1297-1571 CE
From 1297 to 1571 CE, the Venetians perfected the art of republican empire — the Great Council closing itself to newcomers, the Council of Ten watching for treason, the Arsenal launching a galley every day when the Republic required it. Their traders held the eastern Mediterranean; their diplomats knew secrets before kings did; their navy joined the Holy League at Lepanto. La Serenissima endured where other states merely survived.