Machiavelli’s thought engendered controversy almost immediately upon its dissemination, and it continues to do so today. The Discourses, by contrast, is a far lengthier tome that defends the superiority of republican government, especially that of Rome. The Prince is a short tract that proposes to teach rulers the “actual” precepts that will lead them to govern effectively. Although Machiavelli wrote numerous other works, including poetry and plays as well as history and a treatise on warfare, his reputation as an important author rests primarily upon the two major political compositions just mentioned. Both works were published only posthumously-in 15, respectively-but they appear to have circulated widely prior to their printing. 1527) was a civil servant in the 1498 Florentine Republic who, after he lost his position in the Medici coup of 1512, wrote two of the most influential works of Renaissance Italian political theory, The Prince (1513/1514) and the Discourses on the Ten Books of Titus Livy (1514/1515–1518/1519).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |