《君主论·第二十六章·奉劝将意大利从蛮族手中解放》第1节
Having carefully considered the subject of the above discourses, and wondering within myself whether the present times were propitious to a new prince, and whether there were elements that would give an opportunity to a wise and virtuous one to introduce a new order of things which would do honour to him and good to the people of this country, it appears to me that so many things concur to favour a new prince that I never knew a time more fit than the present. And if, as I said, it was necessary that the people of Israel should be captive so as to make manifest the ability of Moses; that the Persians should be oppressed by the Medes so as to discover the greatness of the soul of Cyrus; and that the Athenians should be dispersed to illustrate the capabilities of Theseus: then at the present time, in order to discover the virtue of an Italian spirit, it was necessary that Italy should be reduced to the extremity that she is now in, that she should be more enslaved than the Hebrews, more oppressed than the Persians, more scattered than the Athenians; without head, without order, beaten, despoiled, torn, overrun; and to have endured every kind of desolation.
注释摘要
这段文字是全书的终章引言，马基雅维利在这里完成了他整个论证的最后一道推理。他要论证的核心命题是：眼下意大利的极端困境，恰恰为新君主提供了前所未有的正当性和机会。他的推理链条十分清晰——先摆出自己的判断，认为从未见过比当下更有利于新君主的时机，然后用一组精心挑选的历史类比来加固这个判断。 他举出的三个例子全部出自他此前论述过的武装先知与建国者。摩西之所以能展…