The Prince

About “The Prince”

The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise written by Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian diplomat and political theorist. It serves as a guide for new princes and rulers, exploring how the pursuit of power, glory, and survival can justify the use of immoral methods. The work was likely circulated in manuscript form in 1513 under the Latin title De Principatibus, but the first printed edition was published in 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. It was published with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII. Despite being written in the style of traditional "mirrors for princes" literature, The Prince was seen as highly original. One reason for this was that it was written in Italian, the vernacular, rather than Latin, a choice that reflected the growing popularity of Italian literature during the Renaissance.