The ethics of political power

Machiavelli was a diplomat, public official, and theorist of political power who rose to prominence in the Italian city-state of Florence at the turn of the 16th century. After his death in 1527, his name became a byword for evil. He was depicted or mentioned in many literary works, perhaps most prominently in his incarnation as the sinister Machiavel, whose self-congratulatory speech introduces Christopher Marlowe’s (first performed in 1592). Here, Machiavel boasts of his own ruthlessness and amorality; he gloats that even those who hate him follow his advice in their respective