# A CAUTION TO THE MEDICI

A CAUTION TO THE MEDICI

In 1512 the Medici returned to power in Florence, ousting and exiling Piero Soderini, who had been Machiavelli’s patron, and whom Machiavelli had served in the highest political capacities. With the return of the Medici, Machiavelli was stripped of all his authority and influence and was forbidden to set foot in the Signoria. “A Caution to the Medici,” first published in Italian in 1866 under the title Ai Palleschi (To the Medici Faction), was a desperate attempt by Machiavelli to regain some of his standing. However, he was to face brief imprisonment and even torture for alleged conspiracy against the Medici, before being temporarily banished from the city.

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I wish to caution you against the counsel of those who argue that you would benefit by exposing Piero Soderini’s shortcomings in order to blacken his name among the populace, and you would do well to look those individuals carefully in the eye and see what is motivating them. What you will see is that their motivation is not to benefit the new Medici government, but to strengthen their own faction. It does not seem to me that anything for which Piero Soderini might have been at fault would strengthen the position of the new Medici government in the eyes of the people, because the Medici government could easily be suspected and inculpated of the same things as Soderini. Hence, exposing Soderini’s defects will not empower this government, but only those who were his enemies, who persistently countered him in Florentine politics.32

The current opinion of the people is that the faction in question wished Soderini ill so it could seize the government for itself. If, however, Soderini could be defamed to the Florentine people, they would say: “The enemies of Soderini were telling the truth! They are, after all, upright citizens who are blackening Soderini because he merits it! If things have turned as they have it is not because they planned it that way.”

Consequently the new Medici government, by exposing Soderini, would destroy his reputation but not in any way strengthen its own position, only that of the individuals who were his enemies and who were badmouthing him. These enemies would then have more influence with the populace. This is in no way to the advantage of the Medici government, because it must find a way for this faction to be despised, not prized, by the people, so that the faction will be compelled to maintain its allegiance to the Medici, thus sharing the Medici’s good or bad fortune.

If you look into who these people are, you will see that what I am saying is true. As they see it, their having been enemies of Soderini, their faction will have drawn the hatred of the populace upon themselves unless they can now prove that he was evil and deserved their enmity. The reason they want to free themselves of the populace’s hatred is so that they can promote their own interests, not those of the Medici. The cause of the tensions between the populace and the Medici is not Soderini or his fall, but simply the change in government. So I repeat: Airing Soderini’s defects does not raise the standing of the Medici government but that of Soderini’s enemies, while the Medici government would only weaken itself by attacking a man who is in exile and cannot harm it, all the while strengthening individuals who are here in Florence and who have every opportunity to harm the Medici and incite Florence to rise up against their government.

In order to underline my conclusion, I shall say once more: It is not Piero Soderini who is the enemy of this government, but the old order. Therefore, it would benefit this government to assail the old order, not Soderini. Some individuals who pander both to the populace and the Medici are very hostile to Soderini and would welcome the opportunity to denigrate him so that they can cast off the burden they bear with the people for having been its enemy. But they are doing this for themselves, not for the Medici, nor for those who wish to stand by the Medici in good and bad fortune.

I also wish to clarify this matter in another way. There are some citizens who flock to the Medici because they are anxious for two things: not to be harmed by the Medici by distancing themselves from them, and that if the old order were to return with Piero Soderini in power, not to be exiled from Florence by him. Presenting Soderini as an evil man, so as to make him hated by the people, lessens their fear of him. These citizens hope to succeed to his position should the old order return. In this sense they have less need to support the Medici, and more to hope for by distancing themselves from them. How this is contrary to the benefit of the Medici is plain to see, because the Medici cannot remain in Florence should the old order return, with or without Soderini. Those individuals who want the old order restored would be exiled if Soderini returns, but if the old order is reestablished without Soderini, they will remain in Florence and thrive. This is why they wish to destroy Soderini’s standing, so that they can strengthen their own faction, not that of the Medici. This is definitely not to the Medici’s advantage. In fact, it is in every possible way most harmful and dangerous for both the House of Medici and its government, as it removes the muzzles from many mouths that will surely and most readily bite them.

32. Machiavelli is referring to the faction of aristocrats.

LITERATURE

Today Machiavelli is considered a giant of political philosophy, his most widely read works being The Prince and The Discourses, neither of which had been published in his lifetime. In his day, however, Machiavelli was particularly appreciated as a writer of elegant prose and well-crafted tales, a successful playwright, and an original and accomplished poet. A great contemporary of Machiavelli, Mateo Bandello (who wrote the tale of Romeo and Juliet), remembers Giovanni de’ Medici asking Machiavelli to entertain the company with one of his delightful “novelle.” (Unfortunately, “Belfagor” is the only one that has come down to us). This section offers a glimpse of Machiavelli’s literary range.