Machiavelli read much in Marcus Tullius Cicero's writings and was influenced by Cicero, but Machiavelli's claim to fame stems from his own writing. His brief work entitled, <em>The Prince, </em>is looked upon as perhaps the first text of political science (as opposed to political philosophy). <em>The Prince </em>described the workings of politics as Machiavelli observed how things happened in Renaissance Italy. Machiavelli also wrote in the political philosophy vein with his longer work called <em>Discourses on Livy, </em>which examined the values of a republic-style government.
