The word war, to the bloody men of valour of the end of the fifteenth century, signified a game like that of chess. The sole object of war was profit. It was undertaken simply to deprive an enemy of his goods. Prisoners were captured, and held to ransom. Cities and fortresses were reduced by starvation, or by a display of overwhelming force. But bloodshed—and this is noteworthy—was avoided as far as possible; and the game chiefly was played by strategic marches, counter-marches, and manœuvres. It was a business, a profession, “not more hazardous than that of a professional football-player.” The superfluous men of Europe, and the temperamental fighters, served as hired mercenaries under the captains and the princes who could pay their price and afford them a roystering life. Patriotism, the honour of the fatherland, were unknown. Except in the case of England, there was no national army. When a position had been won, a city captured, the conquerors satisfied themselves with the ransoms and the richest spoils. If the citizens wished to avoid the inconvenience of a sack, they collected a sum sufficient to pay off the rank and file. Otherwise the mercenaries took the women, and had licence to recoup themselves by pillage. Resistance meant torture and death: but bloodshed was an accident, not an essential of war. The action of Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere was an invitation to the Lord Alexander P.P. VI to engage in war. He had thrown down the gauntlet. He had made the first move in the game; and his gambit was a very fine one, for the fortress of Ostia dominated Tiber mouth, and enabled him to paralyse Rome by stopping sea-borne supplies. Like all important characters, the Pope’s Holiness was neurotic; not by any means a coward, but quick to scent danger, susceptible of momentary fright. Early in the spring of 1493 He was going to a picnic, at the villa which the Lord Innocent P.P. VIII had built for pontifical refreshment at La Magliana, outside the walls; and when a cannon saluted His approach He was stricken with a sudden panic, and galloped back to the Vatican amid the frank execrations of His escort disappointed of their dinner. Here was the situation. The Pope was comfortably embroiled with Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere and his allies of Naples, of Colonna, of Orsini. To some extent His interests tied Him to Sforza and Milan. Tuscany was undecided between the Pope and Naples. The other Powers looked on.