Practically nothing is known of Nicolo Machiavelli before he became a minor
             official in the Florentine Government. His youth, however, was passed
             during some of the most tumultuous years in the history of Florence. He
             born the year that Lorenzo the Magnificent came to power, subverting the
             traditional civil liberties of Florence while inaugurating a reign of
             unrivaled luxury and of great brilliance for the arts. He was twenty-five
             at the time of Savonarola's attempt to establish a theocratic democracy,
             although, from the available evidence, he took no part in it. Yet through
             his family, he was closer to many of these events than many Florentine
             citizens. The Machiavelli family for generations had held public office,
             and his father was a jurist and a minor official. Machiavelli himself,
             shortly after the execution of Savanarola, became Secretary of the Second
             Chancery, which was to make him widely known among his contemporaries as
             By virtue of his position Machiavelli served the "Ten of Liberty and
             who sent their own ambassadors to foreign powers, transacted business with
             the cities of the Florentine domain, and controlled the military
             establishment of Florence. During the fourteen years he held office,
             Machiavelli was placed in charge of the diplomatic correspondence of his
             bureau, served as Florentine representative on nearly thirty foreign
             missions, and attempted to organize a citizen militia to replace the
             In his diplomatic capacity, which absorbed most of his energies, he dealt
             with the various principalities into which Italy was divided at the time.
             His more important missions, however, gave him insight into the court of
             King of France, where he met the mightiest minister in Europe, Cardinal d'
             Amboise. On this occasion he began the observation and analysis of
             political forces, which were to find expression in his diplomatic reports.
             His Report on Fran...