ABSTRACT
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469–1527) is one of the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance. Living in a turbulent period of civil strife and French invasions (the ‘Italian Wars’), Machiavelli’s experience of involvement in the government of Florence and his Humanist interest in the political writings of the Roman historian Livy, led him to take a great interest in political theory. First printed in 1532, but completed in the 1510s, his best-known publication Il Principe (the Prince) argues that in exceptional circumstances, especially when his survival is at stake, a prince can justifiably resort to immoral measures. In the following chapters, Machiavelli considers the role of emotions – love, fear and hatred – in the relationship between rulers and their subjects.
