Half a century ago J. G. A. Pocock published his monumental and sweeping tome that meticulously followed a string of Florentine thinkers in their adaptation of classical ideas about governance and citizenship to create the paradigm of civic humanism. This renaissance-era rediscovery of citizenship was produced by a sudden intensification of republican self-awareness that emerged out of extended political crises. The main revelation that came after two centuries of articulating civic consciousness and its problems, was that the Florentine republic, any republic, was not eternal but had an end in time.

This now famous and dreadful Machiavellian moment migrated in a well-known story to the English isle where Machiavellian themes reemerged in civil war ridden England. In the context of an abolished Kingship, the English state became republican by default, and once again, the rediscovery of citizenship was produced by a sudden intensification of republican self-awareness. A final mutation of early modern civic humanism occurred, as Pocock tells it, in late eighteenth century America where republicanism emerged through “the dread of modernity itself” (p. 509).

Ever since its publication the MM has been recognized as a landmark study in history and of political thought. It has redrawn fault lines in several fields and disciplines, spurred numerous new studies and provoked many new lines of inquiry and debates. The book encouraged historians to explore the intellectual and cultural dynamics of the renaissance and early modernity in greater depth, and sparked disputes about the nature of political theory and practice. Taking part in the renowned ‘linguistic turn’ that was brought about by the Cambridge School, the MM stressed the importance of contextualized rhetoric to understand political action, and put to practice the study of what Pocock referred to as “languages,” a relatively stable corpus of conventions, usages, idioms, and vocabularies. The book demonstrated how the historian of discourse identified and reconstructed language, and showcased classical republicanism’s paradigmatic force across centuries and oceans. It revitalized the field of intellectual history, and had – still has – a profound impact on the study of political thought, greatly shaping the way scholars approach the study of ideas.

Chaired by Anthony Grafton, this roundtable wishes to lay out and assess the Machiavellian Moment’s initial and long-term impact. Bringing together scholars who read and teach the different aspects of this foundational text as it approaches its jubilee, which sadly coincides with the passing of its distinguished author, we wish to discuss the great tome’s long life and lasting influence.