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Some Common Aspects of the Thought of Seneca and Machiavelli

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Neal Wood
Neal Wood*
Affiliation:
York University, Toronto
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Extract

Seneca's stoic philosophy of the universal moral community of man has little in common with Machiavelli's very practical theory of the ways and means of political power. Ignoring the question of moral obligation, the Florentine often gives to virtù a special prudential meaning apparently quite different in spirit from the Roman's ethical ideal of virtus. That their intellectual perspectives are in opposition is the judgment of modern scholars, who find Seneca's influence on Machiavelli of no great significance. Nevertheless a rereading of Seneca's moral essays and epistles with Machiavelli in mind reveals neglected parallels in their thought almost as striking as the more obvious differences and which suggest the need of a reappraisal of the relation between the two thinkers. What follows, therefore, is an effort to ascertain the nature of the elements common to their respective outlooks.

Type
Research Article
Information
Renaissance Quarterly , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , Spring 1968 , pp. 11 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © Renaissance Society of America 1968

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References

1 See the useful summary in Walker, Leslie J., The Discourses of Niccolò Machiavelli (London, 1950), II, 301.Google Scholar

2 Epistle LVIII, 22-24; Epistle XCI, 9-12. The texts and translations of Seneca's works are those of the Loeb Classical Library: Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, tr. Richard M. Gummere (Cambridge, Mass.; London, 1961), 3 vols.; Moral Essays, tr. John W. Basore (Cambridge, Mass.; London, 1948), 3 vols.

The continual flux of man, society, and nature is a fundamental tenet of stoicism, for example, Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, vII, 7; VIII, 6; IX, 14; X, 18.

3 To Marcia on Consolation, XXVI, 5-6: ‘… know that nothing will abide where it is now placed, that time will lay all things low and take all things with it. And not simply men will be its sport—for how small a part are they of Fortune's domain!—but places, countries, and the great parts of the universe.'

4 To Polybius on Consolation, 1, I.

5 To Heluia on Consolation, VII.

6 Epistle CIII, 1-2.

7 To the Emperor Nero on Clemency, 1, VI, 3; Epistle LIX, 9. The wickedness of man and society is a view that typifies stoicism: Epictetus, Discourses, III, iii; Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VII, 1; IX, 42.

8 Epistle XIX, 6-7.

9 To Novatus on Anger, II,viii-ix: ‘Among those whom you see in civilian garb there is no peace; for a slight reward any one of them can be led to compass the destruction of another; no one makes gain save by another's loss; the prosperous they hate, the unprosperous they despise; superiors diey loathe, and to inferiors are loathsome; they are goaded on by opposite desires; they desire for the sake of some little pleasure or plunder to see the whole world lost. They live as though they were in a gladiatorial school—those with whom they eat, they likewise fight…. Every place is full of crime and vice; too many crimes are committed to be cured by any possible restraint. Men struggle in a mighty rivalry of wickedness. Every day the desire for wrong-doing is greater, the dread of it less; all regard for what is better and more just is banished, lust hurls itself wherever it likes, and crimes are now no longer covert. They stalk before our very eyes, and wickedness has come to such a public state, has gained such power over the hearts of all that innocence is not rare—it is non-existent. For is it only the particular man or the few who break the law? On every hand, as if at a given signal men rise to level all the barriers of right and wrong… . ‘

10 Ibid., II, viii, 2; Epistle CIII, 1; esp. Epistle LXXIV, 15.

11 Epistle CIII, 1; To Serenus on Tranquillity of Mind, XVII, 1-2; To Galiio on the Happy Life, II, 4-III, 1: ‘Why do I not rather seek some real good—one which I could feel, not one which I could display? These things that draw the eyes of men, before which they halt, which they show to one another in wonder, outwardly glitter, but are worthless within.'

'Let us seek something that is good in more than appearance—something that is solid, constant, and more beautiful in its more hidden part; for this let us delve.'

12 To Paulinas on the Shortness of Life, VII, 1-2; To Lucilius on Providence, IV, 9-10; Epistle XXII, 12. For the stoic deprecation of material things and worldly pleasures, see Epictetus, Discourses, III, xxvi; IV, i; Enchiridion, 47; Marcus, Aurelius, Meditations, IV, 32; v, 32.Google Scholar

