The encounters between Caesar Borgia and Niccolò Machiavelli, and their influence on the latter's thought and writing, are still shrouded in vagueness and uncertainty. This is due not to lack of positive documentation or to scarcity of evidence, but rather to a plethora of interpretations and fancy. Instances of this vagueness and fancy may be found in interpretations of a document written in Niccolò's own hand, which is preserved in the Central National Library of Florence.
On May 3, 1503, a certain Troches or Troccio, until then one of Caesar's most trusted bravos, fled from Rome. Caesar at once despatched a circular letter to his vassals ordering them to seize the fugitive, alleging that he had fled the city without hcense of His Holiness.