The Prince · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Niccolò Machiavelli
major
Also known as Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli, Machiavelli, the young Machiavelli
A dismissed Florentine diplomat who, stripped of office and tortured, turns his fifteen years of statecraft into a cold manual on how power is actually won and kept.
The Prince
major
Also known as The Prince
Not a man but a mirror Machiavelli holds up to rulers: a composite figure who must learn to be fox and lion, feared and never hated, if he wants to survive.
Cesare Borgia
supporting
Also known as Cesare, Valentino
The pope's illegitimate son, who carved a duchy out of Italy with borrowed armies and cold nerve, and whom Machiavelli cannot stop admiring even as he watches him fall.
Pope Alexander VI
supporting
Also known as Alexander the Sixth, Alexander, Pope Alexander VI, Alexander VI
A pope who fathered children, sold offices, and treated the Church as a family business, proving to Machiavelli that sacred robes can hide the most worldly appetites.
Pope Julius II
supporting
Also known as Pope Julius, Pope Julius the Second, Julian, Julius, Julius II
The impetuous warrior-pope who marched at the head of his own armies, and whose boldness Machiavelli cites as proof that fortune favors the rash over the cautious.
Francesco Sforza
supporting
Also known as Francesco, Sforza
A mercenary captain who seized Milan through sheer ability, becoming Machiavelli's prime example of a prince who owes his throne to no one but himself.
Lorenzo de' Medici
supporting
Also known as Lorenzo de ’ Medici, the Medici, Lorenzo, the splendour - loving Lorenzo
Lorenzo sits at the far end of Machiavelli's hopes: the Medici heir whose favour could restore a dismissed civil servant to office. The book was first meant for Giuliano de' Medici, then redirected to Lorenzo for reasons history never explains, and no evidence survives that he received it or gave Machiavelli any employment. That silence is the quiet irony shadowing the dedication — a masterwork of political advice offered to a prince who never answered.
Agathocles
minor
Also known as Agathocles, Agathocles the Sicilian
Sicilian tyrant who rose from low birth to kingship through crime.
Oliverotto da Fermo
minor
Also known as Oliverotto
Ruthless mercenary who seized Fermo by murdering his uncle.
Severus
minor
Also known as Severus
Roman emperor who seized power through military force and cunning.
Cyrus
minor
Also known as Cyrus, Scipio Cyrus
Founder of the Persian Empire, model of virtuous princely conquest.
Moses
minor
Also known as Moses
Biblical prophet who led Israelites out of Egypt, armed by divine will.
Romulus
minor
Also known as Romulus
Mythical founder of Rome, exemplar of founding through violence.
Theseus
minor
Also known as Theseus
Athenian hero who unified Attica, model for princely founders.
David
minor
Also known as David
Biblical king who slew Goliath, symbol of divinely favored ruler.
Philopoemen
minor
Also known as Philopoemen
Greek general who reformed Achaean military tactics and discipline.
Alexander the Great
minor
Also known as Alexander the Great, Alexander
Macedonian conqueror who built a vast empire through military genius.
Darius
minor
Also known as Darius
Persian king defeated by Alexander, whose kingdom remained stable after conquest.
Pertinax
minor
Also known as Pertinax
Roman emperor who tried to reform the Praetorian Guard and was murdered.
Maximinus
minor
Also known as Maximinus
Thracian soldier who became Roman emperor through military revolt.
Albinus
minor
Also known as Albinus
Roman governor who claimed the throne after Pertinax's death.
Niger
minor
Also known as Niger
Roman rival emperor defeated by Severus in the civil war.
Louis XII
minor
Also known as Louis the Twelfth, Louis, Louis XII
French king who invaded Italy and lost Naples through poor policy.
Charles VIII
minor
Also known as Charles VIII
French king who invaded Italy in 1494, sparking Italian Wars.
Ferdinand of Aragon
minor
Also known as Ferdinand of Aragon, Ferdinand
Spanish king who used religion as pretext for conquest and expansion.
