Author
Niccolò Machiavelli
Florentine statesman, diplomat, and political theorist (1469–1527)
Their life
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, a Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian, lived from 1469 to 1527 during the Italian Renaissance. For many years he held a senior post in the Florentine Republic, with duties in diplomacy and military affairs. From 1498 to 1512 he served as secretary to the republic's second chancery. When the Medici regained power in 1512, he lost his diplomatic position, was wrongly suspected of treason, and was sent into exile. About a year later he turned to political writing.
His best-known work, *The Prince* (*Il Principe*), was written around 1513 but not published until 1532, five years after his death. In it he argued that rulers sometimes must adopt harsh policies to serve the political community, which departed from classical political thought. He suggested that founders and reformers of states could be excused for killing their political enemies when necessity demanded it. Because of this advice, his name later became linked with ruthless conduct, and many commentators have read the book as a guide for would-be tyrants. Leo Strauss, among others, repeated the traditional view of Machiavelli as a "teacher of evil."
Machiavelli's other political writings also receive attention. *The Discourses on Livy*, composed around 1517, is often credited with laying groundwork for modern republicanism. His ideas shaped later Enlightenment-era writers, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and James Harrington. He is generally regarded as a founding figure of modern political philosophy and political science, and his influence has continued among philosophers, scholars, and politicians, many of whom still debate the meaning of his ideas.
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