Roundtable: Contextualizing Machiavelli: Christopher Celenza’s Machiavelli – A Portrait

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

In his 2015 book, Machiavelli: A Portrait, Christopher Celenza argues that Machiavelli’s hold on the modern imagination as synonymous with amoral conduct can be explained by the enduring influence of The Prince over the last 500 years. However, for Celenza, discerning accurately the precise teachings of The Prince depends on grasping the historical and political context in which Machiavelli composed it, and grasping that context reveals a Machiavelli that escapes the popular, reductionist reading of the Florentine based on The Prince alone. Celenza argues that attending to factors like the prevalence of Latin as the dominant mode of instruction in Renaissance Italy, the importance of letter-writing to 15th century intellectuals, and what Machiavelli’s plays like the Mandragola and Clizia reveal about the subtle influence of classical authors like Lucretius and Terence on his thought furnish grounds for modern students of his thought to escape the confines of his popularized image.

Sub Unit

• Associate Organization / Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy (SMRP)

Organizer

• Sean David Erwin, Barry University

Chair

• Andrea Aldo Robiglio, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Discussants

• Christopher Celenza, Johns Hopkins University

• Sean David Erwin, Barry University

• Timothy Kircher, Guilford College

• Rocco Rubini, University of Chicago

• Vasileios Syros, University of Pennsylvania