Anciens et modernes : Machiavel et la lecture polybienne de l'histoire
Résumé
This article re-examines the question of the influence of Polybius' book VI, and precisely of his theory of anacyclosis, on Machiavelli, who was not able to read Greek and had to resort to mediators. If Machiavelli and Polybius construct differently their interpretation of the history of Rome, it is not so much owing to antinomic philosophies of History that to very different historical situations and to the necessity of mediation. Machiavelli, who otherwise knows and cites Polybius, takes from book VI the suggestion of struggles that led Rome to the mixed constitution, and perceives with great acumen in the very balance of the powers the risks of malfunction. However, he neglected or did not understand some passages where Polybius, wanting to be accurate, plays with the etymology of the Greek terms.