storical event is in Chapter V of The Prince. Through the example of the loss of Roman and the Spartan territory, he spells out how the use of the prince would have better suited their interests. "The Spartans held Athens and Thebes, establishing there an oligarchy, nevertheless they lost them (The Prince, p.25)." He emphasizes the need for a master of the city, not the use of a government system such as an oligarchy. "...and a prince can gain them to himself an secure them much more easily. But in republics there ismore vitality, greater hatred, andmore desire for vengeance, which will never permit them to allowthe memory of their former libertyto rest; so that the safest way isto destroy them..." (The Prince, p. 26)The use of this reference sets precedence for the use of a prince in government. Machiavelli sets the stage early in The Prince, through the use of history and how his leader, his prince, can make the government authoritative and resilient.Another innovation of The Prince is the way that Machiavelli spelled out characteristics that a prince had to uphold to maintain his status, his rule, and the attitudes that a strong prince must have. "A Prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and it's rulesand discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, andit is of such force that it not only upholds these who are born princes, butto often enables men to rise from a private section of rank (The Prince p. 79)."In Chapter XVII, Machiavelli uses the example of Cesare Borgia to suggest that it is more beneficial to be feared than to be loved. "Cesare Borgia was considered cruel; notwithstanding, his cruelty reconciled the Romanga, unified it, and restored it to peace and loyalty (The Prince, p.91)." Borgia was son to Spanish Pope Alexander VI, who wanted his son to become a man of the church. Cesare instead turned that down to concern his life with the military an...
