Machiavelli in Context | Livy, the Roman Republic, and Machiavelli (Lecture 12)

Lecture 12: Although we have examined the influence of Humanist thought and ancient history on Machiavelli, it is necessary to return to this theme more precisely as we turn to his most carefully thought-out and longest book on political thought, The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy.

In order for us to understand what Machiavelli is doing and why he so honors the Roman Republic, we will need to step back a bit and describe that period of history, as well as provide a broad view of how Livy understood Rome’s republican past.
I will then examine the extent to which Machiavelli’s Discourses is a commentary on ancient history and whether his reading of Livy is primarily an entrée into the world of Florentine and Italian politics during Machiavelli’s own lifetime.

Recommended Readings:
Article by Quentin Skinner, in Machiavelli and Republicanism, Gisela Bock, Quentin Skinner, and Maurizio Viroli, et al., eds., pp. 121–141.
T. J. Luce, “Introduction,” in Livy’s The Rise of Rome (Books I–V), translated by T. J. Luce, pp. ix–xxvii.
Julia Bondanella and Peter Bondanella, “Introduction,” in Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy, translated by Julia Bondanella and Peter Bondanella, pp. vii–xxii.