A Conversation with Machiavelli · Pair 15 of 39
Editor's summary Machiavelli holds it never wise to risk all one's fortune without all one's forces, as Tullus and Mettius did by staking their cities on three champions, and as those almost always do who guard passes where they cannot keep all their forces. Guicciardini does not believe the conclusion, most true though it is, condemns the Albans and Romans: what each took from itself it took from the other, and it is credible they knew themselves equal; presupposing that equality, he does not see that the choice can be blamed. Guarding passes, he believes, needs a good eye, weighing whether the pass can be held, whether costing the enemy time matters, and whether one trusts one's forces in open country; few captains have tried it, not for fear of the risk, but because it is difficult.
Che non si debbe mettere a pericolo tutta la fortuna, e non tutte le forze; e per questo spesso il guardare i passi è dannoso.
That one must not put in danger all the fortune, and not all the forces; and for this often the guarding of the passes is damaging.
Argument. The rule, then the first case. It was never judged a wise course to put in danger all your fortune and not all the forces: the danger is the mismatch, everything staked on part of what one has. This is done in several ways. The first is the Roman and Alban one: Tullus and Mettius committed the whole fortune of their fatherlands, and the virtù of their armies, to the virtù and fortune of three citizens each. The kings did not see that the labour of their predecessors in ordering the republic, to keep it long free and its citizens defenders of their liberty, was made almost vain when so few could lose it. Machiavelli says the thing could not have been worse considered by those kings. He speaks of the kings' predecessors ordering "the republic" to live long free: Rome under its third king is given the language of a free city, and the ordering is what the combat put at risk.
History. The combat of the Horatii and the Curiatii, three brothers for Rome and three for Alba, under Tullus Hostilius, Rome's third king, and Mettius Fufetius, dictator of Alba (Livy 1.23-25). The Roman Horatius survived and Alba became subject to Rome. Machiavelli's previous chapter (I.22) draws other lessons from the same story.
Argument. The second case, and its condition. The same inconvenience is fallen into almost always by those who, when the enemy comes, try to hold the difficult places and guard the passes. Such a deliberation will almost always be damaging, unless all one's forces can conveniently be held in that difficult place; then it is to be taken. Where the place is rough and cannot hold them all, it is damaging. The general rule is hedged, "almost always", and carries its exception; the final condition is stated flat. The rubric says "often", the body "almost always" twice.
Argument. Why the guarded pass fails. What makes him judge so is the example of those who, assailed by a powerful enemy in mountain country, have never tried to fight on the passes, but have gone beyond them or waited within, on gentle ground. The reason is the one just given: many men cannot be led to guard alpine places, for they cannot live there long and the places are narrow; the enemy, who wants only to pass, comes in force, while the defender, who does not know when the enemy will come, cannot wait in force in narrow and sterile places. When the pass is lost, the peoples and the rest of the troops that trusted in it are struck with such terror, most of the times, that their virtù is never tried, and the defender loses all his fortune with part of his forces. The chapter's opening formula returns as the result.
Cross-reference. The ring closes: .01's "all your fortune, and not all the forces" Machiavelli .01 returns as "all your fortune with part of your forces". Here the danger is no longer a choice, as it was for Tullus and Mettius, but what follows from a pass the peoples and the army confided in.
Argument. Two proofs. Hannibal crossed the Alps and then the Apennines with great difficulty; the Romans nonetheless waited for him first on the Ticino and then in the plain of Arezzo, preferring to have their army consumed by the enemy where it could win than to lead it up into the mountains to be destroyed by the site. And whoever reads the histories with judgment will find very few virtuous captains who tried to hold such passes, both for the reasons given and because passes cannot all be closed, the mountains being like open country: they have many paths besides the usual ones, known to the people of the place if not to strangers, and with their help an invader is always led anywhere.
History. In 218 BC Hannibal crossed the Alps; the Romans met his cavalry on the Ticinus and were beaten. In 217 the consul Gaius Flaminius waited for him at Arretium (Arezzo); Hannibal crossed the Apennines, struggled through the flooded marshes of the Arno, marched past him, and destroyed his army at Lake Trasimene. Machiavelli's "the Romans awaited him" is true of both places; that both encounters were Roman defeats he does not say, and his point is only where they chose to fight.
Cross-reference. "You" changes sides here: the one led through by the country people is the invader, and "whoever opposes you" is the defender of .02 and .03 Machiavelli .02.
Argument. A very fresh example. In 1515, when Francis I came to recover Lombardy, his opponents founded their hopes on the Swiss holding the passes. The king left aside the two or three places they guarded and came by another, unknown path, and was in Italy before they had foreseen it; the Swiss, frightened, withdrew into Milan, and all Lombardy went over to the French, having lost the opinion that the mountains would stop them.
