republic had sent to Rome the arrears of tribute
due from his fief, and anxious to conciliate the Pope, received and
entertained Cesare very cordially.

At Forli the case of Imola was practically repeated. Notwithstanding
that the inhabitants were under the immediate eye of the formidable
countess, and although she sent her brother, Alessandro Sforza, to
exhort the people and the Council to stand by her, the latter, weary
as the rest of the oppressive tyranny of her family, dispatched their
representatives to Cesare to offer him the town.

The Countess's valour was of the sort that waxes as the straits become
more desperate. Since the town abandoned and betrayed her, she would
depend upon her citadel, and by a stubborn resistance make Cesare pay as
dearly as possible for the place. To the danger which she seems almost
eager to incur for her own part, this strong-minded, comely matron will
not subject the son she has kept beside her until now; and so she packs
Ottaviano off to Florence and safety. That done, she gives her mutinous
subjects a taste of her anger by attempting to seize half a dozen of the
principal citizens of Forli. As it happened, not only did this intent
miscarry, but it went near being the means of involving her in battle
even before the duke's arrival; for the people, getting wind of the
affair, took up arms to defend their threatened fellow-citizens.

She consoled herself, however, by seizing the persons of Nicolo
Tornielli and Lodovico Ercolani, whom the Council had sent to inform
her that their representatives had gone to Cesare with the offer of the
town. Further, to vent her rage and signify her humour, she turned her
cannon upon the Communal Palace and shattered the tower of it.

Meanwhile Cesare advanced. It was again Tiberti who now rode forward
with his horse to demand the surrender of Forli. This was accorded as
readily as had been that of Imola, whereupon Cesare came up to take
possession in person; but, despite the cordial invitation of the
councillors, he refused to enter the gates until he had signed the
articles of capitulation.

On December 19, under a deluge of rain, Cesare, in full armour, the
banner of the Church borne ahead of him, rode into Forli with his
troops. He was housed in the palace of Count Luffo Nomaglie (one of
the gentlemen whom Caterina had hoped to capture), and his men were
quartered through the town. These foreign soldiers of his seem to have
got a little out