months of that to be spent in their employments at home they were as diligent and vigorous as possible because they were not capable of triumphing till the war was concluded and then for continuing their Colonies the great advantage and convenience that resulted from them was sufficient to prevail This practice therefore was observed perpetually among the Romans in the management of their wars only they varied something about the distribution of the prey in which formerly they were more liberal than in after-times either because they thought it not so necessary when the Souldiers were paid or else because their spoils being greater than before they thought convenient that the publick should have its share that upon any new enterprize they might not be constrained to lay new taxes upon the people and by this way their Coffers were filled in a short time So that by these two ways by the distribution of their prey and the setling of Colonies Rome grew rich by its wars whereas other Princes and States without great discretion grow poor and so great was every mans ambition of enriching the Aerarium that by degrees it came to that pass no Consul was permitted to triumph unless he returned with a vast quantity of silver or gold or some other inestimable commodity and put it into the treasury So that the designs of the Romans tended wholly to this to finish the war quickly by forcing the enemy to a Battel or else to harrass and tire them with frequent excursions that thereby compelling them to dishonourable conditions they might make their advantage and become more powerful and rich CHAP. VII What proportion of Land the Romans allowed to every man in their Colonies I Think it no easie matter to set down the exact proportion of Land which the Romans assigned to every single person in their Colonies for I believe they gave more or less according to the barrenness or fertility of the soil and that in all places they were sparing enough And the first reason that induces me is that thereby they might send more men and by consequence their frontiers be better guarded another is because living at home indigent themselves it is not to be supposed they would suffer those whom they sent abroad to grow too opulent and rich and in this I'am much confirm'd by Livy where he tells us that upon the taking of Veii the Romans sent a Colony thither and in the distribution of the Land allotted every man no more than three acres and a little more according to our measure They might consider likewise that their wants would not be supplyed by the quantity so much as the improvement and cultivation of their Land Yet I do not doubt but they had publick Pastures and Woods to sustain their Cattel and supply themselves with firing without which a Colony could hardly subsist CHAP. VIII What it is that disposes some people to leave their native Countries to dispossess other people SEeing I have spoken already of the Military Discipline of the Romans and how the Tuscans were invaded by the French it follows properly enough that we say something of their several kinds of War which are two one sort of commenced upon the ambition of some Prince or commonwealth in hopes to extend and enlarge his Empire as those wars which were made by Alexander the Great by the Romans and by one Prince against another which wars though dangerous are not yet so pernicious as to supplant the inhabitants and drive them out of their Country for the Conqueror contents himself with his Victory and the submission of the people allows them their own Laws and many times their Estates The other kind of war is much more dangerous and destructive and that is when an entire Nation with their Wives and their Children compelled either by hunger or war leaves its own Country to fix themselves somewhere else not to extend their dominion or exercise any authority as in the other but to kill or expel all the Natives and possess themselves of their Estates This war indeed is most bloody and dreadful as Salust shews very well in the end of his Bellum Iugurthinum where after Iugurtha was beaten speaking of the invasion of the Gauls he tells us Cum caeteris Gentibus a populo Romano de imperio tantum fuisse dimicatum cum Gallis de singulorum hominum salute With other Nations the Romans fought only for Empire and Dominion with the Gauls they fought for their Country and Lives For when a Prince or Commonwealth invades a Country according to the first way it is sufficient if those who are at the Helm be removed or destroyed in this every mans life is in danger for when a whole Nation transplants and invades a new Province not
only the Colonies but the Natives must be extinguished that they may fix themselves upon their Lands and possess themselves of their Goods and by these kind of people the Romans were three times invaded First by the Gauls who took Rome and as I said before drove the Tuscans out of Lombardy of which invasion Titus Livius gives two reasons one was the pleasantness of the Country and the delicacy of the Wine wherewith being then but ill provided in France they were infinitely taken the other was the Country was grown so exceedingly populous that it was not able to sustain its own natives whereupon the Princes of those parts judging it necessary to find them new quarters they appointed which were to transplant and putting Bellovesus and Sicovesus two French Princes at the head of them they sent one part of them into Italy and the other into Spain it was Bellovesus lot to invade Italy and he did it so effectually that he possessed himself of all Lombardy and made the first war upon the Romans that was ever made upon them by the French The second time they were invaded in this manner was likewise by the French and it was after the first Punic war in which invasion the Gauls lost above 200000 men betwixt Pisa and Piombino the third and last was by the Germans and Cimbrians who having defeated several Armies of the Romans were at last themselves defeated by Marius From whence we may observe the great courage and constancy of the Romans of old that could not only bear up against three such dangerous invasions but overcome them at last whereas afterwards their courage began to fail and they were not able to resist the inundation of those Barbarians for when the Goths and the Vandals invaded they possessed themselves of the whole Western Empire without any considerable opposition The reasons which move these Nations to transmigrate as I said before is necessity and that necessity proceeds either from famine or from wars and disturbances at home and when they undertake these Expeditions with vast and innumerable numbers they invade with irresistible violence put all the Natives to the sword possess themselves of their Estates establish a new Kingdom and change the very name of the Province as Moses did of old and the Barbarians since who possessed themselves of the Roman Empire From hence are all the new names in Italy and elsewhere imposed by their several Conquerors Lombardy was called anciently Gallia Cisalpina Francia from the Franks was called anciently Gallia trans Alpina Sclavonia was called Illyria Hungaria Pannonia Anglia Britannta Moses gave the name of Iudea to that part of Syria which he conquered and many other Countries have changed their names upon the same occasion which would be too long to recount And because I have said before that sometimes these kind of people are forc'd out of their Country by intestine troubles and disturbances I shall present you with one example of the Maurusians an ancient people of Syria who foreseeing the invasion of the Hebrews and knowing themselves unable to oppose them thought it more wisdom to forsake their Country betimes and preserve themselves than to expect their coming and lose both whereupon they pack'd up their goods and with their wives and children removed into Africk where they drove out the inhabitants and setled in their Country so that they who were too weak to defend their own Province were strong enough to force out another people To this purpose Prooopius who writes the wars of Bellisarius against the Vandals who had setled themselves in Africk tells us that upon certain pillars in the houses where these Maurusians had lived he himself read these words Nos Maurusii qui fugimus a facie Iesu latronis filii Navae We Maurisians fled hither from Iesus the Usurper who was the son of Navi By which we may perceive the occasion of their departure out of Syria And certainly these Nations forc'd out of their own Country by irresistible necessity are more than ordinarily dreadful and not to be opposed but by a potent and well disciplin'd people but when they move in small numbers their danger is not so great because they dare not use that violence but are put to their wits and to possess themselves of some quarters by cunning and insinuation which they are to keep afterwards by ways of amity and friendship as Aeneas did and Dido the Massilians and others who by the assistance and friendship of their neighbours made good what they had possessed But the people that came out of their own Countries the most numerous and strong were the Scythians for their Country being barren and cold and the natives too numerous to be sustained in it they were forced abroad as having nothing to preserve them at home And if now for five hundred years and upwards we have not heard of any such transmigration I conceive the reasons may be several the first may be the great evacuation in those Countries from whence the Roman Empire was invaded A second may be because Germany and Hungaria from whence those inundations came is better cultivated and improved so as they can live plentifully at home without rambling abroad another reason may be that the Germans Poles Cimbrians and other Nations which border upon the Scythians being martial people and continually at wars with them are as it were a Bulwark to these parts and keep the Scythians from all new invasions The Tartars likewise have been many times upon their march with very great Armies but they have been always encountred and repulsed by the Poles and Hungarians which has given them occasion frequently to boast that were it not for their arms and resistance not only Italy but the very Roman Church had been many times sensible of the barbarity of the Tartars CHAP. IX What those occasions are which do most commonly create War among Princes THe occasion of the War betwixt the Samnites and the Romans who had been a long time in league together was the common cause betwixt all Princes and Governments and was either fortuitous or designed The war betwixt the Samnites and the Romans was fortuitous for when the Samnites made war upon the Sidicins and afterwards upon the Campani they intended not any controversy with the Romans but the Campani being beaten and betaking themselves to the Romans for relief contrary to the expectation both of the Romans and Samnites the Romans being in league with the Samnites could not without violence to the said league give them protection upon which having no other way to secure themselves the Campani submitted to the Romans and made themselves their subjects and the Romans how unjust soever they thought it before to assist the Campani whilst they were but associates against the Samnites their old friends yet now they were become their subjects and had incorporated with their State the case was altred and they thought it very reasonable supposing that if they should
they kept themselves upon the defensive part and expected their enemies at home were always victorious but when they began to make war at a distance and send Armies into Sicily they lost their liberty and everything else They produce also the Fable of Antius King of Lybia who being invaded by Hercules the Egyptian was invincible whilst he kept himself within his own borders but being inveigled out by the subtility of his enemy he lost both his Kingdom and Life upon which occasion that story was raised of Antius that being born of the earth as they pretended so oft as he touch'd it so oft he received new vigour from his Mother which Hercules perceiving got him up in his arms crush'd him to death They produce likewise more modern examples Every body knows that Ferrand King of Naples was esteemed a wise Prince in his time and hearing two years before his death that King Charles viii of France was preparing to invade him he let him alone but falling sick afterwards as he lay upon his death-bed he called his Son Alphonso to him and among other things charged him that he should expect the King of France upon his Frontiers and fight him there but that by no means he should be tempted beyond them and it had been better for Alphonso to have follow'd his Counsel for neglecting it afterwards and sending an Army into Romagna he lost both Army and Kingdom without striking a blow But besides these arguments on both sides it is urged in behalf of the Aggressor that he invades with more confidence and courage than his Adversary receives him which is a great advantage and enhancement to his Army That he brings many inconveniences upon the person whom he invades to which he would not be liable if he expected him at home For when the enemies Country is wasted and their Houses plunder'd his Subjects are not much to be trusted nor can any more Taxes be laid upon them without great difficulty by which means as Hanibal said their Magazines will be spent and their fountain dryed up that was to supply them with all Provisions for War Besides if your Army be in the Enemies Country it will be under a greater necessity of fighting and by consequence will fight more desperately than at home But to this it is answered on the other side That it is more for your advantage to attend your enemy in your own Country than to seek him abroad for thereby you may furnish your self with Victuals and Amunition and all other necessaries without any inconvenience and distress him by driving the Country You may likewise with much more ease incommode and frustrate his designs by your better knowledge of the Country and what places are more proper to attack him in as also you may attack him with your whole force at once or give him battel as you please which out of your own Confines is not to be done Moreover if Fortune should be adverse and it be your chance to be beaten more of your Men will escape where their refuge is so near and you will sooner rally them again In short if you fight at home you venture your whole force and not your whole fortune but if you fight abroad you venture your whole fortune with but part of your force Others there have been who with design to weaken the Enemy and fighting him afterwards with more ease and advantage have suffered him quietly to march several days Journey into their Country and possess himself of several Towns but whether they did well or not I will not determine only I think this distinction is to be considered whether my Country be strong in Fortresses and Men as the Romans were of old and as the Swizzers at this day or whether it be weak and unfortified as the Territory of the Carthaginians formerly and France and Italy now In this case the Enemy is by all means to be kept at a distance because your chief strength lying in your Mony and not in your Men whenever you are interrupted in raising or receiving of that your business is done and nothing interrupts you so fatally as an Enemy in your Country And of this the Carthaginians may be an example who whilst they were free at home were able by their Revenue and Taxes to wage War with the Romans themselves whereas afterwards when they were assaulted they were not able to contend with Agathocles The Florentines when Castruccio of Lucca brought his Arms into their Country could not support against him but were forced to put themselves under the Dominion of the King of Naples to procure his protection but Castruccio was no sooner dead but they were agog again and had the confidence to invade the Duke of Milan and to attempt the beating him out of that Province so couragious were they in their foreign War and so abject at home But when Countries are in a posture of defence and people Martial and well disciplin'd as the Romans of old and the Swizzers at this day 't is better to keep off for the nearer they are to their own Country they are the harder to overcome because they can raise more force to defend themselves than to invade another people Nor does the opinion of Hanibal affect me at all for though he persuaded Antiochus to pass into Italy he did it as a thing that would have been more for his own and the Carthaginian than for Antiochus his advantage for had the Romans received those three great defeats which they received of Hanibal in Italy in the same space of time in France or any where else they had been ruined irrecoverably for they could neither have rallyed nor recruited so soon I do not remember any foreign Expedition by the Romans for the Conquest of any Province in which their Army exceeded the number of 50000. But upon the invasion of the Gauls after the first Punick war they brought 118000 Men into the Field for their defence Nor could they beat them afterwards in Lombardy as they did at first in Tuscany because it was more remote and they could not fight them with so much convenience nor with so many men The Cimbri repulsed the Romans in Germany but following them into Italy they were defeated and driven out again themselves and the reason was because the Romans could bring more forces against them The Swizzers may without much difficulty be over-powered abroad because they seldom march above 30 or 40000 strong but to attack and beat them at home is much more difficult where they can bring into the field 100000 and more I conclude therefore that that Prince whose people are in a posture and provided for War does wisely if he expects a Potent and dangerous Enemy at home rather than to invade him in his own Country But that Prince whose Country is ill provided and whose Subjects are ill disciplined does better if he keeps the War as far off as he can and by so doing each of
them as I said before so that when all is done the best way to defend a Town is as they did of old by their small shot and the courage of the Soldier And yet though small shot be of some use to the besieged it cannot countervail the dammage which they receive from the Enemies great shot for by them their walls are battered and beaten down into the Ditches so that when the Enemy comes to storm which he may do with more ease when the Ditches are filled up with the ruines of the walls the besieged are under great disadvantage Wherefore as I said before those Guns are more beneficial to the besieger than the besieged And if you do not defend your self either in a great Town or a little but shall choose rather some strong and convenient place where you may encamp and entrench so as not to be forced to an Engagement but with advantage to your self I say that in this case you have no better way now than the Ancients had of old and that many times your great Guns are more inconvenient than otherwise for if the Enemy falls upon your back with any advantage of ground as may easily happen That is if he gains by accident any eminence that commands your Camp or surprizes you before your intrenchments are finished he quickly dislodges you and compells you to fight This was the case with the Spaniards before the Battel of Ravenna who entrenched upon the River Roncus but made their 〈◊〉 too low whereupon the French having the advantage of the ground with their great Guns played so furiously over them into their Camp that the Spaniards 〈…〉 and forced afterwards to give them Battel And if you shall choose such a place to â—â—trench in as commands the whole Country and fortifie it so well that the 〈…〉 you yet the Enemy will have the same ways of provoking and 〈◊〉 you as were practised of old that is by making inroads and plundring your Country by 〈◊〉 your Roads and intercepting your Convoys and a thousand other 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 dities which he will put upon you against which your Artillery will 〈…〉 So that considering what has been said and that the Roman Wars 〈◊〉 most 〈◊〉 offensive they would have had advantage by them and in probability 〈…〉 their conquests had there been any Artillery in their times As to the 〈…〉 that by reason of those great Guns men could not show their valour so much as an ancient times I answer it is true and the danger is greater when they come to place their â—adders and make an assault dully and heavily and rather one by one than in a body their Officers being in the same hazard and liable to be killed at greater distance nor can the strongest guards nor choicest men about them secure them yet for all these great dangers no memorable instance can be produced of any great dammage that ever was received For Towns are not taken usually by storm or assault but by way of Leaguer as formerly and in those that are taken by storm the danger is not much greater than it was then for even in those times whoever undertook the defence of a Town had his Machines and instruments of War which though not discharged with such force did the same execution And as to the reaching of Commanders at a distance and killing them in the midst of their Reserves there have been fewer of them slain since great Guns came up in 24 years Wars in Italy than there was in any ten years in the time of the Romans for unless it were Count Lodovic della Mirandola who was killed in Ferrara when the Venetians invaded that State and the Duke of Nemours who was killed at Cirignuola there has not been one great Officer slain for Monsieur de Foix at Ravenna dyed by the Sword So that if men show themselves not so couragious as formerly it is from the weakness and ill order of their Armies rather than the Artillery And whereas it is said that these great Guns are an impediment to their fighting and that the decision of Battels will by degrees be left to the Artillery I reply That that opinion is clearly a mistake and has been judged so by all those who are for the old way of Discipline For he that would have his Soldiers good must exercise them well and with frequent Alarms true or false 't is no matter accustom them to the Enemy bring them to handy-stroaks and as it were to take one another by the beards by which means they will come to a greater dexterity in handling their weapons and grappling with the Enemy and for the same reason the Foot are rather to be relyed upon than the Horse for if your Foot be nimble and good you may fall with more security upon an Enemy perplexed and embarrassed with a train of Artillery than you could of old when they had their Elephants their Chariots with Cythes and such other devices And if the Romans could find out remedies daily against such daily inventions no question but they would have found out some or other against great Guns and so much the more easily because the danger of the Guns is sooner over than the danger of the other for the execution which is done by the Cannon is done before the engagement begins The execution by the Chariots and Elephants during the whole fight besides the Cannon is easily avoided by the Infantry either by posting themselves behind some bank or clapping down upon their bellies and yet of this so easie and obvious an evasion experience tells us there is seldom any necessity for it is a hard matter to point your great Guns so exactly but that either they will be mounted too high and shoot over you or too low and never come at you And when the Battel is joyn'd 't is as clear as the day that neither great nor small shot is of any advantage for if the Artillery be placed before the Army 't is odds but it is taken if behind the execution it does is upon themselves and on either side it can gaul you but little before you get to it and either cloy or secure it and if an example be required we have one ready in the Swizzers who at Navarre in the year 1513. without Horse or Artillery or any such thing fell upon the French Camp and overcame them though they were as strong as Trenches and Artillery could make them and another reason is besides what has been urged before because Artillery ought to be guarded if you would have it do service with walls or ramparts or some such thing as may secure it from being taken otherwise it will be of no use as when in field fights it has nothing to defend it but the Bodies of men In the Flanks they are of no use more than the old Roman Engines in those days who were placed out of their Squadrons that they might be managed with more dexterity and
