Lehal Library

that the ruler in question should be the man to rid Italy of foreign oppression. Who was this ruler? Shortly before Machiavelli had been released from prison, Pope Julius had died and been replaced by Giovanni de’ Medici, il Magnifico’s son, the man who had become a cardinal at thirteen. This was March 1513. When he started work on The Prince some months later, Machiavelli had intended to dedicate the book to Giovanni’s brother, Giuliano, who had been put in charge of Florence after the Medicis’ return. However, when the effeminate Giuliano began to move away from politics and was replaced in Florence by his aggressive, warlike nephew Lorenzo, Machiavelli decided to switch the dedication to the younger man. Thus far the writer showed himself flexible in the face of changing events. Yet there is something ingenuous and almost endearing in the clever diplomat’s miscalculation here. The brilliant reasoning required to convince yourself that you had got a grip on politics and history, the profound analysis that would demonstrate to your fellow intellectu- als that you were as ­clear-­headed as Livy, Tacitus and Thucydides put together, were not the qualities that a young and hardly ­well-­read Medici prince was likely to comprehend, never mind enjoy. Given the book in 1515, Lorenzo probably never opened it and certainly didn’t take time to study Machiavelli’s care- fully crafted reflections. Then, even if he had read it, would