The Prince Chapter 13 Summary

Summary

The chapter examines three types of military forces a prince might use: auxiliaries (troops lent by another ruler), mercenaries (hired soldiers), and one’s own troops (subjects, citizens, or dependents). Machiavelli opens with recent and historical examples—Pope Julius, the Florentines, and the Emperor of Constantinople—to show how auxiliaries can turn into a prince’s ruin, either by abandoning him in defeat or by enslaving him in victory. He stresses that auxiliaries are particularly hazardous because they act under a foreign command and their loyalty serves their own masters rather than the prince who called them.

Machiavelli contrasts auxiliaries with mercenaries and with native forces. He acknowledges that mercenaries are unreliable and cowardly in many contexts, but contends auxiliaries are worse because they can bind a prince to foreign interests. He gives Cesare Borgia as a case study: Borgia initially uses French auxiliaries, then mercenaries (Orsini and Vitelli), finds both unsatisfactory, and finally builds and relies on his own troops, gaining stronger reputation and secure rule. Ancient and biblical examples (Hiero of Syracuse; David and Saul) and the history of France under Charles VII and Louis XI illustrate how reliance on foreign or mixed forces undermines a state’s martial backbone. Machiavelli concludes that no principality is secure without its own forces, and he points to the example of Philip (father of Alexander) and various republics as models for organizing native arms.

The chapter closes with an admonition: a prince who cannot foresee such dangers is not truly wise; therefore, he should create and maintain his own military strength and follow the practical rules Machiavelli advocates for organizing national forces.

Key events

1. Defines auxiliaries and explains their dangers with Pope Julius’ example.
2. Cites Florentines and the Emperor of Constantinople to show auxiliaries’ long-term harm.
3. Compares auxiliaries to mercenaries and notes mercenaries’ cowardice versus auxiliaries’ potential valour that enslaves.
4. Presents Cesare Borgia’s shift from auxiliaries to mercenaries to his own troops as a lesson.
5. Uses ancient/biblical examples (Hiero; David) to reinforce the value of native forces.
6. Discusses French history under Charles VII and Louis XI to show consequences of abandoning one’s own arms.
7. Concludes that only one’s own forces make a principality secure and points to Philip and other rulers as models.

Analysis

This chapter functions as a practical, argumentative cornerstone in Machiavelli’s larger project: it ties military organization directly to political security and legitimacy. Rather than abstract moralizing, Machiavelli uses concrete historical and contemporary examples to build a typology of armed forces and to rank them by reliability. The structure is cumulative—examples pile up to reinforce a single practical conclusion—so the reader moves from anecdote (Pope Julius, Florence) to case study (Cesare Borgia) to historical generalization (Rome, France). The rhetorical technique is pragmatic and didactic: short, pointed examples followed by a prescriptive recommendation.

Thematically, the chapter underscores central Machiavellian concerns: the primacy of self-sufficiency, the contingency of fortune, and the need for foresight. It also develops his recurring skepticism about external sources of power—alliances, hired strength, and foreign prestige—as inherently unstable and potentially corrosive to civic virtue and military capacity. Symbolically, the repeated contrast between “one’s own” and “the other’s” arms dramatizes the difference between autonomous rule and dependency. The chapter foreshadows later prescriptions about how a prince must act to secure power, and it sharpens the work’s pragmatic tone: moral niceties are subordinate to durable political survival.

Important quotes

“These arms may be useful and good in themselves, but for him who calls them in they are always disadvantageous; for losing, one is undone, and winning, one is their captive.”

NarratorDefines the central danger of calling in auxiliaries: defeat destroys you, victory makes you beholden to foreign power.

“the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.”

NarratorSummarizes the chapter’s warning that foreign forces are unreliable and ultimately harmful to a prince’s independence.

Characters in Chapter 13

• Pope Julius
• Ferdinand II of Aragon
• Florentines
• Emperor of Constantinople (Joannes Cantacuzenus)
• Cesare Borgia
• Orsini
• Vitelli
• Hiero
• David
• Saul
• Goliath
• Charles the Seventh
• King Louis the Eleventh
• Switzers
• Goths
• Philip