miscarried in the Expedition but it was more by the falshood than gallantry of the Enemy for relying too much upon their promises he was reduced to such distress for Provisions that he and his whole Squadron were lost nevertheless in the midst of these exigences being in an open and Champian Country where there were no Mountains no Woods no Rivers to shelter or ease them far from all relief and nothing left to sustain them the Foot brought themselves off under the command of M. Anthonie and behaved themselves so well in the opinion of the Parthians themselves that their vast Army of Horse durst not venture upon them But to what purpose do we trouble our Reader with examples so remote we have testimony nearer home that will do it effectually We have known in our time 9000 Swizzers at Novara attack 10000 Horse and as many Foot being most Gascoignes they never regarded After this 26000 Swizzers set upon the King of France in Milan who had with him 20000 Horse 40000 Foot and a hundred pieces of Artillery and though they did not vanquish him as at the Battel of Novara yet they fought him bravely for two days together and though worsted at last yet the greatest part of them got off Marcus Regulus Attilius placed such confidence in his Foot that he not only opposed them to the Enemies Horse but to their Elephants and though his success did not answer his expectation yet it hindered not but that as great matters might have been expected from his Foot So then whoever would defeat a Body of Foot well ordered must do it with another Body better ordered than they or it is never to be done In the time of Philip Visconti Duke of Milan 16000 Swizzers having made a descent into Lombardy Carmignuola the said Dukes General marched against them with about 1000 Horse and some Foot for not being acquainted with their way of fighting he thought they would have been sufficient but having fallen upon them with his Horse and been repulsed with loss being a wise man and one that knew how to frame himself to every accident he recruited very well marched against them again and coming to an engagement caused all his Cuirassiers to dismount and at the Head of his Foot fall on upon the Swizzers who were not able to resist them For the Cuirassiers being compleatly arm'd forced their way into the Body of the Swizzers without any loss so as their whole Army was defeated and cut off and none left alive but what were preserved by the humanity of Carmignuola I do not doubt but many people are well enough satisfied in their judgments that Foot are more serviceable than Horse yet such is the infelicity of our times that neither ancient nor modern examples nor the confession of those who have tryed them are sufficient to prevail with our Princes to correct this Error or to believe that to give reputation to the Arms of a Province it is necessary to revive this Order countenance their Foot and see them well pay'd and then doubtless they will repay him by their noble Exploits But they deviate from this way as they do from the rest and therefore no wonder if their Conquests be more to the detriment than augmentation of their State CHAP. XIX The Conquests of Commonwealths that are ill governed and contrary to the Model of the Romans do conduce more to the ruine than advancement of their affairs THese false opinions of the use and excellence of Horse and Foot are so rooted in the minds of men and so confirmed with ill Examples that no body thinks of reforming our late errors or restoring the old Discipline of the Romans Thirty years since who could have persuaded an Italian that 10000 Foot could have assaulted 10000 Horse and as many Foot and have beaten them Yet this was done by the Swizzers at Novara For though all Histories ring of it yet none of our people will believe that it is possible to do now what was anciently done They object the excellence of our Horse and say they are so well arm'd that they are able to repulse not only a Body of Foot but even a Mountain or Rock and by these kind of fallacious Arguments they deceive themselves not considering that Lucullus with a few Foot defeated 150000 of Tigranes Horse and yet they had a sort of Cuirassiers among them like ours This Exploit of Lucullus we have seen acted over again by the Germans in Italy as if on purpose to convince us of our error Which if Princes and Common-Wealths could be persuaded to believe they would commit fewer faults be more strong against the insults of the Enemy and not place all their hopes in their Heels as they do at this day and those who had the Government of any Civil State would know better how to conduct and manage themselves either as to the enlargement or conservation of their Dominion and find that Leagues and Confederacies rather than absolute Conquests sending Colonies into what they had conquered making publick feuds of the spoils of the Enemy to infest and perplex the Enemy rather with Excursions and Battels than Sieges to keep the publick rich and the private poor and with all possible caution to keep up the Discipline of the Army are the ways to make a Common-Wealth formidable and great These are the true ways of enlarging an Empire all the rest are uncertain or pernicious and if thereby any to whom these ways are not pleasing they are by any means to lay aside all thoughts of extending their Dominion to think only of regulating their Laws at home and providing for their defence like the little States in Germany which by so doing have lived in peace and tranquillity for many years together But how industrious and careful soever we are in abstaining from injury or using violence to our Neighbour some body or other will be injuring us and it will be impossible to live always in quiet from which provocation will arise not only a desire in us but a necessity of vindicating our selves and retaliating upon them and when this desire is once kindled if our Neighbors do not supply us with occasion we can find it at home as will inevitably fall out where Citizens are opulent and strong And if the Cities of Germany have continued free and at peace a long time it proceeds from a peculiar disposition in that Country which is scarce to be found any where else That part of Germany of which I now speak like France and Spain was subject to the Empire of the Romans But when afterwards that Empire began to decline and the title of the Empire was removed into that Province Those that were the wealthiest and most powerful of the Cities taking advantage of the pusillanimity or distresses of their Emperors made themselves free paying only a small annual Rent for the redemption of their Liberties which being permitted by degrees all those Cities which held immediately
of losing these Citadels by force by fraud by corrupting the Governour by starving and by storm And if you have lost a City which you are in hopes of recovering by the favour of the Citadel which still holds out for you it will require an Army as much as if there were no Citadel at all and so much the stronger by how much 't is probable the people may be more incensed from the mischief which they have received out of the Castle than they would have been had there been no Castle at all Experience it self has since taught us that that Citadel of Milan was of no advantage either to the Dukes of Milan nor French in time of their adversity but in time of Peace did them much prejudice by hindring them from taking such ways as might have obliged the people and rendered them well affected to their Government Guido Ubaldo Son to Fredâ—ric Duke of Urbin was a great Captain as any in his time being driven out of his Country by Coesar Borgia Son to Alexander VI. and recovering it afterwards by an accident he caused all the Fortresses in the whole Province to be dismantled and destroyed as things which he had found by experience were more to his prejudice than security For being beloved by the people he would not do them the injury to put Garisons in them and if he had upon any invasion from the Enemy he could not have kept them without a field Army to relieve them Iulius the Pope having driven the Bentivogli out of Bononia built a Citadel there and put in such a Governour as partly by his own ill nature and partly by the instructions oâ— his Master killed many of the Citizens and committed several cruelties which provoked the Bononians so exceedingly that they rebelled and recovered the Citadel which had the Governour been more moderate might have been longer in his power Nicolo de Castello Father of the Vitelli returning into his Country from whence he had been banished by the Popes immediately demolished two Fortresses which had been raised by Sixtus IV. as judging the hearts of the people more like than those Castles to secure him But of all there is no example evinces the unusefulness of these kind of Garisons and the convenience of taking them away more than that which hapned lately at Genoa for the said City revolting from Lewis XII of France in the year 1507. Lewis came with a strong Army into Italy and having reduced it built a Castle of greater strength and capacity than any of that time for it was built upon a promontory that Commanded the Sea called Godefa the Harbour and the Town so that by all people it was held inexpugnable But the French being driven out of Italy in the year 1512. Genoa rebelled notwithstanding the Castle and Ottanio Fegosa taking the Government upon him in sixteen months brought the Castle to such extremity that it was forced to surrender whereupon though he was advised to keep it as a refuge in case of any disaster yet being a wise man and knowing well that a Prince is in nothing so safe as in the affections of his Subjects he caused it to be demolished and he found the benefit of that Counsel for by it he has held that Government to this day and that so strongly that whereas before the appearance of a thousand Foot was sufficient at any time to have carried it his adversaries assaulted it with ten thousand and could do him no wrong So that we see the demolishing de Fegosa no hurt and the making it did the King of France no good for when he was able to bring an Army into Italy he was able to recover Genoa without the help of the Castle but when he could bring no Army he could not keep it though the Castle was for him From whence it follows that as the building of it was a great expence and the loss of it a great dishonour to the King of France so the taking of it was great glory to Ottaviano and the ruining it a great advantage And it is the same thing with those who build them in their new Conquests to keep their new subjects in obedience which if the example of Genoa and the French should be insufficient to prove the Cities of Florence and Pisa will do it effectually The Florentines built a Citadel at Pisa and several other Fortresses to keep it in aw not considering that a City which had been free and in continual emulation of the Florentine greatness was not any other way to be kept to its duty unless according to the practice of the Romans they made a fair and honourable league with it or utterly subverted it But how much those Fortresses answered their designs appeared when Charles VIII made his Expedition into Italy to whom they were generally surrendered either thorow the fear or falshood of their Governors So that had not they been built the Florentines had never relyed so much upon them for the keeping of Pisa but had thought of some safer way to have secured it against the King of France I conclude then that to keep ones own Native Country in subjection Fortresses are dangerous and to keep new Conquests they are ineffectual To prove that the authority and practice of the Romans ought to be sufficient who whenever they had a mind to restrain the power and bridle the fury of the people did it not by erecting new Fortresses but by demolishing the old If it be objected that Tarentum of old and Brescia of late years were recovered by the fidelity of the Castles when the Towns had revolted I answer that as to the recovery of Tarentum the Castle contributed nothing for the Consul Quintus Fabius was sent thither with an Army strong enough to have retaken it had there been no Castle at all and what advantage was it to the Romans that the Castle held for them if the recovery of the Town required a Consular Army and the presence of so great a Soldier as Fabius Maximus and that they might have retaken it without the help of the Castle is clear in the example of Capua which they recovered when there was no Castle to befriend them In the case of Brescia the circumstances were very extraordinary for it seldom happens that when a City revolts and the Castle holds out for you That the Castle has a field Army hard by and ready to relieve you Monsieur de Foix General for the King of France being with his Army at Bologna and understanding the desection of the Brescians marched immediately to recover it and in three days time by the help of the Castle was Master of it again So that it was not wholly by the benefit of the Castle that Brescia was recovered but by the presence and dextery of Monsieur de Foix and his Army And this example may be sufficient to ballance all others to the contrary for we see daily in our times multitudes of Castles taken
and retaken and following the fate of their Cities and that with no more difficulty or variety of fortune than when there are none at all as has been visible in Lombardy Romagna the Kingdom of Naples and all other quarters of Italy And as to those Citadels which are built in your new Conquests to defend you from your Enemies abroad they also are absolutely unnecessary where you have an Army in the field and where you have none they are of no use A good Army without any such Forts is sufficient to defend you And this has been found by experience by all those who have been thought excellent in the Arts of War or of Peace and particularly by the Romans and Spartans The Romans never erected any new Castles and the Spartans never suffered any old but what Cities soever they conquered down went their Walls nay even in their own Cities they would not permit any fortification as believing nothing so proper to defend them as the virtue and courage of their Citizens A Spartan being demanded by an Athenian Whether the Walls of Athens were not very beautiful Yes says the Spartan if it was but inhabited by Women A Prince therefore who has a good Army in the field may have some benefit by his Castles if they be upon the Frontiers of his Country or in some places upon the Coast where they may â—etard and entertain an Enemy for some time till the Army can come up But if the Prince has no Army on foot let his Castles be where they will upon the Frontiers or elsewhere they are either unserviceable or dangerous dangerous because they are easily lost and made use of by the Enemy against you or if they be too strong to be taken yet the Enemy marches on and leaves them unserviceable behind him For an Army that has no Enemy in the field to confront it takes no notice of Cities or Castles but passing by as it pleases rambles up and down and ravages the whole Country as may be observed both in ancient History and new Francesco Maria not many years since invaded the Dutchy of Urbin nor concern'd himself at all though he left ten of his Enemies Cities behind him Wherefore that Prince who has a good Army need not stand upon Castles and he that has no Castles need not trouble himself to build any all that he is to do is to fortifie the Town of his own residence as well as he can and accustom the Citizens to Arms that he may be able to sustain an Enemy at least for a while till he can make his conditions or procure relief All other designs are expensive in times of Peace and unprofitable in time of War so that he who considers what has been said must acknowledge that as the Romans were wise in every thing else so more particularly in their affairs with the Latins and Privernates in not thinking of Castles and Fortresses but of more noble and generous ways of securing their allegiance CHAP. XXV To attempt a City full of intestine divisions and to expect to carry it thereby is uncertain and dangerous THe divisions in the Commonwealth of Rome were so great betwixt the People and the Nobility that the Veientes and Hetrusci taking the opportunity conspired its destruction and having raised an Army and harrassed their whole Country the Senate sent out G. Manlius and M. Fabius against them whose Army encamping near the Enemy were so provoked by the insolence of their language that the Romans laid aside their private animosities and coming to a Battel overthrew them by which we may observe how easily we erre in our Counsels and how we lose things many times the same way by which we intended to gain them The Veientes thought by assaulting the Romans whilst they were embroil'd in their intestine divisions they should certainly overcome them and their invading them at that time united the Enemy and ruined themselves and not without reason for the occasion of discord and faction in a Commonwealth is idleness and peace and there is nothing unites like apprehension and War So that had the Veientes been wise as they should have been they should have forborn making War upon them at that time and have tryed other artificial ways to have destroyed them The surest way is to insinuate and make your self a Mediator betwixt them and to take upon your self the arbitration rather than they should come to blows When it is come to that you are privately and gently to supply the weaker side to foment and continue the War till they consume one another but be sure your supplies be not too great lest both parties begin to suspect you and believe your design is to ruine them both and make your self Prince If this way be well managed it will certainly bring you to the end which you desired for when both sides are weary they will commit themselves to your arbitration By these Arts the City of Pistoia returned to its dependance upon Florence for labouring under intestine divisions the Florentines favouring first one side and then the other but so slily that no occasion of jealousie was given to either brought them both in a short time to be weary of their distractions and throw themselves unanimously into their arms The Government of the City of Siena had never been changed by their own domestick dissentions had not the Florentines supplied both parties under-hand and fomented them that way whereas had they appeared openly and above board it would have been a means to have united them I shall add one example more Philip Visconti Duke of Milan made War many times upon the Florentines hoping by the dissentions of the City to have conquered them the more easily but he never succeeded So that complaining one time of his misfortunes he had this Expression The follies of the Florentines have cost me two millions of Mony to no purpose In short as the Veientes and Tuscans found themselves in an error when they thought by help of the differences in Rome to have mastered the Romans and were ruined themselves for their pains So it will fare with whoever takes that way to oppress or subvert any other Government CHAP. XXVI He who contemns or reproaches another person incurs his hatred without any advantage to himself I Look upon it as one of the greatest points of discretion in a man to forbear injury and threatning especially in words neither of them weakens the Enemy but threatning makes him more cautious and injury the more inveterate and industrious to revenge it This is manifest by the example of the Veienti of which I discoursed in the foregoing Chapter for not contenting themselves with the mischiefs that they brought upon them by the War they added contumely and opprobrious language which so provoked and enflamed the Roman Army that whereas before they were irresolute and seemed to decline it they now fell upon them unanimously and over-threw them So that it ought to be
been contented and thought it honour enough that the Spanish Army complyed and was reduced to a condition of granting part of their desires though they would not gratifie them in all for it was plain the design of that Army was to change the Government to break their league with the French and to raise what Money upon them they could Though of these three points they had obtained the two last and the first alone had remained entire to the Florentines that is to say the Government of the City every Citizen besides the security of his life would have had some honour and satisfaction without concerning themselves so much for the loss of the other two And though by the posture of their affairs their success seem'd to be certain yet they ought not to have exposed things to the discretion of Fortune seeing their all was at stake which no wise man will hazard but upon inevitable necessity Hanibal having left Italy where he had been sixteen years together with a great deal of honour being called home to the relief of his own Country found Asdrubal and Siphax defeated the Kingdom of Numidia lost The Carthaginians retired and coop'd up within the circumference of their own walls so as they had no hopes but in Hanibal and his Army Hanibal being sensible that this was the last cast and that if he miscarried his Country was quite lost resolved to put nothing to a hazard till he had tryed all other ways and was not ashamed to make the first overture of a Peace as knowing that if there was any hopes left for his Country it was in that rather than War but being refused he resolved to fight though with very little hopes supposing he might possibly win the day or if he did lose it it should not be without leaving some testimony of his courage and generosity If then Hanibal a person of that great Experience and Conduct at the head of a great Army chose rather to have had things determined by treaty and accommodation than Battel upon the loss of which the wealth and liberty of his Country depended what is he to do who has not his courage nor experience But men are subject to strange and imaginary hopes upon which reposing with too much confidence they take their measures amiss and are many times ruined CHAP. XXVIII How much it is for the interest of all Governments that all injury be punished whether against the publick or particular persons IT is easily known to what men are often transported by choler and indignation by what hapned to the Romans when they sent the three Fabii Embassadors towards the Gauls who were entered into Tuscany and had laid siege to Clusium For the Clusians being besieged sent to the Romans to relieve them and the Romans sent to the French to require them in the name of the people of Rome to withdraw their forces out of Tuscany The Roman Embassadors arrived at the Army but being better Soldiers than Orators when the Armies came to engage they put themselves at the head of the Clusians to fight against the French which being observed by the French turn'd all their former hatred to the Tuscans upon the Romans which was much encreased after they had sent Embassadors to complain of it at Rome and to require that those who had committed that fault might be delivered up into their hands to make satisfaction for their offence But instead of granting their demands or punishing their delinquency themselves they were created Tribunes with Consular authority Which coming afterwards to the Ears of the French finding those persons advanced who ought rather to have been punished they interpreted it as done in affront to them and being enflamed with anger and disdain they marched directly to Rome assaulted and took it all but the Capitol which hapned to them for nothing but that the Romans when their Embassadors had contra jus gentium fought against the French had been so far from doing them justice that the said Embassadors were advanced and preferred For which reason a Prince and Commonwealth is to take care that no such injury be done not only to a Nation or Commonalty but to any particular person for if a man be highly offended either by a State or private person and has not the satisfaction he desires if it be in a Republick he ceases not to pursue his revenge though with the ruine of the State If it be under a Monarchy and he finds himself touched in point of honour if he has the least spark of generosity in him he will never be quiet till he be revenged though with never so much prejudice to himself of which case we cannot have an apter and truer example than in Philip of Macedon the Father of Alexander the great Philip had in his Court a young Gentleman of very exquisite beauty called Pausanias with whom Attalus a great favourite of the said Philips was enamoured having tempted and solicited him many times to satisfie his passion and found him always averse he resolved to do that by force or surprise which he could not do otherwise To this purpose he made a solemn feast and invited Pausanias and several other great persons when they had filled themselves will with their good cheer he caused Pausanias to be taken from the Table and carried to a private place and not only satisfied his own lust but caused him to be vitiated by several others Pausanias complained heavily to King Philip who having kept him for some time in hopes of doing him justice instead of performing he advanced Attalus to the Government of a Province in Greece Which Pausanias resenting in great anger that his adversary against whom he had so long and so earnestly solicited should now be preferred he began to turn his indignation upon the King who had refused to right him rather than upon the person who had done him the wrong Insomuch that the very morning his Daughter was married to Alexander of Epirus as Philip was going to the Temple to celebrate the Nuptiality with his Son Alexander on one hand of him and his new Son-in-Law on the other Pausanias assaulted and slew him This example is much like that of the Romans and is to be observed by any man that governs who is never to despise any body so as not to believe but he who is injured will revenge himself some time or other though with never so much danger and detriment to himself CHAP. XXIX Fortune casts a mist before peoples eyes when she would not have them oppose her designs IF the course of humane affairs be considered it will appear that many accidents arise against which the Heavens do not suffer us to provide And when this hapned at Rome where there was so much Virtue and Piety and Order well may it happen more frequently in those Cities and Provinces where there are no such things to be found And because the place is remarkable to show the influence which