History. In August 1515 the Swiss, fighting for Duke Massimiliano Sforza and the league that supported him, held Susa and the main Alpine roads. On the advice of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio the French army crossed by the Col de l'Argentière (Larche) and came down the Stura valley, hauling its artillery over a route thought impassable; a French force under La Palice surprised and captured Prospero Colonna, commanding the league's cavalry, at Villafranca. The Swiss fell back towards Milan, and part of them came to terms with the French; the rest fought and were beaten at Marignano on 13-14 September. Machiavelli stops before the battle, with the withdrawal into Milan and the defection of the Lombard peoples.
Cross-reference. Guicciardini disputes the account of the crossing, which he says costs the defender nothing, and carries the story on to Marignano.
Established from the 1824 edition (WIT-NM-DISC-1824-IA), page-image-backed, which governs. Collated against the 1554 Giglio printing, Venice (WIT-NM-DISC-1554-IA), which is comparison evidence only.
Paragraph divisions are editorial. The witness prints the chapter as one unbroken block.
quando ei commisero la fortuna tutta della Patria loro — 1824. The 1554 witness reads quando è commisso ne la fortuna tutta de la patria loro. The 1554 verb is garbled (è commisso, apparently for commissono); the 1824 ei commisero, "they committed", has Tullus and Mettius as subject.
di tre de' loro cittadini — 1824. The 1554 witness reads di tre di loro cittadini. Same sense: three of their citizens. Rests on the transcript.
E la cagione ne è suta la preallegata — 1824. The 1554 witness reads et la cagione ne è suta la detta di sopra. The 1824 Latinism preallegata, "the aforesaid", against the 1554's plain "the one said above". Same sense. Rests on the transcript.
tanto terrore, che senza potere esperimentare la virtù di essi — 1824. The 1554 witness reads tanto errore, che senza potere esperimentare la uirtu di esse. Checked on the leaf: the 1554 prints errore, "error", where the 1824 has terrore, "terror", the word the losing of the pass would bring; and esse, which takes the genti, where the 1824 essi takes the peoples and the army together.
e perché e' non si possono chiudere tutti, sendo i monti come campagna — 1824. The 1554 witness reads & perche e non si possono diuidere tutti, essendo i monti come campagne. Checked on the leaf. The 1554 diuidere, "divide", where the 1824 has chiudere, "close": the passes cannot all be closed. Campagna against campagne was escalated under D203(b) as a word-level difference at a letter the scan breaks: the singular construes (the mountains are like open country) and is kept, D38 (D235).
le quali se non sono note a' forestieri, sono note a' paesani — 1824. The 1554 witness reads lequali se non sono a forestieri, sono note a paesani. Checked on the leaf: the 1554 drops the first note, which the 1824 repeats.
Talché loro sbigottiti si ritirarono in Milano, e tutt'i popoli di Lombardia si aderirono alle Genti francesi — 1824. The 1554 witness reads Talche eglino isbigottiti, si ritirarono in Milano, et tutti i popoli di Lombardia si accostarono alle genti Franciose. The 1554 si accostarono, "drew near to", where the 1824 has si aderirono, "adhered to". Rests on the transcript.
Orthography, capitalization, word division and punctuation follow the governing witness throughout; no reading is hybridized between witnesses.
partito savio. "A wise course": partito is the chapter's word, and Guicciardini's: "this course" (.01), "such a course is to be taken ... the course is damaging" (.02). One English word across both units (D236).
come Tullo e Mezio. "As Tullus and Mettius did": Tullus Hostilius, king of Rome, and Mettius Fufetius, dictator of Alba, who staked the contest between the two cities on three brothers a side, the Horatii and the Curiatii (Livy 1.23-25). Machiavelli calls both "kings" at the end of the paragraph (quelli Re). Chapter I.22 is on the same combat.
quando ei commisero. "When they committed": ei, they. The 1554 edition's verb is garbled (NM-DISC-I23-D001).
la virtù di tanti uomini, quanti. "The virtù of so many men as": virtù left in Italian (D16), three times in the chapter (.01 twice, .03). The armies' virtù is set beside the three champions' "virtù and fortune".
era quasi che suta vana. "Had been almost vain": quasi of degree, as quasi sempre, "almost always" (.02); suta is stata.
