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very reasonable and necessary to humblethem; but having first taken these steps; he ought never to haveconsented to their ruin; for they; being powerful; would always havekept off others from designs on Lombardy; to which the Veians wouldnever have consented except to bee masters themselves there; alsobecause the others would not wish to take Lombardy from France in orderto give it to the Veians; and to run counter to both they would nothave had the courage。And if any one should say: King Louis yielded the Romagna to Alexanderand the kingdom to Spain to avoid war; I answer for the reasons givenabove that a blunder ought never be perpetrated to avoid war; because itis not to be avoided; but is only deferred to your disadvantage。 And ifanother should allege the pledge which the king had given to the Popethat he would assist him in the enterprise; in exchange for thedissolution of his marriage and for the hat to Rouen; to that I replywhat I shall write later on concerning the faith of princes; and how itought to be kept。Thus King Louis lost Lombardy by not having followed any of theconditions observed by those who have taken possession of countries andwished to retain them。 Nor is there any miracle in this; but much thatis reasonable and quite natural。 And on these matters I spoke at Nanteswith Rouen; when Valentino; '1' as Cesare Borgia; the son of PopeAlexander; was usually called; occupied the Romagna; and on CardinalRouen observing to me that the Italians did not understand war; Ireplied to him that the French did not understand statecraft; meaningthat otherwise they would not have allowed the Church to reach suchgreatness。 And in fact it has been seen that the greatness of the Churchand of Spain in Italy has been caused by France; and her ruin may beattributed to them。 From this a general rule is drawn which never orrarely fails: that he who is the cause of another being powerful isruined; because that predominancy has been brought about either byastuteness or else by force; and both are distrusted by him who has beenraised to power。1。 So called …… in Italian …… from the duchy of Valentinois; conferredon him by Louis XII。CHAPTER IVWHY THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS; CONQUERED BY ALEXANDER; DID NOT REBEL AGAINSTTHE SUCCESSORS OF ALEXANDER AT HIS DEATHCONSIDERING the difficulties which men have had to hold a neight wonder how; seeing that Alexander the Great became themaster of Asia in a few years; and died whilst it was yet scarcelysettled (whence it might appear reasonable that the whole empire wouldhave rebelled); nevertheless his successors maintained themselves; andhad to meet no other difficulty than that which arose among themselvesfrom their own ambitions。I answer that the principalities of which one has record are found to begoverned in two different ways: either by a prince; with a body ofservants; who assist him to govern the kingdom as ministers by hisfavour and permission; or by a prince and barons; who hold that dignityby antiquity of blood and not by the grace of the prince。 Such baronshave states and their own subjects; who recognize them as lords and holdthem in natural affection。 Those states that are governed by a princeand his servants hold their prince in more consideration; because in allthe country there is no one who is recognized as superior to him; and ifthey yield obedience to another they do it as to a minister andofficial; and they do not bear him any particular affection。The examples of these two governments in our time are the Turk and theKing of France。 The entire monarchy of the Turk is governed by one lord;the others are his servants; and; dividing his kingdom into sanjaks; hesends there different administrators; and shifts and changes them as hechooses。 But the King of France is placed in the midst of an ancientbody of lords; acknowledged by their own subjects; and beloved by them;they have their own prerogatives; nor can the king take these awayexcept at his peril。 Therefore; he who considers both of these stateswill recognize great difficulties in seizing the state of the Turk; but;once it is conquered; great ease in holding it。 The causes of thedifficulties in seizing the kingdom of the Turk are that the usurpercannot be called in by the princes of the kingdom; nor can he hope to beassisted in his designs by the revolt of those whom the lord has aroundhim。 This arises from the reasons given above; for his ministers; beingall slaves and bondmen; can only be corrupted with great difficulty; andone can expect little advantage from them when they have been corrupted;as they cannot carry the people with them; for the reasons assigned。Hence; he who attacks the Turk must bear in mind that he will find himunited; and he will have to rely more on his own strength than on therevolt of others; but; if once the Turk has been conquered; and routedin the field in such a way that he cannot replace his armies; there isnothing to fear but the family of the prince; and; this beingexterminated; there remains no one to fear; the others having no creditwith the people; and as the conqueror did not rely on them before hisvictory; so he ought not to fear them after it。The contrary happens in kingdoms governed like that of France; becauseone can easily enter there by gaining over some baron of the kingdom;for one always finds malcontents and such as desire a change。 Such men;for the reasons given; can open the way into the state and render thevictory easy; but if you wish to hold it afterwards; you meet withinfinite difficulties; both from those who have assisted you and fromthose you have crushed。 Nor is it enough for you to have exterminatedthe family of the prince; because the lords that remain make themselvesthe heads of fresh movements against you; and as you are unable eitherto satisfy or exterminate them; that state is lost whenever time bringsthe opportunity。Now if you will consider what was the nature of the government ofDarius; you will find it similar to the kingdom of the Turk; andtherefore it was only necessary for Alexander; first to overthrow him inthe field; and then to take the country from him。 After which victory;Darius being killed; the state remained secure to Alexander; for theabove reasons。 And if his successors had been united they would haveenjoyed it securely and at their ease; for there were no tumults raisedin the kingdom except those they provoked themselves。But it is impossible to hold with such tranquillity states constitutedlike that of France。 Hence arose those frequent rebellions against theRomans in Spain; France; and Greece; owing to the many principalitiesthere were in these states; of which; as long as the memory of themendured; the Romans always held an insecure possession; but with thepower and long continuance of the empire the memory of them passed away;and the Romans then became secure possessors。 And when fightingafterwards amongst themselves; each one was able to attach to himselfhis own parts of the country; according to the authority he had assumedthere; and the family of the former lord being exterminated; none otherthan the Romans were acknowledged。When these things are remembered no one will marvel at the ease withwhich Alexander held the Empire of Asia; or at the difficulties whichothers have had to keep an acquisition; such as Pyrrhus and many more;this is not occasioned by the little or abundance of ability in theconqueror; but by the want of uniformity in the subject state。CHAPTER VCONCERNING THE WAY TO GOVERN CITIES OR PRINCIPALITIES WHICH LIVED UNDERTHEIR OWN LAWS BEFORE THEY WERE ANNEXEDWHENEVER those states which have been acquired as stated have beenaccustomed to live under their own laws and in freedom; there are threecourses for those who wish to hold them: the first is to ruin them; thenext is to reside there in person; the third is to permit them to liveunder their own laws; drawing a tribute; and establishing within it anoligarchy which will keep it friendly to you。 Because such a government;being created by the prince; knows that it cannot stand without hisfriendship and interest; and does its utmost to support him; andtherefore he who would keep a city accustomed to freedom will hold itmore easily by the means of its own citizens than in any other way。There are; fo

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