Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Niccolò Machiavelli 

I agree, Machiavelli makes more sense as an Assassin than as a Templar. Both sides value strength and ruthlessness to achieve their goals, they have been at war with one another for centuries. Machiavelli's admiration for Cesare was insofar that he was extremely capable as a leader during a turbulent time for Italy while other leaders were getting killed or deposed by foreign powers like the French or Spanish. You are right in that Machiavelli doesn't relish suffering, in fact he advocates minimizing it when possible in The Prince so as not to incur hatred from the people, which would lead to his undoing. He provides examples in chapter 19 in The Prince of Roman emperors like Caracalla who were arbitrarily cruel to fellow Romans, who would usually end up dead when eventually hated by everyone. As a diplomat of Florence, Machiavelli's initial suggestion of banishing or executing two feuding factions in the town of Pistoia was only heeded after much unnecessary bloodshed. Machiavelli is a believer in "the proper and improper use of cruelty." (The Prince, Ch. 8) Despite writing The Prince, widely believed as a guide for autocrats, Machiavelli was much more in favor of republics: "A republic is more prudent, more stable, and of better judgment than a prince." - Discourses on Livy, Book 1, Ch. 58 Some scholars believe in writing The Prince, Machiavelli was trying to educate the people on the duplicitous methods of princes. This is ultimately why he is not a Templar. They are essentially a league of princes seeking total control and power over mankind "for its own good" by depriving man of free will. Many of whom are tyrants who have been improperly cruel and would get much worse with the Pieces of Eden. Machiavelli was first and foremost a servant of his beloved republic of Florence and a huge fan of the ancient Roman Republic (his Discourses on Livy are all about it). The Assassins would do much more to secure Florence's future as they believe in freedom. The games could've easily made Machiavelli a Templar because of the public perception of him. After seeing his depiction, the developers clearly did their research on him and what he truly believed; his dialogue is proof of this. They did a great job.

@@SolracCAP I just finished the Prince, keeping Machiavelli as an Assassin in the back of my mind. And interestingly, there's very little in the ways of contradiction between the Prince and Assassin ideology. It is exactly as you say. He actively advocates against wanton cruelty and rapaciousness, warning Princes to keep the support of the people by looking after their needs and not depriving them of their property or dignity. Later games oversimplify the Assassins as seeking the complete freedom of the people. But I don't think that's accurate. On a purely high level, they certainly value the freedom of people, but more practically, they fight for their protection. Hoping to curb abuses against the people, and ensuring that those in power don't advance their ambitions at the expense of the people. "Our enemy are now in the shadows of Kings and Queens. Who works in the shadow for the people?" The Assassins know that true freedom instills chaos. Their ideal is an unattainable ideal, and they know it. So more practically, they settle to serve as the guardians of the common people from those who would terrorize or misuse them. Which is essentially what the Prince says. The ideal Prince is ruthless, but he does not make a habit of his ruthlessness. His acts of cruelty are perpetrated with a discrete purpose, in service of an end. They are not perpetrated for themselves or for the Prince's amusement, pleasure or convenience.

Very well said.

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@@Killzoneguy117 I think later games didn't "oversimplify this", but it was explained and made a plot point during AC Rogue - showcasing why Assassins lost so much power in the modern times. During AC Rogue/AC3 Time period, the Carribean Assassins skewed the ideology and made it about themselves, rather than serving the people. Whereas the Templars reinvigorated themselves under the more prudent leadership of Haytham Kenway - who gave a better purpose to the Templars - a benevolent dictatorship of sorts. Which to me made it interesting because it shows that Templars can be the good guys too, and what eventually made me subscribe to the Templar ideology. Which is ironic as well because it's as if the Templars read Machiavelli's book and changed their ways.

political scientist here aswell. Short and very insightful. One of the best reads of a lifetime. It's very interesting why they placed machiavelli amonst the assassin's, i think it was a very interesting move, but very silly to make the book (in the ac canon) about ezio. Anyway, a big tribute to our beloved anti-hero ezio, and a funny placement of such an interesting political theorist.

