Perché non si usa allegare i Romani: Machiavelli and the Florentine Militia of 1506

Abstract

This article explores the motivations behind the Florentine militia ordinance of 1506 and Niccolò Machiavelli's involvement. A major problem with regard to contemporary discourse on the militia is its complete, or almost complete, absence of references to the military system of the ancient Roman republic. It is here argued that this silence was a conscious strategy on the part of Machiavelli and his collaborators who, in a cultural climate extremely hostile to the ancient Roman model, chose to adopt a pragmatic step-by-step approach to the militia, downplaying its true inspiration.