ABSTRACT
Virtue and corruption in politics, the methods of effective and ineffective internal rule, the strategy and tactics of empire-building, the organization of a citizens' army - all these matters dealing with public affairs were Machiavelli's concerns in The Prince, the Discourses on Livy, the Art of War, and the Florentine History. Machiavelli wrote a play that has frequently been hailed as the best comedy of the Italian Renaissance. When the political commentator invades the realm of literature, the literary critic adds, foolishness is the all too predictable result. Politics and love do mix. During the years of his service to the republic of 1494 to 1512, Machiavelli's letters are those of a lover as well as a politician. Shot through with immoralism, the Mandragola is plausibly a commentary on the corruption of Florence, its fall from virtue to hedonism. Possibly so, but such an interpretation quickly runs into unbudging obstacles.
