Treatise on the Government of the City of Florence

(Preface) Since many excellent men, most eminent in talent and learning, have written copiously and with great wisdom on the government of cities and kingdoms, Magnificent and Exalted Lords, it seems to me superfluous to compose other books on a similar subject, for this would be nothing but multiplying books without profit. But because your Lordships ask me, not to write of the government of kingdoms and cities in general, but to treat in particular of the new government of the city of Florence, as far as befits my station, leaving aside all citation of authorities and superfluity of words, and with as much brevity as possible, I cannot honestly refuse such a thing, since it is most fitting to your state, useful to the whole people, and at present necessary to my office. For I have preached many years, by the will of God, in this city of yours, and have always pursued four subjects: namely, I have striven with all my wit to prove that the faith is true; to show that the simplicity of the Christian life is the highest wisdom; to announce future things, of which some have come and the others are shortly to come; and lastly, this new government of your city. And having already put the first three into writing (though we have not yet published the third book, entitled On Prophetic Truth), it remains for us to write also of the fourth subject, so that the whole world may see that we preach sound knowledge, in accord with natural reason and with the doctrine of the Church.

And although my intention was and is to write on this subject in the Latin language, as the first three books were also composed by us, and to declare how far, and when, it is fitting for a religious to treat of and involve himself in secular states; nevertheless, since your Lordships ask me to write in the vernacular, and very briefly, for more common use, there being few who understand Latin in comparison with educated men, I shall not be sorry first to dispatch this little treatise; and afterwards, when I can be freer from my present occupations, we shall set our hand to the Latin with the grace that almighty God will grant us. First, then, we shall treat briefly of the best government of the city of Florence; second, of the worst. For although one must first exclude evil and afterwards build up the good, nevertheless, because evil is the privation of good, evil could not be understood unless good were first understood. And therefore it is necessary, according to the order of teaching, to treat of the best government before the worst. Third, we shall declare what is the foundation for removing the worst government, and for founding, perfecting and preserving the present good government, so that it may become the best, in this city of Florence.

Chapter 1. That government is necessary in human affairs; and which government is good and which bad. Almighty God, who rules the whole universe, infuses the power of his government into creatures in two ways. For into creatures that have no intellect and free will he infuses certain powers and perfections by which they are naturally inclined to go by the due means to their proper end, without fail, unless they are hindered by something contrary, which happens rarely. Hence such creatures do not govern themselves, but are governed and led to their proper ends by God and by the nature he has given them. But creatures that have the gift of intellect, as man has, are governed by him in such a way that he wills them also to govern themselves: for he gives them intellect, by which they can know what is useful to them and what is not, and the faculty of free will, so as to be able to choose freely what pleases them. But because the light of the intellect is very weak, above all in childhood, a man cannot perfectly rule himself without the help of another man; especially since almost every individual man is insufficient for himself, unable to provide alone for all his needs, bodily as well as spiritual. Hence we see that nature has provided all animals with what they need for their life, namely food, clothing, and weapons to defend themselves; and also, when they fall sick, they look after themselves by natural instinct and run to medicinal herbs; these things have not been provided for man; but God, governor of all, has given him reason and the instrument of the hands, by which he can prepare these things for himself.

And because, given the frailty of the human body, almost infinite things are needed to nourish, increase and preserve it, for the preparation of which many arts are required, which it would be impossible or very difficult for one man alone to have all together, it has been necessary for men to live together, so that one may help another, some giving their work to one art and others to another, and making together one perfect body of all the sciences and arts. For this reason it is well said that whoever lives alone is either a god or a beast; that is, either he is so perfect a man that he is almost like a god on earth, because, as God needs nothing, so he needs the help of no man, as were Saint John the Baptist, Saint Paul the first hermit, and many others; or else he is like a beast, that is, wholly deprived of reason, and therefore cares neither for clothes, nor houses, nor cooked and prepared food, nor the company of men, but goes following the instinct of the sensitive part, having put away all reason. Since, then, very few men are found who are of such perfection or such bestiality, apart from these all the others are compelled to live in company, in cities, or in castles, or in villages, or in other places. Now since the human race is very prone to evil, and above all when it is without law and without fear, it has been necessary to devise law, to restrain the boldness of wicked men, so that those who want to live well may be safe; above all because there is no animal worse than man without law.

Hence we see the gluttonous man to be incomparably more greedy and more insatiable than all the other animals, since all the foods and all the ways of cooking them that are found in the world are not enough for him, and he seeks to satisfy not nature but his unbridled desire. He is likewise above all animals in the bestiality of lust, for he does not keep, as the beasts do, the due seasons or manners, but does things which are abominable to think of, indeed to hear of, which no beast does or imagines doing. In cruelty, too, he surpasses them, for the beasts do not wage such cruel wars among themselves, above all those of the same species, as men do, who even invent various weapons to wound one another and various ways to torture and kill one another. Besides these things, there are in men pride, ambition and envy, from which follow among them dissensions and intolerable wars. And therefore, since men are obliged to live in community with others, if they wish to live in peace, it has been necessary to devise laws by which the wicked are punished and the good rewarded. But because making laws belongs only to one who is superior, and they cannot be enforced except by one who has power over other men, it has been necessary to appoint someone to have care of the common good and to have power over the others. For since every individual man seeks his own good, if no one had care of the common good, human society could not stand, and the whole world would go into confusion.

Some men, then, agreed together to appoint one man alone, who should have care of the common good and whom everyone should obey; and such a government was called a kingdom, and the one who governed a king. Some others, either because they could not agree on one, or because it seemed better to them, agreed on the leading, best and most prudent men of the community, wishing that these should govern, distributing the magistracies among themselves at different times; and this was called the government of the optimates. Others wanted the government to remain in the hands of the whole people, which should distribute the magistracies to whomever it pleased at different times; and this was called civil government, because it belongs to all the citizens. Since, then, the government of the community was devised to have care of the common good, so that men may live together peacefully, give themselves to the virtues, and more easily attain eternal happiness, that government is good which with all diligence seeks to maintain and increase the common good and to lead men to the virtues and to good living, and above all to divine worship; and that government is bad which neglects the common good and attends to its own private good, caring nothing for men's virtues or for good living except so far as it is useful to its private good; and such a government is called tyrannical. So we have seen the necessity of government among men, and which government is good and which bad in general.

Chapter 2. Although the government of one, when it is good, is by its nature the best, it is not, however, good for every community. Since, then, that government is good which has care of the common good, spiritual as well as temporal, whether it be administered by one alone, or by the leading men of the people, or by the whole people, it must be known that, speaking absolutely, civil government is good, that of the optimates is better, and that of kings is best. For since the union and peace of the people is the end of government, this union and peace is made and preserved much better by one than by several, and better by a few than by the multitude; because when all the men of a community have to look to one alone and obey him, they are not drawn apart into factions, but are all bound together in love or fear of him. But when there are several, some look to one and some to another, and one man is pleased by one ruler while another is pleased or displeased by another; and the people does not remain as well united as when one alone reigns; and it remains the less united, the more there are who govern. Likewise, united strength is stronger than dispersed: thus fire has more force when its parts are united and pressed together than when they are scattered and spread out. Since, then, the power of government is more united and concentrated in one than in several, it follows that by its nature the government of one, when it is good, is better and more effective than the others.

