Florentine military reforms The military reforms of the Florentine Republic were initiated by Florentine politician and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli during the short - lived Republic of Florence that lasted from 1498 to 1512 under the priest Girolamo Savonarola . In the pursuit of the republican spirit which pervaded Florence at the time , Machiavelli sought to establish a military establishment that was similar to that of ancient Rome . He was specifically focused upon the establishment of an army possessed with the discipline of the Roman legions . He sought to establish a citizen - infantry capable of taking the field against the Italian Condottieri of the day , who largely terrorized the peninsula , in addition to the chronic foreign invasions which occurred on a regular basis at this time . Broadly speaking Machiavelli would institute a series of reforms in 1506 that would create a citizen army of 20 , 000 men , and establish a system that would keep this citizen army in a state of readiness . Impetus for reforms . Prior to Machiavelli ' s birth , Italy had been dominated by foreign kings or divided into independent duchies under the influence of the Condettieri for some time . Italy had experienced numerous revolutions . Before the Italian Wars , it had been the domain of the Holy Roman Emperors and numerous wars which seeking to take back control of Northern Italy . The independent states in Italy , lacking proper armies to field , resorted to the use of mercenaries . These caused numerous problems and Machiavelli placed no trust in these forces . He said of them at a later date : " The ruin of Italy has been caused by nothing else than by resting all her hopes for many years on mercenaries . . . when foreigners came they showed what they were " For centuries Italy had been dominated by the Kings of France , Germany , Spain , and countless dukes and princes of German and French origin . Machiavelli ' s Position Within Florence . Machiavelli is primarily known for his political discourses such as " The Prince " and " The Art of War " , but he was also a middle - ranking official of the Florentine Republic . His position allowed him access to prominent officials and assemblies , and the opportunity to persuade them to implement his reforms . Reforms . First of all , the Florentine Republic was divided into a series of districts . The purpose of this being to have government officials travel through each district and point out men of suitable bodily strength in order that they may serve . Each man was issued a weapon – a spear and a body harness – that was a uniform in the Florentine fashion . This was entirely consistent with Machivelli ' s later beliefs on the subject of native strength . Each unit was assigned a captain , who was assigned a " chancellor " to perform the administrative tasks such as ensuring all correspondence was taken care of , keeping rosters , and things of that nature . In addition , several corporals were assigned to aid the captain . Unit Hierarchy . Each unit had a roster strength of 800 men , with 150 men serving at any given time : 70 % of these men were armed with long spears . 10 % of these men were marksmen , and the remaining 20 % were issued either " halberds " , " hog - spears " and or other close combat weapon men . Problems with reforms . There were a number of problems with the reforms . From the start , Machiavelli expressed concern that the military establishment would undermine the interests of the Florentine Republic . There was only a small area outside of the city proper which Florence had much confidence in the populace ' s loyalty . The rest of Florence ' s territory had been reduced into submission by force , and could easily revolt again . Some of the fundamental premises of his citizen army were flawed . Furthermore captains of the units were constantly being rotated out of their units because there was fear for the Republic itself . Thus there was a relative lack of confidence in the officers by the rank and file . Furthermore , the captains had no authority to discipline their soldiers . One memorandum said : On a deeper level , a citizen of the Roman Republic , during its slow rise under persistent defensive threat , in an agrarian society , differed greatly from a citizen of the short - lived Florentine Republic , which had already become an urban center with important commercial life and without any tradition of the discipline and sternness . The materiel and temperament of a Florentine citizen army doomed the attempt to achieve anything akin the fabled legions of the past .