A public lecture had once been held at the University of Padua on the definitions, representations, and redefinitions of gods and heroes in ancient Greek and Roman religion.
Many little boys dreamed of becoming heroes, but what exactly was a hero?
In Machiavelli's records, Michele de Lando was a wool carder. When the commoners began rioting throughout the city and fires blazed everywhere from arson, he was barefoot and wore almost nothing. On that scorching summer night, he sweated so heavily that he seemed coated in olive oil.
He climbed the stairs step by step and entered the audience chamber of the governing council. By then, the councilors had long since gone home. The people who had been following behind him suddenly stopped at the foot of the stairs, and Michele turned to look at the crowd.
"Look!" Michele told them. "This city-state is yours now. It is in your hands. What do you think should be done?"
The crowd said, "We are willing to elect you as our Gonfalonier of Justice and ruler."
So Michele accepted the appointment and became Gonfalonier of Justice, just like Salvestro de' Medici. The difference was that Salvestro had been chosen amid the songs of a festival, while Michele was chosen when everyone believed the city-state could no longer be saved and even the last people holding fast in the governing council had withdrawn.
Florence was still in the era of the Ricci family then. Just as the Medici family's sworn enemy was the Borgia family, the Ricci family also had its hereditary enemy, the Albizzi family. The Medici family was not yet the main player, and members of the governing council could threaten Salvestro into returning to his seat.
The Medici family had not yet become the pope's bankers. Machiavelli believed that the