Antimachiavellismo e Ragion di Stato nell' "Eco Politica" di Scipione Coppa

Abbot Coppa’s Eco politica (1684), dedicated to Christina of Sweden, is a document of great interest among political treatises of 17th century, as it encompasses multiple conceptual categories preventing it from being considered exclusively a Catholic origin example of writing about good Reason of State. The work exhibits a significant relation with baroque culture, as well as with the Roman environment of academies, where Coppa, a humorist academic, acted as a well-adjusted member. The central issue is the quest of modern politics for the character of sovereignty and for the guarantee of stability and order, as well as the proposal of a Prince educated by Tacitus rather than Machiavelli. The reference to classical and scriptural authorities with an anti-despotic aim supports politics founded on the relationship between the Prince and books, arms and literature, sovereignty and knowledge, in a frame of power containment which also avails itself of law.