house. As soon as he was old enough, he took a position as a government clerk. He slowly moved up through the Florentine political ranks until the Florentine Republic was declared. With the switch in government, Niccolo received his first position of true power as a member of the Florentine "Counsel Of Ten," which took on management of the foreign and domestic affairs. (C4.)During the years to come, while under the employment of the Florentine Republic, Machiavelli took part in a multitude of diplomatic missions to neighboring kingdoms such as France. (Strathern, p.28) Through these travels Machiavelli observed many different types of rulers with many different political theories. His observations of these many different doctrines would make up the great body of his later work. (Wood, p. 505)Sadly, Machiavelli fell on hard times when the powerful Medici family took hold of Florence. Machiavelli was striped of position and briefly imprisoned and tortured. Upon his release, Machiavelli became depressed and fought a battle with financial hardship. He was forced to live on a small estate outside of the city called Sant'Andrea. While there he wrote his most famous works, including The Prince. Despite the proclamation of a second republic in Florence, Machiavelli was not offered a job. Heartbroken, he was seized by illness and died soon thereafter. (Wood, p.506)Machiavelli never himself occupied the position of Prince. (Wood, p. 506) His political doctrine was based on historical events and personal observations. Machiavelli was little more than a common man and as such his work is applicable to all common men. (Strathern, p.8) For each point he makes he provides the reader with a historical analogy from a third person perspective. His books do not hold first hand experiences of what he did as a prince, because he never had that experience. All writers incorporate some of their life into their work. This being the case, we can say that parts ...
