Virtù in The Prince

In The Prince, Machiavelli’s concept of virtue is different from the modern connotations of the word, which is indicative of moral excellence. In the text the word in the original translation is virtù from the Latin virtus, which carries broad connotations of valor, excellence, character and worth. The classical concept of ‘civic virtue’ as put forward by philosophers such as Aristotle as a moral code applicable to both rulers and subjects, contrasts with Machiavelli’s concept of virtù, which is applicable to rulers of state. Machiavelli’s virtù is ‘political virtue’, that is virtue defined both within and by politics. Political virtue consists of knowing how to make use of an art or skill to advance in the world. It is this idea that he puts forth, the ability of a ruler to do whatever must be done in order to achieve success, for it is the successful ruler who is the virtuous one.
In Chapter VI, Machiavelli extols the virtues of ‘remarkable men’, specifically those of Cyrus, Romulus and Theseus. Men he believes to fully embrace the idea of virtù. Though each man individually faced his own hurdles to overcome, such as Romulus who if not abandoned at birth, would not have wanted to become King of Rome. Despite their luck or fortuna it was their virtù that gave them the ability to overcome and use their adversities, like Cyrus using the ‘Persians discontented under the rule of the Medes’. For as Machiavelli states:
“If their deeds and careers are examined, it will be seen that they owed nothing to luck except the opportunity to shape the material into the form that seemed best to them. If they had lacked the opportunity, the strength of spirit would have been sapped; if they had lacked ability, the opportunity would have been wasted.’ Thus Machiavelli states that virtù is needed for fortuna to be effective and fortuna without virtù is