On the Government of Rulers
On the Government of Rulers: De Regimine Principum
Ptolemy of Lucca
with portions attributed to Thomas Aquinas
translated by James M. Blythe
Series: The Middle Ages Series
Copyright Date: 1997
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Pages: 320
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhkt9
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Book Info
On the Government of Rulers
Book Description:

Ptolemy, considered a proto-Humanist by some, combined the principles of Northern Italian republicanism with Aristotelian theory in his De Regimine Principum, a book that influenced much of the political thought of the later Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the early modern period. He was the first to attack kingship as despotism and to draw parallels between ancient Greek models of mixed constitution and the Roman Republic, biblical rule, the Church, and medieval government. In addition to his translation of this important and radical medieval political treatise, written around 1300, James M. Blythe includes a sixty-page introduction to the work and provides over 1200 footnotes that trace Ptolemy's sources, explain his references, and comment on the text, the translation, the context, and the significance.

eISBN: 978-0-8122-0133-8
Subjects: Political Science
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Table of Contents
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-iv)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. v-vi)
  3. Preface
    Preface (pp. vii-x)
  4. A Note on the Text
    A Note on the Text (pp. xi-xii)
  5. Introduction
    Introduction (pp. 1-59)

    On the Government of Rulers (De Regimine Principum) was very popular and influential in the Middle Ages, partially because it was often attributed to Thomas Aquinas (c.1225–1274). Actually, Thomas wrote at most only the first part, known also as On the Kingdom, to the King of Cyprus, and Ptolemy of Lucca continued it from the middle of Book 2, chapter 4. Some manuscripts have only the first part, a few end in the middle of Book 2, chapter 2, but many others contain all four Books. There were some medieval attributions of the second, larger part to Ptolemy, but...

  6. Book 1
    Book 1 (pp. 60-103)

    When I was pondering what I could offer that would be worthy of Your Royal Highness and suitable to my profession and office, it occurred to me that what I could best offer a king was to compose a book about the kingdom. In it, to the best of my ability, I would diligently bring to light the origin of the kingdom and what pertains to the office of king, according to the authority of divine scripture, the teaching of philosophers, and the examples given by those who praise rulers, relying for the beginning, progress, and consummation of this work...

  7. Book 2
    Book 2 (pp. 104-145)

    [1] First, I must explain the office of a king in founding a city or kingdom. As Vegetius says: “the mightiest nations and most renowned rulers could seek no greater glory than either to start new cities or to transfer those started by others into their name and improve them.”¹ This certainly accords with the documents of Sacred Scripture, for the Wise One says in Ecclesiasticus: “The building of a city will confirm a name,”² and the name of Romulus would be unknown today had he not founded Rome.

    [2] In the founding of a city or kingdom the king...

  8. Book 3
    Book 3 (pp. 146-214)

    [1] “The heart of a king is in the hand of God, and it will go wherever he has willed,” as is written in Proverbs.¹ Cyrus, king of the Persians, that great monarch of the east, announced this in a public edict after his victory over Babylon, which he razed to its foundation, and after the slaying of its king, Belshazzar, as the histories tell us: “Cyrus the Persian says these things: The Lord God of heaven has given all the kingdoms of the world to me.”² It is apparent that all lordship comes from God, as from that First...

  9. Book 4
    Book 4 (pp. 215-288)

    [1] “You will constitute them as rulers over all the earth; they will be mindful of your name, Lord.”¹ Although God instituted all lordship or rule, as I said above,² Aristotle and Sacred Scripture tell us about different modes of lordship. Since I have already treated the monarchy of one—namely the lordship of the Highest Pontiff, regal lordship, and imperial lordship—and their nature and the things that go along with them,³ I think that it is now time to treat the lordship of many, which we call by the common name “political.” I described this earlier in two...

  10. Bibliography
    Bibliography (pp. 289-292)
  11. Index to Aristotle Citations
    Index to Aristotle Citations (pp. 293-294)
  12. Index to Augustine Citations
    Index to Augustine Citations (pp. 295-296)
  13. Index to Biblical Citations
    Index to Biblical Citations (pp. 297-300)
  14. General Index
    General Index (pp. 301-310)
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