Roman Machiavels on the Spanish Stage: Perez de Montalban's Amor, privanza y castigo

This essay incorporates the paradigms of Theory of Mind and Machiavellian intelligence to explore the cognitive and ideological implications of the dramatization of Roman political rivalries in early modern Spanish drama. Perez de Montalban's Amor, privanza y castigo is analyzed as a distant mirror to the Spanish privanza system of its own time. Like other historians and playwrights of his era, Montalban highlights the duplicitous and manipulative cognitive activities of Roman politicians to examine the ethical dimensions and dilemmas in the contemporary institution of government by royal favorites.