On the Government of Rulers: De Regimine Principum

Description

Thérèse Bonin, Thomas Aquinas in English: A Bibliography:

See Blythe’s introduction, pp. 3–5, and also Eschmann’s, pp. ix–xiv, for the relation between Ptolemy’s and Thomas’ texts and for the confusion about the title of Thomas’ text. Note that the chapter divisions in the text translated by Blythe differ from those in the text translated by Phelan and Eschmann.

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.