Machiavelli wrote De Principatibus to get a job with the Medici after losing his position when they returned to Florence. There are a lot of interpretations of

Machiavelli wrote De Principatibus to get a job with the Medici after losing his position when they returned to Florence. There are a lot of interpretations of the work but the simplest is that it's a manual for an autocrat and that Machiavelli believed that the maxims he described were true. The most important is that the ends justify the means. It's quite a different question whether Machiavelli personally believed in autocracy. In the Discourses he discussed the management of republics. He also worked for the Florentine Republic for many years. There's no question he saw the strengths of republics, but his views are also conflated with admiration for Rome, which was Republican after 510 BC. I think the simplest answer is that Machiavelli believed in Florence, desired the unity of Italy against foreign invaders, and wanted to be part of the action. That's just my own opinion. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli#The_Prince https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli#The_P...