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Baccio Bandinelli, "Hercules and Cacus," sculpture group commissioned to flank the entry to the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence (1525), unveiled 1534.

Bandinelli's sculpture group stands outside the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's seat of government. The sculpture was programmed to accompany Michelangelo's David and Donatello's Judith, as well as other sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria. (Later sculptures, such as Giambologna's "Rape of the Sabine" and Cellini's "Perseus with the head of Medusa", work on the same theme.) Clearly the thematic unity among all these sculptures is the claim that violence is justifiably applied when its objective is to vanquish tyranny. (Bashing bad guys is good, if they oppose justice.) Bandinelli's narrative gain: Add to the visual programme in the Medicean piazza: violence that crushes the enemies of civilization — i.e. Medusa or Goliath or Centaur or Cacus — is a good thing.

Vergil's Aeneid tells the story of how Hercules passed through Rome and stopped Cacus from making life difficult for Rome's new residents.