Maximilian I
minor
Also known as The Emperor Maximilian, Maximilian, Maximilian I
Holy Roman Emperor known for indecisiveness and military overreach.
Girolamo Savonarola
minor
Also known as the fervent and austere Savonarola, Savonarola, Fra Girolamo Savonarola
Dominican friar who ruled Florence through prophecy and was executed.
Pandolfo Petrucci
minor
Also known as Pandolfo Petrucci, Pandolfo
Ruler of Siena who maintained power through cunning and manipulation.
Giovanni Bentivogli
minor
Also known as Messer Giovanni, Bentivogli, the Bentivogli, Messer Giovanni Bentivogli, Giovanni Bentivogli
Ruler of Bologna who lost power due to internal factionalism.
Messer Annibale Bentivogli
minor
Also known as Messer Annibale Bentivogli, Annibale, the Bentivogli
Bolognese ruler murdered by the Canneschi family in a conspiracy.
Giovanni Fogliani
minor
Also known as Giovanni Fogliani, Giovanni, discourse Giovanni
Uncle of Oliverotto da Fermo, murdered by his nephew for power.
Messer Ramiro d'Orco
minor
Also known as Messer Ramiro d’Orco, Ramiro
Cruel governor of Romagna executed by Cesare Borgia to appease the people.
Vitellozzo Vitelli
minor
Also known as Vitellozzo, Vitelli, Valentino nello ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli
Condottiero betrayed and strangled by Cesare Borgia at Senigallia.
Pagolo Vitelli
minor
Also known as Pagolo Vitelli, Pagolo, Vitelli
Mercenary captain executed by Florence for suspected betrayal.
Carmignuola
minor
Also known as Carmignuola
Famous condottiero who served Venice and was later executed by them.
Giovanni Acuto
minor
Also known as Giovanni Acuto
English mercenary captain who fought in Italy for various states.
Guido Ubaldo
minor
Also known as Guido, Guido Ubaldo
Duke of Urbino, deposed by Cesare Borgia in 1502.
Lodovico Sforza
minor
Also known as Lodovico, Duke Lodovico
Duke of Milan who invited French into Italy and later lost his state.
Charles VII
minor
Also known as Charles the Seventh, Charles
French king who expelled English from France with Joan of Arc's help.
Philip of Macedon
minor
Also known as Philip, Philip of Macedon
Father of Alexander the Great, who unified Greece through military reform.
Antiochus
minor
Also known as Antiochus
Seleucid king who fought Rome and was defeated at Thermopylae.
Queen Johanna of Naples
minor
Also known as Queen Johanna 23 of Naples
Neapolitan queen who adopted Louis of Anjou as heir, causing conflict.
Giuliano de' Medici
minor
Also known as Giuliano de ’ Medici, the Medici, Giuliano, Giuliano de Medici
Brother of Lorenzo, murdered in the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478.
Caesar Alexander
minor
Also known as Caesar Alexander, Caesar, Alexander
Roman emperor Alexander Severus, known for his mild rule and military failures.
Marcus Aurelius
minor
Also known as Marcus
Stoic Roman emperor and philosopher, model of virtuous rule.
Antoninus Caracalla
minor
Also known as Antoninus Caracalla, Antoninus, Caracalla
Roman emperor known for cruelty and military campaigns in Gaul.
Commodus
minor
Also known as Commodus
Roman emperor whose decadence led to his assassination and civil war.
Filippo Casavecchio
minor
Also known as Filippo Casavecchio, Casavecchio
Florentine friend and correspondent of Machiavelli, minor political figure.
Niccolò Orsini
minor
Also known as the Orsini, Orsini, Niccolò Orsini
Condottiero and member of the powerful Orsini family in Rome.
Charles V
minor
Also known as Charles V, Charles
Holy Roman Emperor who sacked Rome and dominated Italy in 1520s.
Fortunati
minor
Also known as Fortunati
Minor figure mentioned in context of political fortune and success.
