ver, he must make sure not to allow
another tyrant to inherit, for two good tyrants scarcely ever come in
succession. Machiavelli formulates his prescription for the achievement of
• Avoidance of insolence, disorder and ruin.
These things are to be achieved by anticipating necessity, remedying
accidents promptly and by other means ordinary and extraordinary, not
excluding fraud and conspiracy, spectacular executions (Walters, 1996).
For Machiavelli to write such a discourse at a time when political
corruption and dictatorships ruled the continent was not a politically
expeditious move. Europe had not known a peaceful government since the fall
of Rome. Not that Rome's rule was peaceful, but Rome control over the
continent had not been duplicated since Constantine's' rule ended. Shortly
after the decline of the Roman Empire, the continent was plunged into the
dark ages, and remained there while popes, bishops, kings and tyrants
traded land for power and money at the expense of their citizens for almost
The irony of Machiavelli's Discourse was that he was writing to the
existing governments about moral leadership in a time when most of the
leaders claimed some measure of divine right' The wars which has left
Europe barren, and it's people impoverished had occurred in the name of the
universal, roman catholic church. Those who should have been able to lead
the people into a self protecting and beneficial republic were those who
were in power. However, these same rulers were those who Machiavelli's
discourse criticized. In Chapter one, Machiavelli begins with a discussion
of Virtue and leadership. He says: The virtue of (the leader) is
recognized in two ways: the first is in the selection of the site (for a
city), the other in the establishment of the laws. And because men work
either from necessity or from choice: and because it is seen here that
virt...