o acquire more land: 1) your own arms and virtue, 2)
fortune, 3) others' arms, and 4) inequity. The first is the best way in his opinion because land
acquired that way is the easiest to hang on to after you have conquered it, because you will still
have your loyal militia, not mercenaries, and your own virtues to rule the principality wisely. To
Machiavelli, the word virtues does not have the same meaning as it does to us, to him it means
"Such princes stand simply upon the will and fortune of whoever
conceded it to them, which are two most voluble and unstable things: and they do
not know how and they have not the power to hold that rank: they do not know,
because, if he is not a man of great genius and virtue, it is not reasonable that, having
always lived in private fortune, he knows how to command; they cannot, because they
do not have forces that might be friendly and faithful to them. Moreover, the states that
come right away, like all other things of nature that are born and grow fast, cannot have
their roots and connections, so that the first adverse circumstances extinguish them..."
(Machiavelli, p.32-33).
The next topic Machiavelli discusses is what qualities apply to a prince so that he can
maintain the best control. He discusses military knowledge, liberality and parsimony, to be loved
or to be feared, trustworthiness, good and bad reputations. Military knowledge is one of the most
important qualities a prince can have.
Machiavelli next deals with how to handle money. He states that it is best to be
Parsimonious because you should spend your money on the country's defense and because
eventually you will run out of money. To continue being generous you will have to tax your
people heavily to gain more money, defeating the purpose of being generous. In Machiavelli's
view, the purpose is to increase the populations...