TO THE READER,

A POEM BY C. NUCILLANUS

This little book, candid reader, contains the Venetians, magnificent in wealth and powerful in war. The shallows of the cerulean sea enclose them on all sides, so that no dense phalanx may be able to harm them. That fierce Mars has favored these men in extending their vast empire to such wide borders. They have achieved such great trophies through sound counsels that their supreme glory strikes the high stars. What good order has breathed such illustrious honors, this little book, friendly reader, teaches.