Il toro e il leone: l'ambivalenza del potere nei Discorsi sulla Regalità di Dione Crisostomo (In Appendice la traduzione italiana del testo)

The work is devoted to analyze the political thought of Dio Chrysostom as it can be deduced from his four Discourses on kingship. Dio is deeply involved in the debate concerning the nature and the limits of the imperial power in Rome in the period included between the end of the first and the beginning of the second century A.D. He considers that the monarchy is the sole form of government able to allow men to be managed in the best way. Problems arise when the king becomes a tyrant: the Roman political system does not provide legal means able to allow the governed people to change the emperor. The only way to have a good ruler is through education. Dio in these four essays explains how a king should be and how the philosopher has to show him the right way. In the book I also analyze the lexicon, the sources and the political patterns that influence Dio's vision concerning the monarchy. Moreover I highlight the influence of these four essays in the works of some relevant political authors of ‘400 and ‘500. In the closing appendix I translate from Greek the four Discourses on kingship.