him, and forgive them in this
easy fashion, exacting no amends? Were they mad to suppose that, after
such proofs as they had given him of what manner of faith they kept,
he would trust them hereafter with their lives to work further mischief
against him? (Well might Macchiavelli have marvelled when he beheld
the terms of the treaty the duke had made with them.) Were they mad to
imagine that one so crafty as Valentinois would so place himself into
their hands--the hands of men who had sworn his ruin and death? Truly,
mad they must have been--rendered so by the gods who would destroy them.

The tale of that happening is graphically told by the pen of the
admiring Macchiavelli, who names the affair "Il Bellissimo Inganno."
That he so named it should suffice us and restrain us from criticisms of
our own, accepting that criticism of his. To us, judged from our modern
standpoint, the affair of Sinigaglia is the last word in treachery
and iscariotism. But you are here concerned with the standpoint of
the Cinquecento, and that standpoint Macchiavelli gives you when he
describes this business as "the beautiful stratagem." To offer judgment
in despite of that is to commit a fatuity, which too often already has
been committed.

Here, then, is Macchiavelli's story of the event:

On the morning of December 31 Cesare's army, composed of 10,000 foot
and 3,000 horse,(1) was drawn up on the banks of the River Metauro--some
five miles from Sinigaglia--in accordance with his orders, awaiting his
arrival. He came at daybreak, and immediately ordered forward 200 lances
under the command of Don Michele da Corella; he bade the foot to march
after these, and himself brought up the rear with the main body of the
horse.

1 This is Macchiavelli's report of the forces; but, it appears to be an
exaggeration, for, upon leaving Cesena, Cesare does not appear to have
commanded more than 10,000 men in all.

In Sinigaglia, as we have seen, the condottieri had only the troops of
Oliverotto--1,000 foot and 150 horse--which had been quartered in the
borgo, and were now drawn up in the market-place, Oliverotto at their
head, to do honour to the duke.

As the horse under Don Michele gained the little river Misa and the
bridge that spanned it, almost directly opposite to the gates of
Sinigaglia, their captain halted them and drew them up into two files,
between which a lane was opened. Through this the foot went forward
and straight into the tow