Gathering
1502 · Rome, Italy
Cesare Borgia hosts his father and Machiavelli and lays out the campaign that is remaking the Romagna.
Cesare has taken a palace for the winter and means to be seen in it. The table is set for a duke, not a cardinal's son, and the guests are the two men he most wants to impress: his father, whose money and authority make the campaign possible, and Machiavelli, whose republic is watching the Romagna with alarm.
Cesare talks of the towns he has taken and the lords he has broken, and of the difficulty of holding what you win. He is frank about the methods he has used and impatient with anyone who pretends not to understand them. Alexander listens with amusement; Machiavelli listens with the attention of a man taking notes. Lasagne, a rolled roast, artichokes, and a pine nut tart carry the evening.
Host: Cesare Borgia
Pope Alexander VI — The pope, and the source of Cesare's money and authority.
Niccolò Machiavelli — The Florentine envoy whose report on Cesare will echo for centuries.
Everything you need to host this menu, sorted aisle by aisle:
The menu
12 of 36 items checked
Claimed by Cesare Borgia
Serves 8 · 4 of 12 items checked · 5 aisles
Claimed by Pope Alexander VI
Serves 10 · 2 of 7 items checked · 4 aisles
Claimed by Niccolò Machiavelli
Serves 4 · 3 of 7 items checked · 3 aisles
Claimed by Cesare Borgia
Serves 8 · 3 of 9 items checked · 5 aisles
Claimed by Pope Alexander VI
Serves 12 · 0 of 1 item checked · 1 aisle
This gathering is an editorial recreation grounded in the biographies of those present; it did not necessarily take place as described.
