Liberation of Rome

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The Liberation of Rome took place during the Italian Renaissance, in which the city of Rome was freed from the rule of the Borgia by the Assassins, and was brought rather belatedly into the Renaissance.

In 1500, following the events of the Siege of Monteriggioni, the Master Assassin Ezio Auditore began his journey to Rome, seeking revenge for the attack on Monteriggioni, but passed out half way there due to the injuries he sustained during Cesare Borgia's attack. He was then brought to Rome by Machiavelli to recover from these injuries. After seeing a doctor, once more, just as he had twenty-four years previously, he began his mission to avenge his uncle and the destroyed Monteriggioni.

Rome, under the ruling influence of the Borgia, had become decrepit, decaying under oppression and corruption. The people were starving and fearing for their lives; Ezio sought to hearten the people and allow them to believe again. His mission in Rome was not simply about destroying the Borgia, but was more importantly a quest to bring the ideas and beliefs of the Renaissance into Rome.

Destroying the Borgia

Tyranny

"The liberation of Roma has begun."

―Ezio Auditore

Ezio proceeded to destroy twelve Borgia towers, all of which were propagating the Borgia influence across Rome. At the same time, he also recruited many distressed Roman citizens as Assassin Apprentices. Ezio also managed to re-establish relationships with the respective city guilds of the Roman underground: the Thieves, Courtesans, and Mercenaries. As Ezio began to liberate Rome, he also restored various shops and famous Roman landmarks, successfully giving the people the will and initiative to think for themselves, and to fight for their own rights.

As the Borgia's influence was weakened day by day, military presence in the districts became diminished, and crime rates began to drop. To further bring down the Borgia, each of the Templar agents under the command of Cesare Borgia were hunted down by Ezio and his brotherhood, resulting in the Templars losing crucial power in the city. In a particular counter-propaganda mission, posters with the Borgia family crest and the motto 'Viva Borgia' were also removed by Ezio. The Followers of Romulus, who were terrorizing the people of Rome by the command of Cesare and their Papal overlords, were also brought down by Ezio, who infiltrated their lairs and killed their leaders.

File:EZIO A~1.jpg

Ezio and Machiavelli meet in Rome.

Rise of the Brotherhood

Main article: Rise of the Brotherhood

During his time in Rome, Ezio noticed several Borgia Towers occupying desirable locations throughout the districts of the city. The Towers' presence prevented Ezio from renovating the shops in the districts, and ensured that the people of the districts stayed poor and needy. Ezio realized that he was going to need to eliminate the Borgia's influence if he was going to free Rome, so he killed the Borgia captains who watched over their respective Borgia Towers and ignited the Towers, resulting in the freeing of the districts from the Borgia. Soon after igniting the Borgia Towers, Ezio learned that the underground of Rome had weakened over time. He realized that he would require an underground to work with to defeat the Borgia, so he set off to try to mend the Assassin's relations with the mercenary guild of Rome. Upon arriving at the barracks of his old ally, Bartolomeo d'Alviano, Ezio realized the situation. The French army was attacking on one side and the Borgia on the other. The Borgia assault, however, was weak, and Ezio managed to kill the Captain of a nearby Borgia tower and ignite the tower itself. With this, the Borgia assault ceased and Bartolomeo was able to focus on the French attack. This allowed him to spare a few men to gather further intelligence on Rodrigo and Cesare Borgia. Next, Ezio traveled to the local brothel, the Rosa In Fiore. The madame there had become lazy and would rather attend parties then further the causes of the Assassins. Upon arriving at the brothel, he learned that the madame of the brothel had been kidnapped by slave traders, who wanted coin in exchange for her life. After collecting the required money, Ezio rushed to the location of the slave traders and gave them the money. The slave traders, instead of releasing the madame, killed her. Ezio quickly disposed of the slave traders and returned to the brothel, to find his mother and sister waiting for him. Upon hearing Ezio inform the courtesans that their madame was dead, Claudia Auditore stepped up and offered to become the brothel's new owner. With the brothel restored to its former glory, Ezio gave the task of locating Caterina Sforza to the courtesans. Ezio then made his way to the Thieves guild. Once there, he met with the head of the guild, who happened to be an old acquaintance of his, La Volpe. La Volpe seemed to believe that Machiavelli was a traitor to the order and offered to prove it to Ezio. He led Ezio to a place where Machiavelli was meeting with a city guard. After Machiavelli left, the guards were attacked by the thieves. During the attack, a young thief was wounded. Ezio helped in fending off the attacking guards, and led the injured thief back to safety. La Volpe thanked Ezio and agreed to help the Assassins locate the Apple.