contrary receive Money from it 't is as infallible a sign of its weakness If one reads the Roman History he shall find the Massilians the Edui the Rhodians Hiero of Syracuse and Massiâ—issa as they were Neighbors so they were Tributaries to the Romans contributing to their expences and Taxes as there was occasion without expectation of any other recompence but protection Where a Prince or Commonwealth is weak it is otherwise as it appeared by our own City of Florence which in former times when it was in its greatest reputation paid annual stipends to most of the little Governments in Romania besides what was received by the Perugians Castellans and all their other Neighbors whereas had it been strong and well Armed it would have been quite otherwise and all the rest would have given Florence Money for her protection Nor were the Florentines singular in this case the Venetians did the same and so did the King of France who notwithstanding the greatness of his Kingdom was tributary to the Swizzers and the King of England which proceeded from his having disarmed the people and preferring a present opportunity of squeezing them and avoiding an imaginary danger before the doing those things that might have secured his State and made it happy for ever which practice though for some time it may produce quiet and repose yet the end is troubles and losses and ruine without remedy It would be too tedious to recount how often the Florentines the Venetians and the Kingdom of France have bought off their Wars and submitted to such dishonorable terms as the Romans could never be brought to but once It would be too tedious to recount how many Towns the Florentines and the Venetians have brought with their Mony which have been the occasion of great disorders afterwards and prov'd that what is gotten by gold is not to be kept with iron This point of generosity and this manner of living the Romans observed very punctually whilst they were free but after they fell under the Government of Emperors and those Emperors grew bad they began to degenerate too and prefer the shadow before the Sun They began to be Pensionaries first to the Parthians then to the Germans and by degrees to all their Neighbors which was the first step to the ruine of that great Empire and â—ll these inconveniences proceeded from the disarming of the people and neglecting to train them up to Military Discipline from whence a greater mischief does arise and that is That the nearer the Enemy approaches the weaker and more unable he finds you and therefore not being strong enough of your self to repel the Enemy from your borders you are forced to pay tribute to your Neighbors to undertake it for you which being to be raised and extorted from your Subjects renders them more feeble and impotent By which means it happens sometimes that those States which are in this condition may perhaps make some little resistance upon the Frontiers but if the Enemy passes that all is gone without remedy But all this is disorderly and unnatural for as nature in all animals has fortified the vital and principal and not extream parts of the body because the body can subsist without the one but not without the other So 't is in all Governments the heart and center is to be fortified rather than the Frontiers But this was very ill observed by the Florentines for whenever an Enemy had past our borders and took his way towards the City there was no body in a condition to oppose him It was the same with the Venetians not many years since and had not their City been as it were swadled with the Sea it had been certainly destroyed This indeed has not been seen so frequently in France because it is so great a Kingdom and too strong for most of its neighbours nevertheless when in the year 1513 they were invaded by the English the whole Kingdom trembled and the King of France himself and many others were of opinion that if he lost one Battel the whole Kingdom was gone With the Romans it was quite contrary the nearer the Enemy approached the City the stronger he found it this was evident in Hanibal's invasion though he had forc'd his way into Italy fought three great Battels with the Romans and beat them in every one though they had lost so many brave Souldiers and Officers yet they were not only able to continue the War but to conquer them atlast and all by fortifying the heart and center of their Country and leaving the extremities to shift for themselves for the vitals and fundamentals of their State was the People of Rome the Country of the Latins the neighbouring Cities that were in League and their Colonies from whence they drew so many Souldiers as were able to fight and entertain the whole World And this Hanno the Carthaginian understood very well for when after the Battel at Cannas Hanibal sent Mago to Carthage to give them an account of the particulars of the Victory Mago having exceedingly magnified the exploits of his Brother and debased the Condition of the Romans Hanno interrupted him and enquir'd whether any of the Roman Cities or any of their Confederates had revolted whether any of their Senators were come in to Hanibal or whether they had sent any Embassadors to him to treat and when Mago denied that any thing of all this had passed Hanno replyed Hostium ergo multum superest bellum tam integrum habemus atque habuimus qua die Annibal Italian est ingressus There is work enough behind and the War is as entire as when Hanibal passed first into Italy It is apparent therefore both by what is said in this Chapter and what has been said often before that there is great difference betwixt the present and ancient methods of the Romans and if we seriously consider it we shall not wonder that so many Towns are taken and lost and so many Governments subverted as we have seen in our days for where discipline is neglected and military virtue laid aside all things are committed wholly to Fortune which being various and unconstant produces various mutations and this vicissitude and unconstancy of affairs will continue till some excellent person arises to restore the ancient discipline and restrain fortune from giving such evidences of her power every hour of the day CHAP. XXXI How dangerous it is to believe Exiles too far I Think it not amiss in this place to shew how much it imports all persons not to give too much credit to those who are banished for many times they are but the practices and stratagems of Princes and States We have a memorable example of their inconstancy in Livy though something improper When Alexander the Great passed into Asia with his Army Alexander of Epirus his Kinsman and Unckle passed with another into Italy invited by the Exiles of Lucca who put him in hopes that by their means he should be Master of that whole
Nero in which Scevinus one of the Conspirators having the day before Nero was to have been murther'd made his Will ordered Milichius his Freeman to furbish up his old rusty Sword enfranchised all his Slaves distributed Mony among them and caused Plagets and Lâ—gatures to be made to bind up Wounds he gave occasion of conjecture to Milichius who accused him thereupon to Nero and Order being given for his apprehension Scevinus was taken into custody and with him Natalis another of the Conspirators who had been observed to have talked privately with him a long time the day before and not agreeing about their discourse they contradicted one another and were forced to confess all From these occasions of discovery it is impossible to be secur'd but either by malice imprudence or inadvertency all will out when ever the Conspirators exceed the number of three or four For if more than one of them be taken 't is impossible but they must interfere because two people cannot hang together so exactly in a Story If there be but one apprehended and he be a stout man perhaps he may have that constancy and resolution as to conceal his Confederates but then his Confederates must have as much courage as he and not discover themselves by their slight for whose heart soever fails whether his that is apprehended or his that is escaped 't is the same thing for the Plot is discovered That example which is mentioned by Titus Livius is very rare and unusual where in a Conspiracy against Girolamo King of Syracuse he speaks of one of the Conspirators called Theodorus who being seized concealed his accomplices with incomparable constancy and accused all the Kings Friends and his Companions were so confident in his courage that none of them fled or made the least discovery by their fear These are the dangers which are to be pass'd in the conduct or management of an Enterprize before it comes to execution and as there are dangers so there are ways of evading them The first the surest and indeed the only way is not to give your Confederates time to discover you but to communicate the business to them when it is just ready for execution and not before Those who take that course are free from the danger of Threatnings and Negotiations and commonly from all the rest and have been observed frequently to come to good end and there is no man that is wise but would carry it so if he could I shall give you only two Examples Nelimatus being unable to endure the Tyranny of Aristotimus King of Epirus got several of his Friends and Relations together into his house and exhorting them to the deliverance of their Country some of them desired them to consider and prepare themselves whereupon Nelimatus caused his Servants to make fast the doors and protested to all the whole Company that they should swear to go immediately about it or he would deliver them up Prisoners to Aristotimus upon which they all took the Oath and falling incontinently to the work they effected their design as Nelimatus had contriv'd it One of the Magi having by fraud possessed himself of the Kingdom of Persia and Orthanus a great Person of that Kingdom having discovered the cheat he had a conference with six others of his own quality to contrive how they might rescue their Country from the Tyranny of that Usurper and as in the case before when some of them desired time Darius one of the six stood up and declared boldly That if they would not execute it presently he would accuse them every one and doing it forthwith they prospered accordingly Not unlike these two was the way which the Aetolians used in the Assassination of Nabis the Tyrant of Sparta They sent one of their Citizens called Alexamenes to him with 30 Horse 200 Foot under a pretence of a supply commanding the Soldiers to be obedient to the orders of their chief Officers but acquainted nobody with the design but Alexamenes himself Alexamenes marched to Sparta with his Forces but communicating nothing of his instructions till they were fit to be executed he did his business and the Tyrant was slain by which reservedness they avoided the first dangers of being discovered which are obvious in the management and whoever takes the same course shall avoid them as well as they Piso whom I have mention'd before was a man of honour and reputation a great intimate of Nero's and one in whom he placed a great deal of confidence Nero visited him often and was many times treated very magnificently in his Garden Piso by virtue of this intimacy was able to make choice of such Complices as were stout and couragious and disposed to such an Exploit which for great men to do is no difficult matter and when occasion was offered to break the business to them so suddenly that having no time either to deliberate or deny him he must necessarily succeed and he who examines all the other Examples that are mentioned will find very few but have been managed the same way But men of little experience in the affairs of the world do many times commit great errors and more when their designs are extraordinary as in this A Plot then is never to be imparted but upon necessity and when it is ripe for execution and when you do communicate do it but to one and that a person of whom you have had long experience or one that is prompted by the same interest and provocation as your self and to find one person so is much easier than to find many and by consequence that way is nothing so dangerous Besides if you should be mistaken in your confidence you have more remedy and defence than where the Conspirators are several for I have heard wise men say that to a single person a man may say any thing for if nothing be to be produced under your hand your no will be as good as his yea But writing is to be shun'd as a rock for nothing is of so much conviction as a note under a man 's own hand Plautianus desiring to murther Severus the Emperor and his Son Antoninus committed the execution to Saturninus a Tribune who had more mind to betray than obey him but suspecting that when he came to accuse him Plautianus should have more credit than he he desired a Warrant under his hand to confirm his Commission which Plautianus granted being blinded with ambition whereby it happen'd that he was accused convicted and condemned whereas without that Note and some other circumstances Plautianus would have been acquitted and his accuser been punished so obstinately did Plautianus deny all In the Pisonian Conspiracy there was a Woman called Epicaris who had been formerly one of Nero's Misses This Epicaris thinking it of importance to bring in a Captain of certain Galleys which Nero kept for his Guard she communicated the Plot but conceal'd the Conspirators and the Captain betraying her and accusing her to Nero Epicaris
accomplices together into his house with intention to assault him as he went by to which purpose he armed them all and disposed them into the Porch that they might be ready upon a signal to be given from a Window above It hapned that Pandolfus being just by the person at the Window gave the signal when by accident in the very nick of time Pandolfus met a friend and stopt to salute him Some of his Attendants passing on heard a noise of Arms took the Alarm and discovered the Ambuscade so that Pandolfus was miraculously preserved Iulio and his Companions forced to fly from Siena and all by the accident of this rencounter which not only hindred the execution at that time but defeated the whole enterprize But against these accidents no remedy can be prescribed because they happen so rarely however it is necessary to think of us many and provide against them as well as we can It remains now that we say something of those dangers which we incur after execution is done of which sort there is but one and that is when somebody is left alive that may revenge it as his children brothers kinsmen and such others to whom the sovereignty may descend by right of inheritance and these may be left to revenge the death of their Predecessor either by your negligence or by some of the accidents aforesaid as it hapned to Giovan-Andrea da Lampognano who conspiring with other persons killed the Duke of Milan but they left two of his Brothers and one of his Sons behind who revenged it in due time But in these cases the Conspirators are to be excused because there is no remedy to be provided but where by their own imprudence or negligence they suffer any such to escape there it is otherwise and they are highly to be condemned At Forum Livii some there were who conspired against Count Girolamo â—lew him seized upon his wife and children which were very young and clap'd them in Prison a great mind they had to the Castle but the Governour was refractory and would not admit them the Counsels called Madonna Caterinâ— made them a proposition that if they would suffer her to go into him she would prevail with the Governor to surrender and that in the mean time her children should be left as hostages in their hands The Conspirators believed her and let her go in but she was no sooner in the Castle but she began to upbraid them by the death of her Husband and threaten them with all possible revenge and to convince them that her care and compassion for her children should not restrain her she shew'd them her genitals thorow the windows to let them know that if they killed those she had wherewithal to have more so that perceiving their error too late and being destitute of all counsel their indiscretion was punished with their perpetual banishment But of all dangers after the fact is committed none is so fatal as the affection of the people to their Prince whom you have slain For their revenge is not possible to be prevented Of this the murder of Caesar may be an example for the people of Rome being his friends his death was thorowly revenged upon the Conspirators who afterwards though in several times and places were all of them slain Conjurations against ones Country are not so dangerous as Conjurations against ones Prince for in the contrivance and management the dangers are not so many in the execution they are but the same and after the fact is committed they are nothing at all In the management and preparation the dangers are not so many because a Citizen may make his party and put his affairs in a posture without discover◠〈…〉 â—is orders be not interrupted bring his designs to a very good end or if they be inâ—errupted by some Law it is in his power to adjourn the execution or find out some other way that may be more commodious but all these it is to be understood are to be done only in Commonwealths where the manners of the people are beginning to be corrupted because where the City is incorrupt such designs will never come into any of their thoughts but in a corrupt Republick where the dangers are not so great there are many ways for private Citizens to make themselves Princes because a Commonwealth is not so quick and dexterous as a Prince their suspicion is less and by consequence their caution besides they are commonly in more awe of their Grandees and therefore the Grandees are more bold and couragious against them Every body has read Catilins's Conspiracy written by Salust and can tell how Catiline after it was detected not only continued in Rome but came audaciously into the Senate and had the confidence to talk insolently both to the Senate and Consul so great reverence had that City for its Citizens And when things were gone so far that he had left the City and was got to the head of an Army Lentulus and the rest of the Conspirators had never been seized had not there been Letters produced against them under their own hands Hanno a great Citizen in Carthage had a mind to usurp and in order thereto he had contrived at the Wedding of one of his Daughters to poison the whole Senate and then make himself Prince when his plot was discovered the Senate troubled themselves with no farther provision against it than by making a Law against exorbitant feasting upon such kind of occasions so great was their respect to a Citizen of his quality But in a Conspiracy against ones Country the greatest danger lies in the execution for it seldom happens that a particular Citizen is strong enough to subdue a whole Country and every man is not General of an Army as Caesar Agathocles Cleomenes and others were who had their Armies ready to back their designs To such the way is easie and secure but they who want those advantages must manage their business with more cunning or employ foreign assistance this cunning and artifice was used by Pisistrates the Athenian for having overcome the Megarenses and thereby got himself great reputation among the people he came forth of his house one morning and shew'd himself wounded to them complaining that the Nobility had abused him and desiring that he might be permitted to have a guard for the security of his person which being granted inconsiderately gave him opportunity by degrees to make himself absolute Pandolfus Petrucci with other Exiles returned to Siena and by way of contempt was made Keeper of the Palace which was a mechanick employment that others had refused Yet those few arm'd men who were under his Command by virtue of that place by degres gave him such reputation that at length he made himself Prince Others have taken other ways and by time and their industry arrived at the same dignity without any danger but those who have endeavoured to make themselves Masters of their Country by their own force
to many people and then when ever it is destroyed it will necessarily follow that all those who were injured before will endeavour to repair and revenge themselves which is not to be done without great tumult and slaughter But when a Commonwealth is fix'd gradually and by universal consent of the people when it comes to be changed there is no need of disturbing any body â—lse for the bare removal of those who are then in authority will effectually do the business Of this sort was the revolution at Rome upon the translation of the Government from the Kings to the Consuls and the accident at Florence in the year 1494 when the Medici were expelled without the least prejudice to any body else for they having been advanced by the general vote of the people there was no need of doing more than turning them out of the City Such mutations are not therefore so dangerous but those others where many have been injured and as many are to be revenged have been so dreadfully destructive that the very History of their consequences is enough to terrifie the Reader but all Books being full of them I shall speak no more of them in this place CHAP. VIII He who would change the form of a Government is to consider seriously upon what grounds he does it and the disposition of the Subject IT has been said before that an evil disposed Citizen can do no great hurt but in an ill disposed City which conclusion besides my former arguments is much fortfied by the examples of Spâ—rius Cassius and Manlius Capitolinus Spurius was an ambitious man and being desirous to procure to himself extraordinary authority in Rome by favouring the people in the sale of such Lands as the Romans had conquered from the Hernici the Senate discovered it and grew so jealous of him that when in a speech of his to the people he proffered to give them the mony which had been received for corn that the Senate had sent for out of Sicily the people absolutely refused it supposing that Spurius intended that their liberty should make it good but had the people of Rome at that time been corrupt or ill disposed they had taken his mony and opened him a way to the making himself absolute but the example of Manlius Capitolinus is greater than this for by that we may see how the courage and integrity which he expressed to his Country in their wars against the Gauls was afterwards clowded and extinguished by an infatiable desire of authority arising from an emulation of Camillus whom the Romans had advanced to a greater degree of honour and so strangely was he blinded with this passion that not considering the state and incorruption of the City or how indisposed the people were to any such enterprize he began to make parties and raise tumults in Rome both against the Senate and Laws In which passage it was evident how well that Government was constituted and how well that people was disposed for in this case though the Nobility and he were great friends and fierce defenders of one anothers interest none of them nor his very relations appeared in his behalf and whereas at other Trials the friends of the criminal used to accompany him to the Bar in mourning and with all other circumstances of sadness that they 〈◊〉 of to work if it were possible the Judges to compassion Manlius went alone without so much as one friend to attend him the Tribunes of the people who were in other things always opposite to the Nobility and created on purpose to balance their power when they found the design tending to the ruine of them all they joyn'd heartily with them to remove so commoâ— a destruction and the people of Rome who were zealous in any thing that made for their advantage and lovers of any thing that crossed the Nobility though they also had their kindness for Manlius nevertheless when the Tribunes cited him and referred him to the judgment of the people they condemned him to death without any consideration of his former services Wherefore I am of opinion that in the whole tract of this History there is not an example that with more efficacy demonstrates the justice of that Commonwealth in all its orders and degrees of men than this seeing there was not one Citizen appeared in the defence of Manlius who was a person of known virtue and endowments and had done many honourable things both in publick and private and the reason was because the love to their Country had a greater influence upon them than any other respect and the consideration of the present danger of their affairs being stronger than the memory of his past merits they chose to free themselves by decreeing his death Titus Livius tells us Hunc exitum habuit vir nisi in libera Civitatenatusesset memorabilis This was the end of a man who had been very memorable had he been born any where but in a free State And in his case there are two things very remarkable one that in a corrupt State glory and authority is acquir'd a quite contrary way than where they live exactly according to the true rules of policy and justice the other not much unlike the former that men in their affairs especially of greatest importance are to consider the times and accommodate thereunto and those who by the unhappiness of their election or their natural inclination do otherwise live always unfortunately and are more unsuccessful in all their enterprizes than they who comply with the times And doubtless by the fore-mentioned expression of the Historian had Manlius been born in the days of Marius and Sylla when the Mass was corrupt and depraved and susceptible of any form his ambition would have imprinted he had had the same success that they had when they aspired to be absolute So again had Marius and Sylla come into the World in the time of Manlius they had miscarried as he did and been lost in their first attempt For one man by his ill customs and conversation may indeed give a touch and tincture of corruption to the people but 't is impossible his life should be long enough to debauch them so totally that he may expect any advantage of it in his time or if he should be so happy and live long enough to infect a whole City yet so impatient are the desires of man that they cannot restrain their passions or attend an opportunity of pursuing them wisely but they circumvent and delude themselves in those very things of which they are most eagerly ambitious so that sometimes for want of patience and sometimes for want of judgment they venture rashly upon things before the matter be prepared and are ruined in their designs He therefore who would alter a Government and set up himself must attend till time has corrupted the Mass and by degrees brought all into disorder which of necessity must follow when it is not as we said before purged and refined
