Valentino had asked permission to lead his troops through Florentine territory, and the request, with certain restrictions--among them one requiring him to avoid the fortified places--was granted. The Duke did not wait for the envoys but continued his march, and when they did appear he was already on Florentine territory. They threatened to lodge a complaint, but Valentino upbraided them for the attitude of their Government towards himself and his undertakings. He did not wish to declare himself an enemy of the Republic, but he needed time to consider the situation; he therefore made an appointment to meet the envoys again at Barberino di Mugello. Owing to her long and exhausting war with Pisa and to her intestine troubles Florence was in no position to risk a struggle with the Duke of Romagna; the Signory had therefore decided to grant his request. Appreciating the danger of having a large number of armed men in their territory, the Council of Ten made arrangements for resisting any sudden attack. Caesar finally entered into an alliance, both offensive and defensive, with Florence, and the Signory took him into its employ as condottiere, furnishing him the number of troops befitting his rank and promising him suitable remuneration. The arrangement was for three years. Caesar had agreed to continue his march as soon as the convention was signed, but May 17th he was still at Forno dei Campi, and he asked for half the artillery belonging to Florence for use against Piombino and also for his first quarter’s salary. The Signory replied that these requests were not included in the agreement, and Caesar did not insist. He, however, dispatched Vitellozzo Vitelli to the Pisans to demand their siege pieces. On the march towards Pisa Caesar’s troops committed great depredation, sacking, burning, and plundering. His captains, the Orsini and Vitelli--especially the latter, whose brother had been executed by the Florentines--may have been responsible for this. The Pope had sanctioned Caesar’s undertaking with respect to Piombino, whose lord, Giacomo d’Appiano, after a feeble resistance before the city, retired to the stronghold, which was well fitted to resist a siege. Here it was that Giacomo’s grandfather had bravely defended himself fifty years before against the ferocious condottiere Sigismondo Malatesta, son of Pandolfo, Lord of Rimini. By his agreement with Louis XII. Caesar was compelled to join the French army about the middle of June. He therefore left a part of his forces to invest Piombino, which surrendered to his lieutenants after a two-months siege, and set out for Rome, where he arrived June 17, 1501. His purpose in coming to Rome at this time was to join the French army which was about to set forth for Naples. While in the city he concealed himself from public gaze in the apostolic palace, rarely showing himself. [Illustration: RIMINI. _From an early engraving._ To face p. 176.]