Niccolò Machiavelli

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Niccolò Machiavelli
Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito.jpg
Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito
Born (1469-05-03)3 May 1469
Florence, Republic of Florence
Died 21 June 1527(1527-06-21) (aged 58)
Florence, Republic of Florence
Era Renaissance philosophy
Region Western philosophy
School Renaissance humanism, political realism, classical republicanism
Main interests
Politics and political philosophy, military theory, history
Signature Machiavelli Signature.svg

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (Italian: [nikkoˈlɔ makjaˈvɛlli]; 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He was for many years an official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. He was a founder of modern political science, and more specifically political ethics. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs, and poetry. His personal correspondence is renowned in the Italian language. He was Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence from 1498 to 1512, when the Medici were out of power. He wrote his masterpiece, The Prince, after the Medici had recovered power and he no longer held a position of responsibility in Florence. His views on the importance of a strong ruler who was not afraid to be harsh with his subjects and enemies were most likely influenced by the Italian city-states, which due to a lack of unification were very vulnerable to other unified nation-states, such as France.

"Machiavellianism" is a widely used negative term to characterize unscrupulous politicians of the sort Machiavelli described in The Prince. The book itself gained enormous notoriety and wide readership because the author seemed to be endorsing behavior often deemed as evil and immoral. Because of this, the term "Machiavellian" is often associated with deceit, deviousness, ambition, and brutality.


Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy, the third child and first son of attorney Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli and his wife, Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli.[1] The Machiavelli family is believed to be descended from the old marquesses of Tuscany and to have produced thirteen Florentine Gonfalonieres of Justice,[2] one of the offices of a group of nine citizens selected by drawing lots every two months and who formed the government, or Signoria; however, he was never a full citizen of Florence, due to the nature of Florentine citizenship in that time, even under the republican regime. Machiavelli married Marietta Corsini in 1502.[3]

Statue at the Uffizi

Machiavelli was born in a tumultuous era—popes waged acquisitive wars against Italian city-states, and people and cities often fell from power as France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and even Switzerland battled for regional influence and control. Political-military alliances continually changed, featuring condottieri (mercenary leaders), who changed sides without warning, and the rise and fall of many short-lived governments.[4]

Machiavelli was taught grammar, rhetoric, and Latin. It is thought that he did not learn Greek, even though Florence was at the time one of the centers of Greek scholarship in Europe. In 1494, Florence restored the republic—expelling the Medici family, who had ruled Florence for some sixty years. Shortly after the execution of Savonarola, Machiavelli was appointed to an office of the second chancery, a medieval writing office which put Machiavelli in charge of the production of official Florentine government documents. Shortly thereafter, he was also made the secretary of the Dieci di Libertà e Pace. In the first decade of the sixteenth century, he carried out several diplomatic missions: most notably to the Papacy in Rome, in the Italian states. Moreover, from 1502 to 1503, he witnessed the brutal reality of the state-building methods of Cesare Borgia (1475–1507) and his father, Pope Alexander VI, who were then engaged in the process of trying to bring a large part of central Italy under their possession. The pretext of defending Church interests was used as a partial justification by the Borgias. Other excursions to the court of Louis XII and the Spanish court influenced his writings such as The Prince.

Between 1503 and 1506, Machiavelli was responsible for the Florentine militia. He distrusted mercenaries (a distrust he explained in his official reports and then later in his theoretical works, due to their unpatriotic and uninvested nature in war, making their allegiance fickle and often too unreliable when most needed), and instead staffed his army with citizens, a policy which proved to be successful many times. Under his command, Florentine citizen-soldiers defeated Pisa in 1509; however, Machiavelli's success did not last. In August 1512, the Medici, helped by Pope Julius II, used Spanish troops to defeat the Florentines at Prato, although many historians have argued that this was due to Piero Soderini's unwillingness to compromise with the Medici who were holding Prato under siege. In the wake of the siege, Piero Soderini resigned as Florentine head of state and left in exile. This experience would, like Machiavelli's time in foreign courts and with the Borgia, heavily influence his political writings.

Hence, the Florentine city-state and the republic were dissolved. Machiavelli was deprived of office in 1512 by the Medici. In 1513, the Medici accused him of conspiracy against the Medici family and had him imprisoned. Despite having been subjected to torture ("with the rope," where the prisoner is hanged from his bound wrists, from the back, forcing the arms to bear the body's weight, thus dislocating the shoulders), he denied involvement and was released after three weeks.

Machiavelli's cenotaph in the Santa Croce Church in Florence

Machiavelli then retired to his estate at Sant'Andrea in Percussina (near San Casciano in Val di Pesa) and devoted himself to study and to the writing of the political treatises that earned his place in the intellectual development of political philosophy and political conduct.[5] Despairing of the opportunity to remain directly involved in political matters, after a time Machiavelli began to participate in intellectual groups in Florence and wrote several plays that (unlike his works on political theory) were both popular and widely known in his lifetime. Still, politics remained his main passion and, to satisfy this interest, he maintained a well-known correspondence with more politically connected friends, attempting to become involved once again in political life.[6]

In a letter to Francesco Vettori, he described his exile:

When evening comes, I go back home, and go to my study. On the threshold, I take off my work clothes, covered in mud and filth, and I put on the clothes an ambassador would wear. Decently dressed, I enter the ancient courts of rulers who have long since died. There, I am warmly welcomed, and I feed on the only food I find nourishing and was born to savor. I am not ashamed to talk to them and ask them to explain their actions and they, out of kindness, answer me. Four hours go by without my feeling any anxiety. I forget every worry. I am no longer afraid of poverty or frightened of death. I live entirely through them.[7]

Machiavelli died in 1527 at the age of 58, after receiving his last rites.[8] He was buried at the Church of Santa Croce in Florence. An epitaph honoring him is inscribed on his monument. The Latin legend reads: TANTO NOMINI NULLUM PAR ELOGIUM ("so great a name (has) no adequate praise" or "no eulogy (would be appropriate to) such a great name").


The Prince[edit]

Main article: The Prince
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici to whom the final version of the Prince was dedicated.

Machiavelli's best-known book, Il Principe, contains several maxims concerning politics, but instead of the more traditional subject of a hereditary prince, it concentrates on the possibility of a "new prince." To retain power, the hereditary prince must carefully balance the interests of a variety of sociopolitical institutions to which the people are accustomed, whereas a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling: He must first stabilize his newfound power in order to build an enduring political structure. He asserted that social benefits of stability and security could be achieved in the face of moral corruption. Aside from that, Machiavelli believed that public and private morality had to be understood as two different things in order to rule well. As a result, a ruler must be concerned not only with reputation, but also must be positively willing to act immorally at the right times. As a political theorist, Machiavelli emphasized the occasional need for the methodical exercise of brute force or deceit including extermination of entire noble families to head off any chance of a challenge to the prince's authority.

