Page:The Works of the Famous Nicholas Machiavel.djvu/18

The Author's INTRODUCTION. Family; the consideration of which things prevailed with me to alter my design, and to begin my History from the very foundati- on of the City: And because it is not my intention to transcribe what has been done before by other people, I shall relate such things only as occurr'd within the City to the year 1434, mentioning the accidents abroad only so far as will be necessary for the intelligence of the other; after which year I shall give a particular description both of the one and the other. Besides, for the better and more lasting understanding of this History, before I treat of Florence, I shall discourse of the means by which Italy fell under the dominion of those Potentates which governed it at that time : all which shall be comprehended in my Four first Books. The first shall give a short recital of all transactions in Italy., from the dissolution of the Roman Empire to the year 1434. The second shall give an ac- count of all affairs from the foundation of the City of Florence, to the end of the war against the Pope, which commenced upon the expulsion of the Duke of Athens. The third shall conclude with the death of Lasistlaus King of Naples. And in the fourth we shall end with the year 1434, from whence afterwards to our present times, we shall give a particular Narrative of all proceedings both within the City and without.

THE