 The year is 1506 and Niccolo Machiavelli, Chancellor of Florence and the most brilliant mind of the Renaissance, discovers a plot. The Spanish Prince Philip, with the approval of the Pope, will annexe Florence, the artistic centre of Europe and the wealthiest city in the world and use the treasure he plunders to finance Spain s conquest of the New World. As Florence has no army and is defenceless Machiavelli hatches a daring counter plot.