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CAPITOLO SESTO. 207
qualehe odore, e fare come gli areieri prudenti, ai quali
parendo il luogo dove disegnano ferire troppo lontano,
to its starting-point [for Machiavelli's theory of Cyclical Regeneration,
which is in many respects similar to the ancient doctrine of the
Stoics, see Discorsi, ii. 5]. This circular movement, which is strongly
marked in all departments of life, is most clearly seen in the political
world, where it leads to a succession of governments in fixed order
[Diseorsi, i. 2]. This movement too is not a capricious one ; it can be
calculated upon, hence ' egli _ facil eosa a oh1 esamina con diligenza
le cose passate, provedere in ogni repubbliea le future' [Disc. i. 39 ;
Op. iii. i2o]. But no nation can pass through many of these revolutions
without becoming exhausted: it grows 'corrupt,' and the body
politic, like the natural body, tends towards decay. It may be saved
for a time by some great man, who can ' bring it back to its startingpoint,'
and renew the vigour of its youth ; or again it may be destroyed
before its time by some excessive external force. But while one
nation sinks, another rises, and thus the number of prosperous states
in the world at any given moment is alway_ the same, just as the
quantity of good and evil also never varies though it is found now in
one spot, now in another [Disc. bk. ii. Introd.]. There can be no progress,
because human nature is naturally evil, and the level of humanity
can never be raised ; all things have been, and may be again ; ' tutte
le cose che sono state credo che possano essere ' [Lett. Fam. xxxviii;
Op. viii. 14o]. And again : ' chi vuol veder quello ehe ha ad essere,
consideri quello the _ stato ; perch6 tutte le cose del mondo, in ogni
tempo, hanno il proprio riscontro con gli antiehi tempi. I1 ehe nasce,
perch6 essendo quelle operate dagli uomini, che hanno e ebbero
sempre le medesime passioni, conviene di necessit_ the le sortiscano
il medesimo effetto' [Disc. iii. 43; Op. iii. 437]. Thus Machiavelli's
historical and ethical notions form part of a whole and hang
together, as will be seen in the notes to oh. xviii. It would not be
worth while to point out Machiavelli's errors now; that 'history
repeats itself' is a fallacy long ago disposed of: it is more important
to note some of the consequences of such theories upon his writings
and his method. As history does not merely give the data of the
problems which the politician has to solve, but shows him an exactly
parallel conjuncture of circumstances, if he can only find it, it follows
that all the teaching of practical politics must be done by example
[Op. iii. 7]. This method Machiavelli has consistently followed, and
it was certainly more likely to lead to useful results than the a 2brzori
method in vogue before his time, though it naturally led him to
exaggerate the importance of ancient institutions, which, as being
nearer the beginning, were therefore ex hypothesi better. In the
second place, such theories led Machiavelli to distrust human nature.