Ha

Hmmm

@@ArtilleryAffictionado1648 I suspect that this was because of the way ACB plot unfolded. Mercenaries, thieves and courtesans which were the backbone of the underground were bought or desunited, and Ezio helped rebuild and united them under the brotherhood. He also managed to bring outcasts and unfair political prosecuted civilians as his recruits and pupils, creating a 4th pillar of strength for the brotherhood. I think that despite that he is an assassin and outlaw, Ezio is being to exhibit the same virtues that a prince should display according to Machiaveli's text on uniting the people. Or so are the writers of the game trying to align towards to. How well they achieve it, weeeeell... That is up for debate.

@@XanathosZero excellent analysis bro, that's actually genius

I think you're missing 2 greats

Sorry but i think he missed 3 more greats

He's actually not directly connected to Desmond hence why they have different sur names , a direct descendant would have to be the son of your son and then that son has a sons and so on if your cousin has a daughter and then that daughter has a son that kid will not be your direct descendant he will be just a simple descendant.

@@riverdaletales8457 bruh

@@Red-km9so it's true lol I know I'm being technical but hey it's true

Well because in Cannon he usually sticks to the roofs hence why people don't see him

@Darklord666 yes except his assassin clothes are bright white

@@darthvader3910 well his father robes, with the hood down, can fit in quite well considering how little mind people give strangers After being trained to blend in with crowds (which have to be a minimum of 2 others) I say it's reasonably believable

If you watch the live action video of Ezio's father, he actually blends in really well in one of the shots of him in a crowd.

Before Brotherhood, Ezio's robes looked mostly like a leather armor of some mercenary.

Wtf

Yeah Machiavelli is 31, Ezio is 41.

Wisdom can come to any, regardless of age.

Bro, then Assassin's Creed 2 makes no sense whatsoever 😂

@@lordlabukdas Machiavelli was 7 when ezio started his journey as assassin 🤣

Not to be that "guy" but the romanies were in Revelations, the ones in 2 and Brotherhood are courtesans

Not to be that "guy" but the romanies were in Revelations, the ones in 2 and Brotherhood are courtesans

I am a scholar of Machiavellianism and you are correct

What a mouthful.

I believe they did a good job in being respectful to the real person while having him contribute to their fictional narrative

I wonder what else gave it away

@@georgeholmes7810 his hairline?

he even praises Cesare just like in the book

As a political scientist, I revel at the excellent portrayal of him.

@@kashifhaque2085 Of course, because he saw his quality as a strong, ruthless ruler. Yes, Cesare wasn't the caring, magnetic man everyone would love to have as a leader that Ezio was. But let's be honest, the result for the Borgias was a disaster mainly because Cesare was absent from Roma throughout almost the entirety of the story. Rodrigo and the rest of the Templars in charge were too incompetent, uncapable and/or unwilling to handle the situation in Roma, so the Assassins barely had any significant opposition. Cesare was the only one who went to confront Ezio directly, and only ran away when the poison in his body was doing its effect.

@@yokatta-f his ambition costed him too much.

They are

@@codafett The story and writing dropped tremendously in quality in the newer games. The story has never reached this quality after they decided to go the RPG route. Gameplay is arguable since it’s a preference of whether you prefer the RPG combat or the simplistic combat of the older games.

He is pretty much one of the biggest names in philosophy no doubt.

@XxSELINAxX Same. Thanks for watching!

@@Sevvina You're a cutie.

@@Riggedplayer123 I try to keep my little corner of RU-vid a fun and polite place.

@@Sevvina You're such a wholesome person and I absolutely love it :)

@@Riggedplayer123 Thanks. :)

Rodrigo learned his lesson. Ezio humbled him and left his order basically powerless. The only place the Templars remained in control of was Rome, and Cesare provoked the fall of Rome soon after

It's implied he did but he ordered them to not support Cesare and just concentrate on consolidating their remaining power on Italy. Cesare even calls Rodrigo's inner sanctum "That tired old man's club" However, Rodrigo not sanctioning his son's idiotic decision proved to help the Assassins a lot and it is heavily hinted that he literally allowed Ezio and the Assassins to break the Borgia hold over Rome since he was just tired of Cesare's shit and basically wanted what Ezio had. To just leave each other alone and do their own thing.

I think Rodrigo even tells Cesare he shouldn't have pissed off the assassins with the villa attack.

