The Commonwealth of Oceana

Title page of The Commonwealth of Oceana

The Commonwealth of Oceana (/ˈsənə/ oh-SEE-ə-nə), published 1656, is a work of political philosophy by the English politician and essayist James Harrington (1611–1677). The unsuccessful first attempt to publish Oceana was officially censored by Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658). It was eventually published, with a dedication to Cromwell.[1]

  1. ^ "...to his highnes[sic] the Lord Protector of the Comonwealth[sic] of England, Scotland, and Ireland"; Pocock, "Intro," p. 6, note 1. on Harrington as a classical republican, he was "England's premier civic humanist and Machiavellian. He was not the first to think about English politics in these terms..., but he was the first to achieve a paradigmatic restatement of English political understanding in the language and world-view inherited through Machiavelli." Pocock, "Intro," p. 15.