Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:49:00.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Theme of Gloria in Machiavelli*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Russell Price
Russell Price*
Affiliation:
University of Lancaster
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In chapter xxv of Il Principe, Machiavelli refers very briefly to men's goals, saying that ‘in the things that lead to the end that everyone has in view, namely glory and riches (cioè glorie e ricchezze), men proceed in different ways.’ L. Arthur Burd observes that ‘Machiavelli dispatches in this one short sentence a question which was usually discussed at length in the earlier political manuals: what is it, namely, that furnishes the motives of action?’ Glory was one of the most important ideas in Renaissance thought, and Machiavelli's thought can be understood only imperfectly if the part that gloria played in it is not grasped; yet inexplicably this theme has been almost entirely neglected.

Type
Research Article
Information
Renaissance Quarterly , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , Winter 1977 , pp. 588 - 631
Copyright
Copyright © Renaissance Society of America 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

I am indebted to Professor Michael Oakeshott, Dr. Cecil H. Clough, Mr. Paolo L. Rossi, and Dr. Francesco Badolato for comments on an earlier draft.

Page references are to the Feltrinelli [Milan] edition of Machiavelli's Opere, the following volumes of which are cited: I - Il Principe e Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio, 1960; II - Arte della guerra e scritti politici minori, 1961; VI - Lettere, 1961; VII - La vita di Castruccio Castracani da Lucca e Istorie fiorentine, 1962. Vols. I and II are edited by Sergio Bertelli (whose notes are cited as Bertelli), vols. VI and VII by Franco Gaeta (cited as Gaeta).

Russo = Il Principe e pagine dei ‘Discorsi’ e delle ‘Istorie,’ ed. Luigi Russo (Florence, 1931); Carli = Niccolò Machiavelli, Le opere maggiori … , scelta e commento di Plinio Carli (Florence, 1923); Burd = Il Principe, ed. L. Arthur Burd (Oxford, 1891).

In my quotations, both in the text and also in the notes, I reproduce the accents as found in the editions and commentaries. In other cases, I use Italian accents in accord with contemporary usage.

References

1 Some texts have the singular gloria.

2 Princ. xxv (pp. 99-100): ‘li uomini, nelle cose che li ‘nducono al fine, quale ciascuno ha innanzi, cioè glorie e ricchezze, procedervi variamente.’

3 Burd, p. 360.

4 There is no survey of the idea in Italian thought; for France, see Joukovsky, Françoise, La Gloire dans la poéie française et néolatine du XVIe siècle (Geneva, 1969)Google Scholar.

5 Strauss, Leo, in his Thoughts on Machiavelli (Glencoe, 1958)Google Scholar, discusses gloria intermittently in ch. IV. Other writers have referred to gloria or discussed it briefly. E.g., Pasquale Villari, in Niccolò Machiavelli e i suoi tempi, has a few pages on the subject (see especially vol. II [Florence, 1881], chs. 2 and 3), but he attempts neither analysis nor synthesis. A recent short treatment of the topic is Victor A. Santi's ‘Parole di Machiavelli: “Gloria,” ‘ Lingua nostra, 34 (1973), 108-110.

6 Stima is used as a synonym of gloria in Princ. XXI.

7 They are certainly not perfect or complete synonyms, and the problems that this raises will be considered later (see below, pp. 618-621). It is necessary to consider carefully the context before it can be said that these words are used as exact synonyms.

8 Disc, II, 2 (p. 282).

9 Ist.fior. I, 17 (p. 102).

10 Disc, III, 45 (p. 501).

11 Princ. XXIV (p. 97); Disc, II, 24 (p. 353); Ist. fior. II, 32 (p. 186), III, 17 (pp. 247-248); Arte d. guerra, VII (p. 520).

12 Disc, III, 41 (p. 494; twice).

13 Ist. fior. III, 17 (pp. 247-248).

14 Disc. I, 10 (p. 159).

15 Ist. fior. v, 11 (p. 345).

16 Ist. fior. II, 1 (p. 138), III, 5 (p. 220).

17 Disc. I, 10 (p. 156).

18 Ist. fior. III, 5 (p. 220), and see below, p. 592.

19 See below, pp. 591-592.

20 Disc. II, Proemio (p. 272).

21 Disc. II, 2 (p. 282).

22 Ibid.

23 Disc. I, 10 (p. 159).

24 Educazione (like the French éducation) has always had a wider meaning than ‘education’ usually has; it refers to the whole process of forming both character and mind (though the latter is sometimes distinguished from it and called istruzione).

25 Treatises de contemptu mundi were common in medieval times, one of the best known having been written by Innocent III. And at papal coronations it had long been customary to burn three reeds while a priest chanted three times, ‘Pater sancte, sic transit gloria mundi.’

26 Disc, II, 2 (p. 282): ‘La religione antica, oltre a di questo, non beatificava se non uomini pieni di mondana gloria; come erano capitani di eserciti e principi di republiche. La nostra religione ha glorificato più gli uomini umili e contemplativi che gli attivi. Ha dipoi posto il sommo bene nella umiltà, abiezione, e nel dispregio delle cose umane: quell'altra lo poneva nella grandezza dello animo, nella fortezza del corpo ed in tutte le altre cose atte a fare gli uomini fortissimi.’

27 The glory of God, the martyrs, and the other saints are important themes in the Bible, the writings of theologians, and also in the liturgy. (E.g., glory is the leading motif of the prayer Gloria in excelsis Deo, the salutation Gloria tibi, Domine precedes the reading of the Gospel, which is followed by the synonymous salutation Laus tibi, Christe.) See Michel, A., ‘Gloire,’ Dictionnaire de thiologie catholique, VI (Paris, 1947), cols. 1386-1388Google Scholar and 1393-1432; Vermeulen, A. J., The Semantic Development of Gloria in Early-Christian Latin (Nijmegen, 1956)Google Scholar; Heghmans, Matthias, Gloria Dei: Ein biblisch-theologischer Begriffnach den Schriftkommentaren des hi. Thomas von Aquin (Siegburg, 1968)Google Scholar.

28 Disc, II, Proemio (p. 272): ‘… le arti… hanno tanta chiarezza in sé che i tempi possono tòrre o dare loro poco più gloria che per loro medesime si meritino.’

