s0245l-NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI born 5/3/1469-6/21/1527 in San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Italy, writer,
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Image of Machiavelli in the robes of a Florentine public official, Santi di Tito's famous portrait in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy
son of Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli, a lawyer, and of Bartolommea di Stefano Nelli, was an Italian diplomat, political philosopher, musician, poet and playwright, was a figure of the Italian Renaissance, and a central figure of it's political scene, best known for his treatises on realist political theory (The Prince, which he considered his Magnum opus) on the one hand, and republicanism (Discourses on Livy) on the other hand, these two written works, in addition to his History of Florence (which was commissioned by the Medici family), were published posthumously in 1531, his philosophical views on politics were such that his surname has since passed into common dialect, referring to any political move that is devious or cunning in nature, his education left him with a thorough knowledge of the Latin and Italian classics, lived in a time of constantly shifting alliances, condottieri who changed sides without warning, and governments rising and falling in weeks, trained as a man with great nobility and severe rigor from his father, entered governmental service as a clerk and ambassador in 1494, between 1503 to 1506, Machiavelli was responsible for the Florentine militia, including the defense of the city, his writing,The Prince, in which he describes the arts by which a Prince, a ruler, can retain control of his realm, his Discourse on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy comprises the early history of Rome,
Other works
Machiavelli also wrote plays (Clizia, Mandragola), poetry (Sonetti, Canzoni, Ottave, Canti carnascialeschi) and novels (Belfagor arcidiavolo) as well as translating classical works.
Discorso sopra le cose di Pisa (1499)
Del modo di trattare i popoli della Valdichiana ribellati (1502)
Del modo tenuto dal duca Valentino nell' ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, etc. (Description of the Methods Adopted by the Duke Valentino when Murdering Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, the Signor Pagolo, and the Duke di Gravina Orsini, 1502)
Discorso sopra la provisione del danaro (1502)
Decennale primo (1506, poem in terza rima)
Ritratti delle cose dell'Alemagna (1508-1512)
Decennale secondo (1509)
Ritratti delle cose di Francia (1510)
Andria (1517, comedy translated from Terence)
Mandragola (The Mandrake - 1518, prose comedy in five acts, with prologue in verse)
Della lingua (1514, dialogue)
Clizia (1525, comedy in prose)
Belfagor arcidiavolo (1515, novel)
Asino d'oro (The Golden Ass- 1517, poem in terza rima, a new version of the classic work by Apuleius)
Dell'arte della guerra (The Art of War, 1519-1520)
Discorso sopra il riformare lo stato di Firenze (1520)
Sommario delle cose della citta di Lucca (1520)
Vita di Castruccio Castracani da Lucca (The Life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca, 1520)
Istorie fiorentine (Florentine Histories - 8 books, 1520-1525, commissioned by Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici who went on to become Pope Clement VII.
Frammenti storici (1525)