Ezio, upon returning to his base of operations at Tiber Island, was informed that his new allies had ascertained the location of Caterina Sforza: the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Infiltration of the Castel Sant’Angelo

Main article: Infiltration of the Castel Sant'Angelo

Upon learning the location of Caterina Sforza, Ezio left for the Castel Sant’Angelo to save her, but only under the condition that he first assassinated Rodrigo and Cesare. As Ezio stealthily made his way through the Castel, he uncovered many secrets, such as Cesare’s incestuous relationship with Lucrezia, his sister, and Lucreazia’s secret affair with actor Pietro Rossi. Before Ezio could reach his targets, Cesare left for Urbino, and he discovered that Rodrigo was not even in the Castel. Continuing to make his way through the Castel without being detected, Ezio reached Caterina’s cell, and learned that Lucrezia held the key to unlock it. Ezio stealthily made his way to up to Lucrezia’s quarters at the top of the Castel. Upon confronting her for the key, she began to flee, but was restrained by Ezio and brought to Caterina’s cell. Caterina grabbed the key from Lucrezia, knocked her out and shut her inside the cell. Ezio then carried Caterina out of the Castel without being drawing attention from the guards. Upon reaching the stables at the bottom of the Castel, Ezio and Caterina rode out into the streets of the Vaticano district. On the Ponte, Ezio got down from his horse and fought the guards who were by then giving pursuit, giving Caterina enough time to retreat to safety. A large explosion that suddenly sounded from the Castel caused a distraction, allowing Ezio to make his escape as well. Upon returning to Tiber Island, Ezio suggested to Machiavelli that they should begin enlisting the help of the people. Machiavelli was initially against the idea, but eventually changed his mind and told Ezio to begin searching for potential "novices". Ezio obliged and recruited two citizens who were being harassed by Borgia guards. Ezio reported back to Tiber Island, only to watch Caterina Sforza leave for Forlì to petition for the restoration of her lands.

Incident at the Pagan Party

Main article: Incident at the Pagan Party

After rescuing Caterina from the Castel Sant’Angelo, Ezio realized that in order to completely remove the Borgia's influence, he would need to cut off Cesare’s funds. La Volpe determined that Cesare’s funds came from a person known as the Banker. Claudia spoke of a senator who owed the Banker money. Ezio set out to find the senator and eventually came across him being harassed by the Banker's debt collectors. Ezio killed the collectors and led Egdilio to safety. Ezio paid the money Egidio owed, and followed Egdilio to the place where the money was being collected, the Pantheon. Once there, Ezio assassinated the guard who was collecting the money and impersonated him by wearing his armor. Ezio delivered the money to the Banker’s henchmen, who were in turn to bring it to the Banker. Ezio followed the carrier to the Banker, who was holding a party, and sat on a nearby bench. When the Banker walked by, Ezio pounced on and assassinated him. With the first of Cesare’s three generals gone, Cesare was deprived of his funds.

Skirmish in the Campagna district

Main article: Skirmish in the Campagna district

Ezio soon found out that Cesare had persuaded King Louis of France to lend him an entire army. Ezio came up with a plan to assassinate the general of the French forces and leave them in disarray. Bartolomeo, who was engaged in combat with the French, agreed to help Ezio. However, during the battle, Bartolomeo’s wife, Pantasilea, was kidnapped by the Baron de Valois. Seemingly left with no other alternative, Bartolomeo began to prepare for surrender. Before he could, Ezio came up with a plan and elaborated it to Bartolomeo: Ezio and his mercenaries would disguise themselves as French soldiers pretending to escort a "surrendering" Bartolomeo, and enter the French camp without arousing suspicion. The plan worked, and once inside, Ezio signaled for the mercenaries to begin the attack. However, the Baron retreated deeper into the camp where Pantasilea was held hostage. Ezio approached without being detected and assassinated the Baron. With the second of Cesare’s three generals gone, his troops were in disarray, and the Borgia's influence further lessened.

Colosseum Passion Play

Main article: Colosseum Passion Play

Cesare's power was now weak with his troops and funds in shambles. Ezio felt that it was time to move in for the kill. In order to do so, he would need to get close to Cesare. Ezio sought the help of La Volpe, who informed Ezio that Lucrezia’s lover Pietro would have a key to the side entrance of the Castel Sant'Angelo. During Ezio’s search for Pietro, he uncovered a plot to assassinate the actor. Cesare had found out about his relationship with Lucrezia, and so had sent his butcher, Micheletto, to kill Pietro during the Colosseo Passion Play. Ezio realized that if Pietro was assassinated, he would never be able to reach Cesare, so he set out to save Pietro. Disguising himself and his recruits as actors, Ezio managed to get on stage and neutralize Micheletto, although Micheletto told Ezio that he had already poisoned the wine Pietro had drank during the play. Ezio was forced to bring Pietro to a nearby doctor, who's medicine cured Pietro. Ezio then demanded that Pietro give him the key, to which Pietro obliged. At that moment, Ezio saw one of the men who had been at the Villa during Cesare's attack. The man fled when confronted and Ezio gave chase. Upon catching the man, Ezio discovered that he was the one who had been spying on them for the Borgia. The man thrust himself upon the Assassin's hidden blade, uttering "Long live the Borgia" while doing so. Ezio quickly raced back to Tiber Island to prevent La Volpe from killing Machiavelli. Once that was done, a meeting of the Assassins was called. Claudia Auditore was initiated into the order and Ezio was made the Grand Master. With Micheletto neutralized, Ezio now had a way to enter the Castel Sant’Angelo, locate the Piece of Eden, and assassinate Cesare. This would truly liberate Rome.

