LUCRETIA'S FIRST HOME Lucretia passed the first years of her childhood in her mother's house, which was on the Piazza Pizzo di Merlo, only a few steps from the cardinal's palace.

The Ponte quarter, to which it belonged, was one of the most populous of Rome, since it led to the Bridge of S.Angelo and the Vatican.

In it were to be found many merchants and the bankers from Florence, Genoa, and Siena, while numerous papal office-holders, as well as the most famous courtesans dwelt there.

On the other hand, the number of old, noble families in Ponte was not large, perhaps because the Orsini faction did not permit them to thrive there.

These powerful barons had resided in this quarter for a long time in their vast palace on Monte Giordano.