"The Prince" is thought to be based on the life of Cesare Borgia, whom Machiavelli served as an adviser.

Scholars often note that Machiavelli glorifies instrumentality in statebuilding—an approach embodied by the saying that "the ends justify the means." Violence may be necessary for the successful stabilization of power and introduction of new legal institutions. Force may be used to eliminate political rivals, to coerce resistant populations, and to purge the community of other men strong enough of character to rule, who will inevitably attempt to replace the ruler. Machiavelli has become infamous for such political advice, ensuring that he would be remembered in history through the adjective, "Machiavellian."

Notwithstanding some mitigating themes, the Catholic Church banned The Prince, registering it to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, and humanists also viewed the book negatively. Among them was Erasmus of Rotterdam. As a treatise, its primary intellectual contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political realism and political idealism, because The Prince is a manual to acquiring and keeping political power. In contrast with Plato and Aristotle, Machiavelli insisted that an imaginary ideal society is not a model by which a prince should orient himself.

Concerning the differences and similarities in Machiavelli's advice to ruthless and tyrannical princes in The Prince and his more republican exhortations in Discourses on Livy, many have concluded that The Prince, although written as advice for a monarchical prince, contains arguments for the superiority of republican regimes, similar to those found in the Discourses. In the 18th century, the work was even called a satire, for example by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.[9][10] More recently, commentators such as Leo Strauss and Harvey Mansfield have agreed that the Prince can be read as having a deliberate comical irony.[11]

Other interpretations include for example that of Antonio Gramsci, who argued that Machiavelli's audience for this work was not even the ruling class but the common people because the rulers already knew these methods through their education.

Discourses on Livy[edit]

Main article: Discourses on Livy

The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, often referred to simply as the "Discourses" or Discorsi, is nominally a discussion regarding the classical history of early Ancient Rome although it strays very far from this subject matter and also uses contemporary political examples to illustrate points. Machiavelli presents it as a series of lessons on how a republic should be started and structured. It is a larger work than the Prince, and while it more openly explains the advantages of republics, it also contains many similar themes. Commentators disagree about how much the two works agree with each other, frequently referring to leaders of democracies as "princes". It includes early versions of the concept of checks and balances, and asserts the superiority of a republic over a principality. It became one of the central texts of republicanism, and has often been argued to be a superior work to the Prince.[12]

From The Discourses:

  • "In fact, when there is combined under the same constitution a prince, a nobility, and the power of the people, then these three powers will watch and keep each other reciprocally in check." Book I, Chapter II
  • "Now, in a well-ordered republic, it should never be necessary to resort to extra-constitutional measures. ..." Bk I, Ch XXXIV
  • "... the governments of the people are better than those of princes." Book I, Chapter LVIII
  • "... if we compare the faults of a people with those of princes, as well as their respective good qualities, we shall find the people vastly superior in all that is good and glorious". Book I, Chapter LVIII
  • "For government consists mainly in so keeping your subjects that they shall be neither able, nor disposed to injure you. ..." Bk II, Ch XXIII
  • "... no prince is ever benefited by making himself hated." Book III, Chapter XIX
  • "Let not princes complain of the faults committed by the people subjected to their authority, for they result entirely from their own negligence or bad example." Bk III, Ch XXIX [13]

Other political and historical works[edit]

Peter Withorne's 1573 translation of The Art of War

Fictional works[edit]

Besides being a statesman and political scientist, Machiavelli also translated classical works, and was a playwright (Clizia, Mandragola), a poet (Sonetti, Canzoni, Ottave, Canti carnascialeschi), and a novelist (Belfagor arcidiavolo).

Some of his other work:

Other works[edit]

Della Lingua (Italian for "Of the Language") (1514), a dialogue about Italy's language is normally attributed to Machiavelli.

Machiavelli's literary executor, Giuliano de' Ricci, also reported having seen that Machiavelli, his grandfather, made a comedy in the style of Aristophanes which included living Florentines as characters, and to be titled Le Maschere. It has been suggested that due to such things as this and his style of writing to his superiors generally, there was very likely some animosity to Machiavelli even before the return of the Medici.[14]


Commentators have taken very different approaches to Machiavelli and not always agreed. Major discussion has tended to be about two issues: first, how unified and philosophical his work is, and second, concerning how innovative or traditional it is.[15]


There is some disagreement concerning how best to describe the unifying themes, if there are any, that can be found in Machiavelli's works, especially in the two major political works, The Prince and Discourses. Some commentators have described him as inconsistent, and perhaps as not even putting a high priority in consistency.[15] Others such as Hans Baron have argued that his ideas must have changed dramatically over time. Some have argued that his conclusions are best understood as a product of his times, experiences and education. Others, such as Leo Strauss and Harvey Mansfield, have argued strongly that there is a very strong and deliberate consistency and distinctness, even arguing that this extends to all of Machiavelli's works including his comedies and letters.[15]


Commentators such as Leo Strauss have gone so far as to name Machiavelli as the deliberate originator of modernity itself. Others have argued that Machiavelli is only a particularly interesting example of trends which were happening around him. In any case Machiavelli presented himself at various times as someone reminding Italians of the old virtues of the Romans and Greeks, and other times as someone promoting a completely new approach to politics.[15]

That Machiavelli had a wide range of influences is in itself not controversial. Their relative importance is however a subject of on-going discussion. It is possible to summarize some of the main influences emphasized by different commentators.

1. The Mirror of Princes genre. Gilbert (1938) summarized the similarities between The Prince and the genre it obviously imitates, the so-called "Mirror of Princes" style. This was a classically influenced genre, with models at least as far back as Xenophon and Isocrates, that was still quite popular during Machiavelli's life. While Gilbert emphasizes the similarities however, he agrees with all other commentators that Machiavelli was particularly novel in the way he used this genre, even when compared to his contemporaries such as Baldassare Castiglione and Erasmus. One of the major innovations Gilbert noted was that Machiavelli focused upon the "deliberate purpose of dealing with a new ruler who will need to establish himself in defiance of custom". Normally, these types of works were addressed only to hereditary princes. (Xenophon is also an exception in this regard.)

