Founding the Republic Through the Mixed Army: Political Form as Military Form in Machiavelli’s <i>The Art of War</i>

In The Prince Machiavelli asserts that ‘a wise prince should have no other object, nor any other thought, nor take anything else as his art but that of war, its orders and discipline’. Focusing on this intersection of warfare and politics in Machiavelli’s thought, I investigate the modes and orders Machiavelli prescribes for ordering an army that is conducive to a republican polity. In contrast to civic humanist interpretations that emphasize the instrumental role of arms in fostering civic virtue and love of the fatherland, I explore the interest-driven role of arms in maintaining the balance of power in the Machiavellian republic. Secondly, in contrast to democratic populist interpretations that view the Machiavellian army as a democratic institution of equality, I argue that Machiavelli conceives of the army as a republican institution that reflects the balance of power between the grandi and the popolo . Consequently, the structure of the regime mirrors the power structure of the army, where civil politics is a well-ordered form of violent politics. The task of Machiavelli’s republican army does not end when external warfare ends, but the army actively performs the Machiavellian virt?? within domestic politics.