ABSTRACT
In the winter of 1503 the Marquis of Mantua left for Naples to take service with the French; and Castiglione followed, lamenting the equinity of fate. Pope Julius was about to open his long-planned and far-reaching campaign against Venice: his nephew Francescomaria della Rovere was called out as Captain of the Church; and with him went Castiglione in 1509 to win his spurs. Insensible though he was to Julius, Niccolo Machiavelli was inflamed, in spite of himself, by his martial mood; and, when he returned to Florence, it was with a new determination to pursue his own dream. In the autumn Machiavelli went north to report the Papal campaign against Venice. Hile Biagio had only his personal devotion to offset his mental inferiority; and Machiavelli, now that he had won a recognized place in public life, found full scope for his intellectual development in the impersonal life of the state.
