The Roman nobles yield submission to the Tribune.

Events in Rome took the aristocrats by surprise. Stephen Colonna, it is true, hastened from Corneto to the city, but was unable to do anything beyond vent his anger in words. The Tribune sent him his command to leave Rome; the aged hero tore the document in pieces, and exclaimed, “If this fool provokes me further, I will throw him from the windows of the Capitol.” The bell sounded an alarm, the people assembled in arms, and Stephen, accompanied by a single servant, fled to Palestrina. The Tribune confined all the nobles to their estates, garrisoned all fortresses and bridges of the city, and spread terror by the strictest justice. Feeling himself in full possession of power, he summoned the nobles to do homage on the Capitol; they came trembling, as they had formerly come at the bidding of Arlotti; the younger Stephen Colonna himself appeared with his sons, and even Raynald and Jordan Orsini, the Savelli, Anibaldi, and Conti. They swore to the laws of the republic, and placed themselves at its service. The College of Judges as well, the notaries and the guilds, did homage to the Tribune, and his rule in Rome was thus recognised by all classes.

In none of the other revolutions had it occurred to the heads of the city to send letters announcing their accession to government outside the sphere of the city itself. Cola, however, thought of Rome in its relation towards Italy and the world.