13 Epistle XC, 3-9, 19.

14 Epistle XCV, 23-25: ‘Nowadays, however, to what a stage have the evils of illhealth advanced! This is the interest which we pay on pleasures which we have coveted beyond what is reasonable and right. You need not wonder that diseases are beyond counting: count the cooks! All intellectual interests are in abeyance; those who follow culture lecture to empty rooms, in out-of-the-way places. The halls of the professor and the philosopher are deserted; but what a crowd there is in the cafes! How many young fellows besiege the kitchens of their gluttonous friends! I shall not mention the troop of luckless boys who must put up with other shameful treatment after the banquet is over. I shall not mention the troops of catamites, rated according to nation and color, who must all have the same smooth skin, and the same amount of youthful down on their cheeks, and the same way of dressing their hair, so that no boy with straight locks may get among the curly-heads. Nor shall I mention the medley of bakers, and the number of waiters who at a given signal scurry to carry in the courses. Ye gods! How many men are kept busy to humor a single belly… . Do you judge that the corrupted dishes which a man swallows almost burning from the kitchen fire, are quenched in the digestive system without doing harm? How repulsive, then, and how unhealthy are their belchings, and how disgusted men are with themselves when they breathe forth the fumes of yesterday's debauch! You may be sure that their food is not being digested, but is rotting.'

15 To Lucilius on Providence, IV, 9-10.

16 For condemnation of this ennui and the advocacy of an active life, see especially To Paulinus on the Shortness of Life, VI, 4; To Serenus on Tranquillity of Mind, I, 10-11; II, 6-8; To Gallio on the Happy Life, 1,1-5; Epistle LVI, 9-10. The stoic emphasis upon the strenuous life is expressed in Epictetus, Discourses, 1, x; II, x; Enchiridion, 17; Marcus, Aurelius, Meditations, vI, 54; IX, 12; 16.Google Scholar

17 Epistle LXVII, 14.

18 The use of otium in this sense is found in To Serenus on Tranquillity of Mind, II, 9-11; III, 1-6: Epistle LVI, 9-14; Epistle XXII, 12. See the succinct discussion of the term by Clayton, F. W. in Some Aspects of Later Stoicism, An Inaugural Lecture delivered in the University College of the South West of England on 19th November, 1948, pp. 10–12.Google Scholar

19 The use of military metaphor by Seneca is second only to his fondness for nautical metaphor. Epistle LIX, 6-8, clearly indicates his preference for military imagery. The other stoics neither stress the struggle between virtue and fortune, nor do they commonly resort to military imagery to describe that struggle.

20 Epistle LI, 6.

21 Ibid., 7-12.

22 To Helvia on Consolation, V, 2.

23 Epistle LII, 3-4. Seneca is referring to an Epicurean view. Cf. Machiavelli, , Il Principe, XXII, p. 45 Google Scholar, where Machiavelli says there are three kinds of brains. The first understands things without help; the second, with guidance from others; the third, neither by itself nor with assistance. Pagination of Machiavelli's, works is that of Tutte le opere storiche e letterarie, ed. Mazzoni, G. and Casella, M. (Florence, 1929).Google Scholar

24 Epistle XCV, 35.

25 Epistle XCI, 5.

26 To Serenus on the Firmness of the Wise Man, VI, 4.

27 Epistle LXXIV, 19-20.

28 To Serenus on the Firmness of the Wise Man, v, 4.

29 Epistle XXIII, 8. Cf. Machiavelli, , Il Principe, xxv, p. 48.Google Scholar

30 To Mania on Consolation, x, 6. Cf. Machiavelli, , Il Principe, xxv, p. 49.Google Scholar

31 To Lucilius on Providence, IV, 1-8.

32 Epistle LI, 12.

33 To Helvia on Consolation, v, 3: ‘They have ordered me to stand ever watching, like a soldier placed on guard, and to anticipate all the attempts and all the assaults of Fortune long before she strikes. Her attack falls heavy only when it is sudden; he easily withstands her who always expects her. For the arrival too of the enemy lays low only those whom it catches off guard; but those who have made ready for the coming war before it arrives, fully formed and ready armed, easily sustain the first impact, which is always the most violent.'

34 Epistle XVIII, 6.

35 Epistle XVII, 7.

36 Epistle XXV, 4.

37 Epistle LI, 11.

38 Epistle XVIII, 6.

39 Epistle LXXIV, 19.

40 To Serenus on the Firmness of the Wise Man, VI, 4. Constancy, of course, is a fundamental stoic concept, but apparently only Seneca refers to the military in discussing it.

41 Ibid., III, 4-5.

42 Ibid., IV, 3.

43 To Polybius on Consolation, v, 4.

44 To Serenus on the Firmness of the Wise Man, IV, 1. See note 49 below.

45 To Gallio on the Happy Life, 1, 1-5.

46 To Serenus on Tranquillity of Mind, II, 6-10.

47 Esp. Epistle XXII.

48 Epistle XXXII, 3.

49 Epistle LXXI, 3. Cf. Machiavelli, Il Principe, VI, p. 12, in regard to the archery metaphor used here and in the passage cited in note 44 above.

