OCC CIV NOTES 9/15

Check google calendar for HW (which sections to read)

In renaissance italy- humanities were the education of choice for those who went into civic service

cicero- most important roman thinker
-the humanities (history, philosophy, etc) are the most important things for a person
-inspired people to subordinate their own good to that of the whole

Florence
-was a republic for a long time
-fought for it from 1390 onwards
-until 1492, the de Medicis basically own florence
-is a republic for a good 20 years, until de Medicis own it again
-1527- break free again, are subordinated to the de Medicis once again
-Writers of the renaissance said that florence would fall because of its dependence on mercenaries
-Aristotle argued for a citizen's army, rather than mercenary army
-"aim of a soldier must be glory, not wealth"
-"mercenaries think of nothing but their own safety, citizen armies think of liberty"
-liberty was hugely built up during this time
-in the form of a constitution guaranteeing rights to individuals, allowing them to celebrate their liberty
-at the same time, writers agonize over the eventual fate of their liberty
-corruption, factions, are the chief factors that writers thought would tear apart their democracy
-most factions, writers thought, would be based on socio-economic divisions
-for Cicero- even the word 'virtue' came from MAN (vir- man)
-one cannot be a man without virtue
-the aim of education was to create a man
-writers revived the goddess fortuna (fortune)
-they argue that fortune is a huge player in human affairs
-but there was a way that fortune could be subdued- by being virtuous
-writers argue that fortuna was a goddess, and so could be wooed by a manly man
-"fortune favors the brave"
-whereas before, things happened by 'divine providence'- God owned everything- now man has some say in his fate again
-in order to conquer fortune, the manly man needed to use violence ('cuff and maul her')
-princely manuals stressed that glory was the ultimate aim of the rulers (and fortune was largely what determined this)
-however, virtue was extremely important here
-also, piety was required, they need christian fate
-rulers must be liberal, magnificent, merciful
-must be generous to your people, build lots of stuff
-must be slow and reluctant to punish, pardon often
-debate over whether ruler should be feared or loved- tips towards love
-ruler must be honorable, honest
-honorability was the cornerstone of a ruler's power
-rather than good of country, longevity of the regime was the ultimate end
-if a ruler was a bad one, he would be punished in the afterlife, if not in this world
-Machiavelli
-single most important renaissance writer
-wrote both a work to princes AND one about republics
-Discourses was the most important writing on republicanism to be transmitted to england, and then on to america
-as much as he's celebrated, he challenges huge numbers of conventional themes
-'the ends justify the means'
-Machiavelli is spoken of as the first important Realist (writes of humans as they are, rather than as they should be)
-in 1500, a tiny florentine city revolts, florence sends its mercenaries to quash the rebellion, mercenaries desert
-Machiavelli is called 'mr. nothing', as second chancellor (head diplomat) to... france?
-Machiavelli is later sent to Borgia (one of heads of papal states?) to negotiate on the behalf of Florence
-borgia sends one of his lieutenants to be cruel to a city to be conquered
-lt. is too cruel, borgia executes him (even though he ordered the cruelty himself)
-then borgia is betrayed by the new pope, imprisoned
-machiavelli concludes that the words of others are never to be believed over his own
-in 1506, pope has succeeded in conquering a few cities
-by 1510, pope wants to drive france out of italy, pope takes florence
-machiavelli is imprisoned as a supporter of the old republic, rather than the new de Medici gov't
-after a while, he's let out after a general amnesty by the new de Medici pope
-machiavelli decides to write a work to curry him favor with the new pope (the Prince)
-for M., war is the chief aim of any ruler, the chief thing to be focused on
-M believes in realism (if a ruler makes it his business to be good among many bad men, he will be destroyed)
-ignores the christian objection that such a prince will be punished
-believes that a wise prince will know when evil must be done
-the defining characteristic of a wise prince is the ability to do whatever is necessary to maintain his republic
-for M, one must not be hated, but FEARED as a ruler
-borgia was the exemplar of this
-if you make yourself feared, subjects will obey you, if loved, they will find ways to betray you
-in one significant way, the prince was a failure- it didnt curry favor with the de Medicis
-then he goes to write about republicanism
-cities never grow and flourish until they are liberated
-they grow great ONLY if the people control them
-in ONLY republics is the good of the people thought of
-takes rome and athens as examples
-for machiavelli, what is necessary is just (ALMOST 'the ends justify the means')
-for cicero, there are things you shouldnt do even to defend your country
-for machiavelli, there are no such things
-republics also need a central religion, something to rally them to their cities
-christianity was a failure in this respect, roman religions were MUCH preferable
-government also must be a 'mixed govt'
-most of the time, this is thought of as harmony, no factions
-but for machiavelli, this means discord at every step
-by their discord, and each looking out for themselves, all of their aims will be served
-cities also need to expand in order to secure their future
-to control your environment and reduce threats
-roman policies of conquest are the best ever designed by a government
-you need policies allowing large-scale immigration, alliances abroad, and large armies
-wars should be short, and massive, and fought by CITIZENS, not by mercenaries