Seyssel, Machiavelli, and Polybius vi: The Mystery of the Missing Translation

Author(s): J. H. Hexter
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Studies in the Renaissance, Vol. 3 (1956), pp. 75-96
Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Renaissance Society of America
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 Seyssel,Machiavelli,andPolybiusVI:
the Mysteryof the MissingTranslation
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 1510and1520,NiccoloMachiavelli composed
theDiscorsisoprala PrimaDeca di Tito Livio.l The secondchapter
of thatworkcontainswhatforMachiavelli is a ratherelaborate
theo-
reticaldisquisition.It dealswithsucharcanemattersastheoriginof
civilpolities,the beginningsof law,the formsof politicalrule,and
the succession thatthoseformsnaturallyfollowin theirhistorical
sequence.2 Neverbeforeand neveragaindid Machiavelli concern
himselfin so concentrated a waywiththehigherandmoreghostly
issuesof politicaltheory.NeverbeforeandneveragainwasMachia-
velli literallyso un-Machiavellian.In Chapter2 of BookI of the
Discorsihe wasliterallyun-Machiavellian in thesimplesensethathe
cribbedmostof that chapterwithoutacknowledgement from an-
otherwriter.In so doinghe initiateda minorliterarymystery the
Mysteryof the MissingTranslation or the Puzzleof PolybiusVI.
For it was sectionsof the sixthbookof the History of Rome
writtenby Polybiusof Megalopolis in the secondcenturyB.C. that
providedMachiavelli with the generalstructureand muchof the
specificdetailof Chapter2 of BookI of theDiscorsi.3Thepuzzleof
1 For a discussionof the date of compositionof the Discorsi see Felix Gilbert,"Review-
Discussion:The Composition and Structureof Machiavelli'sDiscorsi", lournal of the History
of Ideas XIV (1953), 136-156.
Attemptsto extendthe terminaldateof the Discorsi past 1519 are basedon:
1. An event,an attackon Genoa,mentionedin theDiscorsi, whosedatingis veryuncertain
and possibly after 1519 (Discorsi sopra la Prima Deca di Tito Livio, II, 24, hereaftercited as
Discorsi. Citationsfrom Machiavelli's works will hereaftergive pages in the Mazzoniand
Casellaeditionof Ture le Opere Storiche e Lenermrie(Florence,1929). Citationsfrom the
Discorsi will give in additionthe page in Leslie Walker'stranslation,The Discourses of
Niccolo Machiavelli (2 vols., New Haven, 1950). The passagefrom Discotsi II, 24 is at
Mazzoniand Casella,p. 179b,WalkerI, 433.)
2. A remarkin the prefaceto the Giuntaeditionof 1531implyingthatMachiavelli enter-
tained an unfulfilledintentionof revisingthe Discorsi, quotedin Niccolo Machiavelli,11
Principe, ed. A. L. Burd(Oxford,1891), p. 180, n. 1.
3. The way the Discorsi trailsoff withoutany sortof conclusion.
FatherLeslieWalkerhas offeredpersuasiveevidencethat the eventsin Genoareferredto
in Discorsi II, 24 occurredin 1515 (I, 43-44). I hope to show shortlyin an essayon the
composition of the Discorsi thatthe remarkin the Giuntaeditionbecomesintelligiblein view
of the way Machiavelliput the Discorsi together,thathis way of puttingit togetheraccounts
for the way the Discorsi trailsoff, and that the hypothesisof an uncompletedprocessof
compositionis not necessaryto accountfor the trailingoff. Any attemptto establisha late
date for the completionof the Discorsi has to cope with the fact that CesimoRucellai,to
whom, alongwith ZanobiBuondelmonti, the Discorsi was dedicated,was alive when it was
dedicatedand dead in 1519.
2 Discorsi I, 2: Mazzoniand Casella, pp. 59a-62b;WalkerI, 211-216.
3 Polybius, The Histories, with an Englishtranslationby W. R. Paton(6 vols.,LoebClassi-
cal Library,1922-1927).
76 SEYSSEL, MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS VI

PolybiusVI doesnotconcernMachiavelli's useof Polybiusin general.

Machiavelli almostcertainlyusedPolybiusin 11Principe.4It con-
cernsonlythe sixthbookof Polybius;andit concernsthatbookbe-
causea chainof goodif not irrefragible cluesseemsto showthatin
theordinary courseof thingsMachiavelli shouldnot havebeenable
to cribthat particularbit of the wisdomof the ancients.The first
two clueshaveto do withwhatcanbe inferredfroma studyof his
workaboutMachiavelli's readinghabits.The firstinferenceis that
he rarelyif everreadmanuscripts of the classics.This inferenceis
basedon the established fact thatall the worksof ancientwriters
thatMachiavelli certainlyusedin his bookswerecertainlyin print
by thetimehe usedthem.5Exceptone.The secondinferenceis that
he readno Greek.Althoughin histimeamongthecognoscentidrop-
pingGreektagswastheequivalent of name-dropping today,Machia-
vellineverdroppeda Greektag.Moreover, of everypassageof every
Greekauthorcertainly usedby Machiavelli, thereexistedat thetime
he wrotea printedtranslation intoLatin.6Exceptone.
The exceptionwasPolybiusVI. Not all of Polybius.Of the first
fivebookstheredid exista printedtranslation in Llatin.7
Butnot of
BookVI.Of this bookno completeeditionin Greekor Latinhad
beenpublishedbeforeMachiavelli's death.8Moreover, no surviving
manuscript translationof PolybiusVI into Latindatesfrombefore
the 1520s,and thereis no sureevidencethat any suchtranslation
existed exceptthe evidenceof Chapter2 of BookI of theDliscorsi.9
IndeedfromwhatI havebeenableto learnfrominquiriesaddressed
to scholarsfarbetterinformedthanI, thereis no evidencethatany
ItalianauthorhadusedPolybiusvI beforeMachiavelli did.Onecan
neversatisfactorily
demonstrate a negativeof thissort,of course;yet
at the veryleastthe circumstances indicatethatif PolybiusVI was
411 Principe, Chapter13: Mazzoniand Casella,p. 28a. For all otherpossibleloansfrom
Polybiussomeotherequallypossiblesourcecan be found.I have beenable to find, however,
no other possiblesourcefor the observations on Hiero in chapter13. The referenceis to
PolybiusI, iX.
5 Walkerhasa complete list of the worksreferredto, or possiblyreferredto, with or with-
out acknowledgement, in the Discorsi (II, 271-305).
6Walker (see note 5) suppliesreferencesto the printedLatin translations availableto
Machiavellifor citation.
7 Polybii Historiarum Libri Superstiresin Lat. Sermonem Conversi a N. Perono (Rome,
1473). Walker(II, 290) also refersto a latereditionprintedin Venicein 1498.
8The first editionof Polybiuscontainingthe survivingfragmentof Book VI and later
bookbof his historywas publishedin 1549.The old Perottotranslation was usedfor the first
five bks. Musculustranslatedthe fragmentsof the remainingbooks.
9 I owe this informationto Prof. BeatriceReynolds,who has made a thoroughinvestiga-
tion of the LatinMS. translations of Polybius.
 J. H. HEXTER 77
knownat all in ItalybeforeMachiavelli usedit, it was littlecon-
sidered.
That Machiavelli used a manuscript translationinto Latinor
Italianof PolybiusvI followsfromthepeculiarities of Chapter2 of
DiscorsiI. Foralthoughin thatchapterhe occasionally summarizes
brieflya long passageof PolybiusVIn Machiavelli frequentlypara-
phrasesratherfully,andat leastoncehe translates verbatim.l°It is
hardto see how he couldhavedonethis,lackinga knowledgeof
Greek,unlesshe had a translation(or at leasta translator) at his
elbowas he wrote.The Puzzleof PolybiusVI iS how Machiavelli,
who rarelyworkedwithmanuscripts anddidnot readGreek,came
to be, as far as we know,the firstItalianto use a Greekbookthat
hadnotbeenprintedin GreekorLatinand,againasfaraswe know,
hadnotbeentranslated intoLatinat all whenMachiavelli wrote.
Now we maybe ableto offera fairlyplausiblesolutionto this
puzzle,but a story,a ratherramblinganddisjointedsortof story,
goeswith it-the storyof an Italian,a Savoyard, and two Greeks.
We havealreadymettheItalianandoneof theGreeks Machiavelli
andPolybius.The Savoyard wasClaudeSeyssel.ll
Seysselwasa juristanda churchman. He diedin 1520,Archbishop
of Turin.Beforehe beganhis risein the ecclesiastical hierarchy, he
madehis careerin the serviceof the Kingof France.Forabouttwo
decadesup to 1515he had actedfor the Frenchking in various
capacitiesashisagentin Milanandashisemissary to theSwissand
to the English.FinallyLouisXII sentSeysselto Romein 1514to
negotiatea settlementof the schismthat Louishad got himself
involvedin. He had earlierrewardedhis faithfulservantwith the
bishopricof Marseilles. When the old king died in 1515,Seyssel
decidedto withdrawfromthecourtin orderto fulfillthoseepiscopal
dutiesthatup to thenhe had let slide.To the new king FrancisI
Seysselleft a handsomepartinggift the manuscript of a workhe
hadrecentlycomposed, La GrantMonarchiede France.l2La Grant
10WalkerII, 7-13, printsthe passagesfromPolybiusVI thatparallelthoseof Machiavelli
in Discorsi I, 2. The passagethatMachiavelli presentsin nearlyverbatim translation(Mazzoni
and Casella,p. 60b-61a;WalkerI, 213-214) is PolybiusVI, Vii-viii.
11The definitivebiographyof Seysselfrom which all the biographical informationthat
followsis drawnis AlbertoCaviglia,Claudio di Seyssel (1450-1520J: la Vit nella Storwade'
Suoi Tempi (Miscellaneadi Storia Italiana, 3d series,Vol. 23, Turin,1928).
12 La Monarchie de France, Bibliotheque Nationale,Paris,Departement des manuscripts,
fonds fransais,5212; first printededition,La Gran Monarchie de France, Paris,R. Chaul-
diere, 15i9. The MS.is the one presentedto FrancisI. 'rwo references will hereafterbe given
for citationsfrom the Grant Monarchie: 1) to the presentation MS., 2) to the first printed
edition.I havepreferredthe title of the printededitionby whichthe workwas subsequently
known.References to the printededitionwill appearin parentheses.
78 SEYSSEL, MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS VI

