Republics and Kingdoms Compared

Introduction
Republics and Kingdoms Compared
- Preface
- Book I
  - Princely education during Lent
  - The rise and fall of empires explained
  - The demise of ancient military discipline
  - The problem introduced: Are republics or kingdoms better?
  - The debate between King Mattias and Domenico Giugni is arranged
  - Giugni’s view: Republics are freer, juster and better governed; these claims to provide the structure of the debate
  - Liberty defined; freedom in everyday life
  - Freedom from taxes
  - Freedom in administering the republic: Selection of magistrates by lot
  - The freedom of the magistrate
  - The freedom of elections and deliberation
  - Freedom in the courts
  - The freedom of kingdoms
  - Republican and royal provincial government compared
  - Conclusion
- Book II
  - The relative justice of republics and kingdoms: Laws, commercial relations, and equality
  - The sources of republican laws: Individuals or deliberative bodies?
  - Are the laws better observed in republics?
  - Are kings or republics more easily corrupted?
  - Is it better to be under law or under a king?
  - Return to the subject of corruption
  - Justice in commercial relations
  - The corruptions of commerce
  - Is commerce even necessary or desirable?
  - Free trade versus tariffs
  - What is the best kind of equality? Equality of possessions
  - Equality under law
  - Is it equality that makes the arts flourish in Florence?
  - Equality of honors
  - Republican equality not enforceable: The poor are punished but not the rich
  - The true reasons for Florence’s cultural preëminence
  - The ineffectiveness of republican education
  - Why Florentine artists leave Florence
  - Equality in kingdoms
- Book III
  - Do many rulers govern more effectively or one?
  - Examples of governance: the ship
  - The army: Examples from Roman history
  - The household
  - The village
  - The city
  - What is the relationship between size and type of governance? Head of household, shepherd and king compared
  - Do kings or the many better care for the common good? The rest of the debate outlined
  - Does republican deliberation aid the discovery of justice?
  - Is it possible to find a single excellent ruler?
  - What can many do better than one? Factionalism and unity
  - Lorenzo de’Medici praised
  - Are kings or republican magistrates more easily corrupted by their passions?
  - Will the many or one man better serve the common good?
  - Republican versus royal deliberative councils
  - Is the power of the many or of one more stable and enduring?
  - The inevitability of political change
  - Giugni’s final capitulation; some further analogies and examples proving the superiority of kingship
  - If kingship is natural, why do republics exist in nature? An explanation of constitutional change
  - Nature, terrestrial and heavenly, prefers monarchy
  - Most governments in history have been monarchical; republican governments have historically been shortlived and unstable
  - Biblical proofs of monarchy
  - A miniature mirror of kings
  - Conclusions: Kingdoms under excellent kings are to be preferred
Appendix: Raffaele Brandolini’s Dedication to Cardinal Giovanni de’Medici
Note on the Text and Translation
Notes to the Text
Notes to the Translation
Bibliography
Index

THE I TATTI RENAISSANCE LIBRARY

The I Tatti Renaissance Library 40

Aurelio Lippo Brandolini

Edited and translated by James Hankins

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