@@duplicitouscanadian3073 im surprised no one sees a certain paralel here, but this basically mirrors Achilles Davenport later on in the series. Where the Assassins are brought to extinction in the colonies and Davenport being left alive but spiritually and mentally broken after all thats happened and the weight of his failures.

Auxiliary Army make it short

and what was the book?

@@5226-p1e possibly Il Principe

@@eugenlovin6788 why do you say that?

52262 i think that book was supposed to be a gift or something like that

Maybe, but the primary reason for that is because Niccolò wanted Rodrigo dead and Ezio spared him. Listening to reason was to actually do what had to be done according to Niccolò.

Let's not forget that Rodrigo was not supposed to die until another few years. Can't change history. Only make it.

@Edmund Blackadder i really hope they make the AC2 one a legacy outfit it’s the best imo

I hate Ezio's brotherhood robes. They are probably my least favourite. I prefer the AC2 robes. Hell, even Ezio's revelations robes are better. But at the end of the day, it's all just a matter of opinion. Right?

@@Admiralzzz_ Yeah, most of the time when Ezio is shown, like in a key art or a legacy robe, it's his Brotherhood gear. Ezio's Giovanni robes are cool because they stand out less. It's regular clothes with a touch of Assassin work.

They are very nice. Personally, Giovanni’s robes (AC2 robe) is my favorite. But you can’t go wrong with either

Ezio in his prime indeed

Kinda looks like him, too.

"He could be you, he could be me....he could even be..."

@@MDE_never_dies BLAM

@@huluandebayman WOAH WOAH WOAH!

@@MDE_never_dies What? It was obvious. (Ker Clink) He's the red spy! Watch, he'll turn red any second now!

If only AC2 had kill streaks….

I guess for the sake of the game you have to bend a bit history😂

I'm not an expert on Italian history but from what I've heard the real Cesare was a ruthless bastard, and Machiavelli considered him a good ruler which tells me he too was a prick.

@@jazz265 That time period of italian history was one of basically constant inner italian warfare for supremacy. You always have to set morality adjusted for the time. Ceasare was a good leader in the sense that he understood the reality of politics. He was cruel only at first when he conquered something to make clear he was the new authority but then ruled quite soft and worked together with the people. From his perspective, torturing a couple of powerful people at the beginning was worth it to ensure long term material improvement and stability for his people If the end justifies the means is ofc up to. Machiavellis appreciation of him came from that. That Ceasare saw politics as the means to an end to materially secure and benefit the people and not to achieve some theological end goal like the church wanted of "politicians" of the time. Machiavellis political idea was that only "real" things mattered and Ceasare only cared about the material reality of politics. Hope this helped to understand both characters better! Make ur own judgement ofc

@@incursus1401 It does actually. I admit it's easy to forget how unstable times like these were and how often modern generations abuse the peacetime we've lived in for the past 80 years. I still think Cesare was ruthless based on what you've described but for the times they lived in sounds like he tried the best with what he had, and Machiavelli just observed the nature of his time. To be honest my knowledge of politics wasn't that great (I'm from New Zealand and things are fairly simple here) but the recent turmoil in America has raised my awareness of it. I've heard people compare Trump to Machiavelli so I just assumed this meant he was evil since Trump is possibly the cruelest sociopath in modern history, but some people also compared Trump to Hitler and while there's similarities Hitler actually had some strategic insight and did help Germany recover from its post WWI damage whereas Trump posses neither intelligence

lol

The third tenet is not broken when the entire brotherhood compromises the brotherhood

They wanted to kill Rodrigo but, you know… it would be historically inaccurate.

