public sent him Bishop
Soderini as her ambassador. The latter arrived in Urbino on June 25 and
was immediately and very cordially received by the duke. With him,
in the subordinate capacity of secretary, came a lean, small-headed,
tight-lipped man, with wide-set, intelligent eyes and prominent
cheek-bones--one Niccolo Macchiavelli, who, in needy circumstances at
present, and comparatively obscure, was destined to immortal fame. Thus
did Macchiavelli meet Cesare Borgia for the first time, and, for all
that we have no records of it, it is not to be doubted that his study of
that remarkable man began then in Urbino, to be continued presently,
as we shall see, when Macchiavelli returns to him in the quality of an
ambassador himself.

To Soderini the duke expounded his just grievance, founded upon the
Florentines' unobservance of the treaty of Forno dei Campi; he demanded
that a fresh treaty should be drawn up to replace the broken one, and
that, for the purpose, Florence should change her government, as in
the ruling one, after what had passed, he could repose no faith. He
disclaimed all associations with the affair of Vitelli, but frankly
declared himself glad of it, as it had, no doubt, led Florence to
perceive what came of not keeping faith with him. He concluded by
assuring Soderini that, with himself for their friend, the Florentines
need fear no molestation from any one; but he begged that the Republic
should declare herself in the matter, since, if she did not care to have
him for her friend, she was, of course, at liberty to make of him her
enemy.

So impressed was Soderini by Cesare Borgia that on that same night he
wrote to the Signory:

"This lord is very magnificent and splendid, and so spirited in feats of
arms that there is nothing so great but that it must seem small to him.
In the pursuit of glory and in the acquisition of dominions he never
rests, and he knows neither danger nor fatigue. He moves so swiftly that
he arrives at a place before it is known that he has set out for it.
He knows how to make himself beloved of his soldiers, and he has in his
service the best men of Italy. These things render him victorious and
formidable, and to these is yet to be added his perpetual good fortune.
He argues," the Florentine envoy proceeds, "with such sound reason that
to dispute with him would be a long affair, for his wit and eloquence
never fail him" ("dello ingegno e della lingua si vale quanto vuole").

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