The Art of War is divided into a preface (
proemio) and seven books (chapters), which take the form of a series of
dialogues that take place in the Orti Oricellari, the gardens built in a classical style by
Bernardo Rucellai in the 1490s for Florentine aristocrats and humanists to engage in discussion, between Cosimo Rucellai and "Lord Fabrizio Colonna" (many feel Colonna is a veiled disguise for Machiavelli himself, but this view has been challenged by scholars such as Mansfield), with other
patrizi and captains of the recent Florentine republic: Zanobi Buondelmonti, Battista della Palla and
Luigi Alamanni. The work is dedicated to
Lorenzo di Filippo Strozzi,
patrizio fiorentino in a preface which ostentatiously pronounces Machiavelli's authorship. After repeated uses of the first person singular to introduce the dialogue, Machiavelli retreats from the work, serving as neither narrator nor interlocutor. Fabrizio is enamored with the
Roman Legions of the early to mid
Roman Republic and strongly advocates adapting them to the contemporary situation of
Renaissance Florence. Fabrizio dominates the discussions with his knowledge, wisdom and insights. The other characters, for the most part, simply yield to his superior knowledge and merely bring up topics, ask him questions or for clarification. These dialogues, then, often become monologues with Fabrizio detailing how an army should be raised, trained, organized, deployed and employed. ==Background==