2. Classical republicanism. Commentators such as Quentin Skinner and J.G.A. Pocock, in the so-called "Cambridge School" of interpretation have been able to show that some of the republican themes in Machiavelli's political works, particularly the Discourses on Livy, can be found in medieval Italian literature which was influenced by classical authors such as Sallust.

Xenophon, author of the Cyropedia.

3. Classical political philosophy: Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle. The Socratic school of classical political philosophy, especially Aristotle, had become a major influence upon European political thinking in the late Middle Ages. It existed both in the catholicised form presented by Thomas Aquinas, and in the more controversial "Averroist" form of authors like Marsilius of Padua. Machiavelli was critical of catholic political thinking and may have been influenced by Averroism. But he cites Plato and Aristotle very infrequently and apparently did not approve of them. Leo Strauss argued that the strong influence of Xenophon, a student of Socrates more known as an historian, rhetorician and soldier, was a major source of Socratic ideas for Machiavelli, sometimes not in line with Aristotle. While interest in Plato was increasing in Florence during Machiavelli's lifetime he also does not show particular interest in him, but was indirectly influenced by his readings of authors such as Polybius, Plutarch and Cicero.

The major difference between Machiavelli and the Socratics, according to Strauss, is Machiavelli's materialism and therefore his rejection of both a teleological view of nature, and of the view that philosophy is higher than politics. Aimed-for things which the Socratics argued would tend to happen by nature, Machiavelli said would happen by chance.[16]

4. Classical materialism. Strauss argued that Machiavelli may have seen himself as influenced by some ideas from classical materialists such as Democritus, Epicurus and Lucretius. Strauss however sees this also as a sign of major innovation in Machiavelli, because classical materialists did not share the Socratic regard for political life, while Machiavelli clearly did.[16]

5. Thucydides. Some scholars note the similarity between Machiavelli and the Greek historian Thucydides, since both emphasized power politics.[17][18] Strauss argued that Machiavelli may indeed have been influenced by pre-Socratic philosophers, but he felt it was a new combination:-

...contemporary readers are reminded by Machiavelli's teaching of Thucydides; they find in both authors the same "realism," i.e., the same denial of the power of the gods or of justice and the same sensitivity to harsh necessity and elusive chance. Yet Thucydides never calls in question the intrinsic superiority of nobility to baseness, a superiority that shines forth particularly when the noble is destroyed by the base. Therefore Thucydides' History arouses in the reader a sadness which is never aroused by Machiavelli's books. In Machiavelli we find comedies, parodies, and satires but nothing reminding of tragedy. One half of humanity remains outside of his thought. There is no tragedy in Machiavelli because he has no sense of the sacredness of "the common." — Strauss (1958, p. 292)


Amongst commentators, there are a few consistently made proposals concerning what was most new in Machiavelli's work.

Empiricism and realism versus idealism[edit]

Machiavelli is sometimes seen as the prototype of a modern empirical scientist, building generalizations from experience and historical facts, and emphasizing the uselessness of theorizing with the imagination.[15]

He emancipated politics from theology and moral philosophy. He undertook to describe simply what rulers actually did and thus anticipated what was later called the scientific spirit in which questions of good and bad are ignored, and the observer attempts to discover only what really happens.

—Joshua Kaplan, 2005[19]

Machiavelli felt that his early schooling along the lines of a traditional classical education was essentially useless for the purpose of understanding politics. Nevertheless, he advocated intensive study of the past, particularly regarding the founding of a city, which he felt was a key to understanding its later development.[19] Moreover, he studied the way people lived and aimed to inform leaders how they should rule and even how they themselves should live. For example, Machiavelli denies that living virtuously necessarily leads to happiness. And Machiavelli viewed misery as one of the vices that enables a prince to rule.[20] Machiavelli stated that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved.[21] In much of Machiavelli's work, it seems that the ruler must adopt unsavory policies for the sake of the continuance of his regime.

A related and more controversial proposal often made is that he described how to do things in politics in a way which seemed neutral concerning who used the advice—tyrants or good rulers.[15] That Machiavelli strove for realism is not doubted, but for four centuries scholars have debated how best to describe his morality. The Prince made the word "Machiavellian" a byword for deceit, despotism, and political manipulation. Even if Machiavelli was not himself evil, Leo Strauss declared himself inclined toward the traditional view that Machiavelli was self-consciously a "teacher of evil," since he counsels the princes to avoid the values of justice, mercy, temperance, wisdom, and love of their people in preference to the use of cruelty, violence, fear, and deception.[22] Italian anti-fascist philosopher Benedetto Croce (1925) concludes Machiavelli is simply a "realist" or "pragmatist" who accurately states that moral values in reality do not greatly affect the decisions that political leaders make.[23] German philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1946) held that Machiavelli simply adopts the stance of a political scientist—a Galileo of politics—in distinguishing between the "facts" of political life and the "values" of moral judgment.[24] On the other hand, Walter Russell Mead has argued that The Prince '​s advice presupposes the importance of ideas like legitimacy in making changes to the political system.[25]


Machiavelli is generally seen as being critical of Christianity as it existed in his time, specifically its effect upon politics, and also everyday life. In his opinion, Christianity, along with the teleological Aristotelianism that the church had come to accept, allowed practical decisions to be guided too much by imaginary ideals and encouraged people to lazily leave events up to providence or, as he would put it, chance, luck or fortune. While Christianity sees modesty as a virtue and pride as sinful, Machiavelli took a more classical position, seeing ambition, spiritedness, and the pursuit of glory as good and natural things, and part of the virtue and prudence that good princes should have. Therefore, while it was traditional to say that leaders should have virtues, especially prudence, Machiavelli's use of the words virtù and prudenza was unusual for his time, implying a spirited and immodest ambition. Famously, Machiavelli argued that virtue and prudence can help a man control more of his future, in the place of allowing fortune to do so.

Najemy (1993) has argued that this same approach can be found in Machiavelli's approach to love and desire, as seen in his comedies and correspondence. Najemy shows how Machiavelli's friend Vettori argued against Machiavelli and cited a more traditional understanding of fortune.

On the other hand, humanism in Machiavelli's time meant that classical pre-Christian ideas about virtue and prudence, including the possibility of trying to control one's future, were not unique to him. But humanists did not go so far as to promote the extra glory of deliberately aiming to establish a new state, in defiance of traditions and laws.

While Machiavelli's approach had classical precedents, it has been argued that it did more than just bring back old ideas, and that Machiavelli was not a typical humanist. Strauss (1958) argues that the way Machiavelli combines classical ideas is new. While Xenophon and Plato also described realistic politics, and were closer to Machiavelli than Aristotle was, they, like Aristotle, also saw Philosophy as something higher than politics. Machiavelli was apparently a materialist who objected to explanations involving formal and final causation, or teleology.

