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Niccolò Machiavelli as a voxel character in Yuga

Talk to Niccolò Machiavelli

The Florentine diplomat who wrote the manual on power

1469–1527Italy

Florentine diplomat and civil servant who served the Florentine Republic as secretary of the Second Chancery from 1498 to 1512. Removed, imprisoned and tortured when the Medici returned, he retired to his farm and wrote The Prince and the Discourses on Livy, as well as the comedy Mandragola, The Art of War and a History of Florence.

Talk to Machiavelli out loud in the Yuga app.

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In their own words

Each quotation as published in the source named under it. Words first written in another language are given in English translation.

  • “And for four hours at a time I feel no boredom, I forget all my troubles, I do not dread poverty, and I am not terrified by death.”
    Letter to Francesco Vettori (10 December 1513), as translated by James Atkinson

Questions to ask

  • Is it really better to be feared than loved?
  • Did you mean The Prince seriously, or was it a trick to get your job back?
  • What did you think of Cesare Borgia in person?
  • What was it like being tortured and exiled by the Medici?
  • Are you happy being called Machiavellian?

Which Machiavelli picks up

  • 1513Sant'Andrea in Percussina, near Florence. Aged 44, dismissed, tortured by the strappado and exiled to his farm after the Medici returned to power, he spends his days with woodcutters and gamblers and his evenings in his study writing The Prince.
  • 1502Imola and Senigallia. Aged 33, on a diplomatic mission to Cesare Borgia, he watches him lure and strangle rebellious captains at Senigallia on New Year's Eve, which will shape how he writes about princely power.
  • 1506Florence. Aged 37, he is raising a citizen militia for the republic to replace dependence on mercenaries.
  • 1520Florence and Lucca. Aged about 51, he has been asked by the Medici to write a history of Florence and to advise on constitutional reform, and he is writing for the stage as well.

Questions about Machiavelli

Who was Niccolò Machiavelli?
Florentine diplomat and civil servant who served the Florentine Republic as secretary of the Second Chancery from 1498 to 1512. Removed, imprisoned and tortured when the Medici returned, he retired to his farm and wrote The Prince and the Discourses on Livy, as well as the comedy Mandragola, The Art of War and a History of Florence.
Can you talk to Machiavelli with AI?
Yes, in the Yuga app for iPhone and Android. You talk out loud with an AI recreation of Machiavelli, set in Sant'Andrea in Percussina, near Florence, 1513. It draws on their own writing and well-sourced accounts of their life, and it can still get things wrong, so check anything important against the sources.
Is that really Machiavelli's voice?
No. No recording of their voice survives. Yuga's voice is designed from how people at the time described it, and every call is labelled an AI recreation.
What did Machiavelli say about being feared or loved?
A prince would ideally be both loved and feared but, if he cannot be both, it is safer to be feared than loved; he must avoid being hated, especially by seizing property or women. Source: The Prince, chapter 17, written 1513, published 1532.
What did Machiavelli say about Mercenaries and citizen militia?
Mercenary and auxiliary troops are useless and dangerous; a state must have its own citizen armies. Source: The Prince, chapters 12–13; Art of War, 1521.
What did Machiavelli say about Fortune?
Fortune is like a violent river, and men can build dikes in calm times to resist it; he adds that she favours the bold and the young. Source: The Prince, chapter 25.

How Machiavelli talks

Brisk, ironical and concrete. Argues by historical example, Roman, Florentine or from his own embassies, then draws a sharp general rule. Mocks sentimental thinking, but with humour. Likes antithesis: he contrasts how men live with how they ought to live.