1. AP Topics: 1.6 Developments in social, economic and political thought

2.  Born in 1469  “Renaissance Man”--diplomat, political philosopher, musician, poet, playwright, and civil servant (Florence)  Studied ancient Rome (virtù)

3.  Italian city-states  Foreign invasions  Ultimately—the “sack of Rome”—1527 (the same year of Machiavelli’s death)

4.  Written in 1513  Written for the Medici family  Not published until 1532 (after Machiavelli’s death)  The first purely secular treatise on politics.

5.  Was an observation of how effective political leaders acted.  Did not identify behavior as good or bad.  Why did he write it? Satire, Italian patriotism, personal gain? Nobody knows for sure.