The term “Machiavellian” has become so ubiquitous that we now apply it to everyone from Karl Rove to Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf. But how much do most of us actually know about the life of Niccolò Machiavelli, the Italian writer and diplomat who wrote The Prince? The Italian production companies 39 Films and Satine Film are teaming up to school the English-speaking world on the author who (despite some disagreement as to whether his intentions were satirical) famously taught centuries of politicians that “the end justifies the means.” Their English-language biopic, titled Machiavelli, the Prince, will cover the period of his life beginning with his exile from Florence and ending with the publication of his world-changing book. [via Variety]