Likewise, since the government of the world and of nature is the best government, and art follows nature, the more the government of human affairs resembles the government of the world and of nature, the more perfect it is. Since, then, the world is governed by one, who is God, and all natural things in which some government is seen are governed by one (as the bees by one king, and the powers of the soul by reason, and the members of the body by the heart, and similarly in the other things that have government), it follows that the government of human affairs that is administered by one governor is by its nature the best of all governments. Hence our Saviour, wishing to put the best government in his Church, made Peter head of all the faithful, and in every diocese, indeed in every parish and monastery, willed that it be governed by one; and that finally all the lesser heads be under one head, his vicar. So, speaking absolutely, the government of one, when it is good, surpasses all the other good governments; and such a government should be instituted in every community, if it could be, that is, if the whole people with one accord could make a good, just and prudent prince whom everyone should obey. But it must be noted that this is not good, nor can it, nor ought it to be attempted in every community, because it often happens that what is best absolutely is not good, indeed is bad, in some place or for some person; as is the state of perfection of the spiritual life, that is, the religious state, which in itself is the best state, and yet it is not to be imposed on all Christians; nor should such a thing be attempted, nor would it be good, because many could not bear it, and they would make a rent in the Church, as our Saviour says in the Gospel: “No one sews new cloth on an old garment, otherwise the old would tear and a worse rent would be made; and no one puts new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wineskins would burst and the wine would be spilled.” Hence we see also that some food, good and excellent in itself, would be poison to someone if he ate it; and an air, perfect in itself, is bad for some constitutions.

So also the government of one is best in itself, but for some people inclined to dissensions it would be bad and worst, because the persecution and death of the prince would often occur, from which infinite evils would result in the community; for when the prince was dead, the people would divide into factions, and civil war would follow, with various heads arising; and among them, whoever overcame the others would become a tyrant and would finally ruin all the good of the city, as we shall show below. And if in such a people the prince wished to make himself secure and establish himself, he would have to become a tyrant, and drive out the powerful, and take the property of the rich, and burden the people with many exactions; otherwise he could never make himself secure. There are, then, some peoples whose nature is such that it cannot tolerate the government of one without great and intolerable disadvantages; just as the constitution and habit of some men, used to living in the open air and in the fields, is such that whoever wanted to make them stay in good warm rooms, with good clothes and delicate food, would at once make them fall sick and die. And therefore wise and prudent men who have to institute some government first consider the nature of the people; and if its nature or custom is such that it can easily accept the government of one, they institute this before the others; but if this government did not suit it, they try to give it the second, that of the optimates. And if it could not bear this either, they give it civil government, with the laws that suit the nature of such a people. Now let us see which of these three good governments best suits the Florentine people.

Chapter 3. That civil government is the best in the city of Florence. There can be no doubt (for whoever carefully considers what we have said) that if the Florentine people would bear the government of one, a prince should be instituted over it, not a tyrant, who would be prudent, just and good. But if we examine well the opinions and reasons of the wise, philosophers as well as theologians, we shall know clearly that, considering the nature of this people, such a government does not suit it. For they say that such a government suits peoples that are servile by nature, such as those that lack blood or wit, or both: for although those who abound in blood and are strong of body are bold in war, nevertheless, lacking wit, it is an easy thing to keep them subject to a prince, because through weakness of wit they are not quick to plot against him; rather they follow him as the bees follow their king, as is seen in the northern peoples; and those who have wit but lack blood, being faint-hearted, easily let themselves be subjected to one prince alone and live quietly under him, as do the eastern peoples; and much more so if they lacked both. But peoples that are clever and abound in blood and are bold cannot easily be ruled by one unless he tyrannizes over them; for through their wit they continually plot against the prince, and through their boldness they easily put their plots into execution, as has always been seen in Italy, which, we know from the experience of past times down to the present, has never been able to last under the rule of one prince; rather we see that, though it is a small province, it is divided into almost as many princes as there are cities, which are almost never at peace.

Since, then, the Florentine people is the most clever of all the peoples of Italy, and most shrewd in its undertakings, it is also spirited and bold, as has been seen by experience many times; for although it is given to trade and seems a quiet people, nevertheless when it begins some undertaking, whether civil war or against external enemies, it is very terrible and spirited, as one reads in the chronicles of the wars it has waged against various great princes and tyrants, to whom it has never been willing to yield, but in the end has defended itself and carried off the victory. The nature of this people, then, is not such as to bear the government of a prince, even if he were good and perfect; for since the wicked are always more than the good, through the shrewdness and spirit of the wicked citizens he would either be betrayed and killed (since they are above all inclined to ambition), or he would have to become a tyrant. And if we consider more carefully, we shall understand that not only does the government of one not suit this people, but neither does that of the optimates suit it, because custom is a second nature; for as nature is inclined one way and cannot be drawn out of it, as a stone is inclined to fall and cannot be made to rise except by force, so custom turns into nature, and it is very difficult and almost impossible to draw men, and above all peoples, out of their customs, even bad ones, because such customs have become natural to them.

Now the Florentine people, having anciently taken civil government, has acquired so much custom in it that, besides its being more natural and fitting to it than any other government, it is also by custom so impressed on the minds of the citizens that it would be difficult and almost impossible to remove them from such a government. And although they have been governed for many years now by tyrants, nevertheless those citizens who usurped the principate in this time did not tyrannize in such a way as to take openly the lordship of everything, but governed the people with great cunning, not drawing it out of its nature and custom: hence they left the form of government in the city and the ordinary magistracies, taking care, however, that no one entered those magistracies except their friends. And therefore, since the form of civil government has remained in the people, it has become so natural to it that to wish to alter it and give it another form of government is nothing other than to act against its nature and against ancient custom; which thing would generate such disturbance and dissension in this community as to put it in danger of losing all its liberty: and experience, which is the mistress of the arts, shows this much better. For whenever in the city of Florence the government has been seized by the leading men, it has always been in great division, and has never been quiet until one party has driven out the other and one citizen has made himself tyrant; who, once he has been made so, has so usurped liberty and the common good that the minds of the people have always been discontented and restless. And if it was divided and full of discord in past times through the ambition and hatreds of the leading citizens, it would be so above all at present, had not God by his grace and mercy provided for them; for the citizens have returned who were driven out at various times by those who governed, above all since the year thirty-four (1434); and many hatreds have been nourished in the city in this time, through the injuries done to various houses and kindreds, because of which, had God not put his hand to it, much blood would have been shed, many houses destroyed, and discords and civil wars would have followed, within as well as without.

