ALTHOUGH the title of this section implies that Machiavelli treats warfare as just one aspect in the affairs of the prince, his opening comments suggest that it must have priority above and beyond anything else:

A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline. This is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of such force that it not only supports those who are born princes, but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. It is often seen that when princes have thought more of ease than of arms they have lost their states, and the first cause of losing it is to neglect this art. What enables a prince to acquire a state is to be master of the art.

Nonetheless, he is correct to note that all territory must be defended by force of arms and that history has demonstrated that if a leader ignores this vital necessity it will lead to disaster and ruin.

Machiavelli’s ideal prince is he who understand the importance of both study and practice; knowledge in military affairs and their application in the field. The theoretical dimension must include a serious grasp of geography, detailed intelligence about one’s enemies, inspiring leadership and good organisation. The first step in this process involves developing a competent familiarisation with the finest military minds of the past, something that all great and successful warriors have done:

Thus, it is said Alexander the Great imitated Achilles, Caesar imitated Alexander, and Scipio imitated Cyrus. 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 his behaviour, friendliness, kindness, and generosity Scipio conformed to those things which have been written of Cyrus by Xenophon. A wise prince ought to observe such rules, and never in peaceful times stand idle. He should actively increase his resources in such a way that they may be available to him in difficult times, so that if fortune changes, it will find him prepared to resist her blows.

If Machiavelli had been born two hundred years later, he may have learned a thing or two about warfare from Frederick the Great (pictured) and it is here that the German is able to draw upon his own vast experience of such matters. Beginning with Machiavelli’s insistence that war must dominate the mind of the prince himself, Frederick says that it

fills only half of his vocation if he specializes only in the trade of war: it is obviously false that he should only be a soldier; one can remember what I said on the origin of the princes to the first chapter of this work. They are judges of the institutions, and if they are truly general, this is but one of their responsibilities. Prince Machiavel is like the gods of Homer, which are depicted as very robust and powerful, but never balanced. This author is unaware of the catechism of justice: he knows only self-interest and violence.

Machiavelli’s lack of military expertise is compared to the effect that hunting has on the participant:

Hunting is one of these sensual pleasures which works up the body and which does nothing for the spirit: it is a burning desire to pursue some animal, and a cruel satisfaction in killing it. This recreation makes the body both exercised and refreshed, and leaves the spirit in a waste land and without culture.

Frederick is aware that hunters like to portray their role as a noble art and that God apparently gave man dominion over the earth, but he suggests that when such things are taken to extremes they become detrimental to the human condition. A lust for war, therefore, is similar to a hunger for the chase and Frederick warns his readers that a desire of this kind can increase to such a extent that it becomes a substitute for other pursuits. As a leisure activity, hunting has been used by monarchs and aristocrats alike in an attempt to cure boredom or to

kill the time which appeared always too long to them, they took their troubles to the hunt; they lost in the woods, with the chase of animals, the time which they could not pass in the company of reasonable people.

In short, this blood-lust develops into a form of escapism and when it manifests as military conflict other people are invariably treated like common prey.

TO BE CONTINUED…