Divide in Union: Machiavelli on the Factionalism of the People in the Florentine Histories

• In Event: Crisis, Fear, Faction, and Compromise

Brief Overview

In the Florentine Histories Machiavelli raised the question why the once-oppressed multitude retained the tendency to divide after the oppressing nobles had been removed. Answers to this question may challenge the democratic reading of his works.

Author

• Zhiqiang Ji, Claremont Graduate University