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第9节

君主论-the prince(英文版)-第9节

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 they always aspire to their owngreatness; either by oppressing you; who are their master; or otherscontrary to your intentions; but if the captain is not skilful; you areruined in the usual way。And if it be urged that whoever is armed will act in the same way;whether mercenary or not; I reply that when arms have to be resorted to;either by a prince or a republic; then the prince ought to go in personand perform the duty of captain; the republic has to send its citizens;and when one is sent who does not turn out satisfactorily; it ought torecall him; and when one is worthy; to hold him by the laws so that hedoes not leave the mand。 And experience has shown princes andrepublics; single…handed; making the greatest progress; and mercenariesdoing nothing except damage; and it is more difficult to bring arepublic; armed with its own arms; under the sway of one of its citizensthan it is to bring one armed with foreign arms。 Rome and Sparta stoodfor many ages armed and free。 The Switzers are pletely armed andquite free。Of ancient mercenaries; for example; there are the Carthaginians; whowere oppressed by their mercenary soldiers after the first war with theRomans; although the Carthaginians had their own citizens for captains。After the death of Epaminondas; Philip of Macedon was made captain oftheir soldiers by the Thebans; and after victory he took away theirliberty。Duke Filippo being dead; the Milanese enlisted Francesco Sforza againstthe Veians; and he; having overe the enemy at Caravaggio; alliedhimself with them to crush the Milanese; his masters。 His father;Sforza; having been engaged by Queen Johanna of Naples; left herunprotected; so that she was forced to throw herself into the arms ofthe King of Aragon; in order to save her kingdom。 And if the Veiansand Florentines formerly extended their dominions by these arms; and yettheir captains did not make themselves princes; but have defended them;I reply that the Florentines in this case have been favoured by chance;for of the able captains; of whom they might have stood in fear; somehave not conquered; some have been opposed; and others have turned theirambitions elsewhere。 One who did not conquer was Giovanni Acuto; '2' andsince he did not conquer his fidelity cannot be proved; but every onewill acknowledge that; had he conquered; the Florentines would havestood at his discretion。 Sforza had the Bracceschi always against him;so they watched each other。 Francesco turned his ambition to Lombardy;Braccio against the Church and the kingdom of Naples。 But let us e tothat which happened a short while ago。 The Florentines appointed astheir captain Paolo Vitelli; a most prudent man; who from a privateposition had risen to the greatest renown。 If this man had taken Pisa;nobody can deny that it would have been proper for the Florentines tokeep in with him; for if he became the soldier of their enemies they hadno means of resisting; and if they held to him they must obey him。 TheVeians; if their achievements are considered; will be seen to haveacted safely and gloriously so long as they sent to war their own men;when with armed gentlemen and plebeians they did valiantly。 This wasbefore they turned to enterprises on land; but when they began to fighton land they forsook this virtue and followed the custom of Italy。 Andin the beginning of their expansion on land; through not having muchterritory; and because of their great reputation; they had not much tofear from their captains; but when they expanded; as under Carmignola;they had a taste of this mistake; for; having found him a most valiantman (they beat the Duke of Milan under his leadership); and; on theother hand; knowing how lukewarm he was in the war; they feared they; and for this reason they were notwilling; nor were they able; to let him go; and so; not to lose againthat pelled; in order to securethemselves; to murder him。 They had afterwards for their captainsBartolomeo da Bergamo; Roberto da San Severino; the Count of Pitigliano;and the like; under whom they had to dread loss and not gain; ashappened afterwards at Vaila; where in one battle they lost that whichin eight hundred years they had acquired with so much trouble。 Becausefrom such arms conquests e but slowly; long delayed andinconsiderable; but the losses sudden and portentous。And as with these examples I have reached Italy; which has been ruledfor many years by mercenaries; I wish to discuss them more seriously; inorder that; having seen their rise and progress; one may be betterprepared to counteract them。 