Cadesi ancora in questo inconveniente. "This inconvenience is fallen into also": the impersonal si with an agent (per coloro), so a passive; inconveniente in the older sense, a drawback that follows (D133).
se già ... tu non potessi. "Unless ... you could": se già ... non, the exception.
lo esempio di coloro. "The example of those": the subject is postponed after Questo, as an apposition; the English keeps the comma.
luoghi alpestri. "Alpine places": mountainous and rough, in lower case, set against luoghi benigni, "benign places", gentle ground. The word keeps the Alps (.04) in view.
la preallegata. "The before-alleged": a chancery word. The English keeps the root of allegare, "allege", which Guicciardini uses of this chapter's Roman example (allegato nel Discorso). The 1554 edition has the plain la detta di sopra (NM-DISC-I23-D003).
non è possibile sostenere un nimico. "It is not possible to withstand an enemy": sostenere of resisting an attack. The glossary's "detain" is the custodial sense (FG I.10).
venga grosso ad urtarti. "Comes in force to strike you": grosso, in strength; il venire grosso, "the coming in force"; aspettarlo grosso, "await him in force". A scoped exception to D207, which keeps grosso of men "gross" (D238). Guicciardini answers with gente grosse and possa esservi urtato.
avendo ad alloggiarsi per più tempo. "Having to lodge himself for a longer time": avere a after a gerund takes "have to", as after "so as" (D222, D237).
che tu ti avevi presupposto tenere. "Which you had presupposed holding": presupporre as the glossary.
tanto terrore. "So much terror": the subject is held to the end of its clause, after the two places it enters (D18). The 1554 edition prints errore, "error" (NM-DISC-I23-D004).
la virtù di essi. "Their virtù": essi takes the peoples and the residue of the troops; the 1554 esse takes the troops alone (NM-DISC-I23-D004).
rimani perdente. "You remain the loser": the second person runs from .02 to the end of .03 as the defender of the pass. It returns at .04 on the other side: there "you" is the one crossing, led by the country people, and the defender is "whoever opposes you" (sarai condotto, ti si oppone).
passasse le Alpi, che dividono la Lombardia dalla Francia. "Passed the Alps, which divide Lombardy from France": the comma makes the first relative non-restrictive; the second, quelle che dividono la Lombardia dalla Toscana, is restrictive, for Machiavelli calls the Apennines Alps too.
passasse le Alpi. Hannibal crossed the Alps in 218 BC and the Apennines, between Lombardy and Tuscany, the next spring.
in sul Tesino, e dipoi nel piano di Arezzo. "On the Ticino, and afterwards in the plain of Arezzo": the Romans met Hannibal on the Ticino (the Roman Ticinus) in 218 BC; in 217 the consul Flaminius waited for him at Arezzo, and was destroyed at Lake Trasimene. dipoi as D187.
chi leggerà sensatamente. "Whoever reads ... with sense": with judgment. "Sensibly" has drifted towards prudence.
virtuosi Capitani. "Virtuous captains": the adjective of virtù (glossary), not moral praise.
perché e' non si possono chiudere tutti. "Because they cannot all be closed": e', they (the passes), as ei at .01. The 1554 edition reads diuidere, "divide" (NM-DISC-I23-D005).
sendo i monti come campagna. "The mountains being like open country": campagna as NM I.16 in una campagna, "in open country". The 1554 plural campagne was put to David under D203(b); the singular construes and stands (D235; NM-DISC-I23-D005).
a' paesani. "To the country people": those of the place. Kept apart from forestieri, "strangers" (D57), and from Guicciardini's uomini del paese, "men of the country" (D238).
contro alla voglia di chi ti si oppone. "Against the will of whoever opposes you": in this idiom voglia is "will", not D117's "longing", which would read as yearning. A recorded collapse with volontà (D240).
uno freschissimo esempio nel 1515. "A very fresh example in 1515": Francis I crossed the Alps in August 1515 by a little-used pass, turning the Swiss who held Susa and the main roads, and beat them at Marignano on 13-14 September. Guicciardini's reply takes up the battle Machiavelli leaves out.
il maggiore fondamento che facevano. "The greatest foundation that ... made": what they founded their hopes on. Fondamento returns: "that foundation of theirs remained vain".
e fu prima in Italia, e loro appresso, che lo avessero presentito. "And was in Italy, and near them, before they had foreseen it": prima ... che, before; presentire, to perceive beforehand. loro appresso is read as appresso a loro, near them; "and they after [him]" is possible, since loro is a subject in the next sentence, but fits prima ... che less well.
si aderirono alle Genti francesi. "Adhered to the French troops": genti, troops, as il residuo delle genti tue (.03). The 1554 edition reads si accostarono (NM-DISC-I23-D007).
sendo mancati di quella opinione avevano. "Having failed of that opinion they had": mancare, fail (D206); opinione as D02. The relative che is left out in the Italian, and the English leaves it out too.
Che non si debbe mettere a pericolo tutta la fortuna e non tutte le forze; e per questo, spesso il guardare i passi è dannoso
That one must not put in danger all the fortune and not all the forces; and for this, often the guarding of the passes is damaging Canestrini's setting of the chapter title, without a stop and with a comma after per questo: Machiavelli's rubric in lower case. It is heading apparatus, not Guicciardini's (D32).
