CHAPTER XIV - THAT WHICH CONCERNS A PRINCE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE ART OF WAR

A PRINCE ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select
anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline;
for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of
such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it
often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. And, on
the contrary, it is seen that when princes have thought more of ease
than of arms they have lost their states. And the first cause of
your losing it is to neglect this art; and what enables you to acquire
a state is to be master of the art. Francesco Sforza, through being
martial, from a private person became Duke of Milan; and the sons,
through avoiding the hardships and troubles of arms, from dukes became
private persons. For among other evils which being unarmed brings you,
it causes you to be despised, and this is one of those ignominies
against which a prince ought to guard himself, as is shown later on.
Because there is nothing proportionate between the armed and the
unarmed; and it is not reasonable that he who is armed should yield
obedience willingly to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man
should be secure among armed servants. Because, there being in the one
disdain and in the other suspicion, it is not possible for them to
work well together. And therefore a prince who does not understand the
art of war, over and above the other misfortunes already mentioned,
cannot be respected by his soldiers, nor can he rely on them. He ought
never, therefore, to have out of his thoughts this subject of war, and
in peace he should addict himself more to its exercise than in war;
this he can do in two ways, the one by action, the other by study.

As regards action, he ought above all things to keep his men well
organized and drilled, to follow incessantly the chase, by which he
accustoms his body to hardships, and learns something of the nature of
localities, and gets to find out how the mountains rise, how the
valleys open out, how the plains lie, and to understand the nature
of rivers and marshes, and in all this to take the greatest care.
Which knowledge is useful in two ways. Firstly, he learns to know
his country, and is better able to undertake its defence;
afterwards, by means of the knowledge and observation of that
locality, he understands with ease any other which it may be necessary
for him to study hereafter; because the hills, valleys, and plains,
and rivers and marshes that are, for instance, in Tuscany, have a
certain resemblance to those of other countries, so that with a
knowledge of the aspect of one country one can easily arrive at a
knowledge of others. And the prince that lacks this skill lacks the
essential which it is desirable that a captain should possess, for
it teaches him to surprise his enemy, to select quarters, to lead
armies, to array the battle, to besiege towns to advantage.

Philopoemen, Prince of the Achaeans, among other praises which
writers have bestowed on him, is commended because in time of peace he
never had anything in his mind but the rules of war; and when he was
in the country with friends, he often stopped and reasoned with
them: "If the enemy should be upon that hill, and we should find
ourselves here with our army, with whom would be the advantage? How
should one best advance to meet him, keeping the ranks? If we should
wish to retreat, how ought we to set about it? If they should retreat,
how ought we to pursue?" And he would set forth to them, as he went,
all the chances that could befall an army; he would listen to their
opinion and state his, confirming it with reasons, so that by these
continual discussions there could never arise, in time of war, any
unexpected circumstances that he could deal with.

But to exercise the intellect the prince should read histories,
and study there the actions of illustrious men, to see how they have
borne themselves in war, to examine the causes of their victories
and defeat, so as to avoid the latter and imitate the former; and
above all do as an illustrious man did, who took as an exemplar one
who had been praised and famous before him, and whose achievements and
deeds he always kept in his mind, as it is said Alexander the Great
imitated Achilles, Caesar Alexander, Scipio Cyrus. And whoever reads
the life of Cyrus, written by Xenophon, will recognize afterwards in
the life of Scipio how that imitation was his glory, and how in
chastity, affability, humanity, and liberality Scipio conformed to
those things which have been written of Cyrus by Xenophon. A wise
prince ought to observe some such rules, and never in peaceful times
stand idle, but increase his resources with industry in such a way
that they may be available to him in adversity, so that if fortune
changes it may find him prepared to resist her blows.