Machiavelli's promotion of ambition among leaders while denying any higher standard meant that he encouraged risk taking, and innovation, most famously the founding of new modes and orders. His advice to prince was therefore certainly not limited to discussing how to maintain a state. It has been argued that Machiavelli's promotion of innovation led directly to the argument for progress as an aim of politics and civilization. But while a belief that humanity can control its own future, control nature, and "progress" has been long lasting, Machiavelli's followers, starting with his own friend Guicciardini, have tended to prefer peaceful progress through economic development, and not warlike progress. As Harvey Mansfield (1995, p. 74) wrote: "In attempting other, more regular and scientific modes of overcoming fortune, Machiavelli's successors formalized and emasculated his notion of virtue."

Machiavelli however, along with some of his classical predecessors, saw ambition and spiritedness, and therefore war, as inevitable and part of human nature.

Strauss concludes his 1958 Thoughts on Machiavelli by proposing that this promotion of progress leads directly to the modern arms race. Strauss argued that the unavoidable nature of such arms races, which have existed before modern times and led to the collapse of peaceful civilizations, provides us with both an explanation of what is most truly dangerous in Machiavelli's innovations, but also the way in which the aims of his apparently immoral innovation can be understood.


Cesare Borgia (far left) and Cardinal de Borja (one of Pope Alexander VI's ten cardinal-nephews), depicted with Machiavelli and Michelotto Corella, c. 1500.

Machiavelli explains repeatedly that religion is man-made, and that the value of religion lies in its contribution to social order and the rules of morality must be dispensed if security required it. In The Prince, the Discourses, and in the Life of Castruccio Castracani, he describes "prophets", as he calls them, like Moses, Romulus, Cyrus the Great, and Theseus (he treated pagan and Christian patriarchs in the same way) as the greatest of new princes, the glorious and brutal founders of the most novel innovations in politics, and men whom Machiavelli assures us have always used a large amount of armed force and murder against their own people. He estimated that these sects last from 1666 to 3000 years each time, which, as pointed out by Leo Strauss, would mean that Christianity became due to start finishing about 150 years after Machiavelli.[26] Machiavelli's concern with Christianity as a sect was that it makes men weak and inactive, delivering politics into the hands of cruel and wicked men without a fight.

While fear of God can be replaced by fear of the prince, if there is a strong enough prince, Machiavelli felt that having a religion is in any case especially essential to keeping a republic in order. For Machiavelli, a truly great prince can never be conventionally religious himself, but he should make his people religious if he can. According to Strauss (1958, pp. 226–227) he was not the first person to ever explain religion in this way, but his description of religion was novel because of the way he integrated this into his general account of princes.

Machiavelli's judgment that democracies need religion for practical political reasons was widespread among modern proponents of republics until approximately the time of the French revolution. This therefore represents a point of disagreement between himself and late modernity.[27]

The positive side to factional and individual vice[edit]

Despite the classical precedents, which Machiavelli was not the only one to promote in his time, Machiavelli's realism and willingness to argue that good ends justify bad things, is seen as a critical stimulus towards some of the most important theories of modern politics.

Firstly, particularly in the Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli is unusual in the positive side he sometimes seems to describe in factionalism in republics. For example quite early in the Discourses, (in Book I, chapter 4), a chapter title announces that the disunion of the plebs and senate in Rome "kept Rome free." That a community has different components whose interests must be balanced in any good regime is an idea with classical precedents, but Machiavelli's particularly extreme presentation is seen as a critical step towards the later political ideas of both a division of powers or checks and balances, ideas which lay behind the US constitution (and most modern constitutions).

Similarly, the modern economic argument for capitalism, and most modern forms of economics, was often stated in the form of "public virtue from private vices." Also in this case, even though there are classical precedents, Machiavelli's insistence on being both realistic and ambitious, not only admitting that vice exists but being willing to risk encouraging it, is a critical step on the path to this insight.

Mansfield however argues that Machiavelli's own aims have not been shared by those influenced by him. Machiavelli argued against seeing mere peace and economic growth as worthy aims on their own, if they would lead to what Mansfield calls the "taming of the prince."[28]


Cesare Borgia, used as an example of a successful ruler in The Prince.

Machiavelli is most famous for a short political treatise, The Prince, written in 1513 but not published until 1532, five years after his death. Although he privately circulated The Prince among friends, the only theoretical work to be printed in his lifetime was The Art of War, about military science. Since the 16th century, generations of politicians remain attracted and repelled by its apparently neutral acceptance, or even positive encouragement, of the immorality of powerful men, described especially in The Prince but also in his other works.

His works are sometimes even said to have contributed to the modern negative connotations of the words politics and politician,[29] and it is sometimes thought that it is because of him that Old Nick became an English term for the Devil[30] and the adjective Machiavellian became a pejorative term describing someone who aims to deceive and manipulate others for personal advantage. Machiavellianism also remains a popular term used in speeches and journalism; while in psychology, it denotes a personality type.

While Machiavellianism is notable in the works of Machiavelli, Machiavelli's works are complex and he is generally agreed to have been more than just "Machiavellian" himself. For example, J.G.A. Pocock (1975) saw him as a major source of the republicanism that spread throughout England and North America in the 17th and 18th centuries and Leo Strauss (1958), whose view of Machiavelli is quite different in many ways, agreed about Machiavelli's influence on republicanism and argued that even though Machiavelli was a teacher of evil he had a nobility of spirit that led him to advocate ignoble actions. Whatever his intentions, which are still debated today, he has become associated with any proposal where "the end justifies the means". For example Leo Strauss (1958, p. 297) wrote:

Machiavelli is the only political thinker whose name has come into common use for designating a kind of politics, which exists and will continue to exist independently of his influence, a politics guided exclusively by considerations of expediency, which uses all means, fair or foul, iron or poison, for achieving its ends—its end being the aggrandizement of one's country or fatherland—but also using the fatherland in the service of the self-aggrandizement of the politician or statesman or one's party.


To quote Robert Bireley:[31]

...there were in circulation approximately fifteen editions of the Prince and nineteen of the Discourses and French translations of each before they were placed on the Index of Paul IV in 1559, a measure which nearly stopped publication in Catholic areas except in France. Three principal writers took the field against Machiavelli between the publication of his works and their condemnation in 1559 and again by the Tridentine Index in 1564. These were the English cardinal Reginald Pole and the Portuguese bishop Jeronymo Osorio, both of whom lived for many years in Italy, and the Italian humanist and later bishop, Ambrogio Caterino Politi.

