Proud Merchant Race/Quotes
We bring no store of ingots, of spice or precious stones —Rudyard Kipling, The Merchantmen
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In earliest times La Serinissima, the city of the Virgin, had been given a masculine identity by its citizens. It was the Lion City. The very conditions of its existence made warfare an inevitable part of its history. There was warfare against the natural world and then warfare against its competitors. It was obligated to fight for its survival. Venice had archers and oarsmen and maritime warriors. Sea powers are natural competitors. While land powers may agree to the division of land into frontiers, the ocean has no frontier. Wherever there is sea, there are hostile ships. Throughout its long history, Venice could never rest.
—Peter Ackroyd, Venice
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