The Prince

The Prince (Italian: Il Principe [il ˈprintʃipe]; Latin: De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by the Italian diplomat and political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli in the form of an instruction guide for new princes. Many commentators have viewed that one of the main themes of The Prince is that immoral acts are sometimes necessary to achieve political glory.

From Machiavelli's correspondence, a version was being written in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities). However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. This was carried out with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII, but "long before then, in fact since the first appearance of The Prince in manuscript, controversy had swirled about his writings".