Machiavelli: Historian, Comic, and Tragic (Volumes I and II).
Evans, Michael Jay
1980
Abstract
Although the longest and last of his major writings, Machiavelli's, Istorie Fiorentine has been little studied. This is due in part to its apparently unremarkable and conventional character; in form and content it appears to be almost a set piece of humanist historiography, highly stylized and rarely original or provocative. Here and there is has been said, one may encounter a kind of realism within its rhetoric, a Machiavellian witticism or insight amongst its many commonplace observations, but for the most part it is disappointing, superficial, and mimetic. This, in turn, has been attributed to the fact that the Istorie was officially commissioned by the Medici family, necessitating that Machiavelli, who was anti-Medicean and at the same time seeking to re-enter political life, exercise considerable discretion. A close reading of the text however, reveals that there is far more going on in the Istorie than has been generally assumed. A close reading, as the title itself intimates, reveals that it is multi-layered and highly complex - not one history, but many - which may be uncovered through right examination (Machiavelli's language). Its conventional character is not merely to maintain official suitability or honor humanist tradition, but to mask other, deeper histories. With right examination what is revealed is a new view of history and a fully developed political philosophy, complementing and completing the teachings of Il Principe and the Discorsi. Subtle, ironic, and profound, the Istorie proves to be; (1) not an imitation, but an attack upon humanist historiography and the civic humanist values informing it; (2) a critique of not only Medici, but also republican Florence, from an unconventional republican point of view; (3) an attack on the validity of the moral and ethical values informing traditional political thought and thus; (4) a critique of the Church and even of Christianity itself, while more profoundly; (5) through the artful juxtaposition of Rome's comic history with Florence's tragic one, it is an examination of the corruption which characterizes his own times, or modernity; (6) as such it is a critique of the present based upon a proper underst and ing of the ancients; (7) and thus, it is a reconsideration of ancient political practices from a modern point of view and so; (8) an assertion, despite the corruption of the present, of the potential superiority of modernity; (9) a superiority which points to the importance of time in political thought - which firmly roots political thought in this world rather than in some timeless realm and ; (10) as such, holds out the promise or at least the possibility of ending present corruption through a refounding and thus, finally; (11) it is a gr and conspiracy designed to convert the right examiner to a Machiavellian point of view - to the effectual truth of things - with the hope that among those right examiners there may be a man of rare virtu capable of leading a political reformation, and perhaps of even transforming the Florentine tragedy into a comedy.Types
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