— We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.
Niccolo Machiavelli
In the Prince, Machiavelli wrote, “It is not unknown to me how many have been and are of the opinion that worldly events are so governed by fortune and by God that men cannot by their providence change them.
Perhaps the most famous book of all time, Machiavelli’s Prince was written by a commissioned Roman historian who made a crucial influence on historiography by using history as a guide for individual action, particularly political action.
The earliest historians believed that man alone could not change the outcome of events due to fortune and God. The Greeks had a strong oral history that included mythic tales and Homeric epics. Greek historiography includes great influence by gods and goddesses in history.
Gods actively influenced war and participated in battles according to Greek history. Even as Greek history focused more on life in the city-state or polis, God still has a major influence on Greek history.
Instead of the Greek historical theological tradition, Machiavelli, a Roman historian and a statesman, wrote history in the humanist tradition of human affairs. He was not interested in history with a theological or ecclesiastical focus.
The major influence of Machiavelli on historical research and historiography is his philosophy of history that God plays no role in human affairs and its history. Although other Renaissance historians began moving away from the theological to the secular, Machiavelli epitomized the idea of historical research in the humanist tradition.
Machiavelli, in following the tradition of the Renaissance humanist historiographers, focuses on human actions in history. He goes beyond even the humanist tradition in human affairs. Unlike other historians, Machiavelli’s study of history is completed in a detached and clinical manner.
Like other humanists, Machiavelli focused on the disciplines of the ancients. He especially focused on reading about ancient history and philosophy. He read many great historians such as Thucydides, Plutarch, Tacitus, and Livy.
The Greek culture produced the first drafts of history and historiography. Initially, history focused heavily on mythic tales such as Zeus and the influence of Gods on everyday life and battles. Later, the Greek tradition included a focus on the city-state or polis.
During the beginnings of historiography, Greek historians often felt that the purpose of history was entertainment or curiosity. However, Polybius did not endorse history as entertainment. Polybius stated that history is about teaching life lessons. Still, Polybius included the idea of fate and little human control over events in his writings.
The change from God focused history began with Roman and Italian historiography. The focus of Roman humanist historiography is on a state or individual focused history as opposed to a theological one.
Although there were earlier historians and historical works to analyze, history as a discipline was introduced by the Italian Renaissance. Three of the most famous historians associated with the humanist historian craft during the Italian Renaissance are Machiavelli, Bruni, and Guicciardini.
Renaissance humanism was defined by Paul Kristeller, a scholar of Renaissance humanism and professor at Columbia University, as “a broad cultural and literary movement with a belief in the value of man and the humanities and in the revival of ancient learning.” Kristeller added that, “In humanism, there is an emphasis on the dignity of humankind and on the importance of the individual experience.”
The writings of Machiavelli clearly show him to be an individualist and he epitomizes that aspect of Italian humanism. It does not appear that Machiavelli is that interested in the dignity of humankind. He seems more interested in the advancement of the Roman state. However, the key aspect of individual experience over God or fortune is the clear parallel between Machiavelli and Italian humanist historiography.
Renaissance historians were not as interested in theological systems as prior historians. Instead of an overall emphasis on God and the afterlife, humanists and historians are more focused on the state, communities and the individual. Humanists are a broad mix of atheists and religious people; however, most humanists reject traditional religious aspects of life and are more committed to living a moral life.
Not only did Machiavelli agree with the Italian humanist historians regarding the idea that prior historians focused too much on theological systems, Machiavelli “opposed himself to the entire tradition proceeding him as too dependent on morality”. He was more interested in historical facts surrounding individuals that affected a political state.
Ferrerro wrote, “With an audacity unheard of in his day, he attacked Christianity as the religion of slaves, as a drain on people’s strength.” Although Italian humanists focused on human affairs versus religious, most did not attack Christianity. Machiavelli stood out in his attack on Christianity and had no interest in theological affairs as a historian.
Machiavelli set out to decrease the political authority of the Church of Rome through classic texts and the historic records of the political action of wise men. His writings were political instructions based on history as opposed to history under the guise of moral teachings or theology.
Machiavelli’s words are based on historical action and what should be done on a personal instead of religious level. The idea of a historic tradition based on morality did not appeal to him. Although he is like the humanists in his focus on human affairs, he deliberately separates from them when he does not endorse morality as a worthy focus.
Up until the time of the Renaissance and even modern times, historians still cannot agree on explanations of events after they occur. In contrast, Machiavelli felt that historical events could be explained by the actions of men, particularly political rulers.
Herodutus feels that there is an unknown force that moves history and man cannot change it. This force may be God, fortune, or fate and Herodutus feels that there is no way to understand or influence them. Machiavelli’s philosophy of history is opposite of Herodutus in terms of human influence on outcomes. His blueprints for political and military action in the Prince and the Art of War demonstrate his belief that individuals had the power to influence events and history on their own.
In Perceptions of History, Roshwald argues that Herodutus, Polybius, and Thucydes seem to agree that man is a victim to some outside force outside of his control. “This historian observes this tragic phenomenon, but cannot do anything to change it.”
Although Polybius rejected the idea of history as entertainment, he felt that history’s value in teaching about life was limited to commiseration due to the overwhelming influence of fortune. Polybius wrote, “The most instructive method of learning to bear with dignity the vicissitudes of fortune is to recall the catastrophes of others.”
Although Machiavelli was much more than a historian, one can argue that his masterpieces, the Prince and Art of War, are both transcendent historian blueprints for action based on a historic analysis of politics and warfare. He did not believe that the lesson of history was to learn how to better bear fortune.
Due to his strict emphasis on human affairs, Machiavelli epitomized what it meant to be a humanist historian. He was not interested in a history of religious figures and the church. This massive change in historiography sent waves through future historians up to present day.
The Renaissance humanist historians went on to influence historiography for good. They were the first to introduce history as a discipline. Also, their humanist influence spread throughout Europe.
Italian humanism spread from Italy to England in the late 1400’s, France in the late 1400’s, and Germany in the early 1500’s. The humanist influence could still be seen in historiography throughout the 1500’s.
Machiavelli is so well known that his name can be found in modern day hip-hop songs and how to business books. Machiavell may have been the first historian to write a self-help book.
A current book about American foreign policy is based on Machiavelli and called Power Rules : How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy based on the Prince.
A search on amazon.com would reveal multiple books with an ode to Machiavelli such as Machiavelli on Modern Leadership, What Would Machiavelli Do?, and the New Machiavelli: The Art of Politics in Business.
Even Karl Marx praised Machiavellis’ the History of Florence as a masterpiece. Machiavelli’s work was uniquely influential and is truly historical significant and influential because it touches the past, present, and future historiography in equal amounts.
Selected Bibliography
Maddox, Graham. “Secular Reformation and the Influence of Machiavelli.” Journal of Religion. 01 October 2002, 539-63.
Brown, Irene. “Machiavelli and the New Philosopher Prince.” History Today. 01 June 1981, 15-21.
Roshwald, Mordecai. “Perceptions of History: In Pursuit of the Absolute in Passing Time.” Diogenes. 1999, 44-64.
Eley, Geoff. “The Profane and Imperfect World of Historiography.” American Historical Review. April 2008, 425-437.
Cochrane, Eric. “The Profession of the Historian in the Italian Renaissance.” Journal of Social History. Fall 1981, 51-71.
Baggini, Julian. “End of life: the humanist view.” Lancet. 01 October 2005, 1235-1237.
Gouwens, Kenneth. “Perceiving the Past: Renaissance Humanism after the Cognitive Turn.” American Historical Review. February 1998, 55-83.
Phillips , Mark. “Machiavelli, Guicciardini, and the Tradition of Vernacular Historiography in Florence.” American Historical Review. February 1979, 86-106.
Mellor, Ronald. The Roman Historians. London andNew York: Routledge, 1999.
Ferrerro, Guglielmo. “Machiavelli and Machiavellism.” Foreign Affairs. April 1939, 569-577.
Knoppers, Gary. “Greek Historiography and the Chronicler’s History: A Reexamination.” Journal of Biblical Literature. Winter 2003, 627-650.
Iano, Arnaldo. “Greek Historiography.” History and Theory. 1978, 1-29.
Machiavelli, Niccolo. History of Florence and the affairs of Italy from the earliest times to the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. New York and London: Universal Classics Library, Walter Dunne, 1901.
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. New York: P.F. Collier and Son Company, 1910.
Mansfield, Harvey. Machiavelli’s Virtue. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Bentley, Michael. Modern Historiography: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 1999.
Breisach, Ernst. Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, 3rd Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Drezner, Daniel. “Machiavelli Revisited.” National Interest. March 2009, 66-70.
Viroli, Maurizio. Niccolo’s Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. London: Hill and Wang, 2002.
