The Auron MacIntyre Show Machiavelli on the Danger of Mercenaries | 3/11/26
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Mar 11, 2026 A deep dive into why rulers must control instruments of violence and the perils of relying on hired soldiers. A look at how popular backing versus noble support shapes political power. Discussion of fortified cities, urban self-sufficiency, and how church authority became temporal power. Historical examples show mercenaries’ unreliability and the strength of citizen armies.
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Win The People By Protecting Them
- Keep the people's favor by protecting them and avoiding oppression, since their basic demand is not to be oppressed.
- A prince raised by nobles should make winning popular support his first priority by shielding citizens from noble abuse.
Security Comes From Making Citizens Need You
- A stable ruler makes citizens dependent on the government so they remain loyal in crisis.
- Machiavelli counsels princes to structure society so citizens always need the prince's protection and services.
Rely On Your Own Armies Not Foreign Aid
- Measure a state's strength by whether the prince can rely on his own resources to raise armies rather than foreign aid.
- Auron stresses Machiavelli's rule: a ruler dependent on another country's military cannot be truly sovereign.
