If Paolo Vitelli had been victorious against Pisa (1498), he would have held them at discretion.

In each of these cases it was only the good fortune of the republic which saved it from a military despotism.

If, on the other hand, the mercenary captains are men of no capacity, you are defeated in the field.
[1] See chapter xii.

of the _Principe._ Proceeding to the historical development of this bad system, Machiavelli points out how after the decline of the Imperial authority in Italy, the Papacy and the republics got the upper hand.

Priests and merchants were alike unwilling to engage in war.