Probably no one wants to know but Machiavellian refers to an Italian
"statesman" , politician, Chancellor who lived from 1469 to 1527 in Florence.
He was known for plotting big, bad schemes to get what he wanted - power and
money. He wrote many books on how to be successfully evil (my words, not
his). And I used it in the context of some office politics that one of us was
having to endure. It's actually a great word. Love , Sally