Praise for the Republic of Venice

This short work by the Italian humanist Poggio Bracciolini deals with the triumph of the Republic of Venice, then its its economic and political zenith. He extols the republic for its industry and for clearing the seas of pirates. He noted of the rights bestowed on average citizens and the antiquity of the state, which by then spanned back until the early Carolingian era. His praises have clear political overtones for the age he lived in, as republican fervor was gripping many Italian city-states, who sought to create greater distance between themselves and the Imperial administration in Germany.