XVII
After roguery we come now to the question of villainy and violence. When Benvenuto was first captured by the Roman authorities, they tried, as I have already shown, to convict him on a charge of stealing court jewels. In the course of his interrogation, "that catchpoll of a governor" said to him: "And yet you have murdered several men!"[1] This had nothing to do with the prisoner's accusation; but it had, perhaps, something to do with the attitude of his judges; and so, I imagine, has it a great deal to do with the opinion people of the present day will form of him. It is certain that Cellini himself was not wholly indifferent to his homicides; for when he thought his throat was going to be cut in Torre di Nona, the memory of them weighed upon his conscience.[2] At that moment he had assassinated two men in Rome upon the open streets, namely, the constable who caused his brother's death, and a goldsmith called Pompeo. He had thrice risked the commission of wholesale slaughter, once in Florence, once in Rome, and thirdly at Ferrara; but these quarrels resulted in no bloodshed. It does not appear that he had killed anybody else, although he severely wounded a man named Ser Benedetto in a sudden fit of rage.[3]
So far, then, according to his own admission, Cellini had only two clear murders on his mind in 1538. Possibly he forgot a few of less importance, for his memory was not always trustworthy about
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