Plus if rodrigo died then he wouldnt have hidden the apple allowing ezio to steal it

Pawlik23 it had a great story though

@@pistolpete6796 I still preferred the Ezio trilogy story

It bears some weight in that a whole new land in its infancy can corrupt its leaders and that things can be very different. Also it questions the small mindedness of some people, petty squabbles need to be set aside for freedom as a whole. Connor had to set aside the freedom and flourishing of his tribe. colonised indigenous people had it tough and are still trying to sort through rights and legalities but Conor gave it up for freedom as a whole and give people the CHOICE to fight amongst themselves where the choice in and of itself is freedom, no matter how much pain and suffering is caused because the people came to that conclusion on their own. 3 is probably the only game in the AC franchise that does that. Altair’s story shows freedom from order and opening knowledge to the many and how too much knowledge ‘increaseth sorrow’. Ezio’s story highlights the personal changes and sacrifice of someone who changes personal revenge into letting go and seeing the wider picture when in the grand scheme of things, mean nothing since he was only a conduit to reach Desmond. 3 picks up on that but extends to an entire country or at least the eastern colonies. 3 highlighted cultural aspects as well, integrating it into the story and exploration and societal consequences - such as being Native in a growing white community. It’s not the best... 2’s story of seeing the bigger picture than just revenge is and always will be the best story ever in the franchise, I’d argue.

I think everyone can choose by himself about his or her favorite Assassins Creed Game

I'm not comparing but it had a great story through

+Gamemaster 648 Your guess is as good as mine. I originally tagged this as "Assassin's Creed", "Assassin's Creed II", and "Niccolo Machiavelli" but since RU-vid changed their tag system, who knows?

Because Tony Montana looks like Machiavelli. Edit: I forgot to mention about researching the Renaissance portrait of him.

Soyjak: "The Spaniard lives!" Chad: "Yes"

@Blue Wolf_JD Altaïr's robes are an option that I know used to be unlocked through the "Uplay" store.

@Riverdale tales "Direct" descendant doesn't depend on male/female, it's just you, your parents, their parents, and so on. Just plain old "descendants" can be any close relative younger than you (neices and nephews, etc.).

@@Sevvina as far as I'm considered your great grandson is your direct descendant but your great great cousin is not . And that's what I meant you're right female descendants are still direct however I was also talking about descendants who still have your surname which a female more than likely won't have

Riverdale tales Surname’s can change though. My polish Family name (from 1770) is way different then my dutch Surname. Even though it is technically still the same name. It can change if you move regions. Plus. Ezio had a daughter. Which is a direct descedant for Desmond. So the name changed again.

@@yniekac8851 true but still , it's sad that ezios surname died out

Riverdale tales On the assassin’s side yes. However. He also had a son. But its unsure how many kids Ezio’s son had. And if those were also male or female

lol You think Machiavelli is the most narcissistic human being in all of history. 🤣🤣🤣 you can’t be serious

He was far from narcissistic. Machiavelli is in fact one of the most misunderstood people in history

That’d be a funny way to spoil yourself in AC2 on whether or not you get him.

Yep, they did

There is a recent hypothesis that the Prince is a work of political dissimulation par excellence. A way to entrap Lorenzo Medici II, because it contains much dubious advice, and because in the Discourses on Livy Machiavelli professes his support for republics, and he argues against the building of fortresses and argues instead that a prince rely on the good will of the people.

Machiavelli is way overblown in pop culture. Every cruelty in the Prince, especially that of Cesare, is followed by a paragraph about how you don't HAVE to be cruel and that sustained deviousness will actually RUIN a state, which is what happened to Cesare. Not to mention the real Cesare was nowhere near the bastard he is in this game. The writers of Brotherhood even say that they used the Prince as a model for the game's plot regarding Ezio's character. He embodies a lot of Machiavelli's philosophies without going to the extremes that many people describe in pop culture. Speaking of the ruthlessness of Templars, they're always concerned with the NWO and ruling over people but Machiavelli talks about how the people should be protected over the nobles. The people will always be the ones with the real power if they rise up, which follows perfectly with the Assassin doctrine. Saying he should be a Templar is like saying Thomas Hickey should be an Assassin because he was so frivolous and simple-minded like Edward at the beginning of AC4.

Do you think so? Read the prince

Machiavelli is a romaboo the republic one, so no Julius Caesar around so no templar Influence

But did he really?

Yikes

Orry Robb yes you are correct, only papal guards at castel sant’angelo are strong opponents

@@cyberdragon3889 I understand you. they nerfed the guard so bad in brotherhood... But they make some balanced in Revelations. Even the stealth kill mechanics is balanced in Revelations.

Lots of games are easy yet still enjoyable

@@itsjustvin7630 Nah, it's like the exact opposite of Dark Souls. Stupidly easy with no real way to make it more challenging.