Subjection without Servitude: The Imperial Protectorate in Renaissance Political Thought

Area of Science:

• History
• Political Science
• Classical Studies

Background:

• Early modern European thought on empire drew heavily on classical Roman precedents.
• Renaissance humanists adapted Roman concepts to describe political expansion.
• The concept of patronage was central to humanist justifications of Florentine Republic's actions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the classical foundations of early modern European thinking about empire.
• To examine how Renaissance humanists utilized Roman sources, particularly patronage, to frame the Florentine Republic's subjugation of neighbors.
• To trace the evolution of these ideas in Machiavelli's theory of the imperial republic.

Main Methods:

• Historical analysis of classical Roman sources.
• Examination of Renaissance humanist texts and political writings.
• Intellectual history tracing the conceptual development of empire and patronage.

Main Results:

• Renaissance humanists employed a conceptual framework derived from Roman sources, notably patronage, to describe the Florentine Republic's expansion without using the term 'slavery'.
• This patronal vision of empire provided an ideological justification for Florentine actions.
• Machiavelli significantly reinterpreted this framework, introducing the concept of slavery into his theory of the imperial republic.

Conclusions:

• Classical Roman concepts, especially patronage, were foundational to early modern European imperial thought.
• Humanist interpretations of Roman ideas offered a non-slavery-based model for describing political domination.
• Machiavelli's radical reappraisal marked a significant shift, reintroducing slavery as a core element in imperial theory.