CHAP. XIV.
Of the Duties of a Prince relative to his Military Force.
Princes ought, therefore, to make the art of iwar their sole study and occupation, for it is peculiarly the science of those who govern. By it he maintains himself in possession of his dominions; and by it also private individuals are sometimes raised to supreme authority, whilst we frequently see princes shamefully reduced to nothing, by suffering themselves to be enfeebled by slothful inactivity. I repeat it, that it is owing to a neglect of this art, that states are lost, and it is by cultivating it they are conquered.
Francis Sforza from a private individual becamę Duke of Milan, because he had an army at his disposal, and his children, who were dukes, by a deviation from this rule, were reduced to private individuals. It is not surprising, for in the first place there is nothing so likely to lose the consideration which a prince enjoys, as not to be at the head of his troops; and that which a prince should most particularly guard against is, as I
shall hereafter prove, the danger of becoming contemptible.
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