here were several Roman gentlemen in the duke's following,
including most of those who had formed his guard of honour on the
occasion of his visit to France, and who had since then continued to
follow his fortunes. Achille Tiberti came to Rome with a condotta which
he had levied in the Romagna of young men who had been moved by Cesare's
spreading fame to place their swords at his disposal. A member of the
exiled Malvezzi family of Bologna headed a little troop of fellow-exiles
which came to take service with the duke, whilst at Perugia a strong
body of foot awaited him under Gianpaolo Baglioni.

In addition to these condotte, numerous were the adventurers who came
to offer Cesare their swords; indeed he must have possessed much of that
personal magnetism which is the prime equipment of every born leader,
for he stirred men to the point of wild enthusiasm in those days,
and inspired other than warriors to bear arms for him. We see men of
letters, such as Justolo, Calmeta, Sperulo, and others throwing
down their quills to snatch up swords and follow him. Painters, and
sculptors, too, are to be seen abandoning the ideals of art to pursue
the ugly realities of war in this young condottiero's train. Among these
artists, bulks the great Pietro Torrigiani. The astounding pen of his
brother-sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini, has left us a sharp portrait of
this man, in which he speaks of his personal beauty and tells us that
he had more the air of a great soldier than a sculptor (which must have
been, we fancy, Cellini's own case). Torrigiani lives in history chiefly
for two pieces of work widely dissimilar in character--the erection
of the tomb of Henry VII of England, and the breaking of the nose of
Michelangelo Buonarroti in the course of a quarrel which he had with him
in Florence when they were fellow-students under Masaccio. Of nothing
that he ever did in life was he so proud--as we may gather from
Cellini--as of having disfigured Michelangelo, and in that sentiment the
naive spirit of his age again peeps forth.

We shall also see Leonardo da Vinci joining the duke's army as
engineer--but that not until some months later.

Meanwhile his forces grew daily in Rome, and his time was consumed in
organizing, equipping, and drilling these, to bring about that perfect
unity for which his army was to be conspicuous in spite of the variety
of French, Italian, Spanish, and Swiss elements of which it was
composed. So effectively were hi