Machiavelli attributes two episodes to Cesare Borgia that were at least partially executed by his father: the method by which the Romagna was pacified, which Machiavelli describes in chapter VII of The Prince, and the assassination of his captains on New Year's Eve of 1503 in Senigallia.

In The Prince, the Discourses, and in the Life of Castruccio Castracani, he describes " prophets ," as he calls them, like Moses, Romulus, Cyrus the Great, and Theseus ( he treats pagan and Christian patriarchs in the same way ) as the greatest of new princes, the glorious and brutal founders of the most novel innovations in politics, and men whom Machiavelli assures us have always used a large amount of armed force and murder against their own people.

Machiavelli describes the contents as being an un-embellished summary of his knowledge about the nature of princes and " the actions of great men ", based not only on reading but also, unusually, on real experience.

On the other hand, and in support of the first idea, Frederick points out the numerous cases in which Machiavelli had ignored or slighted the bad ends of the numerous malefactors he describes and praises.

Ritter describes two sorts of values as generated by two different types of polities: one traditionally Anglo-Saxon and the other continental, as personified by More and Machiavelli.

Cicero also describes anacyclosis in his philosophical work De re publica, as well as Machiavelli in Book I, Chapter II in his Discourses on Livy.

Machiavelli compares two great military leaders: Hannibal and Scipio Africanus.

Machiavelli's literary executor, Giuliano de ' Ricci, also reported having seen that Machiavelli, his grandfather, made a comedy in the style of Aristophanes which included living Florentines as characters, and to be titled Le Maschere.

While fear of God can be replaced by fear of the prince, if there is a strong enough prince, Machiavelli felt that having a religion is in any case especially essential to keeping a republic in order.

On this matter, gives evidence that Machiavelli may have seen himself as having learned something from Democritus, Epicurus and classical materialism, which was however not associated with political realism, or even any interest in politics.

Hans is one of the few major commentators who argue that Machiavelli must have changed his mind dramatically in favour of free republics, after having written the Prince.

Its tale of the corruption of Italian society was written while Machiavelli was in exile, allegedly having plotted against the Medici.

In The Prince, Machiavelli uses Borgia as an example to elucidate the dangers of acquiring a principality by virtue of another.

While Christianity sees modesty as a virtue and pride as sinful, Machiavelli took a more classical position, seeing ambition, spiritedness, and the pursuit of glory as good and natural things, and part of the virtue and prudence that good princes should have.

Famously, Machiavelli argued that virtue and prudence can help a man control more of his future, in the place of allowing fortune to do so.

According to Machiavelli, a risk taker and example of " criminal virtue ".

Machiavelli says this required " inhuman cruelty " which he refers to as a virtue.

Machiavelli argues that fortune is only the judge of half of our actions and that we have control over the other half with " sweat ", prudence and virtue.

Even more unusual, rather than simply suggesting caution as a prudent way to try to avoid the worst of bad luck, Machiavelli holds that the greatest princes in history tend to be ones who take more risks, and rise to power through their own labour, virtue, prudence, and particularly by their ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

This tradition was prominent in the intellectual life of 16th-century Italy, as well as seventeenth-and 18th-century Britain and America ; indeed the term " virtue " appears frequently in the work of Niccolò Machiavelli, David Hume, the republicans of the English Civil War period, the 18th-century English Whigs, and the prominent figures among the Scottish Enlightenment and the American Founding Fathers.

Traces the republican ideal of civic virtue from the ancients, through Machiavelli, to the English, Scottish, and American political traditions.

Leo Strauss, an American political philosopher, declared himself more inclined toward the traditional view that Machiavelli was self-consciously a " teacher of evil ," ( even if he was not himself evil ) since he counsels the princes to avoid the values of justice, mercy, temperance, wisdom, and love of their people in preference to the use of cruelty, violence, fear, and deception.

Machiavelli also states that the deposed king must be killed, and Bolingbroke therefore kills Richard, showing his extreme cruelty to secure his kingly title.

Machiavelli goes on to reason that Agathocles ' success, in contrast to other criminal tyrants, was due to his ability to mitigate his crimes by limiting them to those that " are applied at one blow and are necessary to one's security, and that are not persisted in afterwards unless they can be turned to the advantage of the subjects ".

One of the major innovations Gilbert noted was that Machiavelli focused upon the " deliberate purpose of dealing with a new ruler who will need to establish himself in defiance of custom ".

As reports, in the 16th century, Catholic writers " associated Machiavelli with the Protestants, whereas Protestant authors saw him as Italian and Catholic ".

He accused Machiavelli of being an atheist and accused politicians of his time by saying that his works were the " Koran of the courtiers ", that " he is of no reputation in the court of France which hath not Machiavel's writings at the fingers ends ".

These authors tended to cite Tacitus as their source for realist political advice, rather than Machiavelli, and this pretense came to be known as " Tacitism ".

On the other hand, notes that " even if we were forced to grant that Machiavelli was essentially a patriot or a scientist, we would not be forced to deny that he was a teacher of evil ".

Furthermore, Machiavelli " was too thoughtful not to know what he was doing and too generous not to admit it to his reasonable friends ".

wrote: " The Cyrus of Xenophon was a hero to many a literary man of the sixteenth century, but for Machiavelli he lived ".

Xenophon also, as Strauss pointed out, wrote a dialogue, Hiero which showed a wise man dealing sympathetically with a tyrant, coming close to what Machiavelli would do in questioning the ideal of " the imagined prince ".

In the first sentence Machiavelli uses the word " state " ( Italian stato which could also mean " status ") in order to neutrally cover " all forms of organization of supreme political power, whether republican or princely ".

points out that Machiavelli frequently uses the words " prince " and " tyrant " as synonyms, " regardless of whether he speaks of criminal or non-criminal tyrants ".

Because, says Machiavelli, he wants to write something useful to those who understand, he thought it more fitting " to go directly to the effectual truth (" verità effettuale ") of the thing than to the imagination of it ".

Using fortresses can be a good plan, but Machiavelli says he shall " blame anyone who, trusting in fortresses, thinks little of being hated by the people ".

For, as Machiavelli states, “ A prince needs to have the discernment to recognize the good or bad in what another says or does even though he has no acumen himself ".

As points out that what Machiavelli actually says is that Italians in his time leave things not just to fortune, but to " fortune and God ".

As reports, in the 16th century, Catholic writers " associated Machiavelli with the Protestants, whereas Protestant authors saw him as Italian and Catholic ".

He accused Machiavelli of being an atheist and accused politicians of his time by saying that they treated his works as the " Koran of the courtiers ".

These authors tended to cite Tacitus as their source for realist political advice, rather than Machiavelli, and this pretense came to be known as " Tacitism ".

Much of this debate is related to the works of the French philosopher Michel Foucault ( 1926 – 1984 ), who, following the Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli ( 1469 – 1527 ), sees power as " a complex strategic situation in a given society social setting ".

Kiernan also presents this side of the coin, noting that Richard " boasts to us of his finesse in dissembling and deception with bits of Scripture to cloak his ' naked villainy ' ( I. iii. 334 – 8 )... Machiavelli, as Shakespeare may want us to realise, is not a safe guide to practical politics ".

" Niccolo Machiavelli ".

" The New Machiavelli: Leo Strauss and the Politics of Fear ".

As a result, Shang Yang was called the " Chinese Machiavelli " while Chanakya the " Indian Machiavelli ". However, Chanakya was traditionally also identified as Kautilya or Vishnugupta.