The essential writings of Machiavelli (62 page)

T
O
F
RANCESCO
V
ETTORI

F
LORENCE
, 3 A
UGUST
1514

In Machiavelli’s elegant and correct correspondence this letter stands out for its remarkable exuberance. Machiavelli is in love, and he shares his high spirits with his old friend Francesco Vettori. It is unclear who the “creature so gentle, delicate, and noble” is, but Machiavelli’s biographers Ridolfi and Viroli propose that it might be his friend Niccolò Tafani’s sister, who had been abandoned by her husband. The evidence they present is that on December 4, a few months after Machiavelli wrote this letter, he sent Niccolò Tafani to Vettori in Rome with a formal letter to him in Latin, asking him to intercede as ambassador to the pope, in order to compel Tafani’s renegade brother-in-law to either return to his wife or give back her dowry and accede to an annulment of the marriage
.

—

Dear friend, you have kept me cheerful and merry with your dispatches about your Roman love affair, and swept countless cares from my mind as I read and mused about your pleasure and vexation, for the one does not come without the other. But Fortune has granted that I can render you equal recompense, because here in the country I have met a creature so gentle, delicate, and noble—both in nature and circumstances—that I could never praise or love her as much as she merits. I ought to tell you, as you have told me, the beginnings of this love, in what nets it entangled me, where love cast these nets, and of what kind they were; you would see that they were nets of gold woven by Venus and cast among flowers, so delicate and gentle that though an unfeeling heart could have torn them, I did not want to, and for a while basked within these nets until their tender threads grew firm and locked with the tightest knots. Do not think that Cupid used ordinary means to ensnare me, for, knowing that these would not suffice, he resorted to uncommon methods unknown to me and against which I did not know how to shield myself. Let me just say that although I am approaching fifty
⁴¹
the sun’s rays do not vex me, nor rough roads tire me, nor does the darkness of night frighten me. Everything now seems effortless, and I adapt myself to all her whims, no matter how contrary they might be to my disposition. Even though I sense I am courting great trouble I feel such sweetness, because of how her rare and gracious countenance transports me, and because it has cast aside all thoughts of my many predicaments, so that I would not want to free myself for anything in the world, even if I could. I have left behind thoughts of great and serious subjects. I no longer delight in reading of ancient matters or discussing those of our own times. All that has changed into sweet musings, for which I thank Venus and all of Cyprus.
⁴²
Hence, write me anything you wish concerning your lady, but discuss all other matters with those who value and understand them better than I do, for I have found nothing but harm in them, while in matters of love I have always found goodness and pleasure.

Greetings. From Florence, on the third day of August 1514.

Your Niccolò Machiavelli
.

41.
Machiavelli was in fact forty-five.

42.
Homer called Venus (Aphrodite) “Cyprian” after the island of Cyprus, where according to myth she was born from sea foam.

T
O
G
UIDO
M
ACHIAVELLI

I
MOLA
, 2 A
PRIL
1527

On the day Machiavelli wrote this warm and seemingly carefree letter to his teenage son Guido, he also sent a dire missive to Florence warning the city to fortify itself against the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, who was marching against the Medici pope Clement VII and his allies. Florence, Machiavelli warned, should not attempt to pay the emperor off: “It is better to spend ten florins so we can categorically remain free than forty florins that will fetter and destroy us.”

Machiavelli ends this letter to his son asking him to reassure his mother that he will be back “before any trouble comes.” This was, however, among Machiavelli’s last letters, as he fell ill after returning to Florence and died on June 21, 1527
.

—

Guido, my dearest son, I received a letter from you that has made me very happy, above all because you write that you are now recovered. What good news! If God grants you life, and me as well, I believe I can make you a man of standing, as long as you are prepared to do your part. Among the great friendships I have I can count a new one with Cardinal Cybo,
⁴³
a friendship that is so close that I myself am astonished This will be to your advantage. But you must study and, as you no longer have your illness as an excuse, exert yourself learning literature and music, since you can see how much honor my few accomplishments have secured for me. Thus, my dear boy if you want to make me happy and bring advantage and honor to yourself, you must study, do well, and learn. Everyone will help you if you help yourself.

Since the little mule has gone mad, it must be handled in the opposite way one would treat a man who has gone insane. A madman might be tied up, but I want you to untie the animal. Give it to Vangelo and tell him to take it to Montepugliano, remove its bridle and halter, and let it roam wherever it wants, making its own way to free itself of its madness. The village is big and the beast is small. It will not do anybody any harm. So without having to worry ourselves in any way we shall see what it wants to do, and we can always catch it again should it come to its senses. As for the horses, do whatever Ludovico
⁴⁴
has told you to do. Thank God he is cured and has sold them. I am certain he has made a good profit, as he sent some money, but I am surprised and saddened that he has not written.

Greet Madonna Marietta
⁴⁵
and tell her that I have been hoping to leave any day now, and am still hoping. I have never wished to be in Florence more than now, but I have no choice. Just tell her that regardless of what she hears she should be of good cheer, since I will be there before any trouble comes. Kiss Baccina, Piero, and Totto,
⁴⁶
if he is there—I very much want to know if his eyes are well again. Live cheerfully and spend as little as you can. And remind Bernardo to mend his ways: I have written him two letters in the past two weeks and have not received a reply. May Christ watch over you all.

On the second day of April 1527

Niccolò Machiavelli in Imola

43.
Cardinal Innocenzo Cybo (1491–1549) was the son of Francesco, the illegitimate son of Pope Innocent VIII and Maddalena de’Medici. In 1521 he had come close to being elected to the pontificate himself. Machiavelli had stayed at his palazzo in Bologna the previous month.

44.
Machiavelli’s son Ludovico was in Constantinople.

45.
Machiavelli’s wife.

46.
Machiavelli’s daughter and sons. The infant, Totto, was away with his wet nurse.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

P
ETER
C
ONSTANTINE
was awarded the 1998 PEN Translation Prize for
Six Early Stories by
Thomas Mann, and the 1999 National Translation Award for
The Undiscovered Chekhov
. His widely acclaimed translation of the complete works of Isaac Babel received the Koret Jewish Literature Award and a National Jewish Book Award citation. His translation from the Greek of a poetry collection by Stylianos Harkianakis received the Hellenic Association of Translators of Literature Prize (2005). Peter Constantine has translated Gogol’s
Taras Bulba
, Tolstoy’s
The Cossacks
, and Voltaire’s
Candide
for the Modern Library. He was one of the editors for
A Century of Greek Poetry
(2004) and is currently co-editing an anthology of Greek poetry since Homer for W. W. Norton. He is also a senior editor of
Conjunctions
. His translations of fiction and poetry have appeared in many publications, including
The New Yorker, Harper’s
, and
The Paris Review
. He lives in New York City.

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Copyright © 2007 by Random House, Inc.
Introduction copyright © 2007 by Albert R. Ascoli

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Modern Library, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

The essential writings of Machiavelli / edited and translated by Peter Constantine; with an introduction by Albert R. Ascoli.—Modern Library pbk. ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-41999-6
1. Political science—Early works to 1800. 2. Political ethics—Early works to 1800.
3. Machiavelli, Niccolò, 1469-1527—Political and social views. I. Constantine, Peter

JC143.M146M1469   2007
320.1     dc22              2006046902

www.modernlibrary.com

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