Discuss the themes of Virtu and Fortuna in The Prince. Essay

Discuss the themes of Virtu and Fortuna in The Prince. Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy on the 3rd May 1469. In 1498, Florence became a republic and Machiavelli gained a position within the Florentine government. After this he was soon confirmed by the great council as the second chancellor of the republic, making him the head of internal affairs. Less than a month later he was elected as secretary to the ten of war, which focussed on foreign and defensive affairs. In November 1498 Machiavelli was sent on his first diplomatic mission and over the years he continued with many more. On his first mission to France to see King Louis XII, which lasted six months, Machiavelli was able to observe the effects of†¦show more content†¦Machiavelli then retires to a small farm a few miles outside of Florence and begins writing The Prince. Machiavelli wanted the prince to act as a guide to show how to create a principality and hold onto it because he had remembered how the French were succeeding as they were one principality under one prince and Machiavelli wanted this for Italy. Machiavelli also wrote the book to again try and ingratiate himself with the Medici family by making the preface a flattering letter to Lorenzo Medici. The book firstly starts by dividing all governments into two different types, republics- those which are ruled by many, and principalities – those which are ruled by a prince or a single ruler. Machiavelli then quickly dismisses republican governments and goes onto divide Principalities into two types, ones which have been ruled by the same family for centuries (the old prince) and ones, which have been newly conquered (the new prince). Again, Machiavelli tends to dismiss the old prince believing him to be of not much use and will have not much success where as he talks greatly of the new prince and how he can and will acquire and maintain the greatest amount of power. Throughout Machiavelli’s book he regards the association between luck and skill in the gaining and keeping of the power the prince has received. He presents two key terms: Fortuna, meaning by luck or chance and virtu, meaning the person’s skill and ability etc. MachiavelliShow MoreRelatedMachiavelli, Hobbes, And Locke1791 Words   |  8 Pagesbe. There are many topics both modern and ancient thinkers discuss in their writings, such as the purpose of politics, the science of politics, human nature, as well as the ideal regime. By doing so, these thinkers’ views on political topics such as these illuminate how they thought politics should work and who should be able to participate in the activity of politics. Purpose of Politics To begin with, an important theme to discuss is what the modern thinkers believe is the purpose of politics