Uomini che «scrivono e parlano come operano, e come sentono». Eloquenza politica e retorica militare nelle riflessioni di Algarotti ; Men who ‘write and speak how they work, and how they feel’. Political eloquence and military rhetoric in Algarotti’s reflections

The essay investigates the modern notion of ‘eloquence’ in the writings of Francesco Algarotti. The starting point is offered by the story of a diplomatic incident that took place between Venice and the Sublime Porta in 1722 in Constantinople, where Giovanni Emo was bailo. The capacity of mediation shown by the Venetian politician initiates a reflection on the new communicative codes of the Eighteenth Century observed above all in the light of Discorsi militari where the word-action nexus illuminates the speeches and electoral proclamations of politicians and soldiers such as George Anson, William Pitt, up to Charles XII of Sweden and Frederick II of Prussia, designed by Algarotti as media stars, interested in modelling and gaining public approval.