In the year 1512, a Spanish army entered the Florentine territory, with
the object of restoring the Medici to Florence, and of levying a subsidy
from the town; having been summoned thither by certain of the citizens,
who had promised them that so soon as they appeared within the
Florentine confines they would arm in their behalf. But when the
Spaniards had come into the plain of the Arno, and none declared in
their favour, being in sore need of supplies, they offered to make
terms. This offer the people of Florence in their pride rejected, and so
gave occasion for the sack of Prato and the overthrow of the Florentine
Republic.

A prince, therefore, who is attacked by an enemy much more powerful than
himself, can make no greater mistake than to refuse to treat, especially
when overtures are made to him; for however poor the terms offered may
be, they are sure to contain some conditions advantageous for him who
accepts them, and which he may construe as a partial success. For which
reason it ought to have been enough for the citizens of Tyre that
Alexander was brought to accept terms which he had at first rejected;
and they should have esteemed it a sufficient triumph that, by their
resistance in arms, they had forced so great a warrior to bow to their
will. And, in like manner, it should have been a sufficient victory for
the Florentines that the Spaniards had in part yielded to their wishes,
and abated something of their own demands, the purport of which was to
change the government of Florence, to sever her from her allegiance to
France, and, further, to obtain money from her. For if of these three
objects the Spaniards had succeeded in securing the last two, while the
Florentines maintained the integrity of their government, a fair
share of honour and contentment would have fallen to each. And while
preserving their political existence, the Florentines should have made
small account of the other two conditions; nor ought they, even with the