The dialectic between virtue and Fortuna is central to Machiavelli’s thought. What does he mean by virtue? What does he mean by Fortuna? How does their relationship influence human politics? Can humans ever overcome Fortuna? If so, how? If not, why not? Niccolò Machiavelli’s writings show Renaissance ideas in their most original forms, especially his realistic and objective approach to human characters. Many critics believe that Machiavelli has a great influence on the new political system in which politics and ethics have a great rift. Machiavelli expressed his political arguments based on his observations and ideas. In his views, Machiavelli developed the political principles of virtù and Fortuna. Main body Machiavelli provided opportunities to scholars and readers to understand a political system purged of irrelevant influences of ethics in order to comprehend the basis of politics in useful use of power. Virtù captures Machiavelli’s idea of power and politics. The Italian word, virtù would mean ‘virtue’ in English and would express the usual meaning of moral goodness (Mansfield, 1996). However, Machiavelli had a completely different meaning of virtù when he addressed the Prince. Specifically, Machiavelli uses the idea of virtù to reflect different personalities that the Prince will acquire in order to “maintain his state and achieve great things” (Fischer, 2000). From this statement, we can note that Machiavelli did not relate virtù with conventional virtue in society. According to Machiavelli, the Prince had to behave in any fashion as the situation required. Under a given political condition, the Prince could not divorce a moral viciousness from the scope of possible actions in which he had to undertake. In general, Machiavelli’s idea of virtù rests on his recommendation to the Prince that the Prince had to acquire a “flexible disposition” in order to protect his state and conquer new territories. Therefore, a leader could only suit the role by adopting different conduct of good and evil “as fortune and circumstances dictate” (Machiavelli 1965, 66). The concept of virtù is also in Machiavelli’s The Art of War in which he highlights “the strategic skills of the general, which change in various battlefields as the prevailing war circumstances dictate” (Machiavelli 1965, 66). Machiavelli viewed politics and war as one in which the same virtù could apply. The ruler had to possess the same virtù as the war general. In other words, a ruler should know the suitable strategies for any prevailing circumstances. In this regard, Machiavelli viewed virtù as power, which rulers had to possess for practical aims. The ruler had to use power competently. Thus, any ruler who had virtù must have mastered all methods, which involved the effectual use of power. Therefore, Machiavelli’s virtù was political power and not the conventional virtue of people who believed in moral good. In other words, virtù represents the core of success in politics. Machiavelli introduced another principle of Fortuna in order to relate the effective use of power and virtù. In normal translation, Fortuna would mean ‘fortune’. However, Machiavelli viewed Fortuna as a threat to the safety of a state and could not support a political course. Scholars have debated the idea