Cosmology and Myth in the Construction of Machiavelli’s Mixed Republic

Abstract

Starting from the pagan cosmological order, in wich cyclical time and fortune determine the variation of things, Machiavelli takes advantage of the historical narration of Titus Livius, raising to status of myths four specific events of Roman political tradition: the foundation of State, the fall of monarchy, the rise of aristocracy and the popular rebellion. Constituted as sacred events, above historical objectivity, he underpins them as the basis of beliefs on wich a community maintains the legitimacy of the establishment, of what he conceive as “mixed republic”. Consequently, the most appropriate political order for coexistence between rivals, the preservation of citizen freedom and the ability to resist vicissitudes, is the product of sacred human virtue in its fight to dominate the goddess Fortune.