It is impossible to give any full account of
Machiavelli's official duties. He wrote many
thousands of despatches and official letters, which
are still preserved. He was on constant errands of
State through the Florentine dominions. But his
diplomatic missions and what he learned by them
make the main interest of his office ... the
opportunities to the Secretary of learning men and
things, intrigue and policy, the Court and the
gutter were invaluable.
At the camp of Caesar Borgia, in 1502, he found
in his host that fantastic hero whom he incarnated
in The Prince, and he was practically an
eye-witness of the amazing masterpiece, the
Massacre of Sinigaglia.
Introduction by Henry Cust
to Machiavelli’s The Art of War and The Prince