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Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius (Dodo Press)

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Niccolo Machiavelli, (1469-1527), writes the greatest treatise on keeping a republic vibrant by comparing Rome to republican Venice. Machiavelli has gained an unwarranted notorious reputation for his "evil" treatise on political thinking and acting through his authorship of "The Prince". "The Prince" received more notoriety than his politically erudite work "Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy" in which Machiavelli espouses his belief that the Roman Republic was the best and most virtuous form of government to emulate. His breadth and understanding of Roman history is remarkable. Machiavelli's love of his country Florence, and the proud political work as a minor government administrator and ambassador Machiavelli performed during its years as a republic show through in this work. It was on his many ambassadorial trips to the French, Papal, and Italian courts that he learned to observe political leaders and their governmental institutions which formed the basis of his political theories in his many writings. My favorite quote from Machiavelli is; "It's better to act and repent then not to act and regret".

Modern philosophers starting with Machiavelli reject the classical view of politics as undemocratic and elitist. Only wealthy men of leisure would have time to develop the virtues and character necessary to rule. Machiavelli believed that man by nature was selfish and driven by ambition. Machiavelli is not interested in character formation and moral appeal but in building the right kind of institutions to govern society. Laws and justice would protect men from power hungry rulers. Modern philosophy is an out growth of the revolution that takes place in the natural sciences during the Enlightenment. The purpose of science is the conquest of nature man is in control of human life. Philosophers from Machiavelli on become sectarian. "Everything good is due to man's labor rather than to nature's gift."

As a retired Army officer and student of political philosophy, I found this to be an indispensable book to continue one's journey into political philosophy and history of Europe.

Read the Prince? Think Machiavelli is a power-grabbing loon? Read this and think again. In the Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli studies the history of the Roman Republic, compares it to Italy in the Renaissance, and attempts to found a theory of political stability based upon the people, and not the elitist monarchs. One of the first works to recognize the people as superior decision makers to the state.

I am glad that I had read and re-read Titus Livy before reading this book. Doing so is not an absolute necessity, but I think it helps.

This fantastic book reveals how the governments of ancient Rome, renaissance Florence, and, if you will, modern America are confronted with nearly identical problems, and it is also made clear that nobody has worked out solutionw much superior to those embrassed by the leaders of Republican Rome. We would all be better off if our leaders could be required to read this book.

In THE PRINCE the author provides a renaissance monarch a survival kit for coping with the problems he would likely face. In the DISCOURSES we are treated to a much broader analysis of a better and more viable system of government which is amazingly similar to what the Founding Fathers of the United States tried to achieve. Alas, as with the Roman Republic, ours has, because of its current massiveness and complexity, appeared to have lost sight of what once made it great.