Machiavelli's ideas had a profound impact on political leaders throughout the modern west, helped by the new technology of the printing press. During the first generations after Machiavelli, his main influence was in non-Republican governments. Pole reported that the Prince was spoken of highly by Thomas Cromwell in England and had influenced Henry VIII in his turn towards Protestantism, and in his tactics, for example during the Pilgrimage of Grace.[32] A copy was also possessed by the Catholic king and emperor Charles V.[33] In France, after an initially mixed reaction, Machiavelli came to be associated with Catherine de' Medici and the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. As Bireley (1990:17) reports, in the 16th century, Catholic writers "associated Machiavelli with the Protestants, whereas Protestant authors saw him as Italian and Catholic". In fact, he was apparently influencing both Catholic and Protestant kings.[34]

One of the most important early works dedicated to criticism of Machiavelli, especially The Prince, was that of the Huguenot, Innocent Gentillet, whose work commonly referred to as Discourse against Machiavelli or Anti Machiavel was published in Geneva in 1576.[35] He accused Machiavelli of being an atheist and accused politicians of his time by saying that his works were the "Koran of the courtiers", that "he is of no reputation in the court of France which hath not Machiavel's writings at the fingers ends".[36] Another theme of Gentillet was more in the spirit of Machiavelli himself: he questioned the effectiveness of immoral strategies (just as Machiavelli had himself done, despite also explaining how they could sometimes work). This became the theme of much future political discourse in Europe during the 17th century. This includes the Catholic Counter Reformation writers summarised by Bireley: Giovanni Botero, Justus Lipsius, Carlo Scribani, Adam Contzen, Pedro de Ribadeneira, and Diego Saavedra Fajardo.[37] These authors criticized Machiavelli, but also followed him in many ways. They accepted the need for a prince to be concerned with reputation, and even a need for cunning and deceit, but compared to Machiavelli, and like later modernist writers, they emphasized economic progress much more than the riskier ventures of war. These authors tended to cite Tacitus as their source for realist political advice, rather than Machiavelli, and this pretense came to be known as "Tacitism".[38] "Black tacitism" was in support of princely rule, but "red tacitism" arguing the case for republics, more in the original spirit of Machiavelli himself, became increasingly important.

Francis Bacon argued the case for what would become modern science which would be based more upon real experience and experimentation, free from assumptions about metaphysics, and aimed at increasing control of nature. He named Machiavelli as a predecessor.

Modern materialist philosophy developed in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, starting in the generations after Machiavelli. This philosophy tended to be republican, more in the original spirit of Machiavellian, but as with the Catholic authors Machiavelli's realism and encouragement of using innovation to try to control one's own fortune were more accepted than his emphasis upon war and politics. Not only was innovative economics and politics a result, but also modern science, leading some commentators to say that the 18th century Enlightenment involved a "humanitarian" moderating of Machiavellianism.[39]

The importance of Machiavelli's influence is notable in many important figures in this endeavor, for example Bodin,[40] Francis Bacon,[41] Algernon Sidney,[42] Harrington, John Milton,[43] Spinoza,[44] Rousseau, Hume,[45] Edward Gibbon, and Adam Smith. Although he was not always mentioned by name as an inspiration, due to his controversy, he is also thought to have been an influence for other major philosophers, such as Montaigne,[46] Descartes,[47] Hobbes, Locke[48] and Montesquieu.[49]

Although it seems outlandish to think that Machiavelli influenced political theorists such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who would certainly not agree with Machiavelli's theories in a literal sense, it is important to view Machiavelli's work from different points of view rather than just the traditional notion. For example, Rousseau viewed Machiavelli's work as a satirical piece in which Machiavelli exposes the faults of a one-man rule rather than exalting amorality.

In the seventeenth century it was in England that Machiavelli's ideas were most substantially developed and adapted, and that republicanism came once more to life; and out of seventeenth-century English republicanism there were to emerge in the next century not only a theme of English political and historical reflection—of the writings of the Bolingbroke circle and of Gibbon and of early parliamentary radicals—but a stimulus to the Enlightenment in Scotland, on the Continent, and in America.[50]

Scholars have argued that Machiavelli was a major indirect and direct influence upon the political thinking of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson followed Machiavelli's republicanism when they opposed what they saw as the emerging aristocracy that they feared Alexander Hamilton was creating with the Federalist Party.[51] Hamilton learned from Machiavelli about the importance of foreign policy for domestic policy, but may have broken from him regarding how rapacious a republic needed to be in order to survive[52][53] (George Washington was probably less influenced by Machiavelli).[54] However, the Founding Father who perhaps most studied and valued Machiavelli as a political philosopher was John Adams, who profusely commented on the Italian's thought in his work, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America.[55]


20th century[edit]

The 20th-century Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci drew great inspiration from Machiavelli's writings on ethics, morals, and how they relate to the State and revolution in his writings on Passive Revolution, and how a society can be manipulated by controlling popular notions of morality.[56]

Joseph Stalin read The Prince and annotated his own copy.[57]

Revival of interest in the comedies[edit]

In the 20th century there was also renewed interest in Machiavelli's La Mandragola (1518), which received numerous stagings, including several in New York, at the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1976 and the Riverside Shakespeare Company in 1979, as a musical comedy by Peer Raben in Munich's antiteater in 1971, and at London's National Theatre in 1984.[58]

In popular culture[edit]

Niccolò Machiavelli aids Cesare Borgia and protagonist Nicholas Dawson in their dangerous intrigues in Cecelia Holland's 1979 historical novel City of God.[59] David Maclaine writes that in the novel, Machiavelli "is an off-stage presence whose spirit permeates this work of intrigue and betrayal ... It is a brilliant introduction to the people and events that gave us the word 'Machiavellian.'"[59] Machiavelli appears as an Immortal adversary of Duncan MacLeod in Nancy Holder's 1997 Highlander novel The Measure Of A Man, and is a major character in Michael Scott's novel series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (2007-2012). Machiavelli is also one of the main characters in The Enchantress of Florence (2008) by Salman Rushdie, mostly referred to as "Niccolò 'il Macchia", and the central protagonist in the 2012 novel The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis.

Television dramas centering around the early Renaissance have also made use of Machiavelli to underscore his influence in early modern political philosophy. Machiavelli has been featured as a supporting character in The Tudors (2007-2010) and The Borgias (2011-2013).

