X. How the Strength of All Principalities Should Be Measured

In examining the qualities of these principalities, there is another consideration to keep in mind: whether a prince has so much power that he can, if need be, stand on his own, or whether he always needs the protection of others. To make this part clearer, I say that I judge those able to stand on their own who, through an abundance of men or of money, can put together an adequate army and fight a pitched battle against anyone who comes to attack them; and I judge those always in need of others who cannot take the field against the enemy but are forced to take refuge behind their walls and guard them. The first case has been discussed, and we will say more about it as the occasion arises. In the second case nothing more can be said except to urge such princes to fortify and provision their own town and to take no account of the surrounding country. Whoever has fortified his town well, and has managed his other dealings with his subjects as was said above and will be said below, will always be attacked with great caution; for men are always enemies of enterprises in which they see difficulty, and no one can see it as easy to attack a man who has a strong town and is not hated by the people.

The cities of Germany are entirely free; they have little surrounding territory, they obey the emperor when they choose, and they fear neither him nor any other power around them. For they are so well fortified that everyone thinks taking them would be a slow and difficult business. They all have suitable moats and walls; they have enough artillery; they always keep in their public storehouses enough to drink, to eat, and to burn for a year. Besides this, so as to keep the common people fed without loss to the public purse, they always keep on hand enough to give them a year’s work in the trades that are the sinews and life of the city and by whose industry the common people live. They also hold military exercises in high esteem, and have many ordinances to maintain them.

A prince, then, who has a strong city and does not make himself hated cannot be attacked; and even if someone did attack him, the attacker would leave in disgrace. For the affairs of the world are so changeable that it is almost impossible for anyone to sit idle with his armies for a year besieging him. And if someone should reply that if the people have their property outside the walls and see it burning, they will lose patience, and the long siege and their own self-interest will make them forget their prince, I answer that a powerful and spirited prince will always overcome all these difficulties, now giving his subjects hope that the evil will not last long, now making them fear the cruelty of the enemy, now deftly securing himself against those who seem too bold. Besides this, the enemy will naturally burn and ruin the country on his arrival, at the very time when men’s spirits are still hot and eager for defense; and so the prince has all the less to fear, because after some days, when spirits have cooled, the damage has already been done, the harm has been suffered, and there is no longer any remedy. And then they come to unite with their prince all the more, since it seems that he is under an obligation to them, their houses having been burned and their property ruined in his defense. For it is the nature of men to be bound as much by the benefits they give as by those they receive. So, if all this is considered well, it will not be difficult for a prudent prince to keep the spirits of his citizens firm, both at the beginning and later on in a siege, as long as he does not lack food or the means of defense.