et the factions of the
elder _Monti_ still survived; and to what extent they had absorbed the
population may be gathered from the fact that, on the defeat of the
_Riformatori_, 4,500 of the Sienese were exiled. It must be borne in
mind that with the creation of each new _Monte_ a new party formed
itself in the city, and the traditions of these parties were handed down
from generation to generation. At last, in the beginning of the
sixteenth century, Pandolfo Petrucci, who belonged to the _Monte de'
Nove_, made himself in reality, if not in name, the master of Siena, and
the Duke of Florence, later on in the same century extended his dominion
over the republic.[3] There is something almost grotesque in the bare
recital of these successive factions; yet we must remember that beneath
their dry names they conceal all elements of class and party discord.

[1] Machiavelli, in spite of his love of freedom, says (_St. Fior._
lib. vii. 1): 'Coloro che sperano che una repubblica possa essere
unita assai di questa speranza s'ingannano.'

[2] Vol. i. pp. 324-30. See, too, Segni, p. 213, and Giannotti, vol.
i. p. 341. De Comines describes Siena thus: 'La ville est de tout
temps en partialite, et se gouverne plus follement que ville
d'Italie.'

[3] Siena capitulated, in 1555, to the Spanish troops, who resigned
it to Duke Cosmo I. in 1557.

What rendered the growth of parties still more pernicious, as already
mentioned, was the smallness of Italian republics. Varchi reckoned
10,000 _fuochi_ in Florence, 50,000 _bocche_ of seculars, and 20,000
_bocche_ of religious. According to Zuccagni Orlandini there were 90,000
Florentines in 1495, of whom only 3,200 were burghers. Venice, according
to Giannotti, counted at about the same period 20,000 _fuochi_, each of
which supplied the state with two men fit to bear arms. These
calculations, though obviously rough and based upon no accurate returns,
show that a republic of 100,000 souls, of whom 5,000 should be citizens,
would have taken distinguished rank among Italian cities.[1] In a state
of this size, divided by feuds of every kind, from the highest political
antagonism down to the meanest personal antipathy, changes were very
easily effected. The slightest disturbance of the equilibrium in any
quarter made itself felt throughout the city.[2] The opinions of each
burgher were known and calculated. Individuals, by their wealth, their
power of aiding or