My Library

Orsini leaders to Senigallia with the pretence of negotiating an agreement and had them killed. niccolò orsini Count of Pitigliano (1442–1510). Mercenary commander who led Venetian forces in their war against the League of Cambrai, and joint commander with his cousin Bar- tolomeo d’Alviano at the battle of Agnadello (or Vailà) at which, largely thanks to disagreements between the two, the Venetians were routed. paulo, signor Paulo Orsini was leader of the Orsini faction during the period of Cesare Borgia’s rise to power. He accepted the invitation to negotiate at Senigallia, where Borgia had him strangled on arrival. pertinax Publius Helvius Pertinax (126–193) was Roman emperor for three months in 193. Proclaimed emperor after the assassination of Commodus, Pertinax failed to give the army the financial rewards they expected, while his attempts to impose discipline antagonized them. He was murdered when 300 mutin- ous soldiers of the Praetorian Guard stormed his palace. petrarch Francesco Petrarca (1304–74). Scholar, poet and early Humanist whose work on the sonnet form was to be hugely influ- ential in European poetry for centuries to come. The lines Machia- velli quotes at the conclusion of The Prince are taken from poem XVI of Il canzoniere, in which Petrarch appeals to Italian leaders to stop using foreign mercenaries to fight Italian civil wars. petrucci, pandolfo (1452–1512) A powerful figure in Siena from 1487 when the faction he belonged to toppled its opponents in a coup. From 1502 he became ruler of the town, though always officially maintaining republican institutions. In his role as ambassador of Florence, Machiavelli negotiated with him on several occasions. philip of macedonia Machiavelli actually refers to two Philips. (1) Philip II (382–336 bc) King of Macedonia (359–336 bc), father of Alexander the Great. Coming to power after the death of his older brothers, Philip II rebuilt the Kingdom of Macedonia with a series of wars and astute treaties. He was murdered by one of his bodyguards. (2) Philip V (238–178 bc) King of Macedonia (220–178 bc).