by the Examples of good Men or good Laws that may reduce it towards its first principles Manlius then had been a great and memorable person had he been born in a corrupt City for whoever designs any innovation in a State whether it be for the restitution of liberty or the erection of Tyranny is particularly to regard the manners of the people and to consider how far they are disposed to submit to his ambition and by so doing he may be able to judge of the success of his Enterprize For to endeavour to make a people free that are servile in their Nature is as hard a matter as to keep them in servitude who are disposed to be free And because we have said before That in all their operations men are to consider and proceed according to the quality of the times we shall speak of it at large in the following Chapter CHAP. IX How he that would succeed must accommodate to the times I Have many times considered with my self that the occasion of every mans good or bad fortune consists in his correspondence and accommodation with the times We see some people acting furiously and with an impetus others with more slowness and caution and because both in the one and the other they are immoderate and do not observe their just terms therefore both of them do err but their error and misfortune is least whose customs suit and correspond with the times and who comports himself in his designs according to the impulse of his own Nature Every one can tell how Fabius Maximus conducted his Army and with what carefulness and caution he proceeded contrary to the ancient heat and boldness of the Romans and it hapned that grave way was more conformable to those times for Hanibal coming young and brisk into Italy and being elated with his good fortune as having twice defeated the Armies of the Romans that Commonwealth having lost most of her best Soldiers and remaining in great fear and confusion nothing could have happen'd more seasonably to them than to have such a General who by his caution and cunctation could keep the Enemy at a Bay Nor could any times have been more fortunate to his way of proceeding for that that slow and deliberate way was natural in Fabius and not affected appeared afterwards when Scipio being desirous to pass his Army into Africk to give the finishing blow to the War Fabius opposed it most earnestly as one who could not force or dissemble his Nature which was rather to support wisely against the difficulties that were upon him than to search out for new So that had Fabius directed Hanibal had continued in Italy and the reason was because he did not consider the times were altered and the method of the War was to be changed with them And if Fabius at that time had been King of Rome he might well have been worsted in the War as not knowing how to frame his Counsels according to the variation of the times But there being in that Commonwealth so many brave men and excellent Commanders of all sorts of tempers and humours fortune would have it That as Fabius was ready in hard and difficult times to sustain the Enemy and continue the War so afterwards when affairs were in a better posture Scipio was presented to finish and conclude it And hence it is that an Aristocracy or free State is longer lived and generally more fortunate than a Principality because in the first they are more flexible and can frame themselves better to the diversity of the times For a Prince being accustomed to one way is hardly to be got out of it though perhaps the variation of the times require it very much Piero Soderini whom I have mentioned before proceeded with great gentleness and humanity in all his actions and he and his Country prospered whilst the times were according but when the times changed and there was a necessity of laying aside that meekness and humility Piâ—â— was at a loss and he and his Country were both ruined Pope Iulius XI during the whole time of his Papacy carried himself with great vigour and vehemence and because the times were agreeable he prospered in every thing but had the times altered and required other Counsels he had certainly been ruined because he could never have complyed And the reason why we cannot change so easily with the times is twofold first because we cannot readily oppose our selves against what we naturally desire and next because when we have often tryed one way and have always been prosperous we can never persuade our selves that we can do so well any other and this is the true cause why a Princes fortune varies so strangely because she varies the times but he does not alter the way of his administrations And it is the same in a Commonwealth if the variation of the times be not observed and their Laws and Customs altered accordingly many mischiefs must follow and the Government be ruined as we have largely demonstrated before but those alterations of their Laws are more slow in a Common-wealth because they are not so easily changed and there is a necessity of such times as may shake the whole State to which one man will not be sufficient let him change his proceedings and take new measures as he pleases But because we have mentioned Fabius Maximus and how he kept Hanibal at a Bay I think it not amiss to enquire in the next Chapter whether a General who is resolved upon any terms to engage can be obstructed by the Enemy CHAP. X. A General cannot avoid fighting when the Enemy is resolved to Engage him upon any terms CNeus Sulpitius Dictator says Livy adversus Gallos bellum trahebat nolens se fortunae committere adversus hostem quem tempus deteriorem indies locus alienus faceret Cneus Sulpitius the Dictator declined fighting with the French because he would not expose himself unnecessarily against an Enemy who by the incommodity of the season and inconvenience of his Station was every day in danger to be undone When such a fault happens as deceives all or the greatest part of Mankind I think it not improper to reprehend it over and over again and therefore though I have formerly in several places shown how much our actions in great things are different from those in ancient times yet I think it not superfluous to say something of it here If in any thing we deviate from the practice of the Ancients it is in our Military Discipline in which we are so absolutely new that there is scarce any thing used that was preferred by our Ancestors and the reason is because Commonwealths and Princes being unwilling to expose themselves to danger have shifted off that study and charge upon other people And when in our times any Prince goes in person into the field no extraordinary matter is to be expected for he takes the command upon him to show his grandeur and magnificence more
than for any thing else Yet they commit fewer faults by reviewing their Armies sometimes and keeping that command in their own hands than Republicks are wont to do especially in Italy where trusting all to other people they understand nothing of War themselves and on the other side in their Counsels and determinations which to show their superiority they reserve to themselves they commit a thousand times more errors than in the field some of which I have mentioned elsewhere but I shall speak here of one of them and that of more than ordinary importance when these unactive Princes or effeminate Commonwealths send out an Army the wisest thing which they think they can give in command to their General is to enjoyn him from fighting and above all things to have a care of a Battel supposing that therein they imitate the wisdom of Fabius Maximus who preserved the State by deferring the combat but they are mistaken and do not consider that most commonly that injunction is either idle or dangerous for this is most certain a General who desires to keep the Field cannot avoid fight when the Enemy presses and makes it his business to engage him So that to command a General in that Nature in as much as to bid him fight when the Enemy pleases and not when he sees occasion himself For to keep the field and avoid fighting is to be done no way so securely as by keeping 50 miles off and sending out store of Spies and Scouts that may give you notice of the Enemies approach and opportunity to retreat There is another way likewise to secure your self aâ—d that is to shut your self up in some strong Town but both the one and the other are dangerous In the first case The Country is exposed to the depredations of the Enemy and a generous Prince will sooner run the hazard of a Battel than spin out a War with so much detriment to his Subjects In the second your ruine is evident for cooping up your Army in a City the Enemy will block you up or besiege you and then the multitude of your men will quickly bring a scarcity of provisions and supplies being cut off you will be forced to surrender so that to avoid fighting either of these two ways is very pernicious Fabius his way of standing upon his guard and keeping his Army in places of advantage is laudable and good when your Army is so strong that the Enemy dares not attack you Nor can it be said that Fabius declined fighting but that he deferred till he could do it with advantage for had Hanibal advanced against him Fabius would have kept his ground and engaged him but Hanibal was too cunning for that so that Hanibal as well as Fabius avoided fighting but if either of them would have fought upon disadvantage the other had only three remedies that is the two foresaid and flying That this which I say is true is manifest by a thousand examples but more particularly by the War which the Romans made upon Philip of Macedon Philip being invaded by the Romans resolved not to come to a Battel and to avoid it he as Fabius did in Italy encamped his Army upon the top of a Mountain and entrenched himself so strongly that he believed the Romans durst not have ventured to come at him But they not only adventured but removed him from the Mountain forced him to fly with the greatest part of his Army and had it not been for the unpassableness of the Country which hindered the pursuit the Macedonians had all been cut off Philip then being unwilling to fight and having as I said before encamped upon the Mountains not far from the Romans durst not trust himself to his advantages and having found by experience that he was not secure there he would not pin himself up in a Town but made choice of the other way and kept himself at a distance so as when the Romans came into one Province he would remove into another and what place soever the Romans left he would be sure to come to At length finding this protraction of the War made his affairs but worse and that his Subjects were harrassed by both Armies he resolved to try his fortune and bring all to the decision of a Battel But it is convenient to avoid fighting when your Army is in the same condition as those of Fabius and Sulpitius that is when it is so considerable that the Enemy fears to attack you in your entrenchments and though he has got some footing in your Country yet not so much as is able to supply him with provisions in this case 't is best to decline fighting and follow the example of Sulpitius Nolens se fortunae committere c. But in all other cases it is not to be done but with dishonour and danger for to fly as Philip did is as bad as to be routed and more dishonorable because he gave no proof of his courage and though he escaped by the difficulty of the Country yet whoever follows his example without that convenience may chance to be ruin'd No man will deny but Hanibal was a great Soldier and of more than ordinary experience when he went into Africa against Scipio if he had seen it for his advantage to have protracted the War he would have done it and perchance being a great Captain and having as good an Army he would have done it the same way as Fabius did in Italy but seeing he did not do it it is probable he was diverted by some extraordinary occasion For that Prince who has got an Army together if he perceives that for want of pay or supplies he is not likely to keep them long is stark mad if he tries not his fortune before his Army disbands for by delaying he is certainly lost by fighting he may possibly overcome And above all things whether we are victorious or beaten we are to behave ourselves honourably and 't is more honourable to be overcome by force than by some error to run your self into incommodities that ruine you afterwards 'T is not unlikely but Hanibal might be impelled by some such necessity and on the other side Scipio if Hanibal should have deferred fighting might have chose whether he would have attacked him in his Trenches because he had already conquered Syphax and got such footing in Africk that he was as safe and with as much commodity as in Italy but it was otherwise with Hanibal when he had to do with Fabius and with the French when they had to do with Sulpitius And he who invades an Enemies Country avoids fighting with more difficulty as being obliged when ever the Enemy appears to obstruct him to give him Battel and if he sets down before any Town he is obliged so much the more as in our times it happen'd to Charles Duke of Burgundy who was beaten up in his Leaguer before Morat by the Swizzers and defeated And the same thing fell out to the
French at the Seige of Novarra where they were attacht and beaten by the Swizzers CHAP. XI One person that has many Enemies upon his hands though he be inferiour to them yet if he can sustain their first impression carries commonly the Victory THe power of the Tribunes of the people was great and necessary in the City of Rome to correct the ambition of the Nobility who otherwise would have debauch'd the said City much sooner than they did But as it happens in other things so it happened in this in the best and most beneficial thing to the Commonwealth there was an occult and remote evil that lay snug which required new Laws and new methods to suppress For the insolence of the Tribunitial authority grew so great that it became terrible both to the Senate and people and had doubtlesly produced some great mischief to the Commonwealth had not Appius Claudius by his great wisdom found out a way to temper and ballance their fury by the intercession of their Colleagues and the way was by choosing out some person among the Tribunes whom either out of fear or corruption or love to his Country they could dispose to withstand the designs of his Brethren and oppose himself against them whenever their resolutions were tending to the diminution of the Nobility or prejudice of the State Which way of restraining the petulancy of the Tribunes was for a long time of great advantage to the Romans and may give us occasion to consider whether a combination of several great persons against one less powerful than they whilst united is like to be successful against him that is alone or whether the single person has the advantage against the Confederacy I answer That those whose Forces are united are many times stronger but their performances are seldom so great as the single persons though he be nothing so strong for committing an infinite number of other things in which the single person has the advantage he will be able with a little industry to break and divide and enfeeble them To this purpose there is no need of going to antiquity for examples where there is plenty enough the passages of our own times will furnish us sufficiently In the year 1484 all Italy confederated against the Venetian who when they were so over-powr'd and distress'd that they were unable to keep the field found a way to work off Count Lodavic Governor of Milan from their League by which means they not only obtained a Peace and restitution of what they had lost but they got a good part of the Dutchy of Ferrara so that they whose Forces were too weak to appear before the Enemy when they came to treat were the greatest gainers by the War Not many years since the whole Christian world seemed to conspire against France yet before the end of the War the Spaniard fell off from the League made his Peace with the French and forced the rest of the Confederates one after one to do the same And from hence we may easily collect that as often as many Princes or States are confederated together against any single Prince or Commonwealth if the single Prince and Commonwealth be strong enough to withstand their first impression and spin out the War he will certainly prevail but if his force be not sufficient to do that he is in extraordinary danger as it happen'd to the Venetians for had they been able to have sustained their first shock and protracted the War till they had debauched some of the Confederates the French had never done them so much mischief and they had preserv'd themselves from ruine But their Army being too weak to confront them and their time too little to divide them they were undone and this is evident by what happen'd afterward for as soon as the Pope had recovered what he had lost he reconciled himself and became their friend the Spaniard did the same and both of them would have been glad to have continued Lombardy to the Venetians rather than the French should have got it and made himself so considerable in Italy The Venetians at that time might have prevented a great part of their calamities had they given some small part of their Territory to the Enemy and thereby have secured the rest but then they must have given it in time and so as it might not have appeared to have been done by necessity as they might well have done before the War was commenced when that was begun it would have been dishonourable and perhaps ineffectual But before those troubles there were few of the Venetian Citizens that could foresee a danger fewer that could remedy it and none at all that could advise To conclude therefore this Chapter I do pronounce that as the Roman remedy against the ambition of their Tribunes was the multitude of them out of which they always found some or other that they could make for the interest of the Publick so it is a ready remedy for any Prince that is engaged against a confederate Enemy when he can break their League and work any of the Confederates to a separation CHAP. XII A wise General is to put a necessity of fighting upon his own Army but to prevent it to his Enemies WE have formerly discoursed of what use and importance necessity is in humane Exploits and shown how many men compelled by necessity have done glorious things and made their memories immortal Moral Philosophers have told us That the Tongue and the Hands are noble Instruments of themselves yet they had never brought things to that exactness and perfection had not necessity impelled them The Generals therefore of old understanding well the virtue of this necessity and how much more desperate and obstinate their Soldiers were rendered thereby made it their care to bring their Soldiers into a necessity of fighting and to keep it from their Enemies to which end they many times opened a passage for the Enemies Army which they might easily have obstructed and precluded it to their own when they might as easily have passed Whoever therefore desires to make his Garrison stout and couragious and obstinate for the defence of a Town or to render his Army pertinacious in the Field is above all things to reduce them into such a necessity or at least to make them believe it So that a wise General who designs the besieging of a Town judges of the easiness or difficulty of the expugnation from the necessity which lies upon the Citizens to defend themselves If the necessity of their defence be great his enterprize is the more difficult because the courage and obstinacy of the besieged is like to be the greater but where there is no such necessity there is no such danger Hence it is that revolted Towns are much harder to be recovered than they were to be taken at first for at first having committed no fault they were in fear of no punishment and therefore surrendered more easily But in the other case
thousand unexpected accidents fall in to hasten its destruction CHAP. XVIII Nothing is more honourable in a General than to foresee the Designs of his Enemy IT was the saying of Epaminondas the Theban that no one quality was more useful and necessary in a General than to be able to know the resolutions and designs of his Enemy and discover that by conjecture which he could not do by any certain intelligence Nor is it difficult only to understand his designs but his actions and of those actions not only such as are perform'd privately or at a distance but such as are done as it were before his Face For it many times falls out that when a Battel continues till night he who has the better believes he has the worst and who has lost all supposes he has the Victory Which mistakes has put the Generals many times upon pernicious counsels as it hapned betwixt Brutus and Cassius for Brutus having defeated the Enemy with his Wing Cassius supposing he had been lost and his whole Body dispers'd killed himself in despair In our times at the Battel of S. Cilicia in Lombardy Francis King of France coming to an engagement with the Swizzers the Fight continued till night a body of the Swizzers remaining entire and hearing nothing of the defeat and execution of their Comrades concluded the Victory was theirs which error was the occasion that they marched not off as they might have done but kept their ground till the next morning at which time they were charged again and overthrown The same error had almost ruined the Armies of the Pope and King of Spain who upon a false alarm of the Victory of the Swizzers passed the Po and advanced so far that ere they were aware they had like to have fallen into the mouths of the victorious French The like fell out of old in the Camps of the Romans and Aequi Sempronius the Consul being commanded out with an Army against the enemy and forcing him to a Battel it continued till night without any visible advantage on either side Night coming on and both Armies sufficiently spent neither of them retir'd to their Camps but betook themselves to the neighbouring hills where they believed they should be more safe The Roman Army divided into two parts one went with the Consul and the other with Tempanius the Centurion by whose courage the Roman Army was preserved that day The next morning the Consul hearing no more of the enemy retreated towards Rome the Aequi with their Army did the same for both of them though they had been beaten and marched away without regarding the loss or plunder of their Camps it hapned that Tempanius being behind with his squadron and marching off as the rest he took certain of the wounded Aequi prisoners who inform'd him that their Generals were gone out of the field and had quitted their Camps Upon enquiry finding it to be true he entred into the Roman and secured it but the enemies Camp was given in prey to the Souldier after which he returned with Victory to Rome which Victory consisted only in having the first intelligence of the enemies disorder from whence it is observable that two Armies engaged may be each of them in the same distress and despair and that that Army goes away with the Victory which has first notice of the necessities of the other and of this I shall give a pregnant example of late days and at home In the year 1498 the Florentines had a great Army in the Country of Pisa and had besieged that City very close The Venetian having undertaken its protection and seeing no other way to relieve it to divert the enemy and remove the war they resolved to invade the Territory of the Florentine to which purpose they raised a strong Army marched into their Country by the Val di Lamona possessed themselves of the Town of Marradi and besieged the Castle of Castiglione which stands above upon an hill The Florentines upon the alarm resolved to relieve Maradi and yet not weaken their Army before Pisa whereupon they raised a new Army both Horse and Foot and sent them thither under the Command of Iacopo Quarto Appiano Lord of Piombino and the Count Rinuccio da Marciano The Florentine Army being conducted to the hills the Venetian raised his siege before Castiglione and retreated into the Town the Armies being in this posture and facing one another for several days both of them suffered exceedingly for want of all manner of Provisions at length neither of them being very earnest to come to a Battel and each of them being ignorant of the others distress they resolved the next morning to break up their Camp and each of them to retire the Venetian towards Berzighella and Faenza and the Florentine towards Casaglia and Mugello The morning being come and the Baggage sent away before a poor Woman hapned to come into the Florentine Camp from Marradi to see some of her Relations who were in the service of the Florentine by this Woman the Florentine Generals had notice that the Venetians were gone whereupon reassuming their courage they altered their counsels pursued the enemy and writ Letters to Florence that they had not only beaten the Venetians but made an end of the War Which Victory proceeded from nothing but because they had the first news of the retreat of the Enemy which if it had come to the other side as it did to them the consequence would have been the same and the Florentines have been beaten CHAP. XIX Whether for the Government of the multitude obsequiousness and iâ—dulgence be more necessary than punishment THe Roman Commonwealth was perplexed with the dissentions betwixt the Nobility and the people nevertheless their foreign Wars requiring it they sent forth with their Armies Quintius and Appius Claudius Appius being rough and cruel in his commands was so ill obeyed by his Soldiers that he was defeated and fled out of his Province Quintius being more gentle and benign was better obeyed and carried the Victory where he was from whence it appears more conducing to the well governing of a multitude to be rather obliging than proud and pitiful than cruel However Cornelius Tacitus tells us and many others are of his mind In multitudine regendâ— plus paena quam obsequium valet That to the managing of a multitude severity is more requisite than mildness And I think both may be true to his distinction of Companions and Subjects if those under your command be Companions and fellow Citizens with you you cannot securely use them with that severity of which Tacitus speaks for the people of Rome having equal authority with the Nobility was not to be used ruggedly by any man that was put over them for but a while And it has been many times seen that the Roman Generals who behaved themselves amicably towards their Souldiers and governed them with mildness have done greater things than those who used them with austerity and
