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In Dino Compagni's diatribe of the Florentine demise, it is clear that he believes the internal strife among her citizens was the backbone of a beautiful city's undoing. Contemporaries who have read Machiavelli's works, without a proper grasp of Italian life at his time, tend to think Machiavelli a cruel and ruthless man. Comparing Machiavelli's thoughts and beliefs on the subject of human nature with that of Compagni, however, lead to a very converging view …

…himself was a member of the popolo, trying as hard as anyone to have their share of power. He would place blame on the nobles, foreigners and commoners, stating that they have destroyed a beautiful city. These are Compagni's beliefs, and even if they are biased and perhaps somewhat ignorant, they are of importance to the matter at hand. The intrinsic wickedness and duplicity of men, as Compagni describes, was the backbone of Florentine discord.