Sallust, Machiavelli and the Divorce of virtus from res publica
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9740004 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nikola Regent (Australian National University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 135 |
| Issue | 575 |
| Pages | 775-803 |
| Publication date | 2020-11-06 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The English Historical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-8266 • E-ISSN: 1477-4534 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ehr/ceaa254 |
| OpenAlex | W3097913409 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
Montesquieu famously stated that virtue is the principle of republican government. This article examines how virtue is dissociated from res publica in the works of Sallust, the great Roman republican historian, and Machiavelli, usually regarded as the central figure of the republican tradition. Both thinkers cut the crucial link between virtue and republic, ascribing the former to the main villain of the tradition, Caesar. Furthermore, virtue is simultaneously dissociated from being bonus/buono, a good man/good citizen. The paper examines Sallust’s idea of virtus, and then demonstrates how closely Machiavelli follows him, and how he reaches a similar conclusion. Implications for understanding Machiavelli’s virtù within a framework of republics are shown: it is impossible for a citizen to exhibit virtue and remain good in a truly corrupted republic—in such circumstances one can become virtuous only by working against the public good/res publica
Epistemology · Form of the Good · Political science · The Republic · Virtue · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
| Citations per year | 0.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2022 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |