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The Prince

Niccolò Machiavelli

Public domain worldwide

Project Gutenberg

37 chapters · 333 paragraphs

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Renaissance Italy (late 15th–early 16th century), centered on Florence as a major political and cultural power. The visual tone is one of political intrigue, diplomatic formality, and the contrast between urban sophistication and rural isolation. Warm Renaissance earth tones, fine fabrics, and classical architectural elements should recur throughout.

Characters

  • Niccolò Machiavelli

    Italian Renaissance man, born 1469, of Florentine nobility. Depicted in early-to-mid adulthood during his diplomatic career; wear period-appropriate Renaissance clothing reflecting his official diplomatic status—fine wool doublets, hose, and simple but dignified garments befitting a Florentine civil servant.

Settings

  • Florence

    Renaissance Italian city-state with distinctive terracotta-roofed architecture, the Arno river, and Renaissance palaces. Alternating between periods of Medici rule (ornate, confident) and Republican governance (more austere, civic). Warm ochre and warm stone tones dominate.

  • European Courts

    Varied royal and ducal courts across Italy and Europe during the Renaissance; grand halls with frescoed walls, tapestries, and formal courtly settings reflecting the power and diplomacy of regional powers.

  • San Casciano

    Rural Florentine countryside exile location; modest, quieter than Florence, with rolling Tuscan landscape, countryside estates, and a more introspective, isolated atmosphere.

Contents

  1. The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Prince
  2. Contents
  3. INTRODUCTION
  4. YOUTH — Æt. 1-25—1469-94
  5. OFFICE — Æt. 25-43—1494-1512
  6. LITERATURE AND DEATH — Æt. 43-58—1512-27
  7. THE MAN AND HIS WORKS
  8. DEDICATION
  9. CHAPTER I. HOW MANY KINDS OF PRINCIPALITIES THERE ARE, AND BY WHAT MEANS THEY ARE ACQUIRED
  10. CHAPTER II. CONCERNING HEREDITARY PRINCIPALITIES
  11. CHAPTER III. CONCERNING MIXED PRINCIPALITIES
  12. CHAPTER IV. WHY THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS, CONQUERED BY ALEXANDER, DID NOT REBEL AGAINST THE SUCCESSORS OF ALEXANDER AT HIS DEATH
  13. CHAPTER V. CONCERNING THE WAY TO GOVERN CITIES OR PRINCIPALITIES WHICH LIVED UNDER THEIR OWN LAWS BEFORE THEY WERE ANNEXED
  14. CHAPTER VI. CONCERNING NEW PRINCIPALITIES WHICH ARE ACQUIRED BY ONE’S OWN ARMS AND ABILITY
  15. CHAPTER VII. CONCERNING NEW PRINCIPALITIES WHICH ARE ACQUIRED EITHER BY THE ARMS OF OTHERS OR BY GOOD FORTUNE
  16. CHAPTER VIII. CONCERNING THOSE WHO HAVE OBTAINED A PRINCIPALITY BY WICKEDNESS
  17. CHAPTER IX. CONCERNING A CIVIL PRINCIPALITY
  18. CHAPTER X. CONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH THE STRENGTH OF ALL PRINCIPALITIES OUGHT TO BE MEASURED
  19. CHAPTER XI. CONCERNING ECCLESIASTICAL PRINCIPALITIES
  20. CHAPTER XII. HOW MANY KINDS OF SOLDIERY THERE ARE, AND CONCERNING MERCENARIES
  21. CHAPTER XIII. CONCERNING AUXILIARIES, MIXED SOLDIERY, AND ONE’S OWN
  22. CHAPTER XIV. THAT WHICH CONCERNS A PRINCE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE ART OF WAR
  23. CHAPTER XV. CONCERNING THINGS FOR WHICH MEN, AND ESPECIALLY PRINCES, ARE PRAISED OR BLAMED
  24. CHAPTER XVI. CONCERNING LIBERALITY AND MEANNESS
  25. CHAPTER XVII. CONCERNING CRUELTY AND CLEMENCY, AND WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO BE LOVED THAN FEARED
  26. CHAPTER XVIII.[1] CONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH PRINCES SHOULD KEEP FAITH
  27. CHAPTER XIX. THAT ONE SHOULD AVOID BEING DESPISED AND HATED
  28. CHAPTER XX. ARE FORTRESSES, AND MANY OTHER THINGS TO WHICH PRINCES OFTEN RESORT, ADVANTAGEOUS OR HURTFUL?
  29. CHAPTER XXI. HOW A PRINCE SHOULD CONDUCT HIMSELF SO AS TO GAIN RENOWN
  30. CHAPTER XXII. CONCERNING THE SECRETARIES OF PRINCES
  31. CHAPTER XXIII. HOW FLATTERERS SHOULD BE AVOIDED
  32. CHAPTER XXIV. WHY THE PRINCES OF ITALY HAVE LOST THEIR STATES
  33. CHAPTER XXV. WHAT FORTUNE CAN EFFECT IN HUMAN AFFAIRS AND HOW TO WITHSTAND HER
  34. CHAPTER XXVI. AN EXHORTATION TO LIBERATE ITALY FROM THE BARBARIANS
  35. DESCRIPTION OF THE METHODS ADOPTED BY THE DUKE VALENTINO WHEN MURDERING VITELLOZZO VITELLI, OLIVEROTTO DA FERMO, THE SIGNOR PAGOLO, AND THE DUKE DI GRAVINA ORSINI
  36. THE LIFE OF CASTRUCCIO CASTRACANI OF LUCCA
  37. CASTRUCCIO CASTRACANI 1284-1328