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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Machiavelli say that the successors of Alexander the Great were able to retain power after his untimely death?
(a) The people were so happy to be rid of Darius that they accepted anyone else.
(b) Under his system, governance was easily transferred to his appointed ministers.
(c) The people did not care who ruled them.
(d) They did not let the people know that Alexander had died.

2. Does Machiavelli suggest that rising to power through cruelty is always wrong?
(a) He says any use of cruelty cannot be justified.
(b) He states that political assassination is not cruelty.
(c) He believes that cruelty must continue to be successful.
(d) He suggests that there is a proper use of cruelty.

3. How does Machiavelli define a new princedom or dominion?
(a) One that does not come from a long line of ruling ancestors.
(b) One that is an entirely new settlement.
(c) One that comes from political intrigue.
(d) One that kills all the citizens of the old regime.

4. What is it that Machiavelli refrains from doing in his book?
(a) Using high sounding literary devices to make the work seem more important.
(b) Giving only the facts of great leaders and how they governed.
(c) Using language of respect that is usually spoken before a prince.
(d) Making everything brief in his writing so that main points are missed.

5. Machiavelli gives the example of how Cesare Borgia used Minister Remiro d'Orco in his plan to rule Romagna. After d'Orco brought the territory under control, what does Machiavelli say Cesare Borgia did to get the loyalty of the people?
(a) He told the people that d'Orco was acting on his orders.
(b) He executed d'Orco to make the people love and trust him.
(c) He gave d'Orco the power to kill anyone who opposed him.
(d) He retired d'Orco and gave him a lifetime pension.

6. Citing Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, and Theseus, what distinction does Machiavelli make about Moses?
(a) Moses never actually established himself as a leader.
(b) There was something in Moses, some ability that made him worthy to speak with God.
(c) Instead of ruling the Egyptians after defeating them, he left.
(d) There is no histroy of Moses outside of the Jewish holy writings.

7. What does Machiavelli say a new prince must do quickly after gaining a new dominion?
(a) Build a new palace.
(b) Read his book.
(c) Learn quickly.
(d) Hand out money.

8. What does Machiavelli suggest may make a hereditary ruler unpopular with his people?
(a) Never changing the way they are accustomed to being ruled.
(b) Using his army to gain more territory.
(c) Outrageous vices.
(d) Staying away from the princedom for long periods of time.

9. What can deprive a prince of his princedom?
(a) Revolution among the lowest class of subjects.
(b) Extrodinary and irresistable force.
(c) Disagreements within a family of hereditary rulers.
(d) Public elections.

10. What happened when Rome tried to use the same methods the Spartans had used with Greece?
(a) They failed and had to go back and destroy many cities.
(b) They found it easy to get Greeks to adopt Roman ways.
(c) They succeeded by adding Roman universities to the Greek educational system.
(d) They succeeded by expanding on the Spartan idea.

11. What form of government comes from a long line of ancestors?
(a) New princedoms.
(b) Princedoms formed by warring factions.
(c) An elected dynasty.
(d) A hereditary princedom.

12. Why is Niccolo Machiavelli suddenly out of a job?
(a) He insulted Prince Lorenzo de Medici.
(b) He has taken too much time off.
(c) He has been working for the government overthrown by the Medici.
(d) He has had a long illness.

13. What does Machiavelli say was the reason for successes by Cyrus, Romulus, and Theseus?
(a) They did not understand the thinking of the people.
(b) It had nothing to do with fortune, but was because of their own talents.
(c) They were standing in the right place at the right time.
(d) Like Moses, they could talk with God.

14. What is the advantage of the prince selected by the people?
(a) He will have their support because all they want is not to be oppresed.
(b) He will be unable to ignore the wishes of the nobles.
(c) The people will see the prince change them in many ways.
(d) The nobles will always see this as a good sign and cooperate with the prince.

15. What characteristic of a leader can change fortune according to Machiavelli?
(a) The will of the people.
(b) The intervention of God.
(c) Being at the right place and in the right time.
(d) A person's innate ability.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Machiavelli say that new territories are harder to govern than hereditary ones?

2. What problem faces a prince appointed by the nobles?

3. What reasons does Machiavelli put forward to get Prince Lorenzo to read his book?

4. What were the results of Sparta setting up oligarchies in Athens and Thebes after they conquered them?

5. After Alexander VI, how did the Pope continue to strengthen the Church's position?

(see the answer keys)

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