Fortune is a River: Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine HistoryIn the tradition of the New York Times bestselling Longitude comes a popular history that reveals the little known story of what happened when two of the world's most brilliant minds met. Italy, the year 1502. Leonardo da Vinci, engineer and possible spy in the court of Cesare Borgia, crosses paths with Niccolo Machiavelli, at that time Florentine ambassador. The two men formed a friendship, and joined together in an attempt to carry out one of Leonardo's most fantastic dreams: to build a system of canals that would make the Arno river navigable from Florence to the sea. While the primary reason for the project was military, da Vinci and Machiavelli also had commerce in mind. They envisioned a day when explorers would be able to sail from the city center to the sea and back, bringing riches from the New World for the greater glory of Florence. |
Contents
A MYSTERIOUS FRIENDSHIP | 1 |
THE ARNO | 7 |
LEONARDO ACHIEVES FAME | 23 |
Copyright | |
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Agostino Vespucci Alamanno Salviati Amerigo Vespucci army Arno River artists Battle of Anghiari Bernardo Biagio Buonaccorsi Biblioteca Bramly Buonaccorsi to NM canal Cardinal century Cesare Borgia Cesare's chap citizens Codex Atlanticus Colombino confraternity court Discourses on Titus ditch diversion election Figure flood Florence's Florentine Histories France Francesco Soderini Francesco Vettori French Friends Giovanni Giuliano gonfaloniere Governors and Governed Guicciardini hydraulic engineering Imola Italian Italy J. P. Richter king later Leonardo and Niccolò Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo's Notebooks letter Literary Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco Ludovico Sforza Masters Medici Milan Military Architect mission Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò wrote NM to Francesco painting Palazzo Vecchio patron Pedretti Piero Soderini Piombino Pisa Pisans Plate political pope Prince Renaissance Reproduced by permission republic return to Florence Ridolfi Rome Rucellai ruler Savonarola Science of Power second chancellor September Signoria sketch Titus Livy troops Unknown Leonardo Vasari Verruca write