29 Ibid.: ‘quelle [cose] pertinenti alia vita e costumi degli uomini.’

30 Ist. fior. VI, 29 (p. 433), VII, 32 (p. 501).

31 Princ. XVI (p. 67), XVIII (p. 72); Disc, II, 13 (p. 312).

32 Princ. XXI (p. 89).

33 Achilles (Princ. XIV [p. 64]), Cyrus (ibid.), Alexander the Great (Princ. XIV [p. 64]; Disc. 1, [p. 126], II, 27 [p. 361]), Romulus (Disc, I, 10 [p. 159]), Scipio Africanus (Princ. XIV [p. 64] XVII [p. 70]; Disc, III, 21 [p. 448], III, 34 [p. 479]), Furius Camillus (Disc. I, 8 fp. 150]), Marcus Fabius (Disc. I, 36 [p. 214]), Gnaeus Manlius (ibid.),Hannibal (Disc, II, 27 [p. 362], III, 21 [p. 348]), Fabius Maximus Cunctator (Disc. III, 9 [p. 417]), Claudius Nero (Disc, III, 17 [p. 439]), Manlius Torquatus (Disc, III, 22 [pp. 448-449]), Valerius Corvinus (ibid.), Posthumius (Disc, III, 42 [p. 495]), Pontius (Disc, III, 42 [pp. 495-496]), Decius Mus (Disc, III, 45 [p. 501]), Fabius Maximus Rullianus (ibid.), Octavian (Disc. I, 52 [p. 248]), Marcus Aurelius (Princ. XIX [p. 84]), Theodosius (Ist. fior. 1, 1 [p. 73]), the Turkish sultans Mahomet II (Disc. 1, 19 [p. 184]) and Selim I (ibid.), Castruccio Castracani (Ist. fior. 11, 30 [p. 183]; Castruccio Castracani e Ist. fior, p. 32), Michele di Lando (Ist.fior. III, 17 [p. 247]), Francesco Sforza (Ist. fior. VI, 8 [p. 400]), Cosimo de’ Medici (Ist. fior. VIII, 5 [p. 460], VII, 6 [p. 463]), Lorenzo de’ Medici (Discursus florentinarum rerum post mortem iunioris Laurentii Medices in Arte della guerra e scritti politici minori, p. 276), Roberto Malatesta (Ist. fior. VIII, 24 [p. 553]), Ottaviano Fregoso (Disc, II, 24 [p. 353]), Ferdinand the Catholic (Princ. XXI [p. 89]), Fabrizio Colonna (Arte d. guerra, I [p. 329]).

34 Disc. I, 58 (p. 264); in Disc. I, 36 (p. 214), they are said to have been great lovers (amatori grandi) of glory.

35 Disc. II, 9 (p. 301): ‘avendo Roma per fine lo imperio e la gloria.’

36 Disc, II, 4 (p. 291): ‘somma gloria d'imperio e d'arme, e massime laude di costumi e di religione.’ In view of what he says in Disc, II, Proemio (p. 272) [see above, n. 28], the use of laude is probably just a stylistic variation (as massime is doubtless used to avoid repeating somma), though he may have thought laude a more appropriate word to use about costumi and religione.

37 Ist. fior. I, 17 (p. 102).

38 Princ. XII (p. 56); Ist. fior. I, 39 (p. 135); Arte d. guerra, I (p. 348).

39 E.g., Ecclesiasticus XI.30; Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 928; Euripedes, Daughters of Troy, 510; Andromache, 100; Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 1529; Trachiniae, 1; Ovid, Metamorphoses, III, 136.

40 Phrases like dopo la morte li rendegloriosi (Disc. 1, 10 [p. 159]) have perhaps given rise to this idea. Bacon, in his essay Of Death, says: ‘Death hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good fame,’ which seems to imply that ‘good fame’ is not achieved in this life.

41 Was Innocent III less ‘great’ than Gregory the Great or Leo the Great?

42 Disc, II, Proemio (p. 272): ‘delle quali non se ne veggono sì chiari testimoni.’

43 Disc, II, Proemio (p. 271).

44 Ibid.: ‘delle cose antiche non s'intenda al tutto la verità.’

45 Ibid.: ‘di quelle il più delle volte si nasconda quelle cose che recherebbono a quelli tempi infamia, e quelle altre che possano partorire loro gloria si rendino magnifiche ed amplissime. Perché il più degli scrittori in modo alia fortuna de’ vincitori ubbidiscano che, per fare le loro vittorie gloriose, non solamente accrescano quello che da loro è virtuosamente operato, ma arxora le azioni de’ nimici.’

46 Ibid.

47 Disc. I, 10 (p. 157).

48 Disc. I, 10 (p. 156).

49 Ibid.

50 Disc, I, 10 (p. 158).

51 Disc. I, 10 (p. 159).

52 This is the theme of Disc. 1, 9.

53 Disc. 1, 10 (p. 159).

54 It was probably written in 1519 or 1520; Lorenzo died in May 1519, Leo in December 1521.

55 Arte della guerra e scritti politici minori, p. 267.

56 Ibid., p. 275.

57 Ibid., pp. 275-276.

58 Princ. XXIV (p. 97).

59 Ist. fior. VI, 29 (p. 433).

60 Gaeta (Ist. fior., p. 435) glosses giudicio: ‘il piano per realizzarla.’

61 Ist. fior. VI, 29 (p. 435): ‘E veramente puote essere da qualcuno la costui intenzione lodata, ma da ciascuno sarà sempre il giudicio biasimato, perché simili imprese, se le hanno in sé nel pensarle alcuna ombra di gloria, hanno nello esequirle quasi sempre certissimo danno.’

62 Disc, I, 11 (p. 162). Machiavelli believed that, if a republic or kingdom was to be properly established or reformed, it must be conceived and carried out by one man (Disc. 1, 9 [p. 153]).

63 ‘Quod principem deceat ut egregius habeatur.’

64 Princ. XXI (p. 89): ‘d'uno re debole è diventato per fama e per gloria el primo re de’ Cristiani; e, se considerrete le azioni sua, le troverrete tutte grandissime e qualcuna estraordinaria.’

65 Princ. XXI (p. 91).

66 Princ. XXI (p. 92).

67 Princ. XXI (p. 90). And in Disc, III, 34 (p. 480), he says that remarkable actions ‘are necessary not onlyfor those citizens who want to acquire a reputation (fama) in order to obtain office (gli onori) in their republic, but also for rulers (principi) in order to maintain their reputation (riputazione) … because nothing makes the ruler (il signore) so much esteemed as unusual deeds or sayings in keeping with the common good that show him to be magnanimous, generous, or just, and which become proverbial among his subjects.’

68 Princ. XXI (p. 92).

69 Cicero, Pro Archia poeta, vi, ix-xii; Seneca, Epist. XXI; Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae, II, vii, 45; Petrarch, Rime, CLXXXVII.

70 If this is true of the actions of rulers (even of founders or reformers of states), it is probably even more true of those of generals, whose deeds are of their nature more ephemeral. Feats of war may be compared to sporting deeds. The continuing fame of sportsmen owes much to those who have written about them. Those who saw their outstanding performances die, and their glory soon fades, if they are not lauded by fine writers, as Neville Cardus celebrated the genius of cricketers like Grace, Trumper, Fry, and Maclaren, who are still highly reputed by the cognoscenti, even if they are indeed no longer exactly household names. And because cricket has attracted the interest of literary men more than other games, the fame of great cricketers is more likely to endure in England than that of other great sportsmen.

