The Prince · Chapter
XII: How Many Kinds of Soldiery There Are, and Concerning Mercenaries explained
Machiavelli argues that the foundation of any state is good laws and good arms, and that mercenary and auxiliary troops are dangerous and unreliable.
What happens
Machiavelli argues that the foundation of any state is good laws and good arms, and that mercenary and auxiliary troops are dangerous and unreliable. He illustrates with historical examples how reliance on mercenaries has led to the ruin of Italy, and contrasts this with the success of citizen armies in Rome, Sparta, and Switzerland.
Themes in this chapter
Military Strength and Self-Reliance
Machiavelli emphasizes that a prince must rely on his own arms, not mercenaries or auxiliaries, as the foundation of state security.
Human Nature and Its Exploitation
Mercenaries are described as disunited, ambitious, cowardly, and unfaithful, driven only by a small stipend and unwilling to die for their employer.
Pragmatism Over Morality
Machiavelli argues that the ruin of Italy is due to the sins of princes in relying on mercenaries, a practical failure rather than a moral one.
Characters to notice
- Francesco Sforza
Cited as a mercenary captain who, after defeating the Venetians at Caravaggio, allied with them to crush the Milanese who had hired him.
- Giovanni Acuto
Mentioned as a mercenary captain who did not conquer, so his fidelity could not be proven; had he conquered, the Florentines would have been at his mercy.
- Pagolo Vitelli
Cited as a prudent mercenary captain hired by the Florentines; if he had taken Pisa, the Florentines would have had to obey him or face his enmity.
- Carmignuola
Venetian mercenary captain who was murdered by the Venetians because they feared his lukewarmness in war and could not safely let him go.
- Queen Johanna of Naples
Hired Sforza's father, who left her unprotected, forcing her to seek aid from the King of Aragon.
- Charles VIII
Mentioned as the French king who seized Italy with ease due to reliance on mercenaries.
- Louis XII
Listed among those who overran Italy as a consequence of its reliance on mercenary arms.
- Ferdinand of Aragon
Mentioned as one who ravaged Italy, enabled by the weakness of mercenary-based defenses.
Key passages
“The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws.”
The essential basis of any state, whether new or old, is strong laws and strong military forces; good laws depend on good arms, so a well-armed state naturally has good laws.
Machiavelli establishes the primacy of military power as a prerequisite for legal and political order.
“Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious, and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies.”
Hiring foreign or paid soldiers is both futile and perilous; a prince who relies on them will be unstable and insecure, as such troops are divided, self-serving, undisciplined, disloyal, brave only against allies, and cowardly against foes.
Machiavelli condemns mercenaries as inherently unreliable and a threat to the prince's security.
“The ruin of Italy has been caused by nothing else than by resting all her hopes for many years on mercenaries, and although they formerly made some display and appeared valiant amongst themselves, yet when the foreigners came they showed what they were.”
Italy's downfall stems entirely from its long-term reliance on mercenaries, who seemed brave in internal conflicts but proved worthless when foreign invaders arrived.
Machiavelli attributes Italy's vulnerability to foreign invasion to its dependence on mercenary armies.
