THE DICTATORSHIP OF GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR IN FRANCESCO GUICCIARDINI’S “NOTES ON MACHIAVELLI’S “REFLECTIONS ON THE FIRST DECADE OF TITUS LIVIUS”

Abstract

The article is devoted to the consideration of the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar (49–44 BC) in the treatise of Francesco Guicciardini (1483–1540) “Revenues about reasoning about the first decade of Titus Livius” Machiavelli. Gaius Julius Caesar (100–44) as the founder of the regime of personal power in ancient Rome, within the framework of the political thought of the Renaissance, is of considerable interest. Of considerable interest, in particular, this issue is in the scientific heritage of Francesco Guicciardini (1483–1540), contemporary and friend Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527), political and state figure.It is known that the Italian revival was characterized by the indicated attention to antiquity, with which prominent intellectual representatives of the era felt a subtle relationship. Having reached significant heights in cultural development, Italy of the Renaissance, unfortunately, could not come to a single nation state. This contradiction and the historical paradox were persistently comprehended by prominent representatives of Italian political thought.For example, Machiavelli directly stated the responsibility of Italian rulers for the loss of independence of his own country. In the incomplete treatise “Revenues to the reasoning about the first decade of Titus Livius ”, Machiavelli Guicciardini critically evaluates Caesar’s dictatorship, expressing a series of arguments.The unfinished treatise of Francesco Guicciardini is a rereaction in a multifaceted polemic character on the work of Machiavelli “Revenues to the reasoning about the first decade of Titus Livius”. The flip side of this phenomenon is the arbitrariness of decisions, the difficulty of achieving “good” goals from a holder of sole power. There may be objective prerequisites for tyranny that primarily contributed to the possibility of Caesar’s rise to power. The main internal reason is called corruption, which made it possible, among other things, the possibility of extending Caesar’s term of governance of the Roman province of Gaul. But the main reason is civil conflicts and spoiled social morality. Thanks to this, Caesar and his ilk received a large number of means to achieve sole power.From the point of view of the authors of the Guicciardini article, he does not pay sufficient attention because one of the main reasons for the creation of Caesar’s dictatorship was his desire to protect himself from a possible persecution by the Roman Senate. At the level of his own political thinking, Caesar most likely was also a supporter of the republic, but was forced to combat it with all available means through the instinct of self-preservation. That is why he did not know what to do next, having received sole power, since he did not have a clear program of sole power and was known to be killed in the process of preparing for a new military expedition.