Who now remembers Garrick or Kean? Because there is no lasting record of their achievements, the fame of stage actors tends to fade more rapidly than that of film actors of comparable skill. The work of the latter may be examined in the same way as that of painters or sculptors, whose finest achievements enabled them, Machiavelli thought, to attain permanent glory.

71 A good example is Lorenzo de’ Medici, known to posterity as ‘the Magnificent.’ His reputation derives partly from his political skill, which ensured peace in Florence from 1480 until his death in 1492, partly from his literary talents, but above all from the flourishing artistic and intellectual life of Florence, which owed much to his patronage. See Ist. fior. VIII, 36 (pp. 575-577).

72 Princ. XXI (p. 93). Lorenzo de’ Medici sometimes failed in this respect. See Ist. fior. VIII, 36 (p. 576).

73 The building of cities can glorify a ruler. When Alexander the Great ‘wanted to build a city to increase his gloria, the architect Deinocrates showed him how he could build it on Mount Athos which, apart from being impregnable, would enable a city to be built resembling the human form, something both unusual and striking, and worthy of his greatness’ (degna della sua grandezza). But since Deinocrates had failed to consider how the inhabitants could live there, his plan was rejected (Disc, I, 1 [p. 128]), and Alexander built Alexandria, ‘not to live there but to enhance his gloria’ (Disc. 1, 1 [p. 126]).

74 Princ. XXI (p. 90): ‘E sopra tutto uno principe si debbe ingegnare dare di sé in ogni sua azione fama di uomo grande e di nome eccellente.’

75 Disc, III, 35 (pp. 482-483). Machiavelli says, however, that this has dangers when things do not go well. The advisor may be ruined, since men tend to judge advice by the results, and are always ready to seek scapegoats.

76 He suggests that advice be offered ‘without passion and modestly,’ in order to avoid the dangers that advisors run when things go badly.

77 Disc, III, 35 (p. 483).

78 As do those who receive such awards as the Victoria Cross.

79 Disc, III, 13 (pp. 430-431). See also Arte d. guerra, VII (p. 515).

80 Disc, III, 42 (p. 496).

81 E.g., Scipio's deeds in his youth (see below, p. 603) and Decius Mus's sacrifice of his life in battle (Disc, III, 45 [p. 501]).

82 Disc. 1, 8 (pp. 149-150).

83 Disc. 1, 36 (p. 214).

84 Disc. 11, 24 (p. 353).

85 Ist. fior. II, 30 (p. 183).

86 Ist. fior. VIII, 24 (pp. 552-553).

87 Ist. fior. III, 29 (p. 270). For other references to glory acquired through victory or military prowess, see: Princ. XII (p. 56); Disc. I, 29 (pp. 197-198), 1, 30 (p. 201), I, 52 (p. 248), II, Proemio (pp. 271-272), II, 1 (p-277), II, 4 (p.291), II, 27 (p. 362), II, 33 (p. 377), III, 9 (p. 417), III, 13 (p. 430), III, 17 (p. 439), III, 21 (pp. 446-448), III, 22 (pp. 448-449), III, 34 (p. 479), III, 40 (p. 493), III, 42 (p. 496); Ist. fior. III, 17 (p. 247), III, 29 (p. 269); La vita di Castruccio Castracani… e Istorie fiorentine, p. 32; Arte d. guerra, 1 (p. 329).

88 He says ‘in any action’ (in qualunque azione) but it is evident from the context that he means ‘in any military action.’

89 It is not at all obvious why this should result in glory; one would expect him to have said that it does not bring disgrace.

90 Disc, III, 42 (p. 496): ‘in qualunque azione si può acquistare gloria: perché nella vittoria si acquista ordinariamente; nella perdita si acquista o col mostrare tale perdita non essere venuta per tua colpa, o per fare subito qualche azione virtuosa che la cancelli.’

91 Disc, III, 42 (pp. 495-496). He urged the Senate not to accept the peace made at Caudium, ‘saying that it did not bind the Roman people but only himself and the others who had made it, and that, if the people wanted to be free from all obligation,’ to send him and the others to the Samnites as hostages. This plan was accepted, but Posthumius was fortunate, for the Samnites sent them back to Rome, with the result that in Rome ‘Posthumius received more glory in defeat (più glorioso per were perduto) than Pontius received from the Samnites for having won.'

92 Disc, III, 10 (p. 422): ‘si debbe eziandio perdendo volere acquistare gloria; e più gloria si ha ad essere vinto per forza che per altro inconveniente che ti abbi fatto perdere.’

93 Disc, III, 31 (p. 472).

94 Disc, II, 27 (p. 362).

95 According to Livy (IX, 4), Lentulus’ words were: ‘ea caritas patriae est, ut tam ignominia earn quam morte nostra, si opus sit, servemus.’ Mario Bonfantini (Niccolò Machiavelli, Opere [Milan, 1954], p. 411) comments: ‘Dove a “morte”, del testo di Livio, M. sostituisce gloria, come se il sacrificio della fama che onora e innalza l'uomo, e lo fa quasi immortale, si debba considerare assai più grave che quello della vita. Criterio caratteristico del Rinascimento.’ But Carli (p. 234) justifies Machiavelli's choice of words, pointing out that, according to Livy, Lentulus had said a little earlier: ‘mortem pro patria praeclaram esse fateor.’

96 Disc, III, 41 (pp. 494-495).

97 He does discuss the different ways in which men act, but in terms of success and failure, not of glory.

98 Machiavelli's sources were entirely Roman, and hostile to Hannibal. We are concerned only with the judgments that Machiavelli makes about Hannibal, on the basis of the sources available, not with how far his account corresponds to the truth.

99 Disc, II, 27 (p. 362): ‘Annibale partito d'ltalia, dove era stato sedici anni glorioso.’

100 Disc, III, 21 (p. 448).

101 Ibid. The same view of the matter is found in Princ. XVII (pp. 70-71).

102 Thus Hannibal feigned flight in order to trap the Roman army near Lake Trasimene, and attached blazing faggots to the horns of his cattle to evade Fabius Maximus Cunctator (Disc, III, 40 [p. 493]).

103 Disc, III, 40 (p. 493).

104 Disc, III, 34 (p. 479).

105 Disc, III, 21 (p. 446). Machiavelli refers three times to his fine ‘act of chastity (castità) in restoring a beautiful young wife unharmed to her husband’; he says that ‘the news (Jama) of that action endeared him to all Spain’ and ‘gave him more riputazione than his besieging of New Carthage’ (Disc, III, 20 [p. 445]). See also Disc, III, 34 (pp. 479-480), Arte d. guerra, VI (p. 490).

