ame year, had signed a
treaty of peace with the Turks: thus set free from her eternal enemy, she
had just led her forces to the Romagna, which she had always coveted:
these troops had been led towards Ravenna, the farthermost limit of the
Papal estates, and put under the command of Giacopo Venieri, who had
failed to capture Cesena, and had only failed through the courage of its
inhabitants; but this check had been amply compensated by the surrender
of the fortresses of Val di Lamane and Faenza, by the capture of
Farlimpopoli, and the surrender of Rimini, which Pandolfo Malatesta, its
lard, exchanged for the seigniory of Cittadella, in the State of Padua,
and far the rank of gentleman of Venice.

Then Caesar made a proposition to Julius II: this was to make a momentary
cession to the Church of his own estates in Romagna, so that the respect
felt by the Venetians for the Church might save these towns from their
aggressors; but, says Guicciardini, Julius II, whose ambition, so natural
in sovereign rulers, had not yet extinguished the remains of rectitude,
refused to accept the places, afraid of exposing himself to the
temptation of keeping them later on, against his promises.

But as the case was urgent, he proposed to Caesar that he should leave
Rome, embark at Ostia, and cross over to Spezia, where Michelotto was to
meet him at the head of 100 men-at-arms and 100 light horse, the only
remnant of his magnificent army, thence by land to Ferrara, and from
Ferrara to Imala, where, once arrived, he could utter his war-cry so loud
that it would be heard through the length and breadth of Romagna.

This advice being after Caesar's own heart, he accepted it at once.

The resolution submitted to the Sacred College was approved, and Caesar
left for Ostia, accompanied by Bartolommeo della Rovere, nephew of His
Holiness.

Caesar at last felt he was free, and fancied himself already on his good
charger, a second time carrying war into all the places where he had
formerly fought. When he reached Ostia, he was met by the cardinals of
Sorrento and Volterra, who came in the name of Julius II to ask him to
give up the very same citadels which he had refused three days before:
the fact was that the pope had learned in the interim that the Venetians
had made fresh aggressions, and recognised that the method proposed by
Caesar was the only one that would check them. But this time it was
Caesar's turn, to refuse, for he was weary of thes