The Prince

Character Guide

Spoiler-free — fuller detail (with spoilers, if you want them) lives in the reader's Guide tab.

Cesare Borgia (Duke Valentino)

Son of Pope Alexander VI, cited early as a model of a new prince who rose swiftly to power through calculated boldness and his father's support.

Pope Alexander VI

Cesare Borgia's father, described as a master of deception who always found subjects willing to be deceived.

Louis XII of France

The French king whose conduct in Italy is examined early on as a case study in the errors a foreign ruler can make when acquiring new territory.

Ferdinand of Aragon

A contemporary Spanish ruler introduced as an example of a prince who accomplishes great things while cloaking his true methods in the appearance of religion.

Pope Julius II

An impetuous, bold pontiff discussed as an example of how fortune favors decisive action rather than caution.

Emperor Maximilian I

The Holy Roman Emperor described as secretive and irresolute, offered as a cautionary example of poor execution of plans.

Catherina Sforza ('my lady of Forli')

A ruler whose story is used early to illustrate why winning the people's goodwill matters more than relying on fortresses.

Lorenzo de' Medici

The young Medici ruler to whom the work is dedicated, addressed directly in the opening as the intended reader and patron.

Glossary

virtù

A prince's personal skill, boldness, and capability in seizing and holding power, distinct from mere luck.

fortuna

Fortune or chance, treated by Machiavelli as a force that governs roughly half of human affairs and must be mastered through boldness.

effectual truth (verità effettuale)

Machiavelli's term for describing things as they actually operate in practice, rather than as idealized theory imagines them.

principality (principato)

A state ruled by a single prince, as opposed to a republic; the central subject of the book's advice.

mercenaries and auxiliaries

Hired or borrowed foreign troops, which Machiavelli argues are unreliable and dangerous compared to a prince's own native army.

the Centaur Chiron

A mythological teacher, half-man half-beast, used as a figure for how a prince must combine human reason (the man) with force and cunning (the beast).

the fox and the lion

Machiavelli's metaphor for the two qualities a prince needs: the fox's cunning to detect snares and the lion's force to frighten off wolves.

new prince (principe nuovo)

A ruler who has newly acquired power, as opposed to an hereditary prince, facing unique challenges in securing his rule.

Chancery/Secretary of the Ten of Liberty and Peace

Florentine government offices Machiavelli himself held, giving him firsthand experience in diplomacy and statecraft.

League of Cambrai

A historical alliance of major European powers formed against Venice, used as a real-world case study of shifting political alliances.

Open the full interactive Guide in the reader →