Abstract

The essay analyses and discusses the recently re-edited work by Muratori on the government of the plague. The discussion includes a reflection on the analogies with the ongoing pandemic that have been highlighted by many authors, focusing particularly on two issues that are closely intertwined: the sanitary policies undertaken to contrast the spread of the disease as well as their political and institutional implications. In order to investigate those implications, the essay proposes a comparison between Muratori’s, Del governo della peste e delle maniere di guardarsene (1714) and his major political work, Della pubblica felicità (1749). Finally, the essay presents a short discussion with the volume’s editor, Carlo Galli, concerning Muratori’s work legacy and modernity, with a view to the contemporary debate