October 2nd news of the conspiracy reached the Vatican. In the north Bentivoglio was advancing on Imola; in the south the Orsini and Vitelli were preparing to attack Urbino. Caesar was in Imola awaiting the arrival of the French lances, and there he learned of the revolt of his lieutenants. The loss of the Orsini was especially serious, and he endeavoured to win them over from the conspirators. In the meantime he sent out agents to enlist new troops. As soon as the condition of affairs became known soldiers of fortune hastened to him from all directions; among the first to appear were Gasparo Sanseverino, Luigi della Mirandola, Galeazzo Palavicini, Raffaelle de’ Pazzi, Ranieri della Sassetta, and Francesco de Luna. The Romagnols hurried to his assistance, and he placed them under the command of his ablest leaders, Dionigi di Naldo, Marc Antonio di Fano, Gabrielle da Faenza, Guido di Vaini, and Giovanni Sassatelli. To his Spanish captains he entrusted the command of the cities and strongholds, upon which the security of his new duchy depended. In the meantime the Pope had used his influence with Giulio Orsini, who was now ready to desert Vitelli, while Pandolfo Petrucci, dismayed by the preparations Caesar was making to crush his enemies, dispatched a messenger to Imola to assure his former commander of his loyalty. To secure the support of Florence Caesar now requested the Republic to send an ambassador to him to confer on matters of mutual interest, and again the envoy selected was Machiavelli. No other man was so well fitted as he to read the devious mind of Valentino; he had given evidence of the greatest perspicacity and shrewdness, and if any one was a match for the son of Alexander VI. the Florentine secretary was. Not only his friends the Adriani, the Soderini, the Valori, but even his opponents approved of the selection. Machiavelli accepted his commission eagerly; he was naturally restless and was intensely interested in the political life of the day. He had met Caesar a few months before, and he regarded him as the Italian ideal, a personification of _virtu_, the aggregation of the qualities most dear to the Italian heart; it is therefore not surprising that he eagerly embraced the opportunity to study Valentino and match wits with him. Machiavelli having promised his young wife, Marietta di Ludovico Corsini, whom he had married but a few months before, that he would return in eight days, set out for Imola. On the road he met Agapito Gerardino, Caesar’s secretary, on his way to Florence to ask aid of the Signory. The Pope also, foreseeing the danger, had dispatched an envoy to the Republic. Caesar’s secretary decided to turn back and accompany Machiavelli to Imola, where they arrived October 7th.