That's a really bizarre and biased writeup about Venice. Venice did not "transplant itself to London" (whatever that even means)... they were separate cultures

That's a really bizarre and biased writeup about Venice. Venice did not "transplant itself to London" (whatever that even means)... they were separate cultures. Venice was not "comparable to switzerland during WWII" (again, what does that even mean?) Sure it was a refuge from barbarian invasions, and it developed its own culture. Who says that Emperor Justinian was "evil" or that the Roman Senate was "sinister"? Who wrote this, George Lucas? If I had to choose between getting the shit kicked out of me by invading barbarians and living in Constantinople, I know which choice I would make. The Ottoman Empire was a completely different religion and culture from the Byzantine Empire. It's pretty silly to even compare them... like saying the US is a continuation of the Iroquois league because we live on (some of) the same land. Nope. Venice was perfectly correct in calling itself a "republic." The ancient Greeks, who gave us the word "republic," for the most part did not believe in giving everyone the vote. And the United States, the world's most famous republic, originally gave the vote only to male landowners. The US still doesn't give the vote to many people, including convicts and immigrants. Venice was its own power in world affairs. Sure they made alliances with Byzantium when it seemed convenient, but Byzantium usually didn't care enough to actually send any troops to help with things. They had more important things to deal with, like not getting killed by invading Turks (which they ultimated failed at...) Venice even fought against Byzantium in 1296, and probably other times that I'm forgetting. It's pretty laughable to say that "Venice was never part of Western Civilization"... say what? Venice was a vital port where goods flowed from the orient and from the middle east and into western europe. And it was an important stopping off point during the Crusades. And port cities like Venice helped spread the Black Plague... I'm sure that had no impact on Western Europe. Nope, no sir. Usury and slavery? Again, this is silly, written from the point of view of someone with an axe to grind. Venice was a mercantile republic, an island of capitalism in a sea of feudalism. While the rest of Europe was under kings and queens, Venice had an elected doge. While the rest of Europe had peasants bound to the land, Venice had citizens and commerce. I could go on but you get the idea. You need to read more and stop idolizing royalty, who were really just military leaders with fancy hats.