Discourse II.4. For he concludes the Discourse as follows: “This power and glory were
first diminished by the French, then eliminated by the Romans; and were eliminated so
much that although two thousand years ago the power of the Tuscans was great, at
present there is almost no memory of it. This thing has made me think whence arises this
oblivion of things, which will be discoursed of in the following chapter” (II.4.2; 138).
That is, after exhorting the “present Tuscans” to imitate the “ancient Tuscans”
Machiavelli reminds us in no uncertain terms that the Tuscan league was completely
obliterated, and that it was completely obliterated by Rome! If Machiavelli really is
trying to make a case for the mode of expansion employed by leagues and as opposed to
that of Rome, this does not seem to be the best advertisement for it. Still, Machiavelli
does not let things stand at simply saying the Romans wiped out the Tuscans. Although
Machiavelli will discourse more generally on “the oblivion of things” in II.5 he does not
forget that in it he is providing greater insight into how the Tuscan league was eliminated
by Rome. For he concludes II.5 by reminding us that the argument this Discourse has
been at least in part in the service of explaining how the impressive life of the ancient
Tuscans has been lost, and he tells us even more forcefully that “Roman power”
eliminated it: “Tuscany was then, as was said above, once powerful, full of religion and
virtue, and had its customs and ancestral language, all of which were eliminated by
Roman power. So, as was said, the memory of its name alone remains of it” (II.5.2; 140).
Perhaps, then, in the fuller explanation of Rome’s elimination of Tuscany we will
discover the ultimate grounds of Machiavelli’s preference for leagues.
In this regard, we note that Machiavelli indicates along with being an account of
how “this oblivion of things” – and, in particular, the oblivion that has arisen surrounding
the Tuscan league -- arises, Discourse II.5 is also a continuation of Machiavelli’s account
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Convention