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personified. An actual being, an entity or agent, takes over the notion, and hence we have
the power of God over the cosmos. This is why the Christian era intensifies the idea that
human beings should not create their own realm independently, but rather should work
for the glory of a higher being. Machiavelli finds this a grave error, for the values of
Christianity are not conducive to either civic life or imperial conquest. He advocates a
different ethics, that of independence and self-reliance: “And those defenses alone are
good, are certain, and are lasting, that depend on you yourself and on your virtù” (P
XXIV 97).
35
In Machiavelli’s empire the human being acts for himself and by himself. This
does not mean the he is perfect or perfectly free to do as he wishes. There are forces that
conspire against him and his projects—first and foremost Fortuna but also time and the
movement of the cosmos, which affects his internal bodily humors. Yet what
Machiavelli wants is to proffer a view of the human being as autonomous even if
constrained by contingency and natural factors. His empire is one of human values by
which individuals, especially men of state (since politics orders human endeavors), can
act without moral constraints, either internal or external. Virtù entails a faith in one’s own
capacity to act with foresight, flexibility, and forceful determination when needed. A
great man who is able to possess it, like Cesare Borgia, goes beyond good and evil and
seeks imperio for himself.
36
He may fail, but the task that he sets for himself is difficult
enough that if there is success it is as admirable as a great work of art. Owing to the
cyclical nature of history, however, this new empire will not last forever. Yet if it ever
does come into existence, Machiavelli will exult at its advent. Machiavelli is not merely
35
This is the ‘post-Christian’ ethos that Strauss recognizes in Machiavelli (p. 171).
36
Cesare acquired his initial power through Fortune but maintained and expanded it through his own virtù.
Convention