¹⁸ We have the same extraordinary description of Vitellozzo Vitelli in the Legation. Vitettozzo's countenance was really amazing if one considered the ability (virtù) of the man and his former (passata) fortune. In his dispatch to the Ten, Machiavelli describes Vitellozzo, in Sinigallia, going to the meeting with Duke Valentino in the following manner: "Vitellozzo Vitelli, was riding on a small mule, unarmed, wearing a tight, black, worn out vest; and over it, a black cape with green lining. And no one who saw him could ever have guessed that this man was the one who twice this year, under his auspices, had tried to expel the King of France from Italy. His face was pale and astonished, easily denoting to anyone his imminent death". (Only the first page of this dispatch is extant. It must have been written soon after the dispatch to the Ten from Castello della Pieve, of January 13, 1503).