#obviously it wouldn't be a socialist utopia lol | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ducavalentinos · 7 years ago

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As for Cesare, the ruthlessness for which he has always been famous is explained, if not excused by the milieu in which he operated, and the character of the enemies with whom he was obliged to contend. If he had been less hard and less relentless, he would not have survived long enough to be remembered, and his place would have been filled by men far worse than himself. That he insisted on surrendering a secure place at the top of the ecclesiastical hierarchy is as plausibly interpreted as testament to his integrity as to anything else, and he transformed himself into such an important figure at such a young age is proof of his immense gifts. And it is fair to ask: If he had achieved his ambitions, establishing himself securely as ruler of a powerful state, in what way would that have been worse for the people of Italy than what they experienced over the centuries after his death? In what way would it have been worse for Europe?

G.J. Meyer - The Borgias

#auth: g.j. meyer #book: the borgias #cèsar borgia #cesare borgia #house borgia #all of this #it's funny how famous cesare got for his ruthlessness when in reality #his level of ruthlessness is not even that large #if you compared with his enemies #and other men of his time #but because he was a borgia i assume whatever act of violence or ruthlessness he commited got this massive attention #and so he is seen as this cruel monster #it's...amusing and hypocrital #also meyer does asks some good questions #i don't think it would have been worse at all #obviously it wouldn't be a socialist utopia lol #but his government was better than those of the tyrants before him #and in a way i think he could have accomplished to make italy more united against foreign threats and stronger

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