Before Machiavelli

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course will explore the rich history of political treatises meant to instruct future rulers and statesmen from classical antiquity to the Renaissance. The genre, often known by its Latin name, specula principum (mirrors of princes), became especially popular in the late Middle Ages—not long before Machiavelli wrote what is probably the most famous instance of this genre. Authors read will include Cicero, Seneca, Dhuoda, John of Salisbury, Erasmus, and Machiavelli. The texts will be read in English translation, but since most were originally written in Latin, the course will also provide an overview of Latin literary history through the lens of a single genre.