ch the names of all the youth were armed;
and it was ordered that everyone should appear armed, under his banner,
whenever summoned, whether by the captain of the people or the Anziani.
They had ensigns according to the kind of arms they used, the bowmen
being under one ensign, and the swordsmen, or those who carried a
target, under another; and every year, upon the day of Pentecost,
ensigns were given with great pomp to the new men, and new leaders
were appointed for the whole establishment. To give importance to their
armies, and to serve as a point of refuge for those who were exhausted
in the fight, and from which, having become refreshed, they might again
make head against the enemy, they provided a large car, drawn by two
oxen, covered with red cloth, upon which was an ensign of white and red.
When they intended to assemble the army, this car was brought into the
New Market, and delivered with pomp to the heads of the people. To give
solemnity to their enterprises, they had a bell called Martinella, which
was rung during a whole month before the forces left the city, in order
that the enemy might have time to provide for his defense; so great was
the virtue then existing among men, and with so much generosity of mind
were they governed, that as it is now considered a brave and prudent act
to assail an unprovided enemy, in those days it would have been thought
disgraceful, and productive only of a fallacious advantage. This bell
was also taken with the army, and served to regulate the keeping and
relief of guard, and other matters necessary in the practice of war.

With these ordinations, civil and military, the Florentines established
their liberty. Nor is it possible to imagine the power and authority
Florence in a short time acquired. She became not only the head of
Tuscany, but was enumerated among the first cities of Italy, and would
have attained greatness of the most exalted kind, had she not been
afflicted with the continual divisions of her citizens. They remained
under the this government ten years, during which time they compelled
the people of Pistoria, Arezzo, and Sienna, to enter into league with
them; and returning with the army from Sienna, they took Volterra,
destroyed some castles, and led the inhabitants to Florence. All these
enterprises were effected by the advice of the Guelphs, who were much
more powerful than the Ghibellines, for the latter were hated by the
people as well on account of their