Hythloday’s projection of the French council of state shows him (and More) to be well acquainted with the prevailing doctrines and practices in international politics. The simplest way to describe the vicious schemes proposed by the council members is to call them “Machiavellian.” Actually the list of those policies, including ruthless acquisition of territory or governmental control, the cynical breaking of treaties, and the suborning of officers in the opposing government, gives a fine capsule picture of the methods for successful rulers according to Machiavelli in The Prince. This is not to suggest that More was influenced by the Italian author; rather, both men were describing what they had witnessed in practical politics. Although Machiavelli’s Prince was written a few years earlier (1513) than Utopia, it was not published until 1532, and it is not likely that More had seen a copy of the work in manuscript.
Hythloday’s story about the conquest by the Achorians is fictitious and is really a concomitant feature with his later account of Utopia, which, incidentally, he mentions here casually for the first time in the book. The Achorians were neighbors of the Utopians.