Monarchieis at oncea bookof adviceto princesandthe firsteffort

to describe theinstitutionsof theFrenchmonarchy. It is alsoa work
donein haste.Seysselsaysthathe wroteit in six weeks,and that
whilehe was workingon it traveland the settlingof his personal
affairstookup mostof his time.He had,he says,no booksat all by
him andhadto relywhollyon his memory.I3 And in facthe men-
tionsfew authorsby nameandquotesnonedirectly.
Considering that Seysselhad no booksby him and considering
also the particularcharacterof his book,the numberof parallel
passagesand generalsimilarities betweenLa GrantMonarchieand
Polybius VI iS rather
noteworthy.
1. The generaldesignof La GrantMonarchieas explainedby
Seysselis notablylikethedesignof theHistoryof Romeas Polybius
statesit bothin hisprefaceandin BookVI:
The bestand mostvaluableresultI aim at [saysPolybius]is thatreadersof
my workmay gain a knowledgehow it was and by virtueof what political
institutionsthat in less than fifty-threeyearsthe wholeworldwas overcome
andfell underthe singledominionof Rome.The chiefcauseof successor the
reversein allmattersis theformof a state'spolity.I4
SaysSeyssel:
I tryto showhow monarchical government is the bestof all polities,how that
of Franceis the mostcivilandbestorderedof all monarchies, pastandpresent,
andreasonsandcauseswhyit attainedto thisgreatness.I5
2. Seysseldrawson the commonstock of classicalpolitical
thoughtfor his typologyof stateforms,moreor less takinginto
accountthe threelegitimateformsof monarchy,aristocracy, and
the popularstateandtheircorresponding corruptions. Buthis sum-
marydiscussion of the passageof statesfromone formto another
is muchcloserto the briefcyclicalsystematization in PolybiusVIi6
thanto Plato'sdiscursive
comment7or to Aristotle's methodicaland
elaborateanalysisof the causesof revolution.I8 The likenessto
PolybiusVI appearsin theassumption a) thatthecauseof thetransi-
tionof eachgoodstateformto itscorruption liesin thedemoralizing
effectof poweron the rulingclass,i9andb) thatthe formsfollow
13 Grant Monarchie f. 4 (preface).
2, 3, 9.
VI,
15 Grant Monarchie, f. 4r_4v(preface).
16 Polybius VI, 4 7-12, VI, 7 1-9.
17 Republic 543-567

18 Politics v, 1301a-1316b.
19PolybiusVI, 7 1-9;Grant Monarchief. 6t-6V(f. l r-1V).
 J. H. HEXTER 79

one anotherin somesortof cyclicalfashion,impelledby a natural

lawof growthanddecay,that
when all is saidnone of thesestatescan possiblybe perpetual,for ordinarily
in the cc)urseof time they get worseespeciallywhentheygo on growing,so
it oftenhaplpensthatonerisesfromtheother.20
AgainSeyssel's generalremarkson the declineof states,follow-
ing his accountof the Venetianconstitution,
do not exactlyfollow
Polybius'generalobservationson the declineof states.He addsa
medievalelementin his comparison of statesto naturalbodies.He
writesnot asonewhohasPolybiusVI besidehim,butperhapsasone
who hasknownthe Polybianaccountand hasblendedit with his
own speculationsandobservations.
Hereis Seyssel'smeditation:
Fromwhatevercause,it mustcometo passthatthisregimeandall othersthat
are or will be in the worldwill cometo an end.For thereislnothingeternal
underheaven,and all that beginsmust end, even thesemysticalbc)dies. For
theyare like materialhumanbodies,which,thoughcreatedand composedof
four contraryelementsand humors,for a while maybe maintainedand kept
aliveso long as the humorsare in harmony.But in the long run one humor
must transcendthe others,and by dissolutionof the bondthe massentirely
returnto its originalcondition.For, by the orderof nature,once they are
assembledall those elementsand humorsgo throughincrease,stabilityand
decline.When this happenswe mustaid natureand suplport the mostfeeble
memberandhumor,yetwhenwe do tryto aidonewe injureanother.Thisalso
happensin the mysticalbodiesof humansociety,for aftertheyareassembled
in onecivilandpoliticaluniontheygo on for a whileincreasing andmultiply-
ing; afterthattheyremainstablea whilelonger;thensincetheyarecomposed
of severaldiscordantand conflictingunderstandings and wills they beginto
declineand finallyareannihilated. Thereare in fact five agesof the mystical
as of the humanbody infancythe beginning,youththe growth,manhoodthe
apogee[estat], old age the decline,and decrepitude
the dissolution.
Andhereis Polybius':
Such is the cycle of politicalrevolution,the courseappointedby naturein
which constitutions change,disappear,and finallyreturnto the point from
whichtheystarted.Anyonewho clearlyperceivesthismayindeedin speaking
of the futureof anystatebe wrongin his estimateof the timethe processwill
take,but if his judgmentis not taintedby animosityor jealousy,he will very
seldombe mistakenas to the stateof growthor declineit has reached,and as
20 Grant MonarcAlief. 6V (f. 1V).
21 Grant Monarchief. 9V-lOr (f 4r_4V).
80 SEYSSEL, MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS VI
to the formintowhichit will change.And especially
in the caseof the Roman
statewill this methodenableus to arriveat a knowledgeof its formation,
growth,andlikewiseof the changefor the worsewhichis sureto followsome
day.For as I said,this state,morethanany other,has beenformedand has
grownnaturally,and will undergoa naturaldeclineand changeto its con-
trary.22

