A man never lived who contributed more to the evolution of the political landscape than Niccolo Machiavelli. Born in a turbulent place in an unstable and perilous period of history, Machiavelli learned the realities of a state. Machiavelli’s greatest work, The Prince, established Political Realism, the acknowledgment that an ideal society is unobtainable, and operating on this knowledge, the focus of those in power should be better spent on political stability, even if immoral action was required to maintain such stability. Without Machiavelli, the idea of a Republic, a state run by the people who reside within the nation under the shared law, whose purpose is to maintain justice and order through constitutional bindings, would not exist as
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Machiavelli’s father was a Doctor of Law, himself limited by debts he had inherited. Machiavelli was taught grammar, rhetoric, and Latin, educating him to hold a position where he was in charge of all official Florentine government documents. Machiavelli was made leader of the Florentinian militia from 1503-1506, a militia which, despite winning several battles, Florence was eventually defeated by the Medici. These new rulers would deprive Niccol of office, as well as torture him over accusations of conspiracy against the government. After his release, Machiavelli retired to his estate, where he would write both plays and political philosophy, including his most notable work, The Prince. On the 21st of June, 1527, Niccolo Machiavelli died at the age of 58, his tombstone engraved with the Latin phrase,“TANTO NOMINI NULLUM PAR ELOGIUM,” which roughly translates to English as,“So great a name has no adequate …show more content…
In the first sentence of The Prince, Machiavelli stated that all governments were either monarchies or republics, words written at a time when the term republic was synonymous with country. Had Machiavelli not contributed this to political philosophy, his setting the foundation for the end of monarchies, later philosophers, from John Locke to the American founding fathers, would in turn not have changed the political landscape nearly to the effect they had in reality, such a chain of events delaying governments of the people for decades to even a century. A world of monarchs would delay the effects of economic liberalism as seen in reality, and as a result, the massive drop in poverty and death rate, as well as the revolutionary increase in standard of living, would be seen later in time and smaller in magnitude. Machiavelli also founded political realism, forever strengthening governments and national unity. Without these contributions, worrying times such as the two world wars or the Great Depression would, with near certainty, have caused major revolutions across all
Machiavelli’s father was a Doctor of Law, himself limited by debts he had inherited. Machiavelli was taught grammar, rhetoric, and Latin, educating him to hold a position where he was in charge of all official Florentine government documents. Machiavelli was made leader of the Florentinian militia from 1503-1506, a militia which, despite winning several battles, Florence was eventually defeated by the Medici. These new rulers would deprive Niccol of office, as well as torture him over accusations of conspiracy against the government. After his release, Machiavelli retired to his estate, where he would write both plays and political philosophy, including his most notable work, The Prince. On the 21st of June, 1527, Niccolo Machiavelli died at the age of 58, his tombstone engraved with the Latin phrase,“TANTO NOMINI NULLUM PAR ELOGIUM,” which roughly translates to English as,“So great a name has no adequate …show more content…
In the first sentence of The Prince, Machiavelli stated that all governments were either monarchies or republics, words written at a time when the term republic was synonymous with country. Had Machiavelli not contributed this to political philosophy, his setting the foundation for the end of monarchies, later philosophers, from John Locke to the American founding fathers, would in turn not have changed the political landscape nearly to the effect they had in reality, such a chain of events delaying governments of the people for decades to even a century. A world of monarchs would delay the effects of economic liberalism as seen in reality, and as a result, the massive drop in poverty and death rate, as well as the revolutionary increase in standard of living, would be seen later in time and smaller in magnitude. Machiavelli also founded political realism, forever strengthening governments and national unity. Without these contributions, worrying times such as the two world wars or the Great Depression would, with near certainty, have caused major revolutions across all