the backe in the lefte corner:  and thus a battaile shall be made of xxv. rankes, after twentie men to a rank, with two hornes, upon every side of the front, one horn, and every one, shall have ten rankes, five to a ranke, and there shall remain a space betwene the twoo hornes, as moche as containeth ten men, whiche tourne their sides, the one to thother.  Betwene the two hornes, the capitain shall stande, and on every poinct of a horne, a Centurion:  There shall bee also behinde, on every corner, a Centurion:  there shal be twoo rankes of Pikes, and xx.  Peticapitaines on every flancke.  These twoo hornes, serve to kepe betwene theim the artillerie, when this battaile should have any withit, and the cariages:  The Veliti muste stande a long the flankes, under the Pikes.  But mindyng to bring this horned battaile, with a voide space in the middeste, there ought no other to bee doen, then of fiftene rankes, of twentie to a ranke, to take eight rankes, and to place them on the poinctes of the twoo hornes, whiche then of hornes, become backe of the voide space, in this place, the cariages are kept, the capitain standeth, and the Ansigne, but never the Artillerie, the whiche is placed either in the front, or a long the flankes.  These be the waies, that a battaile maie use when it is constrained to passe alone through suspected places:  notwithstandyng, the massive battaile without hornes, and without any soche voide place is better, yet purposyng to assure the disarmed, the same horned battaile is necessarie.  The Suizzers make also many facions of battailes, emong which, thei make one like unto a crosse:  bicause in the spaces that is betwen the armes therof, thei kepe safe their Harkebuters from the daunger of the enemies:  but bicause soche battailes be good to faight by theim selves, and my intente is to shew, how many battailes united, do faight with thenemie, I wil not labour further in describing them.

COSIMO.  My thinkes I have verie well comprehended the waie, that ought to be kept to exercise the men in these battailes:  But (if I remember me well) you have saied, how that besides the tenne battailes, you joyne to the maine battaile, a thousande extraordinarie Pikes, and five hundred extraordinarie Veliti:  will you not appoincte these to be exercised?

[Sidenote:  To what purpose the Pikes and Velite extraordinarie must serve.]

FABRICIO.  I would have theim to bee exercised, and that with moste great diligence:  and the Pikes I would exercise, at leaste Ansigne after Ansigne, in the orders of the battailes, as the other:  For as moche as these should doe me more servise, then the ordinarie battailes, in all particulare affaires:  as to make guides, to get booties, and to doe like thynges:  but the Veliti, I would exercise at home, without bringing them together, for that their office being to faight a sonder, it is not mete, that thei should companie with other, in the common exercises:  for that it shall suffice, to exercise them well in