This paper uses the con­cept of power to ana­ly­ze Machiavelli’s The Prin­ce and the Dis­cour­ses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livi­us. This helps to distil the ele­ments that form the Machia­vel­li pro­gram that has its short-term aim in the for­ma­ti­on of a natio­nal sta­te of Ita­ly. A uni­fi­ca­ti­on of Ita­ly under the umbrel­la of a prin­ce­ly fami­ly (such as iden­ti­fied with Cesa­re Bor­gia) was meant to be the first stage in an evo­lu­tio­na­ry pro­cess which, in the end, could lead to a more or less sta­ble repu­bli­can sys­tem. For the lat­ter, the Roman Repu­blic as descri­bed in the Dis­cour­ses is Machiavelli’s model. The use of power, but also the mini­miza­ti­on of cruel­ties, and the par­ti­ci­pa­ti­on of the peo­p­le, eit­her in the form of militia to suc­cessful­ly fight for­eign armies or to sup­port the prin­ce­ly govern­ment, are major ingre­di­ents to this process.