Argument. The conclusion granted, its first case denied. Guicciardini does not believe that from the conclusion, even though most true, one can reprove the course the Albans and Romans took by agreement. Each ventured, in Machiavelli's words, all its fortune and not all its forces, but what each took from itself it took from its companion, so the loss or the gain was equal; and equal courses can ill be reproved. Had the Romans fought with part against all the Albans' forces it would have been imprudence; fighting part against an equal part, they stood as if all had fought against all. Then the motive, in graded steps: he grants that the kinship of the two peoples led them to so mild a contest, and that neither expected ill treatment from the other; yet it is "credible" that the principal reason was their knowing themselves equal in forces, so that it was hard to judge which side ordinary war would favour, and it "seems likely" that a side which knew itself stronger would not have been so good, nor so imprudent, as to accept. On that presupposition he does not see that the deliberation can be blamed, even between unrelated peoples: to settle whose the dominion shall be without the killing and destruction of war. And if it seems too resolute to stake all at a stroke and give up the chance of recovering, the counterweight is that the other party is in the same condition, so that if it makes the loss easier, it makes the victory easier too.
Cross-reference. Machiavelli blamed the two kings for leaving the republic in the power of so few Machiavelli .01. Guicciardini moves the agency to the two peoples and adds that they agreed, which turns a rash staking of the republic into a bargain on equal terms, and, if the two were equal in strength as he thinks credible, a blameless one. He does not deny the rule; he does not believe this case can be reproved under it.
Argument. The passes: a judgment of cases. Not opposing the enemy on the passes of the Alps, he believes, needs good consideration and a good eye. The site may be such that the pass can reasonably be held, or lost at small cost to oneself and great cost to the enemy; the enemy may be so placed that delay matters much, and opposition at the pass may at least hold him many days, as with Flamininus in Macedonia. In each of these cases, he believes, the defence is laudable, and one reads that great men have made it on mountains and on rivers, where the reason is almost the same: Gonzalo at the Garigliano broke the French, and in Livy Scipio reproved Antiochus for not trying to bar the Hellespont. The captain must be expert and judge the site, the enemy and his own forces; and certainly, he says, it is easy for him to judge whether the place can be struck and whether it holds troops in force, since the difficulties of numbers and supply in narrow places can weigh on the one who tries to pass as on the one who bars him. And if the enemy does pass elsewhere, as the French did in 1515, the defender suffers no damage: he does not meet them, and loses nothing of the defences he could have made in the plain, as the Swiss made them. What undid the Swiss was neither the loss of the peoples' favour, which counts for little with soldiers, nor fright, which does not move a man who has not placed all his hope in the mountains, but other disorders, and disorders among themselves, which brought only part of them to fight at Marignano; had all fought, perhaps they would not have lost.
History. In 198 BC Titus Quinctius Flamininus faced Philip V of Macedon, entrenched in the gorge of the Aous in Epirus, for some forty days before a shepherd's path let him turn the position (Livy 32.9-12). The pass was lost as Machiavelli says passes are lost, by a path known to the people of the place; Guicciardini claims for it only the delay. In the winter of 1503 Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba held the line of the Garigliano against the French and on 29 December crossed it and routed them, after the waiting had worn the French down with rain, sickness and want; a case of delay, and of difficulties that weigh on the one who would pass, more than of a crossing barred. The victory secured the kingdom of Naples for Spain. At Marignano, on 13-14 September 1515, the Swiss who fought were the part of their army that had refused the terms some of their captains had made with the French at Gallarate, which is most likely what his "disorders among themselves" refers to; the "other disorders" he leaves unnamed.
Cross-reference. Machiavelli's Swiss were "frightened" and the peoples went over to the French Machiavelli .05: Guicciardini names exactly those two effects and denies that they decided the outcome at Marignano. Machiavelli's defender, once the pass is lost, "remains the loser" Machiavelli .03; Guicciardini's Swiss lose a battle they might, under his forse, have won. Machiavelli's "very few virtuous captains" who tried to hold passes Machiavelli .04 are met by the great men who, one reads, made this defence on mountains and rivers; at .04 Guicciardini still grants that few captains tried. His first case, a site where the pass can reasonably be held, is close to Machiavelli's own exception Machiavelli .02; the dispute lies in the others: delay, a pass lost cheaply, and what a turned pass costs.
