The Balance of Power

Every citizen of the Republic of Florence knew that if the republic was to remain stable, the Borgia family's schemes had to be stopped.

Yet the Borgia family had produced several popes. Rodrigo Borgia had once said, "True nobles do not discuss the moral issues of commoners. The day they begin to concern themselves with the morality of commoners is the day the noble class declines."

It was truly unexpected that even one of his "sinners" could say such a thing.

But what he said was indeed true.

Venice at the end of the fifteenth century was at the height of its artistic flourishing, yet it suffered repeated military defeats. The mercenary system it invented repeatedly succeeded in naval warfare, but on land those shrewd merchants were ruthlessly swindled by even craftier Italian mercenaries. Sforza, who later became Duke of Milan, had once served Venice. In addition to an extraordinary annual salary of 1,000 ducats, they owned lavish residences in Venice worth several thousand ducats.

Mercenary captains also earned 150 ducats a year, while Venetian noble councilors received only ten ducats a month.

Sforza and the others not only extorted Venice, but also made its wartime investments vanish without return. In 1447, Sforza's mercenaries looted Piacenza into a wasteland, causing Venice, which had poured enormous sums into the war, to lose everything.

By 1450, Francesco Sforza, one of Muzio's seven illegitimate sons, had seized the position of Duke of Milan through force and marriage, making Venice, which had tried to annex Milan, burn through millions of gold ducats for nothing.

Talking loyalty with mercenaries was simply a fool's dream. By the end of the fifteenth century, Venice's debts had reached thirteen million ducats. Even selling all of Venice's real estate would not have been enough to repay them.

Through endless