Edward Coke denounces it in Chapter I of the Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England, reporting that when it was demanded by the Lords and Commons what might be a principal motive for them to have good success in Parliament, it was answered: ' Eritis insuperabiles, si fueritis inseparabiles. The strategy of division and rule has been attributed to sovereigns, ranging from Louis XI of France to the House of Habsburg. Strabo also reports in Geographica, 8.7.3 that the Achaean League was gradually dissolved when it became part of the Roman province of Macedonia, as the Romans treated the various states differently, wishing to preserve some and to destroy others. The strategy, but not the phrase, applies in many ancient cases: the example of Aulus Gabinius exists, parting the Jewish nation into five conventions, reported by Flavius Josephus in Book I, 169вЂ“170 of The Jewish War ( De bello Judaico).

It was utilised by the Roman ruler Julius Caesar and the French emperor Napoleon (together with the maxim divide ut regnes). The maxim divide et impera has been attributed to Philip II of Macedon. Machiavelli advises that this act should be achieved either by making him suspicious of his men in whom he trusted, or by giving him cause that he has to separate his forces, and, because of this, become weaker. ( L'arte della guerra): a Captain should endeavor with every act to divide the forces of the enemy. NiccolГІ Machiavelli identifies a similar application to military strategy, advising in Book VI of The Art of War (1521). The use of this technique is meant to empower the sovereign to control subjects, populations, or factions of different interests, who collectively might be able to oppose its rule. Tradition attributes the origin of the motto to Philip II of Macedon: Greek: ОґО№О±ОЇПЃОµО№ ОєО±бЅ¶ ОІО±ПѓОЇО»ОµП…Оµ diaГrei kГ i basГleue, in Ancient Greek, meaning 'divide and rule'Дivide and rule policy ( Latin: divide et impera), or divide and conquer, in politics and sociology is gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into pieces that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy.

Divide et impera factions