Justas rustin the casecefiron and wood-worms and ship-worms in the case
of timberare inbredpests,and thesesubstances, eventhoughtheyescapeall
externalinjury,falla preyto theevilsengendered
in them,so eachconstitution
hasa viceengendered in it, andinseparable
fromit.23
3. Seysselalso sharedPolybius'theoryof ie excelllence of a
mixed constitution.Now ideasof this kind did not begin with
Polybius;in oneformor anothertheyarealsoto befoundin Plato24
and Aristotle.25
But in Polybiusthe idea of a mixedstatetakesa
peculiarform.
Like Aristotlehe believesthe most permanentof practicalconstitutions ...
to consistin a mixture,but with him it is not the mixtureof oligarchyor
"aristocracy" with democracy, definedby law, as in Aristotle'sPolity; but a
mixtureof monarchy, aristocracy and democracy as foundin the Consuls,the
Senateand the Peopleof the Romanconstitution . . . The chiefimportance of
Polybius. . . lies in his theoryof the mixedconstitution as distinctfroma state
of mixed principlesonly, one in whichthe supremegovernmental authority
is compounded of severaldistinctorgans,eachset off againstthe othersby the
constitution,in whichthe cooperation of thesedifferentorgansis esseniial,and
thereforewhereone of them by withholdingit may checkand obstructthe
actionof the rest.Sucha systemof checksandbalances or separation of powers
Polybiusbelievedto be the secretof the Spartanpolityof Lycurgus,butit was
in the Romanconstitutionthat he foundits finestexemplification.26
Therewas a gooddealto preventSeysselfrommakingfull use
of thePolybiantheory.Afterallhe wascommitted to shownotonly
that Francewas the best monarchybut that monarchywas the
soundestpoliticalorder.27 Consequently evenhad he had Polybius
VI at his side whichhe surelydidnot he couldhardly havetaken
overunmodified a theorytailoredfortheglorification
of theRoman
22 Polybius VI, 9, lo-16.
23 PolySius, VI, 10, 3-4
Laws,especially Book VI. For a detailed account of the theory of mixed constitutionsin
24
the ancient world, see Kurt von Fritz, The Theoryof the MixedConstitution in slntiquity
(New York, 1954), especially pp. 76-95.
25Politics IV, 11-13, 1295a-1301a.
26 C. H. McIlwain, The Growthof PoliticalThoughtin the West(New York, 1932), pp.
100-101.
27GrantMonmrchie
f. llV (f. 5v).
 J. H. HEXTER 81
republic.Seyssel,however,in the beginningof his treatiseset out
to provethe superiorityof the Frenchmonarchyby comparingit
with theVenetianaristocracyandtheRomanrepublic. Andin deal-
ing with that republiche was considerablyless inhibitedby pre-
commitments thanhe was in the caseof France.Herein partis
whathe said:
It passedfrom the monarchyof the kings to the rule of the Decemvirsand
then to popularrule.It was long ruledand governedby the consulsand the
Senateunderthe authorityof the people.Underthis government it faredbest
andwenton continually expanding.... Forin truththisstatewasso arranged
that it sharedtraitsof all threeformsof rule. The consulshad sovereign
authorityduringtheirconsulatein severalmattersevenwhenout of the city,
and nevertheless the senatemadeup of personages esteemedthe wisestand
mostprudentof the peopleheldthe rudderof the shipin the principalcrises,
so that scarcelyanythingof prime importancecould be done withoutits
authority.The people,too, had a majorrole in the governmentin selecting
officers,decidingon peaceand war,and severalothermattersof greatimpor-
tance.... For thesereasonsthis was the bestformof government of a com-
munityand popularempireat that time or since.And experienceprovesit,
becauseunderthis regimeand government the Romanswon the greaterpart
of the world.28

Now hereis Polybius'introduction

to his treatment
of the Roman
constitution:
The threekindsof politythatI spokeof aboveall sharedin the controlof the
Romanstate.And suchfairnessandpropriety in all respectswas shownin the
use of thesethreeelementsfor drawingup the constitution and in its subse-
quentadministration that it was impossibleeven for a nativeto pronounce
with certaintywhetherthe whole system was aristocratic, democratic,or
monarchical. This was indeedonly natural,for if one fixedone'seye on the
power of the consuls,the institutionseemedmonarchical and royal;if on
thatof the Senateit seemedagainto be aristocratic, and whenone lookedat
the powerof the massesit seemedclearlyto be a democracy.... Whenone
part havinggrownout of plroportion to the othersaims at supremacyand
tendsto becometoo predominant, it is evidentthat,as for the reasongiven
abovenoneof the threeis absolute,butthe purposeof the one canbe counter-
worked,andthwartedby the others,noneof themwill excessively outgrowthe
othersor treatthemwith contempt.... Any aggressiveimpulseis sureto be
checkedand fromthe outseteach estatestandsin dreadof beinginterfered
with by the others.29
28 Grant Monarchie f. 7r_7v(f. 1r-2V).
29 PolybiusVI, 1l, 1l-12, VI, 18, 5-8.
 VI
MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS
SEYSSEL,
82 the
Despite the he
necessity was underof demonstrating modi-
4. to makeroomfora
of kingship,Seysselmanaged
superiority of twophasesof
of checksand in his treatment
balances
theory
fied
monarchical regime.The firstwashis mostfamousdoc-
French
the of Francewas a tempered
the doctrinethatthe government
trine: He writes:
monarchy by threebridles.30
restrained of
resultfromthe imperfections
whichmay
. . respectto the disorders to checktheirabsoluteauthorityif they
.with
thereare severalremedies custodyof
monarchs
and more stillto checkthosewhomayhavethe
wild
are and wilful,
is entirely incapacitated by youthor otherwise.Yet
if the monarch nor
realm
the
and authority remains alwaysentire,not totallyabsoluteand
royal
the dignity goodlaws, ordinances
toomuchrestrained
yet butregulatedandbridledby be brokenor reduced
they can scarcely
customsestablished in sucha way that infractionandviolence
placessome
nothing,
to eventhoughin sometimesand the absolutepower of the king
And as to these bridles by which Srstis reli-
done
is them. arethreemainones. The
ofFrance is regulatedI deemthatthere
the secondjustice,the third
police.3l
gion,
found another applicationfor the theoryof checksand
Seyssel therapeuticinterrelation-
balancesin his analysisof the politically
monarchy. The estateshe dealt
of the three estatesof theFrench
ship
werenot the clergy,nobility, andthirdestateof thetraditional
France
with
He separated off the clergyand dividedlaylesseror
classification. well-todoestate,and the
intothe nobility,the middleor as he pointsout,has a nearmo-
poorerfolk.The well-to-doestate, higherofficesof thejudiciary,
nopoly in fact,if not of right,of the in militaryoHice.32 Hereis
whilethe nobilityenjoys preeminence of
respectivesocio-politicalpositionscontrolthe rapport
howtheir to Seyssel:
thethreeestatesaccording are easierherethan
into disorderthe remedies
.. . if one of the estatesfalls of the nobilitywhichhasarmsseeksto outrage
anywhere else.For if the estate judicialpowerpreventsit and
or in particular,
oneof the othertwo in general powerhas authorityby consentof the king
chastises the nobility.This judicial put its forceagainstthe rebels,so that
to
whodoesnot refuse,whenproper, prince or
to obeyit.
other,who is not constrained to rebel,
there is none so great, be he wishes
whichis the largestin number, judicialpower
Likewiseif the popularestate, the
nobilityis so strongalongwith
asit has doneformerly,the featsof armsthattheycan be easilybroughtto
andthosepeopleso feeblein eachestatekeepswithinits limits becauseit is
andrestoredto theirduty.Thus it hasreasonto be content,and
becauseit recog-
dealtwith in sucha waythat
(f 7V-8V).
3V Grant Monarchief. 13V-14V
8r-8V).
31 Grant Monarchief. 14V(f. (f. 12r-13V).
32 GrantMonarchief. 18V-20r
 J. H. HEXTER 83
nizesthat if it wishedto exceedits boundsit couldnot well do so andwould
placeitselfin too greatjeopardy.In thisway the estatesonly thinkto live in
good police, in concordone with another,and especiallyin obedienceto the
king whomfor this reasonall subjectshold in singularlove and reverence.33
Considering the actualdifferences
in the politicaland socialstruc-
turesunderinvestigationthisaccountof Seyssel'sof relationswithin
the Frenchmonarchy bearsmarkedsimilarities to Polybius'descrip-
tion of the way Lycurgusorganizedthe Spartanstate.Foreseeing
the evilsthatfollowwhena stateis established according to anyof
the simplepatternsof rulef the one, the few, or the many-
Lycurgus
did not makehis constitutionsimpleanduniform,butunitedin it all the good
anddistinctivefeaturesof the bestgovernments,so thatnoneof the principles
shouldgrowundulyandbe pervertedinto its alliedevil, butthat,the forceof
eachbeingneutralized by thatof theothers,neitherof themshouldprevailand
outbalance another,butthattheconstitution
shouldremainforlongin a stateof
equilibriumlike a well-trimmed boat,kingshipbeingguardedfromarrogance
by the fearof the commons,who weregivena sufficientsharein the govern-
ment,and the commonson the otherhand not venturingto treatthe kings
withcontemptfromfearof theelders,whobeingselectedfromthebestcitizens
wouldbe sureall of themto be alwayson the sideof justice;so thatthatpart
of the statewhichwasweakestowingto its subservience to traditional
custom,
acquiredpowerand weightby the suppdort and influenceof the elders.The
consequence was thatby drawingup his constitution thushe preserved liberty
at Spartafor a longerperiodthanis recordedelsewhere.34
So it seemslikelythat within a few yearsof the time when
Machiavelli was using PolybiusVIin the Discorsi,ClaudeSeyssel
was usingit in Ls GrantMonarchie. And thatmakesthe puzzle
of PolybiusVI puzzlingerandpuzzlinger,sinceit rendersit likely
thatthefirsttwomenof theoccidentto drawextensively on Polybius
VIn available
at thetimeneitherin printnor,asfaraspresentknowl-
edgegoes,in Latinor vernacular manuscript translation,
weremen
whoknewno Greek.
Fromthe factthat,exceptfor PolybiusVIn Machiavelli
usedonly
suchGreekwritingsaswereavailable in Latintranslation
we inferred
thatMachiavelli knewno Greek.Paradoxically, fromthe factthat
(:laudeSeysselwasthe firstmanto translate severalGreekworks-
Xenophon'sSnabasis35and the historiesof DiodorusSiculus,36
33 Grant Monarchie f. 22r-22V(f. 15V).
VI, 10, 6-11.
34P-t)lybiUS
35BibliothequeNationale,fonds fransais,MS. 701 (presentationcopy to CharlesII of
Savoy),MS.702 (presentationcopyto LouisXII of France).
36BibliothequeNationale,fonds fransais,MS. 712.
84 SEYSSEL, MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS VI

