Since 2007, writer and historian Ross King has been traveling between Europe and the United States to speak to young scholars about his literary work, his love of art, and his appreciation of historical figure Niccolo Machiavelli.
"My passion is really understanding what the work of art is about and sort of taking it apart and looking at it and understanding what's so great about it," said King.
One of the things King has focused on is redefining the term "Machiavellianism", which can be used to describe someone as amoral or an opportunist. In his literary works, King has worked to portray Machiavelli as a brilliant and revolutionary political philosopher that was far more complex and sympathetic than he has been perceived. King has tried to convince people that neither Machiavelli nor his works were wicked, when viewed in the proper context.
During a visit by King to Florence in February 2014, Vicenza High School teacher Lisa Balboni went to hear him speak about Machiavelli. She was fascinated by his lecture.
"I think he's more on a mission to let people know Machiavelli is not a bad guy," said Balboni. "He wanted to put those quotes into context."
Afterwards, she invited King to give the same talk to her students. To her surprise, King accepted and May 4 he came to Caserma Ederle to speak with her 10th grade honors class. The students were very impressed.
"He made so many connections in how he described Machiavelli to us and made him not as much as a bad guy as he is perceived normally," said Maddie Czarnik, VHS student. "It was a really good brush up on history and seeing his view on it."
While he was here, King also spoke with members of the Vicenza community at the Golden Lion. The room was filled with community members of all ages. USAG Vicenza Commander Col. Robert Menist was in attendance, and was very impressed with King's knowledge of art and history.
"It's really neat when we get historians, authors and such great renowned people to come here and speak to us and share a little bit of culture, a little bit of history and a little bit of insight," said Menist.
Throughout his lecture King encouraged his audience to take a deeper look into Machiavelli's life as well as his writings. King said he wanted to leave the community with some general advice that could be noted as a mantra for his successful stories.
"Passion is contagious," he said. "I think if you are passionate about something, then other people will may be curious about what it is, too."
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