Introduction

If The Prince is addressed to princes, the Discourses on Livy are addressed to the citizens of republics. In a commentary on the first ten books of Livy's history of Rome, Machiavelli sets out his thinking on republican government. Why did Rome grow from a small city into a great republic? His answer: a mixed constitution, good laws, civic virtue, the role of religion, and, surprisingly, the conflict between the plebs and the nobles, from which, he argues, Roman liberty was born. He also discusses how republics are founded and maintained, why they become corrupt and decline, and the need to 'return to first principles'. Regarded as a founding work of modern republican thought, it far surpasses The Prince in length and depth.