The Fall of Cesare Borgia

Main article: The Fall of Cesare Borgia

Soon after the demise of Juan Borgia and Octavian de Valois, and the neutralization of Micheletto, Cesare’s funds and troops were almost gone. Ezio once again infiltrated the Castel with the help of the key to the side door that he obtained from Lucrezia’s lover, Pietro. Once inside, Ezio made his way throughout the Castel and eventually arrived at a window that led into the Pope’s chambers. He then witnessed a conversation between Rodrigo and Cesare, in which Cesare furiously inquired as to where his funds and troops had gone. Rodrigo informed him that it was the Assassins' doing that they were all depleted. Cesare stated that if Rodrigo would not give him money, he would use the Apple of Eden to get what he wanted. Rodrigo told him that he had hidden the Apple, prompting Cesare to demand its location. Their conversation was interrupted by Lucrezia, who ran into the room claiming that Rodrigo planned to poison Cesare with the apple that he had just taken a bite out of. Cesare spat the apple out and furiously rammed the remaining portion of the apple down his father's throat. Lucrezia pleaded for him to stop by telling him that she knew where the Apple of Eden was. Cesare immediately attacked Lucrezia and demanded that she tell him. Ezio, meanwhile, made his way to the open window and by the time he had gotten in, Cesare had departed in search of his objective. Lucrezia then gave the location to Ezio and he raced to get to the courtyard in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica, where the Apple was kept. He arrived there before Cesare and used eagle vision to find the Apple. He then took the Apple and retreated from the Vatican. Over the next few months, Cesare attempted to regroup and find the Assassins, however, each time his efforts were thwarted by Ezio, who wielded the Apple of Eden. In September, 1503, Cesare met with Templar loyalists in the countryside. Ezio appeared at the Colosseum where they were meeting, learning that Cesare’s power had declined and that Della Rovere would be elected to the papacy. Ezio emerged and again used the Apple to kill Cesare’s guards. In a final effort to reclaim Rome for

File:CesareArrest.jpg

Cesare Borgia's arrest.

himself, Cesare attempted to recall his army from the battlefields to assist him. However, at Rome's city gates, Cesare was ambushed by the Assassins, though he safely sealed himself outside the city walls in order to escape them. The army that arrived for him, however, was not his own, but that of Fabio Orsini, who had been warranted to arrest Cesare upon the order the new Pope, Julius II. At this, Rome was fully liberated from the influential rule of the Borgia and the Templars.

Aftermath

Assassins

"It was the manner in which he said it. "Chains will not hold me."

―Ezio regarding Cesare's escape, 1503.

Shortly following Cesare's fall from power, Ezio was worried that he still remained a threat despite his arrest, and was encouraged by his closest friend Leonardo da Vinci to use the Apple and see what would eventually become of him. Despite his initial protests, Ezio decided that he could not risk Cesare's return, and used the Apple to see what the future held. Ezio then immediately left Rome for Spain, seeking to prevent Cesare from winning the Siege of Viana.

Cesare Borgia

"No! No! No! No! This not how it ends! Chains will not hold me! I will not die by the hands of man!"

―Cesare's claims during his arrest, 1503.

In 1504, Cesare was exiled to Spain and imprisoned at the Castillo de la Mota. However, he was in luck, as the Count of the city provided him with a rope to aid him in an escape attempt. Cesare dropped seventy feet from the prison wall, fracturing several bones, but was saved after he landed on the servant that accompanied him. Leaving the injured servant behind, he escaped the area dressed in a merchant's garb, and joined his brother-in-law, King John III of Navarre. In 1507, King John ordered Cesare to lead his 10,000 men to Viana to reclaim Viana Castle from the Count of Lerin. Cesare planned to win the battle to regain the support of the French, and eventually take back Rome.

Rome

After Rodrigo's death and Cesare's fall from power, Rome went through a massive change. All the shops had re-opened, the factions were re-established and the citizens underwent a change from bandits and beggars, to artists and merchants. The Papal guards were no longer corrupt, and the prosperity and light of the Renaissance had finally been brought into Rome.