Per member of the impoverished branch of a distinguished family, he entered (1498) the political service of the Florentine republic and rose rapidly per importance. This reform sprang from his conviction, set forth durante his major works, that the employment of mercenaries had largely contributed onesto the political weakness of Italy. Machiavelli became acquainted with power politics through his important diplomatic missions. He met Cesare Borgia Borgia, Cesare or Caesar, 1476–1507, Italian soldier and politician, younger cri of Pope Alexander VI and an outstanding figure of the Italian Renaissance.. (more…)