The Art of War(Machiavelli book)

For the Chinese military treatise attributed toSun Tzu,seeThe Art of War.

The Art of War(Italian:Dell'arte della guerra) is a treatise by the Italian Renaissancepolitical philosopherand historianNiccolò Machiavelli.

Peter Whitehorne's 1573 translation ofThe Art of War

The format ofThe Art of Waris asocratic dialogue.The purpose, declared by LordFabrizio Colonna(perhaps Machiavelli'spersona) at the outset, "To honor and rewardvirtù,not to have contempt for poverty, to esteem the modes and orders of military discipline, to constrain citizens to love one another, to live without factions, to esteem less the private than the public good. "To these ends, Machiavelli notes in his preface, the military is like the roof of apalazzoprotecting the contents.

Written between 1519 and 1520 and published the following year, it was Machiavelli's only historical or political work printed during his lifetime, though he was appointed official historian ofFlorencein 1520 and entrusted with minor civil duties.

Format

The Art of Waris divided into a preface (proemio) and seven books (chapters), which take the form of a series ofdialoguesthat take place in the Orti Oricellari, the gardens built in a classical style byBernardo Rucellaiin the 1490s for Florentine aristocrats and humanists to engage in discussion, between Cosimo Rucellai and "Lord Fabrizio Colonna" (many feel Colonna is a veiled disguise for Machiavelli himself, but this view has been challenged by scholars such as Mansfield), with otherpatriziand captains of the recent Florentine republic: Zanobi Buondelmonti, Battista della Palla andLuigi Alamanni.The work is dedicated toLorenzo di Filippo Strozzi,patrizio fiorentinoin a preface which ostentatiously pronounces Machiavelli's authorship. After repeated uses of the first person singular to introduce the dialogue, Machiavelli retreats from the work, serving as neither narrator nor interlocutor.Fabrizio is enamored with theRoman Legionsof the early to midRoman Republicand strongly advocates adapting them to the contemporary situation ofRenaissanceFlorence.

Fabrizio dominates the discussions with his knowledge, wisdom and insights. The other characters, for the most part, simply yield to his superior knowledge and merely bring up topics, ask him questions or for clarification. These dialogues, then, often become monologues with Fabrizio detailing how an army should be raised, trained, organized, deployed and employed.

Background

Machiavelli'sArt of Warechoes many themes, issues, ideas and proposals from his earlier, more widely read works,The PrinceandThe Discourses.To the contemporary reader, Machiavelli's dialogue may seem impractical and to under-rate the effectiveness of both firearms and cavalry. However, his theories were not merely based on a thorough study and analysis of classical and contemporary military practices. Machiavelli had served for fourteen years as secretary to the Chancery of Florence and "personally observed and reported back to his government on the size, composition, weaponry, morale, and logistical capabilities of the most effective militaries of his day."However, the native fighting force he assiduously oversaw was struck a catastrophic defeat inPratoin 1512 which led to the downfall of the Florentinerepublican government.

Military strategy and science

Machiavelli wrote that war must be expressly defined. He developed the philosophy of "limited warfare" —that is, when diplomacy fails, war is an extension of politics. Art of War also emphasizes the necessity of a state militia and promotes the concept of armed citizenry. He believed that all society, religion, science, and art rested on the security provided by the military.

Critique

At the time he was writing,firearms,both technologically and tactically, were in their infancy and the overwhelming of enemy missile-armed troops, of artillery even, between salvos, by achargeofpikesandsword and shield menwould have been a viable tactic. In addition Machiavelli was not writing in a vacuum;Art of Warwas written as a practical proposition to the rulers ofFlorenceas an alternative to the unreliablecondottierimercenariesupon which all the Italian city states were reliant. A standing army of the prosperous and pampered citizens that would have formed the cavalry would have been little better. Machiavelli therefore "talks up" the advantages of a militia of those arms that Florence could realistically muster and equip from her own resources.

However, his basic notion of emulating Roman practices was slowly and pragmatically adapted by many later rulers and commanders, most notablyMaurice of Nassau andGustavus Adolphus of Sweden.They would lay the foundations for the system oflinear tacticswhich would dominate the warfare of Europe and the world until after theNapoleonic Wars.

While Machiavelli's influence as amilitary theoristis often given a back seat to his writings as apolitical philosopher,that he consideredDell'arte della guerrato be his most important work is clear from his discussions of the military science and soldiery in other works. For example, inThe Princehe declares that "a prince should have no other object, no any other thought, nor take anything as his art but that of war and its orders and discipline; for that is the only art which is of concern to one who commands."

In the course of the sixteenth century twenty-one editions appeared and it was translated into French, English, German, and Latin.Montaignenamed Machiavelli next toCaesar,Polybius,andCommynesas an authority on military affairs. Although in the seventeenth century changing military methods brought other writers to the fore, Machiavelli was still frequently quoted. In the eighteenth century, theMarshal de Saxeleaned heavily on him when he composed hisReveries upon the Art of War (1757),andAlgarotti—though without much basis—saw in Machiavelli the master who has taughtFrederick the Greatthe tactics by which he astounded Europe. Like most people concerned with military matters,Jeffersonhad Machiavelli'sArt of Warin his library, and when theWar of 1812increased American interest in problems of war,The Art of Warwas brought out in a special American edition. "

This continued interest in Machiavelli as a military thinker was not only caused by the fame of his name; some of the recommendations made in theArt of War—those on training, discipline, and classification, for instance—gained increasing practical importance in early modern Europe when armies came to be composed of professionals coming from the most different social strata. This does not mean that the progress of military art in the sixteenth century—in drilling, in dividing an army into distinct units, in planning and organizing campaigns—was due to the influence of Machiavelli. Instead, the military innovators of the time were pleased to find a work in which aspects of their practice were explained and justified. Moreover, in the sixteenth century, with its wide knowledge of ancient literature and its deep respect for classical wisdom, it was commonly held that the Romans owed their military triumphs to their emphasis on discipline and training. Machiavelli's attempt to present Roman military organization as the model for the armies of his time was therefore not regarded as extravagant. At the end of the sixteenth century, for instance,Justus Lipsius,in his influential writings on military affairs, also treated the Roman military order as a permanently valid model.

Themes

The content and format ofThe Art of Warare strangely at odds. In the opening pages, after Cosimo has described his grandfather's inspiration for gardens in which the conversations are set,Fabriziodeclaims that we should imitate ancient warfare rather than ancient art forms. However, theArt of Waris a dialogue in the humanist tradition of imitating classical forms. Machiavelli himself appears to have fallen into the trap for which Fabrizio criticizesBernardo Rucellai.Despite this inherent contradiction, the book lacks much of the cynical tone and humour that is so characteristic of Machiavelli's other works.

External links

• Notable Quotes and Aphorisms fromArt Of War
• The Art of War and other writings
• Machiavelli'sThe Art Of Warat Project Gutenberg
• Tudor Translation (1560 in a 1905 ed.)andNeville Translation (1675).
• The Art Of Warpublic domain audiobook atLibriVox(Neville Translation)