And given the things that have happened through the coming of the King of France, there is no doubt for anyone who has been in this city in these times, and has some judgment, that this was to be its final destruction; but the council and civil government, which was founded in it not by men but by God, has been the instrument of divine power, through the prayers of the good men and women who are found in it, to maintain it in its liberty. And certainly, whoever has not wholly lost his natural judgment through his sins, considering in how many dangers it has been these three years past, cannot deny that it has been governed and preserved by God. We conclude, then, that, both by the divine authority from which the present civil government has proceeded and by the preceding reasons, in the city of Florence civil government is the best, although in itself it is not the best; and the government of one, although in itself it is the best, is not good, let alone the best, for the Florentine people; just as the state of perfection of the spiritual life is best in itself, although it is neither best nor good for many faithful Christians, for whom some other state of life is best, which in itself is not the best. We have, then, declared the first point, namely what is the best government of the city of Florence: now it is time to declare the second, namely what is the worst government in it.

Chapter 1. That the government of one, when it is bad, is the worst, above all that of one who from a citizen has become a tyrant. As the rule of one, when it is good, is the best of all governments, so also it is more stable, and is not so easily turned into tyranny as the rule of several; for the more the government is spread out, the easier it becomes to breed discords. Nevertheless, as it is perfect and more stable when it is good, so, when it is unjust and bad, it is by its nature the worst of all bad governments. First, because as evil is contrary to good, so the worst is contrary to the best: since, then, the government of one is the best when it is good, it follows that it is the worst when it is bad. Second, as we have said, power united is stronger than when it is dispersed: when, then, a tyrant reigns, the power of such a bad government is united in one; and because the wicked are always more than the good, and every like loves its like, all wicked men seek to join themselves to him, above all those who desire to be rewarded and honoured, and many also join him out of fear; and those men who are not wholly depraved, but still love earthly things, either from fear or from love of what they desire, follow in his train; and those who are good, but not wholly perfect, follow him out of fear and do not dare to resist; and since few perfect men are found, indeed almost none, all the power of the government is united in one.

And therefore, since that one is wicked and unjust, he brings every evil to perfection and easily depraves every good thing. But when there are several wicked men who reign, one hinders the other; and since the power of the state is spread among several, they do not have as much force to do the evil they desire as a single tyrant has. Third, a government is the worse the further it departs from the common good; for since the common good is the end of every good government, the nearer it comes to it, the more perfect it is, and the further it goes from it, the more imperfect it is; for everything acquires its perfection by approaching its end, and by departing from it becomes imperfect. But it is certain that the bad government of many departs less from the common good than that of one; for although those several usurp the common good and divide it among themselves, that is, the revenues and the dignities, nevertheless, since it remains in several persons, such good in some way remains common. But when the whole common good is resolved into one, it remains in no part common, but becomes wholly private; and therefore the bad government of one is the worst among the other governments, because it departs further from the common good and is more destructive of it. Fourth, duration supports these reasons, for the government of one is by its nature more stable than that of several, and cannot (though it be bad) be so easily hindered and extinguished as that of several; for the members follow the head, and rise against the head only with great difficulty.

And under the government of a tyrant it is very difficult to raise a head against him: for he is always watchful to extinguish the men who might become heads, and is careful to see that his subjects cannot hold gatherings, and is always vigilant in these things. But when several persons govern, it is easier to remove their bad government; for one can more easily gather good men together with those who act rightly, and sow dissension among the wicked, so that they do not unite together; which is easy, because each of them seeks his own good, and so discord soon arises among them. And therefore the bad government of one, in this respect too, is worse than the others, because it is harder to hinder and extinguish. It must be noted, however, that although by its nature the bad government of one is the worst, nevertheless sometimes greater disadvantages arise in the bad government of several than in that of one, above all in the end; for when the government of several is bad, it is at once divided into several factions, and so the common good and peace begin to be torn apart; and finally, unless a remedy is found, one faction must remain on top and drive out the other. From this follow infinite evils, temporal, bodily and spiritual; among which the greatest is that the government of several is resolved into one; for he who has most favour among the people becomes, from a citizen, a tyrant.

And although the government of one, when it is bad (as we have said), is the worst, nevertheless there is a great difference between the government of one who, from a natural and true lord, has become a tyrant, and the government of one who from a citizen has become a tyrant; for from the latter follow many more disadvantages than from the former. For if he wants to reign, he must extinguish, by death or exile or other means, not only the citizens who are his adversaries, but all those who are his equals in nobility, or wealth, or reputation, and remove from before his eyes all those who can trouble him; from which follow infinite evils. But this does not happen with one who has been a natural lord, because he has no one equal to him, and the citizens, being used to being subjects, do not go plotting anything against his state; hence he does not live in the suspicions in which a citizen made tyrant lives. And because in peoples that have the government of optimates or civil government it is easy, through the discords among men that occur every day, and through the multitude of the wicked and whisperers and slanderers, to create division and fall into tyrannical government, such peoples must with all zeal and diligence provide by very strong and severe laws that no one can make himself tyrant, punishing with the extreme punishment not only whoever spoke of it but even whoever hinted at such a thing; and in every other sin to have compassion on the man, but in this to have no compassion at all, except that the soul must always be helped: hence no penalty should be diminished, but rather increased, to give an example to all, so that everyone may beware, I do not say of hinting at such a thing, but even of thinking of it.

And whoever is compassionate or negligent in punishing this sins most gravely before God, because he gives a beginning to the tyrant, from whose government follow infinite evils, as we shall show below; for when wicked men see that the punishments are light, they take courage, and little by little tyranny is brought about, as the drop of water little by little hollows the stone. Whoever, then, has not punished such a sin severely is the cause of all the evils that follow from the tyranny of such citizens; and therefore every people that governs itself civilly ought rather to bear every other evil and disadvantage that might follow from civil government, when it is imperfect, than to let a tyrant arise. And so that everyone may better understand how much evil follows from the government of a tyrant, although we have preached on it at another time, nevertheless, for greater understanding, we shall describe it in the following chapter, as to the principal things; for to try to tell all his failings and abuses and grave sins, and the evils that follow from him, would be impossible, since they are infinite.

Chapter 2. Of the malice and very evil conditions of the tyrant. Tyrant is the name of a man of evil life, the worst of all other men, who wants to reign over all by force, above all one who from a citizen has become a tyrant. For, first, it must be said that he is proud, wanting to exalt himself above his equals, indeed above those better than himself, to whom he would rather deserve to be subject; and therefore he is envious, and is always saddened by the glory of other men, and above all of the citizens of his city; and he cannot bear to hear others praised, though he often dissembles and listens with anguish of heart; and he rejoices in the disgrace of his neighbour in such a way that he would like every man to be reviled, so that he alone might remain glorious. And so, because of the great fancies, sorrows and fears that always gnaw him within, he seeks pleasures as medicines for his afflictions; and therefore one rarely finds, or perhaps never, a tyrant who is not lustful and given to the pleasures of the flesh. And because he cannot maintain himself in such a state, nor give himself the pleasures he desires, without a multitude of money, it follows that he desires wealth inordinately; hence every tyrant, in this respect, is avaricious and a thief, for not only does he steal the principate, which belongs to the whole people, but he also usurps what belongs to the commune, besides the things he covets and takes from individual citizens by tricks and hidden ways, and sometimes openly.

