A TOMB AT RAVENNA 
infantry. But the increasing severity of the winter 
forced him to abandon the siege, and on November 23 
he broke up his camp and left Forli abruptly. “ The 
Dukes camp has been suddenly raised,” joyfully wrote 
Astorre Manfredi to the Signory of Venice, “owing 
to the bad weather, and Faenza is saved as it were by 
a divine miracle.” 1 
The besieging army was disbanded and ordered into 
winter quarters. Caesar himself went to Cesena, Paolo 
Orsini to Imola, and the remaining leaders and men- 
at-arms were sent to Rimini, Pesaro, and Fano in 
order to relieve Forli. “ Guidarello Guidarelli,” 
writes the Podesta of Ravenna, “ has been appointed 
chief of the lodgings, and superintended the disposal 
of the forces in their separate quarters.” 2 That he 
made some attempt to maintain order and protect the 
defenceless citizens from the depredations of the 
soldiery is evident from the decree which he issued 
at Forli, in which it is expressly stated that the 
garrison is only to be provided with fuel and lodging 
by the inhabitants. But this was no easy task, for 
Borgia’s lawless troops were the terror of the whole 
district. They seized cattle and corn, plundered 
houses, and put to the sword owners who dared to 
resist their greed and insolence. Again and again in 
Sanudo’s pages we find reports of their violence and 
1 Marino Sanudo Diarii, iii. 1125. 
243 
2 Ibid., iii. 1241. 
