Terror

Niccolò Machiavelli's (1469–1527) manual of Renaissance statesmanship, The Prince, is a classic treatise on leadership utilizing terror or fear. It urges the ideal prince not to put "the reproach of cruelty" before such overwhelming issues as political unity and that "it is much safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking." While seldom quoting or approving Machiavelli—unjustly his name became synonymous with conspiracy and deceit—many subsequent leaders and dictators have taken his strictures to heart.