Timeline for Kingdom with helpful bands of mercenaries; avoiding devolving into bandits
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 2017 at 16:29 | comment | added | Catgut | Machiavelli insults the prowess of mercenaries while making casual reference to the exploits of the Swiss mercenaries, who dominated the Italian Wars (which were ongoing when he wrote The Prince). To me it's hard not to read the chapter as 'Oh yeah, mercenaries are terrible soldiers, pay no attention to the ones outclassing all your soldiery, you totally don't want their services'. I could definitely see it being a satirical recommendation. | |
| Feb 10, 2017 at 5:16 | comment | added | nijineko | Certain literary scholars hold the position that particular work of his was a satire of how not to rule, disguised as a how to rule book, based on the historical political climate, his political views, and his adversaries. He was not fond of certain of his leadership, shall we put it lightly. | |
| Feb 9, 2017 at 22:39 | comment | added | Spencer | @Maciej Perhaps, but perhaps not on this particular point. | |
| Feb 9, 2017 at 20:40 | comment | added | Maja Piechotka | It is probably good to note that "Prince" may or may not be satire or deceit. | |
| Feb 9, 2017 at 14:17 | comment | added | yitzih | @nijineko Why do you say that? | |
| Feb 8, 2017 at 19:17 | comment | added | nijineko | Machiavelli was also being sarcastic. | |
| Feb 8, 2017 at 16:43 | comment | added | Spencer | @MichaelKjörling Probably, yeah. But you could also look on that as job security. | |
| Feb 8, 2017 at 15:02 | comment | added | Tim | Rule 3: Never get involved in a land war in Asia. | |
| Feb 8, 2017 at 9:27 | comment | added | user | I suspect that you also should never get into a war that you might not win. It's not enough to not lose, if after several years of fighting back and forth the fighters are getting weary of never making any overall progress. | |
| Feb 8, 2017 at 0:31 | history | answered | Spencer | CC BY-SA 3.0 |