Question

read the passage from chapter 17 of the prince. and of all princes, it is impossible for the new prince to avoid the imputation of cruelty, owing to new states being full of dangers. hence virgil, through the mouth of dido, excuses the inhumanity of her reign owing to its being new, saying: res dura, et regni novitas me talia cogunt moliri, et late fines custode tueri.(*) nevertheless he ought to be slow to believe and to act, nor should he himself show fear, but proceed in a temperate manner with prudence and humanity, so that too much confidence may not make him incautious and too much distrust render him intolerable against my will, my fate a throne unsettled, and an infant state, which type of evidence does machiavelli use in the story of dido to show that a ruler should be cruel in certain circumstances? machiavelli uses historical evidence to point out that many new rulers have used cruelty. machiavelli uses empirical evidence to makes points about the use of power. machiavelli uses logical evidence to assert that it is acceptable for new princes to use cruelty. machiavelli uses anecdotal evidence to show that new rulers need to be cruel.

Explanation:

Dido is a figure from classical mythology/history, and Machiavelli references her specific story as a single illustrative case to support his point about new rulers and cruelty. This fits the definition of anecdotal evidence, which relies on a specific story or example. Historical evidence would reference multiple verified historical rulers, empirical evidence relies on observable data, and logical evidence uses deductive reasoning rather than a specific narrative.

Answer:

Machiavelli uses anecdotal evidence to show that new rulers need to be cruel.