Machiavelli appears in the popular historical video games Assassin's Creed II (2009) and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2010), in which he is portrayed as a member of the secret society of Assassins.

A highly fictionalised version of Machiavelli appears in the BBC children's TV series Leonardo (2011-2012), in which he is "Mac", a black streetwise hustler who is best friends with fellow teenagers Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, and Lorenzo di Medici. In the 2013 episode "Ewings Unite!" of the television series Dallas, legendary oil baron J.R. Ewing wills his copy of The Prince to his adopted nephew, telling him to "use it, because being smart and sneaky is an unbeatable combination." In Da Vinci's Demons (2013–present)—an American historical fantasy drama series that presents a fictional account of Leonardo da Vinci's early life[60]Eros Vlahos plays a young Niccolò "Nico" Machiavelli, although the character's full name is not revealed until the finale of the second season.

Machiavelli is played by Damian Lewis in the 2013 BBC radio play The Prince written by Jonathan Myerson. Together with his defence attorney Lucrezia Borgia (Helen McCrory), he presents examples from history to the devil to support his political theories and appeal his sentence in hell.[61]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ de Grazia (1989)
  2. ^ Wikisource-logo.svg "Niccolò Machiavelli". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
  3. ^ Guarini (1999:21)
  4. ^ Maurizio Viroli, Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli (2000), ch 1
  5. ^ Donna, Daniel, in the introduction to the Bantam Classic edition of The Prince (1966)
  6. ^ Machiavelli, Niccolò (1996), Machiavelli and his friends: Their personal correspondence, Northern Illinois University Press. Translated and edited by James B. Atkinson and David Sices.
  7. ^ Joshua Kaplan, "Political Theory: The Classic Texts and their Continuing Relevance," The Modern Scholar (14 lectures in the series; lecture #7 / disc 4), 2005
  8. ^ "Even such men as Malatesta and Machiavelli, after spending their lives in estrangement from the Church, sought on their death-beds her assistance and consolations. Both made good confessions and received the Holy Viaticum." - Ludwig von Pastor, History of the Popes, Vol. 5, p. 137, [1]
  9. ^ Discourse on Political Economy: opening pages.
  10. ^ Berlin, Isaih. "The Originality of Machiavelli". Retrieved 18 October 2012. 
  11. ^ Strauss (1958), pages 40-41.
  12. ^ Pocock (1975, pp. 183–219)
  14. ^ Godman (1998, p. 240). Also see Black (1999, pp. 97–98)
  15. ^ a b c d e f Fischer (2000)
  16. ^ a b Strauss (1958)
  17. ^ Paul Anthony Rahe, Against throne and altar: Machiavelli and political theory under the English Republic (2008) p. 282
  18. ^ Jack Donnelly, Realism and International Relations (2000) p. 68
  19. ^ a b Joshua Kaplan (2005). "Political Theory: The Classic Texts and their Continuing Relevance". The Modern Scholar. 14 lectures in the series; (lectures #7) -- see disc 4 
  21. ^ Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, p. 60
  22. ^ Leo Strauss, Thoughts on Machiavelli (1957), p. 9 online
  23. ^ Benedetto Croce, My Philosophy (1949), p. 142 online
  25. ^ Russell Mead, Walter (May 3, 2011). "When Isms go to War". The American Interest. Retrieved 28 October 2013. 
  26. ^ Strauss (1987, p. 314)
  27. ^ Strauss (1958, p. 231)
  28. ^ Mansfield (1993)
  29. ^ Bireley (1990, p. 241)
  30. ^ Fischer (2000, p. 94)
  31. ^ Bireley, Robert (1990), The Counter Reformation Prince, p.14
  32. ^ Bireley (1990:15)
  33. ^ Haitsma Mulier (1999:248)
  34. ^ While Bireley focuses on writers in the Catholic countries, Haitsma Mulier (1999) makes the same observation, writing with more of a focus upon the Protestant Netherlands.
  35. ^ The first English edition was A Discourse upon the meanes of wel governing and maintaining in good peace, a Kingdome, or other principalitie, translated by Simon Patericke.
  36. ^ Bireley (1990:17)
  37. ^ Bireley (1990:18)
  38. ^ Bireley (1990:223–230)
  39. ^ Kennington (2004), Rahe (2006)
  40. ^ Bireley (1990:17): "Jean Bodin's first comments, found in his Method for the Easy Comprehension of History, published in 1566, were positive."
  41. ^ Bacon wrote: "We are much beholden to Machiavelli and other writers of that class who openly and unfeignedly declare or describe what men do, and not what they ought to do." "II.21.9", Of the Advancement of Learning . See Kennington (2004) Chapter 4.
  42. ^ Rahe (2006) chapter 6.
  43. ^ Worden (1999)
  44. ^ "Spinoza's Political Philosophy". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 19 March 2011. 
  45. ^ Danford "Getting Our Bearings: Machiavelli and Hume" in Rahe (2006).
  46. ^ Schaefer (1990)
  47. ^ Kennington (2004), chapter 11.
  48. ^ Barnes Smith "The Philosophy of Liberty: Locke's Machiavellian Teaching" in Rahe (2006).
  49. ^ Carrese "The Machiavellian Spirit of Montesquieu's Liberal Republic" in Rahe (2006). Shklar "Montesquieu and the new republicanism" in Bock (1999).
  50. ^ Worden (1999)
  51. ^ Rahe (2006)
  52. ^ Walling "Was Alexander Hamilton a Machiavellian Statesman?" in Rahe (2006).
  53. ^ Harper (2004)
  54. ^ Spalding "The American Prince? George Washington's Anti-Machiavellian moment" in Rahe (2006)
  55. ^ a b Thompson (1995)
  56. ^ Marcia Landy, "Culture ansd Politics in the work of Antonio Gramsci," 167–88, in Antonio Gramsci: Intellectuals, Culture, and the Party, ed. James Martin (New York: Routledge, 2002).
  57. ^ Stalin: A Biography By Robert Service
  59. ^ a b Maclaine, David. "City of God by Cecelia Holland". Retrieved September 5, 2014. 
  60. ^ Jonathan Jones. "Da Vinci's Demons: the new TV show that totally reinvents Leonardo's life". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2014. 
  61. ^

Further reading[edit]


