Discourses on Livy

Discourses on Livy

By Niccolò Machiavelli.

Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson.

Table of Contents

1. Titlepage
2. Imprint
3. Dedication
4. Discourses on Livy
   1. Book I
      1. Preface
      2. I
      3. II
      4. III
      5. IV
      6. V
      7. VI
      8. VII
      9. VIII
      10. IX
      11. X
      12. XI
      13. XII
      14. XIII
      15. XIV
      16. XV
      17. XVI
      18. XVII
      19. XVIII
      20. XIX
      21. XX
      22. XXI
      23. XXII
      24. XXIII
      25. XXIV
      26. XXV
      27. XXVI
      28. XXVII
      29. XXVIII
      30. XXIX
      31. XXX
      32. XXXI
      33. XXXII
      34. XXXIII
      35. XXXIV
      36. XXXV
      37. XXXVI
      38. XXXVII
      39. XXXVIII
      40. XXXIX
      41. XL
      42. XLI
      43. XLII
      44. XLIII
      45. XLIV
      46. XLV
      47. XLVI
      48. XLVII
      49. XLVIII
      50. XLIX
      51. L
      52. LI
      53. LII
      54. LIII
      55. LIV
      56. LV
      57. LVI
      58. LVII
      59. LVIII
      60. LIX
      61. LX
   2. Book II
      1. Preface
      2. I
      3. II
      4. III
      5. IV
      6. V
      7. VI
      8. VII
      9. VIII
      10. IX
      11. X
      12. XI
      13. XII
      14. XIII
      15. XIV
      16. XV
      17. XVI
      18. XVII
      19. XVIII
      20. XIX
      21. XX
      22. XXI
      23. XXII
      24. XXIII
      25. XXIV
      26. XXV
      27. XXVI
      28. XXVII
      29. XXVIII
      30. XXIX
      31. XXX
      32. XXXI
      33. XXXII
      34. XXXIII
   3. Book III
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
      8. VIII
      9. IX
      10. X
      11. XI
      12. XII
      13. XIII
      14. XIV
      15. XV
      16. XVI
      17. XVII
      18. XVIII
      19. XIX
      20. XX
      21. XXI
      22. XXII
      23. XXIII
      24. XXIV
      25. XXV
      26. XXVI
      27. XXVII
      28. XXVIII
      29. XXIX
      30. XXX
      31. XXXI
      32. XXXII
      33. XXXIII
      34. XXXIV
      35. XXXV
      36. XXXVI
      37. XXXVII
      38. XXXVIII
      39. XXXIX
      40. XL
      41. XLI
      42. XLII
      43. XLIII
      44. XLIV
      45. XLV
      46. XLVI
      47. XLVII
      48. XLVIII
      49. XLIX
5. Endnotes
6. Colophon
7. Uncopyright

Imprint

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Niccolò Machiavelli
to
Zanobi Buondelmonti and Cosimo Rucellai
Health.

I send you a gift, which if it answers ill the obligations I owe you, is at any rate the greatest which Niccolò Machiavelli has it in his power to offer. For in it I have expressed whatever I have learned, or have observed for myself during a long experience and constant study of human affairs. And since neither you nor any other can expect more at my hands, you cannot complain if I have not given you more.

You may indeed lament the poverty of my wit, since what I have to say is but poorly said; and tax the weakness of my judgment, which on many points may have erred in its conclusions. But granting all this, I know not which of us is less beholden to the other: I to you, who have forced me to write what of myself I never should have written; or you to me, who have written what can give you no content.

Take this, however, in the spirit in which all that comes from a friend should be taken, in respect whereof we always look more to the intention of the giver than to the quality of the gift. And, believe me, that in one thing only I find satisfaction, namely, in knowing that while in many matters I may have made mistakes, at least I have not been mistaken in choosing you before all others as the persons to whom I dedicate these Discourses; both because I seem to myself, in doing so, to have shown a little gratitude for kindness received, and at the same time to have departed from the hackneyed custom which leads many authors to inscribe their works to some prince, and blinded by hopes of favour or reward, to praise him as possessed of every virtue; whereas with more reason they might reproach him as contaminated with every shameful vice.

To avoid which error I have chosen, not those who are but those who from their infinite merits deserve to be princes; not such persons as have it in their power to load me with honours, wealth, and preferment, but such as though they lack the power, have all the will to do so. For men, if they would judge justly, should esteem those who are, and not those whose means enable them to be generous; and in like manner those who know how to govern kingdoms, rather than those who possess the government without such knowledge. For historians award higher praise to Hiero of Syracuse when in a private station than to Perseus the Macedonian when a king; affirming that while the former lacked nothing that a prince should have save the name, the latter had nothing of the king but the kingdom.

Make the most, therefore,