Machiavelli wasn't just "worried"; he'd seen it be attempted (sometimes successfully). Facino Cane, Vitellozzo Vitelli, and famously Francesco Sforza. (Often th

Machiavelli wasn't just "worried"; he'd seen it be attempted (sometimes successfully). Facino Cane, Vitellozzo Vitelli, and famously Francesco Sforza. (Often this would happen on the death of the previous hereditary ruler, or through taking independent control of territories conquered in an employer's name.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facino_Cane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facino_Cane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitellozzo_Vitelli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitellozzo_Vitelli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_I_Sforza https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_I_Sforza