And from this it follows that the tyrant has virtually all the sins of the world. First, because he has pride, lust and avarice, which are the roots of all evils. Second, because, having placed his end in the state he holds, there is nothing he would not do to maintain it; and therefore there is no evil he is not ready to do when it would serve the state, as experience shows: the tyrant spares nothing to keep himself in power; and therefore he has in intention, or in habit, all the sins of the world. Third, because from his perverse government all sins follow in the people; and therefore he is answerable for all of them, as if he had committed them himself: hence it follows that every part of his soul is depraved. His memory always remembers injuries and seeks revenge, and soon forgets the benefits of friends; his intellect he always employs in plotting frauds and deceits and other evils; his will is full of hatreds and perverse desires, his imagination of false and wicked representations; and all the outward senses he uses badly, either in his own lusts or to the harm and mockery of his neighbour, because he is full of wrath and indignation. And this happens to him because he has placed his end in such a state, which is difficult, indeed impossible, to maintain long; for nothing violent is perpetual; hence, seeking to maintain by force what of itself is falling, he must be very vigilant.

And since the end is evil, everything ordered to it must be evil; and therefore the tyrant can never think, nor remember, nor imagine, nor do anything but evil things; and if he does some good thing, he does not do it to do good, but to gain reputation and make friends, so as to be better able to maintain himself in that perverse state: hence he is like the devil, king of the proud, who never thinks of anything but evil; and if he does speak some truth and does something that has the appearance of good, he orders it all to an evil end, and above all to his great pride. So the tyrant orders all the good he does to his pride, in which he seeks by every means and way to preserve himself; and therefore the more mannerly the tyrant shows himself outwardly, the more cunning and the more wicked he is, and taught by a greater and shrewder devil, who transforms himself into an angel of light to strike a greater blow. The tyrant is also the worst as regards government, in which he attends chiefly to three things. First, that his subjects understand nothing of the government, or very little, and of small importance, so that his malice may not be known. Second, he seeks to sow discord among the citizens, not only in the cities but also in the castles and villages and houses, and among his ministers, and even among his counsellors and household; for just as the kingdom of a true and just king is preserved by the friendship of his subjects, so tyranny is preserved by the discord of men, for the tyrant favours one of the factions, which keeps the other down and makes the tyrant strong.

Third, he always seeks to bring down the powerful, to make himself secure; and therefore he kills, or brings to ruin, men who are outstanding in wealth, or nobility, or talent, or other virtues; and he keeps wise men without reputation, and has them mocked to take away their good name, so that they may not be followed; he does not want to have the citizens as companions, but as servants; he forbids meetings and gatherings, so that men may not form friendships together, for fear that they might conspire against him; and he strives to make the citizens as distant from one another as possible, disturbing their friendships and dissolving marriages and alliances of kinship, wanting to make them as he pleases; and once they are made, he seeks to sow discord among the kinsmen; and he has informers and spies everywhere, who report to him what is done or said, men as well as women, priests and religious as well as laymen; hence he has his wife and daughters, sisters and kinswomen form friendships and converse with the other women, so as to draw from them the secrets of the citizens and all that they do or say at home. He takes pains that the people be occupied with the things necessary for life; and therefore, as far as he can, he keeps it lean with taxes and duties. And often, above all in times of plenty and quiet, he occupies it with spectacles and festivals, so that it may think of itself and not of him; and likewise that the citizens may think of the government of their own house and not concern themselves with the secrets of the state, so that they may be inexperienced and imprudent in the government of the city, and he alone remain governor and seem more prudent than all.

He honours flatterers, so that everyone may strive to flatter him and to be like him; and he hates whoever speaks the truth, because he does not want to be opposed; and therefore he disdains men who are free in speech and does not want them near him. He does not hold many banquets with his own citizens, but rather with foreigners. And he keeps up friendships with foreign lords and great men, because he regards the citizens as his adversaries and is always afraid of them; and therefore he seeks to fortify himself against them with foreigners. In his government he wants to be hidden, showing outwardly that he does not govern, and saying, and having his accomplices say, that he does not want to alter the government of the city but to preserve it; hence he seeks to be called the preserver of the common good, and shows himself gentle even in the smallest things, sometimes giving audience to boys and girls and to poor people, and often defending them even from the smallest injuries. And of all the honours and dignities that are distributed to the citizens he shows himself the author, and seeks that everyone acknowledge them as from him; but the punishments of those who err, or who are accused by his accomplices so as to bring them down or ruin them, he attributes to the magistrates, and excuses himself that he cannot help them, to gain reputation and goodwill among the people, and to make those who are in the magistracies hated by those who do not understand his frauds. Likewise he seeks to appear religious and devoted to divine worship; but he does only certain outward things, such as going to church, giving certain alms, building temples and chapels, or making vestments, and similar things, for show.

He also keeps company with religious, and feignedly confesses to someone who is truly religious, so as to seem absolved; but on the other side he ruins religion by usurping benefices and giving them to his henchmen and accomplices, and seeking them for his sons; and so he usurps both temporal and spiritual goods. He does not want any citizen to do anything outstanding, such as greater palaces, or banquets, or churches, or greater deeds in government or in his wars, so that he alone may seem singular. And often he secretly brings great men down, and when he has brought them down he raises them up openly even more than before, so that they may consider themselves obliged to him and the people may consider him clement and magnanimous, to gain more favour. He does not let the ordinary judges do justice, so as to favour, or to kill or bring down, whomever he pleases. He usurps the money of the commune and finds new kinds of taxes and exactions to amass money, with which he feeds his henchmen, and with it he takes into pay princes and other captains, often without any need of the community, to give them some gain and make them his friends, and to be able more respectably to burden the people, saying that the soldiers must be paid. And for this reason, too, he starts and causes wars without profit; that is, by them he does not seek or want victory, or to take others' possessions, but does it only to keep the people lean and to establish himself better in his state.

Also, with the money of the commune he often builds great palaces and temples, and hangs up his coat of arms everywhere; and he maintains singers, men and women, because he seeks to be alone glorious. To his protégés, who are of low condition, he gives the daughters of noble citizens as wives, to bring down and take away the reputation of the nobles and to raise up such base persons, who he knows will be faithful to him, because they have no generosity of spirit but need him, such persons being commonly proud and reckoning such friendship a great happiness. He receives gifts willingly, to amass wealth, and therefore he rarely gives presents to the citizens, but rather to princes and foreigners, to make them his friends. And when he sees something of a citizen's that pleases him, he praises it and looks at it and makes such gestures as show that he wants it, so that the man, out of shame or fear, may give it to him; and he has flatterers about him who urge the man and exhort him to make him a present of it; and often the things that please him he has lent to him, and then never returns them. He despoils widows and orphans, pretending to want to defend them; and he takes possessions and fields and houses from the poor to make parks or lawns or palaces or other things for his pleasure, promising to pay them the just price, and then does not pay half of it. Nor does he give those who serve him in his house the wages they deserve, wanting everyone to count it a favour to serve him.

