Machiavelli's Three Romes: Religion, Human Liberty, and Politics Reformed

Machiavelli's Ambiguous Treatment Of Religion Has Fueled A Contentious And Long-standing Debate Among Scholars. Whereas Some Insist That Machiavelli Is A Christian, Others Maintain He Is A Pagan. Sullivan Mediates Between These Divergent Views By Arguing That He Is Neither But That He Utilizes Elements Of Both Understandings Arrayed In A Wholly New Way. In This Illuminating Study, Sullivan Shows Machiavelli's Thought To Be A Highly Original Response To What He Understood To Be The Crisis Of His Times. Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Note On Texts Cited -- Introduction -- Introduction -- 1. The Church And Machiavelli's Depiction Of Italy's Historical Situation -- 2. The Ravages Of Christianity -- Introduction -- 3. The Foundation For Tyranny In Rome -- 4. Corruption, Youth, And Foreign Influences -- 5. Machiavelli's Ambiguous Praise Of Paganism -- Introduction -- 6. Old Lands And Machiavelli's New One -- 7. A Temporal Christianity And The Princes Of The Republic -- 8. Machiavelli's Rule And Human Liberty -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index Vickie B. Sullivan. Also Issued In Print: 2020. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In English.