L'Etat du Monde

In less than ten years Giovanni Botero publishes three books that will exert a vast and profound influence: Delle cause della grandezza delle città (1588), Della ragion di Stato (1589) and Le Relazioni universali (1591-1596). In addition to inaugurating the literature of reason of State, Botero elaborates a theory of urban growth and lays the foundations of modern political geography. Committed to reaffirming the control of ecclesiastical authority over temporal states, he carefully studies new objects - such as the circulation of wealth, the population, the territory, the balance of power - and devises adequate instruments of government. In Romain Descendre's reading, Botero's pages offer a political portrait of the first globalization, based on the idea that cities, states or empires are strengthened not only with military art, but also with the mobilization of economic, demographic and geographical knowledge. A lesson that this important book, finally translated into Italian with the addition of a Note by the author and a Preface by the editor, rediscovers in all its relevance, giving Botero the place it deserves in the history of political thought.

 
Author
Romain Descendre
Year of Publication
2009
Translations
Translated in:
Italian
From:
Viella (2022)
With the title:
Lo stato del mondo
Editori associati (tassonomia)