25
Toward the end of The Prince, Machiavelli again returns to the theme of
necessity. He compares Fortuna to a raging river, which sometimes unpredictably
overflows its banks and floods the land. The wise ruler knows how to prepare for such an
event. He builds a dike or a dam. He forestalls the unpredictable turns of fortune.
At the end of the chapter, Machiavelli compares fortune to a fickle woman who needs to
be mastered and beaten down by the prince to make her submit.
Machiavelli’s last chapter in The Prince is an Exhortation to Free Italy from the
Barbarians. He is very emotional – almost idealistic -- in saying the time is right for a
new prince, a savior for Italy. We’ve been the laughing stock of Europe long enough.
This is the passage most usually cited to show Machiavelli was a patriot.
Still, you have to qualify this description of him. His loyalty is to Florence as well as to
Italy. And his advice is not just about Italy. He speaks to us all. He generalizes and
universalizes in his lessons and his science.
As such, Machiavelli speaks directly to us in America in 2004. He brings the
lessons of the ancient world directly to our modern mind and invites us to consider what
reason of state requires of us in our time. A careful consideration of Machiavelli’s
writings as well as of the experiences of nations and leaders in history can thus do a great
deal to illuminate our current observations about war and law today.
Convention