His henchmen he seeks to pay with other men's property, giving them offices or benefices they do not deserve, and taking offices of the city from others and giving them to them. And if some merchant has great credit, he seeks to make him fail, so that no one may have credit like himself. He raises up wicked men who, without his protection, would be punished by justice, so that they may defend him, defending in this way themselves as well; and if he does raise up some wise and good man, he does it to show the people that he is a lover of virtue; nevertheless he always keeps his eye on such wise and good men and does not trust them, and therefore keeps them in such a way that they cannot harm him. Whoever does not pay court to him, and whoever does not present himself at his house when he is in the piazza, is marked as an enemy; and he has his henchmen everywhere, who go leading the young astray and provoking them to evil, even against their own fathers, and bring them to him, seeking to entangle all the young men of the city in his wicked counsels and to make them enemies of all whom he considers his adversaries, even of their own father; and he strives to make them consume their property in banquets and other pleasures, so that they may become poor and he alone remain rich. No official can be made without his wanting to know of it, indeed without his wanting to make him; and down to the cooks of the palace and the servants of the magistrates, he does not want them made without his consent.

He often raises to office the younger brother, or the least of the house, or one of less virtue and goodness, to provoke the elder and better ones to envy and hatred and to sow discord among them. No sentence or arbitration can be given, nor any peace made, without him, because he always seeks to favour one side and bring down the other, which is not so according to his will. He seeks with cunning to corrupt all good laws, because they are contrary to his unjust government; and he continually makes new laws to suit himself. In all the magistracies and offices, inside the city as well as outside, he has someone who keeps watch and someone who reports what is done and said, and someone who gives such officials the law on his behalf as to what they are to do: hence he is the refuge of all wicked men and the destruction of the just. And he is supremely vindictive, so much so that he seeks to avenge even the smallest injuries with great cruelty, to make others afraid, because he is afraid of everyone. And whoever speaks ill of him must hide, because he pursues him even to the ends of the earth; and with treachery or with poisons or other means he takes his revenge; and he is a great murderer, because he always desires to remove the obstacles to his government, though he always pretends not to be the one, and that he is sorry for the death of others. And often he pretends to want to punish whoever committed such a murder, but then lets him escape secretly; and after a certain time, the man pretending to beg mercy, he takes him back and keeps him near him.

Further, the tyrant wants to be superior in everything, even in the smallest things, such as gaming, speaking, jousting, racing horses, learning; and in all the other things in which there is competition he always seeks to be first; and when he cannot by his own ability, he seeks to be superior by fraud and deceit. And to keep himself in greater reputation, he is hard to get an audience with, and often attends to his pleasures and makes the citizens stand outside and wait, and then gives them a brief audience and ambiguous answers, and wants to be understood by hints; for he seems ashamed to want and ask what is in itself evil, or to refuse the good; therefore he speaks broken words, which have the appearance of good, but he wants to be understood. And he often mocks honest men, with words or gestures, laughing at them with his accomplices. He has secret understandings with other princes, and then, not telling the secret he has, he takes counsel about what is to be done, so that everyone answers at random, and he alone seems prudent and wise, and a searcher-out of the secrets of lords; and therefore he alone wants to give the laws to all men; and the least little note of his, or a word from one of his grooms, is worth more with every judge and magistrate than all justice. In sum, under the tyrant nothing is stable, because everything is ruled according to his will, which is ruled not by reason but by passion; hence every citizen under him hangs in suspense because of his pride; all wealth hangs in the air because of his avarice; all chastity and modesty of women is in danger because of his lust; and he has pimps and procuresses everywhere, who by various means lead other men's wives and daughters to the snare, above all at great banquets, where often there are hidden ways in the rooms, by which the women are led without their noticing it, and there they remain caught in the noose; not to speak of sodomy, to which he is often also given in such a way that no youth of any good looks is safe. It would be a long thing to try to go through all the sins and evils the tyrant does; but these will suffice for the present treatise, and we shall come to the particular case of the city of Florence.

Chapter 3. Of the goods of cities which the tyrant hinders; and that the government of a tyrant is, among all cities, above all harmful to the city of Florence. If the government of a tyrant is the worst in every city and province, this seems to me above all true in the city of Florence, if we wish to speak as Christians. For all the governments of Christian men must be ordered finally to the blessedness promised us by Christ; and because one does not reach it except by means of good Christian living, than which (as we have proved elsewhere) none can be better, Christians must institute all their governments, both particular and universal, in such a way that this good Christian living is pursued by them chiefly and above everything else. And because this good living is nourished and increased by true divine worship, they must always strive to maintain, preserve and increase this worship, not so much of ceremonies as of truth, and of good, holy and learned ministers of the Church and religious; and to remove from the city, as far as is lawful and as far as they can, wicked priests and religious: for no worse men are found, as the saints say, than these, nor any who more spoil true divine worship and good Christian living and every good government. And it is better to have few good ministers than many bad ones: for the wicked provoke the wrath of God against the city, and, since every good government proceeds from him, they are the cause that God draws back his hand and does not let the grace of good government flow, because of the weight and multiplication of their sins, by which they draw after them a great part of the people, and always persecute good and righteous men. Hence read and reread the Old and New Testaments, and you will find that all the persecutions of the righteous have proceeded chiefly from such men, and that because of their sins the scourges of God have come upon the people, and that they have always spoiled every good government, corrupting the minds of kings and princes and other governors.

Great diligence is needed, then, that in the city people live well, and that it be full of good men, above all ministers of the altar: for as divine worship and good living grow, the government must become perfect. First, because God and his angels take special care of it, as one reads often in the Old Testament that when divine worship stood firm or grew, the kingdom of the Jews always went from good to better; and the same is read, in the New Testament, of Constantine the Great, and of Theodosius, and of other religious princes. Second, because of the prayers that are continually made by those appointed to divine worship and by the good who are in the city, and also because of the common prayers of the whole people on solemn feasts; hence we read in the Old and New Testaments that cities have been rescued by prayers from the greatest dangers and endowed by God with innumerable spiritual and temporal goods. Third, because of good counsels, by which kingdoms are preserved and increased; for when the citizens are good, they are specially enlightened by God, as it is written: “Light has risen in the darkness for the upright of heart,” that is, in the darkness of the difficulties of this world the upright of heart are enlightened by God. Fourth, because of their union, for where there is good Christian living there cannot be discord, since all the roots of discord are removed, namely pride and ambition, avarice and lust; and where there is union there must be strength; hence it has been proved in past times that small kingdoms have become great through union, and great ones have been scattered through discord.

Fifth, because of justice and good laws, which good Christians love; hence Solomon says: “By justice the throne is established,” that is, by justice the kingdom is made firm. Through this good living the kingdom would also grow in riches, for, not spending superfluously, they would gather into the public treasury an infinite treasure, with which they would pay the soldiers and officials, feed the poor, and keep their enemies in fear; and above all, merchants and other rich men, hearing of their good government, would gladly flock to the city; and neighbours who were badly governed by others would desire their government. And because of their union and the goodwill of their friends they would need few soldiers; and all the arts and sciences and virtues would come into the city, and there an infinite treasure would be gathered, and its dominion would spread into many parts; which would be good not only for the city but also for the other peoples, because they would be well governed, and divine worship would spread, and the faith and good Christian living would grow; which would be great glory to God and to our Saviour Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords. Now all this good the tyrannical government hinders and spoils: for there is nothing the tyrant hates more than the worship of Christ and good Christian living, since it is directly contrary to him, and one contrary seeks to drive out the other; and therefore the tyrant strives, as far as he can, to remove the true worship of Christ from the city, though he does it secretly.

And if some good bishop or priest or religious is found, above all one free in speaking the truth, he cautiously seeks to remove him from the city, or to corrupt his mind with flattery and gifts. And he has benefices given to wicked priests, and to his ministers, and to those who are his accomplices; and he favours wicked religious and those who flatter him. And he always seeks to corrupt the young, and all the good living of the city, as a thing supremely contrary to himself; and if this is a great, indeed the greatest, evil in every city and kingdom, it is most grave above all in those of Christians, and among them it seems to me even greater in the city of Florence. First, because this people is much inclined to divine worship, as anyone knows who has experience of it; hence it would be a very easy thing to institute in it a most perfect worship and the best Christian living, if there were a good government in it; for certainly, as we find every day, were it not for the wicked priests and religious, Florence would return to the life of the first Christians, and would be like a mirror of religion to the whole world. Hence we see at present that, amid so many persecutions against the good living of the good, so many hindrances within and without, and amid excommunications and evil persuasions, the good live in the city in such a way that (be it said with the peace of every other) no other city is named, nor is there any, where there is a greater number, and of greater perfection of life, than in the city of Florence.

If, then, amid so many persecutions and hindrances, it grows and bears fruit through the Word of God, what would it do if there were a quiet life within it, with the opposition of lukewarm and wicked priests and religious and citizens removed? This is further confirmed by the subtlety of the minds found in it, for it is known to the whole world that the Florentines have subtle spirits; and we know that it is a most dangerous thing for such spirits to turn to evil, above all if they grow used to it from childhood, because they are afterwards harder to heal and more apt to multiply sins on earth. And on the contrary, if they turn to good, it will be hard to pervert them, and they will be apt to multiply such good in various parts. And therefore in the city of Florence great diligence is needed that there be good government in it and that by no means be there a tyrant there, since we know how much evil tyrannical government has done in it and in the other cities; for so great have their cunning devices been that they have many times deceived the princes of Italy, and kept in division not only the neighbouring cities but even remote ones; and this it can do all the more easily as it is a moneyed and industrious city; hence it has many times put all Italy into confusion. What we have said is further confirmed by the fact that tyrannical government cannot last long, because nothing violent (as we have said) can be perpetual, and because, speaking as a Christian, tyrannical government is permitted by God to punish and purge the sins of the people; and once these are purged, such government must cease, because when the cause is removed, the effect must also be removed.

If, then, such a government cannot last in other cities and kingdoms, above all in Florence it cannot last long in peace, for such minds cannot rest; hence it has been seen by experience that there has often been some uprising of citizens in it against those who governed; and from these uprisings and civil wars there has sometimes followed the upheaval of all Italy, and many evils have been done. For these reasons, then, and others that I omit for brevity, it appears manifestly that, if in every city tyrannical government must be removed, and any other imperfect government must rather be endured than that of the tyrant, from which follow so many and such great evils that neither more nor greater can be found, much more must this be done in the city of Florence. And whoever savours well the preceding things will understand without difficulty that there is no penalty or scourge in this world so grave as to be proportionate to the gravity of the sin of one who sought or attempted, or even desired, to be or to make a tyrant in the city of Florence; for every penalty that can be thought of in the present life is small in comparison with such a sin; but almighty God, the just judge, will know how to punish him as he deserves, both in this life and in the other.

Chapter 1. Of the institution and manner of civil government. Having determined that in the city of Florence the best government is civil government, and that tyranny is the worst in it among all cities, it remains for us to see how one can provide that no tyrant be made in it, and how such civil government is to be introduced. And because sometimes a tyrant is made by force of arms, and force cannot be resisted by reason, we can give no other instruction about this; but we intend to declare how one can provide that a citizen, not by force of arms but by cunning and with friends, should not make himself tyrant of the city little by little, taking dominion of it, as has been done in past times. But because someone might believe that it would be necessary to provide that no citizen be excessively rich, since money gathers the people to itself and an excessively rich citizen easily makes himself tyrant; and because, if one wished to provide thus, many disadvantages would follow, it being too dangerous to try to take property from the rich and too difficult to set a limit to the wealth of citizens; therefore we say that riches are not the principal cause of a citizen's making himself tyrant. For if a rich citizen had nothing but riches, he would not gather to himself the multitude of the other citizens, on which the government of the city depends, since they could hope for very little from such a rich man; for the citizens would not consent for a little money to one man's making himself tyrant; and a citizen, however rich he may be, cannot in so great a city buy as many citizens as he needs, since each would want a great quantity of money, and most of them are rich, and naturally disdain to make themselves servants of one whom they consider their equal.

Since, then, citizens seek dignity and reputation in the city rather than money, knowing that reputation helps a man to grow rich, it must be provided that no citizen have authority in any way to give the benefices, offices and dignities of the city; for this is precisely the root that makes a tyrant in cities, since citizens greatly love honour and want to be esteemed. And therefore, when they see that they cannot otherwise have the benefices and honours of the city, they submit themselves to whoever they believe can give them. And so, as the number of citizens who submit to the one who has the greatest authority grows little by little, the tyrant is made; and when there are several who usurp such authority, the people must divide and finally fight one against another, and whoever has the greater following, or remains victorious, becomes tyrant. It is necessary, then, to establish that the authority to distribute offices and honours be in the whole people, so that one citizen need not look to another, and each may consider himself equal to the other, and no one may make himself head. But because it would be too difficult to assemble the whole people every day, a certain number of citizens must be instituted who have this authority from the whole people; but because a small number could be corrupted by friendships, kinship and money, a large number of citizens must be constituted; and because perhaps everyone would want to be of this number, and this could breed confusion, because perhaps the common people would want to meddle in the government, which would soon give birth to some disorder, this number of citizens must be limited in such a way that no one enters who is dangerous for causing disorder, and also so that no citizen can complain.

This number of citizens having been made, which is called the Great Council, and since it has to distribute all the honours, there is no doubt that it is the lord of the city; and therefore, once it is created, three things must be done. First, to establish it by due means and very strong laws, so that its state cannot be taken from it. And because citizens who have little love for their city are more concerned with their own private affairs than with the common good, and therefore do not trouble to assemble in the council (through which negligence such a council could lose its lordship and be dissolved), it would be well to provide that whoever did not assemble at the due time, without being lawfully prevented, should pay a certain sum the first time, and the penalty should be heavy; the second time heavier; and the third time he should be deprived of the council altogether; so that what he will not do for love, being bound to it, he may do by force; for everyone ought to love the common good more than his own, and for it he is bound to expose his property and his life, above all considering that from good government proceed so many goods, and from bad so many evils, as we have said. Other similar laws, penalties and provisions must be made, as experience shows from time to time, to make the council firm and establish the state of the lord of the city: for if that were taken away, everything would fall into ruin.