106 Disc, III, 21 (p. 447).

107 Ibid.

108 Nothing is said about his using harsh measures to suppress the rebellion.

109 princ XVII (p. 71).

110 Ibid.

111 Some commentators interpret violato as meaning macchiato (tarnished) but I think Carli (p. 85) is right to say that it is ‘più forte che macchiato o oscurato.’

112 Russo (p. 144) glosses non solum si nascose: ‘Non produsse, cioè, tristi conseguenze manifeste.’ Machiavelli seems to be referring here to the events at Locri rather than to the rebellion.

113 Princ. XVII (p. 71): ‘La qual natura arebbe col tempo violato la fama e la gloria di Scipione, se elli avessi perseverato nello imperio [Bertelli (Princ, p. 71): comando militare]; ma, vivendo sotto el governo del Senato, questa sua qualità dannosa non solum si nascose, ma li fu a gloria.’

114 This is the theme of Discorsi, II, 33, and he praises the Romans for this practice.

115 Disc, III, 22 (pp. 448-449): ‘di pari virtù, di pari trionfi e gloria vissono in Roma.’

116 Disc, III, 9 (p. 417).

117 Ibid.

118 La Rochefoucauld, Maximes (1678 ed.), 291.

119 Disc, III, 21 (p. 447): ‘Importa … poco ad uno capitano per qualunque di queste vie e’ si cammini, pure che sia uomo virtuoso e che quella virtù lo faccia riputato intra gli uomini. Perché quando la è grande, come la fu in Annibale ed in Scipione, ella cancella tutti quegli errori che si fanno per farsi troppo amare o per farsi troppo temere.’

120 See below, pp. 610-618.

121 In La vita di Castruccio Castracani … e Istorie fiorentine (p. 36), Machiavelli has Castruccio say that it is victory, not the way in which it is achieved, that brings glory.

122 The most common meanings of virtù in Machiavelli's writings are ability, skill, energy, determination, or courage, in politics or war, although the word is sometimes used in other senses. See my ‘The Senses of Virtù in Machiavelli,’ European Studies Review, 3 (1973), 315-345.

123 1st. fior. V, 1 (p. 325): ‘dalla rovina nasce l'ordine, dall'ordine virtù, da questa, gloria e buona fortuna.’

124 Princ. XII (p. 56).

125 Disc, III, 31 (p. 472).

126 Disc. I, 8 (pp. 149-150).

127 Disc, III, 13 (pp. 430-431). For other instances of the linking of virtù and military glory, see Disc. I, 30 (p. 201), I, 43 (p. 231), II, Proemio (p. 271), II, 24 (p. 353); 1st. fior. v, 1 (p. 326), VIII, 23 (pp. 552-553).

128 Disc. I, 29 (p. 198).

129 Disc, I, 29 (p. 197).

130 Freyer, Grattan, ‘The Ideas of Machiavelli,’ Scrutiny, 8 (1939-40), 20 Google Scholar, says: ‘If a man has both virtù and Fortune with him he will achieve la gloria. With Fortune but without virtù he may achieve success, but not la gloria.’

131 E.g., heavy and unseasonal rain just before the crucial battle of Fornovo in 1495 caused the River Taro to swell and the ground to become slippery, giving rise to unexpected difficulties.

132 E.g., Francesco Sforza, a general of great virtù, had to abandon a siege because many of his men fell ill (Ist. fior. v, 23 [p. 363]).

133 Obviously, being defeated will not enhance a general's reputation, but a successful general may suffer some reverses without its being tarnished (as with Hannibal), especially if the defeated army has fought valorously against a much stronger enemy. Whether glory is lost, then, will depend on the circumstances.

134 Cosimo and Lorenzo de’ Medici are examples of men of virtù who achieved political glory. For the former, see Ist. fior. VII, 5-6 (pp. 458-463); for the latter, see 1st. Jior. VIII, 36 (pp. 573-577), where reputazione and fama are attributed to him, and Discursus florentinarum return post mortem iunioris Laurentii Medices (Arte della guerra e scritti politici minori, p. 276), where there is a reference to his gloria.

135 E.g., in Discorsi, III, 30 (p. 467), when discussing how envy should be dealt with, he observes that when fortuna is so favourable to an able man (uomo virtuoso) that his rivals die naturally, he can become glorioso without violence (scandolo), demonstrating his virtù without difficulty and without injuring anyone.

136 Piero Soderini, gonfaloniere for life in Florence between 1502 and 1512, is perhaps an example. It is true that Machiavelli does not actually say that he sought glory, but he emphasises that Soderini did his best for the city. Nevertheless, because he was incapable of dealing effectively with his political enemies, they brought about his downfall and that of the regime. See Disc. I, 52 (pp. 247-248), III, 3 (pp. 386-387), III, 9 (p. 418), III, 30 (p. 468).

137 Disc, II, 30 (p. 370). These words also occur in Arte d. guerra, I (p. 345), where they are used literally, not figuratively.

138 Disc, II, 30 (p. 370).

139 Disc. II, 9 (p. 301): ‘avendo Roma per fine lo imperio e la gloria e non la quiete.’

140 Ist. fior. 1, 39 (pp. 135-136): ‘Di questi adunque oziosi principi e di queste vilissime armi sarà piena la mia istoria.’ Ozio is a common antonym of virtù in Machiavelli's writings.

141 1st. fior. 1, 39 (p. 135): ‘non mossi da alcuna gloria ma per vivere o piü ricchi o piu sicuri.’

142 Arte d. guerra, VII (p. 518): ‘Before they felt the blows of the ultramontane wars, our Italian rulers believed that it was enough for a prince to know how to deliver a sharp retort in his court, write a fine letter, show himself to be quick and witty in speech, know how to deceive, adorn himself with gems and gold, have a better table and finer apartments than other men, live very lasciviously, be rapacious and haughty towards subjects, live very indolently (marcirsi nello ozio), give military posts to favourites, scorn anyone who tried to show them some praiseworthy path (lodevole via).’

143 Arte d. guerra, VII (p. 517): ‘perdendo ignominiosamente lo stato, e sanza alcuno esemplo virtuoso.’

144 Machiavelli, Niccolò, Scritti politici (Milan, 1939), I, 117 Google Scholar: ‘radicale mancanza di virtù.’

145 Machiavelli's Prince and Its Forerunners (Durham, N.C., 1938), p. 194.

146 Princ. XXIV (p. 98).

147 A ruler who ‘has many men but lacks soldiers should blame his own laziness (pigrizia) and lack of wisdom (poca prudenza), not the weakness or cowardice (viltà) of his men’ (Disc, III, 38 [p. 490]).

