Discourses on Livy · Chapter
LV explained
Machiavelli argues that a republic can only flourish where there is great equality and the populace is uncorrupted, while a principality is necessary where inequality and corruption prevail.
What happens
Machiavelli argues that a republic can only flourish where there is great equality and the populace is uncorrupted, while a principality is necessary where inequality and corruption prevail. He contrasts the virtue and religious sentiment of the ancient Romans and contemporary Germans with the corruption of Italy, France, and Spain, attributing German virtue to isolation and the absence of 'gentlemen'—idle lords with castles and retainers. He concludes that founding a republic in a land of gentlemen requires eliminating them, and founding a principality in an egalitarian land requires creating a new nobility.
Themes in this chapter
Virtù and Fortune
The virtue and religious sentiment of the Roman people, as shown in their response to the senate's edict, are contrasted with the corruption of modern Italy, highlighting the role of civic virtue in sustaining a republic.
Class Conflict and Political Order
The distinction between egalitarian republics and hierarchical principalities is tied to the presence or absence of 'gentlemen'—a class that disrupts equality and necessitates monarchical rule.
Republican Liberty and Popular Government
Machiavelli argues that republican liberty is only possible where there is great equality and no feudal lords, as in the German free states or Tuscany.
Characters to notice
- Furius Camillus
His vow of a tenth of the Veientine spoil to Apollo is cited as an example of the senate's trust in the people's honesty.
Key passages
“That government is easily carried on in a city wherein the body of the people is not corrupted: and that a princedom is impossible where equality prevails, and a republic where it does not.”
A government functions smoothly in a city where the populace is uncorrupted; a principality cannot exist where there is equality, nor a republic where there is inequality.
This opening statement sets the chapter's central thesis about the relationship between social equality and political form.
“For living after this fashion, they have not learned the manners of the French, the Italians, or the Spaniards, which three nations together are the corruption of the world.”
Because they live in isolation, the Germans have not adopted the corrupting customs of the French, Italians, and Spaniards, who together are the source of the world's corruption.
Machiavelli attributes German virtue to their lack of contact with other nations, which he sees as corrupting.
“But to found a commonwealth in a country suited for a kingdom, or a kingdom in a country suited to be a commonwealth, requires so rare a combination of intelligence and power, that though many engage in the attempt, few are found to succeed.”
Establishing a republic in a land meant for monarchy, or a monarchy in a land meant for a republic, demands such exceptional wisdom and strength that few succeed despite many attempts.
Machiavelli emphasizes the difficulty of imposing a political system contrary to a country's social structure.