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Niccolo Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. Machiavelli was a political philosopher and diplomat during the Renaissance, and is most famous for his political piece, The Prince (1513), that has become a foundation of modern philosophy. In The Prince, Machiavelli offered a ruler advice designed to keep that ruler in power; he originally wrote Principe (The Prince) (1513) in hopes of securing the favor of the ruling Medici family. Allowing for the influence of fortune, Machiavelli argued that it is, above all, the character or skill of the individual leader that determines the success of any state in addition to the success by any means necessary. It is this focus on practical success by any