Question

it is much safer to be feared than loved.... among the wonderful deeds of hannibal this one is demonstrated; that having led an enormous army, composed of many various races of men, to fight in foreign lands, no dissensions arose either among them or against the prince, whether in his bad or in his good fortune. this arose from nothing else than his inhuman cruelty... but without that cruelty, his other virtues were not sufficient to produce this effect.... 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... 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. - the prince, niccolò machiavelli which words in the passage have negative connotations? how do the words with negative connotations support the claim? by defining the actions of a leader who is to be feared by describing the actions of a weak leader by comparing the leaders hannibal and scipio

Explanation:

The passage is from The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli. The claim is that it is safer to be feared than loved. Words like "inhuman cruelty" (negative connotation) define the actions of a leader who is to be feared (Hannibal). Scipio's "too great forbearance" (negative connotation as it led to rebellion) is contrasted. The words with negative connotations support the claim by defining the actions of a leader who is to be feared. The other options are incorrect: there's no description of a weak leader's actions in a general sense (the focus is on the feared leader's actions via negative - connotation words), and there's no real comparison between Hannibal and Scipio in terms of the words' connotations (the comparison is more about the outcomes of their leadership styles, but the negative - connotation words directly relate to the feared leader's actions).

Answer:

by defining the actions of a leader who is to be feared