Quiz: The Prince

All 30 questions. A perfect score earns the gold medal; 80% earns silver.

1. 1. What, according to chapter 9, does the people want, as opposed to the nobles?

   To be given land and offices To rule in the nobles’ place Only not to be oppressed To have a hereditary king
2. 2. What, above all, must a prince who wishes to avoid hatred refrain from?

   Waging foreign wars Executing anyone, even a proven traitor Taking the property of others Raising an army of his own subjects
3. 3. Into what two kinds does chapter 1 divide all states?

   Monarchies and tyrannies Aristocracies and democracies Republics and principalities Empires and city-states
4. 4. Which ruler does chapter 2 cite as surviving attacks because his family’s rule was long established?

   The Marquis of Mantua The Duke of Ferrara The King of Naples The Duke of Milan
5. 5. Which emperor alone among the “good” emperors lived and died honoured, according to Machiavelli?

   Marcus, who inherited the throne Pertinax, because the soldiers loved him Alexander, because he obeyed his mother Commodus, because he was Marcus’s son
6. 6. What did Cesare Borgia do with Ramiro d’Orco after he had pacified the Romagna?

   Had him cut in two on the piazza at Cesena Sent him as his ambassador to the court of France Put him in command of the army against Florence Made him Duke of Urbino
7. 7. What biblical episode illustrates the danger of other men’s arms in chapter 13?

   Joshua at the walls of Jericho Gideon reducing his army to three hundred David rejecting Saul’s armour to fight Goliath Samson pulling down the temple of the Philistines
8. 8. What does Machiavelli say he will follow in discussing a prince’s conduct, unlike earlier writers?

   The teachings of the Church Fathers The example of the ancient Greek lawgivers, Lycurgus and Solon The real truth of a matter, not the imagination of it The customs of the French court
9. 9. If a prince cannot be both, what does Machiavelli say is safer?

   To be loved rather than feared To be feared rather than loved To be neither feared nor loved To be pitied
10. 10. What comparison does Machiavelli use to justify a man of humble condition writing about princes?

    A physician who diagnoses a patient from outside the sickroom An archer who aims higher than the mark Landscape painters, who view mountains from the plain A builder who reads and follows the plan of an architect
11. 11. What does Machiavelli call the only truly safe way to hold a conquered city used to freedom?

    To give it a constitution like the conqueror’s own To ruin it (or else reside there) To marry into its leading family To grant its citizens tax exemptions
12. 12. Why does Machiavelli advise a prince not to fear a reputation for meanness?

    Thrift lets him wage war without burdening his people A prince’s wealth belongs by right to the nobles and the Church Generosity is a sin according to the Church Mean princes are always loved by their soldiers and captains
13. 13. Whose verses close the book?

    Virgil’s Petrarch’s Dante’s Boccaccio’s
14. 14. What does Machiavelli advise when two powerful neighbours go to war?

    Stay strictly neutral and offer to mediate Help both sides secretly Declare for one side, not stay neutral Retreat behind fortresses
15. 15. What was Philopoemen praised for in chapter 14?

    In peace he kept discussing with friends how to fight on the ground around them He built fortifications in every city of Achaea while the peace with Sparta lasted He read Xenophon’s life of Cyrus every day and modelled all his conduct upon it He refused all mercenaries and drilled the citizens of Achaea himself in every season
16. 16. Which commander does Machiavelli contrast with Hannibal as too lenient, so that his army mutinied?

    Alexander the Great Scipio Julius Caesar Fabius Maximus
17. 17. Which of these is not among the errors Machiavelli charges to Louis XII in Italy?

    Bringing a foreign power, Spain, into Italy Hiring Swiss mercenaries to garrison Milan Neither settling in the country nor sending colonies Increasing the strength of the Church
18. 18. To what does Machiavelli compare fortune in chapter 25?

    A wheel that turns endlessly, raising and casting down A storm at sea that wrecks the unready ship A wild horse A flooding river, checked by dykes
19. 19. What does Machiavelli offer Lorenzo de’ Medici as his gift?

    A Latin history of the Medici family, written in the manner of the ancient authors A plan for the defence of Florence’s walls, drawn up from his years in the chancery His knowledge of the deeds of great men, from experience and study of antiquity A horse and armour worthy of a prince, such as others bring to win his favour
20. 20. According to chapter 4, why is the Turk’s state hard to seize but easy to hold?

    Its people are bound to the sultan by religion alone and would die rather than serve a Christian It relies on Christian mercenaries, who change sides as soon as an invader offers better pay It is ruled by one lord through servants, with no barons to call in an invader Its mountains and deserts make invasion impossible, and its armies are the largest in the world
21. 21. Whose habits of counsel does Machiavelli give as the bad example in chapter 23?

    The Emperor Maximilian Ferdinand of Aragon, King of Spain Pope Julius II King Louis XII of France
22. 22. Why, according to chapter 25, did Julius II always succeed?

    He relied on Swiss mercenaries He was advised in all things by Cesare Borgia His impetuous nature suited the times He always waited until his plans were complete
23. 23. Which two beasts should a prince imitate, according to chapter 18?

    The wolf and the eagle The horse and the lion The bear and the serpent The fox and the lion
24. 24. How many classes of intellect does Machiavelli distinguish when judging princes by their ministers?

    Five Two Three Four
25. 25. To what does chapter 12 attribute the ruin of Italy?

    Relying for many years on mercenaries Heavy taxation of the cities The luxury of the Italian courts The division of Italy between Guelfs and Ghibellines
26. 26. Which of the five qualities is it most necessary for a prince to appear to have?

    Being merciful Being faithful Being humane Being religious
27. 27. What does Machiavelli call the best possible fortress?

    A treasury full of gold Not to be hated by the people An alliance with France A castle with modern bastions
28. 28. How, according to chapter 8, should injuries and benefits be distributed?

    Both gradually, to avoid sudden changes Benefits all at once, injuries little by little Both at once, at the start of a reign Injuries all at once, benefits little by little
29. 29. Whom does chapter 6 give as the modern example of an unarmed prophet who was ruined?

    Fra Girolamo Savonarola Cola di Rienzo Jan Hus of Bohemia Martin Luther of Wittenberg
30. 30. For what single mistake does Machiavelli blame Cesare Borgia?

    Trusting the Orsini leaders, whom he later trapped at Sinigalia Executing Ramiro d’Orco, who had pacified the Romagna for him Breaking with the King of France, his chief ally in the Romagna Allowing the election of Julius II, a cardinal he had injured