Machiavelli was at heart, a politician. His most famous work, The Prince, was written in an attempt to gain the favor of the ruling Medici, (Cardinal Giovanni de’Medici - the future Pope Leo X). Macchiavelli lived in Florence during a very turbulent time. Florence was the most democratic and tolerant city-state of the time. It witnessed a flourishing of the arts, including being the home of Michelangelo, Botticelli, Raphael, and Dante Alighieri. Machiavelli grew up during the city’s golden age, obtaining a classical education and admiring the Greeks and Romans.
However, he was disillusioned when in 1494 Charles VIII’s Frendh troops were able to take over the city unopposed. Macchiavelli saw the inability to protect the city as a great weakness. He began to concentrate on the conditions necessary for the pursuit and maintenance of power. After the fall of Savonarola (a priest who organized the Bonfire of the Vanities, preaching the evils of materialism, and controlled Florence for a brief period until killed by a mob on May 23, 1498), Macchiavelli held a minor government post under the council of Ten, forming the Republic’s first militia. Unfortunately the Tuscan militia fled at the sight of the Spanish troops organized by Cardinal Giovanni de’Medici and Macchiavelli became persona non grata. He was exiled to his country villa, where he wrote his most famous works, The Prince, The Discourses on Livy, and several popular plays. Eventually he regained a governmental post but died just as his abilities began to be appreciated.
Macchiavelli’s works are considered innovative because he was the first European to blatantly put down on paper what most politicians practiced.
One ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one of the two has to be wanting.
This is probably his most famous quote. Macchiavelli believed that a Prince’s primary duty was to protect his people and retain power within the city-state. Whatever is necessary to achieve this end is justified. This is why he stresses cultivating the outward appearance of virtuousness, while granting that rulers need to be willing and able to lie, cheat, and kill when necessary. However, Macchiavelli did not believe in absolute ruthlessness. He recognized that acts of cruelty need to be clearly justified. Wanton brutality will lead to revolution.
So, in terms of the nature of the common people:
People want to idealize their rulers, so rulers need the appearance of virtue. They will tend to believe the best in their rulers if there is room for question.
People want a strong leader, so they can go about their lives in peace and prosperity. They will forgive much if given these two ends.
Given the popular desire for prosperity, people desire protection of their property and the means to make a living (thus the conclusion that people will be more forgiving of the death of a father than the loss of patrimony - inherited property). Thus, people also care more for the ends than the means and people in general are concerned with their self-interest and material existence.
People are more moved by fear than by love. Admiration and respect are consistent with fear as long as it does not lead to hatred. Fear provides more protection to the ruler against rebellion than love. So, a ruler must balance the need to be feared and respected against the risk of being hated.
Self-interest leads many to attempt to grasp power from the Prince. Thus people are naturally fickle and deceptive. Rulers must recognize this and trust few to none and practice decption as means of self protection.
References:
Time Out Guide: Florence and Tuscany, Penguin Books (London: 1997).