Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius

In a commentary on the first ten books of Livy's history of Rome, Machiavelli derives lessons and principles about how to govern a republic. This is the companion book to his notorious "The Prince", which deals with monarchies and dictatorships. This seminal work of political science, also provides insight into the history of Rome and of Renaissance Italy. According to Wikipedia: "Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469 1527) was an Italian diplomat, political philosopher, musician, poet and playwright. Machiavelli was a figure of the Italian Renaissance, and a servant of the Florentine republic. In June of 1498, following the ouster and execution of Savonarola, the Great Council elected Machiavelli as the Secretary to the second Chancery of the Republic of Florence. He is most famous or notorious for one of his shorter works, The Prince, sometimes described as a work of realist political theory. However, both that text and the more substantial republican Discourses on Livy as well as History of Florence (commissioned by the Medici family) were printed only after his death, all appearing in the early 1530s. In his own lifetime, while he circulated The Prince among friends, the only work Machiavelli promoted through printing was his dialogue on The Art of War. But generations from the sixteenth century onwards were most attracted and repelled by the cynical approach to power on display in The Prince, Discourses and History. Whatever Machiavelli's own intentions (and they remain a matter of heated debate), his name became synonymous with ruthless politics, deceit and the pursuit of power by any means."

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