Abstract

The authour analyses Machiavelli's concept of conflict as it appears, first, in the "Discorsi" and, after, in the "Istorie Fiorentine", and underlines the differences between the two periods of Machiavelli's political thought. In the "Discorsi" Machiavelli distingueshes between a positive and moderate conflict and a negative and radical one; whereas in the "Istorie" this distinction desappears, and starting from a closer attention to the economic basis of society, the economical conflict is no longer an obstacle to the "virtù", but the key of history.