Discourses on Livy

Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius (Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio) is in many ways a different work from The Prince, although how different it actually is has been a matter of dispute. In the second chapter of The Prince Machiavelli himself makes a distinction between the books in terms of subject matter: while that book is about principalities, the Discourses is about republics. Nominally a commentary on Livy’s work on Roman history, theDiscourses has been read as a rather abstract book: the historical examples Machiavelli uses are meant to teach the reader more general, eternal truths about the political reality.

Machiavelli has a lot to say about how a republic should be managed. The book is divided into three books with different themes: first Machiavelli talks about the internal structure of the republic; after this he reasons about matters of warfare; finally he returns to the theme ofThe Prince, individual leadership.

According to the classical view of Plato and others, all constitutions tend to degenerate into worse ones. This is because of their essential weaknesses. Aristotle thought the problem could be solved by having a “mixed” constitution, and Machiavelli agrees with this conclusion, but for different reasons: in contrast to the classical philosophers, Machiavelli suggests that the main task of political institutions is to deal with contingency. In general Machiavelli has in mind a picture of a republic with a vibrant, free political culture, and in which dissent is not only tolerated but institutionally channeled to further the common good.

Machiavelli believes in military might in foreign policy. “Necessity” is an important concept for him, and he uses it to determine whether or not the republic should fight a war: necessary wars should be fought, others not, and the republic should always be prepared for a necessary war. A crucial point is that offensive wars can be necessary as well. Thus Machiavelli argues not just for having a strong army; he also advocates using it for imperial purposes. Again, Machiavelli relies heavily on the example of the Romans—even in technical matters, although military technology has surely made advances since the Roman Empire.

Republics too need strong leaders. In the third book of the DiscoursesMachiavelli explores the twofold role virtuous individuals play in political culture. First, they inspire and beget virtue in others, and citizen virtue as well as military virtue is vital in protecting the republic from internal as well as external dangers. Although Machiavelli has confidence in the multitude, individual leadership is necessary in some particular affairs. The second function of virtuous men is to prevent corruption. All peoples tend to become corrupt in time, and this is because they gradually lose their fear and respect for the law. Therefore a founding father figure is needed to perform “excessive and notable” executions to refresh people’s memories.

http://www.timoroso.com/philosophy/machiavelli/introduction