The Discourses

Sometimes republics, kingdoms, and religions lose their way, and “changes which bring such bodies back to their beginnings are healthy” (246). Those beginnings contain a vital element of uncorrupted goodness. This can be revived from an outside cause, as when the Romans are reborn in their fight for life against the Gauls, or internally, either from an institution which forces the people “to reexamine their affairs with some frequency” or from a good man “by his exemplary deeds and his exceptional works,” (247). Renewals should happen every ten years to avoid a buildup of corruption. 

When a city is ruled by a tyrant, good men of importance who wish his overthrow must either stay far from him and bide their time or get close to him and become his friend. Early Rome is ruled by a tyrant king, and the first Brutus becomes his friend, playing the fool until the time is ripe, whereupon Brutus reveals himself and overthrows the tyrant. 

When transforming a state, “a memorable action must be taken against the enemies of present circumstances” (253). The first Brutus, founder of the Roman Republic, does so by executing his own sons for plotting against the new government.