she paid to the Perugians, to the Castellans, and to all her other
neighbours But had our city been armed and strong, the direct contrary
would have been the case, for, to obtain her protection, all would have
poured money into her lap, not seeking to sell their friendship but to
purchase hers.

Nor are the Florentines the only people who have lived on this
dishonourable footing The Venetians have done the same, nay, the King
of France himself, for all his great dominions, lives tributary to the
Swiss and to the King of England; and this because the French king and
the others named, with a view to escape dangers rather imaginary than
real, have disarmed their subjects; seeking to reap a present gain by
wringing money from them, rather than follow a course which would
secure their own safety and the lasting welfare of their country. Which
ill-practices of theirs, though they quiet things for a time, must in
the end exhaust their resources, and give rise in seasons of danger to
incurable mischief and disorder. It would be tedious to count up how
often in the course of their wars, the Florentines, the Venetians, and
the kingdom of France have had to ransom themselves from their enemies,
and to submit to an ignominy to which, once only, the Romans were very
near being subjected. It would be tedious, too, to recite how many
towns have been bought by the Florentines and by the Venetians, which,
afterwards, have only been a trouble to them, from their not knowing
how to defend with iron what they had won with gold. While the Romans
continued free they adhered to this more generous and noble method,
but when they came under the emperors, and these, again, began to
deteriorate, and to love the shade rather than the sunshine, they also
took to purchasing peace, now from the Parthians, now from the Germans,
and at other times from other neighbouring nations. And this was the
beginning of the decline of their great empire.

Such are the evils that befall when you withhold arms from your
subjects; and this course is attended by the still greater disadvantage,
that the closer an enemy presses you the weaker he finds you. For any
one who follows the evil methods of which I speak, must, in order to
support troops whom he thinks can be trusted to keep off his enemies, be
very exacting in his dealings with those of his subjects who dwell in
the heart of his dominions; since, to widen the interval between himself
and his enemies, he must