In March 1507, Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, found himself isolated and surrounded by enemies near the town of Vianna 80 miles south of Bilbao.
He was 31 but had already enjoyed a glittering career. A bishop at the age of 15, Cesare had been made a cardinal after his father was elected head of the Catholic Church in 1492.
He was then just 18.
Given command of papal armies and supported by the king of France, Europe’s most powerful ruler, he carved out an independent state in northern Italy.
Handsome, talented, energetic and popular with his followers, there seemed to be no limit to Cesare’s ambitions or potential.
His machinations inspired The Prince, the renaissance classic written by Niccolo Machiavelli who argued that immoral behavior in politics, including lying and murder, was normal and works.
But everything changed with the death of Cesare’s father. He had the support of Alexander’s successor, but his plans were wrecked when the new pope died after reigning for less than a month
The replacement was Julius III. He hated the Borgia family and eventually expelled Cesare to Spain. It was there one spring day more than 500 years ago that Cesare finally met his fate.
Enraged by the failure to capture Vianna, his wilfullness finally got the better of him. Cesare chased escaping knights alone. He was ambushed and killed.
Fanciful accounts have Cesare uttering his Latin motto Aut Caesar, Aut Nihil before that final and fatal charge.
It means: “Caesar or nothing.”
The undignified nature of Cesare’s end is why he’s largely forgotten while Machiavelli’s fictional prince continues to shape our imaginations and, more often than it’s admitted, political practice from Washington to Beijing and every place that matters in between.
It’s a reminder that the world is full of contingency, unexpected twists of fate and pure bad luck. And for Cesare, his father’s death was the moment when things started to go wrong.
The best-laid plans expertly executed can still collide with reality in an unpredictable world where nothing in human affairs is pre-ordained or inevitable.
And, as Cesare’s fate suggests, willpower counts, but is not enough for those who would be king.