Argument. Three tests for the captain, and the Roman example turned. Let him see whether he can hope to hold the pass, since to impede all the enemy's forces with part of one's own is a most secure course (an emended reading, D233); let him see whether at least making the enemy lose time matters; and, hoping either, as can readily happen, and he believes examples are found everywhere, he will be praised for opposing at the passes. Let him consider whether he confides more in his forces in open country than he fears the enemy's, and resolve accordingly, taking no account of the Romans' example: besides other reasons that might perhaps have decided them, it was also impossible for them, since they were not lords of the Alps by which Hannibal came, nor of the plain around them, and it would have been most imprudent to lead an army where it would have to fight the inhabitants as well as the enemy, without supplies. On the contrary, the example can be turned: if Hannibal suffered so much in the Alps from the harassment of the mountain peoples, how much more would he likely have suffered had he met the Romans there too.
History. In 218 BC the mountain peoples harried Hannibal's column in the passes (Livy 21.32-35). Cisalpine Gaul, on both banks of the Po, was Gallic country, where Rome had only just planted the colonies of Placentia and Cremona; the Boii and Insubres rose against them that year (Livy 21.25).
Cross-reference. The test of confidence answers Machiavelli's peoples and army who "confided" in the pass Machiavelli .03. The most secure course, to impede all the enemy's forces with part of one's own, already inverts Machiavelli's part-and-all formula, before .04 does it openly. His Roman example Machiavelli .04 is first made irrelevant (the Romans had no choice) and then evidence for the other side.
Argument. The fact kept, the cause refused. Few captains have set out to bar the passes, as Machiavelli says, though his "very few virtuous" captains become "few"; but not because they would not venture part of the forces with all the fortune, which, Guicciardini says, is not to be fled when so many other advantages concur as make good the forces that are lacking. The reason is that it is difficult to do.
Cross-reference. The words reverse Machiavelli's: "all your fortune with part of your forces" Machiavelli .03 becomes "part of the forces with all the fortune", and the course his .01 says was never judged wise becomes, under conditions, something not to be fled. The cause he refuses is one Machiavelli's .04 does not quite give: Machiavelli's own reasons there, supply and paths that cannot all be closed, are reasons of difficulty, so the reply ends nearer the chapter it answers than its opening suggests.
Established from Canestrini 1857, Opere inedite vol. 1, pp. 1–65 (WIT-FG-CONS-1857-CANESTRINI) — the editio princeps, which governs. Collated against Palmarocchi 1933 (WIT-FG-CONS-1933-PALMAROCCHI): page images and the Wikisource transcription consulted as collation evidence, not reproduced (LICENSE §5).
furono pari, e quando → furono pari; e quando (FG-CONS.1.23.01). Pass A ⟨,|;⟩, pass B ⟨;|,⟩; the 1933 edition prints a semicolon. D110.
si possa biasimare. di volere → si possa biasimare, di volere (FG-CONS.1.23.01). Pass A ⟨.|,⟩, pass B ⟨,|.⟩; lower case follows; the 1933 edition prints a comma. D110.
di chi difende; perché → di chi difende, perché (FG-CONS.1.23.02). Pass A ⟨;|,⟩, pass B ⟨,|;⟩; the 1933 edition prints a comma. D110.
come feciono e' Svizzeri: a' quali → come feciono e' Svizzeri; a' quali (FG-CONS.1.23.02). Both readers see a damaged mark, A ⟨;|.⟩, B ⟨:|;|.⟩; lower case follows. The 1933 comma is lighter than either reading, so the lighter reading both allow stands. D110.
e in Livio, Scipione ripres[e] Antioco. The 1857 witness reads e in Livio, Scipione ripreso Antioco. The 1933 witness reads ed in Livio, Scipione riprese Antioco. Both cold readers read ripreso without doubt. As printed the clause has no finite verb ("Scipio reproved" becomes "Scipio having been reproved") and barely construes. The scan prints e o-shaped throughout. Emended under D68 from the 1933 edition, as D200 and D214 (D232).
perché è sicurissimo [partito] con parte delle sue forze potere impedire. The 1857 witness reads perché è sicurissimo parato con parte delle sue forze potere impedire. The 1933 witness reads perché è sicurissimo partito con parte delle tue forze potere impedire. Both cold readers read parato, "prepared", without doubt. With a bare infinitive it barely construes; sicurissimo partito, "a most secure course", is the 1933 reading, and partito is the chapter's word in both authors (Machiavelli .01, .02; Guicciardini .01, .03). Emended under D68, as D126 and D214; every letter is bracketed (D233).
la perdita o il guadagno furono pari — 1857. The 1933 witness reads la perdita ed el guadagno furono pari. Both cold readers read o without doubt, at a letter the scan breaks; escalated under D203(b). Canestrini's o construes: the loss or the gain, whichever came, was equal for the two sides. The 1933 ed makes the loss and the gain equal to each other. Kept as printed, D38 (D231).
restorono così combattendo con parte delle forze loro — 1857. The 1933 witness reads restorono così potenti combattendo con parte delle forze loro. Both readers read Canestrini without potenti. In the 1933 edition the Romans remained as powerful fighting with part of their forces; in Canestrini they remained so fighting, così ... come se, as if they had fought with all against all.
