Abstract

The article examines part of the fourth book of Bessarion’s Adversus calumniatorem Platonis, in which the Cardinal – by responding polemically to the objections against Plato hurled by his opponent Trapezuntius in the third book of the Comparatio philosophorum Platonis et Aristotelis – analyzes some of the most representative themes of Platonic political reflection, with particular reference to the writings The Republic and Laws. The contribution focuses on Bessarion’s reinterpretation of Plato’s political thought, shedding light on this neglected part of his work; in fact, although the fame of the Cardinal and his philosophical-theological work is well known, the same cannot be said of the philosophical-political content of some of his considerations