  • Baron, Hans. "Machiavelli: The Republican Citizen and the Author of 'the Prince'", English Historical Review Vol. 76, No. 299 (Apr., 1961), pp. 217–253 in JSTOR
  • Capponi, Niccolò. An Unlikely Prince: The Life and Times of Machiavelli (Da Capo Press; 2010) 334 pages
  • Godman, Peter (1998), From Poliziano to Machiavelli: Florentine Humanism in the High Renaissance, Princeton University Press 
  • de Grazia, Sebastian (1989), Machiavelli in Hell , highly favorable intellectual biography; won the Pulitzer Prize; excerpt and text search
  • Hulliung, Mark. Citizen Machiavelli (1983)
  • Oppenheimer, Paul. Machiavelli : a life beyond ideology (2011) London ; New York : Continuum. ISBN 9781847252210
  • Schevill, Ferdinand. Six Historians (1956), pp. 61–91
  • Skinner, Quentin. Machiavelli, in series, Past Masters. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 1981. pp. vii, 102. ISBN 0-19-287516-7 pbk.
  • Unger, Miles J. 'Machiavelli: A Biography' (Simon & Schuster 2011) a lively, authoritative account of Machiavelli's life and work.
  • Villari, Pasquale. The Life and Times of Niccolò Machiavelli (2 vol 1892), good older biography; online Google edition vol 1; Google edition vol 2
  • Viroli, Maurizio (2000), Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli, Farrar, Straus & Giroux  excerpt and text search
  • Vivanti, Corrado. Niccolò Machiavelli: An Intellectual Biography (Princeton University Press; 2013) 261 pages

Political thought[edit]

  • Anglo, Sydney, Machiavelli—The First Century: Studies in Enthusiasm, Hostility, and Irrelevance, Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-19-926776-6, ISBN 978-0-19-926776-7
  • Baron, Hans (1961), "Machiavelli: the Republican Citizen and Author of The Prince", English Historical Review, lxxvi (76): 217–253, doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXVI.CCXCIX.217.  in JSTOR
  • Bireley, Robert (1990), The Counter Reformation Prince 
  • Black, Robert (1999), "Machiavelli, servant of the Florentine republic", in Bock, Gisela; Skinner, Quentin; Viroli, Maurizio, Machiavelli and Republicanism, Cambridge University Press 
  • Bock, Gisela; Quentin Skinner and Maurizio Viroli, ed. (1990), Machiavelli and Republicanism, Cambridge University Press  excerpt and text search
  • Donskis, Leonidas, Ed. (2011) Niccolò Machiavelli: History, Power, and Virtue. Rodopi, ISBN 978-90-420-3277-4, E-ISBN 978-90-420-3278-1
  • Fischer, Markus (2000), Well-ordered License: On the Unity of Machiavelli's Thought, Lexington Book 
  • Guarini, Elena (1999), "Machiavelli and the crisis of the Italian republics", in Bock, Gisela; Skinner, Quentin; Viroli, Maurizio, Machiavelli and Republicanism, Cambridge University Press 
  • Gilbert, Allan (1938), Machiavelli's Prince and Its Forerunners, Duke University Press 
  • Jurdjevic, Mark (2014). A Great and Wretched City: Promise and Failure in Machiavelli's Florentine Political Thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-72546-1. 
  • Kennington, Richard (2004), On Modern Origins, Lexington Books 
  • Mansfield, Harvey (1993), Taming the Prince, The Johns Hopkins University Press 
  • Mansfield, Harvey (1995), "Machiavelli and the Idea of Progress", in Melzer; Weinberger; Zinman, History and the Idea of Progress, Cornell University Press 
  • Roger Masters (1996), Machiavelli, Leonardo and the Science of Power, University of Notre Dame Press, ISBN 0-268-01433-7  See also NYT book review.
  • Roger Masters (1998), Fortune is a River: Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-452-28090-7  Also available in Chinese (ISBN 9789572026113), Japanese (ISBN 9784022597588), German (ISBN 9783471794029), Portuguese (ISBN 9788571104969), and Korean (ISBN 9788984070059). See also NYT book review.
  • Mattingly, Garrett (Autumn 1958), "Machiavelli's Prince: Political Science or Political Satire?", The American Scholar (27): 482–491. 
  • Najemy, John (1993), Between Friends: Discourses of Power and Desire in the Machiavelli-Vettori Letters of 1513-1515, Princeton University Press 
  • Najemy, John M. (1996), "Baron's Machiavelli and Renaissance Republicanism", American Historical Review (The American Historical Review, Vol. 101, No. 1) 101 (1): 119–129, doi:10.2307/2169227, JSTOR 2169227.  Fulltext in Jstor.
  • Parel, Anthony (1972), "Introduction: Machiavelli's Method and His Interpreters", The Political Calculus: Essays on Machiavelli's Philosophy, Toronto, pp. 3–28 
  • Pocock, J.G.A. (1975), The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition, Princeton  new ed. 2003, a highly influential study of Discourses and its vast influence; excerpt and text search; also online 1975 edition
  • Rahe, Paul (1992), Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution  online edition
  • Rahe, Paul A. (2006), Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521851874  Excerpt, reviews and Text search shows Machiavelli's Discourses had a major impact on shaping conservative thought.
  • Schaefer, David (1990), The Political Philosophy of Montaigne, Cornell University Press .
  • Soll, Jacob (2005), Publishing The Prince: History, Reading and the Birth of Political Criticism, University of Michigan Press 
  • Strauss, Leo (1987), "Niccolò Machiavelli", in Strauss, Leo; Cropsey, Joseph, History of Political Philosophy (3rd ed.), University of Chicago Press 
  • Strauss, Leo (1958), Thoughts on Machiavelli, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-77702-2 
  • Sullivan, Vickie B., ed. (2000), The Comedy and Tragedy of Machiavelli: Essays on the Literary Works, Yale U. Press 
  • Sullivan, Vickie B. (1996), Machiavelli's Three Romes: Religion, Human Liberty, and Politics Reformed, Northern Illinois University Press 
  • Thompson, C. Bradley (1995), "John Adams's Machiavellian Moment", The Review of Politics 57 (3): 389–417, doi:10.1017/S0034670500019689 . Also in Rahe (2006).
  • Whelan, Frederick G. (2004), Hume and Machiavelli: Political Realism and Liberal Thought, Lexington 
  • Worden, Blair (1999), "Milton's Republicanism and the Tyranny of Heaven", in Bock, Gisela; Skinner, Quentin; Viroli, Maurizio, Machiavelli and Republicanism, Cambridge University Press 

Italian studies[edit]

