Something new near the Sun

Nicolás Machiavelli and the plebeian republicanism of the frontier

Abstract

In recent years, a number of theorists from Latin America and the Caribbean have undertaken the exploration and conceptualization of plebeian, popular, or democratic republicanism. Despite the diverse range of approaches and perspectives, which encompass disciplines such as philosophy, political theory, and history, these scholarly endeavors share a common denominator: the presence of Nicolás Machiavelli. In fact, the corpus of the Italian author is like the Sun around which all these discussions gravitate: some texts, like the planet Mercury, are closer to the Sun, while others, like Neptune, are farther away. The aim of this article is to revisit Machiavelli's solar aspect, particularly in his Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius, and History of Florence, in order to map two areas of his surface that have been explored by previous readings. These areas are: I) the configuration of the notion of republic based on the presence of humors, and II) the Ciompi revolt, to examine the link with leaders and elucidate the encrypted presence of America.