To the Magnificent Lorenzo Di Piero De’ Medici
To the Honorable Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici
Those who strive to obtain the good graces of a prince are accustomed to come before him with such things as they hold most precious, or in which they see him take most delight; whence one often sees horses, arms, cloth of gold, precious stones, and similar ornaments presented to princes, worthy of their greatness.
Those seeking a prince’s favor usually bring him gifts they value most or believe will please him most. So princes often receive horses, weapons, gold cloth, precious stones, and similar ornaments worthy of their greatness.
Desiring therefore to present myself to your Magnificence with some testimony of my devotion towards you, I have not found among my possessions anything which I hold more dear than, or value so much as, the knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by long experience in contemporary affairs, and a continual study of antiquity; which, having reflected upon it with great and prolonged diligence, I now send, digested into a little volume, to your Magnificence.
Wishing to offer Your Magnificence a sign of my devotion, I have considered what I could give you. Among my possessions, nothing is dearer to me or more valuable than my knowledge of the actions of great men. I gained this knowledge through long experience in current affairs and constant study of the ancient world. I have reflected on it with great care over a long time. Now I send it to Your Magnificence, gathered into a short book.
And although I may consider this work unworthy of your countenance, nevertheless I trust much to your benignity that it may be acceptable, seeing that it is not possible for me to make a better gift than to offer you the opportunity of understanding in the shortest time all that I have learnt in so many years, and with so many troubles and dangers; which work I have not embellished with swelling or magnificent words, nor stuffed with rounded periods, nor with any extrinsic allurements or adornments whatever, with which so many are accustomed to embellish their works; for I have wished either that no honour should be given it, or else that the truth of the matter and the weightiness of the theme shall make it acceptable.
Although I may consider this work unworthy of your attention, I trust greatly in your kindness to find it acceptable. I can offer you no better gift than the chance to understand, in very little time, all I have learned. That learning took many years and came with many hardships and dangers. I have not dressed this work in grand or magnificent words, or filled it with elaborate sentences. Nor have I added any of the other decorative touches that so many writers use to adorn their works. I have wanted it either to receive no honor at all, or to be accepted for its truth and the importance of its subject.
Nor do I hold with those who regard it as a presumption if a man of low and humble condition dare to discuss and settle the concerns of princes; because, just as those who draw landscapes place themselves below in the plain to contemplate the nature of the mountains and of lofty places, and in order to contemplate the plains place themselves upon high mountains, even so to understand the nature of the people it needs to be a prince, and to understand that of princes it needs to be of the people.
I disagree with those who think a man of humble standing oversteps his place by discussing and judging princes’ affairs. Landscape artists stand down on the plain to study mountains and high places. To study the plains, they climb high mountains. In the same way, you must be a prince to understand the nature of the people. And you must be one of the people to understand the nature of princes.
Take then, your Magnificence, this little gift in the spirit in which I send it; wherein, if it be diligently read and considered by you, you will learn my extreme desire that you should attain that greatness which fortune and your other attributes promise. And if your Magnificence from the summit of your greatness will sometimes turn your eyes to these lower regions, you will see how unmeritedly I suffer a great and continued malignity of fortune.
Accept, then, Your Magnificence, this small gift in the spirit in which I offer it. If you read and consider it carefully, you will see how deeply I desire your greatness. Fortune and your other qualities promise you that greatness. And if, from the heights of your greatness, you sometimes look down toward those in humbler circumstances, you will see me. You will see how undeservedly I suffer from great and unrelenting misfortune.