Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince

According to Niccolo Machiavelli, in his first chapter of “The Prince,” princedoms, states can be either republics or princedoms and these last ones can be either acquired new which I suppose by conquest or power, or they could be inherited by a prince’s ancestors. The 1500s were still times where there were many kings and princes all over europe and the world. But it was also a time where many republics were born, or they were young and growing republics. When Machiavelli said “...and he who acquires them does so either by his own arms or by the arms of others, and either by good fortune or by merit” to me, this means that princes--or mercenaries since it says “..or by the arms of others..” --had to fight for these lands, which they could only conquer if they were lucky or by the effort they put into their conquests.
Kingdoms that are used to the rule of a prince and his ancestors are easier to rule than a new state, whose inhabitants might be timid and stubborn at first. In new states, the prince has to deal with problems he may have never seen before. In a hereditary state, if the prince does his job on time and tries to solve the state’s problems as they come, then he could be an average ruler, but his seat on the throne will be secure. According to Machiavelli, princes will be naturally popular when they are loved and respected by the people they rule over. Authority over a state can be achieved by time alone if the prince is accustomed to it’s people and vice