The Virtue of Machiavelli

Machiavelli was convinced that a truly exceptional figure could help them overcome their deficiencies and restore balance to civil strife. If a suitable virtuoso appeared once every ten years or so, that would be enough. But while rome had been blessed with many such figures in the period, florence had not been so lucky. In the 20 or so years before medici's return, its two most prominent leaders,. fra girolamo savonorola, 14 52, 14 98 and piero soderini, 14 51, 15 22, had been a bitter disappointment. As a consequence, the florentines had slid ever deeper into corruption. A foreign army had