Machiavelli became the scapegoat of great political crimes; and during the religious wars of the sixteenth century there were not wanting fanatics who ascribed such acts of atrocity as the Massacre of S.Bartholomew to his venomous influence.

Yet this book was really nothing more or less than a critical compendium of facts respecting Italy, a highly condensed abstract of political experience.

In it as in a mirror we may study the lineaments of the Italian despot who by adventure or by heritage succeeded to the conduct of a kingdom.

At the same time the political principles here established are those which guided the deliberations of the Venetian Council and the Papal Court, no less than the actions of a Sforza or a Borgia upon the path to power.

It is therefore a document of the very highest value for the illustration of the Italian conscience in relation to political morality.
The _Principe_ opens with the statement that all forms of government may be classified as republics or as principalities.