19
By 450, Atilla the Hun had crossed the Rhine and been defeated, but more
barbarian tribes were swarming down. Soon, the western Roman empire had ended.
What lessons can this thumb-nail sketch of Roman military history offer us today?
What observations can we glean from this story for our own experience with war-time
leadership?
Writing about the fall of Rome in The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli does not
hesitate to say that “if one studies the first destruction of the Roman Empire, one
discovers it comes about as a result of the first recruitment of Gothic soldiers.”
23
Moreover, he also blames mercenaries for the current troubles of Italy, saying, with his
usual penchant for exaggeration, that “the sole cause of the present ruin of Italy has been
the fact that for many years now the Italians have been willing to rely on mercenaries.”
24
With this classical background behind us, a brief look at Machiavelli’s writings on war
and war-time leadership can do a great deal to illuminate our present experience with
crisis government.
Machiavelli and the Art of Wartime Leadership
The Renaissance Italy of Machiavelli’s time was home to almost constant wars
between France and Spain. Italy at this time was the richest region of Europe –
economically and culturally. But politically Italy was divided – almost like ancient
Greece had been divided – into city-states, each jealous of the other, each fiercely
independent. Those city-states (some big, some small) sought help from outside powers
to ward off their enemy neighbors. These outside powers were quick to interfere, for a
chance at rewards of lands or riches. The point is that all this was happening in divided
Italy, and Italy couldn’t unite to repel these invaders making war on her own territory.
23
Machiavelli, The Prince, in Steinberger, Readings in Classical Political Thought, Chapter 13.
24
Ibid, Chapter 12.
Convention