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[[Image:Nicolo.jpg|left|250px]]
[[Image:Nicolo.jpg|left|250px]]
Was Machiavelli a Machiavellian? In other books he took an opposite view, emphasizing that when a state does not have a Prince (a king), the people must have civic virtue. In ''Discourses on Livy'' Machiavelli has been a major positive influence of modern conservative thought through his impact on [[civic humanism]]. He took the lead in defining what civic virtue means for a citizen of a republic--a state where the people are sovereign and not some king. For example a citizen has the duty to oppose corruption and when called upon fight for his country. His ideas on [[republicanism]] strongly influenced British, French and American thought on the duties of the good citizen, and can be traced through American history from the days of [[Benjamin Franklin]] and [[James Madison]] down to the 21st century.<ref>Paul A. Rahe, ed. ''Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy'' (2005); also Pocock (2003). </ref>
Was Machiavelli a Machiavellian? In other books he took an opposite view, emphasizing that when a state does not have a Prince (a king), the people must have civic virtue. In ''Discourses on Livy'' Machiavelli has been a major positive influence of modern conservative thought through his impact on [[civic humanism]]. He took the lead in defining what civic virtue means for a citizen of a republic--a state where the people are sovereign and not some king. For example a citizen has the duty to oppose corruption and when called upon fight for his country. His ideas on [[republicanism]] strongly influenced British, French and American thought on the duties of the good citizen, and can be traced through American history from the days of [[Benjamin Franklin]] and [[James Madison]] down to the 21st century.<ref>Paul A. Rahe, ed. ''Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy'' (2005)</ref>
==Biography==
==Biography==
Machiavelli's father was a Florentine lawyer of moderate means, who came from an old and noble family. He supervised the superb humanistic education the boy received in the classics, literature, philosophy, and law.
Machiavelli's father was a Florentine lawyer of moderate means, who came from an old and noble family. He supervised the superb humanistic education the boy received in the classics, literature, philosophy, and law.