Introduction
Niccolò Machiavelli, in his 16th century political treatise ‘ The Prince ,’ depicts two distinct characters as part of trying to define leadership during that period. The two persons that are discussed extensively within the book are Cesare Borgia and Agathocles, both of who are viewed as leaders that embraced varied characters. Both figures are viewed as key towards discussing some of fundamental aspects associated with leadership while considering that they fought for power during the 16th century. Machiavelli (1532) reflects on a juxtaposition with regard to the significance of fortune, virtue and wickedness as part of the description of the two figures to aid in promoting an overall level of understanding of their leadership. The focus for this report is to examine how Machiavelli depicts Cesare Borgia and Agathocles with the specific focus being towards examining how they compare and contrast.
Comparing and Contrasting the Depiction of Cesare Borgia and Agathocles
Cesare Borgia and Agathocles are seen as key inspirations for Niccolò Machiavelli’s ‘ The Prince ,’ as he seeks to describe their fight for power, as well as, examining some of the key characters that define them as leaders within their own prospects. In the book, Machiavelli reflects on the understanding of wickedness arguing that this reflects on an approach through which to ensure that one is able to acquire power through cruel or immoral deeds. Specifically, Machiavelli sought to describe Agathocles of Syracuse, who he sees as being wicked attributed to his cruel nature regardless of the fact that he is depicted as a leader. Agathocles is projected as an individual that believes in taking all as part of his leadership with the specific focus being towards projecting an overall shift in generalized perceptions on the expectations through leadership.
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Machiavelli provides readers with a clear analysis of the cruel nature associated with Agathocles, which would serve as one of the key ways through which to depict wickedness in leadership. Specifically, he describes the process through which Agathocles took to gain leadership in which he called for a meeting as after he had become the Praetor of Syracuse. During the meeting, he gave a signal to his soldiers to kill all senators and wealthy citizens with an aim of ensuring that he would ascend into the position of a ruler without any form of opposition. Machiavelli reflects on the position that the cruelty that can be seen from the case study of Agathocles only seeks to depict the extent to which human beings can be able to embrace wickedness as part of their livelihood.
In his depiction of Agathocles, Machiavelli (1532) rebukes him saying that,
“Yet one cannot call it a virtue to kill one's citizens, betray one's friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; these modes can enable one to acquire empire, but not glory. [...] Nonetheless, his savage cruelty and inhumanity, together with his infinite crimes, do not permit him to be celebrated among the most excellent men. Thus, one cannot attribute to fortune or virtue what he achieved without either” (p.35).
From this perspective, it is clear that Machiavelli believes that Agathocles cannot be considered as being a leader considering that he seeks to project an outlook that goes against what is expected of him from a moral and ethical perspective. It becomes clear that Agathocles only seeks to use his cruelty as a tool through which to rule over the people in his community while engaging in heinous actions against those that oppose him.
On the other hand, Machiavelli (1532) seeks to depict Cesare Borgia from the perspective that he seeks to acquire principality by virtue of another, which seeks to build on the general understanding that indeed he views him as having embraced virtue. In his definition of virtue, Machiavelli believes that this would be considered through the skills and resources that a prince would show towards building his or her position in leadership. Machiavelli provides Cesare as a clear example of a prince that has risen to power based on his virtue with the specific focus being towards examining how he uses his skills and resources to build on leadership. In overall, this reflects on a general position through which to maximize on the overall understanding that indeed Cesare is a leader that others ought to emulate.
However, Machiavelli also reflects on the understanding of fortune as a juxtaposition when compared to the concept of virtue, as he had presented when evaluating Cesare. Specifically, this can be seen from the fact that Machiavelli believes that the principality that Cesare adopts to build on his leadership is defined by others. In other words, this means that Cesare is able to get into a position of power based on the influence that others have within the society. The other figures are able to influence the society to embrace Cesare as a leader while considering the fact that he is able to build on the principality of virtue that can be viewed from another perspective.
Although Machiavelli constantly reflects on issues that may have affected Cesare’s position as a leader, he suggests that these issues arise as the effect of general criminality and corruption, which was experienced during that time. It becomes clear that Cesare was able to maintain his moral positioning as a leader while considering that he did not seek to use his leadership in a manner that would harm others. However, the criminality and corruption that was being experienced during that period may have forced him towards embracing violence as one of the way key ways through which to pass on an overall message. Some of the scholars, who have studied Machiavelli, argue that his depiction of Cesare provided an accurate understanding on what he was to expect from his position as a leader. It was clear that Cesare did not believe in violence that would have been attributed to the events that occurred during the entire period but only reflected on the fact that he was influenced by the situation in the society.
Conclusion
In summary, Niccolò Machiavelli, in his 16th century political treatise ‘ The Prince ,’ depicts two distinct characters as part of trying to define leadership during that period, Cesare Borgia and Agathocles. Machiavelli reflects on the understanding of wickedness arguing that this reflects on an approach through which to ensure that one is able to acquire power through cruel or immoral deeds in describing Agathocles of Syracuse. It is clear that Machiavelli believes that Agathocles cannot be considered as being a leader considering that he seeks to project an outlook that goes against what is expected of him from a moral and ethical perspective. Machiavelli seeks to depict Cesare Borgia from the perspective that he seeks to acquire principality by virtue of another. Machiavelli also reflects on the understanding of fortune as a juxtaposition when compared to the concept of virtue, as he had presented when evaluating Cesare.
References
Machiavelli, N. (1532). The Prince; Transl. from the Italian . New York, NY: Penguin Publishers Limited.
