The Art of War
A dialogue in seven books in which the condottiere Fabrizio Colonna, a guest in the Rucellai gardens, sets out how a state should recruit, train, arm and deploy its soldiers. Following Roman models, it defends a disciplined citizen infantry against mercenary companies and links military order to civil life.
Understanding the text
Printed in Florence in 1521 and dedicated to Lorenzo di Filippo Strozzi, it is the only one of Machiavelli’s major political prose works published during his lifetime. It reflects his experience organizing the Florentine militia after 1506.
Key points
- 01
Citizen soldiers
Fabrizio insists that war should not be the private trade of professionals whose livelihood depends on the continuation of conflict.
- 02
Discipline
Training, order and the arrangement of battalions matter more than individual courage, and Roman practice offers lessons to be adapted rather than copied.
- 03
Limits
Critics have often judged that the dialogue underestimates artillery and firearms, which were transforming warfare in those same decades.
Explore the ideas in depth
Arms and citizenship
Read The Art of War as a political argument linking military discipline, citizen soldiers and the stability of a state.
Situating the text
Printed in Florence in 1521 and dedicated to Lorenzo di Filippo Strozzi, it is the only one of Machiavelli’s major political prose works published during his lifetime. It reflects his experience organizing the Florentine militia after 1506. A dialogue in seven books in which the condottiere Fabrizio Colonna, a guest in the Rucellai gardens, sets out how a state should recruit, train, arm and deploy its soldiers. Following Roman models, it defends a disciplined citizen infantry against mercenary companies and links military order to civil life.
Following the arguments
Citizen soldiers : Fabrizio insists that war should not be the private trade of professionals whose livelihood depends on the continuation of conflict. Discipline : Training, order and the arrangement of battalions matter more than individual courage, and Roman practice offers lessons to be adapted rather than copied. Limits : Critics have often judged that the dialogue underestimates artillery and firearms, which were transforming warfare in those same decades.
Continuing the reading
Read the opening of Book 1 on imitating the ancients and the final pages of Book 7, then compare them with chapters 12 to 14 of The Prince. Printed in Florence in 1521 and dedicated to Lorenzo di Filippo Strozzi, it is the only one of Machiavelli’s major political prose works published during his lifetime. It reflects his experience organizing the Florentine militia after 1506.
Questions to carry into your reading
- Why does Fabrizio distrust soldiers who make war their only profession?
- Which Roman practices does the dialogue propose to imitate, and how does it adapt them to the weapons of its own time?
Machiavelli treats the organization of armed force as part of a political order, not as a merely technical question.
How to read it
Read the opening of Book 1 on imitating the ancients and the final pages of Book 7, then compare them with chapters 12 to 14 of The Prince.
Editions & sources
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method ↗