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Machiavelli's optical arts: political theory, action, democracy and deception
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Laura JANARA Draft: please do not cite without permission ## email not listed ##
to go to find him” (AW, 2003, Bk. III [127, 130], p. 73).
25
But, Spackman clarifies, the goal is not simply
to storm a blinded enemy. Rather, the utility of artillery is to be assessed “from the point of view of
messages that can or cannot be transmitted, of the ‘text’ that can or cannot be constructed. … the
general’s voice, the colored banners, the roll of drums, the order of the troops according to the arms they
carry, and so on, would be obscured by the smoke and literal noise of artillery” (Spackman, 1993, 183).
That is, on the battlefield, the military virtuoso works like a Renaissance painter to shape, through acts of
realist simulation and trompe l’oeil, the perceptions of both his own troops (always a potential enemy
[Spackman, 1993, 187, 192]) and the overt enemy. As in the polity, the virtuoso actor manufactures
appearances, but in the context of warfare, does so to confuse and disorient the enemy rather than to draw
together to foster shared goods (Spackman, 1993, 184). For instance, Fabrizio argues that a “captain
ought with every art to contrive to divide the forces of his enemy, either by making him suspect his own
men in whom he confides, or by giving him a cause that has him separate his own troops and, through
this, become weaker” (AW, 2003, Bk. VI [187], p. 134). Citing military procedures found in classical
texts, he further recommends the production of “some new accident” that, “by the novelty of the thing,
makes [the enemy] marvel and, through this cause, remain in doubt and stalled” (AW, 2003, Bk. VI [186],
p. 134).
26
One should also train the enemy in one’s own habits, then disrupt this fostered expectation as
“No policy is better than that which remains hidden from the enemy until you have executed it”. You
should also therefore “Change policy when you become aware that the enemy has foreseen it” (AW, 2003,
Bk. VII [158, 171], p. 158). Meanwhile, quickly recast any unforeseen accident as already foreseen (AW,
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“[P]erò io crederrei che fusse piú prudenza lasciare accecarsi il nimico da se stesso, che volere tu,
cieco, andarlo a trovare” (Dell’arte della guerra in O, v1, 601).
26
Machiavelli draws from Hannibal’s experience when surrounded by Fabius Maximus. Attaching at
night lit torches to the horns of a stream of oxen stumped Fabius who was then distracted from blocking
Hannibal’s passage. In D, he again notes “the important effect produced by some unforeseen incident
caused by something new that is seen or heard in the midst of a conflict or heat of battle”. “[S]uch
artifices may safely and with advantage be employed when they have more the appearance of reality than
of fiction” (D, 1997, III:14, P?; see III:40, 349).
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Laura JANARA Draft: please do not cite without permission
## email not listed ##
to go to find him” (AW, 2003, Bk. III [127, 130], p. 73).
But, Spackman clarifies, the goal is not simply
to storm a blinded enemy. Rather, the utility of artillery is to be assessed “from the point of view of
messages that can or cannot be transmitted, of the ‘text’ that can or cannot be constructed. … the
general’s voice, the colored banners, the roll of drums, the order of the troops according to the arms they
carry, and so on, would be obscured by the smoke and literal noise of artillery” (Spackman, 1993, 183).
That is, on the battlefield, the military virtuoso works like a Renaissance painter to shape, through acts of
realist simulation and trompe l’oeil, the perceptions of both his own troops (always a potential enemy
[Spackman, 1993, 187, 192]) and the overt enemy. As in the polity, the virtuoso actor manufactures
appearances, but in the context of warfare, does so to confuse and disorient the enemy rather than to draw
together to foster shared goods (Spackman, 1993, 184). For instance, Fabrizio argues that a “captain
ought with every art to contrive to divide the forces of his enemy, either by making him suspect his own
men in whom he confides, or by giving him a cause that has him separate his own troops and, through
this, become weaker” (AW, 2003, Bk. VI [187], p. 134). Citing military procedures found in classical
texts, he further recommends the production of “some new accident” that, “by the novelty of the thing,
makes [the enemy] marvel and, through this cause, remain in doubt and stalled” (AW, 2003, Bk. VI [186],
p. 134).
One should also train the enemy in one’s own habits, then disrupt this fostered expectation as
“No policy is better than that which remains hidden from the enemy until you have executed it”. You
should also therefore “Change policy when you become aware that the enemy has foreseen it” (AW, 2003,
Bk. VII [158, 171], p. 158). Meanwhile, quickly recast any unforeseen accident as already foreseen (AW,
25
“[P]erò io crederrei che fusse piú prudenza lasciare accecarsi il nimico da se stesso, che volere tu,
cieco, andarlo a trovare” (Dell’arte della guerra in O, v1, 601).
26
Machiavelli draws from Hannibal’s experience when surrounded by Fabius Maximus. Attaching at
night lit torches to the horns of a stream of oxen stumped Fabius who was then distracted from blocking
Hannibal’s passage. In D, he again notes “the important effect produced by some unforeseen incident
caused by something new that is seen or heard in the midst of a conflict or heat of battle”. “[S]uch
artifices may safely and with advantage be employed when they have more the appearance of reality than
of fiction” (D, 1997, III:14, P?; see III:40, 349).
29
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