That it is true his other virtues would not have been sufficient for him may be proved by the case of Scipio, that most excellent man, not only of his own times but within the memory of man, against whom, nevertheless, his army rebelled in Spain; this arose from nothing but his too great forbearance, which gave his soldiers more license than is consistent with military discipline.
That is an excellent historical challenge to Machiavelli's claim. While Scipio Africanus was indeed a famously lenient and virtuous leader, Machiavelli's assertion that the army rebelled solely because he was "too kind" is a simplification used to prove a political point.
The historical mutiny that occurred at the camp of Sucro in Spain (206 BC) was rooted in very real and acute material grievances:
1. The Real Causes of the Mutiny
The rebellion was not a result of "too much license" from personal kindness, but rather deep-seated issues that Machiavelli either ignored or deliberately downplayed:
* Long Service: Many of the soldiers had been serving in Spain for 11 years, nearly twice the expected duration, without relief or rotation. They felt their service was unjustly protracted.
* Lack of Pay and Supplies: The troops were experiencing severe shortages of food and supplies and had not been paid in years. They were forced to survive largely on what they could plunder.
* Misappropriation of Spoils: The soldiers believed Scipio was using the spoils of war to secure diplomatic alliances with Spanish and North African tribes, rather than distributing the money to his own troops who had fought for it.
2. The Role of Scipio's "Kindness"
Machiavelli's interpretation is based on the idea that Scipio's forbearance failed to immediately quell the discontent and allowed the lack of discipline to fester.
* The Catalyst: The soldiers were emboldened to mutiny only when they heard a false rumor that Scipio had fallen ill and was near death. This suggests that while his command style might have been lenient, his personal authority and formidable reputation were enough to keep them in check while he was active.
* The Resolution: When Scipio recovered, he did not handle the mutiny with mercy. He used a clever ruse to gather the ringleaders, had them arrested, flogged, and executed, and then spoke sharply to the remaining troops, who immediately returned to order. This decisive action, using extreme fear and cruelty, actually confirms Machiavelli's core thesis in Chapter 17, even if the cause of the rebellion was misidentified.
In summary, the army mutinied due to poor conditions and neglect (material causes), but Machiavelli used the event to show that even a universally excellent leader like Scipio must be willing to employ decisive cruelty (the principle of fear) to maintain the state's military foundation.
