Mary Davenport's Profile

good laws follow naturally from
a good military

Much of The Prince is
devoted to describing exactly what it means to conduct a good war:
how to effectively fortify a city, how to treat subjects in newly
acquired territories, and how to prevent domestic insurrection that
would distract from a successful war.

The
Prince is concerned with autocratic regimes, not with republican
regimes.

Florence, Italy,

Italy at that time became the scene of intense political
conflict. The city-states of Florence, Milan, Venice, and Naples
fought for control of Italy, as did the papacy, France, Spain, and
the Holy Roman Empire. Each of these powers attempted to pursue
a strategy of playing the other powers off of one other, but they
also engaged in less honorable practices such as blackmail and violence. The
same year that Machiavelli returned to Florence, Italy was invaded
by Charles VIII of France—the first of several French invasions
that would occur during Machiavelli’s lifetime. These events influenced
Machiavelli’s attitudes toward government, forming the backdrop
for his later impassioned pleas for Italian unity.