Niccolò Machiavelli is not only the author of The Prince; his political works include Discourses on Livy, The Art of War, and Florentine Histories. These works reveal aspects of his thinking that are not found in The Prince, while also showing its evolution. Florentine Histories is his last major work and was written by order of Pope Clement VII, who was elected pope with the name Clement VII. It consists of eight books, the first of which is dedicated to a general history of Italy from the fall of the Roman Empire to the end of the 15th century, while the rest concern the history of the city of Florence, with its complex and revealing internal conflicts, from 1250 to 1494.
For the writing of this work, Machiavelli followed to a large extent the humanistic tradition, according to which the reflective author writes history to teach, to present examples worthy of imitation, and in order to persuade his audience, he uses eloquence. Of course, he does not ignore the obligation of truth; however, by this word, he does not mean the events recorded in chronicles, but the "total truth," that is, the causes, motives, characters, background, and strategy. This conception of truth distinguished history from chronicle. Machiavelli therefore writes the history of his city to offer examples to its ruler, the first reader of his work, of people who were able to rise above the ambitions and perceptions of their own group, dedicated themselves to the "common good," and reformed the government.