Machiavelli's Political Theology

Machiavelli's pessimism about human nature leads him to depart from previous renaissance political theorists who were on the idealist side. Authors like petrarch had argued optimistically that the statesman who acts virtuously will always reap the best results himself. Machiavelli is inspired by his reading of lucretius, whose epicurean philosophy taught that events are not predetermined, or even predictable.