In Chapter 7 of “The Prince”, Machiavelli described the style of the Italian mercenary corps. The mercenaries basically treated the soldiers as their own property. If there was a real battle, it would be a great loss for the mercenaries. Therefore, the mercenaries used to create fear and bluster, so that people would overestimate them, which would help negotiate a compromise and “give up without a fight”. However, Machiavelli also mentioned that the mercenary corps was unreliable because it placed too much emphasis on the soldiers and therefore tended to defect when the battle was unfavorable. Therefore, Machiavelli was committed…
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