# Of the various kinds of government; and to which of them the Roman commonwealth belonged. explained — Discourses on Livy

> Chapter companion for Discourses on Livy by Niccolò Machiavelli.

## What happens

Machiavelli discusses the three pure forms of government (monarchy, aristocracy, democracy) and their corrupt counterparts (tyranny, oligarchy, anarchy), arguing that each is unstable alone. He praises mixed government, exemplified by Lycurgus' Sparta, and contrasts it with Solon's Athens. Rome, though lacking a single wise founder, achieved a perfect mixed constitution through the accidental conflicts between senate and people, culminating in the creation of the tribunes.

## Themes in this chapter

### Historical Cyclicality and Human Nature

Machiavelli describes the cycle of governments—monarchy to tyranny to aristocracy to oligarchy to democracy to anarchy and back—as a natural pattern driven by human passions.

### Class Conflict and Political Order

The chapter argues that Rome's perfect constitution resulted from the 'contests between the commons and the senate,' turning discord into stability.

### Virtù and Fortune

Rome's success is attributed to 'Fortune' and a series of accidents, yet also to the prudent response of its institutions, blending chance with wise adaptation.

## Character check-ins

### Lycurgus

Praised as the wise legislator who gave Sparta a mixed constitution of kings, nobles, and commons, lasting over 800 years.

### Solon

Mentioned as the founder of Athens' purely democratic government, which led to instability and short duration.

### Romulus

Noted as one of Rome's early kings who made good laws but aimed at a kingdom, not a commonwealth.

## Key lines

> That republic, indeed, may be called happy, whose lot has been to have a founder so prudent as to provide for it laws under which it can continue to live securely, without need to amend them; as we find Sparta preserving hers for eight hundred years, without deterioration and without any dangerous disturbance.

A state is fortunate if it has a founder wise enough to give it laws that remain effective without change, like Sparta's constitution which lasted eight centuries.

_Highlights the ideal of a stable, unchanging constitution versus Rome's need for reform._

> For where we have a monarchy, an aristocracy, and a democracy existing together in the same city, each of the three serves as a check upon the other.

A mixed government where king, nobles, and people all share power creates a system of mutual restraint.

_Core argument for mixed government as the most stable form._

> So that Fortune, if she bestowed not her first favours on Rome, bestowed her second; because, although the original institutions of this city were defective, still they lay not outside the true path which could bring them to perfection.

Rome was not given the best start, but its institutions were on the right track and could be perfected over time.

_Contrasts Rome's accidental perfection with Sparta's deliberate design._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/discourses_on_livy_se/chapters/ii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/discourses_on_livy_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/discourses_on_livy_se/chapters