come si legge di Flaminio Quinto in Macedonia — 1857. The 1933 witness reads come si legge di Tito Quinzio in Macedonia. One man either way: Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who in 198 BC forced Philip V's position on the Aous gorge in Epirus after holding before it some forty days (Livy 32.5-12). Canestrini's Guicciardini names him by cognomen and a garbled nomen; the 1933 edition by praenomen and nomen.
o almanco perderlo con poco danno suo — 1857. The 1933 witness reads o almanco perderlo con poco danno tuo. Canestrini's suo is the defender's own loss; the 1933 tuo addresses the captain in the second person, as Machiavelli's chapter does throughout.
possono militare a chi tenta passare — 1857. The 1933 witness reads può militare a chi tenta passare. Canestrini's plural takes the two difficulties together as subject; the 1933 singular takes them as one.
nella quale s'avessino combattuto tutti — 1857. The 1933 witness reads nella quale s'avessino combattuti tutti. Agreement of the participle only; same sense.
con parte delle sue forze — 1857. The 1933 witness reads con parte delle tue forze. As at .02, Canestrini keeps the captain in the third person, the 1933 edition turns to the second.
s'ha a considerare. The 1857 witness reads [si/s'] ha a considerare (a damaged mark). The 1933 witness reads s'ha a considerare. The readers split on the mark before ha: one read si, the other s'. Same word, si; read with the 1933 edition, the elided form, as D72 (D234).
se bene la consanguinità. The 1857 witness reads se bene l[a/o] consanguinità (a damaged letter). The 1933 witness reads se bene la consanguinità. Both readers doubted the vowel of the article; lo does not agree with consanguinità, and the 1933 edition reads la (D234).
totalmente, e perché l'uno. The 1857 witness reads totalmente, [e/a] perché l'uno (a damaged letter). The 1933 witness reads totalmente e perché l'uno. Both readers doubted whether the letter is e or a; it prints a-shaped, as barless e does throughout the scan. a perché does not construe, and the 1933 edition reads e (D234).
che con ragione si può sperare. The 1857 witness reads che con ragion[e/o] si può sperare (a damaged letter). The 1933 witness reads che con ragione si può sperare. Both readers doubted the final letter; con ragiono does not construe, and the 1933 edition reads ragione (D234).
con gli uomini del paese. The 1857 witness reads con gli [u/n]omini del paese (a damaged letter). The 1933 witness reads con gli uomini del paese. Both readers doubted the first letter, the scan breaking u into n; the 1933 edition reads uomini (D234).
Orthography, capitalization, word division and punctuation follow the governing witness throughout; no reading is hybridized between witnesses.
Io non credo che dalla conclusione che fa il Discorso, ancora che sia verissima. "I do not believe that, from the conclusion which the Discourse makes, even though it be most true": the opening grants the conclusion and denies only that it reproves the Albans and Romans. Io non credo is Guicciardini's assent turned negative; ancora che, "even though", as the glossary. Discorso is Machiavelli's chapter, capitalised by Canestrini, as at .03 (allegato nel Discorso).
il partito che d'accordo feciono gli Albani ed e' Romani. "The course that the Albans and the Romans took by agreement": partito, course, Machiavelli's word (D236). Guicciardini moves the agency from the two kings Machiavelli blames to the two peoples, and adds that the course was agreed.
s'ha a considerare. "One is to consider": D61. The readers split on the mark before ha (si/s'), the same word; read s'ha with the 1933 edition (D234; FG-CONS-I23-D010).
la perdita o il guadagno furono pari. "The loss or the gain were even": pari, even, kept apart from equale, equal (D262); the loss or the gain, whichever came, was the same for both sides. The plural verb is the Italian's. Both readers read o without doubt; the 1933 edition reads ed el guadagno, "the loss and the gain". The reading was put to David under D203(b), and Canestrini's o stands because it construes (D231; FG-CONS-I23-D003).
quando e' partiti sono equali. "When the courses are equal": when the terms each side accepts are the same. Partito keeps one English word with Machiavelli's "course" (D236).
si possono male riprendere. "They can ill be reproved": male, ill, as the glossary; riprendere, reprove (D173).
verbi gratia. Latin, "for example", kept in italic.
sarebbe stato imprudenza. "It would have been imprudence": the noun without an article, as the Italian.
avendone diminuite altrettante agli Albani. "Having diminished as many of them to the Albans": the dative answers quello che ciascuno diminuì a sé, "what each diminished to itself". The 1933 edition reads così potenti combattendo, "remained as powerful fighting"; Canestrini has no potenti, and così ... come se carries the comparison (FG-CONS-I23-D004).
