The Competition with the Ancients Fueled Personal Ambition

The speaker notes the similarity between Napoleon and Julius Caesar, highlighting their ability to excite the public imagination through their conquests and writings. The obsession with Plutarch's lives fueled Napoleon's personal ambition, but his failure to articulate his beliefs and seem more like a leader of a movement led to resistance to his rule. The pragmatic rule of one man made it easy for people to be jealous and resentful of his power. The speaker also emphasizes a lesson from Machiavelli's 'The Prince,' stating that people should either be caressed or crushed, as doing minor damage may provoke revenge, while crippling them eliminates the possibility of retaliation.