148 Machiavelli remarks in Discorsi, III, 10 (p. 419), that they refrain from this to avoid danger (per fuggire i pericoli), and that, on the rare occasions when modern rulers personally lead their armies, ‘it is done for show (a pompa) and not for any praiseworthy reason.’

149 Disc. 1, 30 (p. 201). Machiavelli recommends rulers to follow this practice ‘to avoid the necessity either of remaining suspicious or of being ungrateful’ to their conquering generals.

150 Disc, III, 40 (p. 493): ‘io non intendo quella fraude essere gloriosa che ti fa rompere la fede data ed i patti fatti: perché questa, ancora che la ti acquisti qualche volta stato e regno … la non ti acquisterà mai gloria.’

151 Princ. VIII (p. 40). Scellerata means ‘villainous’ or ‘wicked,’ and Russo (p. 89), glossing nefaria, says that it ‘[a]ccentua il significato di scellerata: nefario è cio che è contrario a ogni legge umana e divina.’

152 ‘De his qui per scelera ad principatum pervenere.’

153 Princ, VIII (p. 41): ‘tenne sempre, per li gradi della sua età, vita scellerata.’ Most commentators take per li gradi della sua età to mean ‘throughout his life’ but Giuseppe Lisio (Il Principe [Florence, 1900], p. 57) glosses it ‘gli anni della fanciullezza e della gioventù, considerate come i gradi ascendenti della vita.’ Machiavelli's source was Justinus, and Lisio points out that the phrase corresponds to that used in Book XXII of his history: ‘non honestiorem pueritiam quam principia originis habuit.’ Moreover, Machiavelli makes it clear that Agathocles later mended his ways (Princ. VIII [p. 44]).

154 Princ. VIII (p. 42): ‘Non si può ancora chiamare virtù ammazzare li sua cittadini, tradire li amici, essere sanza fede, sanza pietà, sanza relligione; li quali modi possono fare acquistare imperio, ma non gloria.’

155 Ibid. Carli (p. 52) observes: ‘Non per nulla dice qui uomini, e di sopra ha detto capitano: gran capitano Agàtocle si; grande uomo no, perché del grande uomo è propria quella virtù machiavellica piena, da cui solo può venir “gloria.” ‘

156 Princ. VIII (p. 44).

157 The details of Cyrus’ career are very obscure, and Xenophon's Cyropaedia is largely fictitious. He used Cyrus in order to illustrate his views on war and politics (as Machiavelli himself used Castruccio Castracani); the correctness of Machiavelli's account of Cyrus does not concern us.

158 Disc, III, 20 (p. 445).

159 Disc, II, 13 (p. 311).

160 Disc, II, 13 (p. 312).

161 Principe usually means ‘prince’ or ‘ruler’ but sometimes it is used of generals (e.g., of Hannibal in Princ. XVII [p. 70]), and since in Disc, II, 13, Machiavelli is discussing both political and military success (although the former is certainly emphasised rather more), principe here probably means ‘ruler’ or ‘general.’

162 Disc. II, 13 (p. 312).

163 Princ. XIV (p. 64).

164 The word oppresso is ambiguous, but here it almost certainly means ‘killed.’ For discussion of this point, see below, n. 171.

165 Disc. I, 27 (p. 195).

166 He lived incestuously with his sister, and had killed his cousins and nephews in order to rule.

167 The theme of Discorsi, 1, 27, is that ‘Very Few Men Are Entirely (al tutto) Bad or Good,’ and Baglioni is the sole example considered; it is not obvious why Machiavelli introduces the unexpected word onorevolmente to qualify cattivi. In Dell'arte della guerra, I (p. 336), he says that men who live only by fighting find much difficulty in peaceful times and that when ‘they do not have enough ability (virtù) to join together to achieve a “worthwhile” villainy (una cattività onorevole), they are forced by necessity to become brigands, and the authorities are forced to suppress them.’ Bertelli (Arte d. guerra, p. 336) glosses una cattività onorevole as ‘una malvagità che abbia in sé della grandezza’ and draws attention to the words onorevolmente cattivi in Discorsi, 1, 27.

168 It is not at all obvious how the grandezza of the action could have overcome the resultant perils.

169 Disc, I, 27 (pp. 195-196): ‘si conchiuse, nascesse che gli uomini non sanno essere onorevolmente cattivi o perfettamente buoni, e come una malizia ha in sé grandezza o è in alcuna parte generosa, e’ non vi sanno entrare. Cosí Giovampagolo, il quale non stimava essere incesto e publico parricida, non seppe, o a dir meglio non ardí, avendone giusta occasione, fare una impresa dove ciascuno avesse ammirato l'animo suo, e avesse di sé lasciato memoria eterna sendo il primo che avesse dimostro a’ prelati quanto sia da stimare poco chi vive e regna come loro, ed avessi fatto una cosa la cui grandezza avesse superato ogni infamia, ogni pericolo che da quella potesse dependere.’

170 Indeed, in one respect they were worse, because he had killed his own relatives.

171 He could of course have held the pope and cardinals prisoners, but not indefinitely. Apart from the fact that public opinion would have been aroused, eventually he would have been obliged either to kill them or release them (and even if the release were conditional on a papal promise not to harm him, promises extracted under coercion would not have been considered binding [see Disc, III, 42]).

172 Whitfield, J. H., Machiavelli (Oxford, 1947), pp. 100–101 Google Scholar, aptly cites La Rochefoucauld's maxim (Maximes, 185): ‘II y a des héros en mal comme en bien.’ It must be conceded, however, that it is possible to interpret the chapter differently. It might be thought that Machiavelli is insinuating that Baglioni would have performed a public service (and his ‘crime’ thus have been generosa) if he had dispatched the pope and cardinals, and that it is implied that his action (because of its grandezzal) would not really have been infamous. Yet when the self-seeking, ambitious character of Baglioni is considered, it is difficult to see how the action could have been generosa; he would have acted thus simply to save his own skin.

173 Although perhaps not quite so common in the sixteenth century as the sense of ‘good fame,’ it was nevertheless a fairly frequent usage, reflecting the ambiguity of fama in classical Latin. Alderisio, Felice, Machiavelli (Turin, 1930), p. 46 Google Scholar, n. 2, observes: ‘M. dice “fama” e non già “gloria,” giacchè la memoria eterna che il Baglioni avrebbe potuto lasciare sarebbe dovuta si ad una “tristizia grande e generosa,” ma sempre ad una tristizia.’

174 Doubtless it would have been a grudging admiration on the part of those who condemned his action.

175 No pope had been killed for more than six centuries; in 1303 when Boniface VIII was manhandled by the emissaries of Philip the Fair at Anagni shortly before his death, there was widespread shock and condemnation of the French action.

