Chapter 15 is perhaps the most important chapter of the entire book. Here Machiavelli directly challenges Plato’s imagined republics; he also revises his teaching about aiming high enough to reach the target – you do not aim at the imaginary, but at the possible, as high as possible. Machiavelli also tells us what his intent is: to write something useful for the one who understand. In this vein, he invites comparison with the writers of old; he seeks to demonstrate in the following chapters how it is that his readers must read. The chapter speaks of praise and blame, and it is writers who attach praise and blame in the histories. Therefore, the readers must learn how to read, to see, to understand what is said.
Consider here an example from Chapter 8: Machiavelli’s discussion of Agathocles:
Yet one cannot call it virtue to kill one’s citizens, betray one’s friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; these modes can enable one to acquire empire, but not glory. For, if one considers the virtue of Agathocles in entering into and escaping from dangers, and the greatness of his spirit in enduring and overcoming adversities, one does not see why he has to be judged inferior to any most excellent captain. Nonetheless, his savage cruelty and inhumanity, together with his infinite crimes, do not permit him to be celebrated among the most excellent men. Thus, one cannot attribute to fortune or to virtue what he achieved without either.
Read that again—is Machiavelli praising or blaming Agathocles?