hake himself free of his neighbours in the Romagna.
Consequently he, pressed on the siege of Ostia, and added to Virginio's
forces, which already amounted to two hundred men of the papal army, a
body of his own light horse; this little army was to be stationed round
about Rome, and was to enforce obedience from the Colonnas. The rest of
his troops Alfonso divided into two parties: one he left in the hands of
his son Ferdinand, with orders to scour the Romagna and worry, the petty
princes into levying and supporting the contingent they had promised,
while with the other he himself defended the defiles of the Abruzzi.

On the 23rd of April, at three o'clock in the morning, Alexander VI was
freed from the first and fiercest of his foes; Giuliano delta Rovere,
seeing the impossibility of holding out any longer against Alfonso's
troops, embarked on a brigantine which was to carry him to Savona.

From that day forward Virginio Orsini began that famous partisan warfare
which reduced the country about Rome to the most pathetic desolation the
world has ever seen. During all this time Charles VIII was at Lyons, not
only uncertain as to the route he ought to take for getting into Italy,
but even beginning to reflect a little on the chances and risks of such
an expedition. He had found no sympathy anywhere except with Ludovico
Sforza; so it appeared not unlikely that he would have to fight not
the kingdom of Naples alone, but the whole of Italy to boot. In his
preparations for war he had spent almost all the money at his disposal;
the Lady of Beaujeu and the Duke of Bourbon both condemned his
enterprise; Briconnet, who had advised it, did not venture to support
it now; at last Charles, more irresolute than ever, had recalled several
regiments that had actually started, when Cardinal Giuliano delta
Rovere, driven out of Italy by the pope, arrived at Lyons, and presented
himself before the king.

The cardinal, full of hatred, full of hope, hastened to Charles, and
found him on the point of abandoning that enterprise on which, as
Alexander's enemy, delta Rovere rested his whole expectation of
vengeance. He informed Charles of the quarrelling among his enemies; he
showed him that each of them was seeking his own ends--Piero dei Medici
the gratification of his pride, the pope the aggrandisement of
his house. He pointed out that armed fleets were in the ports of
Villefranche, Marseilles, and Genoa, and that these armaments would be
los