176 On this reading, then, Machiavelli's attitude to Baglioni is similar to that of Guicciardini, who said that he could have captured the pope and all his court ‘if in so great a matter he had known how to make ring round the whole world the treachery (perfidia) that had already blackened (infatnato) his name in matters so much less important’ (Storia d'Italia, VII, 3).

177 Princ. XXI. See above, p. 597.

178 Disc, III, 40 (p. 493).

179 Princ. XXI (p. 90): ‘per possere intraprendere maggiore imprese, servendosi sempre della relligione, si volse a una pietosa crudeltà, cacciando e spogliando el suo regno, de’ Marrani, né può esser questo esemplo piü miserabile né piü raro. Assaltò sotto questo medesimo mantello l'Affrica.’

180 All the commentators who gloss this phrase interpret it as an allusion to Ferdinand.

181 Princ. XVIII (p. 74): ‘Alcuno principe de’ presenti tempi, quale non è bene nominare, non predica mai altro che pace e fede, e dell'una è dell'altra e inimidssimo; e l'una e l'altra, quando e’ l'avessi osservata, li arebbe più volte toko o la reputazione o lo stato.’

182 Disc. I, 9 (p. 154): ‘colui che è violento per guastare, non quello che è per racconciare, si debbe riprendere.’

183 Disc. I, 9 (pp. 153-155).

184 Disc. I, 10 (p. 157). Later in the same chapter (p. 159), Caesar is said to have ruined (guastare) Rome. Cf. Disc. 1, 37 (p. 218): ‘Cesare … fu primo tiranno in Roma, talché mai fu poi libera quella città.’

185 The word virtù probably does not mean ‘virtues’ or ‘good qualities’ but refers to the words that follow it.

186 Disc I, 10 (p. 156): ‘Sono … infami e detestabili gli uomini distruttori delle religioni, dissipatori de’ regni e delle republiche, inimici delle virtù, delle lettere e d'ogni altra arte che arrechi utilità e onore alia umana generazione, come sono gl'impii, i violenti, gl'ignoranti, i dappochi, gli oziosi, i vili.’

187 A ‘tyrant’ is characterised as an ‘absolute ruler’ (principe assoluto) in Disc, III, 26 (p. 460), and here, as elsewhere (e.g., Disc, III, 6), the tendency of tyrants to harm their subjects is emphasised. In Disc. I, 25 (p. 193), ‘uno vivere politico’ (which may be either a republica or a regno) is contrasted with ‘una potestà assoluta, la quale dagli autori é chiamata tirannide.’ ‘[U]no vivere civile e libero’ is contrasted with ‘uno assoluto e tirannico’ in Disc. I, 9 (p. 154), and a ‘tyranny’ with a ‘free state’ (stato libero) in Disc, III, 3 (p. 386), where he discusses how Piero Soderini might have acted, and implies that ‘pigliare istraordinaria autorità e rompere con le leggi la civile equalità’ would have been a tyrannical act (even if justified in the circumstances).

Sometimes, however, Machiavelli uses tiranno in the sense of ‘usurper.’ Thus in 1st. fior. I, 30 (p. 123), he says that Pope Benedict XII ‘fece uno decreto che tutti i tiranni di Lombardia possedessino le terre, che si avevano usurpate, con giusto titulo.’ But after Benedict's death, the Emperor Louis IV, ‘per non essere ancora egli meno liberale delle cose d'altri che si fusse stato il papa, donò a tutti quegli che nelle terre della Chiesa erano tiranni le terre loro, actiò che con la autorità imperiale le possedessero.’ Pope Julius II's policy of removing these tiranni is referred to in Disc. 1, 27. Russo (p. 222), glossing tiranno at the beginning of this chapter, says: ‘Qui, sinonimo di signore’ (i.e., ‘ruler’), but from the context (and in the light of the above passage in Ist. fior.) it seems to me to have the sense of'usurper.’

188 For Machiavelli, ambizione is essentially a derogatory term (e.g., Disc. I, 2 [p. 132], I, 9 [p. 154], I, 10 [p. 158]); a man who is ambizioso is self-seeking, and Machiavelli frequently contrasts actions motivated by ambition with those motivated by the public or common good (e.g., Disc, III, 3 [p. 387], in, 11 [p. 423], III, 12 [p. 427], III, 22 [p. 452]).

189 Founders and reformers of kingdoms (regni), as well as of republics (republiche), are praised in Discorsi, 1, 9, and in the following chapter founders of both republics and kingdoms are said to be worthy of praise, and founding a republic or a kingdom is explicitly contrasted with founding a tyranny.

190 Disc, II, 2 (p. 280): ‘non il bene particulare ma il bene comune è quello che fa grandi le città. E sanza dubbio questo bene comune non è osservato se non nelle republiche.’

191 Ibid.: ‘quando vi è uno principe… il più delle volte quello che fa per lui offende la città, e quello che fa per la città offende lui.’

192 The use of republica for a state ruled by a ‘tyrant’ is indicative of Machiavelli's loose use of terms.

193 Disc, II, 2 (p. 280): ‘E se la sorte facesse che vi surgesse uno tiranno virtuoso, il quale per animo e per virtù d'arme ampliasse il dominio suo, non ne risulterebbe alcuna utilità a quella republica, ma a lui proprio: perché e’ non può onorare nessuno di quegli cittadini che siano valenti e buoni che egli tiranneggia, non volendo avere ad avere sospetto di loro.’

194 Disc. I, 9 (p. 155): ‘fare questo bene alia sua patria.’

195 Ibid.

196 Principe is also used loosely by Machiavelli. Sometimes it means ‘hereditary ruler,’ sometimes simply ‘ruler’ (as in Disc. I, 26, where he says that from being a petty king [piccol re], Philip of Macedon became principe of Greece); occasionally it means ‘leader’ or ‘general’ (see above, n. 161).

197 Disc, III, 5 (p. 390).

198 Leo Strauss, however, in his Thoughts on Machiavelli (Glencoe, 1958), emphasises the blurring of the difference between republics and principalities in the Discorsi (pp. 265-266) and argues that there is ‘no essential difference between the public-spirited founder of a republic and the selfish founder of a tyranny’ (p. 273).

199 Thomas Gray, Elegy in a Country Churchyard.

200 Vanni's edition of Il Principe (Milan, 1966), p. 134: ‘glorie e ricchezze. Distinzione comprensiva dei beni umani: beni morali e materiali.’

201 Disc, III, 34 (p. 478): ‘Dico adunque come il popolo nel suo distribuire va dietro a quello che si dice d'uno per publica voce e fama quando per sue opere note non lo conosce altrimenti, o per presunzione o opinione che si ha di lui.’

