Love of the Fatherland

republican christianity had a strong patriotic meaning. The inscription reads patria fortite, demicantibus etiam adversus teribilicimus hostes. This interpretation of patriotism also inspired the life and writings of niccolo machiavelli. I love my fatherland more than my soul, he wrote in one of his last letters. Respected scholars like isaiah berlin have stressed that these words clearly indicate that Machiavelli was a pagan. But this view misinterprets machiaveelli's belief.