Second, it must be provided that such a lord cannot become a tyrant: for as sometimes a man who is a natural lord lets himself be corrupted by the wicked and becomes a tyrant, so a good council, through the malice of the wicked, becomes bad and tyrannical; and because vicious and foolish men, when they multiply, are the cause of many evils in governments, it must be provided that such men be excluded from the council as far as possible. Likewise, to provide with very heavy penalties that no secret agreements may be made, nor beans or votes solicited, and that whoever is found at fault be punished without any remission: for whoever is not severe in punishing cannot preserve kingdoms. One must therefore diligently provide for the removal of all the imperfections and evil roots by which the council could be corrupted and could come, above all its greater part, into the hands of wicked men: for at once it would be destroyed, and the tyrant would be made in the city. Third, it must be provided that it not be too burdened, that is, that so many citizens should not have to assemble for every smallest thing: hence lords too attend to important things and commit the lesser to their subjects, always keeping, however, the authority to distribute offices and benefices, so that everyone passes through its sieve, to remove the beginning of tyranny, as we have said; and therefore provision must be made that it assemble at certain times less inconvenient to the citizens, and that many things to be done on the day it assembles be discussed together, and a way found that the elections be short and dispatched as quickly as possible. We could say many things about this and come more to particulars; but if the Florentine citizens observe what we have said, and what we shall say in the following chapter, they will have no need of my instruction, for they themselves, if they wish, with the help of God, will know how to provide for everything little by little, learning better every day by experience. I would not wish to exceed the limits of my state, so as not to give our adversaries matter for murmuring.

Chapter 2. Of what the citizens would have to do to give perfection to civil government. Every Florentine citizen who wants to be a good member of his city and help it, as everyone ought to want, must first believe that this council and civil government has been sent by God, as it truly has, not only because every good government proceeds from him, but also because of the special providence that God has at present for the city of Florence. Of this, anyone who has been in it these three past years, and is not blind and wholly without judgment, sees clearly that, had it not been for the hand of God, such a government would never have been made amid so many and such powerful contradictions, nor could it have been maintained to this day among so many plotters and so few helpers. But because God wants us to exercise ourselves with the intellect and free will he has given us, he makes the things that pertain to human government imperfect at first, so that we with his help may make them perfect. Since, then, this government is still imperfect and lacking in many parts, indeed having almost nothing but a foundation, every citizen ought to desire and work, as much as he can, to give it its perfection; and to do this it would be necessary that all, or the greater part, have these four things. First, the fear of God; for it is certain that every kingdom and government proceeds from God, as indeed everything proceeds from him, since he is the first cause who governs everything; and we see that the government of natural things is perfect and stable, because natural things are subject to him and do not resist his government; so, if the citizens feared God and submitted themselves to his commandments, without doubt he would guide them to the perfection of this government and enlighten them in all they had to do.

Second, they would need to love the common good of the city, and when they are in the magistracies and other dignities, to set aside all their own interests and the particular interests of relatives and friends, and to keep their eye only on the common good; for this affection would first enlighten the eye of their intellect, and, being stripped of their own affections, they would not have deceptive spectacles; for, looking to the end of government, they could not easily err in the things ordered to it. On the other side, they would deserve that the common good be increased by God; hence among the other reasons why the Romans extended their empire so far, this is given: that they greatly loved the common good of the city; and therefore God, wishing to reward this good work (for he does not want any good to go unrewarded, and since such a work did not merit eternal life, because it was without grace), rewarded it with temporal goods corresponding to the work, that is, by increasing the common good of their city and extending their empire through the whole world. Third, the citizens would need to love one another, and to put away all hatreds and forget all the injuries of past times; for hatreds and evil affections and envies blind the eye of the intellect and do not let one see the truth; and therefore in the councils and magistracies whoever is not well purged in this respect makes many errors, and God, who would enlighten them were they well purged of such affection, lets them fall into them as punishment of their own and others' sins.

Besides this, if they were in concord and loved one another, God would reward this goodwill of theirs by giving them perfect government and increasing it; and this too is one of the reasons why God gave so great an empire to the Romans, because they loved one another and were in concord at the beginning; and although this was not supernatural charity, it was nevertheless good and natural, and therefore God rewarded it with temporal goods. If, then, the citizens of Florence loved one another with natural and supernatural charity, God would multiply their spiritual and temporal goods. Fourth, they would need to do justice, because justice purges the city of wicked men, or keeps them in fear, and the good and just remain on top, because they are gladly elected to the dignities by those who love justice; and they are then enlightened by God about all good laws, and are the cause of every good of the city, which is thereby filled with virtue; and virtue is always rewarded by justice, and good men multiply, who gladly gather where justice dwells; and God for this reason then extends the empire as well, as he did for the Romans, to whom also for this reason, that is, because they were severe in doing justice, he gave the empire of the world, wishing that his peoples be ruled with justice. If, then, the Florentine citizens would consider diligently, and with the judgment of reason, that no other government suits them than the one we have described, and would believe with faith that it has been given them by God, and would observe these four things, there is no doubt that in a short time such government would become perfect, both through the good counsels they would take together, in which God would enlighten them in what they sought to do, and also because he would specially enlighten them, through his servants, about many particulars they would not know how to find by themselves; and they would already have made a government of paradise, and would have obtained many graces, spiritual as well as temporal. But if they will not believe that this government has been given them by God, nor that it is what they need, nor fear God, nor love the common good, but attend to their own wishes, nor love one another, but always remain in division, nor do justice, the government made by God will stand, and they will consume one another and be consumed little by little by God, and the grace of this perfect government will be given to their children.

And already God has shown signs of his wrath, but they will not open their ears; and God will punish them in this world and in the other, for in this they will always be restless in mind and full of passions and sorrows, and in the other they will be in the eternal fire, since they have chosen to follow neither the natural light, which shows that this is their true government, nor the supernatural, of which they have seen signs. And already a part of those who have not walked uprightly in this government, and have always been restless in it, are at present suffering the pains of hell. So, since you, Florentines, have seen by many signs that God wants this government to stand, for it has not been changed amid the many contradictions that have been made against it within and without, and those who attack it have been threatened by him with so many punishments, I beg you, by the bowels of mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you be content at last to be at peace; for if you do not, he will send a much greater scourge upon you than he has sent on those who have passed; and you will lose this world and the other. But if you do it, you will obtain the happiness that we shall describe in the following chapter.

