Five Hundred Years Ago Machiavelli Finished Writing The Prince

Niccolò Machiavelli is most famous for The Prince, his seminal text on politics, war and statecraft. The Prince has educated many leaders, schemers and criminals for five centuries. In a December 10, 1513 letter, Machiavelli informed his friend Francesco Vettori that he had just completed his treatise.
It was assigned reading in one of my high school English classes. I’m glad that I read it. It’s a hard, realistic look at human behavior. The 284^th Rule of Acquisition says, “Deep down, everyone's a Ferengi.” Machiavelli would have agreed. The Prince has endured because Machiavelli was right.