202 E.g., Disc, III, 20 (p. 445) [see above, n. 105]; Ist. fior. v, 27 (p. 370), VII, 27 (p. 493).

203 Disc, III, 34 (p. 478).

204 Ibid.

205 Although MachiaveUi never speaks of ‘bad fame’ (preferring instead infamia), he sometimes speaks of ‘good’ fame (buonafama), e.g., Disc. I, 52 (p. 247), III, 20 (p. 445), which would be unnecessary if fama were always good.

206 Ist. fior., Proemio (p. 70): ‘molti, non avendo avuta occasione di acquistarsi fama con qualche opera lodevole, con cose vituperose si sono ingegnati acquistarla.’ And in Arte d. guerra, I (p. 337), a distinction is made between generals who ‘acquistarono fama come valenti uomini, non come buoni’ and those who ‘acquistarono gloria come valenti e buoni.’

The fifteenth-century writer Cristoforo Landino in his Comento on Dante's Divina Commedia (Venice, 1520, p. 324) distinguishes between fama and gloria: ‘Benché fama e gloria a molti paiano quasi quel medesimo, nientedimeno fama è notizia molto frequente d'alcuna cosa, gloria è notizia chiara d'alcuna cosa con lode. Adunque la fama può essere di cosa che né splendore né laude alcuna seco adduce, ma la gloria non puo essere sanza quelle.’ And the sixteenth-century writer Bernadino Daniello in his commentary on Dante (Venice, 1565, p. 483) makes a similar distinction: ‘Non è la gloria e la fama una cosa medesima; ma sono l'una dall'altra differenti in questo, che la fama può esser delle opere così oscure come chiare, ma la gloria è solamente delli illustri.’ For a discussion of the distinction the Romans made between gloria and fama, see Earl, Donald C., The Moral and Political Tradition of Rome (London, 1967), p. 30 Google Scholar.

207 Disc. I, 45 (p. 234).

208 Disc. I, 52 (p. 247).

209 Princ. XI (p. 52).

210 Princ. XIX (p. 80).

211 Those whom he describes as being of sangue vile or infima fortuna.

212 This all-pervading sense of honour has remained a characteristic not only of Italian society but of all Mediterranean societies. See Péristiany, Jean G., ed., Honour and Shame: The Values of Mediterranean Society (London, 1965)Google Scholar; Campbell, J. K., Honour, Family and Patronage: A Study of Institutions and Moral Values in a Greek Mountain Community (Oxford, 1964)Google Scholar, esp. ch. x; Davis, J., ‘Honour and Politics in Pisticci,’ Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1969), pp. 69–81 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

Until 1969, adultery was a legal offence in Italy, and even if duels are no longer fought in defence of honour, the concept of delitto d'onore retains its force. According to article 587 of the Italian penal code, a person who kills in defence of honour incurs a sentence of between three and seven years instead of a much longer sentence.

Honour is seen also as an attribute of institutions. Adams, John C. and Barile, Paolo (The Government of Republican Italy [London, 1962], p. 215 Google Scholar) discuss vilipendio, ‘a crime that consists of a disrespectful statement or action towards certain public institutions and the persons who direct them.’ They observe that it rests on the hypothesis that ‘persons and institutions have a kind of honor that can be damaged by the public statement of uncomplimentary opinions or facts.’

213 See below, pp. 622-625.

214 And the dishonour is increased when insults or injuries are public or widely known (e.g., the case of Pausanias, discussed in Disc, II, 28 [p. 364]), especially perhaps when it is publicised by the offender (e.g., Ist. fior. VII, 33 [p. 503]).

215 Schopenhauer, in his perceptive discussion of these matters in Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit, ch. IV, expresses a similar view: ‘Ruhm muss daher erst erworben werden: die Ehre hingegen braucht bloss nicht verloren zu gehn. Dem entsprechend ist Ermangelung des Ruhmes Obskuritat, ein Negatives; Ermangelung der Ehre ist Schande, ein Positives.’ See Schopenhauer's Sämmtliche Werke, ed. J. Frauenstädt, 2nd ed., v (Leipzig, 1922), 385.

216 The rascally Oliverotto Euffreducci, planning to murder his uncle, Giovanni Fogliano, ruler of Fermo, wrote to him saying that he wished to come to Fermo in a way that did him honour (voleva venire onorevole), accompanied by a hundred of his friends and servants. He pointed out that his being received honourably would also honour Fogliano, who had raised him (Princ. VIII [pp. 42-43]).

217 And when a defeated army is permitted to depart ‘honourably’ with their arms, glory is certainly not gained but dishonour is avoided. This is what was denied to the Romans after their defeat at the Caudine Forks.

218 Grande dizionario della lingua italiana (Turin, 1970), VI, 930: Gloria: ‘Fama e onore altissimi e universalmente riconosciuti che si acquistano per meriti e virtù straordinari, per imprese valorose, per opere grandi.’

219 Princ. XXV (p. 100).

220 Disc I; 29 (p 201).

221 Disc. I, 37 (p. 218), III, 6 (pp. 391-392); Princ. XIX (p. 75).

222 Disc, I, 40 (p. 228).

223 Disc. I, 37 (p. 216).

224 Disc. I, 50 (p. 244).

225 Princ. III (p. 23): ‘È cosa veramente molto naturale et ordinaria desiderare di acquistare.’

226 Disc. I, 37 (p. 215): ‘la natura ha creato gli uomini in modo chepossono desiderare ogni cosa e non possono conseguire ogni cosa.’

227 Disc. I, 37 (p. 216).

228 Disc. I, 37 (p. 218).

229 In Arte d. guerra, IV (p. 440), generals who wish their soldiers to fight well are advised not to let them send their possessions home or to leave them in a safe place, ‘so that they understand that, if they flee to save their lives, they will lose their goods (roba), the love of which is usually not less effective than the desire to live in making men fight strongly.’

230 Princ. XVII (p. 70).

231 Ibid.: ‘sopra a tutto, astenersi dalla roba d'altri; perché li uomini sdimenticano più presto la morte del padre che la perdita del patrimonio.’ See also Disc, III, 23 (p. 455).

232 Niccolò Machiavelli, Opere complete (Florence, 1857), p. 1146 (cited by Burd, p. 294): ‘Gli uomini si dolgono più d'uno podere che sia loro tolto, che d'uno fratello o padre che fussi loro morto, perché la morte si dimentica qualche volta, la roba mai. La ragione è in pronta; perché ognun sa che per la mutazione d'uno stato, uno fratello non può risuscitare, ma e’ può bene riavere el podere.’

233 Princ. XIX (p. 75): ‘Odioso lo fa, sopr'a tutto … lo essere rapace et usurpatore della roba e delle donne de’ sudditi: di che si debbe astenere; e qualunque volta alle universalità delli uomini non si toglie né roba né onore, vivono contend, e solo si ha a combattere con la ambizione di pochi.’

