Democrats & Defense Spending: Lessons from Venice History

Venice has been struggling, in the (literal) wake of November’s nearly unprecedented tidal flooding that swamped even some of its most hallowed religious and architectural sites. So for those of us who care about the world’s great cities and the civilizations they’ve spawned (in the case of Venice, think of the Renaissance), it seemed like a good time to visit Venezia — before perhaps it sinks into the Adriatic. (The streets were dry, in point of fact.)

One is prepared for, although still overwhelmed by, the aesthetic beauty of its built environment. But who knew (at least I didn’t) that its great art, music, and architecture had been made possible by what was, in the 12th through 14th centuries, a dominant military on which the city at the heart of a maritime trading empire — reaching from Asia Minor to Northern Europe — spent heavily?

About the Author

Howard Husock

Howard Husock is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of The Projects: A New History of Public Housing.

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Venice has been struggling, in the (literal) wake of November’s nearly unprecedented tidal flooding that swamped even some of its most hallowed religious and architectural sites. So for those of us who care about the world’s great cities and the civilizations they’ve spawned (in the case of Venice, think of the Renaissance), it seemed like a good time to visit Venezia — before perhaps it sinks into the Adriatic. (The streets were dry, in point of fact.)

One is prepared for, although still overwhelmed by, the aesthetic beauty of its built environment. But who knew (at least I didn’t) that its great art, music, and architecture had been made possible by what was, in the 12th through 14th centuries, a dominant military on which the city at the heart of a maritime trading empire — reaching from Asia Minor to Northern Europe — spent heavily?