Chapter 1. How Many
Principalities There Are,
Kinds
of
And By What Means They Are Acquired
All states, all powers, that have held and
hold rule over men have been and are
either republics or principalities.
Principalities are either hereditary, in
which the family has been long
established; or they are new.
Francesco Sforza, or they are, as it were,
members annexed to the hereditary
state of the prince who has acquired
them, as was the kingdom of Naples to
that of the King of Spain.
Such dominions thus acquired are either
accustomed to live under a prince, or to
live in freedom; and are acquired either
by the arms of the prince himself, or of
others, or else by fortune or by ability.