harm, probably because having it made them less concerned with the support of the people, Machiavelli offers a pithy lesson: “For this reason the best fortress there is, is not to be hated by the people.” Once again, the prince must found on the people. Fortresses have never profited princes in “our own times,” he claims, with the exception of the Countess of Forlì, but Machiavelli immediately takes back that exception as well, for if having a fortress in the first instance enabled her to withstand a popular revolt, in the second instance it did not. She ought not to have been hated by her people, Machiavelli advises, advice too late for the countess. Machiavelli ends this chapter with an unusual amount of praise to hand around. “Therefore, having considered all of these things, I shall praise whoever will make fortresses, and whoever will not make them, and I shall blame anyone who, because he trusts in fortresses, will think little of being hated by the people.” Nonetheless, we might now add, the clear thrust of Machiavelli’s lesson is that founding on the people is the most important consideration, enabling one to do without fortresses.3