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IMC 2003: Sessions

Session 1512: Subtle Styles: Manipulating the City-State

Thursday 17 July 2003, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:St Joseph's University, Philadelphia
Organiser:Alison Williams Lewin, Department of History, St Joseph's University, Pennsylvania
Moderator/Chair:Peter Francis Howard, Department of History, Monash University, Victoria
Paper 1512-aThe Management of Lucca
(Language: English)
Christine E. Meek, School of Histories & Humanities, Trinity College, Dublin
Index terms: Administration, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1512-bViolence, Money and Power: Pandolfo Petrucci's Tyranny of Siena
(Language: English)
Philippa Jackson, Warburg Institute, University of London
Index terms: Administration, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1512-cDo as the Romans Did: Cosimo de Medici and Augustus
(Language: English)
Alison Williams Lewin, Department of History, St Joseph's University, Pennsylvania
Index terms: Administration, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract

De facto rulers of Italian city-states possessed many powers. They could dispense patronage, funds, and political offices; they could also intimidate and even physically attack their opponents. Their exercise of power lacked any constitutional authority, as both they and their fellow citizens always remembered.
In Lucca, Siena, and Florence, three different leaders emerged who could successfully exercise their power at least briefly; all three attempted in various ways to create a mantle of authority as well. This session will examine the strategies and rhetoric of these leaders, and analyze each one's successes and failures in marrying power to authority.