  • Barbuto, Marcelo (2005), "Questa oblivione delle cose. Reflexiones sobre la cosmología de Maquiavelo (1469-1527)," Revista Daimon, 34, Universidad de Murcia, pp. 34–52.
  • Barbuto, Marcelo (2008), "Discorsi, I, XII, 12-14. La Chiesa romana di fronte alla republica cristiana", Filosofia Politica, 1, Il Mulino, Bologna, pp. 99–116.
  • Barbuto, Marcelo (2008) "Lettere non tanto chiare", La Cultura, Rivista di Filosofia, Letteratura e Storia, 2, pp. 331–8.
  • Giuseppe Leone, "Silone e Machiavelli. Una scuola...che non crea prìncipi", pref. di Vittoriano Esposito, Centro Studi Ignazio Silone, Pescina, 2003.
  • Martelli, Mario (2004), "Tracce d`una preistoria dell`Arte della Guerra di Niccolò Machiavelli", Interpres, XXIII, pp. 256–8.
  • Martelli, Mario (2004), "La Mandragola e il suo prologo", Interpres, XXIII, pp. 106–42.
  • Martelli, Mario (2003), "Per la definizione della nozione di principe civile", Interpres, XXII.
  • Martelli, Mario (2001), "I dettagli della filologia", Interpres XX, pp. 212–71.
  • Martelli, Mario (1999a), "Note su Machiavelli", Interpres XVIII, pp. 91–145.
  • Martelli, Mario (1999b), Saggio sul Principe, Salerno Editrice, Roma.
  • Martelli, Mario (1999c), "Machiavelli e Savonarola: valutazione politica e valutazione religiosa", Girolamo Savonarola. L´uomo e il frate". Atti del xxxv Convegno storico internazionale (Todi, II-14 ottobre 1998), CISAM, Spoleto, pp. 139–53.
  • Martelli, Mario (1998a), Machiavelli e gli storici antichi, osservazioni su alcuni luoghi dei discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio, Quaderni di Filologia e critica, 13, Salerno Editrice, Roma.
  • Martelli, Mario (1998b), "Machiavelli politico amante poeta", Interpres XVII, pp. 211–56.
  • Martelli, Mario (1998c), "Machiavelli e Savonarola", Savonarola. Democrazia, tirannide, profezia, a cura di G.C. Garfagnini, Florencia, Sismel-Edizioni del Galluzo, pp. 67–89.
  • Martelli, Mario (1998d), "Machiavelli e Frontino. Nota sulle foti letterarie dell´Arte della guerra", Regards sur la Renaissance italienne. Mélanges de Littérature offerts à Paul Larivaille, Université de Paris X-Nanterre, Paris, pp. 115–25.
  • Martelli, Mario and Bausi, Francesco (1997), "Politica, storia e letteratura: Machiavelli e Guicciardini", Storia della letteratura italiana, E. Malato (ed.), vol. IV. Il primo Cinquecento, Salerno Editrice, Roma, pp. 251–320.
  • Martelli, Mario (1993), "Il buon geometra di questo mondo", in N.M. Tutte le opere, Sansoni editore, Milano, pp. xi-xlvii.
  • Martelli, Mario (1985–1986), "Schede sulla cultura di Machiavelli", Interpres VI, pp. 283–330.
  • Martelli, Mario (1982) "La logica provvidenzialistica e il capitolo XXVI del Principe", Interpres IV, pp. 262–384.
  • Martelli, Mario (1974), "L´altro Niccolò di Bernardo Machiavelli", Rinascimento, XIV, pp. 39–100.
  • Martelli, Mario (1971), "Preistoria (medicea) di Machiavelli", Studi di Filologia Italiana, XXIX, pp. 377–405.
  • Sasso, Gennaro (1993), Machiavelli: storia del suo pensiero politico, II vol., Bologna, Il Mulino,
  • Sasso, Gennaro (1987-997) Machiavelli e gli antichi e altri saggi, 4 vols., Milano, R. Ricciardi



  • Wootton, David, ed. (1994), Selected political writings of Niccolò Machiavelli, Indianapolis: Hackett Pubs.  excerpt and text search

The Prince[edit]

  • Machiavelli, Niccolò (1961), The Prince, London: Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-044915-0 . Translated by George Bull
  • Machiavelli, Niccolò (2006), El Principe/The Prince: Comentado Por Napoleon Bonaparte / Commentaries by Napoleon Buonaparte, Mestas Ediciones . Translated into Spanish by Marina Massa-Carrara
  • Machiavelli, Niccolò (1985), The Prince, University of Chicago Press . Translated by Harvey Mansfield
  • Machiavelli, Niccolò (1995), The Prince, Everyman . Translated and Edited by Stephen J. Milner. Introduction, Notes and other critical apparatus by J.M. Dent.
  • The Prince (2007) excerpt and text search
  • Marriott, W. K. (2008), The Prince, Red and Black Publishers  ISBN 978-1-934941-00-3
  • Il principe (2006) ed. by Mario Martelli and Nicoletta Marcelli, Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Niccolò Machiavelli, Salerno Editrice, Roma.

The Discourses on Livy[edit]

  • Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio (2001), ed. by Francesco Bausi, Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Niccolò Machiavelli, II vol. Salerno Editrice, Roma.
  • The Discourses, online 1772 edition

"Machiavelli for Moral People" by Pavan Choudary. Wisdom Village Publications. 2012. ISBN 9789380710112

The Art of War[edit]

  • The Seven Books on the Art of War online 1772 edition
  • The Art of War, University of Chicago Press, edited with new translation and commentary by Christopher Lynch (2003)
  • The Art of War online 1775 edition
  • The Art of War, Niccolò Machiavelli. Da Capo press edition, 2001, with introduction by Neal Wood.

Florentine Histories[edit]

  • History of Florence online 1901 edition
  • Reform of Florence online 1772 edition
  • Machiavelli, Niccolò (1988), Florentine Histories, Princeton University Press . Translation by Laura F Banfield and Harvey Mansfield.


  • Epistolario privado. Las cartas que nos desvelan el pensamiento y la personalidad de uno de los intelectuales más importantes del Renacimiento, Juan Manuel Forte (edición y traducción), Madrid, La Esfera de los Libros, 2007, 435 págs, ISBN 978-84-9734-661-0
  • The Private Correspondence of Niccolo Machiavelli, ed. by Orestes Ferrara; (1929) online edition
  • Also see Najemy (1993).

Poetry and comedy[edit]

  • Machiavelli, Niccolò (1985), Comedies of Machiavelli, University Press of New England  Bilingual edition of The Woman from Andros, The Mandrake, and Clizia, edited by David Sices and James B. Atkinson.

External links[edit]