50 To Serenus on Tranquillity of Mind, III, 1-6.

51 Epistle LVI, 9.

52 To Serenus on Tranquillity of Mind, IV, 1-2.

53 Epistle LI, 7.

54 Il Principe, XXIV, p. 79; Discorsi, I, ii, pp. 60-61; vi, p. 68; II, Proemio, p. 135.

55 Discorsi, 1, ii, pp. 60-61; Istorie Florentine, V, i, p. 498; Dell'Asino d'oro, v, p. 831.

56 Discorsi, III, xvii, p. 226.

57 The central theme of Machiavelli's Capitolo dell'Ambizione.

58 II Principe, XVIII, p. 35; Discorsi, 1, xxv, p. 93.

59 Dell'Asino d'oro, VIII, pp. 837-840.

60 Examples of MachiaveUi's use ofozio are: Discorsi, I, i, p. 57; vi, p. 68; II, ii, p. 141; xxv, p. 181; L’ Arte dellaguerra, II, p. 301; Istorie Florentine, v, i, pp. 498-499; Dell’ Asino d'oro, v, p. 831.

61 See the detailed argument of the introduction to Machiavelli, , The Art of War, a revised edition of the Ellis Farneworth translation with an Introduction by Neal Wood (Indianapolis, New York, Kansas City, 1965)Google Scholar [The Library of Liberal Arts]. Also see my articles ‘Frontinus as a Possible Source for Machiavelli's, Method,’ Journal of the History of Ideas, xxvra (April-June 1967), 243–248 Google Scholar; ‘Machiavelli's Concept of Virtù Reconsidered,' Political Studies, xv (June 1967), 159-172.

62 Il Principe, III, p. 8; VI-VII; xxI-xxv; Discorsi, I xxxiii, p. 101; lii; III, ii, p. 196; vi, pp. 202-206; L ‘Arte della guerra, IV, pp. 324-325.

63 Il Principe, III, p. 7; xxv, p. 49; Discorsi, I, VI, p. 68; xxvi, p. 94; II, xxiii; xxix, p. 187; III, ii, p. 215; iii; xxi; xl, p. 255.

64 Discorsi, III, xxxi, pp. 242-243; To Helvia on Consolation, v, 5. In the following quotations, the Loeb Classical Library translation by Richard M. Gummere has been slightly altered and the translation of Machiavelli is my own:

Machiavelli: ‘Per la quali si vede come gli uomini grandi sono sempre in ogni fortuna quelli medesimi; e se la varia, ora con esaltarli ora con opprimerli, quegli non variano, ma tengono sempre lo animo fermo ed in tale modo congiunto con il modo del vivere loro che facilmente si conosce per ciascuno la fortuna non avere potenza sopra di loro. Altrimenti si governano gli uomini deboli, perché invaniscono ed inebriano nella buona fortuna, attribuendo tutto il bene che gli hanno a quella virtu che non conobbono mai. Donde nasce che diventano insopportabili ed odiosi a tutti coloro che gli hanno intorna. Da che poi depende la subiterity he proves his'strength to meet adversity.'

65 On the replacement of Cicero by Seneca as a literary model see Gilbert Highet, The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature (New York, London, I949), pp- 120, 132-133, 187-188, 198, 207-208, 322-327.

66 See my ‘Some Reflections on Sorel and Machiavelli’ to be published in a forthcoming issue of Political Science Quarterly.

67 Of particular interest are the following studies: Giuseppe, Toffanin, Machiavelli e il 'Tacitismo’ (Padua, 1921) pp. 210–212 Google Scholar; Gerhard, Oestreich, ‘Der römische Stoizismus und die oranische Heeresreform,’ Historische Zeitschrift, CIXXVI (1953), 17–43 Google Scholar; ‘Justus Lipsius als Theoretiker des neuzeitlichen Machtstaates,’ Historische Zeitschrift, CIXXXI (1956), 31- 78; Rapoport, David C., ‘Military and Civil Societies: the Contemporary Significance of a Traditional Subject in Political Theory,’ Political Studies, xn (June 1964), 178–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

68 For example, see Montecuccoli, Raimond de, Memoires (Amsterdam and Leipzig, 1756), IV, 216–222.Google Scholar Montecuccoli's force, considered by him to be one of the acquired qualities of great generalship, has much in common with Machiavelli's virtù and Lipsius's constantia. Oestreich, ‘Justus Lipsius,’ pp. 66-67, claims the Austrian generalissimo as one of the disciples of the Belgian savant. In turn, Stadelmann, Rudolf, Schamhorst: Schicksal undgeistige Welt (Wiesbaden, 1952), pp. 91–99 Google Scholar, describes the influence of Montecuccoli upon Schamhorst, the mentor of the incomparable Clausewitz. It is arguable that Clausewitz's concept of the ‘moral courage’ of the military leader is a synthesis of virtù and constantia. Karl von Clausewitz, On War, tr. J. J. Graham, Introduction and notes by F. N. Maude (London, 1911), 1, 46-75, 177-192.