The Essential Writings of MacHiavelli by Niccolò Machiavelli; Peter Constantine

Author:Niccolò Machiavelli; Peter Constantine
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Political Process, Philosophy, Political, History & Theory, General, Early works to 1800, MacHiavelli, Political Science, Niccolo - Political and Social Views, Political Ethics
ISBN: 9780812974232
Publisher: Modern Library
Published: 2007-04-03T09:31:51+00:00

193. Setta (sect): here in the sense of a political or religious body.

194. Machiavelli quotes in Latin the aphorism (probably inspired by the teachings of the Greek physician Galen) Quod quotidie aggregatur aliquid, quod quandoque indiget curatione.

195. In 390 BCE, the Gauls laid siege to Rome, occupying and destroying much of the city before they were finally bought off.

196. Livy writes (Book V, chapter 38) that the Roman military tribunes had the army march into battle “without giving thought to man or gods, without auspices or sacrificial offerings.”

197. Latin: “against the law of nations.” In 391 BCE, Quintus Fabius Ambustus and his two brothers were sent as Roman emissaries to Clusium, which was being besieged by the Gauls. According to Livy, the three brothers violated “the law of nations” by intervening in the battle and fighting on the side of Clusium. Livy writes (Book V, chapter 36): “Contrary to the law of nations, the emissaries took up arms, and the Fates began to drive Rome toward its ruin.” Livy writes that the Gauls demanded that the Fabii be delivered to them, but Rome refused, and instead elected the brothers consular tribunes, upon which the Gauls invaded and sacked Rome.

198. Marcus Furius Camillus was the legendary Roman general and dictator who had captured Veii. See note 35 to Book I, chapter 8 above. He is also discussed in Book I, chapter 55 above. According to Roman historians, he was again made dictator when the Gauls were sacking Rome, at which point he defeated the Gallic army and recovered Rome’s treasury from the Gauls.

199. For the killing of the sons of Brutus, see Book I, chapter 16 above, and note 71; also chapter 3 below. The Decemvirs were a legislative commission that was forced to abdicate in 449 BCE, when it became too tyrannical. The Decemvirs, however, were exiled, not killed (though according to Livy, two subsequently committed suicide). Spurius Maelius (d. 439 BCE) was a Roman plebeian who bought up a large amount of grain during the famine of 439 and sold it cheaply to the populace. He was then accused of trying to gain popularity to make himself king, and was murdered.

200. For Manlius Capitolinus, see Book I, chapter 8 above. During the Roman war against the Latins, Consul Titus Manlius Torquatus (thereafter a symbol of Roman sternness) decreed the execution of his son for having disobeyed the order of not engaging in single battle with the enemy. Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus had been consul five times, and was dictator in 315. During Lucius Papirius Cursor’s term as dictator, Fabius had been victorious in battle against the Samnites, but his disobeying orders led Papirius Cursor to condemn him to death. On the charges against the Scipios, see Book I, chapter 29 above.

201. Machiavelli is listing some of the foremost legendary heroes of Rome: In the sixth century BCE, Horatius Codes and one other soldier held back the entire Etruscan army at the Sublician bridge by Rome, and Gaius Mucius Scaevola

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