£88

HISTORY or MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

combined in causing the Emperor of the East to meditate an attack on themduring the absence of their fleet. But intelligence of the intended enterprisenaturally caused the recall of the Doge, and his arrival dispelled the impendingmischief. Rhodes, where he intended to procure refreshments for his peopleon their return homewards, having retused admittance to his armament, wasimmediately attacked, and being almost as speedily carried, was, in vengeancefor the baseness of the emperor’s design, completely razed. The capture ofChios, Lesbos, Andros, Samos, and the other islands situated in the Archipe-lago, which were subject to the emperor, completed his punishment, and thesuccesses of the Doge in that quarter. Entering the Adriatic, the return ofZara, with other places in Dalmatia, which had revolted from the dominion ofVenice, and their return once more under that of their former masters, verymaterially contributed not merely to the honour, but to the actual advance-ment of the power, and consequence of the Venetians.

Under Pietro Polani, who succeeded to Micheli, the naval glory of the re-public was considerably advanced by the success of an expedition undertakenagainst Roger Guiscard, at the request of the emperor Manuel. The Dogebeins seized with a violent indisposition, was under the necessity of transferringthe chief command to his brother Giovanni. The deputed commander provedhimself completely worthy of the high trust; for though the Sicilian Normansreceived their assailants with the greatest spirit and bravery, yet the superiorskill and conduct of the latter proved thoroughly decisive against Guiscard.A considerable part of his fleet was either captured, sunk, or destroyed, andthe Venetians had the satisfaction of returning home replete with honour, andwhat was, in all probability, a not less serious gratification, laden with spoil.A flying squadron, consisting of six vessels only, was sent out to scour theAdriatic, and free the merchants from the depredations which had been fre-quently committed bv the Croatian pirates, and such became the maritimeconsequence of the republic, that if the account of historians may be credited,a boat laden with gold might have passed in the most perfect security fromone end of the Adriatic to the other. The reign of the succeeding Doge,Domenico Morosini, was not marked by any maritime event more materialthan the equipment of a trivial armament, fitted out against the Istrians, whohad committed, in imitation of that disposition which their Croatian neighbourshad shewn, various acts of the most atrocious piracy. Pola was taken by

storm,