The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

300 Pages·1952·48.851 MB·English

by  Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes

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25.
MACHIAVELLI
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THE
PRINCE
BYNICOLO MACHIAVELLI
LEVIATHAN,
Or, Matter, Form, and Power ofa Commonwealth
Ecclesiastical and Civil
BYTHOMAS HOBBES
William Benton, Publisher
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, INC.
CHICAGO LONDON TORONTO GENEVA SYDNEY TOKYO MANILA
• • • •
The text and annotations of The Prince, translated
by W. K. Marriott, in this edition are derived from the edition in
Everyman's Library by permission of M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London,
J.
andE. P.Button & Co. Inc., New York.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
The Great Books
ispublished with the editorial advice of thefaculties
of The University of Chicago
No part ofthis work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
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©
1952
BY Encyclop/edia Britannica, Inc.
Twenty-eighth Printing, 1986
Copyright under International Copyright Union
All Rights Reserved under Pan American and Universal Copyright
Conventions by ENCYCLOPiEoiA Britannica, Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 55-10331
International Standard Book Number: 0-85229-163-9
GENERAL CONTENTS
THE PRINCE,
Page
i
By Nicolo Machiavelli
Translated by W. K. Marriott
LEVIATHAN,
Page
39
By Thomas Hobbes
Edited by Nelle Fuller
THE PRINCE
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
NicoLO Machiavelli 1469-1527
Practically nothing is known of Machiavelli on Germany was prepared as a result ofa mis-
beforehebecameaminorofficial intheFloren- sion to the court ofEmperor Maximilian.
tine Government. His youth, however, was The most important mission, in view of his
passed during some of the most tumultuous later development as a political writer, was
years in the history of Florence. He was born that, in 1502, to the camp of Cesare Borgia,
the year that Lorenzo the Magnificent came Duke Valentino.Undertheaegis ofhis father.
to power, subverting the traditional civil lib- Pope Alexander VI, Cesare was engaged in
erty ofFlorence while inaugurating a reign of consolidatingthePapal States,andMachiavelli
unrivalled luxury and of great brilliance for was in attendance upon him at the time of his
the arts. He was twenty-five at the time of greatesttriumph.Machiavelli had severalaudi-
Savonarola's attempt to establish a theocratic ences with Cesare and witnessed the intrigues
democracy, although, from the available evi- culminating in the murder of his disaffected
dence,hehimselftooknopartinit.Yetthrough captains, which he carefully described in the
his family he was closer to these events than Method Adopted by Du\e Valentino to mur-
manyFlorentinecitizens.TheMachiavellisfor der Vitellozzo Vitelli. As the "Florentine Sec-
generations had held public office, and his fa- retary,"hewasalsopresenta few months later
ther was a jurist and a minor official. Machia- at Rome when Cesare came to ruin and dis-
velli himself, shortly after the execution of grace upon the death of Alexander VI.
Savonarola, became Secretary of the Second DuringhisdiplomaticcareerMachiavellien-
Chancery, which was to make him widely joyedoneoutstandingsuccess.Largelythrough
knownamonghiscontemporariesasthe"Flor- his efforts, Florence obtained the surrender of
entine Secretary." Pisa, which had revolted from Florentine rule
By virtue of his position Machiavelli served and maintained its independenceforyears.Al-
the"TenofLibertyandPeace,"whosenttheir though he did not achieve any other diplo-
ownambassadorstoforeignpowers,transacted matic triumphs, he was esteemed for the ex-
business with the cities of the Florentine do- cellence of his reports and is known to have
main, and controlled the military establish- had theconfidenceofthepresidentofFlorence,
mentofFlorence.Duringthefourteenyearshe the Gonfalonier, Piero Soderini. But with the
heldoffice, Machiavelliwasplaced inchargeof restoration of the Medicis to power, in 1512,
the diplomatic correspondence of his bureau, Machiavelli's public career came abruptly to
served as Florentine representative on nearly an end. His efforts to ingratiate himself with
thirty foreign missions, and attempted to or- the new masters proved ineffectual. Looked
ganize a citizen militia to replace the merce- uponwithdisfavorastheex-gonfalonier'sman,
narytroops. he was deprived of his office and exiled from
In his diplomatic capacity, which absorbed thecityforayear.Hethenfellundersuspicion,
mostofhis energies, he dealt for the most part althoughunjustly,ofbeingimplicatedinacon-
withthe various principalities intowhich Italy spiracy against the new government. He was
was divided. His more important missions, imprisoned and tortured on the rack and was
however, gave him an insight into the politics releasedonlywhenGiovannideMedicibecame
of Europe as well as of Italy. In 1500 he was Pope.
sent to the court of the Kingof France, where On release from his dungeon, Machiavelli
he met the mightiest minister in Europe, Car- with his wife and children retired to a small
dinal d'Amboise. On this occasion he began farm not far from Florence. Dividing his time
the observation and analysis of national polit- between farming and petty dissipations, he la-
ical forces which were tofind expression in his mented that, possessing nothing but "knowl-
diplomatic reports. His Report on France was edge of the State," he had no occasion for us-
written after he had completed three assign- ing it. The only remaining link with the
mentsfor hisoffice in thatcountry; the Report official world was his friend, the Florentine
IX