Appian,3andThucydides38-into Frenchwe inferthatSeysselknew

no Greek.Seysseltranslated noneof theseGreekworksfromtheir
originaltongue,nor did he relyon olderLatintranslations,when
therewereany.Insteadhe hada Greekscholartranslatefromthe
originalinto Latinor revisethe availableLatintranslation.
Then
Seysseltranslated the Latin translation
into French.Seyssel'scol-
laboratorwas alwaysthe sameGreekscholar.His namewas Janus
Lascaris.The accountthat Seysselgivesof his methodof working
withLascaris on theSnabasismaystandforall hisaccounts of their
collaboration,
for thestoriesaremuchalike.
Havinglong understood thatamongseveraltreatisesthathe producedXeno-
phonof Athelnshad writtena historyof the journeythatCyrus,son of King
Dariusof Persia,made . . . in the said landof PersiaagainstArtaxerxes his
brother. . . I oftentriedto find thisjourneyin writing;but I was neverable
to find it untilthe monthof Marchlastwhen,youSire,beingin yourtownof
BloisafteryourreturnfromLyons,I wentby yourcommandto seeyourvery
magnificent andextraordinarylibrary,andwithme wasmasterJanusLascaris,
a manexcellingin bothGreekandLatinliterature, yourpresentambassador to
Venice,a nativeof thecityof Constantinople,of veryancientandnoblelineage.
While he was seekingsomeworkswrittenin Greecehis handsfell uponthis
history. . . andconsideringit wellworthbeingknownandunderstood byyour
majesty. . . I beggedthe saidLascaristo translateandexplainthathistoryin
Latinfor me so thatI couldtranslateit fromLatinintoFrench,whichhe did
verygladlyas one who with all his heartdesiresto do the thingagreeableto
you.39

We saidthatthestorythatwentwithourattemptto unwindthe
puzzleof PolybiusVI wasthe storyof an Italiananda Savoyard and
twoGreeks.Lascaris is thesecondGreek.He is alsothekeycharacter
in the story.No doubtJanusLascaris did "withall his heartdesire
to do the thingagreeable"to LouisXII.In a longandvariedlife he
notonlydesiredwithall hisheartto do agreeable thingsfora sizable
numberof the greatof Europe;he appearsto haveachievedhis
heart'sdesire.40
He specializedin Mediciand Valois,enjoyingat
Bibliotheque
37 Nationale,fondsfransais,MS. 713.
38Bibliotheque Nationale,fondsfransais,MS 17211.
39BibliothequeNationale,fonds fransais,MS. 702, S. 13, 22-23. See also MS. 712,
proheme;MS.713, f. Qv;MS. 17211,ff. 5_5V.
40Information on the careerof JanusLascarisin the followingworks:JohnE. Sandys,
A! History of Classical Scholarship (Cambridge,1908), II, 78-9; L. Delaruelle,"LaCarriere
de JanusLascarisdepuis 1494", Revue du Seizieme Siecle XIII (1926), 95-111; t:mile
Legrand,Bibliographie Helle'nique . . . XVe er XVIe Siecles (Paris, 1885), I, cXxXi-clXii, II,
322-336; Pierrede Nolhac,"Inventoire des ManuscritsGrecsde JeanLascaris",Melanges d'
ArcheoZogieet d!'HistoireVI (1886), 251-74; BorjeKnlos,Un Ambassadeurde l'Hellenisme-
Janus Lascaris (Upsala,1945).
 J. H. HEXTER 85
varioustimes the confidenceof Lorenzo,Piero, and Giovanni
de'Mediciandof Charles VIII,LouisXII,andFrancisI.
JanusLascaris wasbornperhapsin Rhyndacus in AsiaMinorin
1445,eightyearsbeforethe TurkstookConstantinople. He claimed
descentfroma line of Byzantineemperors.He fledto Italyfrom
conqueredByzantiumin his earlymanhood.In Italyhe won the
assistance of thateveFpresent helpto his exiledfellow-countrymen,
Cardinal Bessarion. The cardinalsentLascaris, alreadyapparentlya
promising scholar,to Paduato learnLatin,andthe youngmanwas
stilltherewhenhis greatfrienddiedin 1472.Deprivedby deathof
the patronageof the mosteminentGreekin Italy,Lascaris, who
appearsto havebeenparticularly good at this sortof thing,very
shortlyacquiredthe patronageof the successor to Bessarion's
pre-
eminence,Chalcondylas. At any rate it has been suggestedthat
Chalcondylas' influenceopenedLascaris' way to a better-than-aver-
age good fortunefor a scholarby bringinghim to Florenceand
introducing him to Lorenzode' Medici.Lascariswasnot the kind
to be languidin thepursuitof theopportunity opento him.He was
soonlecturingin Florenceto largeand enthusiastic crowds,and a
little laterhe succeededin persuading Lorenzoto makehim his
agentfor a manuscript hunt in the east.The arrangement was
mutuallyprofitable. It gotLorenzoa bigbatchof Greekmanuscripts
andit got JanusLascaris whathe mayhavebeenaimingat,thereali-
zationof a classical scholar'sdream,thejobof librarian to theMedici
collection.Stillin thatcapacity,he madeanothermanuscript-business
tripto the Orientin 1491,andwhenhe got backLorenzowasdead.
ButLascaris kepthis jobandwon the favorof Lorenzo'ssuccessor
Piero.The Frenchinvasionof Italyin 1494andthe subsequent fall
of the Medicimay have somewhatdiminishedthe attractions of
Florencefor Janus,who throughout a longlife wasblessedwithan
infallibleunderstanding of whichside his breadwas butteredon.
At anyrateamongthe treasures of the efflorescence
of Renaissance
culturein Italythat the Frenchbroughtbackwith themto their
homeland wasJanusLascaris. Thefineintuitionthathadservedhim
so well in Italywasnot adversely aHected bythemountaincrossing,
and in a shortwhileLascaris hadhis wagonfirmlyhitchedto the
ascendentstarof the Cardinald'Amboise,who for morethan a
decadewasto relievehismasterLouisXIIof mostof theobnoxious
responsibilitiesandchoreswhichrulingthelargestcountryin Europe
inevitably entailed.Theonlydisagreeable eflFect
of thetransformation
of the Greekfrom an Italianinto a Frenchmanwas a crudeand
86 MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS VI
SEYSSEL,

