《君主论·第十二章·军队有多少种·论雇佣军》第4节
And if it be urged that whoever is armed will act in the same way, whether mercenary or not, I reply that when arms have to be resorted to, either by a prince or a republic, then the prince ought to go in person and perform the duty of a captain; the republic has to send its citizens, and when one is sent who does not turn out satisfactorily, it ought to recall him, and when one is worthy, to hold him by the laws so that he does not leave the command. And experience has shown princes and republics, single-handed, making the greatest progress, and mercenaries doing nothing except damage; and it is more difficult to bring a republic, armed with its own arms, under the sway of one of its citizens than it is to bring one armed with foreign arms. Rome and Sparta stood for many ages armed and free. The Switzers are completely armed and quite free. Of ancient mercenaries, for example, there are the Carthaginians, who were oppressed by their mercenary soldiers after the first war with the Romans, although the Carthaginians had their own citizens for captains. After the death of Epaminondas, Philip of Macedon was made captain of their soldiers by the Thebans, and after victory he took away their liberty.
注释摘要
马基雅维利在这里预判了一个可能的反驳：既然一切武装力量都可能产生野心，那雇佣军和本国军队又有什么区别？他的回答直接而冷酷——区别在于谁来掌控武力，以及掌控者是否受制度的约束。他把君主国与共和国分开讨论，说君主应当亲自统兵，亲自承担统帅的职责，而不是把军权交到一个职业佣兵队长手里。共和国则应当派遣自己的公民出任将领，如果派出去的人表现不佳，就召回他；如果表现…