Written by the 15th and 16th century Italian diplomat and philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince argues what a ruler must do and who he must be in order to be a successful ruler. In chapter XVII, Machiavelli discusses the controversial topic of whether it is better to be loved or feared as a ruler. Machiavelli claims that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved with multiple examples to support his claims. Although controversial, it may be impossible to rule an empire without having some level of fear established in the citizens to promote order and unity. Machiavelli first states that a ruler should desire to be represented as merciful and not cruel, but also takes that citizens may abuse the power of merciful leaders into account. Machiavelli gives the example of the ruler Cesare Borgia, who had the reputation of being cruel. The author states that because of Borgia’s cruelty, he unified Romagna and brought order to the region. He also writes about how wanting to be loved, disorder can take place because the lack of punishment. To support this claim, he gives the example of how the Florentine government failed to establish punishment, resulting in civil war in Pistoia and many of the citizens lives were lost due to the fighting. Overall, Machiavelli saw it as that Cesare Borgia was more merciful …show more content…
Today, citizens in most countries are not persecuted for conflicting beliefs. Machiavelli claimed that the force of the ruler was to preserve his position and the safety of the citizens, an idea constant in today’s society. Successful rulers then and now both realize that in order to have unity and order with the empire, laws must be created and followed. Without laws and punishment for breaking them being placed, empires will not be successful and most likely end in