You must understand that the empire hasrecently e to be repudiated in Italy; that the Pope has acquired moretemporal power; and that Italy has been divided up into more states; forthe reason that many of the great cities took up arms against theirnobles; who; formerly favoured by the emperor; were oppressing them;whilst the Church was favouring them so as to gain authority in temporalpower: in many others their citizens became princes。 From this it cameto pass that Italy fell partly into the hands of the Church and ofrepublics; and; the Church consisting of priests and the republic ofcitizens unaccustomed to arms; both menced to enlist foreigners。The first who gave renown to this soldiery was Alberigo da Conio; anative of the Romagna。 From the school of this man sprang; among others;Braccio and Sforza; who in their time were the arbiters of Italy。 Afterthese came all the other captains who till now have directed the arms ofItaly; and the end of all their valour has been; that she has beenoverrun by Charles; robbed by Louis; ravaged by Ferdinand; and insultedby the Switzers。 The principle that has guided them has been; first; tolower the credit of infantry so that they might increase their own。 Theydid this because; subsisting on their pay and without territory; theywere unable to support many soldiers; and a few infantry did not givethem any authority; so they were led to employ cavalry; with a moderateforce of which they were maintained and honoured; and affairs werebrought to such a pass that; in an army of twenty thousand soldiers;there were not to be found two thousand foot soldiers。 They had; besidesthis; used every art to lessen fatigue and danger to themselves andtheir soldiers; not killing in the fray; but taking prisoners andliberating without ransom。 They did not attack towns at night; nor didthe garrisons of the towns attack encampments at night; they did notsurround the camp either with stockade or ditch; nor did they campaignin the winter。 All these things were permitted by their military rules;and devised by them to avoid; as I have said; both fatigue and dangers;thus they have brought Italy to slavery and contempt。1。 With which to chalk up the billets for his soldiers。2。 As Sir John Hawkwood; the English leader of mercenaries; was calledby the Italians。CHAPTER XIIICONCERNING AUXILIARIES; MIXED SOLDIERY; AND ONE'S OWNAUXILIARIES; which are the other useless arm; are employed when a princeis called in with his forces to aid and defend; as was done by PopeJulius in the most recent times; for he; having; in the enterpriseagainst Ferrara; had poor proof of his mercenaries; turned toauxiliaries; and stipulated with Ferdinand; King of Spain; for hisassistance with men and arms。 These arms may be useful and good inthemselves; but for him who calls them in they are alwaysdisadvantageous; for losing; one is undone; and winning; one is theircaptive。And although ancient histories may be full of examples; I do not wish toleave this recent one of Pope Julius II; the peril of which cannot fallto be perceived; for he; wishing to get Ferrara; threw himself entirelyinto the hands of the foreigner。 But his good fortune brought about athird event; so that he did not reap the fruit of his rash choice;because; having auxiliaries routed at Ravenna; and the Switzers havingrisen and driven out the conquerors (against all expectation; both hisand others); it so came to pass that he did not bee prisoner to hisenemies; they having fled; nor to his auxiliaries; he having conqueredby other arms than theirs。The Florentines; being entirely without arms; sent ten thousandFrenchmen to take Pisa; whereby they ran more danger than at any othertime of their troubles。The Emperor of Constantinople; to oppose his neighbours; sent tenthousand Turks into Greece; who; on the war being finished; were notwilling to quit; this was the beginning of the servitude of Greece tothe infidels。Therefore; let him who has no desire to conquer make use of these arms;for they are much more hazardous than mercenaries; because with them theruin is ready made; they are all united; all yield obedience to others;but with mercenaries; e and betteropportunities are needed to injure you; they are not all of onemunity; they are found and paid by you; and a third party; which youhave made their head; is not able all at once to assume enough authorityto injure you。 In conclusion; in mercenaries dastardy is most dangerous;in auxiliaries; valour。 The wise prince; therefore; has always avoidedthese arms and turned to his own; and has been willing rather to losewith them than to conquer with others; not deeming that a real victorywhich is gained with the arms of others。I shall never hesitate to cite Cesare Borgia and his actions。 This d

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