# Chapter L explained — Discourses on Livy

> Chapter companion for Discourses on Livy by Niccolò Machiavelli.

## What happens

This chapter discusses the danger of allowing any council or magistrate to bring the government of a city to a standstill, using the example of the Roman consuls T. Q. Cincinnatus and Cn. Julius Mento, whose disagreements halted public business. The senate's attempt to appoint a dictator was blocked by the consuls, forcing them to seek the tribunes' authority to compel compliance. The chapter also examines a similar problem in the Venetian Republic, where the Great Council's refusal to appoint successors caused disorder, later remedied by a law ensuring no magistracy is vacated until a successor is appointed.

## Themes in this chapter

### Necessity and Reason of State

The necessity of ensuring that public business cannot be halted by the obstinacy of a few, as seen in the Roman and Venetian examples.

### Leadership and Moral Character

The consuls' personal disagreements and their failure to prioritize the state's needs over their own conflicts.

## Character check-ins

### Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus

As consul, his disagreement with his colleague brought the city's business to a halt.

### Marcus Menenius

Not directly mentioned, but the tribunes' authority is highlighted as a check on the consuls' obstinacy.

## Key lines

> That neither any council nor any magistrate should have power to bring the government of a city to a stay.

No council or magistrate should be able to halt the functioning of a city's government.

_Central thesis of the chapter._

> Wherefore, if you grant authority to a council to distribute honours and offices, or to a magistrate to administer any branch of public business, you must either impose an obligation that the duty confided shall be performed, or ordain that, on failure to perform, another may and shall do what has to be done.

When granting authority to a council or magistrate, you must either require them to perform their duties or allow someone else to step in if they fail.

_Machiavelli's prescription for avoiding governmental paralysis._

## Links

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