Book · 1531 · Historiography
Discourses on Livy
- mentions
- 10
- people
- 5
- podcasts
- 5
- episodes
- 5
- critical mentions
- 0
Machiavelli has a book that discourses on Livy it was a really beautiful examination of the great Roman historian Livi who told us the story of the transition from Republic in to or from from monarchy into Republic among the Romans.
What they say about it
- Discusses Machiavellian political advice“counter to the advice given”2
- Compares with The Prince“The Prince and The Discourses on Livy”2
The best things said about it
In Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli talks about how one of the reasons the Roman Empire's fall was instigated is that these generals were months away on the frontier.
Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy are his big bid to have a popular, important, prestigious thing.
Ada Palmer Dwarkesh Podcast · Jun 2026 The longest chapter in Machiavelli’s two great works, The Prince and The Discourses on Livy, is the chapter on conspiracy.
Some scholars have asserted that Machiavelli himself was not very Machiavellian; his later works, Discourses on Livy and The Art of War, seem to run counter to the advice given in The Prince.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
How it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
5 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
Discourses on Livy by Niccolò Machiavelli is a foundational work of political philosophy that examines the mechanics of republican government, institutional stability, and the historical lessons of the Roman Empire. On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Ada Palmer and Dwarkesh Patel explored Machiavelli's ideas at length, noting that he spent decades writing the text as a major scholarly bid for public prestige and intellectual influence. Patel highlighted how Machiavelli used the writings of the Roman historian Livy to analyze the root causes of imperial collapse, regime transitions, and class conflict. Harvey Mansfield appeared on Conversations with Tyler to discuss Machiavelli's twin masterworks, pointing out that The Discourses and The Prince share some of the longest and most detailed analyses of political conspiracy in Western literature. On The Megyn Kelly Show, Spencer Klavan similarly praised the book as a brilliant examination of the transition from monarchy to republic in ancient Rome. Podcast guests frequently turn to the text to illuminate historical cycles, institutional checks and balances, and the enduring complexities of statecraft and political human nature.
Every mention
Dwarkesh Patel In Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli talks about how one of the reasons the Roman Empire's fall was instigate… 3
“In Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli talks about how one of the reasons the Roman Empire's fall was instigated is that these generals were months away on the frontier”
“A lot of The Prince and Discourses on Livy is dedicated to:”
“Why does he spend two decades writing Discourses on Livy?”
Ada Palmer So Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy are his big bid to have a popular, important, prestigious thing, becaus… 2
“This goes back to the thing in The Discourses.”
“So Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy are his big bid to have a popular, important, prestigious thing, because discourses on Livy are a bigger deal and more important and more interesting to everybody, and more likely to sell and get attention, than a Florentine history or a treatise of original thought on princes.”
Spencer Klavan but he has a book that discourses on Livy it was a really beautiful examination of the great Roman historia… 2
“but he has a book that discourses on Livy it was a really beautiful examination of the great Roman historian Livi”
“machiavelli has a book that discourses on Livy it was a really beautiful examination of the great Roman historian Livi who told us the story of the transition from Republic in to or from from monarchy into Republic among the Romans”
Harvey Mansfield The longest chapter in Machiavelli’s two great works, The Prince and The Discourses on Livy, is the chapter… 1
“The longest chapter in Machiavelli’s two great works, The Prince and The Discourses on Livy, is the chapter on conspiracy.”
Reid Hoffman now part of my interest in doing that is to not just take like Machiavelli's The Prince the discourses are… 1
“now part of my interest in doing that is to not just take like Machiavelli's The Prince the discourses are kind of the textbook of sociopathic no morals matter part of my interests in rewriting”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker1
“Some scholars have asserted that Machiavelli himself was not very Machiavellian; his later works, Discourses on Livy and The Art of War, seem to run counter to the advice given in The Prince.”
