At a time when social scientists are increasingly focusing on the reasons why nations fail and democracies die, Filippo Sabetti turns to the opposite issue, asking instead why institutions endure. To do so, he presents Gasparo Contarini's sixteenth-century description of the Republic of Venice to help modern readers understand what made Venice the longest-lived self-constituted republic.
In its long history, Venice was the only city that succeeded in constructing a durable republicanism, and it was one of the earliest to depart from the hierarchical world of national monarchies and sovereignties. Sabetti suggests that students of politics will find Contarini's The Republic of Venice just as instructive, if not more so, as Machiavelli's The Prince. In his analysis of human nature, Contarini matches Machiavelli's secularism and realism, but goes much further; examining the case of Venice, he shows how it is possible for fallible human beings to construct a successful and stable government. This is the first modern English-language edition of Contarini's classic work, based directly on the original Latin.
At a time when social scientists are increasingly focusing on the reasons why nations fail and democracies die, Filippo Sabetti turns to the opposite issue, asking instead why institutions endure. To do so, he presents Gasparo Contarini's sixteenth-century description of the Republic of Venice to help modern readers understand what made Venice the longest-lived self-constituted republic.
In its long history, Venice was the only city that succeeded in constructing a durable republicanism, and it was one of the earliest to depart from the hierarchical world of national monarchies and sovereignties. Sabetti suggests that students of politics will find Contarini's The Republic of Venice just as instructive, if not more so, as Machiavelli's The Prince. In his analysis of human nature, Contarini matches Machiavelli's secularism and realism, but goes much further; examining the case of Venice, he shows how it is possible for fallible human beings to construct a successful and stable government. This is the first modern English-language edition of Contarini's classic work, based directly on the original Latin.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Gasparo Contarini and Enduring Institutions
Filippo Sabetti
Appendix A: The Myth and Anti-myth of Venice
Appendix B: Glossary of Terms
Appendix C: Principal Events in Gasparo Contarini’s Life
Notes on the Translation: The Latin of De magistratibus et
republica Venetorum
Giuseppe Pezzini
The Republic of Venice
Book I. The City and the Great Council
Book II. The Doge
Book III. The Senate, the Council of Ten, and the Courts
Book IV. Magistracies of the Republic
Book V. Magistracies beyond the City, the Army, and Civic
Institutions
References
Index
Gasparo Contarini (1483–1542) was a Venetian humanist scholar,
theologian, diplomat, and Roman Catholic cardinal. He was an
advocate of extensive reform within the church and a leader in the
movement for reconciliation with the Lutheran Reformers.
Filippo Sabetti is a professor of Political Science at McGill
University.
Giuseppe Pezzini is a lecturer in Latin at the University of St
Andrews, Scotland.
Amanda Murphy is a professor of English Language and Translation at
the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan.
“The Republic of Venice gives the reader a good look at the
institutions and ideas that fostered the city’s success and also
how some of those came to influence to the institutions of the
young United States.”
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