Trade was the motivating factor. The silk road accross Asia was besieged by bandits & required bribes to a number of nations to transport goods to & from Asia. Therefore a sea route would be a much safer & less expensive means of getting trade goods to & from Asia.
<span>Brief Translation:
Many leaders have tried, and will try in a world of sin and sadness. No-one pretends that voting is perfect. Yes, it has been said that voting is the worst type of government except all those other types that have been tried.
Basically he's saying that democracy (voting) is better than other ways to elect a government.</span>
Venice was one of the two Italian cities that monopolized trade with the far east. Trade with the far east was vital to its fortunes and power. Venice traded with the Byzantine Empire and the Moslem world extensively and became powerful as a result of trade
