Ptolemy Of Lucca Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Italian historian Ptolemy of Lucca (ca. 1227–1327), also known as Bartholomew of Lucca or Tolomeo of Lucca, was a member of the Dominican order and held several influential positions within the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the author of On the Government of Rulers. Originally, authorship of this treatise was attributed to theologian St. Thomas Aquinas, Ptolemy’s teacher and friend, and the work became very influential due, in part, to that misunderstanding.

Consistent with Ptolemy’s studies with Aquinas, ancient Greek thinker Aristotle had the most important philosophical influence on Ptolemy, particularly Aristotle’s The Politics. Aristotle had offered a threefold classification of different kinds of regimes, depending on the number of rulers and whether those rulers governed for the common good or only in their own self-interest. The favorable forms of government were monarchy, aristocracy, and constitutional rule of the many. The corrupted versions of these regimes were tyranny or despotism, oligarchy, and mob dictatorship. But whereas most thinkers of the period accepted Aristotle’s classification without much revision, Ptolemy complements it with the addition of different modes of lordship, also borrowed from Aristotle. There are four kinds of lordship: sacerdotal and regal, regal alone, political, and household. In On the Government of Rulers, Ptolemy focuses primarily on regal and political forms of rule.

In his discussion of regal rule, Ptolemy tends to equate it with despotism, although his discussion of these matters is at times contradictory. Regal rule is rule of a single ruler or sometimes the rule of the master over the servant. Political rule, on the other hand, is rule by the laws adopted by citizens or their representatives. It may include either direct democratic rule or republican systems of government. Ptolemy’s discussion of republicanism, particularly his claim that it is the best form of government for virtuous people, has led some commentators to conclude that he was committed to some form of republican government. However, he also believed in the sinfulness and moral corruption of human beings. In On the Government of Rulers he states: “As is clear from what I have said, we should prefer the government of one, which is best, although it may be converted into tyranny, which is worst” (79). He goes so far as to suggest that a certain degree of tyranny is acceptable, since the alternative would allow too much latitude for a person’s sinfulness.

Despite exhibiting some sympathy for republican forms of government in certain circumstances, Ptolemy endorsed the claims of papal authority with regard to temporal rule. Included in his arguments is the claim that Jesus Christ bestowed upon his disciple Peter, and subsequent popes, authority in all matters regarding the church. Since the affairs of the church take precedence over temporal issues, church authority on all matters, temporal or divine, is final. However, the assumption here is that the pope must work for the common good. If this is not the case, Ptolemy offers no alternative.

As suggested earlier, Ptolemy’s influence on political thought was largely a result of the mistaken belief that Aquinas was the author of De Regimine. Ironically, despite his own preference for regal rule, it was his arguments regarding republicanism that would have the greatest influence on other Italian thinkers such as poet Dante Alighieri, political reformer Girolamo Savonarola, and statesman Niccolò Machiavelli. Hence, Ptolemy helped provide a basis for what would eventually become known as civic humanism.

Bibliography:

Blythe, James M. Ideal Government and the Mixed Constitution in the Middle Ages. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Davis, Charles T. “Roman Patriotism and Republican Propaganda: Ptolemy of Lucca and Pope Nicholas III.” Speculum 50, no. 3 (1975): 411–433.
Ptolemy of Lucca. On the Government of Rulers: De Regimine Principum. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.

This example Ptolemy Of Lucca Essay is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.