se. Another
was Lodovico Pico della Mirandola, who brought a small condotta of 60
lances and 60 light horse. Ranieri della Sassetta rode in at the head
of 100 mounted arbalisters, and Francesco de Luna with a body of 50
arquebusiers.(1)

1 The arquebus, although it had existed in Italy for nearly a century,
was only just coming into general use.

Valentinois sent out Raffaele dei Pazzi and Galeotto Pallavicini, the
one into Lombardy to recruit 1,000 Gascons, the other to raise a body of
Swiss mercenaries. Yet, when all is said, these were but supplementary
forces; the main strength of Cesare's new army lay in the troops raised
in the Romagna, which, faithful to him and confident of his power and
success, rallied to him now in the hour of his need. Than this there can
be no more eloquent testimony to the quality of his rule. In command of
these Romagnuoli troops he placed such Romagnuoli captains as Dionigio
di Naldo and Marcantonio da Fano, thereby again affording proof of his
wisdom, by giving these soldiers their own compatriots and men with whom
they were in sympathy for their leaders.

With such speed had he acted, and such was the influence of his name,
that already, by October 14, he had assembled an army of upwards of
6,000 men, which his officers were diligently drilling at Imola, whilst
daily now were the French lances expected, and the Swiss and Gascon
mercenaries he had sent to levy.

It may well be that this gave the confederates pause, and suggested
to them that they should reconsider their position and ask themselves
whether the opportunity for crushing Cesare had not slipped by whilst
they had stood undecided.

It was Pandolfo Petrucci who took the first step towards a
reconciliation, by sending word to Valentinois that it was not his
intention to take any measures that might displease his Excellency. His
Excellency will no doubt have smiled at that belated assurance from
the sparrow to the hawk. Then, a few days later, came news that Giulio
Orsini had entered into an agreement with the Pope. This appeared to
give the confederacy its death-blow, and Paolo Orsini was on the point
of setting out to seek Cesare at Imola for the purpose of treating
with him--which would definitely have given burial to the revolt--when
suddenly there befell an event which threw the scales the other way.

Cesare's people were carrying out some work in the Castle of S. Leo,
in the interior of which a new wall was i