This article begins by examining the new italian edition of four Hobbes’s essays: Discourse Upon the Beginning of Tacitus, Discourse of Rome, Discourse of Laws and the introduction to Eight Bookes Of the Peloponnesian Warre Written by Tucidides the sonne of Olorus. Interpreted with Faith and Diligence Immediately out of the Greeke by Thomas Hobbes Secretary to ye ate Earle of Deuonshire, edited by L. Peluso. These writings are essential for understanding how history serves as a fundamental component of Hobbes’s political philosophy. The works of ancient historians also play a crucial role in his views on censorship. Even in these early essays, we can find the origins of the more mature ideas he would later express in Leviathan. Hobbes considered reading history a dangerous activity for the stability of a monarchy because it could promote democratic ideas and justify tyrannicide. While some recent analyses

(e.g., D. van Mill or J. Parkin) have attempted to argue the opposite, I will demonstrate that Hobbes not only provided a theoretical frame for censorship but also provided a precise description of the negative effects of reading. Finally, I underscore that there is a precise conception of the correct habit of reading and of the way it should be cultivated.