Latino Orsini (c. 1530 – c. 1580) was an Italian politician. Born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Latino Orsini was the son of

Camillo Orsini Camillo is an Italian masculine given name, descended from Latin Camillus. Its Slavic cognate is Kamil. People with the name include: * Camillo Agrippa, Italian Renaissance fencer, architect, engineer and mathematician *Camillo Almici (1714–1 ...

, one of the most famous ''

condottieri ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europ ...

'' of the 16th century. Latino himself had a military career: he supervised the earthwork fortifications designed by his father for

Castel Sant'Angelo The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (; English: ''Castle of the Holy Angel''), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausol ...

and built a section of the walls of Civitavecchia. During the Cyprus war, the Venetians appointed him governor of Candia (the present-day island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

), where he lived for more than a decade. He was also

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

of Gregory XIII (1502–1585,

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

from 1572) to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

.Cantile, Andrea. Leonardo: the genius and the cartographer: the representation of land in science and art. Ist. Geografico Militare, 2003. p130 One of his military inventions, the "trestles" (''cavalletti'', literally "little horses" in Italian) to protect

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

from

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

attacks, was published by Vespasiano Romani in ''Trattato e modo di difendere la fanteria dalla cavalleria, et discorso sopra la fortification delle fosse'' (

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, 1597). The ''Trattato del Radio Latino'', an instruction manual for the instrument invented by him, was published posthumously in Rome in 1583 and 1586 with a commentary by

Egnazio Danti Ignazio (Egnation or Egnazio) Danti, O.P. (April 1536 – 10 October 1586), born Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti, was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate, mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer, who served as Bishop of Alatri (1583–1586). ''(in ...

(1536–1586).

Honours

Orsini Rock in Antarctica is named after Latino di Camillo Orsini.

References

{{Authority control Italian scientific instrument makers 16th-century Italian writers 16th-century male writers Engineers from Rome