THE PRINCE
-Machiavelli
get yourself a kingdom, and preferably have your own
army while doing it since mercenaries are bad news. Be careful when choosing a
place to take over. Even though it will be harder to conquer at first, choose
the land of a king with no powerful barons or ministers, because it will be
easiest to maintain in the long run. Make sure you kill anyone who might oppose
you before continuing. And choose a role model.
keep your kingdom secure by not allowing people as
strong as you are into the neighborhood. Also, make friends with your
neighbors. Don't let people hate you, but don't worry too much if they grumble
a bit. Maintain a reputation for awesomeness. When in doubt, think of Cesare
Borgia.
States can be republics
or kingdoms, old or new. The easiest to rule are old hereditary kingdoms, lands
that are passed down from father to son (and rarely from father to daughter, or
mother to son or—you get the picture). Basically, instead of passing along
their 2001 Toyota Camry, your parents give you a kingdom.
You'd have to be an idiot to have problems ruling one of these.
Because they're so easy to rule, they are hard to take. The opposite is true of
states that are easy to take: they tend to be hard to rule. The best way to
take old hereditary kingdoms is by killing the old monarchy. Every last one.
You also need violence
to take self-governed republics, because they will rebel if you don't crush
them. Just remember not to keep being violent. Get it
over with so you can start being nice and people won't hate you. Never let your
people hate you. Lie, cheat, steal—just don't become hated.
And make sure you have your own army.
Mercenaries and auxiliaries (people you pay to fight for you)
are a waste of time and dangerous, to boot. If you have a strong army, and your
people love you, no one can touch you. They won't even think about
it.
On that topic, you need to run your army, so war needs to be on
your mind all day every day. You need to be on the cutting edge of war
techniques and technology. By the way, a word (or two) on fortresses: they look
cool and everything, but they can also make people resent you. They're really
only useful if you are afraid of your people.
Throw parties for your people. Listen to your ministers (the
smart ones) but avoid brown-noses.
Finally, Italy is not doing so great right now because its
rulers didn't follow Machiavelli's rules. They blame bad luck, but you can
always prepare for luck, and they didn't. Don't be like them. Be awesome.
