Cicero was well known in Florence during Humanism and Renaissance. He is particularly relevant in two masterpieces of N. Machiavelli: Il Principe and the Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio; but their connections are still more important. Cicero’s and Machiavelli’s biographies show some interesting correspondences: they both began their political career starting from a condition of homines novi since their families didn’t belong to the rich urban aristocracies in Rome and in Florence. They both were persecuted because of their political commitment: Cicero was exiled and assassinated, Machiavelli was progressively marginalized from public and political life. They composed their greater political works when their political relevance was clearly reduced. Cicero’s and Machiavelli’s political thought is characterized by two opposite anthropological conceptions, nevertheless they both agree on the importance that statesman has a good knowledge of history.
