Hiero's Virtue

A great leader should care for the people and act in their best interest. They should not care about becoming powerful, but would rather see the power at the hands of his people so they may all have a voice. In The Prince, Machiavelli does not believe a leader, or “prince,” in terms, should be righteous, but should rather focus on the importance of maintaining his state or principality. Despite the lack of a specific definition, we are able to conclude that the virtue Machiavelli presents us with is more about ones power than morals. Machiavelli refers to virtue as a prince strength and his ability to be triumphant and succeed. Virtue is not a trait that we are born with, but skills and experiences we learn from others. Virtue is instead a
Machiavelli states that Hiero “eliminated the former military” but still succeeded because “he established a new one” through his military tactician (Machiavelli, 57). Hiero wasn’t really a virtuous moral leader, but a private citizen who rose to power through his leadership qualities, and later acquired fortune when the people of Syracuse appointed him king. Hiero had the power to take out any alliance and soldier from their social orders. He trusted the people he found and he knew that they weren’t going to deceive him or bring him down. Yet, it is always better for the prince to start his own arms than to depend on others that cannot be trusted. Machiavelli explains how starting something new can be difficult, but if the virtuous leader is successful then no one will be able to take his power away. Furthermore, Hiero is seen as a ruler who deeply depended on his troops. That is to be said, that Hiero of Syracuse did not really obtain the high status of a skillful society founder just as Moses or Savonarola did, but his procedures still show, on a lower rank what these greater man could have also done to