Discourses on Livy
Niccolo Machiavelli, My Old Classics, My Old Classics
- 511 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Discourses on Livy
Niccolo Machiavelli, My Old Classics, My Old Classics
About This Book
Discourses on Livy by Niccolo Machiavelli - is a work of political history and philosophy written in the early 16th century (c. 1517) by the Italian writer and political theorist NiccolĂČ Machiavelli, best known as the author of The Prince. The Discourses were published posthumously with papal privilege in 1531.The title identifies the work's subject as the first ten books of Livy's Ab urbe condita, [1] which relate the expansion of Rome through the end of the Third Samnite War in 293 BC, although Machiavelli discusses what can be learned from many other eras including contemporary politics. Machiavelli saw history in general as a way to learn useful lessons from the past for the present, and also as a type of analysis which could be built upon, as long as each generation did not forget the works of the past.Discourses on Livy comprises a dedication letter and three books with 142 numbered chapters. The first two books (but not the third) are introduced by unnumbered prefaces. A good deal has been made of the coincidence that Livy's history also contained 142 books in addition to its introduction and other numerological curiosities that turn up in Machiavelli's writings.