door that is opened to their ambition sets them agog and abolishes all that love which they ow'd to their Prince for his humanity towards them as in this example of the Friends and Army of Scipio wherefore Scipio was constrained to make use of that severity in some measure which he had always declined As to Hanibal there is not any particular example where his cruelty or infidelity did him hurt only it may be supposed that they were the occasion why Naples and several other Towns stood so firm to the Romans It is plain likewise that his bloodiness and impiety made him more odious to the people of Rome than all the Enemies that ever that City had for whereas when Pyrrhus was with a great Army in Italy they gave him notice of a design on foot to have poisoned him they were so inveterate against Hanibal that they never forgave him but when they had defeated and disarm'd him they pursued him to the death And these sad inconveniences hapned to Hanibal from no other causes but because he was impious unfaithful and cruel but then on the other side he had the advantage of being admired of all Writers for keeping his Army without any mutiny or dissention either against him or among themselves though it consisted of so many different Nations which could be derived from nothing but the awe and terror of his person which terror was so great considered with the reputation and authority that he received from his valour that thereby he kept his Souldiers united and quiet I conclude therefore it imports not much which way a General takes so there be any great excellence in him to recommend it for as is said before both in the one and the other there is danger and defect if there be not some extraordinary virtue to balance it And if Hanibal and Scipio one by laudable and the other by ignominous and detestable ways arrived at the same end and had the same effects I think it convenient in my next Chapter to discourse of two Roman Citizens who by divers ways but both honourable arrived at the same pitch of glory and renown CHAP. II. How the austerity of Manlius Torquatus and the humanity of Valerius Corvinus gain'd each of them the same honour and reputation THere were two famous Captains contemporary in Rome Manlius Torquatus and Valerius Corvinus both of them equal in courage equal in their triumphs and each of them as to the enemy acquir'd all with equal virtue and terror but as to their own Armies and manner of discipline it was quite different Manlius commanded with all kind of severity excused his Souldiers from no labour nor no punishment Valerius on the other side used them with as much gentleness and familiarity Manlius to keep his Souldiers strictly to their discipline executed his own son which Valerius was so far from imitating that he never offended any man yet in this great diversity of conduct the effects were the same both as to the Enemy the Commonwealth and themselves for none of their Souldiers ever declin'd fighting none of them rebelled or so much as disputed their commands though the discipline of Manlius was so severe that afterwards all excessive and extravagant commands were called Manliana imperia in which place it is not amiss to enquire how it came to pass that Manlius was constrained to so rigorous a method what it was that made Valerius comport himself so mildly how it was that this different way of proceeding should have the same effect and last of all which of the two is most worthy thy to be imitated If Manlius be considered as he is represented by the Historian he will be found to be very valiant carrying himself with great piety to his Father and Country and with great reverence to his Superiors which appeared by his defence of his Father with the hazard of his own life against a Tribune who accused him and by his fighting with the Gaul in the behalf of his Country which notwithstanding he would not undertake without orders from the Consul for when he saw a vast man of a prodigious proportion marching forth upon the Bridge and challenging any of the Romans he went modestly to the Consul for leave and told him Injussa tuo adversus hostem nunquam pugnabo non si certain victoriam videam Without your permission I will never engage with the enemy though I was sure to overcome and the Consul giving him leave he conquered his enemy When therefore a man of his constitution arrives at such a command he desires all men may be as punctual as himself and being naturally brave he commands brave things and when they are once commanded requires that they be executed exactly and this is a certain rule when great things are commanded strict obedience must be expected otherwise your enterprize must fail That therefore those under your command may be the more obedient to your commands it is necessary that you command aright and he commands right who compares his own quality and condition with the quality and condition of those they command if he finds them proportionable then he may command if otherwise he is to forbear and therefore that saying was not amiss that to keep a Common-wealth in subjection by violence it was convenient that there should be a proportion betwixt the persons forced and forcing and whilst that proportion lasted the violence might last too but when that proportion was dissolved and he that was forced grew stronger than he that offered it it was to be doubted much his authority would not hold long But to return great things therefore and magnificent are not to be commanded but by a man that is great and magnificent himself and he who is so constituted having once commanded them cannot expect that mildness or gentleness will prevail with his subjects to execute them but he that is not of this greatness and magnificence of mind is by no means to command extraordinary things and if his commands be but ordinary his humanity may do well enough for ordinary punishments are not imputed to the Prince but to the Laws and Customs of the place so that we may conclude Manlius was constrained to that severity by his natural temper and complexion and such persons are many times of great importance to a Commonwealth because by the exactness of their own lives and the strictness of their discipline they revive the old Laws and reduce every thing towards its first principles And if a State could be so happy to have such persons succeeding one another in any reasonable time as by their examples would not only renew the laws restrain vice and remove every thing that tended to its ruine or corruption that State would be immortal So then Manlius was a severe man and kept up the Roman discipline exactly prompted first by his own nature and then by a strong desire to have that obeyed which his own inclination had constrained him to
convenient and particularly for the State for it never does hurt if the hatred which follows your severity be not encreased by a jealousie of your great virtue and reputation as it happen'd to Camillus CHAP. XXIII Vpon what occasion Camillus was banished from Rome WE have concluded in the Chapter before that to imitate Valerius may prejudice your Country and your self and that to imitate Manlius may be convenient for your self and prejudicial to your Country which opinion is much confirmed by the case of Camillus whose proceedings were more like Manlius than Valerius for which reason Livy speaking of him tells us Ejus virtutem milites oderantâ— Mirabantur His virtue was both odious and admirable to his Soldiers That which made him admired was his Diligence Prudence Magnanimity and Conduct That which made him hated was that he was more severe in punishing than liberal in rewarding And of this hatred Livy gives these following reasons First because he caused the Money which was made of the goods of the Vejentes to be applyed to publick use and not distributed with the rest of the prey Next because in his Triumphal Chariot he caused himself to be drawn by four white Horses which was accounted so great a piece of arrogance that it was thought he did it to equalize the Sun A third was that he had devoted a tenth part of the spoils of the Vejentes to Apollo which to keep his Vow was to be taken back again from the Soldiers who had got it in their clutches From whence it may be observed that nothing makes a Prince more odious to the people than to deprive them of their possessions which is a thing of so great importance that it is never forgotten because upon every little want it comes fresh into their Memories and men being daily subject to those wants will daily remember it and next to this is being insolent and proud which is likewise extreamly odious to the people especially if they be free And although perhaps no detriment accrews to them from his pride yet they are observed always to detest him that uses it So that a great person is to avoid it as a rock because it begets hatred and that without any advantage which makes it a very rash and imprudent thing CHAP. XXIV The prolongation of Commissions brought Rome first into servitude IF the dissolution of the Roman Commonwealth be accurately considered it will be found to proceed partly from the differences about the Agrarian Law and partly from the prorogation of their Magistrates which errors had they been known in time and due remedies applyed would not have been so pernicious but Rome might have enjoyed her freedom longer and perhaps with more quiet For though from the prolongation of Offices there were no tumults noâ— seditions to be seen in that City yet it was clear that those Magistrates which were continued took much upon them and by degrees their power and authority became a great prejudice to the liberty of the State Had all the Citizens who were continued been wise and honest like L. Quintius they would not have incurred this inconvenience The goodness of Quintius appeared in one thing very remarkably a meeting being appointed for accommodation of the differences betwixt the Nobility and the People the people continued their authority to their Tribunes another year as believing them very proper to resist the ambition of the Nobles The Senate to retaliate upon the people and show themselves as considerable as they continued the Consulship to Quintius But Quintius refused it absolutely alledging that ill examples were to be stifled and not encreased by others that were worse and therefore pressed them to the election of new Consuls and prevailed with much importunity and contention Had the rest of the Roman Citizens imitated this person they had never admitted that custom of proroguing of Magistrates and then the prolongation of their Commands in the Army had never been introduced which very thing was at length the ruine of that Commonwealth The first person whose Commission was continued in Rome was P. Philo who having besieged Pale-polis and by the time his Consulship was to expire reduced it to such extremity that the victory seemed already in his hands The Senate would not send another to succeed him but continued his authority with the Title of Proconsul which thing though done then upon grave consideration and for the benefit of the publick proved afterwards of such ill consequence that it brought that City in servitude and slavery For by how much their Wars were more remote by so much they thought these prorogations convenient from whence it hapned that fewer of the Romans were prepared for Military Commands and the glory of their Victories redounded but to few and besides he whose Commission was renew'd and had been a long time accustomed to the Army might insinuate so and gain such an interest in it as might make it disclaim the Senate and acknowledg no Head but their General This it was that enabled Marius and Sylla to debauch the Army this was it that enabled Caesar to conquer his native Country which miseries had never hapned had not that custom of continuing Magistrates and Commanders been introduced If it be objected that their great affairs could not have been managed as so great a distance without that prorogation of commands I answer That 't is possible their Empire might have been longer before it came to that height but then it would have been more lasting for the adversary would never have been able to have erected a Monarchy and destroyed their liberty so soon CHAP. XXV Of the Poverty of Cincinnatus and several other Citizens of Rome WE have said elsewhere that nothing is of more importance to the conservation of the liberty of a State than to keep the Citizens low and from being too wealthy Whether there was any Law to that purpose or what that Law was I must acknowledge my ignorance especially when I consider with what zealand passion the Agrarian was opposed yet 't is clear by experience that for 400 years after the building of Rome that City was in very great poverty And it is probable the great cause of it was that poverty was no impediment to preferment Virtue was the only thing required in the Election of Magistrates and the distribution of Offices and wherever it was found let the person or family be never so poor it was sure to be advanced which manner of living made riches contemptible And this is manifest by the following example Minutius the Consul being circumvented and he and his whole Army as it were block'd up by the Aequi the Romans were so possess'd with the danger of their Army that they betook themselves to the creation of a Dictator which is their last remedy in their greatest afflictions They concluded upon L. Quintius Cincinnatus who was then when they sent for him in a little Country farm at Plough which Livy magnifies exceedingly
more convenient place I shall speak here only of the dangers to which such Citizens or other persons are subject who advise a prince to make himself head of any important design and do it with that eagerness and impetuosity that the whole enterprise may be imputed to him The first thing I would recommend to their observation is that Counsels are commonly judged by their success if their success be unfortunate the whole scandal of the miscarriage falls upon the author If it prospers and the event be good he is commended but at a distance and his reward is not commensurate with the danger The present Emperor of the Turks Sultan Selimus as it is reported by some that came late out of that Country having made great preparations for an Expedition into Syria and Egypt changed his design upon the persuasion of one of his Bassa's and with a vast Army march'd against the Sophie of Persia. Arriving in an open and â—rge Country but for the most part Desarts and dry and no Rivers to supply them many Diseases were contracted in his Army insomuch as with hunger and sickness it dwindled away as many of the Romans had done in that Country before till at last though he had the better of the War he had lost most of his men upon which the Emperor being highly enraged caused the Bassa who had counselled him thither to be slain We read likewise of several Citizens advising and Enterprize upon the miscarriage of which they were all of them banished At Rome certain Citizens proposed and promoted very earnestly the making one of the Consuls out of the people and having prevailed the first of them which went out with their Army being beaten and over-thrown the authors would doubtless have found the inconvenience of their Counsel had not the people in whose favour it was given appeared in their protection So that this is most certain all Counsellors of this kind whether to Princes or Commonwealths are betwixt those two rocks if they do not advise what in their judgments they think profitable for their Masters and that frankly and without respect they fail in their duties and are defective that way again if they do counsel freely they bring their lives and fortunes in danger because such is the natural blindness of Mankind they cannot judge of the goodness or badness of any thing but by the success and considering with my self what way was most likely to avoid this infamy or danger I can find no better than to take all things moderately to assume and impropriate no enterprize to deliver your opinion frankly but without passion and to defend it so modestly that if it be followed by your Prince or Commonwealth it may appear to be their voluntary act and not done upon your importunity in that case it will not be reasonable to complain of your Counsel when executed by the concurrence of the rest for if there be any danger it is where things are done in contradiction of the rest of the Counsel who upon any miscarriage will be sure to combine against you and procure your destruction and though perhaps in this case there may want something of that glory which accrews to a single person who carries a design against the opposition of the rest especially if it succeeds yet there are two advantages on your side for first you will not run so great a hazard in the miscarriage and then if you advise a thing modestly which by the obstinacy and contradiction of the rest is carried against you the miscarriage of their Counsel will make much more to your reputation And although a good Citizen is not to desire to raise his credit upon the misfortunes of his Country nor indeed to rejoyce in what happens of it self yet when a thing is done it is more satisfaction to have your Counsel applauded than to be in danger of being punished Wherefore I am of opinion in these doubtful and difficult cases there can be no better way for the Counsel either of a Prince or State than to deliver themselves modestly and freely for to be sullen and say nothing would not only betray your Country but expose your self because in time you would become suspected and perhaps it might befal them as it did to one of the Counsel of Perseus King of Macedon who being defeated by Emilius Paulius and escaping with some few of his friends one of them in discourse of his Master's misfortune began to find fault and blame several passages in his Conduct which as he pretended might have been managed much better At which the King being inraged turn'd to him told him And do you like a Traytor as you are tell me of it now when 't is past remedy and killed him with his own hands so that he pay'd dear for being silent when it was his duty to have spoke and for speaking when it was discretion to have been silent nor did his forbearing to give his advice secure him from danger so that I am confirmed in my opinion that the best way is to observe the directions above said CHAP. XXXIV The reason why at the first Charge the French have been and still are accounted more than Men but afterwards less than Women THe arrogance of that French man who challenged the stoutest of the Romans to fight with him upon the Bridge of the Arrien and was afterwards killed by T. Manlius Torquatus puts me in mind of what Livy says in many places of the French that in their first attack they are more fierce and daring than men but afterwards more fearful and pusillanimous than Women And many people enquiring into the cause do attribute it to the peculiarity of their temperature and nature I am of opinion that there is much of that in it yet I cannot think but that Nature which makes them so furious at first may be so invigorated and improved by art as to continue their courage to the last To prove my opinion I do affirm there are three sorts of Armies In the first there is courage and fury joyn'd with order and discipline and indeed their courage and fury proceeds from their discipline And of this sort were the Armies of the Romans for all Histories do agree that there was always good order by reason of their long discipline and experience Nothing was done in their Armies but with great regularity and express order from their General They neither eat nor slept nor bought nor sold nor did any other action either military or civil but by permission of the Consul and therefore these Roman Armies who by their discipline and courage subdued the whole world are the best example we can follow they who do otherwise do ill and though perhaps they may do something extraordinary sometimes yet 't is more by accident than judgment But where well ordered courage meets with good discipline and is accommodated to the circumstances of manner and time nothing dismays them nothing withstands them for