234 Disc, III, 6 (pp. 391-392).

235 E.g., Princ. XVII (p. 70), XIX (p. 75); Disc. I, 16 (p. 176), II, 28 (pp. 363-365), III, 6 (pp. 391-392).

236 Princ. XIX (pp. 78-79).

237 E.g., in Discorsi, I, 29 (p. 198), he says that when a general conquers territory for a ruler, ‘he covers himself with gloria and his soldiers with booty (ricchezze).’ See also Disc, III, 23 (p. 454).

238 E.g., Princ. IX (pp. 45-46), XIX (pp. 77-78); Disc. 1, 2 (p. 134), 1, 3 (p. 135), 1, 5 (pp. 139, 141), 1, 9 (p. 155). 1, 16 (pp. 175-176), 1, 37 (p. 218), 1, 40 (pp. 227-228), 1, 41 (p. 230); Ist. fior. III, 1 (p. 212).

239 Machiavelli emphasises that important men cannot expect to retire from public life (Disc, III, 2 [p. 385]).

240 Princ. XXII (p. 94).

241 See above, pp. 607-610.

242 Memoriale a Raffaello Girolami… (Arte delta guerra e scritti politici minori, p. 286): ‘se egli ama la guerra o la pace, se la gloria lo muove o altra sua passione.’

243 Disc, III, 12 (p. 425).

244 Disc. 1, 36 (p. 214), II, 9 (p. 301).

245 ‘Come i Romani davano agli loro capitani degli eserciti le commissioni libere.’

246 Disc. II, 33 (P. 378).

247 Disc, I, 8 (p. 150).

248 Disc, III, 8 (p. 415).

249 Several commentators point out that there are some confusions in Machiavelli's account; e.g., that, according to Livy, it was Livius Salinator who spoke the words quoted.

250 Disc, III, 17 (p. 439).

251 Disc, II, 27 (p. 361).

252 Ist. fior. II, 35 (p. 194).

253 Ist. fior. III, 17 (p. 247).

254 Princ. XXVI (p. 103). For other references to glory as a motive or goal, see Princ. VII (p. 33), XIV (p. 64), XXIV (p. 97); Disc. I, 1 (pp. 126, 128), I, 10 (pp. 156-159), I, 30 (p. 201), 1, 36 (p. 214), 1, 43 (p. 231), 1, 58 (p. 264), II, Proemio (p. 271), II, 9 (p. 301), II, 22 (p. 344), II, 27 (p. 362), III, 35 (p. 483), III, 45 (p. 501); Ist. fior. II, 32 (p. 186), III, 5 (pp. 219, 220), IV, 28 (p. 314), V, 8 (p. 339), V, 11 (pp. 344-345), VI, 4 (p. 393), VI, 29 (p. 433), VII, 26 (p. 492), VII, 32 (pp. 501-502); Arte d. guerra, I (p. 338); Allocuzione fatta ad un magistrato (Arte della guerra e scritti politici minori, p. 137), Discursus florentinarum return post mortem iunioris Laurentii Medices (op. cit., pp. 275-276); Lettere, pp. 254, 260, 270, 277, 288, 352.

255 Disc. 1, 10 (p. 156). Cf. the comments in Ist. Jior. III, 5 (pp. 219-220), about ‘quello appetito non di vera gloria, ma di vituperosi onori dal quale dependono gli odi, le nimicizie, i dispareri, le sètte.’

256 Princ. XII-XIII.

257 There are exceptions; e.g., prudenzia is defined in Princ. XXI (p. 92) [see above, p. 597], and there is a rather peculiar definition of onore in Disc, II, 23 (p. 347).

258 See above, p. 589.

259 See above, pp. 594 and 610.

260 Disc. 1, 52 (p. 248).

261 See above, pp. 610-611.

262 Milton, Lycidas, line 71.

263 Freyer, ‘The Ideas of Machiavelli,’ p. 20, remarks that ‘the idea [gloria] is only pragmatically moral’ and says that coming ‘neither from closet virtue nor from selfishly ambitious achievement, it must be civic renown, and in the constant flux of warring peoples, civic renown becomes inevitably military renown, almost inevitably military conquest.’

264 Leviathan, ch. 11.

265 Lincoln, Abraham, Complete Works, ed. John G. Nicolay and John Hay (New York, 1894), I, 106 Google Scholar.

266 Knoche, Ulrich, ‘Der römische Ruhmesgedanke,’ Philologus, 89 (1934), 102–124 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Earl, Donald C., The Political Thought of Sallust (Cambridge, 1961)Google Scholar, esp. ch. 1; idem, The Moral and Political Tradition of Rome, passim.

267 E.g., Pro Archia poeta, vi-xii; Pro Milone, XXXV; Tusc. Disp. III, ii; De Officiis, II, ix-xiv.

268 Tusc. Disp. 1, xxxviii. Cf. Pro Archia, xii.

269 De Imitatione Christi, I, 3; II, 6; III, 40, 41.

270 De Civitate Dei, v, 14.

271 Ibid., v, 19. For a discussion of Augustine's views about gloria, see Earl, The Moral and Political Tradition of Rome, pp. 127-131.

272 De Regimine Principum, VII.

273 Ibid., VIII and VII.

274 Although Dante acknowledged the fragility of fame or worldly glory (Purg. XI, 79-117; Par. XVI, 79-87), he certainly desired it, and it is an important theme in his writings (see Inf. II, 58-60; XV, 106-107; XVI, 66-69; XXVI, 46-57; XXX, 91-93; XXXI, 116, 127; Purg. VII, 16-18; VIII, 124-126; X, 73-76; XVIII, 136-138; Par. II, 16-18; VI, 48, 112-117; IX, 37-42; XXV, 1-9; De Monarchia, 1, 1). Petrarch's attitude to glory was very similar, and it is one of his constant themes (e.g., in the Trionfi, especially those of Fama, Tempo and Etemita; Rime, CLXXXVII, CCLXIV).

275 Burckhardt, Jacob, The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy (London, 1950), pp. 87–93 Google Scholar.

276 Rappresentazione di S. Giovanni e Paolo, 25-30, 133-139.

277 Il Libro del Cortegiano, 1, 43, 45, 46.

278 Ricordi, ed. Raffaele Spongano (Florence, 1951). Sometimes he expressed his views in terms of gloria (e.g., C32, C72), sometimes in terms of onore (e.g., C15, C118).

279 Della republica fiorentina, II, 20: ‘è da notare, che quattro sono le cose dalle quali gli uomini sono mossi; cioè roba, onore, danno o ignominia: ma perché chi temeignominia è cupido d'onore, e chi teme il danno è cupido della roba, vengono ad essere due le cose che muoveno gli uomini a pigliare qualche impresa; cioè roba e onore.’