lognese he returned to Rome in June, to take part in the
Franco-Spanish intrigues for the partition of Naples. He was now lord of
an extensive territory, and the pope created him duke of Romagna. His
cruelty, his utter want of scruple, and his good fortune made him a
terror to all Italy. His avidity was insatiable and he could brook no
opposition; but, unlike his father, he was morose, silent and
unsympathetic. His next conquests were Camerino and Urbino, but his
power was now greatly shaken by the conspiracy of La Magione (a castle
near Perugia where the plotters met). Several of the princes deposed by
him, the Orsinis, and some of his own captains, such as Vitellozzo
Vitelli (q.v.), Oliverotto da Fermo, and G.P. Baglioni, who had been
given estates but feared to lose them, joined forces to conspire against
the Borgias. Risings broke out at Urbino and in Romagna, and the papal
troops were defeated; Cesare could find no allies, and it seemed as
though all Italy was about to turn against the hated family, when the
French king promised help, and this was enough to frighten the
confederates into coming to terms. Most of them had shown very little
political or military skill, and several were ready to betray each
other. But Cesare, while trusting no one, proved a match for them all.
During his operations in northern Romagna, Vitelli, Oliverotto, Paolo
Orsini, and the duke of Gravina, to show their repentance, seized
Senigallia, which still held for the duke of Urbino, in his name. Cesare
arrived at that town, decoyed the unsuspecting _condottieri_ into his
house, had them all arrested, and two of them, Vitelli and Oliverotto,
strangled (December 31, 1502).

He was back in Rome early in 1503, and took part in reducing the last
rebel Orsinis. He was gathering troops for a new expedition in central
Italy in the summer, when both he and his father were simultaneously
seized with fever. The pope died on the 18th of August, while Cesare was
still incapacitated, and this unfortunate coincidence proved his ruin;
it was the one contingency for which he had not provided. On all sides
his enemies rose up against him; in Romagna the deposed princes prepared
to regain their own, and the Orsinis raised their heads once more in
Rome. Cesare's position was greatly shaken, and when he tried to
browbeat the cardinals by means of Don Michelotto and his bravos, they
refused to be intimidated; he had to leave Rome in September, trusting
that th