the goodness of their order giving new life and courage to their men makes them confident of Victory and that confidence never suffers them to give ground till their whole order be broken There is another sort of Armies which are acted more by fury than discipline as in the Armies of the French and there it is quite otherwise because not succeeding in their first charge and not being sustained by a well ordered courage that fury upon which they wholly rely'd growing cold and remiss they are quickly overthrown Whereas the Romans fearing nothing of danger by reason of their good order and discipline without the least diffidence or question of the Victory fought on still obstinately being animated with the same courage and agitated by the same ardor at last as at first and the more they were press'd the better they resisted The third sort of Armies is where their is neither natural courage nor discipline and order as in our Italian Armies now adays which are so useless and unserviceable that â—â—â—ess they light upon an Enemy who runs by some accident they are never like to have a Victory and this is so obvious every day it needs no example to prove it But because by the testimony of Livy every one may know what is the right discipline and what is the wrong I will give you the words of Papirius Gursor in his reprimande to Fabius the Master of his Horse His words are these Nemo hominum nemo Deorum verecundiam hebeat Non edicta Imperatorum non auspicia observentur Sine Commeatu vagimilites in pacato in hostico errent immemores Sacramenti se ubi valent exauctorentur infrequentia deserantur signa neque conveniatur ad edictum nec discernatur interdiu noctu aequo iniquo loco jussu injussu Imperatoris pugnetur Non signa non ordines serventur latrocinii modo caeca fortuita pro solenni sacrata Militia sit Let them bare no respect or reverence either to God or man Let neither the orders of the General nor the directions of the Auspices be observed Let the loose and vagabond Soldier infest his own Country as much as the Enemies Let them forget their Oaths and disband as they please Let them run from their Colours as they think good and not come back when they are required Let them fight hand over head without consideration of time or place or order of their Officers Let their ranks be confused and their Colours deserted In a word Let their whole Conduct be blind and fortuito like thieves rather than the solemn and sacred Militia of the Romans By this we may easily see whether the Militia of our times be blind and fortuitous or whether it be solemn and sacred how far is it short of the old discipline of the Romans which consisting in exact order produced courage and constancy in the Souldiers and how far behind the French among whom though their is not that just order and constancy yet there is courage enough CHAP. XXXVII Whether fighting in small parties or pickeering before a Battel be necessary and how the temper of a new Enemy is to be found without them IN humane affairs as we have said before there is not only a perpetual and unavoidable difficulty in carrying them to their perfection but there is always some concomitant mischief so inseparable from it that it is impossible to arrive at the one without the other This is visible in all the actions of mankind so that that perfection is acquir'd with much difficulty unless you be so favoured by fortune that by her force she overcomes that common and natural inconvenience and of this and duel betwixt Manlius Torquatus and the French-man put me in mind where as Livy tell us Tantiea dimicatio ad universi belli eventum momenti fuit ut Gallorum exercitus relictis trepidè Castris in Tiburtem agrum mox in Campaniam transierit The success of that duel was of so much importance to the success of the War that thereupon the French Army drew off in a great fear into the Tiburtine Country and afterwards march'd away into Campania From whence I infer on the one side that a good General is to avoid any thing that carrying but small advantage with it may have an ill influence upon his Army to fight therefore in parties and venture your whole fortune upon less than your whole Army is rash and imprudent as I have said before where I dissuaded the keeping of passes On the other side I observe when an experienced General comes against a new enemy that has the reputation of being stout before he brings him to a Battel he is obliged to try him by slight skirmishes and pickeerings that by so doing he may bring his Souldiers acquainted with their discipline and way of sighting and remove that terror which the fame and reputation of their courage had given them And this in a General is of very great importance and so absolutely necessary that he who engages an unknown enemy with his whole Army before he has made an essay of his courage runs himself and his Army into manifest danger Valerius Corvinus was sent by the Romans with an Army against the Samnites a new enemy with whom they had never had any conflict before and Livy tells us he sent small parties abroad and caused them to entertain light skirmishes with the enemy Ne eos novum bellum ne novus hostis terreret Lest his Souldiers should be terrified with a new war and a new enemy But then the danger is that your men being overcome their terror should be encreased and that which you intended to animate should discourage and dismay them and this is one of those good things which have so near a conjunction with evil that 't is no hard matter to take one for the other My advice therefore is that a wise General abstains from any thing that may strike a terror into his Army for then the Souldiers begin to apprehend when they see their Comrades kill'd before their face For which reason those pickeerings and slight skirmishes are to be avoided by all means unless upon great advantage or some more than ordinary hopes of success Again it is not his interest certainly to defend any pass where he cannot upon occasion bring his whole Army to engage neither are any Towns to be made good but such as are of importance to the subsistance of his Army and without which both that and himself must be ruined and no such Towns are to be fortified but where not only a good Garison may be disposed and supplyed but where in case of a Siege your whole Army may be brought to relieve it other Towns are rather to be quitted than kept for to abandon a Town whilst your Army is in the field is no disrepute to you nor discouragement to your Souldiers but when you lose a place that you undertook and every body expected you would defend that
abates much of your credit and is a great prejudice to you so that it will be with you as it was then with the French a trifling loss will endanger the whole war Philip of Macedon the Father of Perseus a martial Prince and of great reputation in his time being invaded by the Romans quitted and destroyed a great part of his Country which he supposed he should be unable to defend as judging it better and more consistent with his honour to suffer it to be possessed by the enemy as waste and neglected than to undertake and not be able to defend it The affairs of the Romans being in a very ill condition after the battel at Cannas they refused their assistance to several of their friends and allies giving them leave to defend themselves if they could which resolutions are much better than to attempt to defend that which is not in our power for in the first case we lose only our friends but in the last both our friends and our selves To return therefore to our skirmishes I say that when ever for the discovery of the enemy or acquainting his Souldiers with the way of their sighting a General is constrained to make use of them he is to do it with that art and advantage that he may run no hazard of being worsted or else to follow the example of Marius which is the better way of the two who marching against the Cimbri a fierce and numerous people which had invaded Italy for prey and beaten one Roman Army already observing his Army to be afraid he thought it would be necessary before he came to a general engagement to contrive some way or other to dispossess them of their fear whereupon as a wise Officer he disposed his Army more than once or twice in some secure place upon the road by which the Cimbrian Army was to pass from whence his men might have a view of their march and accustom themselves to the sight of them to the end that seeing them to be nothing but a confused and disorderly multitude incommoded with baggage and either very ill accoutred or utterly unarm'd they might recover their spirits and grow impatient to be at them and this prudent invention of Marius ought to be diligently imitated by other people lest they fall into the dangers aforesaid and come off like the French Qui obrem parvi ponderis in Tiburtem agrum in Campaniam transierunt Who upon a trifling accident desponded and retired And because I have mentioned Valerius Corvinus in this Chapter I shall make use of his words in the next to shew how a General should be qualified CHAP. XXXVIII How a Generalis to be qualified that his Army may rely upon him AS we have said before Valerius Corvinus was gone with his Army against the Samnites a new enemy with whom the Romans had had no contest before To encourage his Souldiers and acquaint them with the discipline of the Samnites he inured his men to them by several small skirmishes but lest that should not do he made a speech to them before the Battel remonstrating with all possible efficacy of words how little they were to value the enemy and how much they might expect from their own valour and his conduct Livy brings him in with these words in his mouth which gives us an exact character of a General in whom his Army may confide Tum etiam intueri cujus ductu auspicioque ineunda pugna sit utrum qui audiendus duntaxat magnificus adhortator sit verbis tantum ferox operum militarium expers aut qui ipse tela tractare procedere ante signa versari media in mole pugnae sciat Facta mâ—a non dicta vos milites sequi volo nec disciplinam modo sed exemplum etiam ame petere qui hac dextra mihi tres Consulatus summamque laudem peperi Then you may see under whose Conduct you fight whether he that speaks to you be only a magnificent boaster valiant in words but ignorant in whatever belongs to a Souldier or whether he be one that knows how to manage his Arms lead up his Men charge in the head of them and behave himself manfully in the very heat of the Battel I would not fellow Souldiers that you should follow my words more than my deeds or take only my precepts and not my example who with this hand have gained three Consulships and immortal reputation Which words if well considered are sufficient to instruct any man what course he is to take to make himself reputed a great General he who acts otherwise will find in time that that command however he came by it whether by ambition or fortune will rather abstract than add to his honour for it is not titles that make men honourable but men their titles and it is to be observed likewise that if great Captains have been forced to such unusual language to confirm the hearts of an old veteran Army when it is to fight with a new enemy how much more care and art is to be used in a new inexperienced Army that never saw an enemy before For if a strange enemy be terrible to an old Army well may he be so to an Army that is new raised and was never engaged nevertheless all these difficulties have been overcome by the prudence of several Captains as by Gracchus the Roman and Epaminondas the Theban who with new raised men defeated old veteran Troops that had been long experienced in matters of war and their way was to prepare them for some months by continual exercise and counterfeit battels by using them to their ranks and holding them to strict discipline and obedience after which they advanced against the enemy engaged with great confidence and performed very well Let no man therefore that is any thing of a Souldier despair of making his Army good if he has but men enough for that Prince who abounds with men and wants Souldiers is rather to complain of his own laziness and imprudence than of their incapacity and dulness CHAP. XXXIX A General ought to know the Country and how to take his advantage in the ground AMong the many things that are necessary in a General of an Army the knowledg of Coasts and Countries is one and that not only in a Generall but in an exquisite and more particular way without which he shall not be able to do any great thing and because all knowledge requires use and exercise to bring it to perfection so is it in this knowledg of places and if it be enquired what use and what exercise is required in this case I answer Hunting and Hawking and such like recreations and therefore it is that the Heroes which anciently govern'd the World were said to be brought up in woods and forests and accustomed to those kind of exercises for hunting besides the acquaintance which it gives you of the Country instructs you in many things that are necessary in war
Xenophon in the Life of Cyrus tells us that when Cyrus went to invade the King of Armenia assigning several offices and places to the several parts of his Army he told them that Questa non era altro ch'una di quelle caccie le quali molte volte havenano fatte seco That this expedition was no more than one of those Chaces which they had taken frequently with him Those whom he placed as Scouts upon the Mountains he resembled to them who set their nets upon the hills and those who were to make excursions upon the plain were like them who were employed to rouse the Deer and force them into the Toyls And this is said by Xenophon to shew the resemblance and similitude betwixt hunting and war for which cause those kind of exercises are not only honourable but necessary for great persons and the rather because nothing gives a man so true a knowledg of the Country or imprints it more deeply and particularly in the memory and when a man has acquainted himself thorowly with one Country he may arrive more easily at the knowledg of other because all Countries and Coasts have some kind of proportion and conformity betwixt them so that the knowledg of the one contributes much to the understanding of the other But if before you have acquainted your self with your own you seek out new Regions you will hardly without great labour and long time come to the knowledg of either Whereas he that is well vers'd and practised in one shall at the first cast of his eye give you an account how that plain lies how that mountain rises and how far that valley extends and all by his former knowledg in that kind To confirm all this Titus Livius gives us an example in Publius Decius who being a military Tribune in the Army which the Consul Cornelius commanded against the Samnites and finding the said Consul and Army fallen by accident into a Vale where they might have been encompassed by the enemy and cut off Vides tu Aule Corneli said Decius to the Consul cacumâ—n illud supra hostem Arx illa est spei salutisque nostrae si eam quoniam caeci reliquere Samnites impigre capimus Do you see Sir that hill which hangs over the enemies Camp there lies our hope the blind Samnites haue neglected it and our safety depends upon the seizing of it quickly For said Livy before Publius Decius Tribunus militum unum editum in saltu Collem imminentem hostium Castris aditu arduum impedito agmini expeditis hand difficilem Publius Decius the military Tribune observed a hill over the enemies Camp not easily to be ascended by those who were compleatly arm'd but to those who were lightly arm'd accessible enough Whereupon being commanded to possess it by the Consul with 3000 men he obeyed his orders secur'd the Roman Army and designing to march away in the night and save both himself and his party Livy brings him in speaking these words to some of his Comrades Ite mecum ut dum lucis aliquid superest quibus locis hostes praesidia ponant qua pateat hinc exitus exploremus Haec omnia sagulo militari amictus ne Ducem circuire hostes notarent perlustravit Come along with me that whilst we have yet light we may explore where the enemy keeps his Guards and which way we may make our retreat and this he did in the habit of a private Souldier that the enemy might not suspect him for an Officer He then who considers what has been said will find how useful and necessary it is for a General to be acquainted with the nature of the Country for had not Decius understood those things very well he could not so suddenly have discerned the advantage of that hill and of what importance it would be to the preservation of the Roman Army neither could he have judged at that distance whether it was accessible or not and when he had possessed himself of it and was to draw off afterwards and follow the Consul being so environed by the Samnites he could never have found out the best way for his retreat nor have guessed so well where the enemy kept his Guards So that it must necessarily be that Decius had a perfect knowledg of the Country which knowledg made him secure that hill and the securing of that hill was the security of the Army After which by the same knowledg though he was as it were besieged by the enemy he found a way to make his own retreat and bring off his whole party CHAP. XL. How fraud in the management of War is honourable and glorious THough fraud in all other actions is abominable yet in matters of War it is laudable and glorious and he who overcomes his enemies by stratagem is as much to be praised as he who overcomes him by force This is to be seen by the judgment of those who write the Lives of great Persons especially of great Commanders for they command and applaud Hanibal and the rest in all their inventions of that nature There are many examples in them to this purpose which I shall not repeat here only this I must advertize that I do not intend that fraud which consists in betraying a trust or breaking an agreement to be honourable for though by them you may acquire Power and 't is possible a Kingdom yet as I said before it cannot be with honour but by fraud I mean that artifice which is shewn in stratagems and circumventions against an enemy that is not only in hostility but a state of defiance for where he reposes any confidence in you it alters the case and such as I mean was the artifice of Hanibal when he pretended to fly only to possess himself of some passes and so block up the Consul and his Army as also when to clear himself of Fabius Maximus he found out the invention of binding fire-brands and other combustible matter about the horns of the Cattel and turning them out upon the enemy And much of this nature was that of Pontius General for the Samnites which he used to circumvent the Roman Army ad Tureas Caudinas Pontius having disposed his Army privately upon the mountains sent several of his Souldiers habited like Shepherds with several herds of Cattel thorow the plain being all taken and examined by the Romans where the Army of the Samnites was they unanimously concurred in the story which Pontius had put into their mouths that it was gone to besiege Nocera which being credited by the Consul he brake up from his post and marching thorow the plain for the relief of Nocera he ran himself into the trap and was no sooner entred but he was block'd up by the enemy This exploit was fraudulently performed yet it would have been very honourable to Pontius had he followed his Father's advice who would have had him either dismissed the Romans frankly that they might have been obliged by their usage or else have put
the whole with death would be too severe and to punish one part and excuse another would be injust to those who were punish'd and encourage the other to commit the same offence again But where all are alike guilty to execute every tenth man by lots gives him who is to be punished occasion to complain only of his fortune and makes him who escapes afraid against the next time The good Women then who would have poyson'd their Husbands and the Priests of Bacchus were punished as they deserv'd and though these maladies in a Commonwealth have many times very ill Symptoms yet they are not mortal because there is still time enough for the cure But where the State is concern'd it is otherwise and time may be wanting and therefore if they be not seasonably and prudently redressed the whole Government may miscarry And this may be clear'd to us by what hapned in Rome The Romans having been very free in bestowing the freedom and priviledges of their City upon strangers the strangers grew so numerous by degrees and to have so great a Vote in the Councils that the whole Government began to totter and decline from its old to its new Inhabitants which being observed by Quiâ—â—us Fabius the Censor he applyed a remedy in time by reducing all the new Citizens into four Tribes that being contracted into so narrow a space they might not have so malignant an influence upon the City and this so timely and so useful expedient was taken so thankfully from him by the people that they gave him the addition of Maximus and he was called Fabius Maximus ever after THE ART OF WAR IN SEVEN BOOKS By NICHOLAS MACHIAVEL Newly Translated into ENGLISH and for the benefit of the Reader divided into CHAPTERS LONDON Printed for Iohn Starkey Charles Harper and Iohn Amery in Fleetstreet 1680. THE TRANSLATOR TO THE READER Kind Reader IT may seem strange to you at first that I have divided the Books of Machiavel and disposed them into Chapters contrary to the order of his Dialogues but I am assured when you consider my intention you will rather applaud than condemn me I was always sensible that no man could blame me if I kept exactly to my Author nevertheless I thought this way more beneficial the length of a Discourse being commonly tiresome to any man who affects brevity besides that in all sorts of Books these kind of breaches and sections are very helpful to the memory For this reason the Works of Aristotle Vitruvius and Pliny which were originally in another method have been reduc'd since into this manner of division I have presum'd to do the same in this my Translation having had more regard to the ease and advantage of the Reader than to the exact order of the Author whom I have not followed verbatim by reason of the diversity of the Languages yet his sense I have observed as strictly as would consist with the propriety of our own Language assuring my self that your bounty will dispence with some faults seeing nothing can be done so accurately but will be subject to many THE PREFACE OF NICOLO MACHIAVELLI TO Lorenzo the Son of Philippo Strozzi Gentleman of FLORENCE MAny have been and are still of opinion that in the whole world no two things are more incongruous and dissimilar than a Civil and a Military life insomuch that many times when a man designs himself for a Soldier he not only takes upon him a new habit but he changes his Customs his Company his manner of Discourse and leaves off all ways of civil conversation for he who would be light and nimble and ready for the execution of all sort of violence looks upon a civil habit as improper and cumbersome civil customs are unsuitable to him who thinks them soft and effeminate and inconsistant with the life he proposes and indeed it would be undecent if a man whose business it is to look big and Hector and fright the whole world with his Oaths and his Blasphemies should carry himself demurely and behave himself with the usual gentleness and complacency of other men and this is it which in our days makes this opinion true But if we consider the condition and method of old times we shall find no two things more united more conformable nor more necessarily amicable than they For all the Arts which are contrived in a City for the common good all the courses invented to keep men in fear of God and the Laws would be useless and vain were not force provided for their defence which force if well ordered will be able to make them good though perhaps the Laws are not so exact in themselves for this is most certain good Orders without Military coertion will quickly moulder to nothing and run to decay like a Noble and Princely Palace that is uncovered at the top and has nothing but the splendor and richness of its furniture to defend it from the weather And if anciently Kingdoms and States imploy'd great industry to keep people in peace and in the faith and fear of God certainly in the regulation of their Military Discipline they employed much more for where can ones Country repose greater confidence than in him who has promised to die for it Where can there be greater inclination to Peace than in him who is not capable of molestation or injury but by War Where can there be more fear of God than in him who being obnoxious to hourly dangers has more need of his divine assistance This necessity being well considered by those who gave Laws to Kingdoms and those who had the Command of their Armies was the cause that the life of a Souldier was in great reputation with all people and much imitated and follow'd But Military discipline being now totally deprav'd and degenerated from the practice of the ancients that depravity hath been the occasion of several ill opinions which have brought that Discipline into contempt and made all people hate and avoid the conversation of a Souldier But considering with my self both from what I have seen and read that it is not impossible to revive the discipline of our Ancestors and reduce it to its primitive excellence I resolved to keep my self from idleness to write what I thought might be to the satisfaction of such persons as were studious of the art of War and lovers of Antiquity 't is true 't is more than ordinary boldness to treat of this Subject where others have been so scrupulous and wary yet I cannot think it an error to write of what others have professed and exercised with much more audacity and presumption For my faults in writing may be corrected without prejudice to any body but those faults which they commit in the execution cannot be repair'd but by the destruction and ruine of several people consider then Sir the quality of my labours and according to your judgment let them be approved or rejected as you think they deserve I send them to you as