se bene la consanguinità. "Although the consanguinity": the Romans and Albans were held kin, Rome having been founded from Alba. Both readers doubted the article (la/lo); read la with the 1933 edition (D234; FG-CONS-I23-D011).
disputare lo imperio. "To dispute the rule": sovereignty between the two cities, as FG I.1 imperio di Alba (D124).
e perché l'uno non aspettava mala compagnia dall'altro. "And because the one did not expect ill company from the other": the conqueror would not ill-treat the conquered. mala "ill", as D165's mala opinione. Both readers doubted the first letter (e/a); read e with the 1933 edition (D234; FG-CONS-I23-D012).
pure è credibile. "Yet it is credible": pure concessive, after se bene (D191). Guicciardini grants the kinship and the mildness, then puts a likelier cause beside them, and still calls it only credible.
fussi per inclinare la vittoria. "The victory was about to incline": essere per, prospective (D45).
pare verisimile. "It seems likely": with è credibile and io non veggo, three different degrees of assent in two periods; and io non veggo holds only under its condition, presupposta questa equalità, "this equality presupposed". questa deliberazione answers Machiavelli's questa deliberazione (.02), there the guarding of the passes.
tra populi estranei. "Between unrelated peoples": set against congiunti, "conjoined", of kin. "Foreign" is the adjective forestiere's (glossary, I.7) and would lose the pair (D241).
etiam. Latin, "even", in italic, as FG I.3 and I.16.
di volere che sanza tante uccisioni. "To wish, without so many killings": the infinitive explains questa deliberazione; volere, wish (D117).
troppo resoluto. "Too resolute". The readers split on the vowel (risoluto/resoluto); the printed letter is a barless e, and the 1933 edition reads resoluto. A spelling, not a word.
il mettersi a sì presto sbaraglio. "To put oneself at so sudden a hazard": sbaraglio, the risk of everything at a stroke.
il tòrsi la facultà di potersi rifare. "To take from oneself the capacity of being able to recover oneself": facultà, capacity (glossary); rifarsi, to make good one's losses.
contendere la fortuna. "To contest fortune": transitive, as the Italian.
il contrapeso. "The counterweight": the same conditions in the other party mean that whatever makes the loss easier makes the victory easier too. nell'altra parte, "in the other party", the opposing side; "on the other side" is D24's al rincontro.
Quanto al non si opporre allo inimico in su' passi delle Alpi. "As to not opposing oneself to the enemy on the passes of the Alps": the second paragraph turns to Machiavelli's second way. Guicciardini takes the Alps from Machiavelli's Hannibal and Francis.
di buono occhio. "Of a good eye": the captain's sight of the ground.
con poco danno suo. "With little damage of one's own": the defender's. The 1933 edition reads tuo, "your", in Machiavelli's second person (FG-CONS-I23-D006).
lo inimico condizionato in modo che. "The enemy ... so conditioned that": circumstanced, placed in such a condition; not the modern sense of trained.
il tòrgli tempo importi assai. "Taking time from him imports much": importare, matter; the English cognate in its older sense.
come si legge di Flaminio Quinto in Macedonia. "As one reads of Flaminius Quintus in Macedonia": Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who in 198 BC was held some forty days before Philip V's position in the gorge of the Aous (Livy 32.9-12). Canestrini's name is garbled and is kept as printed; the 1933 edition has Tito Quinzio (FG-CONS-I23-D005). Not the Gaius Flaminius of Machiavelli's Arezzo.
chi tenti questa difesa. "He ... who attempts this defence": tentare, attempt, as Machiavelli's tentato (.03, .04).
Consalvo Fernando. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the Great Captain, who held the line of the Garigliano against the French in the winter of 1503 and broke them there on 29 December. Kept as Guicciardini names him.
Scipione ripres[e] Antioco. "Scipio reproved Antiochus": both readers read ripreso, which leaves the clause without a finite verb; the 1933 edition reads riprese. Emended under D68 (D232; FG-CONS-I23-D001). The English follows the emended text. In Livy (37.36) Scipio Africanus tells Antiochus' envoy that the king might have had terms had he held Lysimachia or opposed the crossing of the Hellespont, which he let the Romans make unopposed.
il transito. "The transit": as at .03 (nel transito delle Alpi).
proibire. "Prohibit": to bar, used three times (.02 twice, .04), of the crossing and of the passes.
possa esservi urtato. "He can be struck there": Machiavelli's ad urtarti, "to strike you" (.03). gente grosse, "troops in force", answers his venga grosso (D238).
del mancamento del vivere. "Of the failing of victual": il vivere, provisions; mancamento, the noun of mancare (D206). At .03 mancassi loro da vivere, "[the means] to live would fail them".
possono militare a chi tenta passare. "Can militate [against] whoever attempts to pass": the difficulties weigh on attacker and defender alike. D23's "has no force" holds for the negative milita of FG I.12; here the English cognate, in the one phrase where it survives, says this, and the direction the Italian a leaves open is supplied in brackets (D239). The 1933 edition has the singular può (FG-CONS-I23-D007).
