Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/423

 THE GAINS OF VENICE. 4Q5 rious title of Lord of one quarter and a Iialf of the Eoman Empire/ On the death of Dandolo his successor obtained a conces- sion from the emperor authorizing any Venetian citizen or ally to take possession of any of the islands in the zEgean or places on its coasts which were not ah'cady occupied by the republic and to hold it for him and his heirs. TJie grantiuf of this concession was followed by a series of buccaneering expedi- tions, which speedily captured and occupied a number of im- portant positions. Gallipoli, on the Dardanelles, was seized by Marc Dandolo and another prominent citizen, and with the Thracian Chersonese was erected into a duchy. Another band, under Sanuto, occupied JSTaxos, Paros, and other isles, which were held by him and his descendants for four centu- ries. Chios was occupied by the great chiefs, Justiniani and Michaeli. A part of Euboea and the Cyclades, the islands of Lemnos and Zante, were captured by others. The republic itself took possession of Corfu. The great power of Venice over the Adriatic, the ^gean, and especially over the islands mentioned, and over a portion of the Morea, dates from the Latin conquest — a power which was used on the whole well and wisely, which introduced or continued fairly good govern- ment, and which has left traces in well-constructed roads and fortresses in every place I have mentioned. But, as was nat- ural, the results of the Latin conquest were more markedly visible in Venice herself than in any of the possessions which she obtained. Her marts were filled with merchandise. Her ships crowded the great canals and her harbor with the spoils of Asia and the products of the Levant. Her architecture re- produced and improved upon that of Constantinople. The spoils of the ISTew Rome were her proudest ornaments. Her wealth rapidly increased. The magnificence of the Xew Eome was transferred to Venice, which was during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the most splendid of Christian cities. » " Hcnricus Dandoliis, D. G. Vcnetiarum, Dalmatiae atque Croatiae dux, dominus quartaj partis et dimidiffi totius imperii romaui." — "Vite de' Duchi di Veuez," in Muratori.