Immediately after the death of Eugenius a democratic movement threatened to break out in Rome, of which the knight Stefano Porcaro hoped to become the leader. He was a man of fantastic ideas, who thirsted for fame, was filled with enthusiasm for the ideals of the past, but had no clear grasp of the present. He belonged to an ancient bourgeois family, but wishing to represent himself as descended from the Catos, he changed his name to Porcius.