The Ideal Prince

Machiavelli's "Prince" is a unique historical work, as a letter written to Lorenzo Medici, but most of the work is meant for anyone who is able to understand. While the book was meant to serve as a guide for what characteristics the ideal ruler of a country would hold, he also hoped that the letter would bring him back in favor of the Medici's who had previous exiled him. Machiavelli never dictates what or who the ideal prince is, but he continually offers examples and advice, which is often immoral and unethical, on how someone would become the ideal prince. Machiavelli was naturally pessimistic about the human race, and that heavily influenced this work, with negative connotations flowing freely.

One of the first suggestions Machiavelli makes in the book is that it is much easier if the prince is taking over a new principality due to heredity. The "subjects" will transition much easier