It may appear, perhaps, to some who have examined the lives and deaths… — The Prince

The Prince — Niccolò Machiavelli

It may appear, perhaps, to some who have examined the lives and deaths of the Roman emperors that many of them would be an example contrary to my opinion, seeing that some of them lived nobly and showed great qualities of soul, nevertheless they have lost their empire or have been killed by subjects who have conspired against them. Wishing, therefore, to answer these objections, I will recall the characters of some of the emperors, and will show that the causes of their ruin were not different to those alleged by me; at the same time I will only submit for consideration those things that are noteworthy to him who studies the affairs of those times.

Place: CHAPTER XIX -- THAT ONE SHOULD AVOID BEING DESPISED AND HATED · ¶241
License: Public domain · Source
The text is given as in the edition, unedited.

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