# IV explained — Discourses on Livy

> Chapter companion for Discourses on Livy by Niccolò Machiavelli.

## What happens

Machiavelli argues that the dissensions between the Roman senate and the commons were not a source of disorder but the primary cause of Rome's freedom and power. He contends that these tumults led to the creation of laws favorable to liberty and that the resulting virtuous actions stemmed from wise laws born of conflict. He dismisses critics who focus on the uproar rather than the beneficial outcomes, noting that over three centuries such conflicts rarely resulted in exile or bloodshed.

## Themes in this chapter

### Class Conflict and Political Order

Machiavelli defends the dissensions between the nobles and the commons as the prime cause of Roman freedom, arguing that conflict between these factions produced laws favorable to liberty.

### Republican Liberty and Popular Government

The chapter emphasizes how popular tumults and the creation of the tribunes contributed to Roman liberty, challenging the view that such disorder undermined the republic.

### Virtù and Fortune

Machiavelli links virtuous actions to wise laws born from tumults, suggesting that good fortune and military prowess stem from underlying order and training.

## Character check-ins

### Titus Livius

Livy is the primary source for the Roman history Machiavelli discusses, though not directly named in this chapter.

### Tarquin

The extinction of the Tarquins marks the starting point for the period of dissensions discussed.

## Key lines

> I affirm that those who condemn these dissensions between the nobles and the commons, condemn what was the prime cause of Rome becoming free; and give more heed to the tumult and uproar wherewith these dissensions were attended, than to the good results which followed from them

Critics of Rome's internal conflicts are mistaken because they focus on the noise and chaos rather than the positive outcomes—namely, the laws that secured Roman liberty.

_Machiavelli's central thesis: conflict, not harmony, was the engine of Roman freedom._

> For virtuous actions have their origin in right training, right training in wise laws, and wise laws in these very tumults which many would thoughtlessly condemn.

Good laws arise from political conflict, and those laws produce proper education, which in turn leads to virtuous deeds.

_Machiavelli establishes a causal chain from tumult to virtue, defending the necessity of discord._

> For though they be ignorant, the people are not therefore, as Cicero says, incapable of being taught the truth, but are readily convinced when it is told them by one in whose honesty they can trust.

The common people, though uneducated, can be persuaded by a trustworthy speaker who explains the truth to them.

_Machiavelli cites Cicero to argue that popular ignorance does not preclude rational persuasion._

## Links

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