Abstract

Machiavelli's thought and figure resurface in many pages of Antonio Gramsci's "Prison Notebooks". Notebook 13, which is explicitly devoted to the Secretary of the Florentine Republic, includes only a part of the author's reflections concerning Machiavelli's work and it consists mainly of notes concerning the science of politics. This is so because his studies on Machiavelli led Gramsci to consider writing a book which could combine political struggle and theoretical reflection, relying on the models of "The Prince" and the "Manifesto of the Communist Party". Therefore, in his interpretation of Machiavelli's main work, Gramsci looks not only at the theorist, but also at the politician who throughout "The Prince" traces a viable and effective path for conducting political action in the real world.