entertainments have been pleasing to our Country-men our Country has gone to ruine and all things declined Cosimo You have opened a way to a discourse which I desire exceedingly and therefore I beg of you that you would speak of it frankly without respect to any body seeing I intend to interrogate you with the same freedom and if in my demands or replies I excuse or accuse any man it will not be barely to excuse or accuse him but to understand the truth Fabritio I shall be well pleased to inform you of anything I know and shall leave it to your discretion to judge whether what I say be true or false expecting to learn as much from your demands as you will do from my answers for a wise question makes a man consider many things which perhaps he regarded not before and understand others which without interrogation he had never understood Cosimo I will return to what you said first that my Grand-father and your fore-Fathers would have done more prudently to have imitated their Ancestors in difficult and generous things rather than in what was delicate and soft and in this I will excuse my part and leave the other to be defended by you I am of opinion that there was not a man in his time who detested all kind of effeminacy more than he and who was a greater lover of that kind of activity and vigour which you so much commend nevertheless he found that he could not make use of it either in his own person or in the persons of his Children being born in so corrupt an age that a man who should have deviated from the common practice of those times would have made himself contemptible to every body For if a man in the heat of Summer should have lien basking upon the sands or in the midst of Winter should have taken up his quarters in the snow as Diogenes did he would have been thought a fool or a mad-man should a man have followed the Spartan way brought up his children in some cottage taught them to sleep in the fields to run about bare-foot and bare-headed wash in cold water to inure them to hardship and by making them less fond of life to make them less sensible of death he would have been despised for his pains and have been thought rather a bruit than a man Again should a man have been observed to starve his own carkass and to live only upon beans and pease and such kind of pulse and have made as small account of mony as Fabritius did of what was offered him by the Samnites 't is possible he might have been commended by some few but he should have been followed by no body being discouraged therefore by the practice of the present age he followed not the example of his Ancestors exactly but followed them as much as he could with as little notice and admiration to the World Fabritio You have excused your Grand-father very handsomly on that particular and what you have said is doubtlesly true but I did not speak so much of that hard and rustick way of living as of other ways that are more soft and effeminate have greater conformity and correspondence with our present times and are in my judgment easily to be introduced by any man who has the government of affairs and in my discourse of this matter I shall not need to straggle into other Countries for examples for the Romans my own Country-men will furnish me abundantly whose Practices and order of Government if well considered will not be found so impossible to be introduced in any other City where there is but the least spark of virtue and goodness Cosimo What are those things that you would introduce according to the example of our Ancestors Fabritio To honour and reward virtue not to dispise poverty to value order and discipline of war to constrain Citizens to love one another to live without factions to postpone all private interest to the publick and several other things that may easily accommodate with our times and these things are not difficult to be introduced provided it be done deliberately and by right means because in them the truth is so manifest and apparent that the commonest capacity may apprehend it He therefore who orders his affairs in this manner plants himself trees which will afford him a happier and more pleasant shelter and protection than these Cosimo I will not reply to what you have said but referring it to the discretion of the company who can easily judge of it I shall address my discourse to you who seems to find fault with all those who in their great and weighty affairs do not follow the examples of our Ancestors supposing thereby I may be more easily satisfied in my intention I would know therefore how it comes to pass that on one side you condemn all those who do not imitate the practice of our Ancestors and yet on the other in your wars which is your profession and excellence it does not appear that you have made use of any thing of the ancient method and discipline or done any thing that resembled it Fabritio You are now come to the point where I expected you and indeed my discourse deserved and I my self desired no other demand And though I might save my self the labour with a very plausible excuse yet I will satisfie both your desire and my own and that the more largely because both time and place concurs to our convenience Men who are desirous to do any great action are first to prepare themselves with all diligence and industry that when occasion is offered they may be ready to execute and compleat it And because where those preparations are made cautiously they are not to be discovered no man is to be accused of negligence unless occasion discovers him first to which if he be remiss and makes not use of his time to execute his design it gives us to understand that either he has not prepar'd as he ought to have been or that he had not thought of it at all and therefore no occasion having presented it self to me to discover the preparations which I had made to reduce our Militia into the form of the ancients if I have not yet reduced it I conceive I cannot justly be condemned either by you or any body else and this I think is a sufficient answer to your accusation Cosimo It would be sufficient indeed could I be assured that you never had any occasion Fabritio But because I find you may doubt whether ever such occasion were offered or not I am content to discourse more largely upon condition you will have the patience to hear me what preparations are necessary to be made what occasion is necessary to be had what difficulties obstruct our preparatives and hinder our occasion and how this is easie and hard to fall out at the same time which seems a contradiction Cosimo You cannot do me and the whole company a greater
you have me blame them Cosimo Because several wise men have always condemn'd them Fabritio I think you are in a mistake to say a wise man can be against training of Souldiers a man may be thought wise 't is possible and be no such thing Cosimo The ill success which those Trained-bands have always had is a great argument of the truth of that opinion Fabritio Have a care the fault was not more in you than in them of which perhaps you may be convinced before I have done my discourse Cosimo You will do us a very great favour But I will tell you first in what it is this Militia is condemn'd that you may afterwards justifie it the better CHAP. VII Of the inconvenience and convenience of Trained-Bands or a settled Militia Cosimo IT is objected that either they are experienced and useless and then to rely upon them is to ruine the State Or else they are ready and skilful and strong and then he who has the command of them may do what he pleases They instance in the Romans who lost their liberty by these kind of men They instance likewise in the Venetian and the King of France the first of which makes use only of foreign Arms lest some time or other they should fall under the subjection of some of their Citizens and the latter has disarmed his Subjects with the more ease to keep them under command But those who are against these Trained-Bands are more fearful when they are raw and inexperienced than otherwise and to this purpose they give two considerable reasons One is because they are unskilful the other is because they are unwilling and they say that people any thing in years never learn any thing well and a man never does good when he is forced to the Wars Fabritio The reasons which you have alledged are produced only by persons who understand things at a distance as I shall demonstrate plainly And first as to their unserviceableness I say there are no Souldiers more useful than ones own Subjects and no Subjects can be ordered a better way And this being clear and indisputable I will not spend time in proving it farther because I have the concurrence of all ancient History to confirm it As to the inexperience and force wherewith they are charged I say and it is true that inexperience makes a man cowardly and force makes a man Mutinous but courage and experience both are infused into them by arming and exercising and accommodating them well as shall be shown in my following discourse But as to the point of force you must know that such persons as are raised by the command of a Prince are neither to be altogether press'd nor altogether Voluntiers because to have them altogether Voluntiers would be to incur the inconveniences which I have mentioned before it would not be a fair election and there would be very few go a long with you and wholly to force them would be as dangerous on the other side therefore a middle way is to be taken neither too forcible on the one side nor too frank on the other but such a one as may tempt them to the War out of their respect to their Prince whose displeasure they fear above all other punishments such a course as this tempered so cunningly betwixt fair means and foul cannot be dangerous nor produce that discontent and mutiny which occasions so much mischief I do not say that an army so chosen and exercised is absolutely invincible for the Roman Armies were many times overcome and Hannibal's Army was defeated wherefore an Army cannot be so ordered and disciplin'd that one may promise himself it shall never be broken The wise men therefore of whom you speak are not to calculate the uselesness of an Army from the loss of one Battle but are rather to believe that having miscarried once they will be more cautious afterwards and do something as occasion offers to expiate their disgrace and if the business should be thorowly examined it would not be found to be the defect of the form so much as want of perfection in their Order And this as I said before is to be provided against not by blaming or exploding the way of train'd men but by improving and correcting it where it shall be found amiss and how that is done I will show you particularly As to your doubt that such an order of Souldiers meeting with an Officer equally disposed may usurp upon you and turn you out of your Government I answer that Arms put orderly and legally into the hands of Citizens or Subjects never did nor will do any harm And Cities are kept longer innocent and incorrupt with those than any other forces nay than they are commonly without them Rome had its Citizens in Arms four hundred years together and yet kept its liberty intire Sparta preserved its liberty 800 years in the same posture several Cities have been disarmed and kept their liberties but how long Not forty years any of them and the reason is because great Cities have occasion for Soldiers and when they have none of their own they are forced to entertain Strangers which commonly do much more mischief than their own for they are more easily debauched and a popular Citizen may more easily corrupt and employ them as Instruments of Usurpation and Tyranny when they have nothing but naked and unarmed people to destroy Besides a City ought in reason to be more fearful of two Enemies than one For in entertaining of Strangers a City is to have an eye over her Mercenaries and her Natives and to prove that this jealousie is natural and reasonable remember what I said before of Francis Sforza whereas a City which employs only her own inhabitants fears nobody else But to use one reason for all let me tell you no man ever established a Commonwealth or Kingdom who did not believe that the inhabitants if arm'd would be willing to defend it And had the Venetians been as wise in this as other Counsels they would have set up a new Monarchy in the World and they are the more inexcusable that have not because their first Legislators put arms into their hands and gave them ability to defend themselves But their territory being little at land they employed their arms only at Sea where they performed many great things to the enlargement of their Country But in process of time being forced to take arms by land for the relief of vicenza they entertained the Marquess of Mantoua into their service and made him their General whereas they should rather have committed that charge to one of their own Citizens and sent him to have engaged the enemy at land This unhappy resolution was that which clip'd the wings of their success and kept them from extending their Empire if they did it out of an opinion that their experience was not so great in Land as in Sea affairs their diffidence was imprudent for a Sea Captain accustomed to
custom was not practised in the Armies whilst Rome enjoyed her liberty but only in the City in which those military exercises being much used by the youth it came to pass that being drawn out for the Wars they were so well versed and experienced in that counterfeit discipline that when afterwards they came to it in earnest they behaved themselves very well But when by degrees the Emperors disused or abolished that custom of training they were constrained to these ways which I have shewn you before CHAP. IX How the Romans raised their Legions TO proceed therefore to the manner of the election of the Roman Legions I say that after the Roman Consuls in whose hands the administration of the war was wholly deposited had taken upon them the Magistracy being to raise an Army according to custom which gave to each Consul two Legions of the Best men who were esteemed the strength and flower of their Army they created four and twenty military Tribunes six for each Legion and invested them with the same authority as we do our Captains After this they assembled all the Romans who were able to bear arms and place the Tribunes of each Legion a part after which they drew lots in which Tribe they should begin their election and where the lot fell out of that Tribe they chose four of the best and out of them four and one was chosen by the Tribunes of the first Legion and out of the other three one was chosen by the second Legion and out of the remaining two another was chosen by the third Legion and the fourth person belonged to the fourth Legion these four being disposed in this manner they proceeded to the election of four more the first of which was chosen by the Tribunes of the second Legion the second by the Tribunes of the third the third by the fourth and the fourth by the first Legion After which they had a third election the first chose the third the second the fourth the third the first and the fourth the second and in this manner they varied their elections till at length all the legions became perfect and equal and were then united As we said before the Romans had the convenience of making this election for present service because a good part of such as were chosen were old Souldiers well experienced in their trade and all of them well disciplin'd and train'd so that their elections were made by experience and conjecture both but where an Army is to be new raised and chosen not so much for present as future service the election in that case is to be made by conjecture only and that from the age and person of the man Cosimo I believe what you have said to be true but before you pass to another discourse I would be satisfied in a thing of which you put me in mind by saying that levies to be made of such persons as have not been trained up in the wars are to be made by conjecture and of this I am the more curious because I have observed in many places our Militia's to be condemned and especially as to our numbers for many are of opinion a less number were better in respect that the fewer there were the better they would be taught and by consequence the elections would be better the confusion less and they would be more capable of reward which is that which keeps them content and to be sure be under better command I would know therefore your opinion whether you are for a great number or a small and what measures you would take in your elections both of the one and the other CHAP. X. Whether it is best for a Militia to consist of a great number or a small Fabr. SEeing it is your desire to be satisfied which is best a great number or a small without doubt a great number is best and not only more necessary but to keep frankly a compleat perfect Militia is not to be had in any place where there is not great plenty of men and as to your observation in other places it is easily refused For first the smalness of your number does not better your souldiers where plenty is to be had as in Tuscany nor mend your election because men being to judge by experience in that Country few people would be found whose experience would recommend them forasmuch as few of them have been actually in the wars and of those few fewer have given such testimony of themselves as to deserve to be chosen before the rest so that he who makes his election in such places is to lay aside his experience and to choose by way of conjecture Other people therefore being in this perplexity I would know if twenty young persons of good aspects were brought before me by what rules or method I was to choose or reject I do not doubt but every man would confess the best way to take and arm and exercise them all it being impossible to judge till then which will be the best and to reserve your election till having all had the same exercise and instruction it be easie to discern which is most vigorous and likely to do service so that upon the whole to desire but few in this case that your election may be better is without question an error As to the objection of being less inconvenience to the Country and to the people I answer that a Militia be it as little or imperfect as it may is no prejudice to either Because it takes away no man from his employments obliges no man from his business for to appear only on idle days to exercise is rather a recreation to the People and advantage to the Country than otherwise Whereas if they had no such divertisement and young men would be apt on those days to run out into some debauchery or extravagance which would be much worse than those innocent recreations which being a handsome spectacle gives great entertainments to young people Whereas it is alledged that a less number is easier paid and by consequence kept in better order and obedience I answer That no Levies can be made of so few as that they will be paid always to their satisfaction For example a Militia is to be established of five thousand foot To pay them to their content would require at least 10000 Ducats a month First 5000 Foot is not a competent Army and 10000 Ducats a month would be insupportable to a State and yet insufficient to satisfie them or to oblige them to any extraordinary enterprize So that in so doing your expence would be great your force but small and unable to defend you much less to make any vigorous attack If you encrease their pay or their number it would be the more impossible to pay them if you gave them less or listed less they would be so much the more dissatisfied and unserviceable They therefore who talk of raising Soldiers and paying them whilst they are not
in service talk ridiculously and of things either impossible or useless 'T is true when they are to be raised for immediate Service they are always to be paid yet if in times of Peace they be the occasion of any disorder or inconvenience which I cannot believe the advantages of a well disciplin'd and ready Militia does abundantly recompence it for where there is no such force there is nothing secure I conclude then That he who would have a small number to pay them the better or for any other of your reasons is mightily ignorant for though it agrees with my opinion that let your number be what it will it will lessen upon your hands by the many accidents that are not possible to be avoided yet a small number would quickly dwindle to nothing Besides a great number is of more real service and reputation To this it may be added That if in order to the exercising you select a few persons in Countries where plenty is to be had they are so remote and at such distance from on another that you cannot bring them to a Rendezvouz without great inconvenience and without exercising Militia's are useless as shall be shown in due place Cosimo You have satisfied me as to my former demand but I desire you would resolve me another doubt and that is whether such great numbers do not produce more confusion and disorder in the Country Fabritio That opinion is as idle as the other and for the reasons I shall give CHAP. XI How the inconveniencies which follow great Armies may be prevented Fabritio THose who are designed for the Wars may occasion disorder two ways either among themselves or with other people but the remedy is easie though their discipline should not prevent it for as to quarrels and mutinies among themselves discipline will obviate them If the Country where your Levies are to be made be so weak that they have no Arms among them or so unanimously united among themselves that they have no head this Order and Militia will make them more fierce and couragious against Strangers without any impediment to their unity For men who are well disciplin'd are as tender of breaking the Laws when they are Armed as much as when they are disarmed nor can they be any ways altred unless the Officers which you set over them debauch them and which way that is to be done I shall shew you presently But if the Country where your Levies are to be made are in Arms and disunited this way will be sufficient to unite them for though they had Arms and Officers of their own before yet they were such Arms as were useless in War and such Officers as rather bred and provoked mutinies than prevented or suppress'd them And the reason is because in those Countries as soon as a man is offended he repairs immediately to the head of his party who to maintain his own reputation encourages him to revenge whereas a publick General proceeds quite contrary So then by this way Seditions are prevented Unity established Provinces united but weak continue their union and are freed of their weakness Provinces disunited and mutinous are reconciled and composed and their ferocity which was employed formerly in disorders is employed now to the advantage of the publick As to the provision that is to be made that they injure not other people it is to be considered that that is not to be done but by the fault of their Officers and to prevent the Officers from oocasioning such disorders it is necessary that care be taken that they do not usurp too great an authority over their Soldiers which authority is to be gained two ways either by nature or accident the way by nature is to be prevented by providing that he who is born in a place be never put to command the Forces raised in the same place but be put at the head of such Troops as are raised in other Countries with whom he has no natural converse As to the accidental way things are to be so ordered that the Commanders in chief be changed every year for the continuation of a command over the same men contracts such a friendship and intimacy betwixt them as is many times perverted to the prejudice of the Prince Which changes how useful they have been to those who have used them and how much the omission of them have been prejudicial to other people may be observed by the example of the Kingdom of Assyria and the Empire of the Romans for that Kingdom continued a thousand years without Tumult or civil War which proceeded from the annual changing of the Officers of the Army And in the Roman Empire after Iulius Caesar was killed all the civil Wars and Conspiracies which hapned betwixt the Officers and the Emperors proceeded from nothing but holding the Officers continually in command And if any of the first Emperors or those who rul'd afterwards with any reputation as Adrianus Marcus Severus and the like had had the providence to have introduced that custom into their Armies without doubt their Empire would have been more quiet and durable for their Generals would not have had so much opportunity to rebel the Emperors would not have had so much occasion to for and the Senate in default of succession having more authority in the election of a new Emperor would undoubtedly have chosen better But ill customs either thorow the ignorance or inadvertancy of mankind are not to be eradicated by examples either good or bad Cosimo I fear my demands have drawn you from your intended discourse for from speaking of Levies and Militia's and such things we are got clear upon another Subject so that had I not excused my self before I should think I deserved reprehension Fabritio Let not that trouble you all that we have said is pertinent enough for being to treat of the way of Militia's which is condemned by many people and I to defend it was convenient that we should begin with the way of Election and first as to the Cavalry CHAP. XII Of the Cavalry Fab. THe Cavalry anciently was raised out of the richest and most considerable of the City but with respect to the age and quality of the person Of these there were only three hundred to a Legion so that in each Consular Army the Romans had never above six hundred Horse Cosimo Would you have a standing Militia of Horse to exercise them at home and employ them afterwards in the War Fab. To do well you cannot do otherwise if you would have Soldiers of your own and not rely wholly upon such as make War their profession Cosimo How would you choose them Fab. I would imitate the Romans choose them out of the wealthiest give Officers as they do at this day and see them well armed and well exercised Cosimo Would it be well to allow them any pay Fab. Yes truly it would yet it should be no more than would keep their Horse for otherwise lying
