to introduce the French into Milan; that in an emergency he might have
assistance at hand, without the necessity of having to solicit a passage
for his friends. But he could not possibly secure this advantage without
effecting the ruin of the duke, and making his dominions a French
province; and that the contrary of all this would result from himself
becoming lord of Naples; for having only the French to fear, he would be
compelled to love and caress, nay even to obey those who had it in their
power to open a passage for his enemies. That thus the title of king
of king of Naples would be with himself (Alfonso), but the power and
authority with Filippo; so that it was much more the duke's business
than his own to consider the danger of one course and the advantage of
the other; unless he rather wished to gratify his private prejudices
than to give security to his dominions. In the one case he would be a
free prince, in the other, placed between two powerful sovereigns, he
would either be robbed of his territories or live in constant fear, and
have to obey them like a slave. These arguments so greatly influenced
the duke, that, changing his design, he set Alfonso at liberty, sent
him honorably to Genoa and then to Naples. From thence the king went
to Gaeta, which as soon as his liberation had become known, was taken
possession of by some nobles of his party.

The Genoese, seeing that the duke, without the least regard for them,
had liberated the king, and gained credit to himself through the dangers
and expense which they had incurred; that he enjoyed all the honor of
the liberation, and they were themselves exposed to the odium of the
capture, and the injuries consequent upon the king's defeat, were
greatly exasperated. In the city of Genoa, while in the enjoyment of her
liberty, a magistrate is created with the consent of the people, whom
they call the Doge; not that he is absolutely a prince, or that he alone
has the power of determining matters of government; but that, as the