According to Machiavelli, a prince's greatest ally is the people. The people are what keep the prince in power. The people can help protect a prince from dangerous conspiracies. If a subject conspires against a prince who is loved by the people then the subject or conspirator will have to face the people, who vastly outnumber him. A wise subject would see the love that the people have for the prince and know not to conspire against him because it would not benefit him. (Ch. 19) A prince should always let his subjects keep their arms or if they do not have arms he should give them some. By arming subjects, they become faithful and those who were already be faithful stay that way. If a prince were to disarm his subjects he would be showing the people that he does not trust them, either because of cowardice or his desire for loyalty. (Ch. 20) Machiavelli says, "the prince who has more to fear from the people than from foreigners ought to build fortresses, but he who has more to fear from foreigners than from the people ought to leave them alone." He is saying that a prince should only build fortresses if he is fearful of his people because that is the only time when he would be in danger. If the prince is well liked by the people then they will protect him. He will not need a fortress to do it for him. (Ch. 20) A prince should always aim for the reputation of being a "great and remarkable man." (Ch. 21) A prince should always try to be fair and good to his people. They will remain loyal in return.
The people are what the prince needs in order to even be a prince, for without the people, a prince could not even exist. A prince is powerless without a group of people to rule over. A prince's popularity with his people is what can make or break him. This is why the people are so important. If they are on the prince's side, he will succeed, but if they are not, then he will fail.
Works Cited:
Machiavelli, N. (1532). The Prince. Florence: Antonio Blado d'Asola. .
It would have been good here to compare against what the source says about the military and nobles.
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