[Billthedrill]

Machiavelli was writing the Discourses, more formally Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy while he was writing The Prince. People neglect some pretty important facts when they regard Machiavelli as a statist: (1) he was a republican, and the main point of the Discourses is to demonstrate that a republic, not an autocratic state, was the best form of government both for ancient Rome and for contemporary Florence; (2) he was Florence's minister of defense while the Medici were out of power and his Art of War is a learned disquisition on Renaissance military practice not from a theoretical but a practical standpoint; (3) the return of the Medici to autocratic power was not a particularly happy event for Machiavelli - he ended up on the rack; (4) The Prince has been called an attempt to ingratiate himself with the new bosses (but has also been called bitter satire).

Livy himself was exquisitely aware of the dangers of too much candor extolling the virtues of republicanism but he managed it anyway - during his lifetime even Augustus had to bow to the popular preference for the ancient Republic and pretend that his government was not imperial. Understand, though, that this form of Republic was not a popularly-elected government.

For a fuller sense of Machiavelli's actual views on government it is also helpful to read his Florentine Histories. He was certainly no academic or dilettante, but a practical politician whose own theory was hardened by experience.

[M1903A1]

“The Prince” is perhaps best understood as a “resume” or “demo reel”. Machiavelli was a decent man personally, but he was a political functionary and lived for the “game” of politics. He had backed the losing side in a war, and had been exiled from Florence to his rural estate, which for him was a stultifying nightmare. In writing “The Prince” and “Discourses on Livy”, he was trying to show to the new power brokers in Florence that he understood the game of politics well, and could be of use to them. Unfortunately for him (or fortunately, perhaps) they did not take him up on his offer.