Florentinechargethat he had madeaway with "alcuni

tasteless
uolumiin grecospecialmente" from the Laurentian library.The
wounds that the churlishaccusation of the Florentinesmayhave
on Lascaris'
inflicted spiritwere,perhaps,madeless agonizingby
hisappointment firston a specialmissionto Milanand then in
1503as residentambassador fromFranceto the Venetianrepublic.
Heremainedat that post until 1509when,bound togetherby a
leagueanda commongreedfor Venetian territory, mostof
solemn of the lagoons. The
western Europewentto waragainsttherepublic little infor-
nextfouryearsof Lascaris' careerareobscure. We have
mation about him except that he seemsto havebeenat Milanagain
Thisperiod
in1510andat Romein 1511,stillin the Frenchservice. that darkened
ismarkedby the only cloud-rathera fainthaze hero.He seemsto
theotherwiseverysunnycareerof our learned for he wroteto
havefallenundersomeshadowwith LouisXII,
Guillaume Budefor assistance to restorehim to the warmnourish-
ingsunlightof royalfavor. backin
By 1513the threatening cloudhadpassedaway.Lascaris,
he was sent
theFrenchking'sgoodgraces,was at Casale,whence Rome washe
toRometo negotiatewith the new pope,Leo X. In a familythat
indeedbien uenu.The popewas a Medici,headofThe Byzantine
Lascaris wasalreadywellaccustomed to dealingwith.
wasnot manymonths in Rome beforeLeo decided to found
scholar Lascaris ashead.
acollegefor youngGreekrefugees with,naturally,
canard about Lascaris' informal assump-
Thiseithersetsat restthe the Laurentian
tion of custodyoverseveral Greek manuscripts of
collectionor indicatesthat Lorenzo'sson was not afflictedwith a
nigglingconcernto accountfor everyitemoncein his father'spos-
unwel-
session.In anycasea changein milieumaynot havecome although no
cometo Lascarissincein 1513the fortunes of France,
year, were stillnot riding
longerso deeplymiredasin thepreceding he hadbecomeaccus-
in thehigh,wide,andhandsome wayto which
tomed.Now for a few momentswe leavethe outerLascarishigh
humanist and Hellenist Medicipope
in the favorof thepassionately other moreprac-
andturnto theinnerman,whose erudition,among
wasresponsible for an unusually happy career.
ticalcapacities,
Thateruditionwasgenuineandextensive, andit wascombined
worked hardand successfully to propa-
withsolidindustry.Lascaris in the west.He
gatethe knowledgeof Greekand of Greek authors
that afflicted a good
did not sharethe contemptfor the vernacular he couldtoward
manyhumanists andwaswillingto lendwhat help
 J. H. HEXTER 87
translatingthegreat(andnot so great)worksof Greekwritersinto
languagesthatordinarymen habituallyread.He himselfediteda
numberof Greekworks.He broughtout editionsof the hymnsof
Callimachus, of fourplaysby Euripides, of the GreekAnthology.
He also translated Greekworksinto Latin,especiallyGreekhis-
tories.He renderedthis servicefor Xenophon's Anabasis, for Thu-
cydides,for Appian,for DiodorusSiculus.Thesetranslations were
not,as far as is known,everpublished;as we haveseen,theypro-
videdthe basisfor Seyssel'sFrenchversionsof theseworks.Only
one fragmentof Lascaris' workas a translator of Greekhistorians
into Latinwas everpublished.In 1529,it is saidwithouthis per-
mission,someone printedthe De militia The text
romanorum.4l

andthe translation weretheworkof Lascaris. The originalwasthe

workof Polybius.Of Lascaris' interestin Polybiusthereis further
evidence a manuscript of Polybius'historyonceownedby Lascaris
and annotatedby him.42Now Lascarisdied a few yearsafterthe
publication of the De militiaromanorum; but it is mostdoubtful
thathe tookto annotating Polybiusandeditingandtranslating a bit
of the historyas a workof penancein extremis.It is rathermore
likelythatthe Byzantine erudite,deeplyreadin thewholeliterature
of ancientGreece,hadearlyfoundin thatotherGreekwhom,at an
intervalof 1600years,he hadfollowedintoexilein Italya congenial
companion. At leasttheyhadin commona solidcapacityformak-
ing goodfarfromhome.Ite significant factsforthemysteryof the
missingtranslation arethatLascaris'copyof Polybiusincludedwhat
survivesof BookVI, andthatthe De militiaromanorum is precisely
themilitarysectionof thatbook.43
Now if Lascaris' interestin Polybiuswas of earlydate,we can
understand why one of the firstmen in the westto usePolybiusVI
was a Savoyard who knewno Greek,ClaudeSeyssel.Afterall, for
severalyearsSeysselworkedcloselyon the translationof Greek
historianswith a Greekwho owneda copyof Polybiuscontaining
BookVI, a Greekwhoseeditionandtranslation of partof thatbook,
publishedlater,was preparedhow muchbeforepublicationit is
impossibleto say.Undersuchcircumstances theoccasions andoppor-
41 De Militia Romanorum et CastrorumMetatione Liber . . . a ZanoIxscare in Latinam
(Venice,1529).
Linguam translatcSts
42 Catalogus Codicum ManuscripforumBibliothecae Regiae (Paris, 1739-1744), II, 382.
Under item 1648: "Polybiihistoriarumlibri quinque In marginibusbrevesannotationes
rerumet vocumpraecipuarum, notarumillarum,ni fallor,auctorJanusLascaris."
The 7nven-
taire Sommaire des ManuscritsGrecs (Paris,1888-1898),underthe sameitem 1648,indicates
thatthe MS.containsPolybiusVI.
43 It corresponds
to PolybiusVI, 19-42.
88 SEYSSEL, MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS VI

tunitiesfor Seysselto becomefamiliarwith PolybiusVI wereinnu-

merable. Thathe didbecomefamiliarwithit, certainpassages of his
GrantMonarchie haveledus to suspect.
By now the interlinkingof our Italian,our Savoyard, and our
two Greekshas becomequiteintricate.We haveSeyssellinkedto
Polybius, we haveSeyssellinkedto Lascaris, we haveLascaris linked
to Polybius,and finallywe haveMachiavelli linkedto Polybius-
PolybiusVI, thatis. Twofurtherlinks Seyssel-Machiavelli, Machia-
velli-Lascariswouldestablisha completeround-robin. But though
in Romein 1514theremay havebeena very£eebleindirectlink
betweenSeysseland Machiavelli throughFrancescoVettori,that
possibility doesnot bearon the puzzleof PolybiusVI. On theother
hand,a link betweenLascarisand Machiavelli mightverymuch
bearon the puzzle.For our examination of the linkagesamong
Seyssel,Lascaris,and Polybiussuggestedthat the intermediary
betweenthe untranslated work of the ancientGreek and the
Savoyard, who knewLatinbutno Greek,wasthe ByzantineGreek
who knew all four:Greekand Latin,the ancientauthor,and the
livingSavoyard. A linkbetweenLascaris andourItalianwho knew
no Greekmightsuggesta similarintermediation as a plausiblesolu-
tionto thepuzzleof PolybiusVI. Is thereanylink betweenLascaris
and Machiavelli? I thinkthereis, but to find it we shallhaveto
follow the careerof Lascansa little beyondthe pointwherewe
droppedit.
From1513to 1518,Lascaris wasin Italy,mainlyin Rome,work-
ing on the organization of the papalinstituteof Hellenicstudies
and takingchargeof someof the editorialworkperformed by the
new institute.As alwayshe hadotherironsin the fire.He servedas
head of a specialmissionfrom PopeLeo to FrancisI, when the
latter'svictoryat Marignano suggestedthata rapprochement with
Francemight at the momentbestaccordwith papaland Medici
interestsin Italy.As he hadbeendoingeversincehisfirstcomingto
Italy,he pressedat everyopportunity the causeof an anti-Turk
crusadefor theemancipation of Greece.Nineteenth-century philhel-
leneswerenot the firstto discoverthatthe Greekcausemightbe
bothhonorable andprofitable to itspromoters.FinallyLascaris was
brieflyconcernedwith a projectfor establishing in Florencean
instituteliketheonehehadsetupat Rome.
Now to whatplacein Florencewouldan eminentGreekscholar
underpapalpatronage go between1513and 1518wherehe might
meetNiccoloMachiavelli? Wherein generalwashe likelyto go in
 J. H. HEXTER 89
Florence?Well,one of the firstplaceshe waslikelyto go wasthe
Rucellaigardens,the OrtiOricellari. In the firstplacethe ownerof
the gardens,a most hospitablehost, was the pope'sclose cousin
CosimoRucellai.44 It was in fact a placewherethe popehimself
wentwhenhe cameto Florencein 1515.And,in the secondplace,
in the OrtiOricellari
mettheFlorentine intellectuals
mostinterested
in classical
studies.
In thatcoterieByzantinescholars,minesof knowledgeof Hel-
lenichistoryandliterature, founda readyaudience.UnderCosimo
Rucellaithe gatherings in his gardenscameas nearas anythingin
theirdayto carryingon the traditionof concernto understand Hel-
lenicculturethathad earlierflourished in the FlorentineAcademy
in the daysof Lorenzode' Medici.Indeedthe link betweenthe
academyandthe Ortiwasnotonlya linkof the spirit.Theleading
light of the academyhad beenMarsilioFicino.His pupilandsuc-
cessoras the leaderof FlorentinePlatonismwas Francescoda
Diacceto,and Diacettowashimselfan habitueof the Rucellaigar-
dens.LuigiAlamanni,Giangiorgio Trissino,andGiovanniRucellai,
threepoetsand scholarsmostconcerned to bringclassicaltradition
to bearon Italianliterature,weremembersof the Rucellaigroup.
Trissino,the eminentVenetianhumanist,joinedthe Rucellaicircle
wheneverhis travelstookhim throughFlorence.Alamanniwasat
theveryheartof the coterie,andGiovanniRucellai,oneof ie first
two Italiansto writea tragedyin the Greekmode(the otherwas
Trissino),wasCosimo's uncle.Thesemenwith othersof thegroup
madea seriesof experiments in the adaptation of the literaryforms
of Greekpoetry-the tragedy,the epic, the didacticpoem, the
eclogue,the elegy,the satire,the ode,the epigram to the modern
tongueof Italy.Deeplyto studythe ancients,boththe Romansand
the Greeks,to understand theirlanguage,theirthought,theirway
of life, andto applythe learningso acquiredto theirown writing
andliving,thiswasthe veryreasonfor beingof theRucellaicircle.
GrantedthattheOrtiOricellari wasthenatural placeforLascaris
to go whenr ifLhe wentto Florenceduringhis timeof service
with LeoX, did he in factgo there?Is thereanyevidenceto con-
nectLascaris withtheRucellaicircle? withtheOrtiOricellari ? The
answeron bothcountsis yes. In 1521he was writingto Cosimo
44For discussionof the Rucellaicirclefrom which the followingaccountis drawnsee
Henri Hauvette,Un Exile Florentin: . . . Lulgi Alamanni (Paris,1903), pp. 3-21; Luigi
Passerini,Degli Orti Oricellmri(Florence,1854); Felix Gilbert,"Bernardo Rucellaiand the
OrtiOricellari. . .", Zournalof the Warburgand CourtauldInstitutes XII (1949), 101-131;
FelixGilbert,"Structure and Composition", pp. 150-2.
 SEYSSEL, MACHIAVELLI, AND
POLYBIUS VI
9o
Rucellai's uncleGiovanniin termsandon
matters
close friendship.45 When Cosimodied in 1519, thatindicateda
poem to lamenthis premature Iascariswrotea
Venetianerudite,and a frequenter taking-off.46 AntonioBrucioli,a
Florence,wrotea numberof of the OrtiOricellari whenin
dialogues,
settingthe Rucellaigardens.In the one of whichhas for its
saysto Giangiorgio courseof thatdialogueCosimo
Trissino:
"If I remember correctly,
you,Messer
of thewaytoeducate Giangiorgio, wanted to starttreating
childrenwithMesser Lascari.
Then, asyou
interrupted byanother
matter, know,being
youdidnotfollowoutthediscussion
usdesirous tohearwhatyouthinkabout andleft
it. 47
Soit wouldappearthat
OrtiOricellari. Lascaristookpartin the gatherings in the
If Lascarishad ties with the
haveany?Of thisthereis no Rucellaigardens,did Machiavelli
Artedella Guerrain the shadowof doubt.Machiavelli setthe
closest Rucellai gardens;48 and he was on
intimacywith the Rucellaicircle.He terms of
more importantworks,indeedall of his dedicated three of his
except II Principe}to men who importantpoliticalworks
customarily
The Vita di CastrxccioCastraaanigatheredin the Orti
Oricellari.
Alamanni and ZanobiBuondelmonti,49 he dedicatedto Luigi
Lorenzo di FilippoStrozzi,50 the Arte della Ggerrato
diTito Irio to andthe Discorsisoprala Prima
Buondelmonti and CosimoRucellaihimself.5l Deaa
yondthematterof its dedication, Be-
the no unconsidered trifleafterall,can
Discorsithemselves beconnected
circle?Onewritermakesthat anymorecloselyto theRucellai
Filippo connection
de Nerli,a historianof his closeand explicit.He is
his
youtha memberof thatcircle.He native Florenceandhimselfin
writes:
Acertain
schoolof high-mindedyoung
gardens
of the Rucellaiduringthe literatigatheredquite often in
the
andwho had givenpromiseof life of CosimoRucellaiwho died very
young
greatliterary
continually
frequentedtheircompany,andI wasontalent.NiccoloMachiavelli
with
Niccoleandwithall of them,and termsof closestfriendship
trained
themselves conversedwith themmanytimes.They
by readingthe teachingsof
history;andin connectionwith
Nolhac,p. 267.
45
JanusLascaris,lVe
46
Romanorum Militia et Castrorum
caris
Exgrammat er Graeca er Metatione . . . ejusdem A. /. Las-
AntonioBruciali,Dialogi .Latina
47
. .
(Basel,1537).
della
Mazzoniand Casella,pp.
48 lRforale
Phllosophia (Venice, 1544),
266S268a. I8r-I8V.
Mazzoniand Casella,p. 747.
49
Proemio:Mazzoniand Casella,p.
50
Preface:Mazzoni
51 265.
and Casella,p. 55; WalkerI,
201.
 J. H. HEXTER 91

this and at their insistenceMachiavellicomposedhis book of discourseson

Titus Livy, and also the book in which he treatsof and reasonsaboutthe
armedforce.52
Andso we havefoundthelastlinkwe havebeenseeking a pos-
sible link betweenMachiavelliand Lascaris.With it our second
triangleamongPolybius,Machiavelli, and Lascarishas got all its
sidesfilledin. Forthe actualityof this secondtrianglethe firsttri-
angle Polybius, Seyssel, Lascarisprovidesonlya confirmatory sub-
stantiation. Or perhapswe mightbettersay thatthe possibilityof
bothtrianglesmutuallyenhancesthe probability of each.As to the
specificcharacter of thelinkbetweenMachiavelli andLascaris which
runsthroughtheOrtiOricellari, untilandunlessfurtherevidenceis
forthcoming, thatmustbe left to conjecture. Perhapstheymetface
to faceamidthe Rucellaigroup,andLascaris, notingthosecurious
traitswhichhaveled one presentday-writer to callMachiavelli the
Polybiusof his day,53broughtPolybiusVI to the attentionof the
ex-secretary of the Florentinerepublic,evengavehim a copyor a
translation of that writing.Or perhapsthe connectionof the two
menwasindirect;perhapsa commonfriendheardMachiavelli dis-
courseon Livyin theRucellaigardensandknewof Lascaris' interest
in that other eulogistof Rome,Polybius.Perhapsthis common
friend severalof the Rucellaigroupcouldqualifyfor the role!
procured fromLascaris a translationof PolybiusVI to lendor to give
to Machiavelli. Howeverthe connectionwas formed,the probable
persuasion thatit did formconstitutes whatwe haveto offerin the
wayof a solutionto theMysteryof theMissingTranslation.
CouldMachiavelli havemet Lascaris at someothertimeandin
someotherplace? No doubthe couldhave.Ourinformation on the
whereabouts of Lascaris from1510to the dateof his entryinto the
papalservicein 1513is scanty.54 It is not impossible thathe was in
Florenceat onetimeor anotherduringthoseyears,andif he wasin
Florencehe could havemetMachiavelli, andif he metMachiavelli
he mighzhavemadeavailableto him a translation of PolybiusVI.
Thereis no evidencedirector indirect,however,thatLlascaris did
makethe translation available
to Machiavelli before1513,or thathe
met him,or thathe was in Florencebetween1510and 1513.Such
52 Filippo de' Nerli, Commentari de' Farti Civili occorsi dentro la Citts di Fircnzc
(Augusta, 1728), p. 138. Two other contemporarywitnesses oder evidence of Machiavelli's
close connection with the Rucellai group; Jacopo Nardi, Istorie della CitX di Firenze (Lyons,
1582), p. 177, and Varchi, Lezioni (Florence, 1590), p. 647.
53 Giuseppi Prezzolini, Machiavelli Anticristo (Rome, 1954), p. 138.
54 Knos, pp. 134-139
92 SEYSSEL, MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS VI

evidenceas we haveaboutthe resumption of Lascaris'sconnection

withFlorencehasto do in partwithLeoX'sprojectfora Florentine
schoolof Hellenicstudies,andthereforemustpostdatethe employ-
mentof Lascaris byLeoin 1513.In parttheevidencehasto do with
theperiodin thehistoryof theOrtiOricellari duringwhichCosimo
Rucellaipresidedoverits activities. Now thereappearto havebeen
two phasesin the historyof the Rucellaigardens.A groupof dis-
tinguishedmen, includingMachiavelli's friendFrancescoVettori,
mettherein the firstyearsof the sixteenthcentury.Thisgathering
brokeup when Bernardo Rucellai,the host at the OrtiOricellari,
left Florencearound1506.Bernardo returnedaboutsix yearslater
and diedin 1514;but the old circleof friendsthatoncemetin his
gardenwasscattered, andsomeweredead,andthereis no reasonto
thinkthatin the lastyearsof his life he reestablished the outdoor
salonin the OrtiOricellari.55In the nextphaseof the gardens'his-
tory,CosimoRucellai,Bernardo's grandson,is its presidinggenius.
It is duringthisphasethatLlascaris seemsto haveputin his appear-
ance.In Brucioli'sdialogue,whichmostspecifically bringsLascaris
into the orbitof the gardens,Cosimois hostat the gathering.The
mostlikelytimeforCosimoto havegathered hisownintimatecircle
abouthim in the OrtiOricellari is sometimeafterhe inheritedthe
propertyfrom his grandfather Bernardo.Giventhe date of Ber-
nardo'sdeath,thatwouldbe somewhere around1515.
If we provisionallyacceptthe evidencethat associates Lascaris
with the gatheringsin the Rucellaigardensafter1514,we findthat
it fitswellwithwhatwe candiscoveraboutthetimeof Machiavelli's
entranceinto the Rucellaigroup.The earliestexplicitevidencewe
haveof anyintimacybetweenMachiavelli andthe Rucellaians is in
a letterhe wroteto LuigiAlamanniin December1517.56 Alamanni
was,as we haveseen,oneof theyoungluminaries of thegroupthat
Cosimohad gatheredin the OrtiOricellari.57 In the letterto Ala-
manniforthefirsttimein Machiavelli's correspondence othermem-
bersof the Rucellaicircleappear BattistadellaPalla,Filippode'
Nerli,ZanobiBuondelmonti, and CosimoRucellaihimself.The fa-
miliartonethatMachiavelli takesin theletterindicatesthatforsome
littlewhilehe hadbeenon termsof intimatefriendship withthemen
55 On the phasesof the historyof the OrtiOricellari,
see F. Gilbert,"Bernardo
Rucellai"
pp. 110-118. I have not seen any evidenceto show that betweenthe time of his returnto
Florenceand his death Bernardorevivedthe use of the gardensas a meetingplace for a
literary circle.
NiccoloMachiavelli,
56 99rac, with prefaceby GiovanniPapini(Lanciano,1915), letter
166 to LuigiAlamanni,17 December1517.
57 Above,p. 89.
 J. H. HEXTER
he speaksof.Unfortunately 93
theexiguousremains of Machiavelli's
respondence for 1515-1516giveno clue cor-
hadbegunin thoseyears.58 whetherhisnewassociatiofns
In
the earliestlikelydatefor the the latemonthsof 1514at anyrate-
historyof the Rucellai beginningof the secondphaseof the
circle-Machiavelli
fullyimmersedin an autumnal seemsto havebeentoo
autumnal forhim,sinceshewasyoung loveaHairin the
andhe growing country-doubly
becomedeeplyinvolvedwith a old tohave
town. circleof intellectualyoungmen
in
So the earliestprobable datefor the contactof
Lascaris-and thereforeof Machiavelli's Machiavelli with
Polybius VI through accessto a translation of
the mostlikelychannelof such
andthe eventmayhave access is 1515,
that.If Machiavelli happenedas muchas two yearslater
andLascariscametogether than
notbefore,it will help us as lateas 1515,and
ThePrince. explaina verypuzzlingomission
from
In December1513,to his
account friendVettori,Machiavelli
of how he passedthe long wrotean
hills.
Aftera dayspentin trivialities hoursof his exilein theTuscan
having he retiredto his study.There,
changedfromthe muddyclothing
courtly
garments, he conversed of his countrywalksto
with men of
into
thereasons of theiractions;andthey oldentimesandinquired
doingsto him.Thathe mighthold revealed thespringsof their
down what he had learnedthrough his knowledge surely,he wrote
wrotebecamea littlebook,The his questioning, and whathe
munication withthegreatmenof antiquity Now Machiavelli's
Prince.60
com-
spiritualist
evocation of theirectoplasmic wascarriedon,notby a
deedsandwordsin thebooksthat presence,
their butbyreadingof
them. historians had
Amongthe historians
lains who broughtancient writtenabout
intoMachiavelli's studyto discourse heroes-andvil-
course,
and Plutarchand Xenophon with him wereLivy,of
Among themalsowasPolybius;for of and Herodianand Justin.
thereis no ancientsourceexceptoneof the examplesin The
Prince
the sixthbookof Polybius Polybius.61
fully Now howpower-
from
theheavydraftshe madeon it fascinated Machiavelli is
bothin the Discorsiandevident
in the
58Lettere,letters159-163.
59Machiavelli wrote
lettersindicatethatVettori
The about his
his adairwith thelate-blooming passion(Lettere, letters150,
indulgence
in the more rarefieddelight young womandulled 159).
Chabod, of intellectual Machiavelli's appetitefor
"Sulla(Composizione de 'Il athletics.On this point see
(1927),
Xl 348. Principe'di NiccoloMachiavelli", Federice
6° Archirum Romanicum
Iwttere, letter138 to Francesco
61
See above,note 4. Vettori,10 December1513.
 SEYSSEL, MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS VI
94
Arte della Guerra.62In The Prince thereare
whereobservations half-a-dozen places
drawnfrom BookVI wouldhavebeennatural
andapposite. Yetnot a singlereference, not a single
The Princehasits modelor its sourcein Polybius observation, in
wroteThe PrinceMachiavelli vI.63If when he
hadPolybiushandy seemsoddin-
deedthathe madeno use at all of thatpartof theitwork
Polybiusmost clearlyshowshimselfas Machiavelli's in which
ego, the partthat Machiavelli ancient alter
himselfwas most fond of.64If the
reconstructionthat is the subjectof this paperis correct,however,
thereis nothingto wonderat. In The PrinceMachiavelli
LouisXII as living,65 speaksof
andthatprincediedon the firstdayof 1515.
He hadfinishedThe Prince,therefore, before king died,prob-
ably severalmonthsbefore,possiblynearlya the yearbefore.66
Machiavelligothislineof accessto Polybius So if
VI fromLascaris through
the OrtiOricellari,
he did not and couldnot haveusedPolybiusVI
whenhe wroteThe Prince,becauseat thattimetheline of accesswas
notyetopento him.
If ourhypothesis enablesus to makeintelligiblea minorpeculi-
arityof The Prince,it is at a considerablecost,for thathypothesis
deepensand darkensthe importantandalreadyvery darkmystery
62L. A. (sic) Burd,"LeFontiLetterarie di Machiavelli
miaNazionde dei Lincei,Classedi nell' 'ArtedellaGuerra'", Accade-
ScienzeMorali,Storiche,e Filologiche,altti,series 5, IV
(1896), 187-261, for Machiavelli's use of
Polybiusin the Discorsi,Walker,I, 61-63; II,Polybius in the Jrte della Guetrs.For his use of
289-291.
63 In his elaborately annotatededitionof 11
mayhave used PolybiusVI, 47, in Chapter12Princzpe, A. L. BurdsuggeststhatMachiavelli
of The Prince.I offertranslations
columnsof the passagesin question. in parallel
Polybius:
In my opinion there are two fundamental Machiavelli:
The principal foundation tha all states,
thingsin everystareby virtueof which its whether
principle and constitutionis eitherdesirable laws andnew or old or mixed,havearegood
good arms.Therecannor,however,
or the reverse.I mean customsand laws. be good laws wherethereare norgood
Whatis desirablein these makes men's and arms,
private lives righteousand well-ordered, wheretherearegood armstherewzllbe
thegeneralcharacterof the stategentleand and good laws.
just,while what is to be avoidedhas the
opposite effect.
Ithardlyneedssayingthat thereis no relation
authors in the passagescited.Machiavelli's whatsoeverbetweenthe thoughtof the two
concern
men's privatelives and the gentlenessand justiceofwith the righteousness and good orderof
the stateis not conspicuous.
andgoodarms"are good simplyinsofaras theyenable "Goodlaws
power. In context"good"has no ethicalimplicationat all. the princeto keephis gripon political
64In the Discorsithereare aboutas manyreferences
thereareto the firstfive booksof Polybiustakentogether to the fragmentof PolybiusVI as
6511 Principe, Chapter16; Mazzoniand Casella,p. 31b. (Walker,II, 290).
66The most elaborateattemptto determine more
finished workingon The Princeis that of Chabod,pp.exactly the date at which Machiavelli
330-383. The attemptis not wholly
successful.For a criticismof it, see Felix Gilbert,"TheHumanist
'ThePrince'of Machiavelli", Conceptof the Princeand
Joarnalof ModernHistory,Xl (1939), 181-183* and note 87.
 H. HEXTER
J. 95
ofthe composition of theDiscorsi.MostscholarsagreethatMachia-
work
was well startedon the Discorsiby the timehe wlenttoof
velli sentence the
onThePrince.Ihey basethis inference on the first
second chapterof ThePrince:
voltane ragionai
perchealtran
lolasceroindrietoel ragionaredellerepubliche,
alungo.7
discussedthemat
Iwill avoiddiscussingrepublics,becauseelsewhereI have
length.
Sinceno otherknownworkof Machiavelli's thatcouldhavebeen
writtenas earlyas 1513discusses republics,and sincethe Discorsi
doesdiscussthem,scholarsassume that the Discorsi is that "else-
where"in whichMachiavelli, according to The Prince, hadalready
republicsat length.68Up to the presentthe main obstacle
discussed Dliscorsi is the
toan unhesitating acceptance of this dating of the
in thatworkto eventsthat took place after the latest con-
references Ascribing the last
datefor the completion
ceivable of The Prince.69

making only Book con-

twobooksof the Discorsito a latertime,
I

temporary with or antecedent to The Prince,70 doesnot enableus

tosurmountthis obstacle,sinceunfortunately offirst
one the unassimi-
lableeventsappearsveryearly,in fact in the very chapterof
to these intrac-
BookI.71lhe onlywayleftto copewiththereferences what may be de-
tableeventsin the Discorsiwithinthe bounds of
is to regard them
scribedas the orthodoxtheoryof its composition somescholars
as emendations and additions.This is in fact what
And indeedthe references maybe emendations; butthe
havedone. rather like ice-
troublewiththe explanation is thatemendations are
are the only kind
bergs,only moreso. Verypeculiaremendations of the printed
thatappearclearlyandunmistakably on the surface
editionof a book, the peculiarkind, indeed,that scholarsbelieve
The
they have descriedin the Discorsi-in short,anachronisms.
of the possible
number,the size,the location,and the significance from
invisibleemendations cannotbe knownor even conjectured
andnumberof thevisibleones.Butif Machiavelli1515 wrote
thecharacter
theDiscorsiin 1513anddidnot get to knowPolybiusVI until
6711 Principe, Chapter 2: Mazzoniand Casella,p. Sa.
68Prezzolini,p. 171; Walker,I, 40, 53. I, 40-45.
69 For the eventssubsequent to 1513 referredto in the I)iscorsi, see Walker
in
difficulties ascribingBooks II and III of tie Discorsi to
70 Prezzolini,p. 171. There are
the time when, or beforewhich,Machiavelli wrote The Prince, sinceDiscorsi II, 1 refersto
The Prince as if it was a completedwork (Mazzoni and Casella,p. 138b;Walker,I, 360).
and Casella,p. 58b; Walker,I, 209.
71 Discorsi I, 1: Mazzoni
96 SEYSSEL, MACHIAVELLI, AND POLYBIUS VI

or later,thenonesetof hithertoinvisibleemendations of theDiscorsi

is now visible,andtheseemendations areveryconsiderable indeed.
Theworstof it is thatmostof Machiavelli's draftson PolybiusVIdo
not occurin BooksIIandIII,whichsomewritersconcedemayhave
beenwrittenafterthe completionof The Prince.On the contrary
three-fourths of them appearin the first twenty-onechaptersof
BookI, thatis, in aboutthe firstsixthof theDiscorsi.72 Thesedrafts
arenot merelyeruditelydecorative embellishments to Machiavelli's
thoughtin thoseearlychapters; in manyinstances theyareknittight
intothe veryboneandsinewof his argument.73 Yetit is especially
in BookI of the Discorsithatscholarshaveaskedus to discernthat
discussion of republicswhichMachiavelli seemsto describeas com-
pletealmostattheverybeginningof The Prince.
In a brilliantpieceof historicalandtextualdetectivework,Prof.
FelixGilberthasrecentlyprovidedus withgoodgroundsto believe
that the problemof how Machiavelli put the Discorsitogetheris
morecomplicated and difficultthanany one had previously imag-
ined.74 Butif ourhypothesis to explainthe linkbetweenMachiavelli
and PolybiusVIiS acceptable, the problemof the Dfiscorsimaybe
evenmorecomplicated thanProf.Gilberthas imagined.Ourcon-
clusionthen is a melancholyone. Our solutionto the Puzzleof
PolybiusVI-if it is a solution-onlydeepensthe Dilemmaof the
Dzscorsz.
J.H. HEXTER
QueensCollege
72 of twenty-oneprobableuses of PolybiusVI in the Discorsi sixteenoccurin the first
twenty-onechapters.See Walker,II, 290. If one averagesthe thing out by the numberof
chapters,it comesto a seventhof the Discorsi, if by the numberof pages,to a sixth.
73 FatherWalkeris convinced thatMachiavelli got the veryideaof writingthe firstfifteen
chaptersof the Discorsi fromthe sixthbookof Polybius(I, 62-63). If thisis so it wouldreally
complicatematters.
74 F. Gilbert,"Structure and Composition".
75 Since this articlewent to the printer,its authorhas receivedcolnfirmation from the
VaticanLibrarythattwo fifteenth-or sixteenth-century manuscriptsof Latintranslations from
Polybiusin Reg. Lat. 1099 and Vat. Lat. 2968 are partsof the sixth book of the History.
Certainindicationslead him to believethattheseMSS.will lend supportto some of the con-
jecturesin the article.It seemsbest to postponepublicationof the relevantevidenceuntil it
has beenpossibleto examinemicrofilmsof the MSS.