Chapter 3. Of the happiness of those who rule well, and the misery of tyrants and their followers. Since, then, the present government is more God's than men's, those citizens who, with great zeal for the honour of God and the common good, observing the things said above, strive as much as they can to bring it to perfection will acquire earthly, spiritual and eternal happiness. First, they will free themselves from the servitude of the tyrant, how great it is we have declared above; they will live in true liberty, which is more precious than gold and silver; and they will be secure in their city, attending to the government of their houses, to honest gains and to their farms, with joy and tranquillity of mind. And when God multiplies their property or honours, they will not be afraid that these will be taken from them. They will be able to go to their villas, or wherever they wish, without asking leave of the tyrant; and to marry their daughters and sons as they please; and hold weddings and be merry and have the companions they like; and give themselves to the virtues, either in the study of the sciences or of the arts, as they wish; and do other such things, which will be a kind of earthly happiness. Second, there will follow spiritual happiness, because everyone will be able to give himself to good Christian living and will be hindered by no one. Nor will anyone be compelled by threats not to do justice when he is in the magistracies, because everyone will be free; nor by poverty to make bad contracts, for with good government in the city it will abound in riches, and there will be work everywhere, and the poor will earn, and they will be able to bring up their sons and daughters in holiness, because good laws will be made about the modesty of women and boys; and above all because divine worship will multiply through this; for God, seeing their good mind, will send them good pastors, Scripture saying that “God gives pastors according to the peoples”; and such pastors will be able to rule their sheep without hindrance; and good priests and good religious will multiply, above all because the wicked will not be able to live there, since one contrary drives out the other. And so, in a short time, the city will be brought to such religion that it will be like an earthly paradise, and will live in jubilation and in songs and psalms; and the boys and girls will be like angels, and they will bring them up in Christian and civil life together; through whom, in their time, a government more heavenly than earthly will be made in the city; and the joy of the good will be so great that they will have a kind of spiritual happiness in this world.

Third, by this they will not only merit eternal happiness, but will also greatly increase their merits, and their crown in heaven will grow, because God gives the greatest reward to whoever governs cities well: for since blessedness is the reward of virtue, the greater a man's virtue is and the greater the things it does, the greater the reward it merits; since, then, it is a greater virtue to rule oneself and others, and above all a community and a kingdom, than to rule oneself alone, it follows that whoever rules a community well merits a very great reward in eternal life. Hence we see that in all the arts a greater reward is given to the chief, who directs all the things of the art, than to the servants who obey the chief: certainly a greater reward is given to the captain of the army in the military art than to the soldiers; and in the art of building likewise a greater reward is given to the master and the architect than to the labourers; and similarly in the other arts. Likewise, the more excellent a man's work is, and the more it honours God and benefits his neighbours, the more meritorious it is. Since, then, to govern a community well, above all one such as the Florentine, is an excellent work, and one that redounds most of all to the honour of God and brings very great benefit to the souls and bodies and temporal goods of men, as can easily be understood from what we have said above, there is no doubt that it merits an excellent reward and very great glory. Likewise we see that whoever gives an alms, or feeds a few poor people, is greatly rewarded by God, our Saviour saying that on the day of judgment he will turn to the righteous and say: “Come, you blessed of the Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for when I was hungry and thirsty, and when I was naked and a stranger, you fed me, and clothed me, and received me; and visited me when I was sick; for what you did to one of the least of mine, you did also to me.” If, then, God will greatly reward each person for individual alms, what reward will he give to whoever governs a great city well, by whose good government countless poor are fed, many wretched are provided for, widows and orphans are defended, persons who could not otherwise defend themselves against the force of the powerful and wicked are rescued from their hands, the country is freed from thieves and murderers, the good are protected, good living and divine worship are maintained, and countless other goods are done?

Likewise, every like loves its like, and is the more loved by it the more it resembles it: since, then, all creatures are like God, they are all loved by him; but because some are more like him than others, these are also more loved by him; since, then, whoever governs is much more like God than whoever is governed, it is manifest that, if he governs justly, he is more loved and rewarded by God than in his own private works when he does not govern; above all since whoever governs is in greater danger, and in greater labours of mind and body, than whoever does not govern; hence also he merits a greater reward. On the contrary, whoever wants to be a tyrant is unhappy in this world, first with earthly unhappiness, for as to riches, he cannot enjoy them because of many afflictions of mind, and fears, and continual cares, and above all because he must spend much to maintain himself in power; and wanting to keep everyone subject, he is himself more subject to all, since he must serve all to make everyone well disposed to him. Then he is deprived of friendship, which is one of the greatest and sweetest goods a man can have in this world; because he wants no one equal to himself, and keeps everyone in fear, and above all because the tyrant is almost always hated by everyone for the evils he does; and if he is loved by the wicked, it is not because they wish him well, but they love what they want to get from him, and therefore among such men there cannot be true friendship.

He is also deprived of good fame and honour, because of the evils he does and because he is always hated and envied by others. He can never have true consolation without sadness, because he always has to think and fear because of the enmities he has; hence he is always in fear and does not trust even his own guards. He also has spiritual unhappiness, because he is deprived of the grace of God and of all knowledge of him. He is surrounded by sins and by perverse men, who follow him at all times and make him fall headlong into many errors, as we have declared above. Lastly, he will also have eternal unhappiness, because the tyrant is almost always incorrigible: both because of the multitude of sins he sees he has committed, in which he has grown so accustomed that it is very hard to leave them; and because he has to restore so much ill-gotten property and repair so many damages done that he would be left in his shirt, which, how hard it is for one used to living in so much pride and so many delights, everyone can easily understand; and also because of the flatterers he has, who make light of his sins, indeed make him believe that what is evil is good; hence also lukewarm religious confess and absolve him, showing him white for black. And therefore he is wretched in this world, and then goes to hell in the other, where he has a heavier punishment than other men, both because of the multitude of sins he has committed and caused others to commit, and also because of the office he has usurped; for as whoever rules well is supremely rewarded by God, so whoever rules badly is supremely punished.

All those, too, who follow the tyrant share in his misery, in temporal as well as in spiritual and eternal things: hence they lose liberty, which is above all treasures, besides the fact that their property and honours and children and wives are in the tyrant's power; and they continually imitate his sins, because they strive to do everything that pleases him and to make themselves as like him as they can; and therefore in hell they will share in his most heavy punishment. Also all the citizens who are not content with civil government, though they are not tyrants because they cannot be, share these same unhappinesses, lacking riches and honours and reputation and friendship; because all the needy citizens gather round them to recoup themselves, and all the wicked men; hence they must spend, and they are shunned by the good, and therefore they have no true friendship with anyone, but everyone who follows them seeks to rob them; and through bad company they commit thousands of sins they would not otherwise commit, and they are restless of heart and always full of hatreds, envies and murmurings, and they have hell in this world and in the other. Since, then (as we have proved), whoever rules well is happy and like God, and whoever rules badly is unhappy and like the devil, every citizen ought to leave his sins and his own affections and strive to rule well, and to preserve, increase and perfect this civil government, for the honour of God and the salvation of souls, above all since it has been given specially by him for the love he bears this city, so that it may be happy both in this world and in the other, by the grace of our Saviour Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.