The Greatest Glory

Machiavelli wrote in the Discourses, "If a ruler wants to acquire worldly glory, he ought to want to rule over a corrupt city, not in order to destroy it completely, as Caesar destroyed Rome, but to re-establish it, as Romulus did. In truth, the heavens cannot offer a man a greater opportunity to win glory, nor can men desire any reputation more than this one." Without going into Batman much, I have to say my first thought goes to Gotham City and its White Knight of Harvey Dent who successfully put all the city's criminals in jail. This would jive with Machiavelli's suggestion, at least until he turns into Two Face.

Anyways, it's interesting that Machiavelli's greatest glory comes from undoing corruption, rather than betraying and conquering all of your neighbors or some other typical Machiavellian scheme. Instead he handpicks the ruling of, and making-pure of a corrupt city as the best reputation-maker. I would agree with him here. I can only imagine the task of ending corruption and successfully avoiding all the vendettas it would bring, as an immensely difficult task, worthy of much praise indeed. After halting corruption in the city, the ruler would have to define what good is, what is expected and how the public should behave. Then, the ruler would have to constantly remind, guide and enforce them along the way. Once the respect is gained, things would likely run very smoothly. The trouble would be in successfully reversing the corrupt actions of the past and making sure they don't happen again, or even offer a temptation for the public to follow suit. This is a job for an extremely ambitious, skilled, lucky and moral-driven ruler. Also, Machiavelli would probably advise this wise ruler to get out of local politics because it's a real drag.

Machiavelli wrote, "One path leads to security in this life and to glory after death; the other leads to continuous anxiety in this life and to perpetual infamy after death." He would make it clear that all rulers follow the second path riddled with risks and uncertainty, for it yields the greatest results if you successfully reach the end. Though, the path is not for rulers only. Even Machiavelli's own life, what little I know of it, seemed full of anxiety and punishment. This may be because Machiavelli himself struck out on the second path and reached for the stars, but for whatever reason (probably fortune), he did not exactly succeed and rule. On the other hand, the modern fascination with the man and the mere weight his name and texts carry, is evidence of this "perpetual infamy after death" he wrote of. Rest In War And Peace Machiavelli.