The Discourses by Niccolo Machiavelli

Author:Niccolo Machiavelli [Machiavelli, Niccolo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Classics, History, Europe, Italy, Military, Strategy, Politics & Social Sciences, Philosophy, Modern, Political, Politics & Government, International & World Politics, European, Political Science, History & Theory
ISBN: 9780141913186
Amazon: B00G4RH0W4
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2013-11-28T06:00:00+00:00

10. Money is not the Sinews of War, as it is commonly supposed to be

Since it is open to anyone having the requisite authority to begin a war but not to end it, a ruler before committing himself to such an undertaking should calculate what forces he has at his disposal and act accordingly. Moreover, he should also take good care not to make any mistake about such forces, as he will do every time he bases his calculations on money or on the terrain or on the goodwill of men, but, on the other hand, lacks troops of his own. For though such things undoubtedly add to your strength, they certainly do not provide you with it; and, as such, are nought and of no avail without faithful troops. For, without these no amount of money will suffice you: the natural strength of the country will not help you; nor will the goodwill of men last, since they cannot remain faithful to you unless you are able to protect them. Every mountain, every lake, every inaccessible fastness, becomes but as a plain, when strong defenders are lacking. Money, too, not only affords you no protection, but makes you the sooner fall a prey. Nor can any opinion be more false than that which asserts that money is the sinews of war.

This view was advocated by Quintus Curtius in connection with the war which took place between Antipater, the Macedonian, and the king of Sparta; where he tells how, for want of money, the king of Sparta of necessity had to join battle, and was beaten; whereas, had he postponed the battle for a few days, he would have had news from Greece of the death of Alexander, and so would have remained the victor without putting up a fight. But, since he was without funds and feared lest for lack of them his army might desert, he was forced to try his luck in battle. On which ground Quintus Curtius maintains that money is the sinews of war.

The view adopted by Quintus Curtius is put forward daily, and is followed by rulers whose prudence is not up to the mark. Taking this as their basic principle, they think they can defend themselves if they have a well-filled treasury, and do not consider that, if treasures guaranteed victory, Darius would have conquered Alexander, the Greeks would have conquered the Romans, in our day Duke Charles would have conquered the Swiss; nor yet, but a few days ago, would the combined forces of the Pope and the Florentines have had any difficulty in overcoming Francesco Maria, the nephew of Julius II, in the war of Urbino. Yet all those mentioned were overcome by those who held that the sinews of war lay not in money, but in good soldiers.

Among the other things that Croesus, king of Lydia, showed to Solon, the Athenian, was a treasure too great to count. Solon was then asked what opinion he had formed of the king’s

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.