E quando pure passi per altri luoghi. "And when he yet passes by other places": pure concessive (D191): granted that the enemy does turn the pass.
come feciono e' Franzesi nel 1515. "As the French did in 1515": Machiavelli's example (.05). Canestrini's note here, on the crossing, is his and is not carried.
come feciono e' Svizzeri. "As the Swiss did": they withdrew and fought in the plain, as the defenders could.
non lo sbigottimento. "Not the fright": the noun of Machiavelli's sbigottiti, "frightened" (.05).
a' quali non questo disfavore. "To whom not this disfavour": the loss of the peoples' favour that Machiavelli reports (si aderirono alle Genti francesi). The period stacks two negatives against ma altri disordini before the verb feciono; the English keeps the order.
che può poco appresso a uomini militari. "Which can [do] little with military men": potere absolute, as D223.
la giornata col re a Marignano. "Battle with the king at Marignano": 13-14 September 1515. fare la giornata, give battle (D49). Machiavelli's chapter ends before the battle; Guicciardini's reply makes it the case.
forse non erano perdenti. "Perhaps they would not have been losers": the imperfect of a contrary-to-fact condition (D47), with his forse. Machiavelli's defender "remains the loser" (rimani perdente, .03).
perché è sicurissimo [partito]. "Because it is a most secure course": both readers read parato, "prepared", which barely construes with the bare infinitive potere impedire; the 1933 edition reads partito. Emended under D68; the whole word is bracketed in the Italian (D233; FG-CONS-I23-D002). The English follows the emended text. con parte delle sue forze: the 1933 edition has tue (FG-CONS-I23-D009).
come facilmente può accadere. "As can readily happen": facilmente, readily (D27).
sarà laudato a opporsi. "He will be praised for opposing himself": laudare, praise (glossary).
se ha modo da sperare. "Whether he has a way to hope": modo, way (glossary), as con modo sì mansueto (.01).
se alla campagna confidi più nelle forze sue. "Whether in open country he confides more in his own forces": Machiavelli's peoples and army "confided" in the pass (confidava, .03); Guicciardini's captain is to weigh what he confides in when the pass is gone.
alla campagna. "In open country": as Machiavelli's come campagna (.04).
allegato nel Discorso. "Alleged in the Discourse": allegare, cite, as Machiavelli's preallegata (.03).
ci concorse anche la impossibilità. "There concurred also the impossibility": concorrere (D01, D63), in its sense of running together; again at .04 (quando concorrono tanti altri vantaggi).
circumjacente. "Circumjacent": lying round about. The cognate exists, and Canestrini's j is kept in the Italian.
avessino avuto a combattere. "They would have had to fight": avere a in a compound tense takes "have to" (D237).
gli uomini del paese. "The men of the country": the inhabitants. paesani, "the country people" (.03; Machiavelli .04), kept apart (D238).
avanzassino tutte le altre difficultà. "All the other difficulties would abound": avanzare, to be over and above.
Anzi questo esemplo si può ritorcere in contrario. "On the contrary, this example can be turned back the other way": anzi reversing (D135). Machiavelli's Roman example becomes evidence for the defence of the pass.
per le molestie de' paesani. "Through the molestations of the country people": the mountain tribes who harried Hannibal's march.
quanto più n'arebbe verisimilmente ricevuto. "How much more would he likely have received of it": verisimilmente, likely, as verisimile (.01). Canestrini prints the exclamation mark, and so does the English.
Non è la ragione che pochi capitani si siano messi a proibire e' passi de' monti, perché. "It is not the reason that few captains have put themselves to prohibit the passes of the mountains, because": the Italian puts the denial first and the true reason last, ma perché è difficile il farlo; the English keeps the order, so that the reply ends on its own reason.
il che non è da fuggire. "Which is not to be fled": to venture part of the forces with all the fortune. The words reverse the close of Machiavelli's .03, tutta la tua fortuna con parte delle tue forze, "all your fortune with part of your forces", and Guicciardini will not have it shunned where other advantages concur. fuggire, flee (D192).
che sono per supplire alle forze che mancano. "As are for supplying the forces that fail": essere per of fitness (D116); supplire in its older sense, to make good a want; mancare, fail (D206). Machiavelli's "very few virtuous captains" (pochissimi virtuosi Capitani, .04) become Guicciardini's "few captains".
Bisogna. "It is required": the edition's rendering of the impersonal bisognare, in every tense (D260); the reasons are in the note on bisogni at Machiavelli I.2.