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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Machiavelli advise to Princes who desire to take something from another Prince?
(a) To act quickly to force a quick decision on the other Prince.
(b) To take the Prince captive first but make no hasty decisions afterwards.
(c) To make sure that their generals know tactics of deception.
(d) To keep their plans a secret.

2. What does Machiavelli identify as the three divisions of armies of his day?
(a) Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery.
(b) Vanguard, Battle Corps, and Rearguard.
(c) Cavalry, Vanguard, and Artillery.
(d) Battle Corps, Navy, and Ordinance.

3. What is the reason Machiavelli claims Princes with weaker armies would rush into battle?
(a) Because a long war would be harmful to all his subjects.
(b) Such Princes face no alternative.
(c) Because their judgment was hindered by the situation.
(d) Such Princes are deluded over their power.

4. Why would corrupt Republics accept common deceptions?
(a) Because they hide the corruption of the political class.
(b) Because they keep anyone from knowing any truth.
(c) Because they help to confuse Citizens to the corruption.
(d) Because they are put forward by men who want favors more readily for themselves than for the public.

5. What does Machiavelli cite as Aristotle's three causes of ruin women bring on tyrants.
(a) Their seduction of tyrants, distracting their focus, and softening them with parental duties.
(b) The influence women have on men, children and families.
(c) Injury tyrants commit on women either by seduction, violence or corruption of marriages.
(d) The demands women make for wealth, food, and houses.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Machiavelli advise a Captain to consider a tactical error by an enemy?

2. What kinds of men are frowned upon in corrupt Republics?

3. Who were the two Roman Consuls whose tactics Machiavelli compares as an example of how Princes can take what belongs to another?

4. What does Machiavelli claim causes men to conspire against their target?

5. What does Machiavelli believe is the only consideration to be made when the defense of a country is at stake?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Machiavelli consider negotiating peace treaties with insurrectionists to be the most harmful method of ending conflicts in a City?

2. When Machiavelli uses the word "esteemed" in reference to artillery and infantry, what does he mean?

3. Why does Machiavelli believe, "that men born in a province observe for all time almost the same natures (Book 3, Section 43)?"

4. Why does Machiavelli recommend that any organization maintain itself by frequently renewing its founding principals?

5. What does Machiavelli recommend to Captains as an element of strategy to assure success in capturing a town?

6. What does Machiavelli recommend as the three methods of reuniting a City that has been divided?

7. Why does Machiavelli consider impetuosity and audacity to often be successful for a Prince to take a province that belongs to another Prince?

8. Why would there be much bloodshed in the cases that a Republic moves violently from tyranny to freedom?

9. What does Machiavelli believe is the consequence of insulting anyone with words?

10. What is the advice that Machiavelli gives to Princes who take possessions from another Prince?

(see the answer keys)

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