Catilinarian cadences in Machiavelli'S florentine histories: Ciceronian consensus and corrupted humanism

• Autores: Danielle Charette
• Localización: History of political thought, ISSN 0143-781X, Vol. 39, Nº 3, 2018, págs. 439-464
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In debates over Machiavelli's uneasy relationship with classical republicanism, readers have overlooked the subversive uses to which Machiavelli puts Cicero and the Catiline conspiracy in his Florentine Histories. The speeches Machiavelli writes for Florence's nobili reveal leaders well-rehearsed in humanist language, even as they perpetrate crimes against the city.Machiavelli's critique of the elite's ability to thwart popular tumults is underscored by his allusions to Cicero--especially Cicero's account of Catiline. These references offer Machiavelli an opportunity both to expose the Ciceronian style of promoting concord over conflict and to challenge Florentine historiographers, who had become oddly preoccupied with Catiline's Tuscan roots.