the Swisses Everyone knows how many of the Swisses foot were cut off at the battel of Ravenna and all upon the same account the Spanish foot having got to them with their swords and had cut them certainly in pieces had they not been rescued by the French horse and yet the Spaniards drawing themselves into a close Order secured themselves I conclude therefore a good Infantry ought to be able not only to sustain the horse but to encounter the foot which as I have said many times before is to be done by being well arm'd and well ordered Cosimo Tell me therefore I beseech you how you would have them arm'd CHAP. IV. How foot should be arm'd and of the force and convenience of men at Arms. Fabritio I Would take both of the Roman and German arms and half my men should be arm'd with the one and half with the other for if in 6000 foot as I shall explain to you hereafter I should have 3000 with bucklers like the Romans 2000 pikes and 1000 muskets like the Swiss I think I should do well enough for I would place my pikes either in my front or where-ever I suspected the Enemies horse might make any impression my bucklers and swords should second my pikes and be very conducing to the Victory as I shall demonstrate So that I think an Infantry thus ordered would be too hard for any other Cosimo What you have said about the Foot is sufficient I pray let us now hear what you judge of the horse and which way of equipping them is the best the ancient or modern Fabr. I think the present way is the best in respect of the great saddles and stirrups which were not in use among the ancients and make men sit stronger and firmer upon their horse I think our way of arming now is more secure and a body of our horse will make a greater impression than a body of the old Yet I am of opinion that Cavalry are not to be more esteemed now than of old because as I have said they have in our days been oft worsted by the foot and so they always will be if the foot be arm'd and ordered as abovesaid Tigranes King of Armenia came into the field against the Roman Army under the command of Lucullus with 150000 horse many of them arm'd like our men at arms which they called Catafracti the Romans consisting only of 6000 horse and 15000 foot Whereupon in contempt of their number when Tigranes saw them he said That they were liker the Train of an Embassador than an Army Nevertheless when they came to fight he was beaten and he who writes the story blames the Catafracti and declares them unserviceable for says he having Beavers over their faces they cannot so well see how to offend the Enemy and being laden with arms if by accident their horse be killed or throws them upon the ground they cannot get up again nor help themselves in any manner I say then that Nation or Kingdom which prefers their horse to their foot shall always be weak and in danger of ruine as Italy has experimented in our time having been exposed to ruine and depredation by strangers for want of foot which has been very much neglected and all the Souldiers set on horse-back Not but it is good to have horse too yet not to make them the strength of their Army but sufficient to second the foot for they are of great use for scouting making inroads into the Enemies Country raising Contributions infesting the Enemy and cutting off Convoys and supplies of Provisions nevertheless when they come to a Field-fight which is the main importance of a War and the very end for which Armies are raised they are not so serviceable as foot though indeed in a rout they are better to pursue Cosimo I cannot concur with you in this for two reasons one is the Parthians used nothing but horse and yet they had their share of the World as well as the Romans and the other is because I cannot see which way the Cavalry can be sustained by the Foot and from whence proceeds the strength of the one and the weakness of the other Fabr. I think I have told you or else I will tell you now that my discourse of military affairs shall extend no farther than Europe Being intended no farther I do not think my self obliged to give a reason for their customs in Asia yet this I may say that the Parthian discipline was quite contrary to the Roman for the Parthians fought always on horse-back in confusion and disorder which is a way of fighting very uncertain The Romans fought generally on foot in close and firm order and they overcame one another variously as the place where they fought was open or streight in streight places the Romans had the better in champian the Parthians who were able to do great things in respect of the Country which they were to defend it being very large a thousand miles from the Sea not a River sometimes within two or three days march and Towns and Inhabitants very thin So that an Army like the Roman pestered and incumbred with their arms and their order could not pass thorow the Country without great loss by reason the strength of the Enemy consisted in horse which were nimble here to day and to morrow fifty miles off And this may be a reason why the Parthians prevailed with their horse ruined the Army of Crassus and put Marc Anthony into so much danger But as I said before my intention is not to speak any thing of the Armies out of Europe and therefore I shall insist only upon the Romans the Grecians and the Germans CHAP. V. The difference betwixt men at Arms and foot and upon which we are most to rely Fabr. WE come now to your other demand in which you desire to understand what order or what natural virtue it is that makes the foot better than the horse I say in the first place horse cannot march in all Countries as foot can they are not so ready to obey orders when there is any sudden occasion to change them for when they are upon their march if there be occasion to wheel or face about to advance or stop or retreat they cannot do it with that dexterity as the foot Upon any rout or disorder horse cannot rally so well though perhaps they are not pursued which is not so with the foot Again it is frequently seen a brave and a daring man may be upon a bad horse and a coward upon a good and that inequality is the occasion of many disorders Nor let any one think strange that a body of foot can sustain the fury of the horse because an horse is a sensible creature and being apprehensive of danger is not easily brought into it And if it be considered what forces them on and what forces them off it will be found that that which keeps them off is greater than that which
BEsides what has been said already it is of great use and reputation to a General if he knows how to compose mutinies and dissentions in his Army The best way is by punishing the Ringleaders but then it is to be done so neatly that they may have their reward before they have news that it is intended The way to do that is if they be at any distance to summon both nocent and innocent together that they thinking themselves safe and not in danger of any punishment may not be refractory and stand upon their guard but put themselves quietly into your hands to be punished If they be present and at hand the General is to make himself as strong as he can with those who are innocent and others in whom he can confide and then punish as he thinks fit When the quarrel is private and among themselves the best way is to expose them to danger and let them fight if they think good for the fear of that does many times reconcile them But above all things there is nothing that keeps as Army so unanimous as the reputation of the General which proceeds principally from his courage for it is neither birth nor authority can do it without that The chief thing incumbent upon a General is to pay well and punish well for whenever the Soldiers want pay 't is but reasonable that they should want punishment for you cannot in justice chastise any exorbitance in a Soldier when you disappoint him of his pay nor can he forbear stealing unless he be willing to starve but if you pay and do not punish them they are insolent again and you will become despicable in holding a Command that you are not able to manage and by not maintaining your dignity and authority of necessity tumults and disorders must follow which will be the utter ruine of your Army CHAP. XIV How the Ancients relied much upon their auguries and other accidents Fabr. THe Generals of old were subject to one molestation from which in our days we are exempt and that is how to pervert an ill augury and interpret it to their advantage for if an Arrow fell down in an Army if the Sun or the Moon was Eclipsed if there hapned an Earth-quake or it was the General 's fortune to fall down either as he got up on horse-back or dismounted it was look'd upon by the Soldiers as an ill omen and was the occasion of such fear in them that coming afterwards to a Battel they were easily beaten and therefore the Generals in times past when such an accident happened immediately gave some reason for it and referr'd it to some natural cause or else wrested and perverted it to their own profit and advantage Caesar passing over into Africa tumbling down upon the ground as he came out of the Ship grasping the grass in his hands he cryed out Teneo te O Africa Africa you are mine for I have you in my hands And several others have given reasons according to their own interest for the Earth-quakes and Eclipses of the Moon but in our days these artifices cannot pass because our men are not now so superstitious and our Religion explodes such opinions as heathenish and vain but whenever we should be so blind as to reassume those superstitions we must revive the custom of the Ancients CHAP. XV. That we are not to fight with an Enemy reduced to despair and several arts that may be used to surprize him Fabr. WHen famine natural necessity or human passion has brought your Enemy to such despair that impelled by that he marches furiously to fight with you you must keep within your Camp and decline fighting as much as possibly you can The Lacedemonians acted in that manner against the Messeni Caesar did the same against Afranius and Petreius When Fulvius was Consul against the Cimbrians he caused his horse to attack the Enemy for several days together and observing in what numbers they came forth to engage them he placed an ambush one day behind their Camp caused them again to be assaulted and the Cimbrians issuing forth in their old numbers to encounter them Fulvius fell in the mean time upon their Camp entred it and sack'd it Some Generals have made great advantage when they lye near the Enemies Army to send out parties with the Enemies Colours to plunder their own Country for the Enemy supposing them supplies sent to relieve them have issued forth to meet them and assist them to plunder whereby they have been put to disorder and given opportunity to the adversary to overthrow them Alexander of Epirus did the same against the Sclavonians and Leptene the Syracusan against the Carthaginians and both with success many have been too hard for their Enemies by giving them opportunity of eating and drinking too much making a shew of being afraid and leaving their Camp full of wine and provisions with which the Enemy having gorg'd himself without measure the others have fallen upon them with advantage and put them to the sword Tomyris provided such an entertainment for Cyrus and Tiberius Gracchus regall'd the Spaniards in the same manner others have poysoned their meat and their drink to ruine the Enemy that way the more easily I said before that I did not find it in any History that the Romans did ever in the night place any Centinels without their Camp supposing they omitted it to prevent the mischiefs that might ensue for it has been often seen that the Centinels which are placed abroad in the day time to hear and descry the Enemy have been the destruction of those who have sent them for being often times surprized by the Enemy they have been forced to give the signal with which they were to call their own men and they coming immediately according to the sign have been all killed or taken prisoners To over-reach and circumvent an Enemy it is good sometimes to vary your custom that the Enemy depending upon it may be disappointed and ruined Thus it happened with a General who being accustomed to give the signal of the approach of the Enemy in the night by fire and in the day time by smoke commanded that they should make smoke and fire together without intermission and that when the Enemy came they should put them both out the Enemy supposing he was not perceived because he saw no signal given marched on in disorder and gave his Adversary the victory Memnon the Rhodian desiring to draw his Enemy out of his strong hold sent one by the way of a fugitive into their Army with news that Memnon's Army was in a mutiny and that the greatest part of them were gone from him and to confirm it the more he caused disorders and tumults to be pretended in his Camp whereupon the Enemy taking encouragement advanced out of his hold to attack Memnon but was cut off himself Besides the things above-mentioned great care is to be had never to bring your Enemy to despair Caesar was
very cautious of this in his War with the Germans and opened a way for them when he saw that not being able to fly they must of necessity fight and that more couragiously than otherwise wherefore he chose rather the trouble of pursuing them when they fled than the danger of fighting them when they were forced to defend themselves Lucullus observing a party of his horse going over to the Enemy caused a Charge to be founded immediately and commanded other parties to follow them whereupon the Enemy believing Lucullus intended to fight sent out a party to charge those Macedonians who were running away and they did it so effectually that the Macedonians were glad to stand upon their guard by which means of fugitives intended they became good Subjects in spight of their teeths CHAP. XVI How a suspected Town or Country is to be secured and how the Peoples hearts are to be gained Fabr. IT is a great thing in a General to know how to secure a Town that you suspect either after a Victory or before as several ancient examples do demonstrate Pompey being jealous of the Catinenses beg'd of them that they would give entertainment to some of his sick men and under the disguise of sick sending stout and valiant men they surprized the Town and kept it for Pompey Publius Valerius was diffident of the Epidauni and caused a General indulgence to be given in one of the Churches without the Town the people thronging thither for pardon he shut the Gates upon them and received none back again but such as he could trust Alexander the great being to march into Asia and by the way secure himself of Thrace carried along with him all the principal persons of that Province giving them commands in his Army and leaving the people to be governed by those of their own condition by which means he satisfied all parties the Nobility by paying them and the Populace by leaving no Governor that would oppress them But among all the ways wherewith the people are to be cajoled nothing goes so far as examples of chastity and justice as that of Scipio in Spain when he returned a beautiful young Lady to her Parents and Husband untouched a passage that contributed more than his Arms to the subduction of that Country Caesar only for paying for the wood which he caused to be cut down to make Stoccadoes about his Camp in France got such a name for his justice that it facilitated the Conquest of that Province I know not now that there remains any thing to say further about these accidents or that there is any thing which we have not already examined If there be any thing it is the way of taking and defending of Towns which I am willing to show were I sure I should not be tedious Battista Your civility is so great that it makes us pursue our desires without the least fear of presumption for you have offered us that frankly which we should have been ashamed to have requested We do assure you therefore you cannot do us a greater favour than to finish this Discourse but before you proceed let me entreat you to resolve me whether it be better to continue a VVar all VVinter long as they do now adays or carry it on only in the Summer and in the VVinter go to their Quarters CHAP. XVII War is not to be continued in the Winter Fabr. OBserve Gentlemen had it not been for the prudence of Battista a very considerable part of our Discourse had been omitted I tell you again that the Ancients did every thing with more prudence and discretion than we who if we be defective in any thing are much more in matters of War Nothing is more imprudent and dangerous for a General than to begin a War in the Winter and he who is the aggressor is more liable to miscarry than he that is invaded The reason is this all the industry employed in Military Discipline consists in preparing your men and putting them into order for a Battel That is it at which a General is principally to aim because a Battel does commonly decide the business whether it be lost or won He therefore who knows best how to put his Army in order and he who knows best how to prepare and equip them has doubtless the advantage and is in most hopes to overcome On the other side nothing is more inconsistent with good order than steep places or cold rainy weather for steep places will not suffer you to open or extend your ranks according to discipline cold and wet weather will not permit you to keep your men together nor present them in close order before the Enemy but constrains you of necessity to lodge them up and down asunder without order at the mercy of all the Castles and Towns and Villages that receive you so that all the pains you have taken to discipline your Army is for that time utterly useless Do not admire If now adays we make War in the Winter for our Armies being without discipline it is not to be imagined what inconveniences they suffer by not being quartered together for it troubles them not that they cannot keep those orders and observe that discipline which they never had Yet it ought seriously to be considered what prejudice has followed upon encampments in the Winter and it ought likewise to be remembred that the French in the year 1503. were broken and ruined near Garigliano rather by the extremity of the weather than the magnanimity of the Spaniards For as I told you before the Invador is under greatest incommodity as being more exposed to the weather in an Enemies Country than at home for to keep his men together he is necessitated to endure the cold and the rain or to avoid it to divide his men which is mightily to expose them But he who is upon the defensive part can choose his place and his way attend him with fresh men which he can joyn in a moment and fall upon some party of the Enemies with such fury as they will not be able to endure the shock It was the weather therefore which disordered the French and 't is the weather that will always ruine any man that begins War in Winter if his adversary have any share of discretion He therefore who would have his force his order his discipline and his courage of no use or advantage to him let him keep the Field and carry on his War in the Winter For the Romans who desired all those things in which they employed their industry and diligence should be useful to them avoided the incommodities of Winter as much as the asperities of the Alps the difficulty of places and whatever else might hinder them from showing their dexterity and courage And thus much as to your demand we will discourse now of taking and defending of Towns and of their Natural and Artificial strength THE SEVENTH BOOK CHAP. I. How Towns or Castles are to be
any thing of Virtue to require that their words should be like Oracles and of as much authority as if spoken by God himself to employ such as had no knowledge in affairs to commit great things to those who durst attempt nothing to believe every thing immediately without pondering and debating either their words or arguments that spoke them and several other imperfections which hindered them from seeing that at last they must become a prey to any that would attack them These things in the year 1494. were the occasion of those flights and fears and depredations by which three of the most potent States in Italy were frequently destroyed But the worst is they which remain continue in the same errors and live in the same disorder without any consideration that those who formerly desired to preserve their Dominions did all that I have prescribed this day and that their whole study was to accustom themselves both minds and bodies to labour to trouble and dispising of danger And this was the cause that Caesar and Alexander and all the valiant and brave Princes were always at the head of their Armies compleatly arm'd and on foot and rather than lose their states they would lose their lives so as they lived and dyed with a great deal of honour And though perhaps some of them might be condemned for their ambition and exorbitant desire to Reign yet they could never be accused of effeminacy or doing any thing that might render them delicate and unmanly Which passages if they were read and believed by the Princes of our times it would be impossible but they must alter their course of life and their Provinces their fortune But because in the beginning of our discourse you complained of your Militia I tell you that if you have ordered it according to my abovesaid direction and it has not answered your expectation you have reason to complain but if it be not ordered and exercised according to my rules the complaint lyes more properly against you who has made it rather an abortion than a perfect production The Venetians and the Duke of Ferrara began very well but they did not persevere and it was imputable rather to themselves than their Soldiers And let me affirm this to you for a truth and among all the present Princes of Italy he who takes his way first and observes these rules and these orders shall make himself greater than any Prince in that Country and it shall happen to his Subjects as to the Kingdom of Macedon which falling under the Dominion of King Philip was improved to that height by this order and exercise whilst the rest of Greece were idle and if employed at all it was in following Plays and Balls and such effeminat entertainments that in a few years time he was able to conquer the whole Country and leave a foundation to his Son to make himself Monarch of the whole world He then who despises this Doctrine if he be a Prince despises his own Principality and if a Citizen his own City And in this I cannot but complain of Nature who should either have not suffered me to have known these things or have given me power to have executed them which is a thing I can never hope for now as growing old and towards the end of my days For this reason I have discoursed the more frankly with you who are young and so qualified that you may be able if you be satisfied with what is said to give the same Council to your own Princes when occasion shall be offered and I hope with success and of this I beg you would not dispond for this Province seems to have a peculiar faculty of reviving things that are dead as it has done Poetry and Painting and Sculpture though for my own part I cannot expect to see it as having one foot already in the grave Certainly had fortune indulged me in my young days so far as to have afforded so much Territory as such an enterprise required I believe in a short time I would have demonstrated to the world the power and efficacy of the orders of the Ancients by means of which I should have enlarged my Dominions with honour or lost them without shame THE MARRIAGE OF BELPHEGOR BY Nicholas Machiavel IT is recorded in the ancient Chronicles of Florence that a certain holy Person whose life was the admiration of that age falling one day into a Trance had a very strange apparition it seemed to him that the souls of married men that came trooping in great numbers to Hell cried out all of them as they passed that their Marriage was the cause of their misery and their Wives the occasion of their coming thither Minos Radamanth and the whole infernal Privy-Council were amazed at the clamour at first they could not believe there was any thing in the business but at last observing the same complaints continually multiplyed they thought it fit to make Pluto acquainted Pluto understanding the report without imparting any thing to his wife who had taken Physick that week and kept her Chamber resolved the matter should be accurately examined and such course be taken as was likeliest to make the speediest discovery of the truth he issued out his Writs immediately and assembled his Courts his Princes Dukes Counts and Barons were all present never was Senate so full nor never was affair of that importance before it the holy Father that beheld all affirms positively that Pluto delivered himself in this manner Right Trusty and well-Beloved Though our Kingdom was assigned us from Heaven and the fatal decree has anciently determined our Dominion though that sentence be irrevocable and above the cognisance of any humane Power yet seeing his prudence is most safe that is dictated by Laws and his judgment most solid that is fortified with others we are resolved to take your counsels along with us which way we are to steer in an affair that otherwise may prove in time of great dishonour to our Government The souls of married men that are continually flocking into our Dominions do unanimously exclaim against their Wives as the only persons that send them tumbling hither to us it seems impossible yet forasmuch as a peremptory and determinate sentence upon their bare allegations would not suite with our Satanical mercy so a careless pretermission on the other side could not be without reflexion on our Iustice that matters of such importance therefore may have their due disquisition and our administration be defended from obloquy or scandal that no inconveniency may follow for want of deliberation and that some better expedient may be found out than ourselves have happily thought on we have thought good to call you together being confident and assured by the assistance of your counsels the honour and reputation of our Empire will be continued as unquestionable for the future as it has been preserved hitherto by our own proper care and solicitude There was not one present but